Vestiges of the Natural History of CreationChambers, Robert
Science
Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation
Chambers, Robert
Creation; Evolution (Biology)
implanted in a new generation in the same way. And sometimes not one,
but several generations, may be concerned in bringing up the result to a
pitch which produces crime. It is, however, to be observed, that the
general tendency of things is to a limitation, not the extension of such
abnormally constituted beings. The criminal brain finds itself in a
social scene where all is against it. It may struggle on for a time, but
the medium and superior natures are never long at a loss in getting the
better of it. The disposal of such beings will always depend much on the
moral state of a community, the degree in which just views prevail with
regard to human nature, and the feelings which accident may have caused
to predominate at a particular time. Where the mass was little
enlightened or refined, and terrors for life or property were highly
excited, malefactors have ever been treated severely. But when order is
generally triumphant, and reason allowed sway, men begin to see the true
case of criminals—namely, that while one large department are victims of
erroneous social conditions, another are brought to error by tendencies
which they are only unfortunate in having inherited from nature.
Criminal jurisprudence then addresses itself less to the direct
punishment than to the reformation and care-taking of those liable to its
attention. And such a treatment of criminals, it may be farther
remarked, so that it stop short of affording any encouragement to crime,
(a point which experience will determine,) is evidently no more than
justice, seeing how accidentally all forms of the moral constitution are
distributed, and how thoroughly mutual obligation shines throughout the
whole frame of society—the strong to help the weak, the good to redeem
and restrain the bad.
The sum of all we have seen of the psychical constitution of man is, that
its Almighty Author has destined it, like everything else, to be
developed from inherent qualities, and to have a mode of action depending
solely on its own organization. Thus the whole is complete on one
principle. The masses of space are formed by law; law makes them in due
time theatres of existence for plants and animals; sensation,
disposition, intellect, are all in like manner developed and sustained in
action by law. It is most interesting to observe into how small a field
the whole of the mysteries of nature thus ultimately resolve themselves.
The inorganic has one final comprehensive law, GRAVITATION. The organic,
the other great department of mundane things, rests in like manner on one
law, and that is,—DEVELOPMENT. Nor may even these be after all twain,
but only branches of one still more comprehensive law, the expression of
that unity which man’s wit can scarcely separate from Deity itself.
PURPOSE AND GENERAL CONDITION OF THE ANIMATED CREATION.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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