arising from an abuse of the free-will of man, is untenable; for if moral evil had not had some remote and indirect tendency to produce general or universal good and happiness, in some unperceived manner by us, it would never have been admitted by a wise and beneficent Creator. The author, however, on this point, candidly admits, that this part of his system is liable to very weighty and formidable objections; but, at the same time, contends that on this question there is only a choice of difficulties, and that he has, in his opinion, chosen the least objectionable.

The fifth letter, on Political Evils, goes on to say, that as man is only an imperfect creature, all governments, by whatsoever name they may be called, must also be imperfect; for it would be a contradiction to look for a perfect government for an imperfect creature. All political evils take their rise from moral ones; and, therefore, Mr. Jenyns maintains, that the most effectual way to improve the science of government, is to commence the work of individual reformation.

The last letter, on Religious Evils, proceeds upon the same scheme as the fifth. All the evils attending religion arise from the wickedness and imperfection which form a part of our nature, and could

not have been altered without creating greater evils. Man being a comparatively blind creature, and not able to see the ultimate end or bearing of the simplest things around, it cannot therefore be expected, that in religious matters, which treat of things of a spiritual nature, he should manifest any great degree of penetration. An imperfect creature must have an imperfect religion, that is, a religion imperfectly understood by him.

We have here a brief sketch of Mr. Jenyns' notions on the origin of moral evil. It must, I conceive, be confessed, that though there is much that is true in his system, yet the influence which it is likely to have upon the mind of an ordinary reader, will not be a favourable one. There is too much of downright fatality in it. When it is presumed all along in his reasonings that vice and misery may be necessary to the general arrangements of providence, and may operate in some unperceived manner to the benefit of the universe as a whole; the impression which will naturally be made upon the mind, will be, that vice may not be so hideous a thing in the eye of the Almighty, as we are daily in the habit of hearing it described to be by the moralist and the divine. I am far from insinuating that such an unfavourable impression was

intended to be produced by the author; on the contrary, I believe, he was sincere and orthodox in morality and religion. But still the fact is undeniable, that his writings in general, and the "Origin of Evil" in particular, are written in a style calculated more to puzzle and bewilder, than to instruct and satisfy.

34.4

CHAPTER XV.

DR. HUTCHESON.

ON THE MORAL SENSE.

FRANCIS HUTCHESON was a native of the north of Ireland, where his father was a dissenting minister, and was born in 1694. Being destined to the same profession as his father, he pursued his academical studies for six years in Glasgow; and when about to settle as pastor of a dissenting congregation near his native place, he accepted of an invitation to superintend a private academy in Dublin, where he soon acquired the esteem and friendship of many persons of literary distinction, and even of some who held the highest rank in the established church. In 1725, his " Enquiry into the Ideas of Beauty and Virtue" was published anonymously. But the character which it soon acquired, and the eagerness to know the author, produced an investigation which terminated in the discovery that it was the production of Mr. Hutcheson. In 1728 appeared his treatise "Of the Passions," which, on account of

its sentiments and language, was admired, even by many whose opinions on the same subjects were at variance with those of the author.

The publications now alluded to, and the celebrity which they conferred on the author, probably paved the way to his appointment, in 1729, to the professorship of Moral Philosophy in the university of Glasgow. As Mr. Hutcheson was greatly esteemed and respected by Dr. King, archbishop of Dublin, and the author of "The origin of Evil," as well as by some other prelates, it was supposed that through their influence he might have obtained lucrative preferment in the church. But it is alleged, that his private sentiments were incompatible with such views. In the discharge of his academical duties, his talents and learning, as well as the facility with which he expressed himself, soon rendered him a popular and instructive teacher, and the celebrity he thus acquired attracted numerous pupils from all quarters to attend his lectures. He died in 1747, before he had completed the 53d year of his age. He left behind him a system of moral philosophy, which was published by his son in 1755, in 2 vols. 4to.

The moral writings of Dr. Hutcheson seem naturally to divide themselves into two parts, embrac