CLASSIFICATION OF CAUSES. “_A deficient cause_ is when the effect owes its existence in a great measure to the absence of something which would have prevented it, so that this may be reckoned a negative rather than a positive cause: the negligence of a gardener, or the want of rain, are the deficient causes of the withering of plants; and the carelessness of the pilot, or the sinking of the tide, is the cause of a ship’s splitting on a rock; the forgetfulness of a message is the cause of a quarrel among friends, or of the punishment of servants; the not bringing a reprieve in time is the cause of a criminal’s being executed; and the want of education is the cause why many a child runs headlong into vice and mischief; the blindness of a man, or the darkness of the night, are the causes of stumbling; a leak in a boat is a deficient cause why the water runs in and the boat sinks; and a hole in a vessel is called a deficient cause why the liquor runs out and is lost. Man is the deficient cause of all his sins of omission, and many of these carry great guilt in them. “_A permissive cause_ is that which actually removes impediments, and thus it lets the proper causes operate. Now this sort of cause is either natural or moral. A natural permissive cause removes natural impediments or obstructions, and this may be called a deobstruent cause. So opening the window shutters is the cause of the light entering the room; cleaning the ear may be the cause of a man’s hearing music who was deaf before; breaking down a dam is the cause of the overflowing of water and drowning a town; letting loose a rope is the cause of a ship’s running adrift; leaving off a garment is the cause of a cold and a cough; and cutting the bridle of the tongue may be the cause of speech to the dumb. “_Note._—The cause which removes natural impediments may be a proper efficient cause with regard to that removal, yet it is not properly efficient, but merely permissive with regard to the consequences of that removal. “_A moral permissive cause_ removes moral impediments, or takes away prohibitions, and gives leave to act: so a master is a permissive cause of his scholars going to play; a general is the same cause of his soldiers plundering a city; and a repeal of a law against foreign silks is the permissive cause why they are worn. “_Query._—Was not God’s permission of Satan to afflict Job rather natural than moral, since his mischievous actions did not become lawful thereby, and since it is now become his nature to do mischief where he has no natural restraint?