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Physical and Metaphysical Inquiries . - » 7 Si
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ira . 1 . We may attach as many fanciful properties as we please to the idea bf self-existence ; but A \ that is essential to it is included in the idea of indestructibility . This , therefore is , in my opinion , the hinge of the controversy , and
to this point alone we sh » n direct our attention , Is matter destructible or not ? What is the common idea of destruction ? It is the separation of the parts of a body formerly united ; it is the breaking up of a former connection by superior attraction and power : this we daily see take place ; but every
experiment proves that the materials are never de troyed . It may be said , that it is only indestructible because the Deity has made it so . But as it possible tnat the Deity could communicate to any other thing that which is the distinguishing property of his being ? This would he makine his creatures equal to himself ;
it would be bestowing upon them a property which he could not have taken , to himself if he had not originally possessed it-. The opinion is absurd . The eternal existence of the Deity is admitted upon evidence arising from the principles of reason alone , without afty
support from sense or experiment . With what consistency then can we reject the claim of matter , when both experiment and reason ' concur in supporting it ? If the voice of reason is to be heard in support of the existence of the Deity , it must also be listened to in support of the claims of matter .
But before we proceed to another chapter , we think it right to point out one or two trilling errors , that the author may correct them in a future edition . At page 8 5 it is hinted that whenever chemical decompositions are produced by caloric ,
they arc occasioned by the superior attractions of caloric . The commonly received opinion is , that there , is a mutual repulsion existing in the particles of caloric , and that it is this repulsion that produces the separa-
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tion of the parts of such bodied as are submitted to the action , of heat . Page 87 , it is said > u Water occupies a less spac
known that water , in cooling , begins to expand when it is cooled down to 42 ° . 5 . which has been called the maximum of density , and that it expands whether it is heated beyond that point , or cooled below it . These are trifling errors which the author wjll not blame us for noticing .
The second essay , < ' Of Deity /' commences with an examination of the question , whether the order we perceive in nature were produced by an intelligent Being , which he determines in the affirm - ative , and supports by yery
cogent arguments , and illustrates in a style of lucid eloquence * This chapter was written , we are informed , before Dr . Paley ' s " Natural Theology ' . ' had appeared ; and we must allow that that work , though excellent , has not superseded the author ' s
inquiries . One branch of the subject is-here more fully and ably discussed than it has ever been bofore , namely , an examination of the capacities and powers of matter , as calculated to produce that order , and all that
machineryand variety which appear in Nature ' s works , without the direct tion of an intelligent Being . The author mxt considers the character of Deity , and concludes whh an exarrmialion of the question , " Whether ^ the Deity be
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1807, page 275, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2380/page/51/
