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m ankind ) ir must be determinedL bv ! u knowledge of the actuac Jeehn&s If men in-general , during the whole uf their mortal existence , as far as these can by any means be ascerthat od
tained . Should it . appear £ o prepo nderates over , evjl , and happiness outweighs the miseries oflife , a strong presum ptive argument is hereby furnished for perfect ultimate felicity , when the scheme of the divine
government respecting man completed . Should the reverse , however be established , and it be clearly shewn that evil prevails more than good , pain and distress more than ease and comfort ; even in this case so many
proofs present themselves of the benevolence of God in the constitution of nature , and the salutary tendencies of evils xhemselves , that we should be justified in inferring the necessity of them to such an extent , in this introductory scene , but not in concluding that therefore evil will eventually triumph over good . As to the estimate of which 1 am
treating , let the comparison be fairly made on an enlarged view of the aggregate of mankind , and the evir dence , 1 think , appears in favour of the coinforts o £ life exceeding its infelicities . On this extensive scale should the inquiry be conducted , and liot confined to the peculiarly sad
condition of certain individual sufferers , or to such times as the present , when more than usual distress prevails . Neither is it necessary , in order to vindicate the wisdom and goodness of our heavenly Father , or tp prove the prevalence of happiness over misery , to assert that uie pleasing
sensations of every human being , whether he remains on . the sUge of life for a longer or shorter period , exceed his painful feelings . That in some particular cases the latter should ^ ceed the former seems unavoidable , unless the Deity deviated fro / n those iwerallaws which he has established , and according to , which he sees it best to act .
1 now proceed to the examination ; ° t the first and principal of the objec-^ ons , ( and indeed chiefly the foun-«! of the others ) which Y . N . 1 *?? 8 amst ^ e divine government , I * * respects the happiness of the pre-% . *** f "In contemp « lating human IS ? ' * £ y he , the first consideraoi X . * i ^ self is > that men llke * animals , increase in number or ¦
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multiply much faster , than their means of subsistence . " He is however , mistaken in supposing that no writers on this subject have attempted to answer * this argument . The fact i * admitted by Dr . Paley , in his " Natural Theology , " and the observations which he makes on this part of the
constitution of things 1 shall transcribe , as tending at least to abate the force of the objection . " The order of generation proceeds by something like a geometrical progression . The inci * ease of provision under
circumstances even the most advantageous , can only assume the form of an arit }* metic series . Whence it follows that the population will always overtake the provision , will pass beyond the line of plenty and will continue to increase , till checked by the difficulty of procuring subsistence . "—Paley * s Hat . Theol . p . 548 .
" In what concerns the human species , it may be a part of the scheme of Providence , that the earth should be inhabited by a shifting or perhaps a circulating population . In this economy , it is possible there may be
the following advantages ; when old countries are become exceedingly corrupt , simpler modes of life , purer morals and better institutions may rise up in llew ones , whilst fresh soils reward the cultivator with more
plentiful returns . Thus the different portions of the globe come into use in succession as the residence of man . ** —P . 52 O . Wjrcn a country possesses a greater population than trie means of affording it provisions , distress must be the result to a portion of its inhabitants
-The evils however arising from such a state of things will not , generally speaking , rush on them suddenly , but approach , b y gradual * leps . As the difficulties increase of procuring a livelihood , many of the lower classes of society , especially mechanics and husbandmen , are induced to remove to
countries less thickly inhabited , and which promise to reward their exertions with a more comfortable sub-j sistence . Hereby the barren desert becomes a fruitful field , and the wilderness , before the haunt of beasts of prey , in due time is changed into a sale and commodious habitation for
man ; «* joy and gladness , " in the words of the prophet , " are found therein , thanksgiving , and the voi c ^ . j w X ~ r
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Mr . Howe in Answer to Y . N . \ s Objection to the Divine Government . 681
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1816, page 581, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2457/page/17/
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