Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1840-03-11

ia spirit, which disposes many to presum.
before they investigate But if we adj
mt the total ignorance of man antece
uent TO observation, even in those sciences
where the objects of inquiry are the
nearest and the most familiar, we will be
more ready to admit his total ignorance
OF those subjects which are more remote
ana more inaccessible. If caution and
ihodesty be esteemed so philosophical
even when employed in that little field Of
investigation which comes within the
range OF our senses; why should thew
not be esteemed philosophical when EN-.
Pioyed on subject so vast, so awful. so
remote from direct and personal observa-
''on' as the government of God? There
can De nothing SO completely above us.
ana beyond US, as the plans of the Infinite
MIND, which extend to all time. and EN-.
brace all worlds. There is no subject to
winch the cautious and humble spirit of
LORD Bacon's philosophy is more appli-
caoie, nor can we conceive more giar-
ing rebellion against the authority of his
maxims, than for the beings of a day to
SIT In Judgment upon the Eternal, and ap-
ply their paltry experience to the counsels
0. MS high ADD unfathomable wisdom
We do not speak of it as impious: we
speak of it as unphilosophical. We are
MOI bringing the DEGREES of the orthodox
to bear against 1t; we are bringing the
principles OF our modern and enlightened
schools. We are applying the very same
principles to a system OF theism, that we
would do to system Of geology. Both
may receive establishment from the gen.
Jus and Imagination of their inventors =
both may carry US along with the powers
OF captivating eloquence. But all this
is not enough to satisfy the severe and
lscrupnlous spirit Of the modern ph,loso-
Iphy. Give US facts. Give US appear.
ances. Show US how. from the expert
ence OF life or century, you can draw
legitimate conclusion SO boundless in its
extent and by which you propose to fix
down both the processes. of remote an
tiquity, and the endless progressions Ell
Their of nature or Of providence in future
ages, Are there any historical docu.
ments2 Any memorials of the expert
ence OF past times? On a question of
such magnitude, we would esteem the re-.
corded observations of some remote AGE
to be peculiarly valuable. and worth all
the ingenuity and eloquence which phi
losopher could bestow on the limited ex-
perlence OF one or two generations. A
process of geology NAV take millions of
years before it reaches its accomplish
ment. 1t is impossible that we can col
lect the law or the character of this pro-
cess from the experience of single CEN
fury, which does not furnish us one sin
gle step OF this vast and immeasurable
procession. We look as far as we can
into distant antiquity. and take hold
with avldity of any authentic document.
oy winch we can ascertain single fact
to guide and SO enlighten US in this inter-
estlng speculation. The same caution is
necessary in the subject before US. The
administration of the Supreme Being is
coeval with the first purposes of his un-
created mind. and it points to elernty.-
!. Inc life of man is but a point in that
progress. TO which we see no end and
can assign no beginning. We are not
able to collect the law or the Character
! OF this administration from an exnari.
ence so monetary. We therefore cast
an eye on the history of past tines
We examine every document which
comes before us. We compare all the
moral phenomena which can be collected
from the narratives of antiquity. We
seize with avidity every record of the
manifestations Of Providence, every fact
which can enlighten the ways of God to
man; and we would esteem it deviation
from the right spirit and temper of phiIo.
sophical investigation, were we to suffer
the crude or fanciful speculations of our
limited experience to take a presidency
over the authentic informations of history.
But this is not all. Our experience is
not only limited in point of time: it is al.
SO limited IN point of extent. To ASSIGN
the character of the divine administrator
from the little that offers itself to the no.
tee of our own personal experience.
would be far more absurd than to infer
the history and character of the KINGDOM
from the history and character Of our
own family. Vain is the attem n, To
convey in language what the most now.
ertul imagination sinks under; how
small the globe, and "all which it inher-
It's" is In the immensely of creation J.
How humble corner IN the immeasura-
Ole helds OF nature and of providence =
Ii the whole visible creation were to be
swept away, we think of the dark and
awful solitude which it would leave be-
hind 1t in the unpeopled regions OF space.
But to mind that could take in the
whole, and throw wide survey over the
innumerable worlds which roll beyond
inc ken of the human eye, there would
mi a. ~ =