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    f f Vi whole of nature have relations to each other . But as it is obvious that all ° t have future unknown consequences , so if we trace any , as far as we can go , ^ f hit is connected with it , we shall find that if such event were not connected 1 T 1 'fh omewhat further in nature unknown to us , somewhat hoth past and present , V X 1 S yent could not possibly have been at all . Nor can we give the whole account S ° * v one thing whatever ; of all its cauSes , ends , and necessary adjuncts , those ° rT ^ ncts I mean , without which it could not have been . By this most astonishing 3 ection , these reciprocal correspondences and mutual relations , everything which C See in the course of nature is actually brought about . " Having secured this admission , let us see what light it throws on the ro-ument . Tlie world is a world made by God : —

    " And that which constitutes this our trial , in both these capacities , must be mewhat either in our external circumstances , or in our nature . For , on the one 1 nd persons may be betrayed into wrong behaviour upon surprise , or overcome on ' any other very singular and extraordinary external occasions , who would therwise h ave p reserved their character of prudence and of virtue : in which cases V one > in speaking of the wrong behaviour of these persons , would impute it to uch particular external circumstances . And on the other hand , men who have contracted habits of vice and folly of any kind , or Jiave some particular passiotis in excess , will seek opportunities , and , as it were , go out of their way to gratify t hemselves in these respects , at the expense of their wisdom and their virtue ; led to it as every one would say , not by external temptations , but by such habits and

    mssions . And the account of this last case is , that particular passions are no more coin cident wit h prudence , or that reasonable self-love the end of which is our worldly int erest , than they are with the principle of virtue and religion , but ofWh draw contrary ways to one as well as to the other ; and so such particular passions are as much temptations to act imprudently with regard to our worldly interests as to act viciously . However , as when we say men are misled by external circumstances of temptation , it cannot but be understood that there is somewhat within themselves to render those circumstances temptations , or to render them susceptible of impressions from them ; so when we say they are misled by passions , it is always supposed t hat there are occasions , circumstances , and objects exciting these passions , and affording means for gratifying them . And therefore , temptations from within

    and from without coincide and mutually imply each other . Now the several external objects of the appetites , passions , and affections being present to the senses , or offering themselves to the mind , and so exciting emotions suitable to their nature , not only in cases where they can be gratified consistently with innocence and prudence , but also in cases where they cannot , and yet can be gratified imprudently and viciously : this as really put them in danger of voluntarily foregoing their present interest or good as their future , and as really renders self-denial necessary to secure one as the other ; * " . e ., we are in a like state of trial with respect to both , by the very same passions , excited by the very same means . Thus mankind having a

    temporal interest depending upon themselves , and a prudent course of behaviour being necessary to secure it , passions inordinately excited , whether by means of example or by any other external circumstance , towards such objects , at such times or in such degree as that they cannot be gratified consistently with worldly prudence , are temptations—dangerous , and too often successful , temptations—to forego a greater temporal good for a less ; i . e ., to forego what is , upon the whole , our temporal interest for the sake of a present gratification . This is a description of our state of trial in our temporal capacity . Substitute now the word future for temporal , and virtue for prudence ; and it will he just as proper a description of our state of trial in our religious capacity , so analogous are they to each other . " Again : — " Every species of creature is , we see , designed for a particular way o f life , to which the- nature , the capacities , temper , and qualifications of each species , are as necessary as their external circumstances . Both come into the notion of such state or particular way of life , and are constituent parts of it . Change a man ' s capacities or character to the degree in which it is conceivable they may he changed , and he would be altogether incapable of a human course of life , and human happiness ; as incapable as if , his nature continuing unchanged , he were placed in a world

    where he had no sphere of action , nor any objects to answer his appetites , passions , inul affections of any sort . One thing is set over against another , as an ancient writer expresses it . Our nature corresponds to our external condition . Without this correspondence there would he no possibility of any such thing as human life "lid human happiness , which life and happiness are , therefore , a result from our nuturu mid condition jointly ; meaning by human life , not living in the literal sense , but the whole complex notion commonly understood by those words . "

    All this amounts to the assertion that God made us the weak erring fiViitures we arc , made the external circuinHtances which are to cause our error , and lie has done ho in order that we may—become moral ! The o bvious answer that it would have been simpler , and , above all , kinder , to "lake us moral at once , cannot be met , except by sophistries it pains one <¦<> hear . [ We may add , parenthetically , that for ourselves , we disapprove ' "ill arguments respecting what (» od might have done , in the same way llH we disapprove arguments respecting what ho has done ; we employ ' ¦» e weapons , however , of those we combat . ] 'Hie sophistry which underlies Butler ' s argumentation , may he once Ir > oi-e illustrated in the following passage : —

    " VVe uro an inferior part of the creation of <« o < l . There are natural appearances ° * <> ur being in 11 state of degradation . And we < : ert » inly are in ii condition which ( toot nut , seem by any means the most lidvuiitiigeoiiH we could imagine or desire , ? ' ''¦ her in onr nii ' tural or moral capacity , for scouring either our present or future ! '" ' ( 'li'sl . Howevor , ibis condition , low and careful and uncerliiin as it iri , does not " Jhrd any just (/ round of complain ! . For , as men may umnitge their temporal iillan \ s with prudence , and so pass their days here on earth in tolerable ease and ''' HlJiction , by a moderate degree of enro ; no likewi . su with regard to religion , there is- no more required than what they are . well aide to do , and what they must 1 ) 0 tfivutly wanting to themselves if they neglect . And for persons to luive that 1 > U < ' upon them whirh they are well able to go through , and no more , wo naturally ?

    'insider as an equitable thing , supposing it dono by proper authority . " * 'H , wo is here represented as so easy , requiring no more than what we a *? all well able Uy do ; yet awhile ago , we heard him tell us how really Huh world seemed a discipline of vice , owing to our fallen condition ! and We would ask further , Is belief easy ' / J f I do not believe in the Bible , I Mu to bo damned , whether I have ever hoard of that ; Bible , or

    notwhether I hare even the " purity of heart" or the openness of intellect requisite or not ; if I don't believe , the penalty is certain . Is that requisition easy P Will moderate care and prudence coerce my convictions r Butler has called upon Reason as the arbiter even of Revelation . 'In answer , we call upon Reason to say what proof from " Analogy" it derives to demonstrate these propositions : — 1 st . This life is a moral trial . We are surrounded by dangers meant expressly for our fall . The Creator , in scheming the whole , of our life , foresaw that these temptations would in almost every case prevail , for he gave men temptable natures , as he gave oxygen an . affinity for phosphorus . 2 nd . But although he foresaw that men would fall , he gave them also a power of foresight which would warn them of their fall .

    3 rd . And if that foresight did not prevent their fall ( he knew it woitld not ) , then as a punishment for falling he assigned eternal agonies in firo and brimstone . 4 th . He gave them Free Will to choose between Virtue and Vice , but he gave them also a " fallen nature , " which so adapted them to vice , that he foresaw which they must follow . The moral trial thus becomes " analogous" to tight-rope dancing . Man may by sedulous efforts accomplish the perilous feat , after long training , of dancing on a tight-rope ; but we do not regard that father as a strictly moral being who forces his son to learn that perilous art , even though be the of

    " improved command of muscle ^ " consequence success , as broken bones are of failure . 1 ST or can we regard that scheme as strictly moral , which says , The Creator made men , and as Virtue is his only delight , he wished them to be virtuous ; for this purpose he placed them in a set of conditions which made virtue impossible to the vast majority , and infinitely arduous to the few ; declaring , moreover , that all who were not virtuous should suffer everlastingly ; that all who were virtuous should also suffer if they did not believe in the Book lie had written , or ca \ ised to be written , although that Book never came under the sight of millions , and seemed preposterous to the eyes of many who did behold it .

    Therefore , in the name of the New Theology against the Old , we say , that if Reason is called upon to decide in . this matter , she decides emphatically against the " Scriptural scheme" as immoral and contradictory , and against Butler ' s Analogy as a false analogy . In our next we shall extend this examination of the Analogy of Natural and Revealed Religion , for the present contenting ourselves with this illustrative passage : —

    " And suppose the invisible world and the invisible dispensations of Providence to be in any sort analogous to what appears , or that both together make up one uniform scheme , the two parts of which , the part which we see , and that which is beyond our observation , are analogous to each other , then there must be a like natural tendency in the derived power throughout the universe , under the direction of virtue , to prevail in general over that which is not under its direction , as there is in reason , derived reason in the universe , to prevail over brute force . "

    N \ B . We have received a letter from Cronippus , in reply to our first article , and we beg him to permit our withholding it until the completion of the series of articles , when we shall be happy to let him be heard in defence , no less than other correspondents who may feel disposed to take up the side adverse to our own . In making this offer , however , we must trust to the generous constructions of our correspondents , if the voluminousness or the tone of their letters do not allow us to publish all we receive . They will remember this is a newspaper , and it is only from a desire of fairness that avo admit reply at all .

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    TWO COMEDIE S . I have seen two Comedies this week , which called up more reflections * in my mind than I shall have time to express here , the more so , as you would feel but mediocre gratitude for such an assault upon your patience . One of these comedies was a work of high , pretensions ; the other was as modest as it was agreeable . Richelieu in Love is the name of the one ; the name oT the other is Married - Daughters and J ' oiinrj Husbands . An " historical comedy" was the pretension of the JIavmakkkt piece ; a " comic drama" that of the IjYCKUM piece . Rumour attributing Hi <• he lieu , in Lone to a huly , 1 will be as tender towards it as natural gallantry commands ; but this much I may perhaps state without offence , —viz ., whaLever talent the play manifested , it certainly did not manifest ; dramatic talent , —that peculiar art which is born with a man just as poetry is born with him , which no labour w ill acquire , which even genius moves inipoteiitly in , as many illustrious poets have too plainly shown , —that , art , 1 nn . y , is not , given to the authoress of Richelieu , in / . our , mid nothing on the stage will replace it . Now , that , art the young and unknown author of Married Daughters and , Young Husbands unmistakeabiy has . I do not say he haw il , in any high perfect / ion , as yet ; but the critic ; will at , once recognize in the skill with which the characters arc presented and contrasted—in the spontaneoiimioHS of the dialogue , always p leasant , if not , in the highest kind of wit , —in the dramatic touches of domestic ; feeling—and in Ihe constructive nkill- —the presence of a real dramatic instinct ; and 1 hIiiiII look forward to this young man producing 'some charming pieces , perhaps even 11 , chefd ' auvre . Ho and see the piece , and compare its gay life u ilh the lilelenHuesn of Richelieu in Love , and you will fully appreciate f he difference between a dramatic work and a literary ellort i . o be dramatic . Keinemher , I do notpresent this little drama , to you iih a wonder ; it is a quiet , modest , pleasant little two-act , niece , which would be alarmed at criticism , but , which criticism may fairly acknowledge as belonging to the Knglish drama—a , genuine little comedy . The acting in Richelieu iu Love calls for little remark . Websfor as the Cardinal was admirably made up ; and in the noono where tho Queen spurns his love , bin face and bearing were mont eloouent ; but this scene is the only opportunity he lias . Mrs . Stirling and Mrs . Belby did their

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    m November 6 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 1073

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 6, 1852, page 1073, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1959/page/21/