phers, Mr. Buckle is but a charlatan. Democritus and Philolaos were wiser than he. The sentiment of the civilized world is, that it is in the moral characteristics of men, of angels, even of God Himself, are found the brightest and most glorious attributes of mind. It is due to Mr. Buckle to observe that he confounds moral influence with religious fanaticism and superstition: a blunder which, while it may be accounted for by his hatred of Christianity, is yet one which no candid philosopher of any school would ever be guilty of. Who can describe the mischief which a man of great intellect, but devoid of moral principle, can accomplish? Alas, the world has seen enough of such unsanctified intellect! Of the importance of intellectual development, no one needs be told; but the intellect that knows no God, and has no sense of moral responsibility, is a curse rather than a blessing to society.

Mr. Buckle admits the good influence of moral laws on individuals, but not on whole communities; even in large circles for a short period, but never for any considerable length of time. A few persons may be found who are manifestly affected by moral influences; but on examining a large community, nothing of the kind will be observed. In a whole State, you may detect the influence of moral law for a brief period; kut if you take in a whole year in your observations, you will find simply his old idea of uniformity, resulting from "Necessary Connection." The same number of crimes will be committed one year, as another; just as one day may be more clear, or cloudy, or rainy, or windy, than another; but in the course of a year, there will be about the same amount of rain, and sunshine, and clouds, and wind, one year as another."

The chief reason which he assigns for the impotency of Moral Law is, that all moral truths are stationary, while intellectual truths are progressive. He insists that it is highly improbable, a priori, that the progress of society should be due to moral knowledge, which, for many centuries, has remained the same, rather than to intellectual knowledge, which, for many centuries, has been constantly advancing. This is the same "ad captandum" assumption with which so many of our American fledglings have been carried away; that no aggres

sive work can be carried on without frequent "change of base.” In other words, that all the old settled principles of Morality, must be abandoned, and expediency become the rule. It has its foundation in the absence of all reverence for antiquity, for authority, for truth, in a word, for Christianity as a living power. This is that Modern Humanitarianism, which, in some one or other of its forms, has been trying to engraft itself into Society in this New World, and which in every instance has met with such disgraceful failure. Again we say, our settled conviction is, that Mr. Buckle's principal reason for depreciating Moral Truth is, that he sees its natural and "Necessary Connection" with Revealed Religion, which is evidently his chief antipathy. Nor are we without a clue to the cause of this deep seated hatred of Christianity. His "Examination of the Scotch Intellect during the seventeenth Century,"* and the copious quotations which he makes from Presbyterian and Puritan divines, show clearly enough that the horrible doctrines which those men taught, in the name of God and of Religion, were one great secret of his enmity. If Papal corruptions made Voltaire and French Infidelity, Scotch Presbyterian corruptions made Buckle and the school to which he belongs.

His Philosophy of Religion is a singular compound of truth and falsehood. He claims that the human mind is made up, principally, of Intellect and Imagination; and then asserts that Religion belongs entirely to the imaginative department. This of course is mere assumption; Imagination enters largely into every religious mind. It is equally true, that in every well-balanced mind, Imagination and Intellect are necessary and correlative powers. A mind devoid of imagination would be a monstrosity. Painting, poetry, music, even agriculture and commerce, indeed, every field of human thought and enterprise, calls for this element of our nature. The man of pure intellect is deficient in the essential elements of humanity.

Mr. Buckle then labors to show that Religion is a plant of tropical origin, the product of an imagination stimulated into

*Vol. II., Ch. V. pp. 260, 322.

marked activity by the sublime aspects of nature in southern climates.

"Whatever inspires feelings of terror, or of great wonder, and whatever excites in the mind an idea of the vague and uncontrollable, has a natural tendency to inflame the imagination, and bring under its dominion the slower and more deliberate operations of the understanding. In such cases, man, contrasting himself with the force and majesty of Nature, becomes painfully conscious of his own insignificance. A sense of inferiority steals over him. From every quarter, innumerable obstacles hem him in, and limit his individual will. His mind, appalled by the undefined and indefinable, hardly cares to scrutinize the details of which such imposing grandeur consists. On the other hand, when the works of Nature are small and feeble, Man regains confidence; he seems more able to rely on his own power; he can, as it were, pass through and exercise authority in every direction. And as the phenomena are more accessible, it becomes easier for him to experiment on them, or to observe them with minuteness; an inquisitive and analytic spirit is encouraged, and he is tempted to generalize the appearances of Nature, and refer them to the laws. by which they are governed."*

reverence.

Thus, our author accounts for the origin of the feeling of As he advances with his argument, he represents man as bending beneath the oppressive grandeurs of Nature. The feeling of helplessness and littleness grows upon him, amid volcanoes, and earthquakes, and mighty rivers, and deadly malaria, impressing him with the uncertainty of life, and of everything earthly, and so at last he lifts his thoughts to the Supernatural, and calls upon his God. And thus, man comes to be religious. In farther illustration of his theory, he asserts that there is more of religious susceptibility in the country than in the city; more in agricultural than in manu-facturing districts; in short, that where Nature is most seen, man is most religious; while those who hear only the hum of machinery, and see only the products of Art and Science, are likely to be most skeptical. And so, Mr. Buckle wars against Nature.

Now to any other form of skepticism but Mr. Buckle's, such a confession would be fatal. Deists do homage to Nature, and applaud its teachings. Even Atheists generally render a sort

*Vol. I., pp. 86.

of homage to Nature; but our author declares war, alike, against Nature and Religion. On this point, we make our stand: Religion is true, because it is natural. Supernatural Religion, Christianity is true, because it was designed to restore man to his normal condition. Besides, Mr. Buckle's facts contradict his theory. In England, which he pronounces the most highly civilized part of the world, the religious mind is, and has ever been, more firm than in any other country. In the very garden of Science and Civilization, where, he says, Nature has been most effectually "subordinated to man," and therefore, her clamors most effectually silenced,—there is the most firm and vigorous order of religious conviction and sentiment. True, England has had her skeptics, of which the volumes before us bear ample testimony; but the Anglican mind, in its general character, has never, since Alfred the Great, ceased to be a most sturdy witness to the truth of Religion. The truth is, after admitting Mr. Buckle's theory of the cause of reverence, the position of England is not anomalous: for, with all her civilization, she has never waged war against Nature.

In conclusion, we have a few thoughts to offer on the connection between the Natural and the Supernatural. Mr. Buckle is correct in asserting that the voice of Nature tends to awaken reverence, and thus to develop religious sentiment. It is true, that where the voice of Nature is most distinctly heard, there the belief in the Supernatural is strongest. It is true, that rural scenery and rural employments tend to reverence ;-reverence alike for domestic, civil, ecclesiastical and divine authority. Generally, it is not in the agricultural districts, but in and about the crowded cities, that children set at naught the authority of parents, or men get up popular riots in resistance of law, or convene infidel assemblies. When all the Churches of Paris were closed, and Bishops and Priests were hastening to join the infidel assembly, the devotions of the rural districts were as fervent as ever; nor were they suspended until prohibited by force. Some naturalists of reputation have, indeed, been skeptical; but they are exceptions to the rule, and have mostly, if not always, been men devoted to

some special theory, rather than to real Science. The intense lover of Nature is never found irreverent. "The undevout Astronomer is mad."

The climatic theory of Mr. Buckle, too, may safely be admitted. It has long been remarked, as an unquestionable fact, that northern temperaments are more skeptical, and less susceptible to religious influence, than southern ones. In the blooming south, we find the religious temperament, the lively imagination, the glowing genius of poetry; and yet often in connection with loose morals, small attainments and intellectual indolence. In the far north we most frequently find the intellectual, the moral and the literary temperaments, with little of religious sentiment. It may be that the differing aspects of nature tend to produce these diversities. We can well conceive that the beauties and grandeurs of tropical nature may awe men into reverence, while the feebler forces of nature and the greater displays of Art and Science in the north, may be less favorable to contemplation. That more of the works of man, and less of Nature, are seen in the north than in the south, is beyond question. But it is not in the extremes of latitude that the greatest symmetry of character is found. In the temperate Zone,—where Nature and Art are most happily blended, where Reason and Sentiment grow together,—we find the fairest developments of humanity. But there is not a spot on the globe where Nature does not speak with sufficient clearness to awaken the idea of the Supernatural. Hence, no class of men, no tribe nor clan, however degraded, however intellectual, has been found, that had not the idea of God, and of a life to come. In some, reverence in excess of intellect, has led to superstition; in others, intellect in excess of reverence, has developed a skeptical philosophy; but that man naturally tends to be religious, in some sense, can no longer be questioned.

All this, Mr. Buckle admits; but he claims that the teaching of Nature is to be disregarded, and natural sentiment to be despised. We claim that the voice of Nature is the voice of God. Mr. Buckle's war against Nature is not unlike what has been taught both by Romish and Puritan writers; that all natural affection is sinful, that conjugal, parental and filial