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losbphicai fend' absfcrdi ^ Unauthorized bf any appearances , and inconsistent with those viewa which both reason and revetoglot * require . us to form of the infinite perfections of the Divine Nature . At the same time that he considers every phenomenon which
attracts his attention as arising from the immediate exertion of divine power , he perceives that the purposes of infinite wisdom and goodness re * onire that these phenomena should to
succeed each oQiei * according um > form and invariaWe laws . If it were otherwise , the experience of the past could not form a rule for the future ; and this world wo « M no longer be fitted for the education and discipline of rational and moral creatures .
These are conclusions which are evidently as open to Mm as to the believer in a mere general Providence . And it is impossible , I think , to read the passage referred to with the attention which it deserves , without
perceiring that with the truth " of these conclusions Mrs . Cappe ' s mind was fully impressed . Not a word do we there find of any express or miraculous interference ;—on the contrary , in every particular of the story , the natural causes * of the circumstances ,
( some of them such as we should call trivial and minute , ) the combination of which was necessary to bring about the important consequence , are distinctly related ;—so distinctly , indeed , that I am at a loss to imagine how
your correspondent , who has been at the pains of transcribing , and , therefore , must of course have read the whole passage , should hav « so completely misconceived it . Mrs . Cappe had
too much humility and good sense , as well as sound philosophy , to suppose that a miracle was to be wrought for her preservation . Nevertheless , the whole of ftff . L . ' s subsemietti reasoning is founded on this false ; and
gratuitous assumption . Or , perhaps , he really considers * every event > winch ¦ » - » it is scarcely necessary to observe ^ that by this term I must be understood 'n this place to meanuot efficientbut
, , Physical causes only ; or those antecedent circumstances tvhicfe Uniformly and inVai-™ My precede th e * effect . Of efficient causes , property * ftd-acrfctfly ^ eaflfeU , f ^ knowledge bm ? one . * V
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is supposed to have an immediate reference % q $ on > e important purpose , as implying a miraculous interference . If this be his definition of a miracle ^ there is an end of the argument $ for
his error will then appear to arise merely from that indistinctness of ideas which is the necessary consequence of a vague and inaccurate use of language .
According te Mr . L . it was assuming an unwarrantable degree of personal importance in the author to suppose that her preservation could be an object of sufficient magnitude to attract the attention of the Almighty . It would so , if she had imagined that
she was an object of divine superin * tendence in any peculiar or exclusive manner ;—tout if she , at the same time , believed that every other human being , nay , every otheF creature pos ?
sessed of life and sense , was an imme-r diate object of its Creators regard ., it is obvious that a complete heek must have been imposed upon all such feel * ings . For my own part * I should say it indicated a much more
unwarrantable degree of presumption for a finite mortal to pronounce what objects were , and what were not , of si * fficient value to deserve the immediate attention of the Supreme , or to limit either the possible or the actual exercise of his infinite attributes in watching ovef the interests of all the creatures which
he hath made * If it is not derogatory to his dignity to suppose that divine power was employed in the formation even of a worm or an insect , surely it cannot be unreasonable to believe that infinite wisdom and goodness are also
displayed in providing for its sustenance and enjoyment . And if so , would it be irrational or presumptuous to suppose , even if we had no better ground than our own unassisted rearson for the persuasion , tnat he wiU
much more care for the interests of the children of men ? Indeed , to sappose otherwise would be to destroy to every practical purpose the belief in a mbral gavernm « n £ exere&ed by God over his creatures , If , then , Mr .
L . admit * that any case © can be proposed in which tlm welfare or preser vation of an individual ^ hiiman being wouldr be not tmfleBetvkig of the Divine regard , we are < mtiufed , I think , to * presume , from the very high but
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Mr * IF * SR ^^^^ ot ^ P ® to-. $ Rem&rHs « n ^ r PmAcvfap PrnvidsnceJ * 401
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vol . xviiu 3 p
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1823, page 401, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1786/page/33/
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