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CHAPTER II.

MAN'S ADAPTATION TO NATure.

LET us next consider the constitution of Man, and try to discover how far the external world is arranged with wisdom and benevolence in regard to it.

Bishop Butler, in the Preface to his Sermons, says :—

"It is from considering the relations which the several appetites and passions in the inward frame have to each other, and, above all, the supremacy of reflection or conscience, that we get the idea of the system or constitution of human nature. And from the idea itself it will as fully appear that this our nature, .e., constitution, is adapted to virtue, as from the idea of a watch it appears that its nature, i.e., constitution or system, is adapted to measure time.

"Mankind has various instincts and principles of action, as brute creatures have; some leading most directly and immediately to the good of the community, and some most directly to private good.

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Man has several which brutes have not; particularly reflection or conscience, an approbation of some principles or actions, and disapprobation of others.

"Brutes obey their instincts or principles of action according to certain rules; suppose the constitution of their body, and the objects around them.

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"The generality of mankind also obey their instincts and principles, all of them; those propensions we call good, as well as the bad, according to the same rules-namely, the constitution of their body, and the external circumstances which they are in.

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'Brutes, in acting according to the rules before mentioned, their bodily constitution and circumstances, act suitably to their whole nature.

"Mankind also, in acting thus, would act suitably to their whole nature if no more were to be said of man's nature than what has now been said; if that, as it is a true, were also a complete, adequate account of our nature.

"But that is not a complete account of man's nature.

Somewhat further must be brought in to give us an adequate notion of it: namely, that one of those principles of action, conscience, or reflection, compared with the rest, as they all stand together in the nature of man, plainly bears upon it marks of authority over all the rest, and claims the absolute direction of them all, to allow or forbid their gratificationa disapprobation of reflection being in itself a principle manifestly superior to a mere propension. And the conclusion is, that to allow no more to this superior principle or part of our nature than to other parts; to let it govern and guide only occasionally in common with the rest, as its turn happens to come, from the temper and circumstances one happens to be in--this is not to act conformably to the constitution of man; neither can any human creature be said to act conformably to his constitution or nature unless he allows to that superior principle the absolute authority which is due to it."

The present treatise is in a great measure founded on the principles here suggested.

SECT. I.-MAN CONSIDERED AS A PHYSICAL BEING.

The human body consists of bones, muscles, nerves, and blood-vessels, besides organs of respiration, of nutrition, of reproduction, of feeling, and of thought. These are all composed of physical elements, and, to a certain extent, are subjected to the physical laws of creation. By the law of gravitation, the body when unsupported falls to the ground, and is liable to be injured. By another law, excessive cold freezes, and excessive heat dissipates, its fluids; and life, in either case, is extinguished.

To discover the real effect of the physical laws of nature on human happiness, we need to understand 1st, The physical laws themselves, as revealed by the phenomena of natural substances: these laws, so far as discovered, are treated of in works of natural philosophy, natural history, chemistry, and their subordinate branches; 2dly, The anatomical and physiological constitution of the human body; and 3dly, The adaptation of the physical laws to this constitution. These expositions are necessary to ascertain the extent to which it is possible for Man to place himself in accordance with the physical laws, so as to reap advantage from them; and also to determine how far the sufferings which he

endures may be ascribed to the inevitable operation of those laws, and how far to his ignorance and infringement of them. In the subsequent pages this subject will be treated somewhat in detail; at present I confine myself to a single instance, as an illustration of the mode in which the investigation will be conducted.

By the law of gravitation, bodies tend toward the centre of the earth. Some of the advantages of this law are that things, when properly supported, remain at rest; that walls, when sufficiently thick and perpendicular, stand firm and erect; that water descends from high places, turns millwheels in its course, and sets in motion the most stupendous and useful machinery; and that ships float steadily with part of their hulls immersed in water and part rising above it.

The Creator has bestowed on Man bones, muscles, nerves, and intellectual faculties, constructed on admirable principles, which place him in harmony with this law, and enable him to adapt his movements to its influence. Intellect also enables him to perceive the existence of the law, its modes of operation, the relation between it and himself, the beneficial consequences of observing this relation, and the painful results of disregarding it.

When a person falls over a precipice, and is maimed or killed when a ship springs a leak and sinks-or when a reservoir of water breaks its banks and ravages a valleythe evils proceed from the operation of this law; but, in judging of its utility to Man, we should consider all its beneficial consequences, and also inquire whether, when productive of evil, the effects could or could not have been avoided by a due exercise of mental and physical

power.

By pursuing this course, we shall arrive at sound conclusions concerning the adaptation of the human mind and body to the physical laws of creation. The subject is too extensive to be here prosecuted in its details, and, besides, I am incompetent to do it justice; but what has been said will serve to elucidate the principle advocated. The more profoundly anyone inquires, the more firm will his conviction become that, in these relations, provision has been made by the Creator for human happiness, and that the evils which arise from them are attributable in a great degree to Man's failure to apply his powers to the promotion of his own enjoyment.

SECT. II.-MAN CONSIDERED AS AN ORGANISED BEING.

Man is an organised being, and subject to the organic laws. An organised being, as was formerly said, is one which derives its existence from a previously existing organised being; which subsists on food; which grows, attains maturity, decays, and dies. To render an organised being perfect in its kind, the germ from which it springs must be complete in all its parts, and sound in its whole constitution. This is the first organic law. If we sow an acorn in which some vital part has been destroyed, the seedling plant and the full-grown oak, if it ever attain to maturity, will be deficient in the elements which are wanting in the germ; if we sow an acorn entire in its parts, but only half ripened, or damaged in its texture by damp or other causes, the seedling oak will be feeble, and liable to premature decay. A similar law holds good in regard to

man.

A second organic law is that the organised being, the moment it is ushered into life, and so long as it continues to live, must be supplied with food, light, air, and every other physical element which Nature has made requisite for its support, in due quantity, and of the kind suited to its particular constitution. Obedience to this law is rewarded with a vigorous and healthy development of its powers, and in animals with a pleasing consciousness of existence, and aptitude for the performance of their natural functions disobedience leads to feebleness, general imperfection, pain, or early death. A single fact will illustrate this observation. At the meeting of the British Association held in Edinburgh in 1834, there was read an Abstract, by Dr. Joseph Clarke, of a register kept in the Lying-in Hospital of Dublin from the year 1758 to the end of 1833; from which it appeared that in 1781, when the hospital was imperfectly ventilated, every sixth child died, within nine days after birth, of convulsive disease; and that, after means of thorough ventilation had been adopted, the mortality of infants within the same time, in five succeeding years, was reduced to about one in twenty.*

A third organic law, applicable to Man, is that he shall duly exercise his organs: this condition being an indispensable requisite to health. The reward of obedience to this law is enjoyment in the very act of exercising the functions,

* "Report of Proceedings of the British Association," 1834, p. 685.

pleasing consciousness of existence, and the acquisition of numberless gratifications and advantages, of which labour, or the exercise of our powers, is the procuring means. Disobedience is followed by derangement and sluggishness in the functions, general uneasiness or positive pain, and the denial of gratification to numerous faculties.

Directing our attention to the constitution of the human body, we perceive that digestive organs are given to Man for his nutrition, and that innumerable vegetable and animal productions are placed around him, capable of being assimilated into his system; also that the power of reproduction is bestowed on him, with intellect to enable him to discover and obey the conditions necessary for the transmission of a healthy organic constitution to his descendants.

Without attempting to expound minutely the organic structure of Man, or to trace in detail its adaptation to his external condition,* I shall offer some observations in support of the proposition that the due exercise of the osseous, muscular, and nervous systems, under the guidance of intellect and moral sentiment, and in accordance with the physical laws, contributes to human enjoyment; and that this neglect of the exercise, or an abuse of it, whether by carrying it to excess, or by conducting it in opposition to the moral, intellectual, or physical laws, is followed by pain.

The Divine Being has denied to the inferior animals faculties capable of forming and executing schemes of intelligent design; but He has constituted physical nature with such a relation to their wants that the earth produces, without their care or culture, successive crops of the food necessary for their subsistence. He has also denied to them the power of combining natural productions into raiment to shelter themselves from the cold; but, as a compensation, He has clothed them in fur, wool, hair, or feathers. Judging from these and other displays of Divine power and adaptation, we are authorised to infer that the same Great Designer, had He seen proper, could have so constituted the earth that perennial crops of corn and fruit, of every species suitable for the sustenance of Man, should have spontaneously sprung from the ground, and could also have clothed

*The reader will find many valuable illustrations of these subjects in Dr. Andrew Combe's treatises on "Physiology applied to Health and Education," on "Digestion and Diet," and on The Management of Infancy."

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