PREFACE.

THE circumstances in which this Essay originated are probably familiar to many. It has been thought proper, however, briefly to state them here.

Mr Burnett, a merchant in Aberdeen, whose character appears to have been marked by a rare degree of Christian sensibility and benevolence, amongst other acts of liberality,¹¹   Mr Webster, agent for the Burnett Trustees, informs me that Mr Burnett’s Christian liberality extended itself to many important objects but too little attended to in his time;—for example, the care of pauper lunatics, and the religious instruction of poor persons in jail, for both of which objects he left benevolent provision.—The date of Mr Burnett’s Deed of Bequest is 1785. bequeathed certain sums, to be expended at intervals of forty years, in the shape of two Premiums, inviting to the discussion of the evidences of religious truth, and especially to the consideration and confirmation of the attributes of Divine Wisdom and Goodness. The exact terms viiiof the subject of inquiry, as given in Mr Burnett’s own deed of bequest, will be found to head the Introduction which opens the present Essay.

On the previous occasion of competition, the first of the Premiums was awarded to the late Principal Brown of Aberdeen, and the second to the Rev. John Bird Sumner, Fellow of Eton College, and now Archbishop of Canterbury.

On this occasion, the First Premium of £1800 has been adjudged to the Rev. E. A. Thompson, M.A., Lincolnshire; and the second, of £600, to the present writer;—the judges having been Mr Isaac Taylor, Mr Henry Rogers, and the Rev. Baden Powell.

In passing my Essay through the press, I have submitted it to a careful and thorough revision. Although the subject had been long in my mind, it had, in the end, assumed form very hurriedly; and on my receiving the manuscript back, many parts appeared to me greatly capable of improvement. I have not hesitated, therefore, to correct freely, with the view of imparting to the argument greater consistency, and to the whole a better finish. In its general plan and principles, however, the Essay remains substantially the same. Of the truth of ix these principles I feel, with the farther opportunity of reflection, only the more convinced, if I still continue to feel, as I truly do, that my representation of them is very imperfect.

In reference to much of the illustrative matter embraced in the Essay, I think it right to state here, that I make no pretensions to an independent investigation of the scientific details. My special studies, such as they are, have been devoted to quite different provinces of inquiry. I have gathered my illustrative materials, therefore, from the most available sources which occurred to me, writing in a retired country Manse, where the difficulty of procuring the requisite books for such a miscellaneous course of study can only be understood by those who have experienced it. These sources, in some cases, are certainly not so original as I could have desired; but I have conscientiously aimed, in all cases, to present the facts as accurately as I could ascertain them; and there is little, if anything, of what I have thus collected that will, I think, be found open to a charge of inadvertency or inaccuracy.

The spirit of fairness and comprehensiveness in which I have endeavoured to seize my subject throughout, will, I hope, commend itself to my readers. I have sought the truth simply; I have sought it xwith respect and tolerance for the opinions of those from whom I differ, but have never shrunk, in deference to any names, from the assertion of my own convictions. I certainly did not undertake the subject from the first as a mere taskwork, but because I felt a true interest in it, and conceived that it was capable, in some respects, of a more argumentatively consistent treatment than it had hitherto received. How far I have accomplished this my aim must be left to the judgment of others.

I have further to express my acknowledgments to the kind friends who have given me their aid and advice in the correction of the press. I would fain have mentioned my obligations in this respect more particularly, had I been permitted.

It is my earnest prayer that the volume now submitted to the public may in some degree fulfil, under the Divine blessing, the benevolent purpose in which it originated. May it strengthen, in the hearts of those who read it, impressions of that Divine wisdom and love which are all around them, and ever near to them.