mortality:" so that what Locke said, "To shew that all the great ends of religion and morality are secured barely by the immortality of the soul, without a necessary supposition that the soul is immaterial," he maintained "that immortality may and shall be annexed to that which in its own nature is neither immaterial nor immortal, as the Apostle has expressly declared." After having quoted from the Tusculan Questions and the sixth book of the Æneid, he proves that Cicero and Virgil put the same distinction between body and spirit as the writers of the Old and New Testaments had done. "That the one was a gross compages that could be felt and handled; and that the other, such as Virgil describes the ghost and soul of Anchises to be." The following elucidates the fact: "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." These arguments respecting the true meaning of the passage which has been here cited, Locke concludes with the following affirmation of his doctrine; which, I conceive, few persons will be hardy or bold enough to attempt to contro"Upon my principles," says Locke, “i. e. from the idea of thinking, we can have a certainty that there is a thinking substance in us; from hence we have a certainty that there is an eternal thinking substance. This thinking substance, which has been from eternity, I have proved to be immaterial. This eternal, immaterial, thinking substance, hath put into us a thinking substance, which, whether it be a material or immaterial substance, cannot be infallibly demonstrated from our ideas; though from them it may be proved, that it is to the HIGHEST DEGREE PROBABLE THAT IT IS IMMATERIAL. This, in short, my Lord, is what I have to say on this vert. point." Still modern chemists maintain that nothing but matter can act upon matter; therefore the soul, say they, is material. But Locke has proved, that there is an eternal, immaterial, thinking substance; now this eternal, immaterial, thinking substance creates, supports, and governs all things, material and immaterial: upon this we conclude that an immaterial substance CAN act upon a material substance. Thus the argument of modern chemists respecting materialism, is at one blow annihilated. We need not hesitate then in affirming with Mr. Rennell, that "Notwithstanding all the attempts which have been made to dissolve the connexion, Revelation and science will ever receive a mutual countenance and support from each other. All the labours of philosophic research have illustrated the page of Revelation, and Revelation itself has added strength and solidity to the discoveries of science."* Impressed with these ideas, and not till then, man exerts his intellectual powers to advantage here his study of philosophy and true theoretic science properly begins: it is here that the lover of wisdom inhales the purest vital air; it is in the regions of unsophisticated truth, that students in every department of scientific research employ their energies to the best possible advantage for themselves and their fellow men. * Remarks on Scepticism, page 131. CHAP. VII. Opinion that if Horne Tooke had pursued the same course of reasoning as Locke had done, respecting fundamental doctrines, he would then have been able to answer his own query respecting the substantive and the verb-application of the two preceding chapters to the question of Horne Tooke-none else than the FIRST CAUSE can say I HAVE EXISTENCE IN OR WITH MY ESSENCE-inference and exemplification of the nature of the artificial verb and definition-elucidation of five elementary parts of speech and the use of the article and other restrictives the use of supernumerary particles when reasoning on the simple proposition. IT is evident, to me at least, that if Horne Tooke had availed himself of the course of reasoning which had been adopted by Locke, respecting intellect and Revelation, and had he imbibed more accurate notions than it is manifest he did, respecting the eternal, immutable, and necessary existence, he would then, possibly, have been enabled to separate the verb from the substantive, in the artificial language of man: he would have seen the fallacy of supposing the existence of "a differential something" in the verb over and above what he conceived to be inherent in the substantive. The truth is, every step which man takes in science, should be done with exceeding humility: by night and by day he should feel himself dependent on the Being who called him into birth; on the Being who supports and incites him forward to action. And, let it be asked, what mighty stretch of thought does this require? Quòd si et illa cognoscit Deus, quidni et curet ?—is the language of the learned and philosophic Grotius, on the individual government and providence of God. But it is of little consequence to science, that we assent to the truth of any just and incontrovertible proposition, unless "by industry and patient thought, we apply it, and suffer it to influence our judgment in its decisións respecting apparently contrary circumstances. This remark is altogether applicable to science in general, and also to the one grand and fundamental proposition-there is an infinitely wise and perfect Being, who creates, supports, and governs all things. Unus est vivus, et verus Deus, æternus, incorporeus, impartibilis, impassibilis, immense potentiæ, sapientiæ, ac bonitatis, creator et conservator omnium, tum visibilium, tum invisibilium. "Most important it is," says an eloquent writer, whom I have frequently quoted, "that in every department of philosophy, the mind should be led upward to discern the intimate connexion and absolute dependence of all things upon God: that their beginning should be traced to the causation of his power, and their end to the fulfilment of his will. It was this which added to the researches of Newton, of Bacon, and of Locke, an elevation, a clearness, and a consistency, to which, otherwise, even with the powers of their mighty minds, they could never have attained. They drank deep of the fountain of all truth: they began and they ended in God."+ Applying these remarks to the present purpose, recollecting the truth and fundamental article of belief in our inquiries concerning the nature and philosophy of language, we shall be soon led to an acknowledgment of "When I wrote my Treatise about our system," says Sir Isaac Newton, in his letter to Dr. Bentley, "I had an eye upon such principles as might work with considerate men for the belief of a Deity; and nothing can rejoice me more, than to find it useful for that purpose. But if I have done the public any service in this way, it is due to nothing but industry and patient thought." + Remarks on Scepticism, page 9, the correspondent natures of the substantive, the verb, and its attribute. In this exalted sense the verb is coeval with the noun substantive. Hoc indè colligitur, quòd Deus, ut suprà jam dictum est, est id, quod est necessariò, sive per se: but this does not apply to artificial language; because none else than this eternal, immutable, and necessary existence can say I AM. That is, I have existence in or with my essence. 'Ey Eir It follows, therefore, that every created being, mind, and body, and every sort of matter and motion is an accusative case, governed by some verb corresponding to the notion which we attach to the word cause or create: which verb, in its exalted signification, is coeval with the substantive, both being concentrated in the one word, or Adyos-verbum essentiale Dei, sive Christus (Hederico) Dei verbum, imò magis ipse Deus (Iren: p. 132, Waterland:)-this Aoyos, therefore, is the 'Ey Eius Before Abraham was, I AM. It is necessarily understood, reasonably and philosophically inferred, that, in artificial language, though the verb to be is neuter, yet, in relation to the first Cause of all created being and matter, it is active. Thus: ; ŵv, the Being (including under the term the notion of power and might irresistible, perfect knowledge and consummate wisdom, eternity, immutability, and omnipresence, creative power, supremacy, independence, and necessary existence) bes (facit ut sit: i. e. creates or causes to exist) being (i. e. spiritual and corporeal substance, mind and body-man-and matter and motion.) The Being bes being: that is, the almighty and everlasting God creates matter and motion, mind and body, and all other spirits and substances: the Almighty creates man. Creates is the verb to be in disguise. To comprehend the full meaning |