167 
of judgment to come, — the philosopher might well (however 
vainly) wish himself back in their place ; or even go further in 
rebellious thought against his destiny, and say to himself with 
the poet of despair — 
Know that, whatever thou hast been, 
’Twere something better not to be ! 
The origin of man has been amongst all nations a subject 
of the deepest interest. The traditions of the earliest ages 
have been treasured up ; and, though mixed with abundant 
fables, have furnished deeply interesting materials for thought. 
It is not much to the credit of modern research that the alone 
authentic source of information should be superseded and 
quietly ignored by our philosophers. Much more worthy of 
the dignity of man's reason are the verses of Milton ; when he 
says in his harmonious verse, — 
How charming is Divine philosophy, 
Not harsh and crabbed as dull fools suppose, 
But musical as is Apollo’s lute, 
And a perpetual source of nectared sweets. 
True Philosophy, i.e., Divine Philosophy, begins with the 
first words of Scripture ; not by God proving His own exist- 
ence, but evidencing Himself by His works. God saw that 
His creation was “good,” according to His own standard. 
“ To philosophise is to render the causes and ends of things. No man, 
therefore, that denietli God can do this truly. For the taking away of the 
First Cause maketh all things contingent. . . . Wherefore nature and the 
causes and reasons of things duly contemplated, naturally lead us unto God, 
and is one way of securing our veneration of Him ; giving us, not only a 
general demonstration of His Being, but a particular one, of most of the 
several qualifications thereof. For all goodness, righteousness, proportion, 
order, truth, or whatever else is excellent and amiable in His creatures, it is 
the demonstration of the like in God. For it is impossible that God should 
ever make anything, not like Himself, in some degree or other. These 
things, and the very notions which we have of them, are conceptions issuing 
from the womb of the Divine Nature.” * 
This, I take it, is the strong, immutable foundation of truth 
and of all knowledge, of which man can by any means possess 
himself. God is not only the source of stability, but all 
things are stable only in Him. “ In Him we live, and move, 
and have our being." He is not only the source of beauty 
and of harmony, but the beauty and the harmony must be in 
Him before they exist in His works. 
Man was created with free will, and was intended to exer- 
cise this free will in harmony with God. He had not essential 
* N. Grew, M.D., F.B.S., The Anatomy of Plants, p. 79. 
VOL. XV. X 
