Vestiges of the Natural History of CreationChambers, Robert
Science
Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation
Chambers, Robert
Creation; Evolution (Biology)
In the humbler forms, but a few of the mental faculties are
traceable, just as we see in them but a few of the lineaments of
universal structure. In man the system has arrived at its highest
condition. The few gleams of reason, then, which we see in the lower
animals, are precisely analogous to such a development of the fore-arm as
we find in the paddle of the whale. Causality, comparison, and other of
the nobler faculties, are in them _rudimental_.
Bound up as we thus are by an identity in the character of our mental
organization with the lower animals, we are yet, it will be observed,
strikingly distinguished from them by this great advance in development.
We have faculties in full force and activity which the animals either
possess not at all, or in so low and obscure a form as to be equivalent
to non-existence. Now these parts of mind are those which connect us
with the things that are not of this world. We have veneration,
prompting us to the worship of the Deity, which the animals lack. We
have hope, to carry us on in thought beyond the bounds of time. We have
reason, to enable us to inquire into the character of the Great Father,
and the relation of us, his humble creatures, towards him. We have
conscientiousness and benevolence, by which we can in a faint and humble
measure imitate, in our conduct, that which he exemplifies in the whole
of his wondrous doings. Beyond this, mental science does not carry us in
support of religion: the rest depends on evidence of a different kind.
But it is surely much that we thus discover in nature a provision for
things so important. The existence of faculties having a regard to such
things is a good evidence that such things exist. The face of God is
reflected in the organization of man, as a little pool reflects the
glorious sun.
The affective or sentimental faculties are all of them liable to operate
whenever appropriate objects or stimuli are presented, and this they do
as irresistibly and unerringly as the tree sucks up moisture which it
requires, with only this exception, that one faculty often interferes
with the action of another, and operates instead by force of superior
inherent strength or temporary activity. For example, alimentiveness may
be in powerful operation with regard to its appropriate object, producing
a keen appetite, and yet it may not act, in consequence of the more
powerful operation of cautiousness, warning against evil consequences
likely to ensue from the desired indulgence. This liability to flit from
under the control of one feeling to the control of another, constitutes
what is recognised as free will in man, being nothing more than a
vicissitude in the supremacy of the faculties over each other.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account