difference in the proportion of its constituent atoms occasion distress; and if the air we have breathed be contaminated, and rendered unfit to sustain animal life; and still more, if this air be peculiarly fitted for the support and nourishment of plants, which thus consume what man has impoverished, and again breathe it out purified and renewed: or if it has been wisely provided, that water, in assuming the form of ice, should become specifically lighter than in its pristine state, in order to prevent the devastating consequences of those inundations which must ensue, were the contrary the case; why, if this minute care (and the instances might be indefinitely multiplied) be taken of man's welfare (and science demonstrates that it is taken), can there be any thing incredible in the supposition, that at least equal care should have been taken of his moral, but contaminated nature, or that some provision should have been reserved, to rescue him from the devastations of sin, which come in like a flood? And can there be any thing less reasonable, less worthy of attention and of belief, in the provision which has been made in the sacrifice of Christ, for the latter instance,―recurring to the above-mentioned physical facts, than in the effect produced upon air by the respiration of plants, or on the

specific gravity of water by the change of configuration in its particles on their becoming ice?

Surely, then, my first propositions have been fully demonstrated; surely, we need not be afraid of considering reason and science as the handmaids of religion; or of seeking for an explanation of forms of being with which we are unacquainted, without at once referring them to a purely mysterious and spiritual agency. There is sometimes exhibited a fear of tracing effects to their causes, and of investigating the successive links of action and impresssion, lest we should look to second causes only, and rest in these, forgetting the Great First Cause. But this fear arises from erroneous conception. When we look to the government of God, and endeavour to trace in our view its immensity, and its moral attributes, we can only refer such agency to an infinite mind, and can form no comprehensible idea of its operation; but when we look to this government as presiding everywhere, and as acting through the use of means which have been provided, and which scientific research enables us to understand, we can then form some idea of this wonder-working agency, in some infinitesimal portion of creation: and by the infinite

multiplication of this sustaining power, our views of its grandeur, and goodness, and allpervading influence and love, are immensely increased; the rational mind is expanded, where feeling or prejudice would before have operated; and the conviction which results is of a far firmer and longer and more enduring quality, as well as more universally operative. God is everywhere we acknowledge it as an abstract truth, or as a matter of faith: but when we trace his footsteps, we see and know it. The only evil attending this investigation consists in the possibility of forgetting his primary agency; but this will be never realized where such research is undertaken with a view to his glory, and with a simple desire to be led into all truth. May God Almighty bless the present attempt to explain phenomena, which to many may appear inexplicable, and to show that He is a God of order, working by the agency of means, to the perversion, or diseased or morbid application of which by sinful man, can alone be referred those deviations from consistency, which have often been ascribed to purely spiritual agency; but which really do, for the most part, own a bodily origin.

CHAPTER II.

Division of the Subject.-Of Superstition in general.-Its essential character.-Its Varieties.-Its Causes.

In proceeding with the subject, it will be necessary to consider superstition in general, which will lead me to a notice of its causes; and, among others, that which arises from the influence of irritated brain.-The writer's views on this subject will oblige him to glance at the cerebral functions in a state of health, and under the operation of morbid action; after which his hypothesis will be applied to account for various presumed supernatural appearances and influences, to dreams, visions, ghosts, and other kindred matters.

I. Of superstition in general.

The essence of superstition consists in the belief of the existence of some supernatural power; not, however, the agency of the God of

the Christian revelation-a Being of infinite purity and holiness, of unsearchable wisdom, of boundless mercy, and goodness, and love;-a God of order, requiring the obedience of the understanding and of the heart to laws which are framed by infinite knowledge of the delusions of the former, and of the aberrations of the latter; the object of the hope, the confidence, the affection of his creatures-dwelling with the humble and the contrite-preserving all things by the word of his power, and especially extending his protection to those who love and serve him but a power, the character of which is mischievous, its attributes unknown, not founded on reason, inimical to science, unacknowledged by revelation, opposed to the happiness of man, introducing disorder into the mental functions and moral conduct, submitting the understanding and the heart to a blind and irrational impulse, prompting to evil, or paralyzing the power of doing well, and leading to distrust in the providence of God, and to disbelief of his promises. Exactly in proportion as real religion raises the tone of moral feeling, and stimulates the desire after intellectual attainment, superstition degrades the former and destroys the latter. The character of man as a moral and intellectual being is exalted and