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    equivalent for the happ ^ tie ^^ ithd ^ r ^ etit lif # 9 ^ wlik ^ h ^ i ^ t ^ woitli ^ having unless we are allowed to Js&AdbewMl h . He would say to his Miakerv Receive back thy gift , which in wiyWiitatiknfr'iil of dubious value , if limited to this world , if I am not authorilzed to stretch my views forward to an existence immortal like thy own . Here we feel it impossible to go along with him . We eahnot presume to say how much or how little it is consistent with the perfections of God to bestow on his creatures . We are grateful for the

    animating hopes which he has seen fit to hold out to us ; but , after having Enjoyed the blessings of this life , we should have no right to impeach his goodness or justice , though we were not encouraged to extend our views beyond it . There may be many things which ' appear to us incomplete or mysterious , and it may be true that the hypothesis of a future state would enable us to solve some of these mysteries ; but with our imperfect faculties and limited knowledge , we cannot be entitled to pronounce that thus , and thus only , can a solution of the difficulty be obtained . ¦ ^ ^ ( '

    Mr . Jevons admits , however , that this supposition , while unsupported by more direct evidence , is nothing more than a plausible presumption * For this direct evidence the Christian flies to the pages of revelation ^ and ! Wef rejoices to find it there engraved in clear and legible characters ^ Our author labours to shew that , independently of the general considerations ^* ready noticed * there are marks in the present state of a design which

    necessarily by its very nature points to futurity . Such marks he thinks he finds in those circumstances of our present condition , which peculiarly adapt it to the purpose of moral education or discipline . These appear to indicate to the reflecting and enlightened mind , that the present scene is far from being the whole of our existence , but is the commencement of a great career of intellectual and moral improvement , which is destined to he -renewed and continued in another state . /

    "The universal necessity imposed upon us of engaging in active employments ; the social relations in which we are placed , and which are so well calculated to draw forth social affections ; the close connexion which His been shewn to subsist between virtue and hapiness , together with the progressive nature of our moral sentiments ; the diversity of human character ; and

    that stimulus to useful exertion , that incentive to every thing great and good , which is found in what wb call the ills of life;—these circumstances combined afford sufficient evidence that the formation of mind and character is th $ great ; object of the present state , and this is an object which necessarily in itp own nature points to futurity . "—Vol . II . p . 221 .

    It is under these heads that Mr . Jevons reduces the considerations on which he princi p ally relies , as proving that the present condition of human life necessarily implies and indicates a future state of existence . He has illustrated them with very great ability , and it is no more than justice to say that we consider the whole argument , in the form in which he has presented it * as well deserving a careful and thorough examination . No one , we think , c ; an rise from its perusal without improvement ; without new views of t ; he

    wisdom and goodness displayed in the manner in which the frame , the 4 utie& and the expectations of man appear to be adapted to each other ; without an impression highly favourable to the head and the heart of the wiiter ; without admiring the j ust reasoning , founded upon a correct observation of men aod things , which it evinces , and which has enabled him to derive i from the appearances of nature so , striking an illustration of those prospects , the clear revelation of whklv the Christian chen ^ h ^ a ^ jlhe i $ < tf , % Yaiuahle gift of ^ QodM hk iQf ^ tw ^ Si Tfaw ^ i ^ efej ^ haye felt it our dm \ yf

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    8 jg Review * —Jewm * * Systematic Mommy >

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1827, page 898, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1803/page/42/