Section IV
On the goodness or benevolence of the deity

The benevolence of God is that perfection of his nature, by which he communicates happiness to the various ranks of sensitive and intelligent existence.

The system of Nature, in all its parts, exhibits an unbounded display of this attribute of the Divine Mind, both in relation to man, and in relation to the subordinate tribes of animated existence. In relation to Man—the magnificence and glory of the heavens—the variegated coloring which is spread over the scene of nature—the beautiful flowers, shrubs, and trees, with which the earth is adorned, which not only delight the eye, but perfume the air with their delicious odors—the various kinds of agreeable sounds that charm the ear—the music of the feathered songsters, which fill the groves with their melody—the thousands of pleasant images which delight the eye, in the natural embellishments of creation—the agreeable feelings produced by the contact of almost everything we have occasion to touch—the pleasure attached to eating, drinking, muscular motion, and activity—the luxuriant profusion and rich variety of aliments which the earth affords–and the interchanges of thought and affection—all proclaim the Benevolence of our Almighty Maker, and show, that the communication of happiness is one grand object of all his arrangements. For these circumstances are not essentially requisite to our existence. We might have lived and breathed, and walked, though everything we touched had produced pain; though everything we are and drank had been bitter; though every movement of our hands and feet had been accompanied with uneasiness page 47 and fatigue; though every sound had been as harsh as the saw of the carpenter; though no birds had warbled in the groves; though no flowers had decked the fields, or filled the air with their perfumes; though one unvaried scene of dull uniformity had prevailed, and beauty and sublimity had been swept from the face of nature; though the earth had been covered with a mantle of black, and no radiant orbs had appeared in our nocturnal sky. But what a miserable world should we then have inhabited, compared with that which we now possess! Life would have passed away without enjoyment, and pain would have overbalanced the pleasures of existence. Whereas, in the existing constitution of things, all the objects around us, and every sense of which we are possessed, when preserved in its natural vigor, have a direct tendency to produce pleasing sensations, and to contribute to our enjoyment: and it is chiefly when we indulge in foolish and depraved passions, and commit immoral actions that the benevolent intentions of the Deity are frustrated, and pain and misery produced.

Had the Creator of the world been a malevolent being, and possessed of infinite power and Intelligence, every arrangement of nature would have been almost the reverse of what we now find it. The production of evil, and of pain in sensitive beings, would have been the aim of the contriver in all his operations and allotments. All design in the frame of the universe, and all that wisdom and intelligence which we now admire in the adaptations of the parts and functions of animals to their necessities and to the constitution of nature around them—we should have dreaded as contrivances to produce painful sensations, and to render them acute and permanent. Instead of ease, and enjoyment, and delight, in the exercise of our functions and faculties—the ordinary state of the lower animals and of human beings would have been a state of trouble, disease, dejection, and anguish. Every breath of air might have cut us like the point of a dagger, or produced a pain like that of swallowing aquafortis or sulphuric acid.^* Every touch might have been felt like the sting of a nettle, or like the rubbing of salt upon a festering wound. Every taste would have been bitter as gall and wormwood, and every sound harsh and dissonant, or as a hideous scream. All our senses, instead of being the sources of pleasure, as they now are, would have been the instruments of pain and torture. The lower animals, instead of ministering to our delight and necessities, would have been formed so as to torment, to harass, and annoy us. The cow and the goat would have afforded us no milk, nor the bee its honey, nor would the birds of the air have charmed us with their music. Dismal and haggard objects would have been strewed over the whole face of creation, and all would have appeared a melancholy gloom, without beauty or variety. The fields would have wanted their delightful verdure, their diversified aspect, and the beautiful flowers with which they are now adorned. The fire might have scorched without warming us, and water, instead of refreshing us, might have produced intolerable pain. The light might have been with out color; it might have dazzled instead of cheering us, and prevented distant objects from being perceived. Our eye-balls might have wanted the muscles which now enable them to move with ease in every direction, and every ray of light might have affected them with pain. The ground might have been formed so soft and yielding, that at every step we should have sunk like persons walking in a quagmire.—In short, our imaginations, in such a case, would have presented to us little else than frightful specters and objects of terror and alarm,—and our minds have been filled with dismal forebodings and dreadful expectations. But, every arrangement in the system of nature, as it is now constituted, is directly the reverse of what we have now supposed. And this consideration demonstrates, that the Great Creator of the universe is the God of Love, whose mercy and benevolence are displayed toward every rank of sensitive and intelligent existence, and these attributes, we are assured, will never cease in their operations, so long as the universe endures.

If we consider, further, that the inexhaustible bounty of the Creator, and the numerous pleasures we enjoy, are bestowed upon a guilty race of men, the Benevolence of the Deity will appear in a still more striking point of view. Man has dared to rebel against his maker; he is a depraved and ungrateful creature. The great majority of our race have banished God from their thoughts, trampled upon his laws, neglected to contemplate his works, refused to pay him that tribute of reverence and adoration which his perfections demand, have been ungrateful for his favors, have blasphemed his Name, and have transferred to “four-footed beasts and creeping things,” that homage which is due to him alone. It has been the chief part of their employment, in all ages, to counteract the effects of his Beneficence, by inflicting injustice, oppression, and torture upon each other; by maiming the human frame, burning cities and villages, turning fruitful fields into a wilderness, and, by every other act of violence, carrying death and destruction through the world. And if water, air, and the light of heaven, had been placed within the limits of their control, it is more than probable, that whole nations would have been occasionally deprived of these elements, so essential to human existence. Yet, notwithstanding the prevalence of such depraved dispositions, the streams of Divine benevolence toward our apostate race have never yet been interrupted. The earth has never stopped in its career, and thrown nature into a scene of confusion; the light of heaven has never ceased to illume the world; the springs of water have never been dried up, nor has the fertile soil ceased to enrich the plains with golden harvests. God “hath not left himself without a witness” to his beneficence, in any age, in that he bath unceasingly bestowed on the inhabitants of the world, “rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness.” This is one of the characters of Deity which forms the most perfect contrast to the selfish and revengeful dispositions of man, which as far transcends human benevolence as the heavens in extent surpass the earth—a character calculated to excite our highest love and admiration, and which we are called upon, in the Sacred Oracles, to imitate and revere: “Be ye merciful, as your Father who is in heaven is merciful; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” “O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!”

In relation to the inferior animals—the immense multitude of living creatures with which the earth is replenished is a striking evidence of the vast profusion of Divine Beneficence. More than a hundred thousand species of animated beings are dispersed through the different regions of the air, the water, and the earth, beside myriads which are invisible to the unassisted eye. To estimate the number of individuals belonging to any one species is beyond the power of man. What countless myriads of herrings, for example, are contained in a single shoal, which is frequently more than six miles long, and three miles broad! To estimate the number of individuals in all the different species, would therefore be as impossible as to count the grains of sand in the Arabian deserts. There is not a single spot in any region of the globe but what teems with animated beings. Yet all this vast assemblage of sensitive existence is amply provided for by the bountiful Creator. “These all wait upon him, and he giveth them their meat in due season.” They enjoy not only life, but also a happy existence. The sportive motions and gesticulations of all the animal tribes—the birds skimming through the air, warbling in the groves, and perching on the trees—the beasts of the field bounding in the forests and through the lawns—the fishes sporting in the waters—the reptiles wriggling in the dust—and the winged insects, by a thousand wanton mazes—all declare that they are rejoicing in their existence, and in the exercise of those powers with which the Creator has furnished them. So that wherever we turn our eyes, we evidently perceive that “the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord,” and that “his tender mercies are over all his works.”

This subject is boundless; but it would be inconsistent with the limited plan of this work to enter into any particular details. And it is the less necessary, when we consider that every instance of Divine Wisdom, is at the same time, an instance of benevolence; for it is the ultimate object of all the wise contrivances in the system of Nature, that happiness may be communicated to the various ranks of sensitive and intelligent existence. Goodness chooses the end, and wisdom selects the most proper means for its accomplishment; so that these two attributes must always be considered in simultaneous operation. And therefore, the instances I have already specified of the wisdom and intelligence of the Creator may also be considered as exemplifications of Divine Benevolence. I shall therefore conclude this top[gap — reason: unclear]e with the following extract from Dr. Paley:—

“Contrivance proves design; and the prominent tendency of the contrivance indicates the disposition of the designer. The world abounds with contrivances; and all the contrivances we are acquainted with are directed to beneficial purposes. Evil, no doubt, exists; but it is never, that we can perceive, the object of contrivance Teeth are contrived to eat, not to ache; their aching now and then is incidental to the contrivance, perhaps inseparable from it; or even, if you will, let it be called a defect in the contrivance, but it is not the object of it. This is a distinction that well deserves to be attended to. In describing implements of husbandry, you would hardly say of a sickle, that it was made to cut the reaper's fingers, though from the construction of the instrument, and the manner of using it, this mischief often happens But if you had occasion to describe instruments of torture or execution,—this, you would say, is to extend the sinews; this to dislocate the joints; this to break the bones; this to scorch the soles of the feet. Here pain and misery are the very objects of the contrivance. Now, nothing of this sort is to be found in the works of Nature. We never discover a train of contrivance to bring about an evil purpose. No anatomist ever discovered a system of organization calculated to produce pain and disease; or, in explaining the parts of the human body, ever said, this is to irritate; this to inflame; this duct is to convey the gravel to the kidneys; this gland to secrete the humor which forms the gout. If, by chance he come at a part of which he knows not the use, the most he can say is, that it is useless; no one ever suspects that it is put there to incommode, to annoy, or torment. Since, then, God hath called forth his consummate wisdom to contrive and provide for our happiness, and the world appears to have been constituted with this design at first, so long as this constitution is upheld by him, we must, in reason, suppose the same design to continue.”^*