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REVIEW. *« Still pleased to praise, yet not afraid to blame."—Por-E.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Review. *« Still Pleased To Praise, Yet Not Afraid To Blame."—Por-E.
REVIEW . *« Still pleased to praise , yet not afraid to blame . "—Por-E .
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the consideration of the objections to the two latter , arising from the existence of natural and moral evil ; and the Third comprehends the solution given to these difficulties by Revelation , especially by the Gospel , together with some Practical Inferences deducible from the speculative part of the Essay . After some observations on the
meaning of the terms Necessary Existence , Cause and Effect , the author arranges his proofs of the existence of God into the metaphysical proof ; the proof from design ; from the constitution of the faculties of the human mind ; from the almost universal assent of mankind to the truth of this
opinion ; from the appearances which , the world exhibits of a recent origin , and the traditions concerning itj and from the testimony of Scripture . The metaphysical proof stated originally by Clarke with arl acuteness and force , which , notwithstanding an
extreme prolixity , and even when his arguments fail to produce conviction , awe the mind into veneration of the strength and profoundness of the understanding that conceived them , is here given without closeness and without ability :
it extends through nearly thirty pages with an uncommon feebleness ; it has scarcely the strength of the echo of an echo y and in the very midst of an argument which supposes the greatest precision and accuracy , ^ here occur such affirmations as the following :
i 6 We have evidence equally strong" for the existence of mind as a substance entirely distinct from the body , as we have for the existence of this last , and of its peculiar properties , namely , consciousness and the
internal perception of our mental energies , as entirely distinct 'from any quality of matter . Nay , perhaps this evidence is strmngerK than that of our external seiises , by which we ascertain corporeal substance and the properties belonging to it . " —P . 64 .
And again : ** Nor in reality is it more difficult to admit the creation of matter , that is , its original production , than the production of any thing which did not exist before . The only difference lies in the superior power required and in the nature of the effects- ..
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^ J # — An Essay on the Existence of a Supreme Creator , possessed of Infinite Power , Wisdom and Goodness : containing also the Refutation from Reason and Revelation of the Objections urged against his Wisdom and Goodness : and deducing from
the whole Subject the most important Practical Inferences . By William Laurence Brown , D . D . Principal of Marischal-College and University of Aberdeen , &c . & : c . 2 vol . 8 vo . pp . 782 . Hamilton . I \ TK opened this book with
consif T derable expectation . After the $ reat minds which have engaged in the investigation of the subject of which it treats , the number and importance of the facts which they have left upon record relative to it , and the variety and
beauty of the illustrations with which they have adorned it ; though we did not anticipate much that was new , yet we did allow ourselves to hope that the benevolent and pious bequest of Mr . Burnett would call forth a work of
ability and usefulness , possessing at least closeness of reasoning and clearness of illustration—a work which the philosopher might read with pleasure , and the theological student and the general reader with profit . When we heard that the prize had been adjudged to the Essay of the Principal of
Marischal-College , we were still willing to believe that our expectation was well founded : page after page , notwithstanding the misgivings which soon began to gather on our minds , we clung fondly to this
hope , trusting that the author would rise with the interest and importance of the subject ;—but after having read ™ the end , we closed the book with the melancholy regret that the
munificence of the worthy founder of this P ^ e should only have added another proof to the sad catalogue which shows that the best efforts of benevolence are doomed in this world to disappointment . 1 he Reverend Principal divides his ^ say into Three Books . The First
gats of the Evidence of the Being of 0 (*; the Second of his Perfections , finely , his Power , Wisdom and ° odnies 3 , and enters particularly , into
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1816, page 535, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2456/page/35/
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