the light of nature, incline to think, that the old doctrine of two independent principles bids fairest for the truth, inasmuch as it solves with the greatest shew of plausibility that enigmatical contrariety which on every side presents itself. Of these two systems, when viewed abstractedly from revelation, and with a sole reference to what meets the unassisted eye, it is perhaps not very easy to determine, which is the most probable. What then is to be done, and how is the religion of the deist to be arranged? If the former system be the nearest to the truth, he will act wisely in cultivating virtue: but if, all the while, the latter be the reality, it behoves him then to take heed to his ways; for what is pleasing to the good God will infallibly be displeasing to the bad God, and what delights the bad God will assuredly offend the good God. Which of the systems is true and which is false, or whether each of them be not alike unfounded, the deist, so far as I can comprehend, has no means of determining. Hence, however he may please to modify what is called the religion of nature, he can never know, whether his religion, with the line of conduct grafted upon it, be a delight or an abomination to the Divinity whom he wishes to honour." SECTION III. Discusses the difficulties attendant upon deistical infidelity in regard to historical matter of fact. Here Mr. Faber shews that it has been so ordered by a wise and over-ruling Providence, that, in the case of various historical matters of fact, the deist is inevitably reduced to the alternative, either of denying the fact itself, or of admitting that a revelation from God to man must have taken place. If, on the one hand, he boldly denies the fact; then he unsettles the rationale of historical evidence, and brings himself (would he preserve the character of consistency) into a state of universal scepticism as to all past occurrences: if, on the other hand, he admits the fact, then he will find himself compelled to admit along with it the necessary concomitant fact of a Divine revelation. So that, under this aspect of the question, the point will be, whether a man evinces a higher degree of credulity, by persuading himself that a recorded fact is absolutely false, notwithstanding it rests upon the very strongest historical evidence; or by believing the fact, and thence admitting, its necessary consequence, a revelation from heaven. From the fact of the general deluge, taken as a specimen of the mode of reasoning from historical matter of fact, Mr. Faber conceives may be demonstrated the additional fact of a direct intercourse between man and his Creator, or (in other words) of a revelation from God to man. He then proceeds to exhibit some of the proofs of this occurrence; and which he divides into historical, physical, and moral. I. Historical proof built upon the attestation of all nations to the fact of a general deluge. "All mankind unite in attesting the same circumstance: and they all agree, with surprising uniformity, in their details. From North to South, and from East to West; in Europe, in Asia, in Africa, in America; the story of a general deluge never fails to present itself. A former world had attained to a high pitch of daring wickedness. The gods were resolved to destroy it. A single pious family, with a sufficient number of birds and beasts and reptiles, were preserved in a large ship, while every thing else perished beneath the waters of an universal inundation. The family consisted of eight persons: an old man and his wife, his three sons and their wives. When the waters began to abate, they sent out a raven and a dove: and, when the delnge had sufficiently subsided, their ship came to land upon the summit of a lofty mountain. By their descendants the present world was gradually filled with inhabitants.' “This, in substance, is the general tradition of all nations in every quarter of the globe. The story may be told more fully or less fully, more intermingled See Bryant's Anal. ii. 195-251; Faber's Orig. of Pagan Idol. book iii. c. 4.; and Hora Mosaicæ, book i. sect. 1. chap 4. 2d edit. with fable, or more free from fable; but still, under every modification, such is its universal drift and purport," p. 51. It should be observed, that Mr. Faber speaks not here of those modern nations, whether Pagan or Mahomedan, to whom the facts might have been circuitously conveyed through the medium of Christianity: but of those ancient nations, who flourished long before the promulgation of the Gospel, and who plainly received their knowledge of the fact from remote primeval inpependent tradition. It is next shewn that this tradition does not merely float down the stream of time in a state of vague subsistence; but that the facts, which it embraces, are embodied in the national mythology and religion of every people. Strong indeed must have been the recollections of the deluge, when its leading facts are thus systematically embodied in the popular mythology of every Pagan nation! And as it is utterly incredible that all mankind should have agreed in attesting this circumstance, if no such circumstance ever occurred, this universal attestation, on every principle of historical evidence, may be considered as a proof of the alleged fact. 2. Mr. Faber proceeds to adduce the Physiological proofs of this fact, built upon the existing phenomena of the globe which we inhabit. (1.) No circumstance is more thoroughly established in geology, than that the crust of our globe has been subjected to a great and sudden revolution by the agency of water. And (2.) Various physical matters testify, that this great revolution cannot have happened at a more remote period than five or six thousand years ago. These propositions are established by a close and singularly curious train of reasoning, cited from M. Cuvier's Essay on the Theory of the Earth, s. 31, 32; and which will amply recompence the trouble of a perusal. 3. With the language of nature, and with the general traditions of all nations, the evidence afforded by what Mr. Faber calls a moral proof, will still be found exactly to accord. As all the nations upon the face of the earth, which possess any records or ancient traditions, unanimously declare, that an universal deluge once took place, and that society recommenced from the epoch of that grand revolution; so every account which has come down to us of the progress of civilization, with its concomitant arts and sciences, tends to demonstrate the comparative newness of social order, and thence, incidentally, its commencement from some remarkable epoch of no stupendously remote antiquity. (1.) Civilization has always a natural tendency to spread itself more and more widely; while barbarism has a natural tendency to contract itself within more and more narrow limits. (2.) With this view of the matter, all history, down to the present time, perfectly agrees. (3.) The necessary inference from such facts is, that the population of the world is comparatively recent. "Such are the proofs, upon which the fact of the universal deluge is firmly established: nor do I see, how any man can resist such evidence, unless he will throw aside all history, resolutely shut his eyes against the researches of physiology, and boldly controvert the necessity of moral testimony. The fact therefore of the universal deluge I consider as demonstrated: whence we may fairly claim to argue from it, as we would do from any other established fact. On these reasonable principles, I may be allowed to employ it as a medium of proving the additional fact, of a direct intercourse between man and his Creator, or, in other words, of a revelation of God's purposes to his creature man. "The established fact is, that an universal deluge took place not more than five or six millenaries ago; from which a few individuals only of men and ani 'See Bryant's Mythol. and Faber's Orig. of Pagan Idol. passim. A lovely scene no more. Where plenty smil❜d, THE SILENT EXPRESSION OF NATURE. "There is no speech nor language-their voice is not heard." When o'er the canopy of heav'n I roll my charmed sight, And see the long-withdrawing ev'n The Moon in silence rears her crest, Unheard the dews around me fall, Night reigns in silence o'er the pole, The hand that moves and regulates And guides the vast machine, That governs wills, and times, and fates, Retires, and works unseen; Angelic visitants forsake Their amaranthine bow'rs, On silent wing their stations take, And watch th' allotted hours. Sick of the vanity of man, His noise and pomp and show, With inward harmony of soul I'll wait the upper sphere; Shining I'll mount above the pole, And break my silence there! - p. 81. Psalm. 19. In conclusion, we cordially recommend this elegant little volume to the parents and guardians of youth, as a highly suitable gift to the objects of their care and solicitude; calculated to inspire them with the warmest sentiments of piety and goodness, and to lead them "from Nature up to Nature's God." Biblical Envestigations. DÆMONIACAL POSSESSIONS.1 SECTION 7. THE most formidable objection to the common mode of interpretation arises from the consideration, that the dæmoniacs of the New Testament discover no symptoms, which are not common to epileptic and insane patients at present, if we make allowance for those pre-conceived notions and opinions, which human beings must necessarily entertain under very different circumstances, and at far distant periods of time; and that if dæmons, or evil spirits, were in reality the proximate causes of epilepsy, the various kinds of insanity, &c. from the age of Hippocrates to the time of our Saviour, and for many centuries after, there is no assignable reason why they should not be considered so at present. And, if the practices connected with dæmonology have in a great measure ceased among us, or are now generally exploded, it need not be ascribed to any change made by God in the great laws of nature; but to the glorious reformation of religion, the gradual diffusion of knowledge, and the salutary operation of some wise and beneficial statutes. No one will pretend to fix a period when the power of dæmons to inflict diseases first commenced, or when it ceased. The malignant agency of these beings once admitted, also, who can say how far it extends? Some, not indeed as a matter of religious faith, but of philosophical speculation, may follow Origen, who, adopting the notions of Pythagoras, supposed that dæmons were the cause, not only of human disorders, but that they also produced famines, blights, droughts, pestilence, the barrenness and diseases of cattle, &c.1 Without going so far, Bishop Hurd, Dr. Macknight, and others, as advocates for real possessions by dæmons, when pressed by this argument, were obliged to admit, that the same causes might still produce the same diseases in human beings: but it seems a sufficient answer to such a theory, that the recent discoveries of anatomy have abundantly confirmed the observations of Hippocrates, and other Greek physicians, by shewing, that the diseases supposed to be produced by dæmons are referable to natural causes. 1 Continued from p. 64. 2 See Orig. Cont. Cels. lib. viii. p. 398, edit. Spenceri, and Diog. Laert. vol. i. p. 514, edit. Meibom. H Mania and melancholia, considered as a species of insanity, are always to be referred either to particular actions of the heart, or to an irregular distribution, or malconformation of the arteries. Besides, we know that these disorders are in some cases hereditary; they are often periodical with females; and they are frequently produced by severe wounds on the head, by coups de soleil, excess of passion, and other causes. Whoever wishes for further information on this subject, may consult the curious and interesting book of Mr. Haslam, called " Observations on Madness." The official situation of this gentleman at Bethlem Hospital for many years, added to his industry and professional skill, afforded him every opportunity and facility of discovery on this melancholy subject. The reader will find in this work, that, on the dissection of a great number of patients, the causes which produced the disease, and which at last proved fatal, are accurately ascertained. Among the most general, are blood and water upon the pia mater, an enlargement of the ventricles, extravasated blood, or a mixture of blood and water on the brain. The same pathological facts have been observed by Dr. Marshall, and other eminent anatomists. With respect to epilepsy, Hippocrates says, that it is frequent in boys; and that it often ceases, at the age of puberty, from the change of constitution. By modern physicians, it is ascribed, in some cases, to a mechanical irritation of the nerves, occasioned by injuries of the head and spine; in other persons, it is caused by splinters, exostoses, tumors, or excrescences, visible on dissection, in different parts, but chiefly in the head; and frequently it arises from a malconformation of the cranium. It may be said, however, by the advocates for real possession, that however plausible this theory may be, it is no answer to the plain, literal narrative of the Holy Evangelists, which every conscientious Christian is bound to consider as the truth; and which, if attempted to be explained away on this occasion, may on any other; till at length, instead of the oracles of divine inspiration, we shall have nothing left, but what every man's own fancy might think proper to substitute in its stead. It must, indeed, be admitted, that sound judgment, united to extensive learning, the greatest candour, and critical sagacity, are sometimes necessary to determine when the language of Holy Scripture is to be taken literally, and when it is to be understood in a spiritual, or figurative sense. Those who are but slightly acquainted with the history of the Christian Church, will have equal cause, perhaps, to deplore the errors arising from the spirit of mysticism, or allegory, and the absurdity of adhering too closely to the mere letter. Of this we need no stronger proof, than the single doctrine of transubstantiation in the Romish Church, founded on the simple, but sublime expression of our blessed Lord, Take, eat; this is my body," &c. Indeed, when it is said, rather 1 Aph. vii. book 5. |