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by no means undeserved terms of respect and adrriiratfan in which he speaks of the subject of his remarks , that the continuance for ten or twelve years more of such a life as that of Mrs . Cappe would be acknowledged by him as one of those cases . But if this is granted , then it necessarily
follows ( since we are agreed that the adaptation of this world for a scene of moral discipline requires that it should be governed according to general laws ) , that all the circumstances which , in conformity with those laws , must be combined in order to
accomplish this purpose , must also have been foreseen and provided for from the beginning . And however limited and imperfect our knowledge may be of the manner in which the various incidents and changes which occur in the world are connected with each
other , we cannot fail to perceive that events of such magnitude that it is impossible for any one to suppose them to be overlooked , who believes that the Divine Being concerns himself in the remotest degree with the affairs of his creatures , are continually
dependent upon circumstances which , but for this connexion , would have been considered as trifling and unimportant . Now , if all this be admitted , ( and liow it is to be disputed by any one who believes in a Providence at all , I cannot conceive , ) I am at a loss to
understand upon what grounds we can hesitate to assent to Mrs . Cappe ' s conclusion in the passage which has given rise to this discussion ; namely , that it was the intention of a gracious Providence , by these means , at that lime , to preserve her life . ic It may be asked " she continues , " could not
life have been preserved in a much shorter way , by simply preventing the accident ? I answer , undoubtedly ; but let it be remembered , that the mercy would then have been wholly tmperceived , and , consequently , that not one of the salutary convictions
would have been felt , which similar dangers and similar deliverances are intended to produce . " Mr . L # . finds in this argument only a fit subject for ridicule . To my mind , I confess , it suggests graver reflections . When I consider that the present worid is a * cene of trial , probation and discipline ,
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intended to prepare us for another and more eaduriag state , can 1 doubt that the circtimstances in \ vhich the heirs of immortality are placed , are regulated with a view to the promotion of this great and glorious object ? Why , then , should it be thought a thing incredible , that one of the pur .
poses intended to be answered by the dispensations of the present life should be to prove in us those dispositions and feelings which may fit us for our heavenly inheritance ? From a view of the constitution of our bodily frame , natural theology has derived some of her strongest proofs of the infinite wisdom and benevolence of our
Almighty Creator ; and it is thought not unreasonable to suppose that a Being who could have conferred upon U 9 our various faculties at once , by a fiat of his omnipotent word , has chosen rather to resort to a complex organization , in order to afford his rational
creatures an opportunity of tracing the marks of wise design , manifested in the works of nature j—why , then , should it bethought absurd to suppose that in the dispensations of Providence , his object has been not merely
to accomplish the purpose immediately in view , but atso to impress more forcibly on our minds a conviction of our dependence on him for every good gift , and to lead us to
perceive and admire the display of his natural and moral perfections in the government of the universe ? But , it is said , that in many instances we are unable to perceive this . ; the ways of Providence are often inscrutable . It
is granted ; but is this any reason , why , in those cases where we can trace his counsels , however imperfectly , we should fail to do so ? Still more , is there any reason why , in those cases where we have ourselves
received any signal benefit , or have been delivered from some impending calamity , we are to refuse to contemplate in the beneficent dispensatio n the agency of him in whom we live and move and have our being ? Jn such cases are we to rest in second causes ?
Are we bound , on pain of being contemned aa weak and ub philosop hic reaaoners , to look ho further than the laws of gravitation or , of muscu lar cjm . tra ^ tion , ia \ d to refrain from lifting up oixr thoughts to tfant 'great Being
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402 Mr . W . Turner ' s ttepty to " Remarks on a J % f / fc ** fe ? Previifcnce **
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1823, page 402, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1786/page/34/
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