PRESUMPTUOUS RATHER THAN REVERENT. 275 



substances expand on solidifying, the argument from 

 ice has lost its significance as a special exception. 



In like manner, in the organic world, the very 

 existence of parasites exquisitely contrived to prey 

 upon, and often destroy, even the highest of organized 

 beings, deprives the argument for design of mucli of 

 its significance, but the following circumstance reduces 

 it almost ad absurdum, namely : it is found that two 

 species of tape-worm could not run through their 

 cycles of generation, except by abiding for one phase 

 of them in the human body, which is the only one in 

 the whole creation fitted for them, and without which 

 the said tape- worms would cease to exist. Are we to 

 infer, says Dr. Cobbold, that man, who is so exception- 

 ally adapted for the purpose, was contrived for the 

 sake of the worm ? In like manner, the same diffi- 

 culties and inconsistencies may be found to run 

 through the whole argument from final causes. It would 

 appear that, in spite of the well-meant endeavours of 

 many estimable persons, it savours more of presump- 

 tion than reverence on the part of finite human 

 creatures with such a limited sphere of knowledge, to 

 attempt to climb to the throne of Omnipotence by the 

 ladder of inductive reasoning, and to discover the 

 design and purpose of the Almighty ; or to find out 

 His nature and attributes by the only kind of reason- 

 ing which human beings are capable of, viz., that 

 founded on sensation and experience. On the con- 

 trary, the more knowledge extends, the farther we are 

 obliged to put back the inference of the direct inter- 

 ference of a personal Creator, and the less are we able 

 in analogy with our own nature to argue the being- 



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