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cated piece of machinery , we perceive that the materials of which it is made , the formation of the several parts , and the arrangement of them into one whole , are such as are adapted to the effect which we presume to have been intended . But if we had no conception of unfit materials , or of an improper form of parts , or an incongruous arrangement , the machine , how ingeniousl y soever constructed , could not impress us with any indication of design , nor , in truth , could we form any notion of ingenuity . This is self-evident : for in design are implied the contemplation of an end , and the adaptation of means ; but
to adjust means to an end , implies a choice of circumstances ; and where there can be no conception of defect , imperfection , or error , —no idea of greater or less aptitude , or an uniitness for the purpose , there can be no idea of choice , no exercise for discrimination . It is the selection of certain materials out of many sorts , the adoption of certain out of various forms of parts , and the arrangement of the whole out of various possible collocations , that display the hand of intelligence in the construction of any piece of mecbanism . The same observation is applicable to the constitution of the universe . It is from the selection of fit means to beneficial ends , out of
numberless possibilities of a contrary tendency , that we infer the intelligence and benevolence of the Author . As from uninterrupted light , we should have no idea of darkness , so from a state of things uniformly good , we should have no conception of evil or imperfection , and therefore no evidence of design or benevolence . "—Vol . II . p .
217-The reader will judge for himself of the justice of this argument . We will only suggest that it appears to exclude the possibility of a state of perfect happiness ; as we can imagine no happiness which is independent of action ; and no action which is not carried on by the adaptation of means to ends . Wherever such an adaptation is used , it is clear that there may be conceptions of a Wise and Designing Cause . In the following conclusions , it is the privilege of all consistent Theists to agree :
" Where infinity is the subject , we are necessarily bewildered ; but without perplexing ourselves with discussions , respecting the compatibility of evil with the infinitude of the Divine attributes , discussions , to which our limited faculties are wholly unequal , every reasonable mam will feel his happiness sufficiently secured in the perfection of the Deity , the source of all excellence , the most powerful , and , at the same time , the wisest and best of all Being's . The orbs , that fly with inconceivable velocity through the regions of space , proclaim his power : the manifold adaptation of means to ends , in this our lower system , displays his wisdom : and we ourselves , with the sentient
creation around us , exhibit evidences of his goodness . Our enjoyments are numberless , our sufferings comparatively few . Why the latter are not wholly excluded , or why an equal degree of happiness is not produced without the medium of evil , is a question which we vainly essay to solve . Under the charge , however , of incomprehensible wisdom , inconceivable power , and unchangeable goodness , we need entertain no apprehensions , that our happiness will not be effectually consulted . God is powerful , wise , and benevolent . Here , then , let us confidently rest , submitting , with due humility , our weak reason to the counsels of Eternal and Unerring Wisdom . "—Vol . II . p . 248 . [ To be coiitinued . ]
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[ Dr Lamartine has just been elected to the French Academy . Me has the merit of poetical talents , the far greater merit of devotion to the Bourbons . Politics often make a part , sometimes the whole , of a man ' s deservings in France , and especially at the door of the Academy ; but in
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154 Cdntate .
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CANTATfi . BV LAMARTINE .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1830, page 154, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2582/page/10/
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