A fact may be truly stated, and yet the Cause or Reason assigned for
it mistaken; or inadequate; or _pars pro toto_--one only or few of
many that might or should have been adduced. The preceding Aphorism is
an instance in point. The phenomenon here brought forward by the
Bishop, as the ground and occasion of men's belief of a future
state--viz. the frequent, not to say ordinary, disproportion between
moral worth and worldly prosperity--must, indeed, at all times and in
all countries of the civilized world have led the observant and
reflecting few, the men of meditative habits and strong feelings of
natural equity, to a nicer consideration of the current belief,
whether instinctive or traditional. By forcing the Soul in upon
herself, this enigma of saint and sage, from Job, David and Solomon to
Claudian and Boetius,--this perplexing disparity of success and
desert, has, I doubt not, with such men been the occasion of a
steadier and more distinct consciousness of a _something_ in man
different _in kind_, and which not merely distinguishes but
contra-distinguishes, him from brute animals--at the same time that it
has brought into closer view an enigma of yet harder solution--the
fact, I mean, of a _contradiction_ in the human being, of which no
traces are observable elsewhere, in animated or inanimate nature. A
struggle of jarring impulses; a mysterious diversity between the
injunctions of the mind and the elections of the will; and (last not
least) the utter incommensurateness and the unsatisfying qualities of
the things around us, that yet are the only objects which our senses
discover, or our appetites require us to pursue:--hence for the finer
and more contemplative spirits the ever-strengthening suspicion, that
the two phenomena must in some way or other stand in close connexion
with each other, and that the Riddle of Fortune and Circumstance is
but a form or effluence of the Riddle of Man:--and hence again, the
persuasion, that the solution of both problems is to be sought
for--hence the presentiment, that this solution will be found--in the
_contra_-distinctive constituent of humanity, in the _something_ of
human nature which is exclusively human;--and--as the objects
discoverable by the senses, as all the bodies and substances that we
can touch, measure, and weigh, are either mere totals, the unity of
which results from the parts, and is of course only apparent; or
substances, the unity of action of which is owing to the nature or
arrangement of the partible bodies which they actuate or set in
motion, (steam for instance, in a steam-engine); as on the one hand
the conditions and known or conceivable properties of all the objects
which perish and utterly _cease_ to be, together with all the
properties which we ourselves have in common with these perishable
things, differ _in kind_ from the acts and properties peculiar to our
humanity, so that the former cannot even be conceived, cannot without
a contradiction in terms be predicated, of the proper and immediate
subject of the latter--(for who would not smile at an ounce of Truth,
or a square foot of Honour?)--and as, on the other hand, whatever
things in visible nature _have_ the character of Permanence, and
endure amid continual flux unchanged like a rainbow in a fast-flying
shower, (for example, Beauty, Order, Harmony, Finality, Law,) are all
akin to the _peculia_ of humanity, are all _congenera_ of Mind and
Will, without which indeed they would not only exist in vain, as
pictures for moles, but actually not _exist_ at all;--hence, finally,
the conclusion, that the soul of man, as the subject of Mind and Will,
must likewise possess a principle of permanence, and be destined to
endure. And were these grounds lighter than they are, yet as a small
weight will make a scale descend, where there is nothing in the
opposite scale, or _painted_ weights, which have only an illusive
relief or prominence; so in the scale of immortality slight reasons
are in effect weighty, and sufficient to determine the judgment, there
being no counter-weight, no reasons against them, and no facts in
proof of the contrary, that would not prove equally well the cessation
of the eye on the removal or diffraction of the eye-glass, and the
dissolution or incapacity of the musician on the fracture of his
instrument or its strings.
But though I agree with Taylor so far, as not to doubt that the
misallotment of worldly goods and fortunes was one principal occasion,
exciting well-disposed and spiritually-awakened natures by reflections
and reasonings, such as I have here supposed, to mature the
presentiment of immortality into full consciousness, into a principle
of action and a well-spring of strength and consolation; I cannot
concede to this circumstance any thing like the importance and
_extent_ of efficacy which he in this passage attributes to it. I am
persuaded, that as the belief of all mankind, of all[144] tribes, and
nations, and languages, in all ages, and in all states of social
union, it must be referred to far deeper grounds, common to man as
man; and that its fibres are to be traced to the _tap-root_ of
humanity. I have long entertained, and do not hesitate to avow, the
conviction, that the argument, from Universality of belief, urged by
Barrow and others in proof of the first article of the Creed, is
neither in point of _fact_--for two very different objects may be
intended, and two, or more, diverse and even contradictory conceptions
may be expressed, by the same _name_--nor in legitimacy of conclusion
as strong and unexceptionable, as the argument from the same ground
for the continuance of our personal being after death. The bull-calf
_butts_ with smooth and unarmed brow. Throughout animated nature, of
each characteristic organ and faculty there exists a pre-assurance, an
instinctive and practical anticipation; and no pre-assurance common to
a whole species does in any instance prove delusive.[145] All other
prophecies of nature have their exact fulfilment--in every other
_ingrafted word_ of promise, nature is found true to her word; and is
it in her noblest creature, that she tells her first lie?--(The
reader will, of course, understand, that I am here speaking in the
assumed character of a mere naturalist, to whom no light of revelation
had been vouchsafed; one, who
---- with gentle heart
Had worshipp'd Nature in the hill and valley,
Not knowing what he loved, but loved it all!)
Whether, however, the introductory part of the Bishop's argument is to
be received with more or less qualification, the _fact_ itself, as
stated in the concluding sentence of the Aphorism, remains unaffected,
and is beyond exception true.
If other argument and yet higher authority were required, I might
refer to St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, and to the Epistle to the
Hebrews, which whether written by Paul or, as Luther conjectured, by
Apollos, is out of all doubt the work of an Apostolic man filled with
the Holy Spirit, and composed while the Temple and the glories of the
Temple worship were yet in existence. Several of the Jewish and still
Judaizing converts had begun to vacillate in their faith, and to
_stumble at the stumbling-stone_ of the contrast between the pomp and
splendour of the old Law and the simplicity and humility of the
Christian Church. To break this sensual charm, to unfascinate these
bedazzled brethren, the writer to the Hebrews institutes a comparison
between the two religions, and demonstrates the superior spiritual
grandeur, the greater intrinsic worth and dignity of the religion of
Christ. On the other hand, at Rome where the Jews formed a numerous,
powerful, and privileged class (many of them, too, by their
proselyting zeal and frequent disputations with the priests and
philosophers trained and exercised polemics) the recently-founded
Christian Church was, it appears, in greater danger from the
reasonings of the Jewish doctors and even of its own Judaizing
members, respecting the _use_ of the new revelation. Thus the object
of the Epistle to the Hebrews was to prove the _superiority_ of the
Christian Religion; the object of the Epistle to the Romans to prove
its _necessity_. Now there was one argument extremely well calculated
to stagger a faith newly transplanted and still loose at its roots,
and which, if allowed, seemed to preclude the _possibility_ of the
Christian religion, as an especial and immediate revelation from
God--on the high grounds, at least, on which the Apostle of the
Gentiles placed it, and with the exclusive rights and _superseding_
character, which _he_ claimed for it. "You admit" (said they) "the
divine origin and authority of the Law given to Moses, proclaimed with
thunders and lightnings and the voice of the Most High heard by all
the people from Mount Sinai, and introduced, enforced, and perpetuated
by a series of the most stupendous miracles. Our religion then was
given by God: and can God give a perishable imperfect religion? If not
perishable, how can it have a successor? If perfect, how can it need
to be superseded?--The entire argument is indeed comprised in the
latter attribute of our Law. We know, from an authority which you
yourselves acknowledge for divine, that our religion is perfect. _He
is the Rock, and his Work is perfect._ (Deuter. xxxii. 4.) If then the
religion revealed by God himself to our forefathers is _perfect_, what
need have we of another?"--This objection, both from its importance
and from its extreme plausibility, for the persons at least, to whom
it was addressed, required an answer in both Epistles. And
accordingly, the answer is included in the one (that to the Hebrews)
and it is the especial purpose and main subject of the other. And how
does the Apostle answer it? Suppose--and the case is not
impossible[146]--a man of sense, who had studied the evidences of
Priestley and Paley with Warburton's Divine Legation, but who should
be a perfect stranger to the Writings of St. Paul: and that I put
_this_ question to him:--"What do _you_ think, will St. Paul's answer
be?" "Nothing," he would reply, "can be more obvious. It is in vain,
the Apostle will urge, that you bring your notions of probability and
inferences from the arbitrary interpretation of a word in an absolute
rather than a relative sense, to invalidate a known _fact_. It is a
_fact_, that your Religion is (in _your_ sense of the word) _not_
perfect: for it is deficient in one of the two essential constituents
of all true religion, the belief of a future state on solid and
sufficient grounds. Had the doctrine indeed been revealed, the
stupendous miracles, which you most truly affirm to have accompanied
and attested the first promulgation of your religion, would have
supplied the requisite proof. But the doctrine was not revealed; and
your belief of a future state rests on no solid grounds. You believe
it (as far as you believe it, and as many of you as profess this
belief) without revelation, and without the only proper and sufficient
evidence of its truth. Your religion, therefore, though of divine
Origin is, (if taken in disjunction from the new revelation, which I
am commissioned to proclaim) but a _religio dimidiata_; and the main
purpose, the proper character, and the paramount object of Christ's
mission and miracles, is to supply the missing half by a clear
discovery of a future state;--and (since "he alone discovers who
proves") by proving the truth of the doctrine, now for the first time
declared with the requisite authority, by the requisite, appropriate,
and alone satisfactory _evidences_."
But _is_ this the Apostle's answer to the Jewish oppugners, and the
Judaizing false brethren, of the Church of Christ?--It is _not_ the
answer, it does not resemble the answer returned by the Apostle. It is
neither parallel nor corradial with the line of argument in either of
the two Epistles, or with any one line; but it is a _chord_ that
traverses them all, and only touches where it cuts across. In the
Epistle to the Hebrews the directly contrary position is repeatedly
_asserted_: and in the Epistle to the Romans it is every where
_supposed_. The death to which the Law sentenced all sinners (and
which even the Gentiles without the _revealed_ Law had announced to
them by their consciences, _the judgment of God having been made known
even to them_) must be the same death, from which they were saved by
the faith of the Son of God; or the Apostle's reasoning would be
senseless, his antithesis a mere equivoque, a play on a word, _quod
idem sonat, aliud vult_. Christ _redeemed mankind from the curse of
the Law_: and we all know, that it was not from temporal death, or the
penalties and afflictions of the present life, that believers have
been redeemed. The Law, of which the inspired sage of Tarsus is
speaking, from which no man can plead excuse; the Law miraculously
delivered in thunders from Mount Sinai, which was inscribed on tables
of stone for the _Jews_, and written in the hearts of _all_ men (Rom.
ii. 15.)--the Law _holy and spiritual_! what was the great point, of
which this Law, in its own name, offered no solution? the mystery,
which it left behind the veil, or in the cloudy tabernacle of types
and figurative sacrifices? Whether there was a judgment to come, and
souls to suffer the dread sentence? Or was it not far rather--what are
the means of escape; where may grace be found, and redemption? St.
Paul says, the latter. The Law brings condemnation: but the
conscience-sentenced transgressor's question, "What shall I do to be
saved? Who will intercede for me?" she dismisses as beyond the
jurisdiction of her court, and takes no cognizance thereof, save in
prophetic murmurs or mute outshadowings of mystic ordinances and
sacrificial types.--Not, therefore, _that_ there is a Life to come,
and a future state; but _what_ each individual Soul may hope for
itself therein; and on what grounds; and that this state has been
rendered an object of aspiration and fervent desire, and a source of
thanksgiving and exceeding great joy; and by whom, and through whom,
and for whom, and by what means and under what conditions--_these_ are
the _peculiar_ and _distinguishing_ fundamentals of the Christian
Faith! These are the revealed Lights and obtained Privileges of the
Christian Dispensation! Not alone the knowledge of the boon, but the
precious inestimable Boon itself, is the _Grace and Truth that came by
Jesus Christ_! I believe Moses, I believe Paul; but I believe _in_
Christ.
[139] Coleridge quotes this passage in his Conclusion.--ED.
[140] J. Taylor's 'Worthy Communicant.'--H.N.C.
[141] Isaiah xxxiv. compared with Matt. x. 34, and Luke xii.
49.--H.N.C.
[142] Conclusion, Part III. ch. 8.--H.N.C.
[143] Sermon at the Funeral of Sir George Dalston.--H.N.C.
[144] I say, _all_: for the accounts of one or two travelling French
_philosophers_, professed atheists and partizans of infidelity,
respecting one or two African hordes, Caffres, and poor outlawed
Boschmen, hunted out of their humanity, ought not to be regarded as
exceptions. And as to Hearne's assertion respecting the non-existence
and rejection of the belief among the Copper-Indians, it is not only
hazarded on very weak and insufficient grounds, but he himself, in
another part of his work, unconsciously supplies data, from whence the
contrary may safely be concluded. Hearne, perhaps, put down his friend
Motannabbi's _Fort_-philosophy for the opinion of his tribe; and from
his high appreciation of the moral character of this murderous
gymnosophist, it might, I fear, be inferred, that Hearne himself was
not the very person one would, of all others, have chosen for the
purpose of instituting the inquiry.
[145] See Baron Field's Letters from New South Wales. The poor
natives, the lowest in the scale of humanity, evince no symptom of any
religion, or the belief of any superior power as the maker of the
world; but yet have no doubt that the spirits of their ancestors
survive in the form of porpoises, and mindful of their descendants
with imperishable affection, drive the whales ashore for them to feast
on.
[146] The case here supposed actually occurred in my own experience in
the person of a Spanish refugee, of English parents, but from his
tenth year resident in Spain, and bred in a family of wealthy, but
ignorant and bigoted, Roman Catholics. In mature manhood he returned
to England, disgusted with the conduct of the priests and monks, which
had indeed for some years produced on his mind its so common effect
among the better-informed natives of the South of Europe--a tendency
to Deism. The results, however, of the infidel system in France, with
his opportunities of observing the effects of irreligion on the French
officers in Spain, on the one hand; and the undeniable moral and
intellectual superiority of Protestant Britain on the other; had not
been lost on him: and here he began to think for himself and resolved
to _study_ the subject. He had gone through Bishop Warburton's Divine
Legation, and Paley's Evidences; but had never read the New Testament
consecutively, and the Epistles not at all.