Is man, in whom alone is pow'r to prize And hence as annihilation is no part of the Divine scheme in the vast range of visible creation,—as amidst the numerous changes of tangible things not one item is lost, but new combinations are formed, and the quantum of created substance continues undiminished- -as the intelligent principle in man is a simple, immaterial, something incapable of decomposition or change,—as material things are incomparably inferior to consciousness and rationality, as the former could only be created with reference to mind and intelligence; can we rationally admit, that matter is thus carefully preserved while minds are left to perish;-that substances continue from age to age, while souls, capable of giving increasing beauty and variety to nature's richest scenes, evaporate at death, and are blotted from the list of beings?-This cannot be. But the obvious conclusion to which the mind under such circumstances comes is, that the intelligent principle for which matter was formed, will not only survive the clay tenement in which it is placed, and continue long as the sun runs his race in the firmament, and scatters his beams through the system of which he is the centre, and long as the earth revolves on its axis, and retains its present mode of existence; but that when the sun is extinguished, the visible heavens are folded up,-and the present fashion of the earth has passed away, the soul will flourish in immortal youth.. The arguments from the world continued.-A brief view of the moral disorders and irregularities of which it is the theatre. The unequal, and supposing man to exist only here, the unjust distribution of its contents. In the preceding lecture I proposed to notice the arguments in favour of the immortality of the soul which are derived from the world; and having offered some remarks on the design of its origin, the beauty, harmony, and variety which it possesses; and the changes through which many of its parts and ingredients pass without the slightest trace of annihilation, I will now proceed to consider, 4. The moral disorders, and irregularities of which it is the theatre. Here I might enter on a very extensive range of thought, for the moral disorders and irregularities of which this world, has been the theatre, from the commencement of crime to the present hour, are an almost exhaustless theme. A very partial glance must, however, for the present suffice. To enter fully into the subject is a task from which of necessity I decline; for it would occupy a portion of time which would far exceed the bounds of prudence. In exploring the matter fully, I must transcribe whole volumes of history, and minutely scan the various parts of the known world. For I would ask, what subject has principally engaged the attention of the historian? what is the leading theme in his composition? and what the burden of his communications to following posterity? Is it not a melancholy, but too true an account of the moral disorders and confusion of our world,-the irreligious policy of senators, the conflicts of nations,-the horrors of war,-the villanies of heroes,--and the commotions and conflicts of the human race? Wherever we wander on the face of the earth, we are met with the appalling scenes of modern conflict, or stunned with the faithful, though imperfect record, of past confusion. We stand amazed at the infernal composition of perfidy, avarice, cruelty, injustice, and fiend like revenge; of wars, rapine, devastation, and bloodshed. In the progress of our enquiry, so great and constant has been the moral ferment of which this world has been the theatre, we find that nation has ever been contending with nation, and empire clashing with empire. We see tyrants exercising the most horrid cruelties, superstition and idolatry immolating millions of victims, heroes possessed of the genuine character of villains, prowling over the world, turning fruitful fields into a wilderness, burning towns and villages, plundering palaces and temples, making the air resound with the clangour of war and the groans of the dying, bereaving wives of their husbands, mothers of their sons, and children of their fathers, spreading countries with the mantle of sorrow, drenching the earth with human blood, and erecting their thrones on the carnage of men and ruins of nations. Time would fail us in attempting to point out the disorders and moral anarchy produced by Alexander, who, with his numerous armies, drove the ploughshare of destruction through surrounding nations, levelled their cities with the dust, massacred their inoffensive inhabitants, and committed indescribable ravages, in order to gratify the madness of his ambition, and secure the honours attatched to an hero-By Xerxes who, fired with pride and the lust of ambition, led forward an army of three millions of infatuated wretches, to be slaughtered by the indignant Greeks.By Alaric, who, with his barbarous, hordes, ravaged the southern countries of Europe, overturning the most splendid monuments of art, pillaging the metropolis of the Roman empire, and deluging its streets and houses with the blood of the slain.-By Tamerlane, who, overrun Persia, India, and other regions of Asia, carrying slaughter and devastation in his train, and who displayed his sportive cruelty by pounding three or four thousand people at a time in large mortars, and by building their bodies with bricks and mortar into a wall. By the six millions of Crusadors, who, marching in wild confusion through the eastern parts of Europe, devoured all before them like an army of locusts, breathed destruction to the Jews and Infidels, and massacred the inhabitants of western Asia with infernal fury.-By Jonghiz Kan, who, with his immense forces, ravaged the kingdoms of eastern Asia, to an extent of fifteen millions of square miles, beheading one hundred thousand prisoners at once, convulsing the world with terror, and utterly exterminating from the earth fourteen millions of human beings.-By Marius and Sylla, who, by their ambitions and jealousies embroiled the the Romans in all the horrors of a civil war, for five days deluged the city of Rome with the blood of her citizens, transforming the heads of her senators with polls, and dragging their bodies to the forum to be devoured by infuriated dogs. By Nero, who trampling on the laws of nature and society, plunged into the most abominable debaucheries, practised cruelties which fill the mind with horror,murdered his wife Octavia, and his mother Agrippina, insulted heaven and mankind by offering up thanks to the Gods on the perpetration of his crimes, and set fire to Rome that he might amuse himself with the universal terror and despair which that calamity inspired. By the Goths and Vandals who, rushing from east to west, and from north to south, like a torrent swept before them A every vestige of civilization and art, butchered all within their reach, without destinction of age or sex, and marked their path with rapine, desolation, and carnage.By the cruelties of the Romish See, who, without distinction or mercy slaughtered the mild and pious Albigensis, and transformed their peaceful abodes into scenes of consternation and horror; while the inquisition has tortured thousands of devoted victims, men of piety and virtue, and committed their bodies to the flames. In fact, there have been æras when the whole earth has appeared to be little else then one great field of battle, in which the human race seemed to be threatened with utter extinction. What can we say of the Vandals, Huns, Sarmatians, Alans, and Suevi, who ravaged Gaul, Spain, Germany, and other parts of the Roman empire;-of the Goths, who plundered Rome, and laid waste the cities of Italy;→ of the Saxons and Angles who overran Britain, and overturned the government of the Romans;—of the armies of Justinian, and of the Huns and Vandals, who desolated Africa, and butchered mankind by millions;-of the forces of Scythia, who rushing with resistless impulse on the Roman empire, desolated the countries, and almost exterminated the inhabitants wherever they came;-of the Persian armies, who pillaged Herrapolis, Aleppo, and the surrounding cities, reducing them to ashes, and laying waste all Asia, from the Tigris to the Bosphorus;-of the Arabians, who under Mahomet and his successors, extended their conquests over Syria, Palestine, Persia, and India, on the east; and over Egypt, Barbary, Spain, and the Islands of the Mediterranean, on the west; and cut in pieces with their swords all the enemies of Islamism;-and of the commotions and distresses in Europe, while every kingdom was shattered to its centre. In the Mahometan empire,inAsia, the Caliphs, Sultans, and Emirs, were waging continual war. New h |