NATURAL HISTORY OF CREATION, 271 



weal of his pai-tner and oftspring. There are even some 

 of the resentful feelings connected in early society with 

 love, such as hatred of successful rivalry, and jealousy, 

 which almost disappear in an advanced state of civilisa- 

 tion. The evils springing, in our own species at least, 

 from this passion, may therefore be an exception mainly 

 peculiar to a particular term of the world's progress, and 

 which may be expected to decrease greatly in amount. 



With respect, again, to disease, so prolific a cause of 

 suffering to man, the human constitution is merely a 

 complicated but regular process in electro-chemistry, 

 which goes on well, and is a source of continual gratifica- 

 tion, so long as nothing occurs to interfere with it 

 injuriously, but which is liable every moment to be 

 deranged by various external agencies, when it becomes 

 a source of pain, and, if the injury be severe, ceases to be 

 capable of retaining life. It may be readily admitted 

 that the evils experienced in this way are very great ; 

 but, after all, such experiences are no more than occa- 

 sional, and not necessarily frequent — exceptions from a 

 general rule of which the direct action is to confer 

 happiness. The human constitution might have been 

 made of a more hardy character; but we always see 

 hardiness and insensibihty go together, and it may be of 

 (tourse presumed that we only could have purchased this 

 immunity from suflfering at the expense of a large por- 

 tion of that delicacy in which lie some of our most 

 agreeable sensations. Or man's faculties might have 

 been restricted to definiteness of action, as is greatly the 

 case with those of the lower animals, and thus we should 

 have been equally safe from the aberrations which lead 

 to disease ; but in that event we should have been inca- 

 pable of acting to so many different purposes as we are, 

 and of the many liigh enjovmonts wliicli the varied 



