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    insinuating themselves into the crevices of an antient edifice , prepare its infallible ruin , ages before its fall ; or that of the apparently inert moisture , which is

    concealed in the fissures of a rock , when enabled , by the expansive force of congelation , to rend asunder its mass , or to heave it from its basis . " Phil . Es , 4 to . Edin . 1810 . Prelim . Diss . ch . iL pp . 71—73 .

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    On the Evidence of ^ the Existence of the Deity , and the Incomprehensibility ef the Dtvine

    Nature . The belief of the existence of the deity seems to be a constant attendant of the human mind in all circumstances , and an opinion

    in which all mankind are united however much separated by time and place , if the uniform evidence of the most authentic histories , and the testimony of the most credible travellers are to be received .

    In the general points of religion , all nations have agreed ; by all a Deity has been acknowledged and worshipped ! those who have believed in a multiplicity of gods have acknowledged one supreme ; and even those who have

    appeared to worship the works of their own hands would perhaps have befcn found , on examination , to have paid their devotions to them , only as representatives of the Deity . That there have been individuals , who , from an excess of refinement , have denied the existence of the Deity ; or , from an extreme degree of ignorance , have been incapable of so sublime an idea , serves merely to display those irregularities which are in cid ^ nt to the most general princi * *****^* t tire .

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    That man is a religious animal , both by reason and instinct , is the remark of an ingenious writer ;* and it has often been doubted

    whether the human mind was ever so muY ch diseased by refinement as to deny the existence af the Deity , or so far debased by igncu ranee , as to be incapable of con . ceiving such an idea . It is indeed strongly to be suspected , that of those who have denied the

    existence of the Supreme Being , the greater part , from the affectation of appearing wiser or braver than their fellow-creatures , have

    maintained an opinion contrary to their conviction , or which has only become real by habit ; and that the human mind has ever

    appeared in a state of so great debasement ^ as to be incapable of forming such an idea , it h equajL ly to be suspected has proceeded only from want of penetration in the observer .

    The opinion of mankind upon this subject is therefore tQ be viewed as a phenomenon of na * ture , the existence of whicli h not to be doubted , but the cause to be discovered : and it become *

    merely a matter of speculative curiosity to ascertain those circuin * stances which produce so general a conviction upon the huraau mind .

    In tracing the origin of our opinions , as well as of our sensations , we do not always perceive the true causes from which they arise ;

    and it ought not to create surprise , that a question concerning causes which are remote , although their influence is powerful , will be viewed in different lights by i .. . t > t _ , . ^ . t .... j ^ Jl ^ - Am « J | i ' I II

    • Burkfc .

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    On the Existence of the Deity . \ 4 § f

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1811, page 149, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2414/page/21/