The theology of inventions : or, Manifestations of deity in the works of art

The Publishers take pleasure in presenting the
following note from the Rev. Dr. Knox, of the
Collegiate Dutch Church, of this city :

" Having been favored by a respected friend with a copy of
'The Theology of Inventions,' by the Rev. John Blakely,
immediately on its issue from the Glasgow press, I have read
the larger portion of it with great interest and delight. It ia
the work of a master-mind. The subject is original in its con-
ception, and is treated with consummate ability. The Divine
superintendence in works of invention is demonstrated, and the
illustration which they afford, in their nature, order, and respec-
tive dates, of the power, wisdom, and goodness of God, is pre-
sented in a form the most compact, lucid, and impressive ; ex-
hibiting the Author's large, accurate, and diversified knowledge,
in a style terse, vigorous, and graceful.

" The work only requires to be known, to obtain the widest
circulation. The Messrs. Carter confer a favor on the reading
community by its re-publication.

"JOHN KNOX.
aN«w York, January 21, 186fl.v

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS;

OB,

MANIFESTATIONS OF DEITY

WORKS OF ART

BY THE

REV. JOHN BIMffELY,

KIRKINTILLOCH, SCOTLAND.

' This also cometh forth from the Lord of Hosts,
Which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working."

NEW YORK:

ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS,

No. 285 BROADWAY.

1856.

rr

STEREOTYPED DY
THOMAS I'.. SaiTIl,

62 & 84 Beekman Street.

E. 0. JEXKIMB,
ruiKTBB,

22 & 21 Frankfort St.

PREFACE.

The present age is characterized by the unprece-
dented development of science and art. Discovery-
eclipses discovery as evolved in rapid succession. Me-
chanical inventions are struggling for precedence, but
the strife is short lived. The transitory interest of each
vanishes like a passing meteor before the rising of a
brighter luminary. The appearance of nature is chang-
ing under the transforming power of art. The modern
triumphs of genius are harbingers of an approaching
physical Millennium. Were it possible that such could
be attained by human effort, the age in which we live
bids fair to solve physical problems of ancient prophecy.
But the record of those bright visions regarding the
state of the world, discloses the fact that an Ecclesiasti-
cal and Political Millennium must precede, or at least ac-
company that which shall be Physical. The fallen race
nust be spiritually prepared, in order to the enjoyment
of a full disclosure of temporal blessings.

The human family may be divided into two classes —
those who live for time only, and those who live in pros-
pect of a coming eternity. The former class contem-

IV PREFACE.

plates every object, natural and artificial, irrespective of
their relations to God. Among the latter class there
are many who seem interested in the work of personal
redemption, but who have little regard to the manifesta-
tions of the Divine attributes in creation, and in the
providential arrangements of this fallen world. There
are others who devoutly recognize God in the works of
nature, and in the plan of redemption, but few, if any,
are to be found among the majority of professors, who
see or acknowledge the attributes of Deity displayed in
the works of art.

Scientific students frequently interrogate nature with-
out a sense of its relations to the Creator, and over-
whelmed by its wonders, insensibly render to nature
that homage which is due to God. Theological students
are not wanting, who open the pages of inspiration for
inquiry regarding the hope of individual salvation, but
who overlook the first and pervading principle of opera-
tion in the universe— the glory of God. There are me-
chanical students who investigate the material world in
the spirit of selfishness, in order to ascertain how much
may be extracted from its vast resources, for their per-
sonal aggrandisement. With this class the exposition
of the Arts tend to excite the spirit of covetousness, and
the homage of their hearts is divided between the wor-
ship of Mammon and the adoration of Genius. But op-
posed to all these views and objects, stands that system
of divine religion revealed in the Bible — a system em-

PREFACE. V

bracing man in every aspect and in eveiy relation. It
exhibits the relation of every creature to God, and claims
the recognition of the attributes of Deity, as these are
manifested in the material, mental, and moral spheres
of existence.

Impressed with this fact, the writer has sought in
vain for any thing approaching to a general acknowl-
edgment of God in the works of Art, even among those
professing belief in Divine Revelation. Occasional hints
are found escaping from the pen of distinguished writers,
but these usually pass unheeded by the mass of readers;
and the references seem so incidental, that the mind is
constrained to feel that the subject was not esteemed of
much importance by the author. Recognizing the su-
premacy of God in every department of His works, and
believing that dishonor has been done to His name by
the non-recognition of His attributes, in the artificial
phenomena of the world, the author of the following
Treatise has felt constrained, by a solemn sense of duty,
to submit to the public the views and feelings which, to
his own soul, have invested mechanical inventions
with a halo of light — even with the beams of reflected
Divinity.

The elementary thoughts hereafter illustrated were
suggested within the luminous walls of the Crystal
Palace. Every object seemed to re-echo the announce-
ment of the ancient prophet — u This also cometh from
the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and

VI PREFACE.

excellent in working." Every hour devoted to reflection
upon this subject has convinced the author more deeply
of its vast importance and lasting interest. Nothing has
diminished the mental pleasure first realized, save a
growing consciousness of inability to grasp the magni-
tude of the theme. The sources of illustration are wide
as the world, and embrace every period of human his-
tory. Many imperfections will doubtless appear to the
mere critic, but it is comparatively of little moment
what opinion literary circles may form of these feeble
efforts to awaken a new train of thought, provided that
general readers may be led to recognize the manifesta-
tions of Deity in artificial phenomena, and consequently,
respond to the angelic anthem — " Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men."

Kirkintilloch, November, 1855.

CONTENTS.

PAGB

Ihtbodtjchon , 6

CHAPTER I.

THE INTRODUCTION OF MECHANICAL INVENTIONS A PROOF THAT

THEY ARE EMANATIONS OF THE WISDOM, POWER,

AND GOODNESS OF GOD.

Elements of Machinery — Mechanical Powers and Forces — The Inven-
tor— Objection Answered — The Arts in Relation to the Fall — The
Industrial Instincts in Man an Element in the Construction of Ma-
chinery 15

CHAPTER II.

THE GRADUAL DEVELOPMENT OF MECHANICAL INVENTIONS AK
EVIDENCE THAT THEY ARE COMMUNICATED IN AC-
CORDANCE WITH THE PURPOSES OF GOD.

The Mariner's Compass — The Art of Printing — The Steam Engine —
The Spinning Mill — The Power Loom — The Railway and Electric
Telegraph — Objection — Commerce and Railways — Relation of Cap-
ital to Railway Development — Mineral Relations to the Construction
and working of Railways, 25

CHAPTER ni.

TENDENCY OF INVENTIONS A PROOF THAT THEY ARE OF GOD.

To mitigate Human Toil — Objection — Alleviate Suffering — Increase
the Sources of Comfort — Prolong Rational Life — Promote Universal
Peace — Produce those Physical Changes upon Earth which Revela-
tion gives Reason to hope shall yet be accomplished 101

Vlll CONTENTS

CHAPTER IV.

SCRIPTURAL EVIDENCE THAT MECHANICAL INVENTIONS ARE
OF GOD.

PAOB

The Providence of God in Relation to Mechanical Inventions— The
Bible Record of their Rise and Progress-Gardening— Clothing —
Tilling— Building— Tent-Making— Musical Instruments — Founding
— Special Monuments — The Ark— The Tower of Babel— Inventions
ascribed to Divine Wisdom 151

CHAPTER V.

THE INSPIRATION OF GENIUS AN EVIDENCE THAT MECHAN-
ICAL INVENTIONS ARE OF GOD.

Inspiration of Genius— Legislation and Government— War— Mechan-
ical— Scientific— Exposition of the Aits in Constructing the Taber-
nacle— The Sacred Vestments— The Temple — Final Consecration of
Genius to God 196

CHAPTER VI.

SCRIPTURE RECORD OF INSPIRED GENIUS DEVOTED TO THE
ORDINARY PURPOSES OF SOCIAL LIFE.

Inspired Wisdom evolved in Agriculture— In Architecture— In Works
of Taste and Ornament — In Ship-Building — In National Commerce —
In Philosophy — In Literature— In the Common Implements of In-
dustry, !

CHAPTER VII.

INQUIRY REGARDING THE SOURCE OF THAT DIFFERENCE OF

CONCEPTION WITH WHICH THE MIND IS WONT TO VIEW

THE WORKS OF NATURE AS COMPARED WITH

MECHANICAL INVENTIONS.

Misconceptions regarding their respective Authors— Innate Ten-
dency to exclude God and to recognize Man — Association of Ideas
with Moral Characteristics — Sense stronger than Faith— Human
Pride— Neglect in cultivating the Habit of Spiritual Observation —
Conclusion 263

THE THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS

INTRODUCTION.

Theology is that science which treats of the
being and attributes of God — His relations to us,
the dispensations of His providence, His will with
respect to our actions, and His purposes with re-
gard to our end. One branch of this compre-
hensive science is termed Natural Theology, or
that science which treats of the being, attributes,
and will of God, as evincible from the various
phenomena of created objects. The first revela-
tion of God to intelligent beings was contained
in the book of nature, at the opening of which
" the morning stars sang together, and all the
sons of God shouted for joy." This comprehen-
sive volume embraces the universe, and reveals
to man, in physical development, the eternal
decrees of the all-wise Creator. It is, in fact,

10 INTRODUCTION.

the elder manuscript of infinite wisdom, replete
in every page with internal and external evidence
of its Divine Author. " The heavens declare
the glory of God ; and the firmament sheweth
His handy-works." Creation is the counterpart
of the eternal purposes — the embodiment of the
Divine thoughts, in specific physical acts, for the
manifestation of the attributes of Deity, " Be-
cause that which may be known to God is mani-
fest in them ; .... for the invisible things of
Him from the creation of the world are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are
made, even His eternal power and Godhead."

The Planet inhabited by man is only one cir-
cumscribed page of Nature's illimitable register,
but yet, in itself, replete with evidence of the
being and attributes of God. Nor is that evi-
dence patent to the reflective mind of the philo-
sopher alone, it stands out in bold relief for the
perusal of sentient humanity. The unlettered
peasant receives from the external world the
same sensations as the learned philosopher.
Both possess similar rational faculties, however
variously exercised, and consequently both enjoy
access to Nature's volume, the language of which
is none other than the re-echo of the voice of
Deity. Unlike the monopolised stores of human
literature, the illuminated pages of this book are
ever open to all, so that he who runs may read

INTRODUCTION. 11

the stereotyped impressions of the wisdom,
power, and beneficence of God.

In the contemplation of terrestrial objects,
there are two classes of phenomena which in-
cessantly claim attention — those which are the
immediate work of God in creation, and such as
are the mechanical productions of man in the
progressive development of science and art. The
former class may be termed natural ; the latter,
artificial. From the natural the artificial phe-
nomena are all constructed. In the natural
every thing is created ; in the artificial every
object is transformed. God is the immediate
operator in the one department ; man is the in-
telligent agent in the other. While, as regards
the whole, the Author of universal nature is the
primary source and rightful proprietor of the
material, the intermediate agent, and the work
of art constructed. In the natural phenomena
are to be found all the elements of the artificial.
They have changed their place in creation, and
their elementary forms of existence, but then-
essential qualities remain the same under every
new arrangement, consequently no circumstan-
tial changes of proportion, locality, or figure,
can transfer them beyond the limits of His king-
dom— " who is Lord over all." " The silver and
the gold are His," when in the mint of the Royal
Treasury, or in the coffers of the miser, as

12 INTRODUCTION.

really as when deposited by the Divine hand
in the rocky bed of an Australian river, or the
hidden caverns of a Californian mountain. The
iron and the brass are his as really, when re-
volving in the wheels and shafts of a modern
machine as when in their elemental ore, buried
fifty fathoms beneath the surface of the globe.
And yet this region of art, this world-wide crea-
tion of machinery, is one from which in the
mental conceptions of men, the Universal Pro-
prietor is almost entirely excluded. Few indeed,
are to be found among mechanics or philosophers,
among even divines, or public journalists, who
seem to realize the fact that God is there, when
investigating the wonders of art, or who feel con-
strained to render to Deity the glory due to His
name, from this, as from every other regioD of
His works.

In proof of these assertions, it is only necessary
to refer to the fact that though the press teems
with the records of ancient and modern dis-
coveries in art and science, not a solitary para-
graph can be found in the vast majority of
treatises recognising the hand of God at all ;
and in vain is search made for even one syste-
matic volume, presenting a lucid and compre-
hensive illustration of the wisdom, power, and
goodness of God, as these attributes are displayed
in mechanical inventions. Or, to make tho

INTRODUCTION. 13

matter still more plain, where are to be found
emotions of gratitude to the Giver, or feelings of
adoring wonder excited in the breasts of men, by
the contemplation of a plow, a loom, a ship, a
steam-engine, a printing-press, or an electric-
telegraph ? The invention may be recorded, its
mechanism admired, its utility discussed, and
the name of the inventor praised and honored*
but how rare the acknowledgment of God as the
author ! How few are to be found exclaiming
with the Psalmist, " Oh that men would praise
the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful
works to the children of men V

In discussing the theology of inventions, it is
necessary to keep in view the designs proposed,
and to indicate the line of argument to be
adopted. Both these objects may be attained
by the following proposition, which we design to
prove and illustrate in the subsequent pages.

That mechanical inventions, in the discovery
of their elements and principles, and in the con-
struction of their parts, are, and ought to be
viewed as emanations of the wisdom, power, and
beneficence of God.

This proposition may be proved philosophically
from reason, and theologically from revelation.
Both these lines of argument shall be pursued in
the elucidation of the subject.

In proving from reason that artificial pheno-

14

INTRODUCTION.

mena, or mechanical inventions are of God, a
multitude of arguments might be adduced, but
only three are selected— the Fact ; the Time ;
and the Tendency of their Discovery.

CHAPTER I.

THE INTRODUCTION OP MECHANICAL INVENTIONS A PROOF THAT
THEY ARE EMANATIONS OP THE WISDOM, POWER, AND GOOD-
NESS OP GOD.

In the early history of the human family
mechanical inventions had no existence, save in
the purpose of God, and in their original ele-
ments, as parts of creation-work. Surveying the
world, even from Paradise, what finite being could
have predicted their future development ? The
first man, notwithstanding his knowledge of
nature, knew not the necessities of a fallen race,
and consequently he could form no conception of
that provision which infinite wisdom had made
for the mitigation of physical evil, and the future
elevation of his descendants. Implements of
industry he might require, and, perhaps, be pro-
vided with for the cultivation of that garden
which he was commanded to dress and keep ;
but of rooting out the thorn and the thistle —
productions of the curse ; of manufacturing
clothing — the permanent want of a fallen state ;
of building or furnishing habitations, in accord-

16 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

ance with circumstances and climate, in a world
whose elements and seasons were affected by the
introduction of moral evil ; or of the implements
necessary for the construction of these, he could
have no idea in a state of innocence. The world
was destitute of machinery on that fatal day
when offended Deity " drove out the man."
Natural phenomena might retain much of its
pristine freshness and beauty, but then artificial
phenomena had no visible existence. The whole
world did not exhibit one artificial human dwell-
ing, while the entire wardrobe of our first parents,
when thrust forth from the garden, was comprised
in the fig-leaf aprons wherewith they were covered.
Contrast with this the magnificent cities of
ancient or modern times — the wide-spread cul-
tivation of the earth — the trackless ocean navi-
gated— the subterranean mines of wealth dis-
closed— the human family clothed, and fed, and
domiciled in comfort — knowledge circulated for
the million, and human thoughts wafted on the
wings of the lightning. Contrast again the natural
phenomena of that world into which Adam was
thrust out with the artificial phenomena which it
now exhibits, under the industrial arts of his de-
scendants, and will any reflecting mind be pre-
pared to say that man, and man 07ily, is to be
recognized as the author of every successive de-
velopment of the mechanical inventions ?

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 17

ELEMENTS OF MACHINERY.

While investigating mechanical inventions,
the question naturally arises, What are their con-
stituent elements ? What their mechanical
powers ? Whence their origin ? By whom have
their materials been discovered, and their various
parts constructed ? As regards their native ele-
ments, the most complicated, as well as the
simplest, may be traced to three sources — the
mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms. Take
a hand-loom, or a spinning-mill ; analyze their
entire machinery, and it will be found that the
bowels of the earth have contributed their por-
tion of iron or brass, or other elements. The
surface of the globe has produced the wood, the
hemp, the flax, the cotton, the oil, and other
vegetable products. The animal kingdom has
furnished the leather, the bone, the hair, the
grease, and all the different substances brought
into requisition. These materials have no nat-
ural relation — no chemical affinities, no self-
approximating influences, no self-adjusting pro-
perties. Drawn from three distinct kingdoms in
nature, they are, by a mechanical combination,
made to assume an entirely new form — to occupy
a new place, and to accomplish a new purpose.
The mineral elements have been extracted from
the regions of darkness. They have been

18 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

smelted, moulded, or beaten into a thousand
forms. The wood has been hewn by the axe,
divided by the saw, smoothed by the plane, and
fitted by mechanical tools, before it assumed its
place in conjunction with the brass and the iron.
The flax and the hemp have been watered, dried,
the fibre separated from the stem, drawn out
and twisted by machinery, before it could be
used in blading the lighter parts of the wood
and the iron. And in the products of the animal
kingdom there are similar transformations. The
outer covering which protected and beautified
the body of the horse, the ox, or the sheep, has
been stripped off by the hand of violence — divest
ed of its hair or wool, impregnated by the art of
the tanner with lime from the mineral kingdom,
with the juice of astringent barks from the vege-
table kingdom, and oils from the animal king-
dom, before it could take a place in the re-
volving bands of the spinning-mill, or furnish
an element in forming the more simple driving-
pin of the hand-loom. The same analysis, ap-
plied to any other specimen of machinery will
reduce its constituent elements to one or other,
or all of these kingdoms. Let the mind reflect
upon this threefold source of material sub-
stances, from which all the mechanical inven-
tions in the world have been, or are being, or
shall be constructed, and let it be remembered

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 19

that these are only elements, and cannot of
themselves assume the form, or exert the power
of the simplest machine. But they are elements
provided by the God of infinite wisdom for
the very purposes to which man has been taught
to apply them.

The world itself, in its geological construction,
as well as in its vegetable and animal adapta-
tions, is none other than a divine depository of
exhaustless resources, from which man may draw
forth and appropriate whatever tends to his
physical comfort and mental progress. But here,
as in every other department, the forethought is
more than human, while the power and benefi-
cence are evidently divine. The adjustment in
every region is such as to confound the most
reckless sceptics. The minerals have been
stowed away in the subterranean caverns of the
earth so that they might not destroy its vege-
table productions by their deleterious gases, de-
form its beauty by theit unsightly appearance,
or impede the operations of the animal kingdom
by abridging the extent, or rendering unfruitful
the surface of the globe. They are neither so
near the circumference of the earth as to induce
indolence, nor so deeply deposited as to elude
the search of human ingenuity. The outer stra-
tum seems as if designed to meet the wants and
stimulate the ardor of a barbarous age, while

2.0 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

the inner stores of mineral wealth are so depos-
ited as to test the highest achievements of me-
chanical skill — to draw out the accumulating
stores of knowledge — and to excite the latent
principles of art and industry. Can all this pro-
vision be laid up since creation, or formed in
successive geologic periods by unknown influ-
ences in the mineral kingdom, without a definite
design ? Keflect again upon the vegetable and
animal kingdoms, as stored by creative power,
and preserved by Divine Providence. The
former was furnished with trees, and plants, and
herbs, each bearing seed and propagating its
species after its kind. The latter was stocked
with all the varied forms of animal life, having
the earth, the air, the sea, as their appointed
regions, and under the pristine law of life to
multiply and replenish the world from age to age.
Could all this provision be made for the construc-
tion of machinery without that wisdom which is
infinite, that power whiofe is almighty, and that
goodness which is boundless ?

MECHANICAL POWERS AND FORCES.

These elements, however bountifully provided
in the kingdoms of nature, would be entirely
useless for the construction of the simplest
machine, unless accompanied by mechanical
principles or laws, which are universal in ex-

THEOLOUY OF INVENTIONS. 21

tension, and immutable in operation. The
entire range of mechanical inventions may be
reduced to a few primary machines, which, in
natural philosophy, are termed mechanical
powers. These have been usually treated of as
six — the lever, the wheel, the axle, the inclined
plane, the wedge, the screw, and the funicular
machine. It is evident that these six may be
reduced to three — the lever, the funicular ma-
chine, and the inclined plane ; and from two of
them — the lever and the inclined plane, the
other three are formed. From the varied com-
binations of these all machinery is constructed.

But these mechanical powers, as well as the
material substances, would of themselves be un-
availing for general purposes in machinery
without moving forces to originate and sustain
their varied motions and revolutions. These
again are liberally supplied in the wide domain
of nature for the use of man, in the development
and application of the arts of industry. The
moving powers have usually been treated of as
follows : The muscular strength of men and
animals, the pressure of the atmosphere, the
expansive force of steam, and the action of wind
or water. These may also be referred indirectly
to three independent sources — gravity, heat, and
animal strength. The earlier development of
machinery exhibited only the application of

22 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

animal strength; the present state displays the
general use of wind, water, steam, and ex-
plosive substances ; but, doubtless, in the onward
march of discovery, electricity will soon come to
occupy a common place among the moving
powers, and the world will be as much aston-
ished when a " feed of zinc and water" shall
supersede a "feed of coke/' as it was when a " feed
of coke" superseded a " feed of corn," and the iron
wheels of the engine completely distanced the
fleetest and best directed steed. Now, let it be
remembered that all these latent principles,
mechanical powers, and moving forces are fur-
nished in nature, and have been existing since
creation, as provided for the use of man in his
present condition. Does not each, in the region
of natural phenomena, and do not all, in their
mechanical combinations, proclaim the presence
and power of Deity ?

THE INVENTOR.

Having discovered the materials from which
machines are constructed, and the mechanical
principles, powers, and forces upon which their
operations depend, the question which now de-
mands solution is, by what agency were these
created materials, superinduced principles, and
external forces all combined, and rendered ca-
pable of transforming other mineral, vegetable,

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 23

and animal substances into forms, and fabrics
suitable for nourishing, clothing, protecting, and
enlightening men. Here we not only reach but
cross the boundary line between the material and
the spiritual. The agent is man, and in his
constitution there is a combination of the mental
and physical, but both are brought into active
operation in the construction of machinery. His
body is formed of the dust by a Divine hand, and
his breath is breathed into his nostrils by an
Almighty Spirit. That body in itself presents
some of the most wonderful and perfect speci-
mens of mechanical phenomena. " The anatomy
of man," says Galen, " discovers above six hun-
dred muscles, and whoever only considers these,
will find that in each of them nature must
have, at least, adjusted ten different circum-
stances, in order to attain the end proposed —
proper figure, just magnitude, right disposition
of the several ends, upper and lower position of
the whole, and the due insertion of the several
nerves and arteries ; so that, in the muscles alone,
above six thousand several views and intentions
must have been formed and executed." He cal-
culated the bones to be two hundred and eighty-
four, and the distinct purposes aimed at in the
structure of each above forty. This makes
eleven thousand three hundred and sixty !
What a prodigious display of artifice even in

24 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

these simple and homogeneous parts ! But
if we consider the skin, ligaments, vessels,
glands, humors, and the several limbs and
members of the body, how must our astonish-
ment rise in proportion to the number and in-
tricacy of the parts so artificially adjusted ! Who
can survey this wonderful structure without ad-
miring the wisdom and power of the Architect ?
How appropriate the language of the Psalmist,
" I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Now
this body of man is the primary instrument —
the living machine, by which the God of provi-
dence discloses the wonders of the entire region
of artificial phenomena. In nature God employs
intermediate causes to produce the designed
physical effects, so in like manner, when the
Divine purposes of goodness and wisdom are
to be embodied in the production of mechanical
phenomena, man is the intermediate agent com-
missioned to construct them — the mental causa-
tion of their new existence. But for his wants,
machinery would be unnecessary, and but for
his mental and physical endowments for labor,
the minerals, vegetables, and animals might run
to waste without any new form of mechanical
beauty or utility being added to the phenomena
of the world.

Without the human hand how would dis-
coveries be made in science, or the arts de-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 25

veloped ? A few operations might be performed,
such as are common to some of the irrational
creatures, but progress would be utterly impos-
sible. The hand is the organ of prehension,
which readily seizes and secures bodies of every
form, and of such dimensions and weight as are
capable of being moved by the arms of man. It
has been well remarked that had the hand been
undivided it could only have held such a portion
of any mass as was equal to itself ; but, as it is,
by separating the fingers, it can encompass one
larger than itself; and, by compressing two of
them together, it can safely hold a minute ob-
ject. Besides, as some bodies are too large to
be held by one hand alone, we are endowed with
two inclining towards, and precisely adapted to
each other. The sensibilities of the hand, in
respect of touch, are not less remarkable, as at
once determining the nature of substances, as
regards hardness and softness, roughness and
smoothness, fineness and coarseness, heaviness
and lightness, hotness and coldness. While the
eye scans material elements, the hand grasps
them, completes the scrutiny which the organ of
vision had begun, and then applies them to
practical purposes. By the hand they are ar-
rested and shaped anew and combined in curious
mechanism to form this, or that machine.

But while we speak of the human hand, or the
2

26 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

human body, as the constructor of every form of
mechanical phenomena, we necessarily indicate
mental operations. There must be a motive
power, propelling, directing, and controlling this
material organism. The moving power is the
mind — the spiritual part of man's nature. It
has been already shewn that the material sab-
stances and mechanical powers could not be of
general utility without moving forces, so here,
even the human body could be of no utility in the
construction of machinery without the reasoning
powers of the mind. In this case the physical
organization is inhabited by a living, thinking
agency — a spiritual motive power within, whose
volitions are the moving springs — the originating
cause of the external movements of every joint,
and muscle, and limb. The mind thinks re-
garding an end in view, and the volitions of the
wTili propel the feet towards a chosen object, and
move the hands by which it is appropriated for
a given purpose. The mind reflects and reasons
regarding the end to be attained, and the moans
provided, adjudging the proportions, and plan-
ning the various parts of the machine ; which
ultimately takes its form from the arranging
mechanical hand of the artist. Nor is the mind
the contriver only ; its volitions direct every part
of the execution. It is, in fact, the moving
power, without which the hand becomes para-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 27

lysed, the eye ceases to observe, and the whole
machinery of the human system ceases to operate,
and the elements of nature retain forever their
original form of existence.

Let it then be kept in view that the whole
development of artificial phenomena is the result
of human ingenuity, the discovery and construc-
tion of human effort, and that every mechanical
hand has been directed and moved by an intellec-
tual agency, then it will appear that the progress
of science, and the development of art, are but
the historic records of man's mental and physical
capabilities. Thus — as has been already shewn —
while the earth is replenished as a vast magazine
of materials, man, the sentient being, is con-
stituted the artizan in the midst of these, that
as a philosopher, he may discover their existence,
and, as a mechanic, apply them to their respec-
tive uses. But though a microcosm within
himself, and though giving form to every object
in the world-wide circle of the industrial arts,
he is, nevertheless, but a monument of the
wisdom, power, *and goodness of Deity — an in-
strument in the Divine hand, by which the God
of providence effects those transformations up-
on material substances which infinite wisdom
has planned, and almighty power will duly
accomplish. The most exalted philosopher,
the most distinguished genius, the most skilful

28 THEOLOGY OF INVENTION 8.

mechanic, occupies only a place in the wide do-
main of creation as a servant, and fulfills his
appointed mission in the mysterious develop-
ments of Providence. However high he may
soar upon the wings of genius above his contem-
poraries, he is not a God to create one solitary
element in the field of nature, or to bring into
operation one primary power, or to construct a
machine absolutely original. His work is to dis-
cover, apply, and exhibit, in new combinations,
those elements, proportions, and principles which
have had a place in the Divine mind from
eternity, and which have been amply provided
for in the primary and progressive acts of crea-
tion. It is thus, that while angels are com-
missioned to loose the seals of the mysterious
book of Providence, men are employed to unlock
the treasury of nature ; and by the application of
mechanical laws to material substances, to bring
into operation an entirely new class of objects,
designed at once to show forth the glory of God,
and promote the comfort and happiness of the
human family.

But while the objects mechanically made are
superinduced upon nature, they are not new
creations. Mechanical inventions are but the
gradual development of nature's elements in new
forms, in new relations, and adapted to new
purposes. Besides, it would be no difficult task

THEOLOGY OF INVENTION'S. 29

to shew, that in nature itself are to be found the
primary suggestions — the elementary models of
all artificial mechanism. Much that passes for
invention in the works of art is merely an imi-
tation of nature, and that which constitutes the
most complicated machinery is simply the ex-
pansion, or new combinations of those primary
examples. Thus Pope well remarks, regarding
man, that he will

" The art of building from the bee receive,
Learn of the mole to plough; the worm to weave ;
Learn of the little nautilus to sail,
Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale."

It is here, however, that reason rises transcend-
ently above the most peculiar of the animal
instincts. The latter can do much ; can do all
that is necessary for the preservation and enjoy-
ment of irrational life. But though they are
perfect in their kind, they are absolutely sta-
tionary.

"The winged inhabitants of Paradise
"Wove their first nests as curiously and well
As the wood minstrels of our evil day."

Whereas human ingenuity pursues a steady
course of discovery, and marks each succeeding
a2;e with its well defined monuments of scientific
progress. But while reason soars sublimely above
the achievements of instinct, and while, in the

80 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

advancement of human knowledge, one genera-
tion looks back with wonder at the feeble efforts
of genius in a preceding age, and forward with an-
ticipation to the future triumphs of science soon
to be disclosed, yet, this elevation, or mental
expansion, is but relative — but different degrees
of mental development in the creature. Ascend
high as it may in any future age ; penetrate
though it should through the hitherto hidden
strata of the mineral deposits ; encircle though
it shall the entire surface of the globe with the
trophies of genius, it approaches not the infinite;
it bursts not the bounds of creation ; it produces
nothing unforeseen, or unprovided for, in the stu-
pendous plans of infinite wisdom.

" To improve and expand is ours, as well as to limit and
defeat;
But to create a thought or a thing is hopeless and im-

0BJECTI0N ANSWERED.

Some may object to this theory, and be ready
to ask, Do you make man only an instrument ?
Do you place him in the same category, with his
reason, as the irrational animals with their in-
stinct ? Is not a man a free and moral agent ? Is
he not a being capable of vast elevation in the
proper exercise of his mental faculties ? Will

* Proverbial Pkilosopby.

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 31

you divest him of the glory of his genius and
mechanical skill ? To this it is replied : Man
is, indeed, an instrument, though a free and
moral agent. The gift of reason, though it con-
stitutes him a free, does not necessarily render
him an independent agent. He can reason and
| plan, and operate upon given materials. He can
appropriate and arrange them in accordance
with a definite design ; hut all these operations,
whether mental or physical, are conducted within
given limits — the limits of finite capacity and
relative circumstances. No •elevation or expan-
sion of his intellectual faculties ; no degree of
physical capability, can raise him above the rank
of a creature, or render him independent of the
Almighty Creator. It is admitted that he rises
transcendently above the most sagacious of "the
beasts that perish/' but it is only by so many
degrees in a finite scale, which, in its loftiest
elevation, can bear no proportion to the infinite.
He can, in his own appropriate sphere, work out
the plans of infinite wisdom. He can, in the
exercise of reason, discover, and apply what God
has provided and bestowed for his sustenance
and comfort ; but this can never constitute him
proprietor, either of his own faculties and phy-
sical adaptations, or of those elements upon
which his genius and skill have produced such
vast transformations. He is to be viewed rather

32 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

as the exhibitor than the original designer ; as
the servant disclosing the hidden riches of his
master, rather than the proprietor setting forth
his peculiar treasures. Indeed the artizan and
his work are both designed to shew forth the
glory of one Divine Author. In the exhibition
of redemption men are represented as "workers
together with God/' when they employ the means
which infinite wisdom has prescribed ; so, in like
manner, the inventor of machinery, irrespective
of his moral characteristics or designs, becomes
a fellow-worker with God in the physical world —
an instrument by which the divine plans for the
benefit of the human race are accomplished.
He stands in the position of one whose province
it is to search out and display the boundless re-
sources of the Divine Proprietor. He is com-
manded to " subdue the earth ;" that is, by
industry to discover, and to appropriate what
infinite goodness has provided for the mitigation
of the curse, and the physical renovation of a
fallen world.

It is freely admitted that the man who makes
a discovery, or who invents an original machine,
ought to enjoy the fruits of his labor, and
ought to be honored by his fellow-men as a
public benefactor. But, when viewed in his re-
lation to God, the Author of all that is material
in his machine, and of all that is mental in its

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 33

plan and construction, lie is only a servant, and,
as such cannot usurp the claims of his Master.
While the laborer is worthy of his reward, and
ought to be recognized by tokens of gratitude,
the glory, in its high and proper sense, belongs
to God. Tt is true, in the experience of the
world, that at certain epochs peculiar discoveries
have been made which have completely changed
the currents of human history. With these
discoveries stand associated distinguished names
through coming generations. But how limited
are the conceptions of the most celebrated philo-
sophers or inventors of machinery ? Sir Isaac
Newton could scan the heavens, and calculate
the distances, densities, and velocities of suns
and systems, and yet might be very ignorant
of the method of constructing some of the
simplest machines. James Watt could form
his models, and study the powers of steam until
he astonished the world by his locomotive
engine, and vet, with regard to thousands of
other problems in art and science, he might be
profoundly ignorant. And thus it is found in
every other department. Yet even one happy
discovery is sufficient to render the name of the
inventor illustrious, though the development of
all will scarcely lead the human mind up to God
the author. By the invention of one machine
the entire stock of individual genius may be
2*

34 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

exhausted — the sands of life may be run out ere
the invention" has proved its utility. It is thus
that many benefactors of the race have sunk in
penury, while their discoveries have enriched
the world. What is then the boasted genius of
the most distinguished inventor, which is thus
absorbed and expended upon one solitary object,
compared with the mind of the infinite, which
grasped from eternity, in one embrace of benev-
olence to man, the entire region of artificial
phenomena ? How vast that mind which is able to
comprehend the entire system of things celestial
and terrestrial, past, present, or yet to be unfolded !
How amazing the wisdom and goodness of Him
who created the earth for a holy being, and yet
adapted it to the circumstances of his posterity
as fallen ! How wonderful that foreknowledge
which adapted the material world to the mental
constitution of the human race, so that man be-
comes at once the exponent of the physical world
and the reflector of the spiritual ! Nor is this
the privilege of the distinguished philosopher
only. Amid the thousand departments of science
and art, of speculative philosophy and practical
life, the humblest, as well as the most exalted
genius, may comprehend at least some portion
of the mechanical phenomena, and fulfill his
mission by contributing his part to the produc-
tion of the whole. Tt is thus that the one com-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 35

prehensive plan of infinite wisdom furnishes
scope for innumerable efforts — for all varieties
of taste and talent, while affording to each the
distinguished privilege of furnishing his part in
the accomplishment of the common design.
Thus human interests and human genius har-
moniously unite in the development of the
world's resources — in filling up the original
scheme of divine providence, while all are per-
mitted

"To join
Their partial movements with the master wheel
Of the great world, and serve that sacred end,
Which He the unerring reason keeps in view."

Viewed in this aspect, machinery becomes the
type of mental and physical capabilities ; and,
consequently, if the work of art is admired, how
much more will admiration rise in the contem-
plation of those mental powers and physical
adaptations by which, from the elements of na-
ture, the whole machinery of the world has been
evolved. It has been well remarked by Cole-
ridge, that, "as a fruit-tree is more valuable
than any one of its fruits singly, or even all its
fruit of a single season, so the noblest object of
reflection is the mind itself, by which we reflect.
And as the blossoms, the green and ripe fruit of
an orange tree, are more beautiful to behold
when on the tree, and seen as one with it, than

36 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

the same growth detached and seen successively
after their importation into another country and
different clime, so is it with the manifold objects
of reflection when they are considered principally
in reference to the reflective power, and as part
and parcel of the same. No object, of whatever
value our passions may represent it, but becomes
foreign to us as soon as it is altogether uncon-
nected with our intellectual, moral and spiritual
life. To be ours it must be referred to the mind
either as motive, or consequence or symptom."
If then the fruit-tree is more valuable than any
of its fruits, and the produce in its native state,
as attached to and growing out of the tree, more
beautiful and interesting than when ultimately
plucked, so the progressive development of
science and art is most instructive and most in-
teresting when considered in its relation to man
as the exponent of his mental and physical capa-
bilities. Thus, in the philosophy and history of
artificial phenomena, man himself occupies the
foreground in our mental conceptions ; and,
while we trace the development of the arts to
the human constitution, and to the conditions
and circumstances which gave birth to industry,
we are prone to give up our inquiry as if we had
here reached the author. But here, again, the
aphorism quoted holds specially true ; for man
himself is but one of the fruits of infinite wisdom

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 37

and almighty power, and, consequently, ought
to be viewed in all his mental and physical de-
velopments in relation to the purposes and plans
of the Universal Proprietor. That divine mind
which planned the entire scheme of the world's
physical economy, also embraced the creation of
all the secondary agents and elements destined
to produce certain effects. The reasoning, re-
flecting, operating mechanical agent is his, as
much as the mineral, vegetable, or animal sub-
stances upon which he operates, or the latent causes
in nature, which are incessantly producing che-
mical effects. The variety of artificial pheno-
mena is then to be viewed as the type of mental
and physical variety, while the spirit of industry,
as a whole, becomes the exhibition of infinite
wisdom, power, and goodness.

The capability of man in seizing material
substances, and evolving latent principles, so
that inanimate machinery is made to occupy the
place of human hands, has been admired in
every age. The perfection of form, and the
precision of operation attained, have elicited the
highest eulogiums towards the inventors or me-
chanics of modern machinery. But the most
perfect instrument ever invented comes infinitely
short of that perfection which characterizes the
human system — add to this the mind as a mo-
tive power within, moving, directing, controlling,

38 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

and restraining all the physical operations in
the mechanical world ; and is there not here an
agent which rises transcendently above every
other instrument of a terrestrial hind, in working
out the purposes of the God of Providence ? If
we admire the displays of infinite wisdom and
goodness, in creating and preserving the material
elements, from which implements of industry
are constructed, what shall we say in the con-
templation of this living instrument — this rea-
soning, self-acting machine, by which all others
are brought into operation ? shall we not exclaim
with the Psalmist ? " 0 Lord, how great are Thy
works ! and Thy thoughts are very deep."

What we plead for is, that the achievements
of man, in subduing the world, shall not be con-
sidered as his exclusively, but that the inventor
and the invention shall both be recognized as
instruments, in accomplishing the plans of in-
finite wisdom, and shewing forth the Divine
glory. They are to be viewed as co-relative
agents in the consummation of one mysterious
plan, and though one has only a physical, while
the other has a mental and moral relation to the
Divine Author, both arc designed to exhibit his
infinite perfections.

In surveying a work of art it is impossible to
separate entirely the implement from the in-
ventor in our mental conceptions. Let this

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 39

principle be carried out to its legitimate conclu-
sions, then the inventor and the invention will
unite in lifting the mind towards the Author of
both. Then, we shall not only admire the
" marvels of science," or dwell with delight upon
the utility of this or that machine, but man him-
self, a living, reasoning, intelligent, industrial
instrument, shall be viewed as in the hand of
God ; nay, as a " fellow-worker with God," in
rendering available the vast resources which in-
finite beneficence has provided for the comfort,
as well as the mental and physical progress of
the human family.

THE ARTS IN RELATION TO THE FALL.

The well-known aphorism, " that necessity is
the mother of invention," is illustrated by the
whole progress of the arts as developed in this
fallen* world. The discovery, by sin, of their
nakedness gave the first impulse to Adam and
Eve in the arts of industry. Having eaten of
the forbidden fruit, " the eyes of them both were
opened, and they knew that they were naked ;
and they sewed fig leaves together, and made
themselves aprons." This was the first effort of
mechanical genius, stimulated by want, and
directed by reason, and may be considered, not
only as the consequence of the fall, but also as
the symptom of man's future mechanical

40 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

triumphs. That the arts have been developed,
in connexion with the introduction of moral evil,
is no argument against the claims of God as
their author. As sin gave occasion for the ex-
hibition of the plan of redemption, so it has
given opportunity for the gradual development
of the entire plan of that providential economy,
which, in the divine decree, anticipated, and
provided for the circumstances of a fallen race.
The fact of the fall by sin multipied the wants
of man beyond conception. He required food
from a barren soil, blighted by the curse, and
only rendered fertile by the sweat of his brow.
Cultivation became his standing employment,
but this art required the invention of imple-
ments, either simple or complex, as the circum-
stances of the case demanded. We have already
traced the source of these to the mineral, vege-
table, and animal kingdoms. But how will man
discover the depository or use of iron, the appli-
cation of wood, or the appropriation of the living
services, and the use of the dead remains of
animals ? Will chance provide the materials, or
direct to their mechanical application ? The idea
is utterly absurd. As soon might the earth be
expected spontaneously to pour forth its metals
moulded for the machine. As soon might the
tree of the forest be expected to bow its head
and lop off its branches, and smooth its trunk

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 41

for domestic purposes. As easily might the ox
be expected to leave his pasture, and wreathe a
yoke for his own subjection and servitude. Is
the mind of man adequate to foresee the neces-
sity, or his power sufficient to supply the want,
or his benevolence so comprehensive as to meet
the case of all ? Verily no. Of this we have
ample evidence in the occurrence of every day
life. The collective experience of centuries, and
the accumulated wisdom of the mightiest' na-
tions on earth, are found at times inadequate to
provide against the contingencies of a foreign
campaign, or even to convey with regularity, food
and clothing to a few thousands of gallant troops
nsrhtins; in the distance the battles of their
country. Public opinion may blame this Ca-
binet Minister or that department official as it
will, the fact speaks volumes, and is calculated
to teach us the poverty of human foresight, and
the utter insufficiency of human wisdom or
power to provide even the channels through
which heaven's bounty may be administered.
Contrast with this the full provision which was
made in the formation of the globe, and which
is continually supplied through innumerable
channels from age to age, for meeting the wants
and increasing the comforts of the fallen human
family. What mind but the Infinite could have
anticipated the wants of a race of moral beings,

42 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

having forfeited their first estate, and having
completely changed their relations to other moral
beings and material things ? But here, we see
the exhibition of that prescience which " knoweth
the end from the beginning, and from ancient
times the things that shall come to pass," and
the intervention of that power which can con-
trol every event, and render every element sub-
servient to the eternal decree and purpose.
Contemplate artificial phenomena as we may, in
its relation to man and to nature, no cause can
be assigned sufficient for the transformation
displayed, or for the effects produced, unless we
attribute it to that God who has said, " My
counsel shall stand, and I will do all my
pleasure/'

THE INDUSTRIAL INSTINCT IN MAN AN ELEMENT
IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ARTS.

That the enjoyment of the blessings promised
is realised by the industry of man, militates not
against our argument. The capability for labor,
whether mental or physical is of God, and by
Him also were planted the instincts of industry.
The established conpexion between toil and en-
joyment is, that unless a man submits to labor
many of his wants must remain unsupplied,
and many of his desires ungratified. By the
slothful man the riches of nature are allowed to

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 43

run to waste, while physical misery is prolonged
and extended. Instead of assuming the place
which God has assigned him as lord of creation,
he continues a slave ; he remains a savage —
naked, helpless, and destitute of domestic com-
fort. But, on the other hand, the man who has
the instincts of industry awakened within him,
and who has -by exercise matured these latent
principles, and who has tasted the sweets of his
daily toil — that man has entered upon a course
of progress ; he has taken hold of his original
charter, and nature itself is so adapted as to
yield to his continued efforts. It is true that
man labors for himself, and the distinctions of
property become a stimulus to exertion, but
while he labors for himself he is filling up his
place in the comprehensive plan, and benefitting
his species. By the exercise of those powers
wherewith the Creator has endowed him he can
subdue and rule over that physical domain ac-
corded in his original grant. It is thus that one
of our poets* represents the transition from
savage to civilized life :

'• Industry approached,
And roused him from his miserable sloth,
His faculties unfolded ; pointed out
Where lavish Nature ttie directing hand
Of art demanded ; showed him how to raise
His feeble force by the mechanic powers :

* Thomson.

41 THEOLOGY UF INVENTIONS.

To dig the mineral from the vaulted earth ;
On what to turn the piercing rage of fire ;
On what the torrent, and the gathered blast;
Gave the tall ancient forest to his axe ;
Taught.him to chip the wood, and hew the stone,
Till by degrees the finished fabric rose ;
Tore from his limbs the blood-polluted fur
And wrapt him in the wooly vestment warm ;
Xor stopt at barren bare necessity,
But still advancing bolder, led him on
To pomp, to pleasure, elegance, and grace ;
And breathing high ambition through his soul,
Set science, wisdom, glory in his view,
And bade him be the lord of all below."

CHAPTER II.

THE GRADUAL DEVELOPMENT OF MECHANICAL INTENTIONS AN
EVIDENCE THAT THEY ARE COMMUNICATED IN ACCORDANCE
WITH THE PURPOSES OF GOD.

The second branch of our argument bears
upon the date of discovery, or the characteristics
of society at the time when some of the most
remarkable inventions have been brought into
general requisition. The relations of time in
their successive development, as well as the fact
of their construction, furnish an invincible argu-
ment that the God of infinite wisdom has fixed
the period, and that in the dispensations of His
providence, He has raised up the inventor, and
so arranged concomitant circumstances as to
open a channel for the application of the
machine. This might be illustrated by the
whole history of mankind ; for the history of the
arts reaches back to the expulsion from Para-
dise, and may be viewed as the record of man's
intellectual and physical progress. And what
is the history of the human family but the

46 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

register of facts evolved in the exercise of God's
physical and moral dominion in our world ? It
is freely admitted that there has been a disturb-
ing element — the introduction of moral evil,
which lias changed the entire aspect of human
history, opened the bitter fountains of sorrow,
and given dominion to the "king of terrors."
Besides, sin has been the moral cause producing
vast physical changes upon the world, in accord-
ance with the curse pronounced by the righteous
Governor. But amidst these convulsions, physi-
cal and moral, the reflecting mind will be able
at all times to trace the over-ruling and directing
providence of God. Universal nature bears the
impress of infinite wisdom and Almighty power,
while every page of human history displays the
outgoings of a boundless beneficence. A benefi-
cence, however, regulated by restraining circum-
stances in relation to labor, discovery, and
invention, without which the introduction of sin
to a world, constituted as the earth was at
creation, would have involved the human race
in physical as well as moral ruin. Truly may it
be said that, "were God to let the world alone,
man would become a fiend ; angels would flee as
from another Gomorrah, and cease to minister
to it : Satan, wearing the regalia of hell, would
lord it over sea and land, and time commencing
with Paradise would end with Pandemonium."

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 47

It is worthy of observation that, throughout
the history of man's social progress — while the
characteristics of the age, imparted an impulse to
the inventive faculties, the inventions themselves
gave a new impulse to society. The triumphs
of genius are thus the monuments of human
progression, each adapted to its respective age,
and all tending to universal development. Could
there he a more convincing proof of the hand of
God in the history of inventions than the fact
that each important discovery has been made at
the very time in which it was most calculated to
ameliorate the condition of the human family ?
In proof and illustration of this, only a few
examples can be selected from the entire field of
artificial phenomena. But what holds true of
the more important and conspicuous machines —
which are bat parts of the whole mechanical
development — is also true of the least of these,
in its relative position, and of the entire range
of inventions, in their relations to each other, and
to humanity.

THE MARINER'S COMPASS.

The discovery of the mariner's compass in its
relations to, and bearings upon other discoveries,
has, in the' providence of God, changed the
whole aspect of society, and as the silent guide
of the heralds of truth, amid the dark and

48 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

jarring elements of nature, it is destined to pro-
duce greater changes throughout the entire
globe. The art of navigation reaches back to
the days of antiquity, but the invention of the
mariner's compass is comparatively modern.
Navigation, simply considered, is the art of
conducting a vessel by sea, from one port to
another. This art was, doubtless, known in the
first ages of the world, though we have no
record of any floating vessel previous to the Ark
of Noah. In subsequent Scripture records the
references to navigation prove that the whole art
was in a very infantile state, compared with
what it has now attained. It is true that ship-
building and coast sailing had been in operation
from time immemorial, but down till the time
of the discovery of the compass, the ocean had
not become the pathway of nations. Fleets,
though safely launched and ably manned, were
continually land-bound — not by the opposing
elements of nature, but in consequence of the
want of an instrument by which the mariners
might discover their locality, and mark their
direction amidst the trackless waste of waters.
How dreary the coasting trade of such times as
those of Solomon, when his well appointed fleet,
in company with that of Hiram, King of Tyre,
could only reach and return from Tarshish
once in three voars ? How slow and uncertain

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 49

the voyages accomplished by the Phenicians,
Carthagenians, Egyptians, Romans, and other
nations of Europe and Asia ? With no guide
but the sun by day and the stars by night,
uncertainty marked every attempt to cross even
the larger estuaries of the sea. Whenever the
sky lowered, or the storm-cloud collected, these
ancient seamen were thrown into alarm lest they
should be carried in a course entirely different
from that intended, or landed upon some un-
known and inhospitable shore. The dangers
and difficulties of ancient navigation are evident
from the deliberations, great preparations, and
alarms of Homer's heroes, when proposing to
cross the Egean Sea, a voyage of not more than
150 miles ; and the expedition of the Argonauts,
under Jason, across the sea of Marmora and the
Euxine, to the Island of Colchis, a distance of
only four or five hundred miles, was celebrated
as a most wonderful exploit, at which the gods
themselves were said to be amazed. The history
of Paul's travels, recorded in the Acts of the
Apostles, corroborates the same fact, respecting
the difficulty of navigation without the compass.
" When neither sun nor stars in many days
appeared, and no small tempest lay upon us, all
hope that we should be saved was then taken
away." Being deprived of their guides — hav-
ing lost their reckoning, and sight of land ;

50 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

even though they might weather the storm, they
had no idea whither their course would lead
them, as now tossed and driven up and down in
the Mediterranean. This was but one hopeless
hark among many, that, by undue detention, or
by storms, were in those days of infantile naviga-
tion tossed upon the troubled waters of Adria,
and wrecked upon, the barren shores of the island
of Melita. It was not until the discovery of the
polarity of the magnet, and the invention of the
mariner's compass, that distant voyages could be
undertaken, that extensive oceans could be tra-
versed, and commercial intercourse opened up
between remote continents and the islands of
the sea.

It is not to our purpose to trace the history of
this discovery, nor to consider the comparative
claims of those supposed to be the inventors of the
compass. The subject is at this distance of time
involved in obscurity — an obscurity which is
calculated to evince more clearly the hand of
God in a discovery and invention, which in
their first application were deemed unworthy of
record, though their results have astonished and
enriched the world. But it is of little conse-
quence to our argument to be deprived of ex-
plicit historical testimony regarding the name
of the individual who first discovered the fact
of the Northern attraction for iron, or who first

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 51

balanced the needle in the formation of a compass,
as it is chiefly with the state of the world at that
period that we have to do, and the influence
which this discovery has imparted to the whole
circle of the sciences, to politics, to religion, and
to all the interests and comforts of social life.

The polarity of the magnet has existed from
creation. The iron had been in use, at least,
from the time of Tubal- Cain, whose name is
recorded in the fourth chapter of the book of
Genesis, as "an instructor of every artificer in
brass and iron." The mind of man possessed
the same mental powers, his curiosity was as
easily excited, and his ambition for wealth and
for territory as great during these, as they have
been during any succeeding periods. Progress
had been made in other mechanical departments;
as Nineveh, and Babylon, and Jerusalem, and
Eome give evidence. But this discovery of the
polarity of the magnet was merely a matter of
observation, and yet not observed, till that
period when the God of Providence designed
by its instrumentality to open up the world, and
accomplish the original purpose, that the human
family should multiply, subdue, and possess the
earth.

From the contradictory claims of different
countries, as to the discovery of the polarity of the
magnet, it is impossible now to fix upon the precise

52 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

date when the natural fact was made known, yet
it is evident, from authentic history, that the mar-
iner's compass was not commonly used in navi-
gation before the year 1420, that is, only a few years
previous to the invention of printing. That the
'loadstone had the property of attracting iron
was known in all ages, but its tendency to point
to the north and south was only discovered about
the beginning of the twelfth century, and its ap-
plication to practical use in the art of navigation
was still a secret, until the beginning of the
fifteenth. The simplicity of the discovery, as
transmitted by traditionary records, marks the
hand of God as there. It was not, as might have
been expected, some scientific mariner, speculat-
ing like Columbus upon the probability of dis-
covering a vast continent beyond the world of
waters, or the best means of obtaining a sure
guide across the trackless element. Nor was it a
traveller, burning with ardent desire to explore
some hitherto unknown country. Neither was
it a learned philosopher seeking the solution of
a problem that might render his name illus-
trious in coming generations, but, according to
the uncertain traditions which have readied us,
" some curious persons were amusing themselves
by floating a loadstone suspended upon a piece of
cork in a basin of water, which, when left at liber-
ty, was observed to point to the north. In addi-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 53

tion to this, it was observed that a piece of iron
rubbed with loadstone acquired the property not
only of turning to the north, but also of attract-
ing needles and the filings of iron. Thus the ele-
mentary idea was communicated, and scientific
minds and mechanical genius left to apply the
boon conferred upon humanity. It is not to our
purpose to cast any light upon the steps of pro-
gress, the experiments, the failures, or the
triumphs of science, in the elucidation of this
discovery. Nor shall we notice the prejudice
which in this, as in every other case of mechani-
cal progress, was ready to enchain this world-
wide principle as a thing of nought. Neither can
we dwell upon the complete revolutions, physi-
cal and mental, which it has already produced.
Suffice it to say, that the discovery of this simple
elementary fact, a fact which had always existed,
speedily cast a new aspect over the entire globe.
Oceans, hitherto unknown and trackless, became
the pathway of the nations. Countries and
kingdoms, hitherto isolated, were brought into
neighborhood. The vast world of waters, here-
tofore supposed to be an insuperable barrier to
commerce, was subjected to the use of man. The
original command to replenish the earth and
subdue it, was 're-echoed from the mountains and
the valleys of hitherto unknown regions of the
earth, laid open by every successive discovery ;

54 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

while the last injunction of the ascending Re-
deemer, to "go into all the world, and preach the
Gospel to every creature," became practicable
to the Church, even unto the ends of the earth.
The discovery of this natural principle, and its
embodiment in a mechanical instrument, has
been succeeded by the revelation of vast contin-
ents and islands unknown to the European world,
and the establishment of friendly and commer-
cial intercourse between the remotest regions of
the earth. Without the aid of this distinguished
invention, America, in all probability, would
have remained a secret to the Eastern nations ;
Australia, the fifth great division of the globe,
the numerous islands in the Indian and Pacific
Oceans, the isles of Japan, and other immense
territories inhabited by human beings, or yet to
be inhabited, would have remained as much un-
known and unexplored by the nations of Chris-
tendom as though they had never existed. As
these were the sole depositories of the records of
revelation, they could never have transmitted
the glad-tidings of salvation to unknown tribes
of mankind, of whose existence they were entire-
ly ignorant. Even though the whole terraqueous
globe had been stretched out before them, and
its seas, and oceans, and continents, and islands
mapped with precision, without this natural, yet
artificial guide — the compass — to direct their

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 55

course amidst the billows of the ocean, they
could have afforded no light and no relief to
cheer the moral gloom of those distant nations,
" who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death."
Though the art of printing had been discovered,
and the sacred volume multiplied in millions,
jand the original tongues translated into every
language. And though there had been churches
ready to scatter them as the leaves of the tree
of life for the healing of the nations, and mis-
sionaries to expound their soul-inspiring doc-
trines, all would have been unavailing to vast
portions of the heathen world without the mari-
ner's compass to guide the messenger of mercy
across the trackless ocean.

Without the aid of the compass, the business
of the merchant, and the work of the mission-
ary, would be limited within the narrow bounds
of a coasting voyage or a land journey. But when
the set time had come that Christianity should
be emancipated from the thraldom of the dark
ages, when the moral Governor would give a
new impulse to the world, and a new field for
the conquest of the Church, this fact in nature
was made known, and has resulted in discove-
ries which have already revolutionized the men-
tal world, and which are destined to produce
still more astonishing revelations in the physical
and the moral. Who can calculate the effects

f)fi THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

produced upon commerce and national inter-
course ? Or who can predicate the past or future
influence of these again, as reacting upon the
human family, in the development of civiliza-
tion, freedom, self-government, philosophy, lit-
erature, and religion ?

Had the discovery of the compass been sooner
made, while war was the professional life of
monarchs, nothing but human destruction could
have ensued. Nations, slumbering in the secu-
rity of their boundless sea-girt position, would
have been daily overrun and destroyed by the
barbarian invader. In the existing state of the
apostatized Church during the dark ages, when
pure Christianity was well nigh extinguished,
and spiritual despotism had overlaid the pre-
cepts of the Gospel, the discovery of this inven-
tion could only have shaded in deeper gloom
the dark folding clouds of heathen superstition.
But in the purpose of God, the day of the Re-
formation was soon to dawn, the Bible to be
emancipated, and reproduced in millions, for
dispelling the mists of Popery ; the policy of na-
tional isolation to be supplanted by the policy
of national commerce, and, in prospect of these
mighty moral changes, the God of providence
evolved the secret of nature, and directed human
ingenuity to the solution of the problem, that

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 57

the sea, as well as the land, might be made the
thoroughfare of nations.

The intercourse of nations has extended know-
ledge, and, as a necessary consequence, has given
rise to freedom, has renovated politics, has eli-
cited the pent-up affections of man towards his
fellow-man, and rendered war a stern necessity
rather than a pleasure. It is true that the Mil-
lenium has not yet come, when " peace on earth,
and good will to men/' shall be the watchword
of the nations. The trumpet of war has been
blown, and the slumbering nations of Europe
have been called to furbish their swords, and
engage in the conflict. It is true that already
many thousands of the mighty have fallen, and
the cry of lamentation, under bereavement, has
been re-echoed from the halls and hamlets of
peaceful Britain. We admit that the dark
thunder cloud is yet suspended, which may at
some unexpected hour burst in a wide-spread
European conflagration. But the conflict, as
now waged between the Northern Czar and the
Western Allies, is a struggle between grasping
despotism and disinterested freedom. It is the
result of human passions unsubdued — the ambi-
tion of conquest nourished in a despotic heart.
But opposed to these stand out in bold relief,
for the contemplation of future ages^ the confer-
ences, notes of diplomacy, protocols, and pro-

58 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

tests against war and Russian aggression, from
the free and civilized nations of Europe. These
are monuments of social progress, of respect for
the rights of humanity, and the laws of nations ;
clearly indicating that the whole tendency of
discovery in science, and progress in art is to aid
in ushering in the reign of peace, and the re-
establishment of. the brotherhood of nations.

In this invention, then, we have distinct evi-
dence of the hand of God in directing and over-
ruling the efforts of human genius to subserve
the purposes of grace and mercy ; as these have
been, and shall be fully exhibited in the redemp-
tion of our world. When the prophet Isaiah
comforted the ancient Church with the announce-
ment, " The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together," it must have
been difficult for even him to understand how
his own predictions should be accomplished.
From the existing state of the art of navigation
at that period, the intercourse of Israel with the
world was comparatively limited. " The great
and wide sea," known in modern times as the
Mediterranean, formed the eastern boundary
beyond winch as a geographer, he could not
penetrate. Of the distant continents, and the
"isles afar off," and of the waste of waters that
lay between, he had no knowledge, and how the
"ends of the earth" could be reached, he could

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 59

not, as a philosopher, form any conception. But
as a prophet, it was enough for him that " the
mouth of the Lord had spoken it," he could gaze
in the exercise of faith, and in the light of in-
spiration, down the stream of time, to the period
when Divine Power, with or without the inter-
vention of human means, should accomplish all
that he had spoken. How different with those
whose lot has been cast in these latter days ?
Not only has the Sun of Righteousness arisen
over the' nations, but all the instrumentality
which Infinite Wisdom saw meet to employ in
the diffusion of the Gospel, is being gradually
developed. We see in progress the grand de-
signs of the Divine economy as yet to be accom-
plished, and science and art in their appropriate
sphere, and at the appointed time, lending their
aid towards that consummation. Already may
be seen the indications of that period when all
the discoveries of science, and all the efforts of
genius, shall be consecrated to the service of the
King of Zion.

THE ART OF PRINTING.

This invention marks an important era in the
world's history, and the time of its discovery is
peculiarly illustrative of the over-ruling and
directing providence of God. Like the mariner's
compass, its primitive history is involved in

60 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

obscurity. The greater proportion of popular
historians fix the date of invention in the early
part of the fifteenth century, or about the year
1430 — a period regarding which it may be
justly said that darkness covered the earth, and
gross darkness the people ; but of this period
it may be also appropriately affirmed that the
Spirit of God brooded over the gloomy chaos ; for
it was, though a darkness that might be felt, the
gloomy hour which preceded the dawn of light
and liberty. Could it be by chance that a man
of Haarlem, a town of Holland, named Lauren-
tius or Lawrence Coster, should, while amusing
himself in a wood, by cutting letters on the
smooth bark of a tree, evolve the whole mystery
of the art of printing ? In the transference of
the letters to paper he only thought of amusing
his children — as any other father would — but
the Divine purposes was to illuminate a world by
means of his discovery. This simple fact of
transference from the bark of a tree to the
unsullied sheet, of a few rudely engraved letters,
gave rise within him to the discovery and appli-
cation of a suitable ink. Thus, encouraged by
his success, whole pages of letters upon blocks
of wood soon gave to the world a power of
diffusing knowledge hitherto unknown. We
are aware that the honor of this invention has
been claimed bv other cities besides Haarlem.

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. Gl

Strasburg and Mentz have both contended for
priority, and to other individuals besides Coster
has the pen of the historian accorded this dis-
tinguished invention. The names of Fust,
SchoerTer, and Gutenberg have each been respec-
tively contended for, while recent researches have
led some historians to date the discovery as early
as the middle of the tenth century, and to accord
the honor of the invention to the Chinese. It
has also been supposed that the knowledge of the
art was obtained from China, as there is some
resemblance between their block-printing, and
the most ancient specimens, or first efforts, in
Europe. Be this as it may, and it cannot now
be determined, the guiding providence of God,
in respect to time, would only be transferred
from the first elements of the discovery to its
importation into Europe. Of two things we are
certain, that between 1450 and 1455 the first
great work was completed, and it is still more
interesting to discover the fact that the earliest
homage of this inestimable invention was paid
to the " Word of Life." The Latin Bible " of
six hundred and forty-one leaves, was the first
volume printed with moveable metal types.
Shortly after the discovery had been reduced to
a systematic application, the printed Bible was
offered in Paris for sixty crowns, but so deep
was the moral darkness of the period that the

62 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

uniformity of the copies, and the numbers
issued gave rise, not only to astonishment,
but also to persecution. The vender of these
copies of the sacred volume was supposed to be
a magician, and, but for his timely flight, would
have been executed for witchcraft.

What would the men of that generation think
of the modern achievements of the printing
press ? Could they be resuscitated for a single
day, and introduced to the manufactory of the
London Times. And were they to occupy for
a month the place and power of the Britisli
Cabinet, retaining their prejudices, little more
would be heard of the " heart-rending scenes "
of the Crimea, nor of the mismanagement of the
war at home or abroad. How much better the
state of things as they are, with a free and
patriotic press, though slight inconveniences
may arise to personal and political interests ?
The printing press as it now stands unfettered,
and liberally supported by the British public
may be justly viewed as the palladium of civil
and religious liberty. Think of its mighty
power and vast resources for the exposure of
wrong, and the diffusion of intelligence ! Let
one example suffice, and it is taken from the
establishment already named. The following
statistics are mentioned in a report by Mr.
Cowper, from which it appears that on the 7th

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 63

of May, 1850 the Times and " Supplement " con-
tained 72 columns, or 17,500 lines, made up of
upwards of a million pieces of type, of which mat-
ter about two-fifths were written, composed, and
corrected after 7 o'clock in the evening. The
" Supplement " was sent to press at 7.50 p.m., the
first form of the paper at 4.15 a.m., and the
second form at 4.45 a.m. ; on this occasion 7000
papers were published before 6.15 a.m., 21,000
before 7.30 a.m., and 34,000 before 8.45 a.m., or
in about four hours. The greatest number of
copies ever printed in one day was 54,000, and
the greatest quantity of printing in one day's
publication was on 1st of March, 1848, when
the paper used weighed seven tons, the weight
usually required being four and a half tons. The
surface to be printed every night, including the
" Supplement," is 30 acres ; the weight of the
fount of type in constant use is seven tons ; and
110 compositors, and 25 pressmen are constantly
employed. This is but a single specimen of the
productive powers of the printing press. What
must be the accumulative power of all the print-
ing presses in the world ? How vast must be
their influences for good or evil noiv, and assured-
ly for good- hereafter 'i This power has been
well described by one of our English poets* when
he speaks of it as

° Rev. Robert Montgomery.

64 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

"That mighty lever that has moved the world —
The Press of England !
The magic of its might no tongue can tell ;
Dark, deep, and silent oft, but ever felt :
Mix'd with the mind, and feeding with the food
Of thought, the moral being of the soul.
It could have half annihilated hell
And her great denizens by glorious sway."

It is not, however, upon the benefits of the
printing press that we design to fix attention.
These statistics have been introduced as an
illustration of the influence wielded through
this one invention, so that Divine wisdom and
goodness may be more apparent as regards the
time when it was bestowed. Had the discovery
of the art of printing been earlier in Europe, its
utility could not have been appreciated, nor
could there have been found channels for the
extension of its benefits. Indeed, there is reason
to believe that it would have been sacrificed to
the superstition and barbarism of the dark ages,
or entirely lost among the rubbish of a lifeless
and decaying literature. But the discovery was
made at the very time, and associated with the
very circumstances which were calculated to
render its birth a blessing. The invention of
printing was coeval with the revival of learning
and literature among the European nations. It
so far preceded the Reformation as to be fully
matured, and sufficiently powerful to extend the
knowledge of Bible truth, as well as to record

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 65

and perpetuate its triumphs. The long buried
current of thought "began to move amid the
mental darkness, and to burst forth in the con-
troversies of councils sacred and civil. The
electric spark of truth was already shaking
the ecclesiastical throne of error. Italy was
animated by a fresh ardor, and the continent
of Europe generally gave indication of an
approaching crisis. The mighty deep was now
subjected to the unrestrained use of the mariner,
and vast continents were looming in the distance,
soon to be discovered, inhabited, and illuminated
by that light which was dawning on Europe.
It was at such a time that the obscure German,
heaven-directed, was revolving in his mind the
first principles of the art of printing, and uncon-
sciously introducing a mental revolution which
has marked a new era in the history of the
world. Could these circumstances, taken in
connexion with the discovery, be the result of
chance ? To every reflecting mind there must
be here the evidence of a guiding and over-rul-
ing Providence.

The fact that the printing press should also
be committed to Christian hands, and that the
Bible should be the first permanent memorial of
its new-born triumphs, is another evidence that
it must be of God ; and there seems also in the
fact, that its first efforts were consecrated to the

66 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

service of Jehovah, an emblem of that blessed
era when this, and every other mechanical in-
vention, shall be received as a gift from " the
Father of Lights/' and willingly dedicated to his
service.

In whatever aspect the printing press is
viewed, there must be conviction that God is its
primary Author. In its history, emerging from
chaotic ignorance. In its application, the per-
manent defence of truth ; in its extension, the
harbinger of liberty ; in its mighty influence
upon the development of science and art — upon
every physical, mental, and moral resource —
upon every social and sacred interest — upon the
well-being of the human family in time, and the
preparation of man for eternity, there is a mag-
nitude of purpose, and plan, and result, beyond
the grasp of the human intellect, an elevation
and a comprehension manifestly divine. The
printing press, though evolved and employed by
the ingenuity of man, possesses characteristics and
relations to the Church and the world, which,
calmly and intelligently considered, will neces-
sarily lift the mind to Him who is the Governor
among the nations, "who doeth according to
His will in the army of heaven, and among the
inhabitants of the earth," and who directs the
mental powers and mechanical operations of men,

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 67

for promoting the progress and prosperity of that
kingdom which shall never be moved.

THE STEAM ENGINE.

It has been well remarked that "steam and
lightning are not secular, but Divine powers/'
and they have been well described as " inspira-
tions from on high, preparing the way of the
Lord." The steam engine, like the mariner's
compass, existed in its elementary principles and
powers from creation. The water, the lire, and the
minerals had each a place and a form in the region
of natural phenomena, though not yet arranged
by human ingenuity so as to produce locomotive
power. It can not be questioned that, in all
ages, water could be converted into steam or
vapor. It was thus transformed by a natural
process in the first week of the world's history,
when "there went up a mist from the earth and
watered the whole lace of the ground." Besides
this elemental process, wherever artificial heat
was applied, the same phenomenon was produced.
In the most common culinary operations of do-
mestic fife, steam was necessarily generated by
the contact of water and fire. In the gentle
upheavings of the lid of the tea-kettle, the mecha-
nical force of steam was daily exhibited. But
how does it happen that the acutest minds among
ancient philosophers never thought of the prac-

C3 THEOLOGY OF INTENTIONS.

tical application of this mighty agent ? How
does it come to pass that, even after its power
as a mechanical force has been discovered, and
applied in the coal-mines of Cornwall, it could
not be rendered available for general purposes
until the . days of James Watt ? The only
answer is, that the time appointed in the pur-
pose and evolved in the mysterious providence
of God, for solving the problem, had not come.
Hitherto the world was unprepared for this
inestimable boon. Had it been discovered prior
to the invention of the mariner's com}:
would have been of comparatively little a
tage ; or had it preceded the art of printing, the
ignorance of the human family would have pre-
cluded the possibility of enjoying the benefits
which it was calculated to bestow. Nay, it may
be questioned whether the introduction of steam
at an earlier age would not have proved posi-
tively injurious — a curse rather than a blessing.
Had the power of steam as a mechanical force
been known to the ancients, whose professional
life was war, how fearful must have been the
carnage upon the peaceful shores of every sea-
girt island ? The ocean itself would have be-
come the high battle-field of the nations ! In
the ages of barbarism, the power of steam would
have been the instrument of universal devasia-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 69

tioD — the mechanical exterminator of the hu-
man race.

OBJECTION ANSWERED.

It may be objected to this line of argument,
that we have not yet reached the reign of justice,
nor attained to the enjoyment of universal peace.
We admit the fact but deny the force of the ob-
jection. War is not now the stock in trade of
national enterprise. It may, as at present, in the
case of aggression by the Russian Autocrat, be
rendered an act of stern necessity ; but in all such
cases, it is simply the administration of public
justice — the infliction of merited punishment by
the sword of the civil magistrate. In such cir-
cumstances, war, though an instrument of de-
struction, is nevertheless the visitation of aven-
ging justice, protecting the weak against the
oppression of the strong, and ultimately destined
to break the scepter of every despot. But, it
may here be urged, that art in such cases is per-
verted, and made instrumental for the destruc-
tion of human life ; that the brightest genius is
frequently expended in rendering more effective
the life-destroying apparatus of war. We admit
the fact ; and in no preceding age has the pro-
gress of art been more manifest than in the
present Crimean struggle. Witness our steam
fleets, our c:uns, our railway from the harbor

70 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

to the carnp, and our telegraph wires among the
lines of our soldiery, conveying despatches from
the commander-in-chief to the principal officers
But let it be kept in view that, if war is ren-
dered a necessity, a simple act of public justice
because of national wrong, the more destructive
the implements of war are the better, and the
more efficiently it is conducted the sooner will
its horrors terminate, and peace be restored.

But it may again be replied that this argu-
ment is like a two-edged sword which may cut
either way. May not the agressor improve in
Art as well as in War, and thus render his power
more destructive, and extend the sphere of op-
pression ? Is it not so in the modern history of
Russia, with her improved guns, and forts, and
infernal machines, which have hitherto kept in
check our besieging army, and rendered the
navigation of her dangerous coasts still more
hazardous ? This is true, and capable of uni-
versal extension, were there no counterbalancing
influences in the arrangements of an all-wise Pro-
vidence. But we have already seen, that the
extension of knowledge, and the enjoyment of
freedom, impart a mighty impulse to science and
art ; consequently, as knowledge is the basis of
civil liberty, those nations enjoying the light of
the Gospel will necessarily be found in advance
of those despotic and enslaved. Thus, the pro-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 71

gress of art, when applied to the implements of
war, will ever be found in its most advanced
state in connection with constitutional freedom.
Has it not been so in the past history of
Britain ? Is it not so in the present conflict ?
The superiority of the Allies in shipping, in the
material of war, associated with fidelity, disci-
pline and moral courage, have already been fully
established before the walls of the Crimean
Strong-hold, and are our only hope under God
of victory over vastly superior numbers, and of
ultimately dictating the terms of an honorable
peace which will secure and re-animate the lib-
erties of Europe.

Besides, in the present development of martial
prowess, the Allies, and especially Britain, have
been placed in a position of great disadvantage.
The secret purposes of the Kussian Czar have
been maturing plans offensive, and defensive, for
many years — while Britain was slumbering upon
her oars, and occupied with extending and re-
gulating her commercial relations with the
world, rather than projecting aggressive schemes
of aggrandizement, or training her sons in the
science of war. Even while her gates w^ere freely
opened to strangers from every kingdom, and
while her Crystal Palace was exhibiting the pro-
ductions of the industrial arts from every clime,
as the first instalment of universal brotherhood

72 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

restored, Russia was forging her implements
and training her armies for the re-establishment
of a European despotism. Yet, in the day of
hat tie, the highest development of science, art,
and invincible courage is found upon the side of
the Western Allies, clearly establishing the fact
that mechanical progress will ever be in advance
upon the side of civilization and freedom, until
the banner of Peace shall float triumphant in
every land, and the "good will" of the Gospel be
embodied in works of universal philanthropy.

And, is it not manifest, that in the over-rul-
ing providence of God, a peace of forty years has
been accorded to Britain, in order to prepare her
for this eventful struggle! Though that pre-
paration has not been direct, nor with a view to
the display of martial prowess, it has been pro-
gressing securely in her vast acquisition of wealth
and in the unprecedented development of her
arts and sciences. Inexperience, she may be
charged with, in her earlier campaigns, but what
are these compared with the forty years of
peace and prosperity, during which inventions
have come to light, and intellectual and moral
influences have been at work, which in harmony
with the dissemination of the Gospel, will at
length issue in the peace of the Millenium. It
is worthy of observation, that the discovery of
the Steam Engine was given at the very period,

THEOLOGY OF INVENTION*. 73

best adapted for its development — even during
this unparalleled period of peace. In the early
part of last century, many efforts were made to
render steam available for general purposes, but
none succeeded until Watt, after years of study
and experimenting, was commissioned to solve
the problem. The latter half of the eighteenth
century was a time of experimenting. The first
half of the present century has been the period
of application. While the continental wars were
drawing to a close, the inventor of the steam
engine was unconsciously preparing Britain for
the present conflict, and no less than forty years
of peace were given to test its utility, and de-
velop its mighty influence upon the whole range
of mechanical arts ! Is it possible to view these
facts — the relation of the invention to time, and
the circumstances of human history, without the
conviction that the wisdom of God has fixed
the one and that His almighty power has evolved
the other ?

This j)eculiar relation of time and discovery
is equally apparent in connexion with the ex-
tension of national intercouse. The discovery
of America, Australia, and other distant regions
of the unknown world, by the aid of the mariner's
compass, prepared the way for the most enlarged
application of steam. Had this mighty engine
of locomotion been in use previous to the dis-
4

74 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

covery of the great western continent, wheat
would have been the natural result ? Is it not
evident that had the population of the European
world been poured into this newly discovered
country in millions as they have recently been
by the agency of steam, the organization of the
social fabric would have been utterly impossible.
Provision for the wants of emigrants arriving in
weekly thousands in a new country, where all
was unsubdued, could not have been realized
without a miracle, such as sustained the Israel-
ites in the desert. The misery of the primary
mining huts of California, or the sufferings of
the first settlers in " Canvass Town" at Mel-
bourne, or even the recent state of the hospitals
of Balaclava, would furnish but a faint picture
of what must have been the state of American
society, had its discoveiy been co-evil with the
present use of steam, or had its desert waters been
peopled by the million, as in modern times. But
no anomaly of this description occurs in the dis-
pensations of Providence. He who taught the
crane and the swallow the time of their coming,
has also arranged the entire chain of events, so
that none shall fall out before its appointed
period, nor shall the discoveries of man, or the
policy of nations, derange the benevolent schemes
of the moral Governor. To sail for Columbia,
under the former mode of navigation, was the

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 75

thought of years, and the actual enterprise of
many months. Thus was emigration restrained
within moderate limits, until the land of adop-
tion was prepared to receive and sustain its im-
ported population. Nor was this restraint less
important to the mother country, which would
otherwise have been left destitute of her native
population, before she had become sufficiently
commercial to command the trade of the civil-
ized world. By comparatively slow, but steady
progress, both countries were prepared for emi-
gration upon a gigantic scale. In the new
world, the vast and trackless forests yielded to
the industry of man. Cities rose in majesty
and splendor. Civil constitutions were framed.
Churches were organized and schools established.
And thus, the land which had been so long be-
yond the ken of the Eastern kingdoms, was
prepared for the most extensive operations of
steam and commerce. At home there is a cor-
responding preparation, though of an entirely
different description. ' Forests of shipping are
found accumulating in British ports. Manu-
factories are being established on every hand.
Inventions and discoveries, are daily transferring
labor from human hands to machinery, and thus,
the over-crowded and over-taxed operatives,
and peasants of Britain are set free, to find a
home and a land of independence beyond the

76 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

waves of the vast Atlantic. To pursue the argu-
ment in all its aspects would be endless, nor is
this necessary, as every reflecting mind must be
convinced that these arrangements of time and
circumstances are not the result of chance, but
the manifestations of Divine wisdom, and power,
and goodness.

THE SPINNING MILL.

What is true of the invention of the steam
engine, in respect to time, is equally true of the
spinning mill and the power loom, as regards
their rapidity of production. Had not the in-
vention of the steam engine preceded both,
neither could have existed Without injury to
society. Of what utility could the spinning mill
have been without the discovery of America, by
the help of the compass, and the transit of raw
material, and manufactured goods by the aid of
steam ? It would have reduced the value of
human labor in Britain, while there was not
yet furnished a new country for its rapidly in-
creasing population. It would have arrested
employment, and shut up the channels of sus-
tenance, ere yet the fertile plains and boundless
resources of the Trans- Atlantic world had been
laid open. Nor is this all the evil which would
have followed the inversion of these discoveries.
Had not the intercourse of nations been pre-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 77

viously established, there could have been no
market for our manufactured goods, nor sup-
plies of provision for our working population.
Besides, had the invention of the spinning mill
and power loom preceded the use of steam, all our
manufactories must have been established on
the banks of this, or that rural stream, and, con-
sequently, instead of our seaports becoming the
marts of merchandise, existing towns would
have sunk in decay. Rural villages might have
risen in the mountain recess around the busy
factory, but our modern cities, adorned by the
residences of our merchant princes, could have
had no existence. The carriage inland would
have at once reduced the profits, and retarded
the progress, while the want of a proper relation
between the powers of production, and the chan-
nels of consumption, would have deranged the
harmonizing influences of the social structure,
and have produced revolution and ruin to the
body politic. But that Infinite Wisdom which
compounded the elements of water so as to pro-
duce steam in given circumstances — that Al-
mighty Power which deposited the beds of coal
and iron — that boundless Beneficence which em-
braced man in all his relations and necessities,
so arranged the varied revolutions of the wheels
of Providence that each discovery should turn

78 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

up at the appropriate period, and that all united
should glorify their Divine Author.

THE POWER LOOM.

To refer but once more to the successive de-
velopment of inventions, the wisdom and good-
ness of God are manifest in the spinning mill
taking precedence of the power loom. Without
the former, the latter would have been utterly
unnecessary. The spinning mill, producing
yarn from the raw material with such velocity,
without the power loom to convert it with
equal rapidity into the destined fabrics, would
not only have disturbed the balance of labor,
but have entirely failed to accomplish the de-
signs, which both united, are destined to effect.
Destitute of either, or of both, at the present
time, our country could not compete with other
countries where labor is cheap, nor take the
lead, as it now does, in the foreign marts of mer-
chandise.

It is freely admitted that, in the transition
from the distaff, or the matron's domestic wheel,
to the merchant prince's spinning mill, priva-
tion, suffering, and disappointment must be
borne, by interested parties. And in passing from
the hand to the power loom, personal disadvan-
tages may be experienced. So apparent was
this fact, and so keenly were the sympathies and

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 79

selfishness of men enlisted, that Arkwright,
with his spinning mill, was driven by riotous
opposition, from Preston to Nottingham ; while
even later in the progress of invention, Cart-
wright's factory with 500 looms was maliciously
and wilfully burnt to the ground. But as well
might man attempt to close the gates of the
East, to prevent the rising of the sun of nature,
as to turn back or restrain the heavenly im-
parted movements of the wheels of Providence.
The persecution of an inventor of machinery has
only the sooner attracted men to the considera-
tion of its importance, just as the persecution of
the witnesses for truth extended and established
their living testimony. Taking his stand point
on self-interest, and embracing within the com-
pass of his vision, his isolated importance, man
will persecute his fellow if supposed to cross his
path. But, on the other hand, let the glory of
God be the centre principle of action, men, and
all that pertains to their personal or relative in-
terests, will be viewed in their relations to the
moral government of God. And thus it will be
manifest, that, while one portion, and that a
small minority in the great family, is suffering
reverses, another portion of the human race is
reaping the benefit of the change introduced by
the invention of machinery. What is the ulti-
mate object in converting the raw material into

80 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

mechanical fabrics ? Not assuredly the aggran-
dizement of the Western planter ; neither is it for
the acquisition of wealth to the enterprizing
spinner ; nor is it simply for the distribution of
wages to the operative classes. The clothing and
the comfort of the human family is the design
of God, who provided the material, the ma-
chinery, and the skill of the manufacturer. He
who made coats of skins, and clothed our first
parents on leaving Paradise, has, by a variety of
substances and instrumentality, furnished the
wardrobes of their erring descendants. Conse-
quently, all should rejoice together in the exten-
sion of the productive powers, of machinery, as
keeping pace with the increasing necessities of
the human family, so that the agriculturist, the
merchant, the artizan, and the laborer, may
each be enabled to say in the spirit of gratitude,
" Every good gift, and every perfect gift is from
above, and Cometh down from the Father of
Lights, with whom there is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning."

THE RAILWAY AND ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.

These are taken in conjunction, because,
though there is a difference of time in their in-
vention, they are to be viewed rather as different
departments in one complicated mechanism. If
the spinning mill and power-loom were the

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 81

great commercial phenomenon of the first quar-
ter of the nineteenth century, the railway and
electric telegraph unquestionably occupy the
same position in the second. Nothing of a
merely mechanical kind, in modern times, has
produced such vast changes, or been followed by
so many beneficial results. Of all human inven-
tions— the alphabet, the manufacture of paper,
and the printing press excepted — those inventions
which abridge distance have done most for the
civilization of our species. It has been remarked
by an acute observer of historical changes* that
" every improvement in the means of locomotion
benefits mankind morally and intellectually, as
well as materially, and not only facilitates the
interchange of the various productions of nature
and art, but tends to remove national and pro-
vincial antipathies, and to bind together all the
branches of the great human family." By way of
illustration it is added, " In the seventeenth cen-
tury the inhabitants of London were, for almost
every practical purpose, further from Reading
than they are now from Edinburgh, and farther
from Edinburgh than they are now from Vienna."
If it is thus with respect to the rapid locomotive
transference of persons or traffic from one city,
or country to another, what shall be said of the
conveyance of thought upon the wings of the

* Macaular.

4* "

82 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

lightning, from friend to friend in places far
remote ? Is there not here what may be justly
termed the mental department of the railway
agency ? Modern astronomy, through the aid of
the telescope, has disclosed the gloomy belts of
Jupiter and the silvery rings of Saturn. These
are glorious discoveries for the philosopher — giv-
ing rise to most interesting speculations and conjec-
tures, without producing much practical result to
the human family as a whole, or altering in the
slightest degree the relations of space. But the
discovery of the materials, and the construction
by human skill, of iron belts across the continents
and islands of the earth ; and, in connexion with
this, the circulation and direction of currents of
thought, by the electric wires, from shore to
shore — imbedded in the soil, suspended in the
air, or submerged in the sea — are not only mar-
vels of science to astonish the learned, but also
ministers of physical and mental elevation to
the human race. The earth itself is becoming
a vast machine ; not only wheeling its inhabitants
through infinite space, but encircled with a me-
chanical framework, it is bearing to and fro, upon
iron rings, its living millions, while its electric
net work of wire arteries is incessantly throbbing
with the quick pulsations of human thoughts.

It is but recently since the first locomotive
engines breathed the breath of defiance, and soun-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 83

dec! the shrill notes of absolute triumph upon an
English railway ; and yet the generation which
was startled by the prospective announcement
of these probable futurities, has lived to see the
face of the country and the aspect of society
completely changed by their agency. Though
feeble attempts were made in the direction of
railway discovery in the beginning of the present
century, from 1841 to 1850 may be termed the
period of locomotive progress. During these ten
years, 841 parliamentary Acts were passed for
the construction of railways in Great Britain and
Ireland, to the extent of 10,705 miles. At the
close of 1850, notwithstanding the number which
were abandoned when the 'mania' subsided,
6621 miles had been opened for public traffic.
The passengers conveyed during this year were
66,840,175, who paid fares amounting to the
enormous sum of £6,465,575. Add to these the
railways of the continent and of America, how
vast the exertion, and how mighty must be the
influence of this invention upon these countries,
and upon the world ? Still more rapid and
more wonderful has been the development of
the telegraph. Mechanical telegraphs on a small
scale and for special purposes on sea and land
preceded the invention of the railway, but the
electric mechanical telegraph is of very modern
construction. In 1837 the first of these was

84 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

patented by Messrs. Cooke & Wheat stone,® and
laid down upon the London and Blackwall Kail-
way. Year after year patented some new im-
provement, and line after line began to breathe
through this channel of communication. The close
of the year 1849 found in Britain, Prussia and
the United States of America, no less than 14,000
miles of suspended or insulated wire, transmit-
ting with lightning speed, the thoughts of men
separated by the breadth of a continent or the
length of an island. But 1855 can boast of still
mightier triumphs ! The depths of the sea have
been traversed by the magic conductor. France
can converse with England, and Scotland with
Ireland, more quickly than two friends at oppo-
site sides of a spacious street, could meet and
give each other a morning salutation ! Nor is
this all. The daily news of a distant campaign
can be transmitted from capital to capital of
kingdoms far remote in space, though united in
purpose and policy. Nay farther, while we
write, the Mediterranean Electric Company is
on the point of dispatching their cable, which is
shortly to complete the telegraphic communication
between London and Algiers. Last year 110 miles
of cable were sent out from England and laid down
between Spezzia and the most northern point of
Corsica. The communication is now completed

* Knight's Cyclopedia.

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. »5

from London to Cagliari, in the south of Sardinia
and the line from Algiers to Cape Borran, on the
African coast, was opened last January, so that
nothing is now required to complete the work
but a submarine cable from Cape Spartivento,
adjoining Cagliari to Borran, which is at present
prepared and coiled in the hold of the ship,
Kesult. This cable is 150 miles long and weighs
1200 tons. The most astounding announcement
remains — " The company anticipates that in two
years and a half it will have a direct communi-
cation with Bombay, and from thence by tele-
graphs, already at work in the Presidencies,
to Calcutta." Is not a similar announcement
looming in the distance as regards the American
continent, and the still more distant region of
Australia ? These latter achievements once
realized, the earth is subdued to human inter-
course, and the heaven-directed intellect, which
has obtained the victory over wind and tide,
shall start afresh on higher and more mysterious
discoveries, and appropriation of the elements of
nature, created and preserved for the benefit of
man. Even now " many are running to and fro"
— then "shall knowledge be so increased" that the
world shall be scientifically as well as spiritually
illuminated.

It is unnecessary to draw any contrast between
the modes of traveling in ancient and modern

86 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

times. The present generation have not yet for-
gotten the tedious wintry days, and dreary nights,
of the swiftest coaches — inventions which, in their
day contrasted with the pack-horse, or the lum-
bering wagon, as our railway carriages now
do, with the best appointed mail in the coaching
system. Nor is it to our purpose to place in
opposition the foot runner of the seventeenth
century, and the Electric Telegraph of our own
day. To every reflecting mind the changes are
astonishing, while to every philanthropist, the
influences resulting from these changes must give
rise to the most enlarged expectations of future
progress, and universal advantage. In the mean
time, we desire to contemplate the providential
aspects of these inventions, as regards the time
of their discovery, and their relations to each
other, or to previously existing machinery.

Had railways been sooner constructed in Brit-
ain, ordinary roads, such as are now in general
use, could never have been formed. It was
absolutely necessary, for the progress of the
country, as a whole, and for the development of
its vast resources, that good roads should be
constructed through every agricultural and
mineral district. Had Railway Acts preceded
Turnpike Acts in British legislation, future
generations might have been for ages struggling
through the mire of ancient bye-paths, and iWd-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 87

ing the rivers as our ancestors did in the seven-
teenth century. Of this period it is said by a
living historian,* that even the " highways ap-
pear to have been far worse than might have
been expected from the degree of wealth and
civilization which the nation had even then at-
tained. On the best lines of communication
the ruts were deep, the descents precipitous, and
the way often such as it was scarcely possible to
distinguish, in the dusk, from unenclosed heath

and fen, which lay on both sides It

was only in fine weather that the whole breadth
of the road was available for wheeled vehicles.
Often the mud lay deep on the right and left ;
and only a narrow track of firm ground rose
above the quagmire." Still heavier calamities
at times awaited the traveller, when his way
was completely intercepted by the rising flood,
or cut short by the armed highwayman. To
prepare for railways, or to enjoy their benefit, it
was necessary that the nation should struggle
through the operation of making roads and
building bridges, and, indeed, in a mechanical
point of view, both were necessary to the rapid
construction of modern railways. The arts of ex-
cavating, embanking, and bridging, evolved in
the formation of the common roads, prepared the
modern engineer for the execution of gigantic

* Macaulay.

88 THEOLOGY OF INVENT ION'S.

works in the construction of railways, and thus,
while the apprenticeship of construction was in
progress, the country became intersected with
roads, at once accommodating the public, and fur-
nishing channels of transit for the railway traffic.
Though the iron roads of modern times may
intersect a country, stations can only be placed
at considerable distances, otherwise the speed is
retarded by frequent stoppages, and the expense
increased by railway officials, consequently, com-
mon roads will still be required, both in the
city and the rural districts, not only as channels
of local intercourse, but also as feeders for the rail-
way's gigantic commerce. With these the coun-
try was gradually furnished during an age of
peace and prosperity, and the best leading roads
of both kingdoms have been so far redeemed,
that a moderate expenditure will maintain them
in permanent repair. Could funds have been
raised for the construction of these since the
Railway mania ? Verily not ! consequently it is
evident that an All-wise Providence was overrul-
ing and directing the policy of man, so as to
accomplish the results which, in combination
and harmony, astonish the world. Individual
and local sufferers there may, and must be, in any
of these radical changes which affect and benefit
the masses, but the good of the whole is the
purpose of the moral Governor ; and all individ-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 89

ual and local disappointment ought to be con-
sidered as checks upon selfishness, and lessons in
philanthropy.

OBJECTION.

It may be objected that the argument is only
local, and cannot be legitimately adduced
in support of a general fact or principle. It
may be said, " Is not America an exception to
this rule of priority ? Are not railways in many
of the Western States, passing through the dense
forests and prairie plains, where no trace of
human labor has been found in the formation
of roads ?'■' This fact is at once admitted,
though the reasoning founded upon it is no re-
futation of our argument. America, unlike the
Isle of Britain, has its frosty winter of many
months, during which the traveller skims the
snowy wreath with his sledge, upon the icy
tramway, or crosses at pleasure, regardless of
ford or bridge, the majestic ice-bound river
with his lumbering waggon. Nor are the sum-
mer months an exception to the ease and
freedom of transit. By the intense heat of the
sun's rays, the ruts and pools of the unformed
road vanish, and even the moisture of the fen
and swamp are so absorbed, that the traveller
may pursue his journey at pleasure, or convey
his merchandise to the city, the steamboat, or

90 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

the railway. In consequence of the climate,
and geological formation of Britain, such modes
of transit could never have been realized. To
its present greatness common roads are ab-
solutely necessary, as well as railways, and
we cannot too much appreciate the Divine dis-
play of wisdom and goodness, in giving us both,
in the relation of time in which they have been
introduced.

COMMERCE AND RAILWAYS.

The relations of time are peculiarly striking,
as regards the development of commerce, and
the accumulation of wealth, so far preceding
the construction of railways. The antecedent
development of the cotton trade, by machinery,
rendered necessary such modes of transit as are
now employed. While the domestic wheel, or
even the spinning jenny, were preparing the raw
material for the hand-looms, intelligence travelling
for weeks, or goods for months, before reaching
their destination, was felt to be no inconvenience
in regard to time. But when the spinning mill
came to devour the cotton by the bale, and the
power loom to suck up its twisted fibres with in-
satiable appetite — pouring forth its ever-varying
fabrics by the million — it became a mercantile
necessity that the steamboat should plough the
briny waves to distant regions, with somewhat of

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 91

mechanical precision, and that railways should
transfer her freights on land, to the manufactory
or the warehouse with corresponding velocity.
At the close of the seventeenth century, the whole
annual import of cotton to Manchester did not
amount to two millions of pounds, a quantity,
which would now hardly supply the demand of
forty-eight hours.* Such a change, in the powers
of production, must either be succeeded by corre-
sponding changes in the means of transference, or
be absolutely checked and retarded. But progress
and not retrogression, is the natural principle
embodied in the history of the arts and sciences ;
consequently, the relations of steam and manu-
facture are established and regulated by inherent
influences, communicated and directed by an
all-wise Providence.

In the constitution of the human system,
mind takes precedence of matter in mechanical
action. So also, in the development of the arts
of industry, in connexion with commerce, it was
necessary that there should be discovered
methods of conveying intelligence, more rapid
than the transit of goods by the steamship or
the railway, and hence, in the providence of
G-od, at the appointed time, the Electric Tele-
graph astonished the world. The rapidity of con-
version from the raw material to the finished

* Macaulay's History.

92 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

fabric, required intelligence regarding the state
of distant markets ; otherwise the importer might
be ruined by an unprofitable speculation. The
improved postage supplied the channels of intel-
ligence sufficiently early, until outstripped, by
the railway or steamboat, conveying the goods
as quickly as the intelligence regarding them.
Then, and not till then, did the telegraph take
its place in the temple of discovery, inconceiv-
ably distancing all former speed, annihilating
space, and placing side by side in commercial
and political intelligence, the marts and manu-
factories of national merchandise. Is there not
wisdom in such mysterious arrangements, beyond
the most enlarged comprehension of human
sagacity ? The electricity still existed, and was
not unfrequently soliciting attention by its
destructive power in the bursting thunderbolt,
but man obtained not the key to its hidden
storehouse, nor the skill to restrain or direct its
current, until the world was prepared to employ
its agency and appreciate its benefits. As in the
processes of nature, there is no waste in the pro-
portionate adjustments of cause and effect, so
also in Providence the demand and supply arc
mysteriously regulated, so that each invention,
though distant and separate, is fitted into its
appropriate place at a given time, and is found
not only to be self-adjusting in its local position.

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 93

but also a joint regulator of the movements of
all with which it is co-existing. Besides, it
possesses a latent power which sooner or later
wijl defy legislation, dispel the clouds of preju-
dice, and work out the designs and purposes of
the universal Benefactor.

RELATION OF CAPITAL TO RAILWAY DEVELOP-
MENT.

The commercial prosperity of Britain was ab-
solutely necessary to the present development of
the railway system. The precedence of Britain
in manufacture has concentrated wealth, and
furnished opportunities of investing capital and
employing labor, which have given our country
a mercantile superiority in the marts of mer-
chandise at home and abroad. Capital profit-
ably invested, and labor judiciously directed,
lay the foundation of national wealth and social
prosperity. National wealth, acquired by na-
tional industry^ and invested with commercial
intelligence, must necessarily encourage, and will
liberally furnish the means of mechanical im-
provement. Thus, the national wealth rapidly
accumulated by the manufactures of the first
quarter of the present century, enabled the
second quarter to develope its railway system,
and to bear the shock of its temporary railway
crisis. At no former period could so much cap-

94 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

ital have been withdrawn from existing com-
merce and manufacture, and turned into an
entirely new channel, without destruction to the
general trade of the country ; nor could such
commercial and agricultural distress have been
endured previously without ruin to the social
fabric. Even when Chartism was at its height,
and the country, distracted by commercial dis-
tress, accompanied by famine, the relative in-
terests of the various classes drew closer the
bonds of union, while the capital at stake, and
the constitutional liberty enjoyed, elicited such
a demonstration of loyalty to the throne that in
one day the lowering cloud of insurrection was
dispelled from the city of London, and the
sophistical bond of the democratic charter for
ever dissolved. At this very period, the con-
struction of railways lessened at once the misery
and the social danger, by giving employment to
those very parties who were nearest the point of
starvation, and most likely to be roused in
physical force demonstrations. By being scat-
tered over Britain, their power was diminished,
and their local ranks thinned, so that by the
time the Railways had been completed, they
were transferred beyond the Atlantic by emi-
gration, or absorbed in the social community.
Is there nothing in all this, but fortuitous coin-
cidences falling out at random ? They must be

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 95

blind indeed, and verily ungrateful, who do not
see and adore that God who is the " moral Gov-
ernor among the nations/'

MINEEAL RELATIONS TO THE CONSTRUCTION AND
WORKING OF RAILWAYS.

The relation between the railway system and
the sources from which all its machinery are
constructed and sustained in operation, furnishes
another convincing argument that the time of
its development was the most appropriate, and
such a time as infinite wisdom alone could de-
termine. Iron and Coal are essential elements,
and relatively considered, occupy a chief place
in the formation and constant working of rail-
ways. The procuring of these in sufficient
quantity, draws most heavily on human skill
and labor. In reviewing the political and
scientific history of our country, we are convinced
that, at no earlier period could railways, as now
established, have been constructed or employed.
Coal fields existed in abundance, but hitherto
mining had not attained that perfection which
was necess'ary to meet the increasing demand of
modern times ; neither had the stationary engine
at the pit's mouth become auxiliary to the loco-
motive on the rail. Iron was also deposited in
exhaustless stores, but the quantity requisite
had not been obtained ; neither had the machi-

96 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

nery destined to roll out its bars, in adaptation to
the dimensions of the rail, any place among
mechanical inventions. As late as the second
half of the seventeenth century, a great pro-
portion of the iron used in this country was im-
ported from abroad ; and the whole quantity cast
here annually, seems not to have exceeded ten
thousand tons. At present, the trade is presumed
to be unprosperous, if less than a million of tons
are produced in a year. These comparative
statistics show a close relation between the
mineral dug out and railway development. Un-
til the mists of prejudice were dispelled, by the
extension of practical knowledge, and until
legislation was guided by more enlarged con-
ceptions of our national resources ; many of the
most important branches of industry were posi-
tively discouraged. It was thus with the iron
trade of Britain. Even in the reign of Elizabeth,
fears became general regarding the consumption
of wood, and complaints were made of whole
forests being cut down, for the purpose of feeding
the iron furnaces — coals not then being used for
melting the ore. This led to injudicious legisla-
tion, and Parliament passed an act prohibiting
the iron masters of that age from burning timber.
This caused the trade to languish for a consider-
able time, though it doubtless tended to stimu-
late, at a later period, the mining for coals. It

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 97

is clear to a demonstration that, in such a state
of mining as then existed, it would have been
utterly impossible, by any expenditure of wealth,
to have procured the requisite iron, or to have
kept the engines in motion by a sufficient quan-
tity of coal. In the last year of the reign of
Charles the Second, it was the boast of the
' Londoners/ that two hundred and eighty thou-
sand chaldrons, that is to say, about three
hundred and fifty thousand tons were brought to
the Thames. At present nearly three millions
and a half of tons are consumed yearly, by the
metropolis alone ; and the whole annual produce
cannot, on the most moderate calculation, be
estimated at less than thirty-five millions of tons.*
It is evident, then, that railways were invented
and have been brought into general use, as early
as the state of commerce required their aid, and
as soon as the state of mining admitted of their
construction, and continuous operation. Lead-
ing inventions may be retarded, by short-sighted
legislation, but evolved in their natural order of
time, each becomes auxiliary to the general de-
velopment of mechanical phenomena, and all
unite in benefiting the human species.

It is not less remarkable, in respect of time,
that G-utta Percha was discovered at the very
period when philosophers and mechanics had felt

* Knight's Cyclopedias.
5*

98 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

the absolute need of some non-conducting sub-
stance, in which to encase the electric wires for
submersion in the mighty deep ? Being the
gum of the percha tree which grows, and which
has probably grown from time immemorial in
Singapore, Borneo, and various other Eastern
Islands, is it not amazing that a substance so
easily procured by tapping the bark, should
never have been known in England until the
year 1843, when Dr. Montgomerie presented a
specimen to the Society of Arts in London. It
has now become a regular article of commerce,
being used in the preparation of innumerable
articles, from the sole of a shoe, to the official seal
attached to patents, and other similar documents
issued by state officials, besides ornamental work
of all descriptions. But the insulating power of
gutta percha, as a non-conductor, and shield for
the submarine telegraph, is evidently its primary
purpose as yet known, and it is the only sub-
stance yet discovered that could supply the want
formerly experienced in every attempt at sub-
mersion of the wires. Has not this tree been
created, preserved, and shown to man, by the God
of providence, as certainly as the renovating
tree was shown to Moses, at the wells of Marah,
by the God of grace and salvation.

It is unnecessary to pursue this branch of the
argument, by adducing historical illustrations in

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 99

respect to the state of society, as related to, and in
connexion with other inventions. The argument
as presented may be carried through the entire
region of mechanical phenomena. It has been
shown that the elements are all of God, that they
have been preserved from age to age, by almighty
power, and that all the circumstances have been
arranged for their development, at the time best
adapted to the existing state of the human
family. Though in regard to the early history
of some inventions, they might seem as if dis-
covered before the time. But what has been the
result of this precocity ? Such have fallen still-
born upon the world. Men have not discovered
their utility, or there was the want of some corre-
sponding element in the material, or some im-
pelling influence in the commercial world, and
they consequently wasted away. But these
efforts of genius, though failures, were the signal
tokens of future triumphs. The same materials,
placed in other hands, modified or proportioned
by other ideas, and surrounded by other circum-
stances, at once astonish and enrich the nations.
Apparently broken links there may be, in the
providential chain of scientific discovery, and
mechanical invention, but the time will come
when in its full suspension in the sight of a re-
novated world, each end will be seen as attached
to the throne of the moral Governor, and every

100 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

link in the place which infinite wisdom has as-
signed it, and into which it has been fitted by
almighty power. Is there not enough, even now,
in the progressive development of machinery, to
convince the most sceptical rejector of an over-
ruling providence, that God is there in its first
elements of thought — its embodiment in mater-
ial form, and its ultimate results upon the physi-
cal, intellectual, and moral condition of the
world. True it is, in the region of artificial
phenomena as well as of that which is natural.

"The Globe knoweth not increase, either of matter or of

spirit.
Atoms and thoughts are used again, mixing in varied

combinations ;
And though by moulding them anew thou makest them

thine own,
Yet have they served thousands, and all their merit i3 of

God."

CHAPTER III.

THE TENDENCY OF INTENTIONS, A PROOF THAT THEY ARE OF GOD.

Few will be disposed to deny that this world,
in its minute, as well as its comprehensive pro-
vidential arrangements, bears unequivocal testi-
mony to the benevolent designs of the Creator.
It is impossible to contemplate the constituent
elements of which it is composed, without the
conviction that they were primarily selected and
deposited in accordance with the anticipated
wants of the human family. In every aspect
there appears adaptation to the physical and
mental constitution of man, whether considered
in his original state, or fallen and depraved con-
dition. As a holy and happy being, he had few
physical wants ; but such as he experienced,
were amply supplied in that world over* which
he obtained dominion. As a spiritual being,
made in the Divine image, he enjoyed complete
felicity in communion with God. To him, as
lord of creation, all nature tendered a physical
service ; but yet a service onlv rendered in

102 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

obedience to the dictates of his mental being,
and actually elicited through the operation of
his own physical organization. Nor was this a
constitutional necessity only, it was the law of
his materio-mental being, corresponding to the
law judicially announced, and to the charter of
privilege munificently granted when Adam was
commanded to " be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the
fowls of the air, and over every living thing that
moveth upon the earth." Subdue the earth was
the primary command, and the claim of " do-
minion over it" seems to rest upon obedience
to this injunction. Until the human family has
multiplied so as to replenish the earth, that sub-
jection cannot be obtained, nor that universal
dominion established. Those physical and
moral revolutions which have resulted from the
introduction of sin, do not make void the pri-
mary commission, nor cancel its obligations.
Subdue the earth was the mandate issued to
Noah amidst the desolations disclosed by the
receding deluge,, as well as to Adam surrounded
with the luxuriant productions of Paradise.
Subdue the earth and have dominion over it is
the Divine mandate addressed to their posterity
as much as to those progenitors of the human
race ; and until the work is accomplished, the

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 103

obligation must remain immutable. It is true
that human capabilities, mental and physical,
were impaired by the shock of moral evil, and
even the world itself was convulsed by the
thunder-bolt of Divine wrath, drawn down by the
electric wire of human guilt ; but no such
changes, whether physical or moral, could alter
the divine decree, rescind the original law, nor
release humanity from primary obligations.
With a darker intellect and a weaker constitu-
tion— with consequent liability to exhausting
fatigue and frequent disappointment — with a
blighted world and rebellious subjects — man
must, from age to age, pursue his laborious
course until the original purposes of his Creator
regarding earth, are all accomplished. In the
beneficence of God every effort is accompanied
by a present benefit, while each succeeding dis-
covery is not only a stimulus to future exertion,
but also a re-echo of the voice of the original
proprietor as saying to the sons of men " subdue
the earth and have dominion over it."

Let it not be supposed that the violation of
the Divine law embodied in the covenant of
works could abrogate or disannul those in-
junctions which had respect to man's duty in
regard to temporal things. Though man be-
came a rebel, he cannot frustrate the pur-
pose of an all-wise God. The earth was made

104 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

a habitation for man, and sooner or later shall
it be inherited by the sons of men. Though as
a person, man, the moral agent, must be punished
for the transgression of the Divine law, yet man
as an instrument shall be constrained to accom-
plish the divine purposes. So comprehensive
are the plans of infinite wisdom*} that reluctantly
or willingly the eternal decree shall be carried
into execution. The very fact which separated
man from his Creator — the fall by transgression
— has been the occasion of revealing, not only
the mystery of redemption, but also the
mysterious economy of Providence. The latter
is subservient to the former, but both in harmony
reveal the glory of God. In both there is full
scope for the free agency of man, the person,
while there is also retained absolute sovereignty
over the actions of man, the instrument. His
motives, and efforts, and ends may be selfish
and rebellious ; but yet, in the moral govern-
ment of God, they are so over-ruled, restrained,
and directed, that they ultimately accomplish
the Divine purpose. This is peculiarly illus-
trated in the history of Adam's fall. In that
sentence of condemnation which was pronounced
in Paradise by offended Deity, the primary law
of labor in respect to man, and the original
purpose of God to subdue the earth through his
instrumentality, are beautifully intertwined.

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 105

" Cursed is the ground for thy sake ; in sorrow
shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life ;
thorns and thistles shall it bring forth unto thee,
and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou
return unto the ground ; for out of it was thou
taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt
thou return." In this sentence there is no re-
peal of the existing law — no absolution from
primary obligation. The purpose of God re-
garding the earth, and regarding man its occu-
pant, is unchanged. But the relations of man
to his Creator, and all the circumstances in
which he is destined to accomplish the divine
purposes, are completely altered. There is uni-
versal schism in the natural and the moral world.
The heart of man is alienated from God ; his
will is opposed to the Divine will, nevertheless
as an instrument he must fulfil his destiny.
Exercising a delegated dominion over the earth,
the active duties involved in subduing it were
accompanied with sensations of unalloyed plea-
sure ; but having, by transgression, forfeited
that dominion, fallen man is constrained by ne-
cessity to labor as a slave, while the pleasure
of labor is embittered by its penal characteris-
tics. Irrespective of this, the work originally
indicated must be accomplished. Man must
retain his place as the agent by which it shall
5*

106 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

be effected. But in the mysterious providence
of God, the work of subduing the earth is so
planned that each succeeding generation may be
amply occupied, and also realize increasing
benefits in proportion to the progress made,
while the united efforts of all are requisite to
carry it forward to final consummation. As the
various workmen in the erection of a building
individually and unitedly contribute towards the
completion of the plan designed by the architect,
so the human family is gradually filling up the
comprehensive plans of Providence regarding the
world.

Viewed in this aspect, there appears a close
connexion between man's nature and his duty
as a creature. Destined for occupation, his
wants furnish a permanent motive where his
moral obedience fails to constrain him to duty.
In the appointment of heaven the increase of
his wants by the fall counterbalances the reluc-
tance of his rebellious spirit, so that he renders
as an instrument that obedience which, as a
moral agent he declines to yield. The natural
activity of his constitution, though benumbed
by the chilling effects of sin, is stimulated by
stern necessity to work out the doings of God
regarding the earth as his temporary habitation.
Work or want is the bye-law of actual adminis-
tration, which even savage life cannot disregard,

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 107

and which the highest state of refinement can-
not utterly repeal. All must earn their bread
by the sweat of their brow, or the exercise of
the brain within it. From the very constitu-
tion of things both are brought into requisition
in every department of human occupation.
From the sovereign to the humblest subject
there is labor in procuring supply for official,
relative, or personal wants. If the hands are
freed from grinding toil, the mind will be taxed
with exhausting activity ; and even where both
seem to be emancipated by the possession of
riches, the cares of preservation, of distribution,
of modes of increase, are found as harassing to
the possessor, as if both head and hands were
employed in daily labor. Thus it is found in
universal experience, that " All things are full
of labor ; man cannot utter it ; the eye is not
satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing."
In beholding the toiling multitude, we may
be ready to inquire, Whence the necessity for
this incessant labor ? Is it simply by way of
punishment that God has doomed the fallen race
to work that life may be preserved, and yet in
the excess of work demanded, and sometimes in
its very nature, that life is being wasted by con-
tinuous exhaustion ? This might seem at first
sight the reason, and as announced in the sen-
tence passed upon Adam, it is no doubt presented

108 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

as an element in the penalty. Indeed the toils
of human life have been adduced as an argument
that man is* fallen. But when considered in
relation to the comprehensive plans of the moral
government, labor appears in the aspect of a
blessing. It is at once a check upon human
depravity — a preventive of crime, and the source
of social comfort ; while at the same time afford-
ing a wider range for the operation of relative
affections. The fall of man did not introduce
but only increased and aggravated human labor.
The primary law was announced ere yet the
bloom of Paradise had been blighted by sin.
" The Lord God took the man and put him into
the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it."
That garden was planted by the Divine hand,
with every tree and herb good for food, and
pleasant to the eye ; but though divinely planted
in fructiferous maturity, they were committed
to the care of our first father " to dress and keep/'
It is also evident, from the primary law of the
Sabbath, that our first parents were destined to
active labor during six days of the week, else
what would be the meaning of the rest of the
seventh ? It is evident the ground was not
yet under the effects of the curse, and that tfee
earth yielded spontaneously all that man could
require ; but even then some labor was necessary
in order to the enjoyment of what nature so alum-

THEOLOGY OF INTENTIONS. 109

dantly provided. The very formation of man
teaches that he was designed for some species of
labor. It has been clearly demonstrated by
comparative anatomy that the formation of all
the creatures is in adaptation to their habits of
life, and the exercise of their peculiar instincts ;
as well as to the place which they are des-
tined to fill in the scale of creation. The
human species is no exception to this univer-
sal law of creation. The wonderful organiza-
tion of man, in adaptation to the work given
him to do, has been already noticed. The hu-
man hand furnishes a distinct, and irresistible
argument for the existence of God ; while it
affords a not less convincing proof that man was
originally designed to labor. It is to the hand
as directed by an intelligent mind, that we are
indebted for ail mechanical inventions.

Taking man's constitution as the index, in
accordance with universal analogy, it is evident
that labor was the original law of his being.
If angels — pure and holy spirits — are actively
employed in the service of God — and if irrational
creatures, with material organization are destined
to a certain amount of labor, in prolonging
their existence, may it not be legitimately in-
ferred that man also combining the material and
the mental must be designed for activity and
labor. Nor is this all that mav be adduced

110 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

from the nature of his constitution. It is clear
to a demonstration that without labor, either in
a holy or a fallen state man's capabilities and
powers could never be disclosed. Without the
arts of industry many of his latent faculties of
invention must lie for ever dormant, and the
marvels of science and art which these have ex-
hibited must have been forever lost to the page
of human history. Indeed, until the last inven-
tion of genius shall be constructed, upon the eve
of the world's dissolution, the full extent of man's
mental and physical capability shall not be made
manifest. It thus appears that while labor is
necessary to man in his individual and relative
position, it is also necessary to exhibit what man
was as God made him, and what mysterious
treasures Divine goodness had stored up at crea-
tion for his future benefit even in a fallen state.
It is not the fact of labor, as the law of exist-
ence, that has produced human misery. Nor is
labor in itself any evidence of a fallen state. It
is the nature, the amount, and the aggravating
circumstances in which labor must be prose-
cuted, that tend to characterize it as evil in
man's estimation. The introduction of moral
evil has deranged the nature and increased the
quantity and aggravated the circumstances of
human toil. Its evils are not inherent, but may
all be traced to the fountain of moral evil. In

THE0L0C4Y OF INTENTIONS. Ill

man's original constitution there was absolute
perfection. The finished works of creation were
all pronounced " very good " by their Divine
Author. Man's mental and physical constitution
responded harmoniously to the works of nature,
while the appropriation of what infinite goodness
had provided was but the increase of human
happiness. There was nothing in the primary
law of labor repugnant to man's tenderest feel-
ings. Activity was the most joyous part of his
existence. He could run without being weary,
and walk without fainting. In his system there
was no weakness, giving rise to suffering under
exertion ; and in his labor there was no dis-
appointment, to perplex or disturb his mental
complacency. The duties assigned to Adam in
Paradise were as pleasant to his entire constitu-
tion, as the prospect of his luxuriant garden was
to his organ of sight, and perception of beauty.

It was the curse — the blight of sin — that
changed the entire aspect of human employ-
ment. Beneath the frown of an angry God, the
elements of nature were convulsed — the earth
became not only barren, but thorns and thistles
sprung up as the indigenous productions of the
soil. The original, spontaneous, vegetative pow-
ers of earth were arrested, so that to man, the of-
fender, it could" only yield its reluctant produce,
when moistened with the sweat of his t-ow. It

112 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

is therefore clear to a demonstration that the
evils of labor are not in its nature, but in the
quantity necessary to subdue the soil thus blight-
ed— in the liability to fatigue and exhaustion,
inseparable from the shattered constitution of
man as fallen — and from the circumstances,
relative and social, in which human toil must
be endured. Labor is healthful and pleasant
under proper regulations ; all its embittering
elements are the consequences of sin.

It is evident, however, that in ascending from
a fallen state of utter destitution — such as that
of Adam, thrust out from the garden, to a future
state of comparative ease and comfort such as
his descendants shall attain during the mil-
lennium— the toils of labor must be endured,
and the graces of faith and patience duly exer-
cised and strengthened. The human family
must be painfully taught what has been forfeited
physically, as well as morally, by the fall, and
thus at length, through bitter experience, be ren-
dered better able to comprehend and appreciate,
these temporal blessings which are bestowed by
God, though communicated through interme-
diate channels. Besides, in the moral govern-
ment of God all events and instruments are so
arranged and harmonized as to accomplish his
purposes and show forth his glory.

This is peculiarly illustrated in the history

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 113

of human toil. To man, as fallen, the law of
labor is of the utmost importance and advan-
tage. It is true that many seem to speak and
to act as if labor in itself were the curse ; but
such speak unadvisedly and act without due
reflection upon the providence of God. The
entire absence of labor could not ameliorate the
condition of the human family, while the de-
praved passions and appetites remain unre-
strained. Universal idleness in such circum-
stances would make earth one wide-spread
hot-bed of iniquity, and evoke the ghostly fea-
tures of even hell itself ! Who are the pests
and plagues of society, but such as are idle,
whether found in the ranks of wealth or the rags
of poverty ? To remove human labor and leave
human depravity, would deteriorate rather than
improve man's condition. There was mercy as
well as judgment in the decree which enjoined
him to " subdue the earth," even though it must
be " in the sweat of his brow." With his pres-
ent constitution he could not be idle and yet be
happy. Indeed it is questionable whether in
any circumstances a being naturally active- could
be happy in a state of physical inertia. Even
mental activity could not satisfy the native pro-
pulsion of a material organization invested with
life. If, then, this native tendency to action
were not restrained and exhausted by lawful

114 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

labor, it would be all embodied in the produc-
tion of crime. It has been well remarked by an
eminent writer * that " if man were not obliged
to toil for his bodily sustenance and comfort,
his native restlessness would impel him to deeds
which would throw society into hopeless disorder,
and deluge the earth with blood/' How true is
the language of the poet : —

" That like an emmet thou must ever toil,
Is a sad sentence of an ancient date —
And, certes, there is for it reason great ;
For though it sometimes makes thee weep and wail
And curse thy stars, and early rise and late,
"Without 'en that would come a heavier bale —
Loose life, unruly passions, and diseases pale."f

The crowning evil in connexion with human
toil is, that in certain states of society, the
amount and the nature of the labor demanded
are such, that mental and physical slavery is the
result. To this the Divine record bears testimony
in the history of the Hebrews as enslaved in Egypt.
" The children of Israel sighed by reason of their
bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up
unto God by reason of their bondage." Under
this type of slavery the body is so exhausted and
impaired by manual labor, that the mind is
utterly unfitted for intellectual exercise. In
many modern cases of nominal liberty right is

* Dr. M'Cosh.

f Castle of Indolence.

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 115

overlaid by might, and selfish ambition is found
wreathing a yoke of bondage, almost as galling
as ancient slavery. It is here that the evils of
labor, are experienced in their most aggravated
forms ; but it is here also, that mechanical in-
ventions come to the aid of oppressed humanity.
As the God of Jacob heard the cry, of the
enslaved Israelites, and with a mighty hand
accomplished their emancipation ; so the God
of providence hears the cry, and recognizes
the suffering of the oppressed, and by the
invention of this, and that implement of in-
dustry works their deliverance. It may be that
the first efforts of machinery will increase those
sorrows, as the demand of Moses did the woes of
the Hebrews ; but when the transition period
from manual to mechanical labor has tran-
spired it will Uniformly be found, that all parties
have been benefitted by the changes introduced.
The tendency of mechanical inventions is to
give mind supremacy over matter, and to es-
tablish that dominion accorded to man, in his
original charter. In proportion as man under-
stands his privileges, and exercises his capabili-
ties, amidst the profusion of nature ; in that
proportion will he find its adaptation to his pe-
culiar circumstances, and in so far as he obeys
the original mandate, " Subdue the earth" will
he find its treasures laid at his feet. " The earth

116 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

hath God given to the children of men," conse-
quently, it is their province to discern, and dis-
pose of the riches therein deposited, so as to
promote human comfort. It is with this view
that art is made auxiliary to human power, and
has enabled man to carry his researches, and
appropriation of terrestial things, beyond the
primary limits of manual capability. Nor is
this all, the ultimate tendency of inventions is,
to emancipate the human family from the
heavier portions of manual labor, and to give
the mind more extensive power, so that machi-
nery may take the place of human hands, and
one individual be able to accomplish what hun-
dreds could not have effected.

THE TENDENCY OF INVENTIONS TO MITIGATE
HUMAN TOIL.

The application of machinery is the extension
of man's mechanical powers. With the levers
and jjulleys of his own mechanical frame, he
can raise a given weight, or transport a burden
through a given space. But how limited the
extent of his unaided efforts ? How soon must
all his native energies be exhausted ? But seiz-
ing nature's elements, and applying nature's
mechanical laws, he extends his powers to inani-
mate objects ; so that instead of his mind direct-
ing the machinery of his own hands, or his own

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 117

mechanical system, only it becomes the directing
agency of a vast and complicated machinery ;
effecting results beyond the capability of thou-
sands of his species. Without artificial machi-
nery, the efforts of the human mind must be
limited by the efforts of the human hands ; but
with the full development of mechanical in-
ventions, the mind will be enabled to establish a
most comprehensive supremacy over the world
of matter. How feeble the power of the human
hand, compared with 'the stroke of the steam-
engine, and yet these hands can direct all its
movements. How diminutive is the helmsman
when contrasted with the mighty ship, which
he directs in her course through the waste of
waters ; and yet it is but the extension of his
moral and physical power, over the varied parts
and movements of this vast machine. How
apparently insignificant are the operatives in a
spinning mill, compared with the magnitude of
the machinery by which they are surrounded ;
and yet all these wheels, and shafts, and spindles,
are but an extension of their own mechanical
system, presided over, and directed by their men-
tal being. The desired results are increased ten
thousand-fold, and yet, the amount of manual,
and mental exhaustion is proportionally dimin-
ished. It is thus, that by mechanical inventions,
man establishes his supremacy over the elements

118 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

of nature, in order to employ them in his service,
and render them subservient to his interests.

How different is the amount of physical force
required in a modern stone quarry — with powder
for rending the hardest rocks, with levers and
cranes for lifting the huge masses — with railway
trucks to remove them to a distance, and
machinery to prepare, and place them on the
building — compared with the operations of an-
cient times, when hundreds of slaves were yoked
to a block of stone, to remove it from the quarry
to the destined building ! Similar changes have
occurred in every other department of operative
production. The plough rapidly effects what a
whole community could not accomplish with the
spade. The sickle, the scythe, and the modern
reaper cut down the yellow grain with a velo-
city which the hands of the whole population —
unfurnished with an implement — could never
have attained. Thus labor is set free from the
agricultural world, to meet the demands of the
commercial, without a diminution of the food
raised, or the capability of preserving it. Nay,
so divinely regulated have been the agricultural
and manufacturing implements, that modern
draining, subsoil ploughing, reaping, thrashing,
grinding and baking machinery, stands contem-
porary with the steamship, the spinning mill, the
power loom, and the railway. And thus, while

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 119

there is division of labor upon an extensive scale,
each department is found keeping pace with
every other. Consequently, the increase of the
human family, or their advancement in one or
other department of civilized comfort never out-
strips the amount of requisite provision yielded
by the soil. Nor even where that provision is
increased a thousand-fold, does the burden of
toil press heavier upon the peasant, or the agri-
culturalist. Progressive discovery and invention
are constantly balancing between the amount of
produce required, and the amount of toil ; so
that the latter is gradually diminishing in each
department, while the former is steadily increas-
ing throughout the whole.

Thus, it is manifest, that in every department
of labor, machinery is taking the place and
performing the office of human hands. The
products of the mineral, vegetable, and animal
kingdoms are assuming the place, in the region
of toil, and accomplishing the purpose of men
under a former system. In the spinning mill,
power loom, and the railway, the steam en-
gine is the substitute for animal strength. A
pint of water and a pound of coal originate a
power and sustain a motion which would soon
wear out the human system of the strongest
operative. The metal fingers, moved with ex-
haustless energy and devouring speed, set at

120 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

defiance all attempts of manual competition. A
steam engine of one hundred horse power has
been computed at the strength of eight hundred
and eighty men.* This is sufficient to produce
and sustain the motion of fifty thousand spindles,
each producing a separate thread of a mile and
a quarter in length, in twelve hours. Thus
every twelve hours of fifty thousand spindles will
produce sixty two thousand five hundred miles
of thread, a length sufficient to go two and a
half times round the globe. In ordinary prac-
tice these fifty thousand spindles require seven
hundred and fifty persons to superintend their
operations ; but, by the aid of this machinery,
propelled by the power of steam, they can con-
vert as much raw cotton into yarn as would
have required two hundred thousand persons by
the former method of spinning. Thus, by the
aid of inventions, which is simply the employ-
ment of so much water, and coal, and iron, the
labor of one individual is made to equal the
combined efforts of two hundred and twenty
six. This holds true in a greater or less degree
of every other department of machinery where
steam is employed ; the rapidity of production
is accompanied by the decrease of human toil.
How remarkably is this illustrated by the rail-
way, which is, indeed, the great conservator of

* Instincts of Industry.

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 121

human strength ! Were the same distances
traversed by walking, or even by the best modes
of locomotion previously introduced, how soon
would the human system wear down under the
operation ? But the entire sum of physical
strength would be utterly inadequate to meet
modern demands ; hence all that has been ob-
tained beyond the powers of walking, must be
put to the account of human inventions. Nor
is the amount alone affected ; this entire increase
of locomotive power has been obtained while
there has been a corresponding decrease of
bodily fatigue.

The reduction of human labor might be il-
lustrated by the history of each individual
machine, as well as by the productive power of
all combined. The human mind is gradually
planning and constructing some implement of
industry, which may release the human hands.
Thus the mind is gaining supremacy over matter
— the mental is directing and controlling the
material. The higher and nobler faculties of
man are expanding, while his physical powers
are relieved and his toil diminished. But this
process will not be completed by merely trans-
ferring the burden of toil from the physical to
the mental. The ultimate tendency is to re-
lease the whole man from toil as a burden, and
to make necessary labor a pleasant exercise. In
8

122 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

the rapid progress of the present age may be
seen signs of approaching deliverance from the
evils incident to manual labor. Already are the
heavier kinds of work transferred to untiring
machinery, so that by mere direction, one man
can accomplish what previously hundreds could
not have affected.

OBJECTION.

" Why has not the introduction of modern in-
ventions already produced the results specified ?"
" Is it not a fact that the population of our cities
is as busily occupied as before the introduc-
tion of spinning mills or railways ?" It is
freely admitted that the fruits of modern inven-
tions are but partially developed, and the com-
munity, as a whole, is more busily occupied than
even under the former system. But there are
both moral and social reasons sufficient to ac-
count for' the fact. The moral state of the
masses is not yet such as to admit of that full
measure of relaxation which machinery is calcu-
lated to afford, while there are social revolutions
sufficient to account for the seeming paradox,
that, while machinery is doing the work of man,
humanity itself should be more occupied. It
must be observed that in connexion with this
rapidly increasing power of production at home,
new nations have been springing up abroad, at

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 123

once absorbing the operative classes, and increas-
ing the demand, in accordance with the powers
of production ; while national wealth and com-
fort have been increased to all. Besides, ther
covetous spirit of man may and will pervert the
choicest blessings. The race for riches has kept
pace with the newly developed means of acqui-
sition, and consequently, that release from grind-
ing toil, which ought legitimately to be accorded
to the operative, has been either wasted in fruit-
less competition or turned into the channels of
personal aggrandisement. But though, in the
present progressive state of transition, in the
social history of the world, and in the earlier
efforts of mechanical invention, the demand
may seem to keep a-head of the increasing speed
of production ; and though this at first sight
would seem to indicate that no release from toil
can be expected by the introduction of mechani-
cal inventions, yet, viewing the subject as a
whole, it is evident that when machinery has
attained its climax, and when the various de-
partments have been balanced and adjusted, and
when the entire system of manufacture and com-
merce shall be directed and regulated by sound
moral principles, the .necessary tendency of ma-
chinery must be to emancipate the operative
classes, and thus equalize the privileges of
those who employ and those who labor. Even

124 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

under all the disadvantages resulting from a
transition state, and in spite of the covetousness
of the age, the hours of toil are already abridged,
and the physical system so far relieved as to en-
courage mental culture. The ultimate result of
this must be the revival of social and domestic
affections, which were ready to expire under the
exhaustion of slavery. Enlightened legislation
has judiciously fixed the age as well as the time,
beneath, and beyond which, grasping employers
shall not be permitted to protract the hours of
toil in public factories. This legal movement
has been succeeded by another — still more
praiseworthy, as it presents a nobler aspect
of mutual interest between employers and em-
ployed— in which merchants and shopmen have
voluntarily agreed to abridge the hours of daily
attendance, besides, in many notable cases, add-
ing the Saturday half-holiday as preparatory to
the Sabbath. Let the covetous learn that "a
man's life consisteth not in the things that he
possesseth ; " and let the avaricious be taught the
benevolence of the Gospel: then shall the Saviour's
definition of a day be taken as a standard, and
all classes shall enjoy the domestic bliss of the
evening. " Are there not twelve hours in the
day ?" was the interrogation of Him who set the
sun in the firmament. Will any man be pre-
pared to say, that this is not a sufficient time to

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 125

devote to the pursuits and objects of the present
world ? The aid of machinery renders the
abridgment of the period of labor practicable.
It is avarice alone that gives rise to a spurious
competition, and encroaches upon the privileges
of domestic life. It is evident that even now
the long-hour system, opposed at once to the
claims of nature and grace, is doomed. That
God who made the sun to rule the day, also
framed the human constitution in accordance
with this physical arrangement, and that which
the introduction of sin has deranged in the past
history of man, the grace of the Gospel will rec-
tify in the coming Millennium. Then, indeed,
shall the poet's vision be realised —

" The hand that held a whip was lifted up
To bless ; slave was a word in ancient books
Met only; every man was free ; and all
Feared God, and served him day and night in love."*

THE TENDENCY OF INVENTIONS TO ALLEVIATE
HUMAN MISERY.

It has been previously established that the
whole tendency of machinery, legitimately ap-
plied, is to reduce the quantity, and improve
the character of manual labor. The trans-
ference of the heavier portions of human toil to
mechanical inventions, is the direct method of
cutting off a vast amount of physical suffering.
Indeed, under proper regulation, machinery
* Pollok.

126 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

renders it possible to remove all that constitutes
actual suffering in legitimate labor. But it is
equally evident that the mitigation of mental
and physical exhaustion must be accompanied
by a reduction of disease. The substitution of
activity in superintending machinery, for the
patient endurance of grinding toil, must neces-
sarily tend to the health of the mental and phy-
sical system.

Mechanical inventions also tend to promote
health, and to alleviate human misery, by re-
moving those physical causes which produce
disease, especially in towns and cities. The
improvements of modern times in architecture,
in the formation of streets, the introduction of
water, the subterranean sewerage, the burning
of smoke, the disinfection of putrid substances,
the lighting, ventilation, and construction of
public buildings and private habitations, must
all tend to improve health, prevent disease, and
mitigate suffering. The progress of medical
science, aided by chemical inventions, gives ever
increasing access to the pharmacopoeia of Nature;
while, already, the improvement of surgical in-
struments, in conjunction with the use of chlo-
roform, and other narcotic agents, has mitigated
the excruciating pain formerly endured under
surgical operations. Besides, the discovery of
this agent has marked a new epoch in the heal-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 127

ing art, by giving a wider range to human in-
genuity, by sparing the feelings of the operator,
as well as the pangs of the subject. Is it not a
remarkable fact that this secret should be dis-
closed in Britain at the very time when it may
be most extensively employed in dressing the
wounds, and amputating the shattered limbs of
her soldiers, upon a distant field of battle ? Are
not these signs of coming deliverance from a
vast amount of physical evil ? What the achieve-
ments of the future may be, none can predict,
but enough has already been realized to warrant
the hope that agents such as these may be ren-
dered available in mitigating all those forms of
suffering which are incident to our nature in a
fallen state. The mind must be sceptical in-
deed, that recognizes not the hand of God in the
discoveries and improvements of medical science,
as really as that hand is seen in the forms of
disease. Do we not even now behold in the
triumphs of the present age the harbingers of
that blessed future, which the poet anticipated,
under the sanction of inspiration, and of which
he says —

" Disease was none ; the voice of war forgot ;
The sword, a share ; a pruning-hook, the spear.
Men grew and multiplied upon the earth,
And filled the city and the waste ; and Death
Stood waiting for the lapse of tardy age
That mocked him long." — Pollok.

128 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

THE TENDENCY OF INVENTIONS TO INCREASE
THE SOURCES OF HUMAN COMFORT.

The reference here is not simply to the mitiga-
tion of toil, or the alleviation of suffering — which
must of themselves detract from human comfort
— but to the general diffusion of those elements
which, in a personal, relative, and social aspect,
lead to its most extensive enjoyment. In Eden,
our first parents had all that the pure heart
could desire, or that the material system could
need in a state of innocence ; but, in consequence
of the fall their descendants are subjected to
innumerable wants. The earth, as a vast depo-
sitory, contains all that they require to supply
their physical necessities, but these elements of
comfort are scattered wide as the world itself,
throughout the mineral, animal, and vegetable
kingdoms. Many even of the necessaries of life
are not only beyond the reach of man in a given
locality, but also beyond the possibility of dis-
covery, or appropriation, without the help of
mechanical inventions. Art is well defined to
be u the proper disposal of the things of nature
by human thought and experience, so as to
answer the several purposes of mankind,,"* Is
it not also the intermediate, secondary means by
which the God of Providence, through human

° Lord Bacon.

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 129

industry, renders available the various elements
of comfort, which have been profusely deposited
in the different departments of that world, which,
as a whole, is constituted the habitation of the
human family. Thus the development of the
arts is destined to occupy a prominent place in
the manifestations of Divine beneficence. A por-
tion of that wisdom which foresaw and provided
for man's necessities in nature, is imparted to his
mental being, so that from age to age he may
appropriate and enjoy what his Creator has be-
stowed. It is thus that there is a common pro-
vision for a common race, stored up in nature,
yet so distributed in the wisdom of God, that
man's faculties and powers may be exercised in
its appropriation, and human industry rewarded
by its progressive development. Thus, while
mechanical inventions extract and prepare the
various substances of every region for the use of
man, railways and steam-ships, accompanied by
all the inferior and local modes of transit, lay
them upon his table, or deposit them in his
wrardrobe. Indeed, the very house in which he
dwells, the furniture of his apartments, the fire
that warms, and the light that illuminates, are
so many monuments of mechanical invention.
The luxuries, and substantial .comforts of his
table, are each and all under tribute to the
sciences and arts. By the help of marine and

V

130 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

terrestrial machinery, the luxuries of one region
are profusely strewed upon another. Though
locally far removed from the lands of the tea-
plant, the vine, the olive, the orange, and the
palm, their produce is spread upon our table ;
while, in reciprocal commerce, our spinning-
mills and power-looms produce for the million,
clothing adapted to the climate and habits of
those by whom they are cultivated. While the
Eastern children are gathering the oranges, the
grapes, or the tea, that may soothe us in afflic-
tion, or stimulate our flagging spirits under daily
toil, our children in the factory are joining the
ends, and guiding the threads and forming the
fabrics which will comfort and adorn the aged and
the young of these distant regions. It has been
computed by an ingenious calculator, that, in
Great Britain alone, there is machinery doing
the work of five hundred millions of men ; that
is to say, the inventions of varied kinds in the
United Kingdom will, in a week, weave as much
cloth, and prepare as much food, and supply the
human family with as many comforts as could
be made by hand, if all the adult population of
the globe were exerting and exhausting their
personal powers of production.

Not less astonishing are the mechanical in-
ventions for dyeing and printing these artificial
fabrics, by which the glowing tints of nature,

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 131

and the inimitable forms of beauty, are trans-
ferred in infinite variety, and with incalculable
speed to the heaviest vesture, or to the lightest
of those gossamer fabrics which are destined to
adorn the person and decorate the dwelling.
Nor is it substantial comfort alone that genius
contemplates in the construction of mechanical
inventions. Whatever tends to elevate the taste
and please the fancy — whatever imparts an in-
fluence to industry or extends civilization, finds
here an auxiliary. The achievements of the
past and the present, are extended to the future
by the aid of modern inventions.

" The mere mechanic skill,
That stamps, renews, and multiplies at will ;
And cheaply circulates, through distant climes,
The fairest relics of the purest times." — Rogers.

How great the contrast between the home of the
British manufacturer, artizan, or peasant, when
compared with the wigwam of an Indian chief,
or the hut of an ancient Druid. Or if a com-
plete contrast of the person is desired, compare
the native barbarians of Britain, in their scanty
untanned habiliments of skin, with our portly
merchant in his broadcloth, or his comely
partner in her silks, satins, lace, embroid-
ery, and jewels, and it will be at once ap-
parent what machinery has accomplished in

132 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

the progress of taste and the advancement of
civilization. But a richer harvest is yet to he
reaped out of this world's vast resources, when
the earth, subdued, shall open her hidden stores,
and the casket of Nature exhibit its concealed
treasures in obedience to the long lost key vf
human knowledge, as embodied and applied to the
ancient wards in the form of mechanical inven-
tions. The wants of the past have all sprung
out of man's ignorance in the use of temporal
things, and not from any parsimony in the
Divine Benefactor. To this there shall be abun-
dant evidence during the Millennium. Of that
blessed era it will justly be recorded —

" Men grew and multiplied,
But lacked not bread ; for God His promise brought
To mind, and blessed the land with plenteous rain,
And made it blest for dews, and precious things,
Of heaven, and blessings of the deep beneath,
And blessings of the sun and moon, and fruits
Of day and night, and blessings of the vale,
And precious things of the eternal hills,
And all the fulness of perpetual spring." — Pollok.

THE TENDENCY OF INVENTIONS TO PROLONG
RATIONAL LIFE.

The reduction of exhausting toil, the mitiga-
tion of suffering, and the increase of the means
of physical comfort, each and all, tend to the
increase of the species, and prolongation of
human life. But it is evident that, to prolong

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 133

the natural life of the species, must necessarily
lengthen out that rational life which is on earth
peculiarly the glory of man. The question is not
simply, how long an individual has existed, but
what has been the extent of his mental and
moral development, and what the amount of ra-
tional life which has been devoted to the grand
purposes of man's original destination ? Some
there are who live as much intellectually in five
years as others do in fifty. Some who accom-
plish more in the works of benevolence in a few
months than others effect in the longest life-
time. How vast must be the influence of mechan-
ical inventions upon the exercise of all the
intellectual powers ? Nor is that influence less
in giving scope and stimulus to those which
are moral. The whole art of printing is asso-
ciated with the nurture of intellectual being.
Though the press cannot create a thought, yet
it is capable of recording and transmitting all
that is worthy of being retained ; and conse-
quently, while the physical being of innumerable
generations has vanished, the mental and moral
being is revived and reproduced from age to
age : thus " feeding with the food of thought "
the rational life of immortal beings. Nor is
this true of the printing press only, all the im-
plements of industry are auxiliary to this con-
summation. If the mind is the measure of the

134 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

man, all that helps the man must directly or in-
directly tend to the expansion of the mind, and
what is this but the extension of rational ex-
istence ?

It must not be forgotten that the rational
existence of the benefactors of the race was
measured by the amount of good they were able
to accomplish. In this respect, the public life of
Immanuel, stretching over only three and a half
years, was so filled up with benevolent acts, that
the evangelist John declares the impossibility of
their being recorded.* In the public history of
the apostle Paul there is exhibited a living, spir-
itual energy, which cannot be measured by years,
but by acts of self-devotement. And yet how
much of that precious life was spent in tedious
journeys by sea and land, which would now be
accomplished in a few hours by the help of rail-
ways and steamboats ? The value of time, and
the reduction of physical exhaustion, are not yet
sufficiently appreciated,, though the speed of
modern locomotion is the lengthening of life,
measured by the amount of good that a man may
accomplish. It is impossible to calculate what
the burning zeal of the apostle might have
effected with the aid of modern inventions.
What would not Luther, or Calvin, or Knox,
have given for a single year of the railway sys-

* John, xxi. 25.

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 135

tern ? The actual labors of patriots and refor-
mers, of philanthropists and G-ospel missionaries,
would have been doubled by the present modes
of conveyance. The time formerly spent in pro-
tracted sea journeys, may now be spent by the
heralds of the cross in actual evangelistic labor.
The running to and fro of many in the earth, as
foretold by Daniel, must necessarily be accom-
panied by the increase of knowledge ; and what
is the increase of knowledge but the expansion
of rational life ?

But the influence of mechanical inventions, in
prolonging rational life, is not confined to those
portions of machinery which merely record the
triumphs of genius, deposit truths, or carry
rapidly over space, the heralds of political or
spiritual emancipation. The tendency of all in-
ventions is to abridge the hours of toil, which
must necessarily leave a larger portion of human
existence to be devoted to the culture of man's
mental and moral nature. Hitherto the hours
of manual labor have borne a large proportion
to the hours of mental cultivation or spiritual
reflection. The tendency of machinery, regu-
lated by moral principle, is to reverse this ano-
maly, the fruit of moral evil, and to give mental
employment the complete ascendency over that
which is merely manual. As the calculation of
miles in journey is now giving way before the

136 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

calculations of time, so the occupations of phy-
sical life shall be supplanted by those which are
mental ; and even those which are mental, under
the sanctifying influence of the Gospel, shall be
characterized as moral and spiritual. The ra-
tional life of man, elevated, emancipated, and
purified, shall be devoted to the service of God,
and realize, in the enjoyment of the Divine
favor, that which constitutes the real existence
of all immortal beings.

THE TENDENCY OF INVENTIONS TO PROMOTE UNI-
VERSAL PEACE, AND RESTORE THE HUMAN FAM-
ILY TO ONE BLESSED BROTHERHOOD.

We have already considered the influence of
the printing press upon the diffusion of know-
ledge, and the consequent extension of civil and
religious liberty. The whole history of mecha-
nical inventions is associated with the progress
of commerce and international communication.
The extension of commerce has gradually under-
mined the strongholds of prejudice. We admit
that the primary cause — the alienation of man
from God, which, in its effects, separated man
from man — must be removed, before the restora-
tion of brotherhood can be realized ; but though
the result is moral, the providential circum-
stances, and the relations of men, are embraced
among the means which shall accomplish this

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 137

desirable result. It is true that, to reconcile
man to man, he must first be reconciled to God.
This is the ultimate design of that religion which
the Bible propounds — a religion which stands
distinct from all human theories of amelioration,
and which must never be confounded with
mechanics or philosophy. But this religion, in
accomplishing its high mission — the restoration
of peace on earth — disdains not to employ ordi-
nary means in effecting its triumphs. True
Christianity smiles upon the efforts of human in-
dustry, and becomes the animating spirit of gen-
uine scientific progress. The kingdoms of Provi-
dence and Grace are contemporary, consequently
the subjects of both shall rejoice together in the
triumphs of their King. Peace on earth shall
be the evidence and type of peace with heaven,
during the coming Millennium. The citizens of
the world shall, no less than the members of the
Church, recognise Christ as Lord, and fellow-
men as brethren. Already are the materials of
civilization being prepared and scattered over
the world. The division of labor is being grad-
ually effected by emigration, by new discov-
eries of the precious metals, by the invention
of machinery, by the transition of politics, and
by the opening up of home and foreign marts
of merchandise. Are not all these indications
of a better day, when " nation shall not lift up

138 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

the sword against nation, nor learn the art of
war any more." It has been well remarked by
Dr. Wayland, that " God intended that all men
should live together in friendship and harmony.
By multiplying indefinitely their wants, and
creating only in particular localities the objects
by which their wants can be supplied, he in-
tended to make them all necessary to each other,
and thus to render it no less the interest than
the duty of every one to live in amity with all
the rest." Thus, when men come to read the
book of nature in the light of revelation, and
when they come to see with David that unto
God belongs the earth, with all its fulness ; and
with the good Samaritan, that every man is a
brother, then, indeed, shall the mechanical in-
ventions be rendered tributary to the universal
benefit of humanity, while glory to God, as the
giver, shall be the universal ascription of praise
and gratitude.

We admit that, notwithstanding the hopes
excited by the London Exhibition of 1851, of
continued peace, and enlarged national inter-
course, the dark clouds have lowered, and another
volume of human history must be written in
blood. True it is that those nations, which met
in the Crystal Palace in mechanical rivalry,
have now met in the field of carnage, to decide
with the weapons of death the fate of nations.

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 139

This fact is an evidence, that the Gospel only,
received and believed, can medicate the fester-
ing diseases of depraved humanity. ' But it fur-
nishes no argument against the truth already
announced, regarding the tendency of machinery
to promote the brotherhood of nations. While
it is the religion of the Bible alone that can heal
the wounds of humanity, that religion embraces
all social duties, and defines our relations to God
and man. Consequently, by the aid of machin-
ery, man will be enabled to do for his fellow
what, with the purest motives and the warmest
heart, he could never accomplish by the simple
and immediate operation of his hands upon the
elements of nature. There is implanted in our
constitution a principle, which leads man to
smile upon whatever tends to the general benefit
of the species ; but it is also accompanied by a
principle of attraction, which draws us insensi-
bly to the author of the good effected. Apply
both in the exercise of a free agency, and under
the guidance of moral principle, and man will
become the friend of man. Each will be the
minister of good to others, and thus shall rise
and roll the full tide of Millennial felicity. The
assurance expressed by the illustrious President
of her Majesty's Commissioners of the Industrial
Exhibition, though future, is not the less true
as regards its realization, when he said, that

140 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

" nobody who has paid any attention to the par-
ticular features of our present era will doubt for
a moment that we are living at a period of most
wonderful transition, which tends rapidly to
accomplish that great end — to which, indeed,
all history points — the realization of the unity
of mankind."

It is freely admitted that the perversion of
mechanical, as of any other gifts of the great
Benefactor, may tend to present alienation of
man from his fellow. It was thus in the early
histoiy of the arts, that the building of the Tower
of Babel provoked the wrath of God, and led to
the confusion of the builders, and the scattering
of the human family. But there was indicated
in that judgment no frown upon architecture,
but only upon rebellion ; and, consequently,
though this ancient monument of art was the
occasion of local separation, because of the con-
fusion of languages, mechanical inventions form
a part of those comprehensive plans by which
locally separated, and long alienated tribes of
the human family shall become acquainted with
each other's language, and habits, and interests.
The commerce of modern times has done much
to remove national prejudice, but machinery
lies at the very foundation of that commerce.
The mariner's compass, the spinning-mill, the
power-loom, the steam-ship, and the railway, are

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 141

the implements in daily use, originating and
sustaining commercial intercouse. But besides
those implements which promote physical com-
fort, the printing-press, pouring forth Bibles by
the million, is the grand mechanical mediator
between the alienated nations of the earth. That
influence which has already been so powerfully
felt in India, and in the South Sea Islands,
before which local prejudice is rapidly vanishing,
shall yet be experienced throughout the world.
The intercourse of nations is comparatively in
its first development. But when the steam-ship
is daily bearing its living freight from shore to
shore ; when the railway is uniting the most
remote places of the largest continents, and when
the telegraph is transmitting, with lightning
speed, the messages of business or of friendship
from distant climes, how can the members of
the human family remain in bitter hostility, or
keep up that feeling of selfish isolation which
under a former state of development, character-
ized the human race ? The tendency of mechani-
cal inventions to unite the separated sons of
Adam, has already been clearly evinced ; but
the achievements of the past and the present are
but faint types of the future, when that which
has been done locally shall be accomplished for
the world. There is a good time coming, when
the poet's description shall be a blessed reality :

142 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

"None were ignorant, selfish none;
Love took the place of law ; where'er you met
A man, you met a friend, sincere and true.
Kind looks foretold as kind a heart within;
"Words, as they sounded, meant ; and promises
Wero made to be performed. Thrice happy days !
Philosophy was sanctified, and saw
Perfection, which was thought a fable long.

The desert blossomed, and the barren sung.
Justice and Mercy, Holiness and Love,
Among the people walked, Messiah reigned,
And earth kept jubilee a thousand years." *

THE TENDENCY OF MECHANICAL INVENTIONS TO
PRODUCE THOSE PHYSICAL CHANGES UPON
EARTH WHICH REVELATION GIVES REASON TO
HOPE SHALL YET BE ACCOMPLISHED.

In considering the tendency of inventions, it
has been assumed that God designs to promote
the physical, as well as the moral interests of
humanity. Were this questioned, the benevo-
lence of God might be demonstrated from the
whole field of nature, as adapted to the wants
and circumstances of the creature ; while the
Bible is at once the monument and depository
of evidence, which it would require volumes to
elucidate. But assuming what every principle
of reason must confirm, it is evident that the
tendencies of mechanical inventions already ad-
duced, are sufficient to show that they are of
God. Were it necessary to pursue the argu-
* Poiiok.

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 143

ment further, it might be conclusively shown
that these and all other mechanical tendencies
are destined to effect those physical changes
upon the world, which the goodness of God, and
the necessities of man, seem to indicate, as yet
to be realized, in the onward march of discovery
and invention. The Bible tells us what the
world was as God made it ; and what it became
as blighted by the curse of sin, and overwhelmed
by the sweeping deluge. What was originally
" very good/' became armed against man, the
transgressor, with innumerable evils. That world
which was bestowed in covenant grant, became
as forfeited, a hostile region, only to be reclaimed
by the skill and industry of the fallen family.
Since the day that Adam was thrust out from
the Garden, the work of subjugation has been
progressing. Already has this sin-smitten earth
been divested of half its physical evils ; while Ke-
velation exhibits a still brighter period of pro-
gressive development during the Millennium.
Then, there is good reason to believe, that liter-
ally as well as spiritually, " the wilderness and
the solitary places shall be glad, and the desert
shall rejoice and blossom as the rose/'

If the God of infinite goodness would not permit
the universal reign of moral evil in this revolted
region, but made the fall of man the occasion
for the interposition of redeeming love, is there

144 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

any ground to believe that physical evil shall be
permitted to hold universal dominion in that
world which has been selected as the field of con-
flict, between the Prince of Peace and the
powers of darkness, and which has been signal-
ized by the triumphs of the former over the
latter ? The moral victory has been won, and
soon the dragon shall be bound a thousand
years. The physical conflict with nature is pro-
gressing. To man it has been entrusted under
the original mandate, 'subdue the earth,' and
through man as the mental instrument in the
Divine hand shall the victory over nature also be
obtained. The miseries of groaning creation
shall in due time be alleviated, and the creature
that was made subject to vanity, shall be re-
stored to its appropriate place, and made to
subserve its original purpose. If the moral
effects of sin upon the soul of man are removed
through the grace and Spirit of God in the work
of redemption, and if the Divine image is restored
to that soul, which has become a moral ruin, is it
too much to expect, that there shall be a corres-
ponding restoration of the physical world, to at
least a measure of that beauty, and glory, and
fertility, and salubrity, by which it was charac-
terized as a work of God ? May we not even
literally anticipate the fulfilment of the promise ?
"Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 145

tree, and instead of the briar, shall come up the
myrtle-tree ; and it shall be to the Lord for a
name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be
cut off."

We freely admit that on this point the Bible
is neither so full nor explicit, as it is upon all
that pertains to the work of redemption ; be-
cause the grand design of Revelation is, to lift
man's affections above the world that is, and to
direct his hopes to that world which is to come.
But there are general principles propounded,
and incidental hints given, which considered in
the exercise of faith, will lead to the assurance
of a glorious physical, as well as moral re-
demption. In the creation and disposition of
earth's elements — in the mental and material
constitution of man, and in the dispensation of
providence, there is conclusive evidence, as re-
gards the Divine purposes, in relation to
the future condition of the physical world.
Much has already been done to change the
aspects of the globe, and to improve the tem-
poral condition of man. The achievements of
the past are sufficient to warrant the most en-
larged expectations regarding the future. As-
cending the mount of observation with the poet
Young, we may hear him addressing us as he did
Lorenzo —

146 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

" Come, my ambitious! let us mount together,
And from the clouds, where pride delights to dwell,
Look down on earth. What seest thou? wondrous things!
Terrestrial wonders that eclipse the skies.
"What lengths of labor'd lands ! what loaded seas !
Loaded by man for pleasure, wealth, or war 1
Seas, winds, and planets, into service brought,
His art acknowledged, and promote his ends.
Nor can the eternal rocks his will withstand :
What level'd mountains! and what lifted vales !
O'er vales and mountains sumptuous cities swell,
And gild our landscape with their glittering spires.
Some 'mid the wandering waves majestic rise,
And Neptune holds a mirror to their charms.
Far greater still ! (what cannot mortal might!)
See, wide dominions ravish'd from the deep 1
The narrow'd deep with indignation foams,
Or southward turn to delicate and grand.
The finer arts there ripen in the sun.
How the tall temples, as to meet their gods,
Ascend the skies ! the proud triumphal arch
Shows us half heaven beneath its ample bend.
High through mid air, here streams are taught to flow ;
Whole rivers there, laid by in basins, sleep,
Here plains turns oceans ; there vast oceans join,
Through kingdoms channel'd deep from shore to shore,
And changed creation takes its face from man.
Earth disembowel'd! measured are the skies!
Stars are detected in their deep recess !
Creation widens ! vanquished nature yields !
Her secrets are extorted ! art prevails !
What monument of genius; spirit, power!

say,

Whose footsteps these? Immortals have been here ;
Could less than souls immortal this have done ?"

What would the poet have said, had he seen the
triumphs of modern engineering ? How much
more expansive would have been his vision, had

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 147

he gazed upon the manufactories, and ship-
yards, and marts of merchandise in our own
times ? While agriculture has transformed the
aspects of the landscape, nautical skill, and
steam-power, have changed the appearance, even
of the deep. However lofty his strains as
elicited by what art and science had then ac-
complished, much more sublime would now be
their theme, when embracing the marvels of
science recently disclosed. The steam-ship, and
the spinning-mill, and the railway, and the
telegraph, were objects beyond the grasp of the
most extravagant poetic imagination. But now
they are a practical reality ; entering at once
into the daily pursuits of mercantile enterprize
and the ordinary arrangements of social life.
Could the distinguished poet of the past, have
gazed from his mount of observation upon
modern steam-fleets, almost hourly despatched
on voyages of business, or warfare, or pleasure
— could he have marked the velocity of the
railway engine dragging in its train, what seems
at times like a street in motion, with its nu-
merous apartments and various classes of a liv-
ing population — or could he have heard the
joyful tidings of the fall of Sebastopol in the
Exchange of London, while yet the cloud of
dust, and the sheet of flame were ascending from
the crashing ruins of the doomed city as trans-

148 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

mitted through the agency of the mysterious iron
chain by which the distant Crimea is bound to
the capital — would he not have asked with still
deeper emotions —

" Whose footsteps these ?"

and have responded with a deeper emphasis —

" Immortals have been here."

Nay, more, we apprehend, that had he seen the
Minister at War, in London, conversing with
the Commanding General before the walls of the
besieged Kussian city, by the aid of lightning,
would he not rather have been disposed to ex-
claim—

" That more than mortals have been here ?"

Would he not have discovered, by the most con-
vincing evidence, that, though immortals have
been there as agents, " the King immortal, eter-
nal, and invisible," was there as the Almighty
Author ? It is true that immortals are the
visible agents in the production of all mechani-
cal inventions. But who is the Author of these
immortals ? Who gave intelligence to the con-
triver, or strength and skill to the artificer, by
whom machinery is constructed ? Are the
materials or the operators self-created ? Nay !
Both owe their existence to God, and both fulfil
their mission, and occupy their respective places
in the scale of creation. Here, then, is a vasi

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 149

region of artificial phenomena, constructed by-
man, and employed for his benefit. We ask,
Who is its proprietor ? Unto whom redounds
the glory of these wonderful works ? To some
one it must be accorded. Shall it be to man,
the agent, or to God, the Author of the agent
and his work ? It is evident that, unless man
made the machinery, as God made the heavens
and the earth out of nothing, he has no right-
ful claim to the glory of their existence, in a
world whereof he is but a transitory inhabitant;
In the preceding arguments an appeal has been
made to Nature, but Nature, so replete with
their elements, has no power to proportion or
combine them. A reference has been made to
their successive development in regard to time,
in order to discover whether they are the result
of fortuitous circumstances ; but Nature and
history with one voice declare —

" There 's no such thing as chance :
And what to us seems merest accident,
Springs from the deepest source of destiny.
This various human being's thoughts and deeds,
Are not like ocean billows, blindly moved.
The inner world his microcosmos, is
The deep shaft out of which they spring eternally." *

We have appealed to the constitution of man.
The relations and adaptations of that constitu-

* Schiller's TVallenstein.

150 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

tion to the world without, have been traced. The
past and prospective history of humanity has
been viewed in the light of Providence disclosed,
and Providence distinctly indicated. But here,
as before, the creature is constrained to say, "It
is not in me to work the work, nor does it be-
long to me to receive the glory." Rather will
the child of reason, enlightened by the page of
revelation, be found saying of this region of
phenomena, what was said by our first father, as
described by Milton, regarding nature : —

" These are Thy glorious works, Parent of Good !
Almighty ! Thine is this universal frame,
This wondrous fair, Thyself how wondrous then :
Unspeakable, who sittest above the heavens,
To us invisible, or dimly seen,
In these Thy lowest works, yet these declare
Thy goodness beyond thought and power divine."

CHAPTER IV.

SCRIPTURAL EVIDENCE THAT MECHANICAL INVENTIONS ARE
OF GOD.

The arguments already adduced by an appeal
to facts in the history of inventions, must be
conclusive to every mind accustomed to trace
effects to their originating causes. We now
proceed to state the theological argument in
order to prove that it is not only a truth that
may be discovered, and defended within the
region of philosophy, but also a truth which
is clearly revealed in Scripture — "a doctrine
according to godliness" — which ought to be
studied and reduced to practice in the contem-
plation of artificial phenomena.

THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD IN RELATION TO
MECHANICAL INVENTIONS.

By the Providence of God is understood " His

most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and

governing all His creatures ; ordering them, and

all their actions, to His own glory/'* This de-

* Larger Catechism.

152 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

finition is in strict accordance with the plainest
declarations of Scripture, which testify that
" His kingdom ruleth over all ;" that He worketh
all things after the counsel of His will ;" that
" He doeth according to His will in the army of
heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him,
What doest Thou f" The providence of God has
been considered by some philosophical writers
as general; which consists in upholding certain
general laws, without special direction of the
individual creatures. Thus it has been said
" That the Creator of the universe founded the
constitution of nature in such a manner at the
beginning, as to stand in need of no succeeding
alterations ; that He established certain laws in
the material and in the moral world, which uni-
formly and invariably operate, producing all the
effects which He ever designed, they should ac-
complish ; as when an artist frames a machine for
certain purposes, and for a limited duration, the
effects which result from it spring not from the
immediate direction and influence of the artist,
but from the original frame and composition of
the machine." On the other hand, it is main-
tained that " Almighty Gqd, upon special occa-
sions, directs and overrules the course of events,
both in the natural and moral world, by an im-
mediate influence, to answer the great designs

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 153

of His universal government." These views are
widely different, and have led to much contro-
versy and misconception ; though the doctrines
of a general and special providence are in no
way antagonistic. Indeed, they are inseparably
connected. " The general providence of God,
properly understood, reaches to the most partic-
ular and minute objects and events ; and the
particular providence of God becomes general
by its embracing every particular." It seems
remarkable that any professing to bow to the
authority of the Bible on this point, should ques-
tion the special providence, seeing that no doc-
trine is more expressly stated in the sacred
volume. Is it not declared that a sparrow can-
not fall to the ground without the knowledge of
our heavenly Father ; and that the hairs of our
head are all numbered ? that He " compasses
our paths, and is acquainted wTith all our ways."
But even reason must convince those who hold
the doctrine of a general providence, that if God
has certain designs to accomplish with respect
to, and by means of, his intelligent creatures,
these designs can only be realized by a particular
attention to their individual circumstances, their
movements, and all the events of their lives.
How is it possible to take care of a whole, with-
out taking care of the parts ; or to preserve a
species, if the individuals are neglected ? Great

154 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

and small are relative terms, springing from our
limited comprehension of the essential properties
of being, which can never be appropriately em-
ployed in speaking of the relation of God to His
creatures. It is as impossible for a man to create
an atom as a world ; and as easy for the Creator
to preserve the one as the othef. To exclude
the idea of a special Providence, reaching every
creature in its existence and its actions, is to set
limits upon the Holy One, and to measure the
power of God by human weakness. The ad-
ministration of the Divine Government in our
world is so arranged that the individual cannot
be absorbed in the general, so as to be deprived
of immediate care ; nor can the direction of the
whole interfere with the regulation of every part.
The infinitude of God at once embraces all, and
comprehends each individual and element, as
though there were none other in the universe.
As no creature can possibly exist without God,
so there is not a creature that can act independ-
ent of Him. His presence fills immensity, His
power is the universal operator, whether the in-
strument be inanimate or animate, irrational or
rational. No event, in heaven, earth, or hell
escapes His observation, or exceeds his control.
The existence of every thing, from an atom to a
world, and the actions of every creature, from an
insect to an angel, are equally within the com-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 155

pass of His knowledge and the grasp of His
power. No event that can possibly occur is too
momentous or too minute to be embraced in
this administration. The fall of a sparrow, the
death of a sovereign, the tints of a lily, the hues
of the firmament, the fall of a dewdrop, the over-
throw of a tyrant, the course of a river, the sub-
version of an empire, the invention of a machine,
and the development of a national constitution,
are each and all under Divine direction. Every
hair is numbered, every atom and world assigned
their course, every element and instrument
directed to their original design. "All things
are full of labor," but this labor testifies that
they are full of God, without whom existence is
not, and activity cannot be sustained. In the
regions of the atmosphere, in the depths of the
dark mine, in the hidden caverns of the sea,
Divine Providence is reflected by every object —
Divine power is felt in every operation — Divine
guidance is imparted to every agent. Actions,
as well as creatures, are the exponents of His
purposes. Physical changes upon material
things, though produced by intelligent agents,
are not the less manifestations of Divine designs.
The studio of the philosopher, and the workshop
of the mechanic, are as much within the domain
of Providence as the most secret laboratory of
nature's operations. " In Him we live*, and move,

156 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

and have our being/' Life in existence, life in
contrivance, and life in operation, must equally
be traced to the Fountain of universal being.
If, therefore, God is acknowledged in this general
providence as the Author of those effects which
flow from natural causation, ought not His spe-
cial providence to be equally recognised in those
effects of mechanical operation which have been
produced by an intelligent agent ? If we call
the varied processes of nature the works of God,
while only instruments in the Divine hand, may
we not, with more propriety, call mechanical in-
ventions the works of God, seeing that they
have been contrived and formed by agents
possessing mental intelligence, imparted and
directed by the universal Author ? The truth
is, that both are instruments in the Divine hand,
though in a very different category, and both,
when viewed as the exponents of the Divine
will, are calculated to elevate the mind from im-
mediate causes, to the fountain of causation. If
it may with propriety be said, that

"Nature is but a name for an effect
Whose cause is God,"

may it not with equal propriety be affirmed that
geniu^s, that mechanical skill, are emanations of
Deity, in whomsoever they may be reflected ?

In adducing the special providence of God.
as regulating and directing the actions of intel-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 157

ligent beings, it might seem as if the actors were
divested of a moral character, and had, conse-
quently, no responsibility to the moral Gover-
nor. Some may be disposed to ask, why should
the instrument employed by a higher power, be
dealt with as a moral agent ? If every thing-
has been overruled, and directed by that power,
may it not be asked, in the language of the
objector to Paul's doctrine, " why doth He yet find
fault? for who hath resisted His will?" To
this it may be replied that all moral agents
have a twofold relation to God. The one as an
instrument in the Divine hand, the other as a
moral agent responsible to the Divine govern-
ment. All free agents have power to act under
certain limitations, in their personal character ;
but they may be and are employed, in the ad-
ministration of the Divine government to effect
certain purposes unrevealed, until embodied as
facts in history. In the one aspect, a man may
be inspired with genius by the Spirit of God,
but this inspiration does not in any respect
change his moral character, or moral relations
to God. Though he may be able to produce
astonishing changes upon the material world,
and though these changes may be again instru-
mental in effecting moral revolutions, he is as
a person, as a moral agent, subject to the same
laws, as any other of his fellowmen. The Scrip-

158 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

ture record furnishes many instances of this
twofold aspect of humanity. Thus, Pharaoh,
king of Egypt, is represented in both aspects.
God sent Moses with a Divine message to him as
a person. To him the will of heaven was dis-
tinctly made known, with the seal of an unequi-
vocal miracle ; but Pharaoh absolutely refused
obedience. In contempt of God, he asked,
" Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice
to let Israel go ? I know not the Lord, neither
will I let Israel go." Thus he hardened his
heart, rejecting the clearest evidence, and re-
nouncing the highest authority. Shall the pur-
pose of God be frustrated, or the fulfilment of
the promise fail ? Shall Pharaoh be relieved
from doing his part as sovereign, in granting
the request Divinely announced ? Shall he be
simply reserved as a person for final punish-
ment ? Nay, the purpose must be accomplished.
The command shall be obeyed ; but in both
the haughty monarch shall be employed as an
instrument in doing God's work, though finally
destroyed, because in the doing of that work he
refused Divine homage. When he would not
obey God as a person, he was, nevertheless, pre-
served as an instrument, until the purposes of
God in raising him up had been fulfilled.
Hence it was said to Moses, " Now, thou wilt see
what I will do t<> Pharaoh; for, with a Btrong

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 159

hand shall he let them go, and with a strong
hand shall he drive them out of his land."
Through a series of judgments he was compelled
by external influences, to do as an instrument
what he absolutely refused to do as a moral
agent. Besides, though the act of liberation was
good, in so far as it accorded with the purpose
and will of God, the person was punished be-
cause his will was directly opposed to the Divine
will.

Balaam, the false prophet, appears in the same
aspect. He was solicited by the messengers of
Balak to go, and curse Israel. God commanded
him not to go, but his heart was won by the
prospective reward. The will of God was ex-
pressly revealed to him, as a moral agent. For
" God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with
them ; thou shalt not curse the people ; for they
are blessed." Beyond this the prophet required
no further direction ; but when solicited the
second time, with the promise of a great reward
he desired in his heart to go, though restrained,
and God in judgment permitted him to accom-
pany the Princes of Moab, while he employed
him as an instrument in the Divine hand to bless
the chosen people. As a person he was willing
to curse the Israelites, but inspired as an instru-
ment he was constrained to bless ; and even
Balak afforded the occasion, and. enlisted the

160 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

prophet, by whom a most sublime prediction, re-
garding the future triumphs of the Israelites,
was poured out in the presence of their ene-
mies.*

The King of Assyria is also presented in this
twofold aspect, while permitted to smite the of-
fending Israelites. " 0, Assyrian, the rod of
Mine anger, and the staff in their hand is Mine
indignation, I will send him against an hypocri-
tical nation, and against the people of My wrath
will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and
to take the prey, and to tread them down like
the mire of the streets. Howbeit, he meandh
not so, neither doth his heart think so ; for it
is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not
a few." f Here the ambition and pride of a so-
vereign give rise to a bold invasion, with a view
to national aggrandizement ; but here also is
the providence of God, directing the same line
of action, with a view to the correction of the
Israelites, and the ultimate promotion of their
spiritual interests. The conqueror of nations
was an instrument wielded by the hand of the
Almighty to punish the guilty. But, when the
Lord had accomplished His purpose by chastise-
ment, and the time had come for the deliverance
of His people from captivity, another mighty
sovereign, though a heathen, was employed as a

* Num. xxii., xxiii., xxiv. f Isaiah, x. 5.

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 161

minister of mercy. The Lord stirred up the
spirit of Cyrus, King of Persia, * to pass a decree
of emancipation.

The Jews appear in the same aspect, as
charged with guilt by the Apostle Peter, in re-
lation to the crucifixion of our Lord. " Ye men
of Israel, hear these words ; Jesus of Nazareth,
a man approved of God among you, by miracles,
and wonders, and signs, which God did by him
in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know :
Him being delivered by the determinate counsel
and fore knowledge of God, ye have taken, and
by wicked hands, have crucified and slain/' f
The Jews, as persons, were involved in the
deepest guilt because of their rejection of the
Lord of glory, irrespective of the clearest evi-
dence of His Messiahship ; while their enmity
was overruled, for the accomplishment of the
eternal purposes of God, regarding the death of
Christ as the Saviour of sinners.

The testimony of the Apostle Paul is conclu-
sive upon this subject. He represents himself
as a person under solemn responsibility, and at
the same time, as an instrument constrained to
do God's work. " Though I preach the Gospel,
I have nothing to glory of : for necessity is laid
upon me ; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not
the Gospel." He felt impelled by inspiration.

* Ezra i, 1. t Acts "> 22-27.

162 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

He must become an agent in the Divine hand
to perform the work given him to do. But, he
feels that the reward is related to the spirit in
which the work shall be done ; hence he adds,
" For if I do this thing willingly/' that is, as a
person — a free agent, having received a com-
mission, and holding it under deep responsibility,
" I have a reward, but if against my will" — if
merely as an instrument — " then a dispensation
of the Gospel is committed unto me." As under
the constraint of inspiration, he must unfold the
Gospel of Christ, though merely as an instrument ;
while comfort in his work, and the reward of it,
must be regulated by the spirit in which, as a
free agent, the duty is performed. That the
spirit might not be retarded, he watches strictly
over the state of the outward man. "I keep
under my body, and bring it into subjection ;
lest that by any means, when I have preached
to others, I myself should be a cast-away."

If, then, individuals of the human family,
have been specially employed by a peculiar in-
spiration to perform some special work, in the
dispensations of providence, may not the prin-
ciples embodied in their destination to a special
service, be unfolded in the whole development
of human genius ? If one man in the capacity
of a warrior be employed, as an instrument to
execute Divine vengeance upon a nation, and if

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 163

he be inspired as Gideon was, by the Spirit of
God, with skill and courage to accomplish his
work. If another is inspired as Cyrus, to grant
a decree of emancipation to an enslaved nation.
If a third is inspired to proclaim the will of
God in regard to the redemption of sinners, on
what principle shall we exclude special genius
from the category of mental inspiration ? The
providence of God includes the physical, as well
as the moral administration of the affairs of the
world. In both, men are employed as instru-
ments, and by a special providence are prepared
for their work. In both, there are certain facts
unknown to man, which must be revealed, be-
fore he can realize their benefit. In both cases
there seems to be a similar necessity, for the in-
spiration of the Spirit of God to reveal the un-
known, so that man may ever feel his absolute
dependence upon the Universal Governor. This
doctrine of mental inspiration shall afterwards
be distinctly proved, when considering the scrip-
tural records of the arts and sciences in illustra-
tion of our main theory.

Admitting the doctrine of Divine providence
universal and special, as restraining, directing,
and overruling the actions of men, there cannot
possibly be any exclusion, of the triumphs of
genius from this universal and special source of
causation. Within this exercise of Divine power,

164 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

must be included every object, inanimate or
animate, natural, or mechanical. In the natural
phenomena, all things were made for the glory
of God as creator. In the transitions of the
natural, and in the development of the me-
chanical phenomena, all things are destined to
show forth the wisdom and goodness of the God
of providence. The world as originally made,
is but the embodiment of the Divine decrees re-
garding creation. The world, in its history,
and in the transformation of its elements by
natural causes, or by mechanical skill, is but the
development of the Divine decrees in the pro-
gressive dispensations of Providence. The Bible
reveals to man vast physical, and social changes,
as embraced in the purposes of the Moral Gov-
ernor. The distribution of genius, and the in-
vention of machinery, are providential means by
which these purposes of benevolence shall be
accomplished. Both are the gifts of God, com-
ing through the ordinary or special channels of
His providence ; at once designed to bless
humanity, and elicit from the recipients, grati-
tude and praise to the bountiful benefactor.
" Every good gift, and every perfect gift, cometh
down from the Father of lights with whom there
is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
If, therefore, God is the author of every mental
and mechanical gift, irrespective of the species

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. . 165

of instrumentality by which it is bestowed, it
must be apparent that these gifts themselves
ought to be considered as emanations of the
wisdom, and power, and goodness of God. Thus,
in the doctrine of Providence, the whole theory
which has been previously propounded, finds a
solid and capacious foundation. Here, the whole
argument might be conclusively settled, seeing
that both reason, and revelation, claim for God
the glory that is due to His name, from every
region of the material world. But in order that
it may be clearly manifest that this doctrine is
not merely a deduction from reason, or an in-
ference from the doctrine of Providence, we pro-
ceed to show that it is a principle fully acknow-
ledged in the Bible ; being not only a truth which
may be discovered, .but a doctrine according to
godliness, to be received and applied in all our
conceptions of the arts and sciences.

THE BIBLE RECORD OF MECHANICAL PROGRESS, AN
EVIDENCE THAT INVENTIONS ARE OF GOD.

The history of inventions is nearly coeval
with the existence of man, and the Divine re-
cord carries us within the precincts of paradise.
That record may be viewed either in respect to
what the command of God implied, or the facts
in human history, which it has transmitted. In
regard to the former, the command to "dress

166 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

the garden and to keep it," as well as the com-
mand to " subdue the earth," implies the use of
implements. Some have supposed that even in
Eden, our first parents were furnished with me-
chanical inventions, suited to their work in
dressing and keeping the garden ; otherwise
their work must have been reduced to the scale
of savage efforts. But upon such a question
the reasonings of man can only amount to con-
jecture. Whether God furnished Adam with
utensils, suited to his work, cannot now be de-
termined, nor does it lie within the line of argu-
ment adopted. But of this there is Scripture
evidence, that work was given him to do, and a
constitution adapted to, that provision made in
the world for the accomplishment of this work.
The commission given to Adam respecting the
garden, and the world, must have awakened
ideas in his mind, concerning the means by
which that commission might be carried into
execution. Let it be borne in mind that man
was made in the image of God, in knowledge,
righteousness, and holiness ; and being thus
made, he could not blindly receive a charge, re-
garding the means of accomplishing which he
could form no conception. In receiving his com-
mission, he was addressed as a person — a moral
agent ; and consequently, his moral nature re-
sponded in accordance with the light then

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 167

enjoyed. And what was that light but the efful-
gence of divinity, beaming upon the heaven-born
soul ; and reflected upon the field of nature,
over which he was constituted legal sovereign ?
How comprehensive, must necessarily have been
his knowledge of that world which he was ap-
pointed to govern ! Equally comprehensive must
have been his knowledge of the means and in-
struments by which he might perform the work
given him to do in the discharge of present
duty. But by the fall, the Divine image was
lost, the intellectual, as well as the moral nature
became depraved. So little remained of the
previous knowledge, that when human naked-
ness was discovered, human ingenuity found in
nature nothing better than fig-leaves for a tem-
porary covering. This is the primary fact of
mechanical development ; showing that man has
not only lost the moral capability of obeying the
command of God ; but also that he has lost the
knowledge of nature's elements ; and must
henceforth be guided even in mechanical opera-
tions by the Author of his being.

Even this first attempt at invention seems to
be tacitly rejected by offended Deity. The re-
storation of man, physically as well as morally,
must begin with God. The criminal must not
appropriate even the least of the blessings for-
feited in the violation of the covenant, until di-

168 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

rected by Divine example, and recominissioned
by Divine authority. In this commission the
subduing of the earth is inseparable from human
toil ; while God himself gives the first impulse,
and presents the first specimens of mechanical
operations. " Unto Adam and to his wife did the
Lord make coats of skins and clothed them."
It is generally supposed that the skins were
those taken from the first sacrifices, conse-
quently, the very symbols which instructed fallen
man in the mysteries of spiritual redemption,
also afforded first lessons upon the elements
and means of physical elevation. Does not this
clearly indicate that the moral renovation of the
world shall be accompanied by a physical eman-
cipation, from much of the evil inflicted by the
curse ? In this Scripture record, the mind is
led up to the source of mechanical inventions,
while God himself is the designer, and the opera-
tor. Is not the whole region of artificial pheno-
mena, ennobled by this origin, apparently limited
though it be ? Who need be ashamed of honest
labor, though humble, when the Author of the
universe made coats for man, in the day of his
extremity ?

From this example, there is reason to believe
that the sons of Adam would in process of time
be similarly clothed, and instructed in the mys-
teries of the sacrificial system. Implements,

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 169

and skill to use them, must have been in requi-
sition in the time of Abel, who " brought of the
firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof" for
sacrifice, which could not have been prepared
for the altar without some mechanical inven-
tions. Cain was a tiller of the ground, which
also implies the invention, and use of agricul-
tural implements. But these records of the
early history of humanity are not confined to
the first efforts of husbandry, or to the initiatory
rites of the sacrificial system. Though the
raising of food from a blighted soil, and the
spiritual teaching by types and symbols were
necessarily among the earliest expositions of the
arts, they were immediately accompanied by
another invention which lies at the foundation
of social progress.

The outcast, Cain, is represented as building
and naming a city. We are still within the
limits of Adam's family, and yet there is pre-
sented an extensive acquaintance Mith the arts
of industry. The idea of a city implies the
erection of permanent buildings, and conse-
quently the invention, and use of architectural
implements. Though he was a fratricide, and
under the ban of heaven an exile from his
father's dwelling, the Spirit of God has recorded
his first' efforts in the founding of those congre-
gated habitations which have exerted so much
8

170 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

influence over the social history of humanity.
That God of providence who disclosed in the
field, the blood of Abel, and who brought the
culprit Cain to condign punishment, yet pre-
served him as an instrument, giving a new
aspect to the world, and the Spirit records him
a builder as well as a murderer. The sense of
fear which the guilt of his brother's blood, and
the sentence of God impressed upon his soul,
gave rise to the idea of union for protection.
The fortified cities of ancient and modern
times are but an expansion of this primitive
idea; and thus the guilt of Cain was made
the occasion of introducing a system of social
polity which has been the guardian of life
through ages of barbarism. The Spirit of God,
who " knoweth the end from the beginning/' has
marked the first efforts of genius, though the
fuller development has not been made a matter
of sacred history. Is not this designed to teach
man the minute care of the providence of God,
and the relation of all the arts of industry to His
moral government ?

In the brief history of Cain's descendants,
there is a more explicit record of the progress
of the arts. Though the name of Lamech —
the fifth in descent from the builder of the city —
is associated with the invasion of the domestic
constitution, by the introduction of polygamy ;

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 171

yet in his family the pen of inspiration has
traced the rapid development of the arts and
sciences. Of his first-horn, Jabal, it is recorded,
" He was the father of such as dwell in tents,
and of such as have cattle." To he a father, in
Scripture language, usually implies the origina-
tor, or inventor of some new enterprize. In the
time of Abel sheep were kept, but it seems to
have been under the hand of Jabal that this
primitive calling was reduced to anything like
a system, destined to exist from age to age.
He is thus represented as the founder of the
Nomadic tribes, which, throughout the east,
even till the present day, dwell in tents, and
pasture their cattle at will, without respect to
local boundaries. This aspect of social life
arose, in some measure, out of domestic circum-
stances. So rapid was the increase of the flocks,
around a fixed habitation, or primitive city, that,
like the herds of Abraham and Lot, the ground
was unable to bear them, consequently the scat-
tering of the shepherds gave rise to the necessity
of moveable habitations ; and thus was evolved
in the time of Jabal, the art of tent making,
which was learned by the Apostle Paul about the
Christian era ; and which is still the occupation
of many in eastern countries.

These inventions of Jabal, the result of ne-
cessity, were accompanied by others calculated to

172 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

elevate and refine society. The practical saga-
city of the shepherd is associated in Holy Writ,
with the spontaneous efforts of taste and genius;
clearly indicating that man was constituted not
only to labor and live upon the productions of
nature, as possessing animal life, but also to
draw from nature sources of mental elevation
and social enjoyment as a rational and spiritual
beins;. The sacred narrative announces, that
" his brother's name was Jubal : he was the father
of all such as handle the harp and organ."
Here were disclosed the grand types of all me-
chanical harmony. Wind and stringed instru-
ments, in their varied artificial combinations
constitute the chief, and embrace in their expan-
sion the whole development of musical ma-
chinery. Simple and rude these primitive in-
struments must have been, in their original con-
struction ; but the fact of their existence in this
early age, and the recorded notice of the name
of their inventor, prove, that even before the
wilder notes of the voice of nature, were heard
amidst the conflicting elements of that stormy
sea of judgment, which encircled the globe ; the
softer strains of Eden's dying melody were
stereotyped by Jubal and his musical descend-
ants. From this name Jubal, it is evident that
we derive the term jubilee ; and well does the
invention of musical instruments accord with the

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 173

year of jubilee among the Israelites ; when the
trumpet sounds, were the peals of liberty, caus-
ing the heart of every slave to thrill with joy.
Nor is the record of inspiration devoid of hope
for the world, in which the jubilee trumpet of
liberty shall yet be sounded, " and the ransomed
of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with
songs and everlasting joy upon their heads : they
shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and
sighing shall flee away."

In the succeeding verse of the same narra-
tive, there is a more general exposition of the
arts of industry. " T.ubal-Cain was an instruc-
tor of every artificer in brass and iron/' This son
of Zillah, is generally supposed to be the Vulcan
of the ancients — that fictitious deity whose name
occurs so frequently in classic story. He is not
like his brethren Jabal and Jubal, described as
the father of those who were his contemporaries,
or descendants in the same profession, but as
their instructor. Besides, this title is employed
in its most comprehensive sense, " the instructor
of every artificer in brass and iron." It would
seem as if lie was endowed with a peculiar
genius for the special instruction of all his con-
temporary artificers, in the smelting, and mould-
ing, and mechanical use of these precious metals.
At a later period, Bezaleel and Aholiab, inspired
by the Spirit, are represented as qualified " to

174 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

teach" and instruct others in the mechanical
arts. Even in this peculiar case of Tubal-Cain,
as recorded by the Spirit, it would appear that
there must have been some mental inspiration,
by which he was distinguished from all his fel-
lows. How extensive must have been his know-
ledge of the precious metals, and the purposes to
which they may be applied ? In this single re-
cord there is unfolded an extensive exposition of
the founder's art. There is the extraction of the
mineral ore — the smelting, mixing, and mould-
ing or beating of these substances into mechani-
cal forms suited to all the varied purposes of
agricultural, or social life. There must have
been, even in this early age, considerable ac-
quaintance with practical chemistry, accom-
panied by mechanical skill, ere the mineral ores
could be prepared for the artificer, or when pre-
pared, to be rendered subservient to their vari-
ous purposes. Is not this early discovery of the
most useful of all the metals, and the Scripture
record of this distinguished mechanic, a testi-
mony to the care with which the God of provi-
dence, watched over, and directed the progres-
sion of the arts and sciences ?

The heathen poets have sung of the golden
age, may not Christian poets sing of the age of
iron ? That age stretches back until at least
the period of Tubal-Cain. The history of iron

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 175

is associated with the progress of mechanical in-
ventions, and the civilization of kingdoms ; and
never were such triumphs of genius realized as
those which in modern times have been effected
by its instrumentality. From the least to the
greatest of mechanical inventions, it finds a
place either as embodied in, or giving form to,
every implement. Though not usually esteemed
one of the precious metals, its value to man ex-
ceeds that of all others. None else could supply
its place ; and were its precious ores exhausted,
universal paralysis would arrest mechanical pro-
gress. The whole history of mercantile and
social life would be completely transformed.
The existence of this single mineral, and the
large proportion it bears to other minerals,
taken in connexion with its relation to the pre-
sent condition of man, must convince even the
sceptic that it has been created and deposited
by a God of infinite wisdom and boundless bene-
ficence. This argument, addressed to reason,
is confirmed by revelation, which at once un-
folds the creative power and providential care,
of the sovereign Euler. This family of Lamech
was 'not within the line of the antideluvian
Church, neither is the exposition of the arts in
that family presented in immediate relation
to the development of the covenant of grace ;
but yet the Spirit of God has recorded both the

176 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

names of the inventors and the departments of
art in which their skill was exercised, in order
to show with what care the God of providence
watches over His creatures, and also their com-
mon operations in the field of nature. Besides,
it seems apparent, from such incidental records
of inspiration, that God will honor those who
honor Him, even in common things, by dis-
playing the riches of the earth, which are but
the material embodiment of the Divine decrees
of wisdom and goodness. There seems in the
human constitution a native principle, which
constrains man to look above and beyond him-
self in mechanical operations. The ancient
heathen world, having lost the key of knowledge,
attributed their achievements in art to their fic-
titious deities ; but the Bible, by revealing the
relation in which God stands to the world and
to its inhabitants, as its Creator and Governor,
claims for Jehovah the praise of all His works.
Thus the Psalmist, responding to this claim,
invokes not only the homage of angels and of
saints, but also the silent homage of creation
work in all its departments. " Bless the Lord,
all His works, in all places of His dominion ;
bless the Lord, 0 my soul ! "

In the rapid degeneracy of the human race,
the command, " Subdue the earth" was forgot-
ten, while human depravity displayed itself in

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS, 177

the attempts of the strong to overcome and sub-
due the weak. The giant strength of the
mighty, instead of "being employed, as in the
"beginning, with agriculture or art, was made the
instrument of unparalleled violence. " God saw
that the wickedness of man was great in the
earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil, and that continually.
The earth also was corrupt before God, and the
earth was filled with violence." There is little
doubt that the rapid progress of the arts in the
previous age, as associated with universal cor-
ruption, would become a curse, instead of a
blessing. The violence of human depravity
would be rendered more violent through their
instrumentality. But the Flood, as a judgment
from God, cut short that reign of terror, and
swept away all the apparatus of former tyranny.
The ark alone survived the storm of Divine
wrath, and rested upon Ararat, the memorial of
providence and grace. But in the ark, as well
as in the experience of its inhabitants, the world,
emerging from a second chaos, possessed a com-
prehensive stock of mechanical knowledge. This
is apparent from the history of its construction.
This refuge from the flood was not created, but
made by human hands, in accordance with a
Divine plan. " Make thee an ark of gopher-
wood : rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and
8*

178 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
And this is the fashion which thou shalt make
it of : the length of the ark shall be three hun-
dred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and
the height of it thirty cubits. A window shalt
thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou
finish it above ; and the door of the ark shalt
thou set in the side thereof ; with lower, second,
and third stories shalt thou make it." This
commission furnishes clear evidence of the pro-
gress already made in the mechanic arts. From
the tenor of this announcement, it is apparent
that the geometrical proportions were already
understood — that doors and windows, or openings
for light, ventilation, and entrance, had been
usually framed — that first, second, and third
stories had been previously constructed — and
that pitch had been employed in conjunction
with wood to resist the action of wind and water.
Had the whole work been original, like the
Tabernacle, then specific directions and explana-
tions would have been absolutely necessary.
But in this case, the language is such as would
be addressed to any contractor acquainted with
the elements and mode of operation necessary in
the accomplishment of a given work. Indeed,
it would seem from the narration that Noah
must have had some acquaintance with the art
of navigation, or at leaRt with the fact that a

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 179

building of wood could be so constructed as to
float upon the waters. In this case, the vessel
constructed was not designed for crossing the
mighty deep from shore to shore, but for holding
out amidst the warring elements, and floating
upon the bosom of the earth-encircling ocean,
consequently the plan was not only original, but
Divinely communicated. Thus, in the goodness
of God, while the deluge was reducing the world
to a state similar to that in which it was found
as occupied by Adam, in respect of population,
and while the curse had now taken fearful effect
upon the physical globe in this dread outburst
of Divine wrath, provoked by sin, the education
of the human family in religion, in morality,
and in scientific knowledge, was gradually pro-
gressing. All the skill acquired by Noah and
his family in building the ark was transferred
directly to the postdiluvian world ; while far
above the tide-mark of ocean's future boundary,
and the most elevated region of agricultural en-
terprize, stood the ark upon Ararat — for the
study of future generations — the model of
architecture in its construction, and the em-
bodiment of naval science in its history. Thus
it appears that the history of the postdiluvian
world started from a much higher altitude than
that of the world into which fallen Adam was
cast out. It would seem that the congregating

180 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

of the animals and fowls within the ark, and the
time during which they were entrusted to Noah's
care, were designed to renew that acquaintance
with their nature, habits, and uses which man
had lost by the loss of dominion, hut which was
now rendered necessary by the renewal of his
original charter. The sagacity which was in-
tuitive in Adam, when he gave them their names,
could only be realized by his Mien descendants
through persevering study and observation.
Viewed in this light, the ark appears as combin-
ing all the elementary principles of a school of art,
a school of natural history, and a school of experi-
mental navigation ; while the raging storm, and
the swelling flood, were the awe-inspiring teach-
ers of a heavenly morality. Nor was the Church
without her form, as well as her existence. The
most distinguished theologian of the age, even
the " preacher of righteousness," was there at
the head of authority, to expound the mysteri
ous events of Providence, and to dispense the
ordinances of redeeming grace.

No sooner had the exercises of the ark been
concluded, than an altar was erected, on which
were sacrificed burnt-offerings, at once expres-
sive of faith in the atonement, and gratitude for
deliverance. With this observance is connected
the restoration of man to dominion over the
creatures ; and from this point in human history

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 181

may be traced a second time the rise of science
and art. The charter of privilege forfeited by
Adam was renewed to Noah. The breadth,
and benefits of this charter, gave a mighty im-
pulse to the arts and sciences. There was a
grant of land, co-extensive with that which was
bestowed upon Adam. " God blessed Noah and
his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and
multiply and replenish the earth." There was
also a corresponding grant of dominion over the
irrational creatures, of which it was said, " Into
your hands are they delivered ; " while upon each
and all the fear of man was impressed. But
they were delivered into his hand, not only to
be ruled, but to be used, both for service and
sustenance. "Every moving thing that liveth
shall be meat for you, even as the green herb
have I given you all things/' Here, then, is the
Divine warrant for the construction of machinery
from, and for the general use of, the productions
of the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms.
Consequently, when in the exercise of skill, and
by the aid of mechanical inventions, we obtain
from the earth the necessaries, conveniences, and
luxuries of life — when we discover the hidden
treasures of the globe, and appropriate them —
when we abridge distance, by quickening the
means of transit — when we use material ele-
ments in the transmission of knowledge — when

182 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

to sum up all — we go to this threefold kingdom
and discover its secrets — when we unfold and
appropriate its latent powers — when we develop
its treasures, and distribute them — when, as
commissioned vicegerents, we take our seat
upon the throne of nature, and rule for the
glory of the universal Governor, then it is that
genius and industry perform their mighty work,
and fulfil their original destiny — then it is that
man becomes alive to the extent of his legitimate
privileges, and, stimulated by the exhaustless
munificence of nature's resources, he obeys, by
constraint as an instrument, or willingly as a
moral agent, the primary and renewed commis-
sion, " Subdue the earth, and have dominion

OVER IT."

Thus Noah, on leaving the ark, with this re-
newed commission, " began to be an husband-
man, and he planted a vineyard." This was the
restoration of the arts of industry — the source
from which may again be traced the rise of
mechanical inventions. Within a century after
the flood, the arts were again found flourishing
in the erection of munificent cities, and the sub-
duing of irrational creatures. ' ' Nimrod was a
mighty hunter before the Lord." But he was
also " a mighty one in the earth," founding king-
doms and erecting cities. It would seem as if
his skill in bunting and in building had given

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 183

him the ascendency over his fellow-men, for he
is represented as the founder of monarchy.
" The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and
Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of
Shinar." When his project, to rule all the sons
of Noah by concentrating one universal dynasty,
was blasted, he enriched other lands by his
architectural example. To the genius of Ashur,
another great builder, Nineveh, and Rehoboth,
and Calah, and Resen, in the land of Assyria,
owe their architectural greatness as ancient
cities. Why have their names been preserved
in connexion with their founder ? Is it not to
show the progress of the arts, and their influence
upon the formation of ancient empires ? This,
again, is a part of the Divine plan in ruling the
human family ; consequently, the arts take their
appointed place in the vast and comprehensive
plans of Providence.

The erection of the Tower of Babel was at
once a record of mechanical progress in the post-
diluvian world, and the memorial of a peculiar
crisis in the history of humanity. In that build-
ing there was an extensive exposition of the
arts. Brick, prepared from clay of Shinar, sub-
stituted for stone, and bituminous pitch for mor-
tar. The plan was novel, and the design of the
tower directly opposed to the command, " Mul-
tiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it f

184 THEOLOGY UF INVENTIONS.

yet for a season the work prospered. According
to tradition, three years were spent in prepara-
tion of materials, and twenty-two in building,
ere the day of confounding judgment came.
Mark how the spirit of inspiration records the
arrest put upon this display of human genius :
" The Lord came down to see the city and
the tower which the children of men builded."
This language is after the manner of men, but
the design is to teach us that God watches over,
and takes cognizance of, the enterprizes and
operations in which men are personally and
socially engaged, as well as the motives and
principles by which they are actuated. In this
notice of mechanical j)rogress, there is no con-
demnation of the postdiluvians for building a
city, or erecting a lofty tower ; but the object of
both was to concentrate the human family under
one dynasty, to foster human pride, and increase
sovereign power, and thus to frustrate the ex-
pressed purpose of God to " replenish and sub-
due the earth." " Go to," said the projectors of
this enterprize, " let us build us a city, and a
tower whose top may reach unto heaven ; and
let us make us a name, lest we be scattered
abroad upon the face of the whole earth." " Go
to," says the moral Governor, " let us go down
and there confound their language, that they
may not understand one another's speech. So

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 185

the Lord scattered thein abroad from thence
upon the face of all the earth." The evil so
much dreaded was imaginary, but the means em-
ployed to prevent it hastened its approach. If
they would not, as moral agents, acknowledge
the Divine authority, they must, at least, as in-
struments, accomplish His purpose. " There are
many devices in a man's heart, nevertheless the
counsel of the Lord, that shall stand."

In the history of Abraham there is an inci-
dental record, showing, that the balance had
been introduced, with a view to commercial in-
tercourse. In payment of the field of Machpelah
purchased for a burying place from the Hittite,
"Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver ....
four hundred shekels of silver, current money
with the merchant." Now, God distinctly claims
the balances as His own in the book of Proverbs.
"A just weight and balance are the Lord's, all
the weights of the bag a^re His work!' Were
they not devised and formed, and adjusted by
human skill ? As the products of human genius,
how can they be considered as the Lord's work ?
Just in the way already explained. He created
the materials of which they were made. He im-
planted the skill by which they were invented,
formed, and adjusted : consequently the work is
His — though made subservient to the purposes
of social life by an intermediate agency — as

186 THEOLOGY OF INVE>*TIONS.

really as though they had heen the products of
immediate creation.

While God thus claims individual objects and
instruments, there are general statements in the
Bible designed to direct all our inquiries regard-
ing inventions to the same source. The greatest
achievements of human genius are but the re-
flection of that wisdom which is infinite, and
that power which is almighty. How conclusive
is the language of inspiration, " I wisdom dwell
with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty
inventions/' Many theologians seem to think
that this declaration has respect to the work of
salvation only. It is usually applied to Christ
in respect to that knowledge by which He found
out, the expedient of human redemption. " Fallen
men have sought out many inventions for
their own ruin, but He found out one for their
recovery." It is evident that Christ is the
speaker in the passage, and that to him only can
belong the title assumed, and the language
uttered. But we apprehend that He is not here
speaking directly of either the plan propounded,
or the means employed in the execution of re-
demption work. This aspect of the subject is
clearly brought out in the closing section of the
chapter ; where He unfolds His appointment as
surety from everlasting, and His own " delights
as with the sons of men." But in the section

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 187

from which we have quoted, the subject clearly
is, the administration of the Kingdom of Provi-
dence in which He represents Himself, as the
embodiment of wisdom and strength. " Counsel
is Mine and sound wisdom, I am understanding ;
I have strength. By Me kings reign, and princes
decree justice. By Me princes rule, and nobles,
even all the judges of the earth. . . . Biches
and honor are with Me ; yea, durable riches

and righteousness I lead in the way

of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of
judgment, that I may cause those that love Me
to inherit substance ; and I will fill their trea-
sures/' Thus, the dominion of Christ, as Medi-
ator, appears as embracing all things for the
good of His Church. By the fall, man lost his
original wisdom, as well as his original dominion
over the creatures. The grant of inanimate, and
animate creation for his use, was forfeited by
apostacy. The service which he obtains from
the creature is by constraint ; nay, they are fre-
quently turned by God into instruments of de-
struction. But the original grant was renewed
to Christ, as head of the Church for her benefit.
This appears from the eighth Psalm, and from
the grant contained in it being applied to Christ
by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews.
" For unto the angels hath He not put in subjec-
tion the world to come, whereof we speak. But

188 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

one in a certain place testified, saying, What is
man, that Thou art mindful of him ? or the son
of man, that Thou visitest him ? Thou madest
him a little lower than the angels ; Thou
crownedst him with glory and honor, and didst
set him over the works of Thy hands : Thou
hast put all things in subjection under His feet.
For in that He put all in subjection under Him,
he left nothing that is not put under Him. But
now we see not yet all things put under Him ;
but we see Jesus who was made a little lower
than the angels for the suffering of death, crown-
ed with glory and honor."

The Church is destined to embrace the world.
Mechanical inventions have had a vast influence
upon the Church, and are designed to ameliorate
the condition of the human family during the
period of millennial glory. If the creatures, in-
animate and animate are given to Christ for the
good of His people, it is evident that the employ-
ment of these creatures must be directed by Di-
vine wisdom. Fallen humanity is as destitute
of the knowledge to discover their use as it is of
the right to their appropriation. But while the
right is restored to Christ, as universal sove-
reign, ruling as Mediator over all things for the
Church's benefit, the knowledge of witty inven-
tions must emanate from the same source. Is
not this the import of the passage already

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 189

quoted ? It is not the design of the Bible di-
rectly to solve the problems of science, nor to
define in detail the works of art destined to be
brought into operation. But it reveals the do-
minion of Christ over all temporal things, and
His infinite wisdom as developed in their regula-
tion. The mental powers, assuming the aspect
of sagacity or prudence, are as much the gift of
God as the materials upon which they are dis-
played. But it is wisdom dwelling with them
— controlling, directing, and leading them on
to discovery and invention that must be recog-
nized as the source of all mechanical phenomena.
Will any believer in Bible truth be prepared to
say that the intellectual powers — ordinary or
peculiar — are not emanations from the fountain
of all wisdom ? If they are not of God, then,
whence are they ? Is there any other source —
celestial or terrestrial — to which they can be
traced ? Are they self-created ? Do they ope-
rate by chance ? Keason rejects the very
supposition. Bevelation reveals to reason the
fountain of Divine wisdom as the primary
source —

"The deep shaft, out of which they spring eternally."

"Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
neither let the mighty man glory in his might,
let not the rich man glory in his riches : but

190 THEOLOGY OF IXVE>JTIONS.

let him that glorieth glory in this, that he
understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the
Lord/' As He makes the sun to rise upon the
evil and the good, and sendeth rain upon the
just and the unjust, so in the dispensations of
providence, He sheds the light of genius, and
bestows the power of invention upon whomsoever
He designs to employ in accomplishing the Di-
vine purposes. Nor are those blessings realized
through the agency of man less the gift of God
than though they had come through the ordinary
course of nature.

Nay, we would venture to press the argument
farther, and show that these channels of Divine
communication are more wonderful than those
opened up in the ordinary course of nature. In
the latter case we have inanimate objects acted
upon at all times, in all circumstances, and in
all combinations by the immediate power of
Deity, exercised through the medium of certain
constitutional principles ; the universal experi-
ence of which has given rise to the term natural
laws. But, here, there is no mental operation
distinct from the will of the Divine Author.
The mineral kingdom possesses its shining ores,
and brilliant pearls, and crystalline diamonds.
Incessant changes are being effected among all
its elements. But throughout its entire regions,
there is no life, nor thought, nor mental capa-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 191

city. Thus it is also in the vegetable kingdom.
The flower blooms, and emits its fragrance,
while utterly unconscious of the first elements
of vegetable life or beauty. The cedar spreads
its majestic arms towards the heavens, and in its
season yields its goodly fruits, but of its own
existence, or of any other, there is no conception.
The corn of wheat falls into the furrowed grave,
springs into the blade, and the full ear, for
the use of man ; but it reaches not the lowest
form of animal life. The soil awakens its latent
germs, the dew refreshes its earth-born blade —
the winds of heaven fan it — the rays of light
nurse it ; the currents of electricity stimulate its
growth, but like itself, they are each and all des-
titute of physical life and intellectual capacity.
These are constituted, the natural sources from
which animal and rational life is sustained ; but
how limited their agency, under the effects of
the curse, in supplying the wants of the human
family ! Stop with nature — reject the appliances
of art — leave all for the operation of these agen-
cies, and the world will soon become a region as
destitute of human life as that on which God
commanded the light to shine forth in the morn-
ing of creation !

But here the God of providence has brought
into operation another class of agencies — the
" witty inventions" by which man obtains from

192 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

the field of nature the treasures deposited in in-
finite goodness. By the aid of mechanical
inventions the earth is subdued, and its stores
rendered available for the use of humanity. It
is evident, however that the simplest machine
cannot be produced without a reflecting mind.
The reflecting mind cannot be produced without
the creating power of a Being at once the foun-
tain of life, and possessing the attributes of in-
finite wisdom. Thus, while the channels in
nature are opened by physical causes, the powers
of appropriation are furnished through the union
of a physical and mental agency. In the one
case, God operates by inanimate objects, in the
other, by living, reasoning, reflecting, and im-
mortal beings. To work by natural laws, proves
the wisdom and power of God, by whom these
were engraven upon material elements. Is that
power less apparent, or that wisdom less conspic-
uous, when creating a mechanical agency, in-
habited and impelled by an invisible Spirit ?
Are we to see more of the Divine Author in the
material elements of the world of matter, than
in the development of sentient humanity ? Is
it consistent with reason to recognize God in
the process of nature by which the wheat was
prepared for food, or the flax for clothing, and
to reject every idea of God in connexion with
the human inventions bv which these were ren-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 193

dered available for our sustenance and comfort ?
Will we acknowledge the Divine hand in prepar-
ing the luxuries of the eastern clime, and yet
reject every sense of His relation to the construc-
tion of the ship, or the nautical skill by which
they were brought to our sea-girt island ? Shall
we recognize God in the gloomy metal dug from
the deep mine, and disown Him in the genius
of a Watt or an Arkwright ? Shall we behold
the symbols of this power in the stately elms of
the transept, and yet look upon all the wonders
of the Crystal Palace, and forget that He created
a Stevenson and a Paxton ? Nay, it is here that
we are invited to contemplate a fuller, richer,
and more glorious display of the wisdom, power,
and goodness of God, in creating man with such
capabilities. Though fallen from his pristine
dignity and glory, he is permitted to retain his
place as a worker together with God, in re-
arranging and re-distributing nature's riches, in
adaptation to human necessities. Have we not
here the most wonderful display of the Divine
attributes — redemption work excepted — to be
found in our globe ? The material clay united
to the pure spirit, and thus constituted a sentient
being, sent forth to discover the vast resources
of the world, and, by mechanical inventions, to
appropriate and use them.

If in the arts of industry we see the evidence

194 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

of human wisdom, and the proofs of design, how
vast is the field of contemplation, when viewing
these, not only as types of mental power, separ-
ated from conceptions of the Deity, but when
we see the human body and the human mind,
in all this mechanical and intellectual develop-
ment, as but the faint types of that mind which
contrived the universe, and made the earth, in
adaptation to man, before he had a being.
True it is, that the eye of faith which looks
to heaven, when it turns again to natural or arti-
ficial phenomena on earth, seems to bring down
with it a purer radiance, like the very beaming
of the presence of Divinity, which it sheds upon
every object. The mental eye, thus illuminated,
gazes upon every subject in the kingdom of
Providence, encircled in a halo of glory. That
is the true philosophy of nature which leads the
mind direct to the fountain of causation, and
that is the genuine mental philosophy which
traces all legitimate knowledge to the source of
infinite wisdom. This philosophy is little un-
derstood, and still less acknowledged, in the past
history of human progression. But being a
philosophy pervading all nature, the grace of
God shall yet quicken it into universal life and
power in the human mind. Let men but come
within the " shadow of the Almighty," realizing
on every side a present Deity, and then nature,

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 195

providence, and grace, will be found in close con-
nexion and absolute harmony. The lofty strains
of poetic inspiration, as breathed by Cowper,
shall become a reality in the e very-day experi-
ence of man.

" One spirit His,
Who wore the plaited crown with bleeding brow,
Rules universal nature —
The soul that sees Him, or receives, sublimed,
New faculties, or learns at least to employ
More worthily the powers she owned before ;
Discerns in all things, what with stupid gaze
Of ignorance till then she overlooked.
A ray of heavenly light gilding all forms
Terrestrial, in the vast and the minute;
The unambiguous footsteps of the God
Who gives its lustre to an insect's wing,
And wheels his throne upon the rolling worlds."

CHAPTER V.

THE INSPIRATION OF GENIUS AN EVIDENCE THAT MECHANICAL
INVENTIONS ARE OF GOD.

The agency of the Holy Spirit is generally
considered in its relations to the moral world,
and its immediate operations upon the soul in
regeneration and sanctification. Many, while
contending for the personality and divinity of
the Holy Ghost, seem strangely to overlook His
modes of operation in the Church and the world,
prior to the advent of the Son of God. The
language used by many divines and expositors,
in expounding the Old Testament Scriptures,
seems to accord with the reply of certain dis-
ciples whom Paul interrogated regarding their
experience of the Spirit's influence : " We have
not so much as heard whether there he any
Holy Ghost/' It is true that the New Testa-
ment economy is peculiarly the dispensation of
the Spirit. To the Christian Church He was
promised as the " Spirit of truth," to testify of
Jesus, and as " the Comforter," to impart con-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 197

solation. Upon the primitive Church he was
poured out in a copious measure. In the doc-
trines of the Gospel He is exhibited as applying
the benefits of that redemption which Christ has
purchased. In consequence of this fuller revela-
tion regarding the work of the Spirit, and espe-
cially in consequence of the tendency of modern
divines to dwell chiefly upon the New Testa-
ment, and to treat the Old as if it were a
piece of antiquated history, the agency of the
Spirit, in all that preceded the Christian era, is
comparatively forgotten. But both Testaments
form only one Bible, regarding the revelation of
the Divine will contained in which it is declared,
that "all Scripture is given by the inspiration
of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction, in righteousness."
Both Testaments are replete with doctrinal
statements and historic records regarding the
operations of the Holy Spirit. In the old crea-
tion, and in the new, He occupies a place per-
sonal and peculiar. The works of God are
either natural or gracious. To both the Spirit
stands in close relation. The opening sentence
of the Bible, recording the act of creation, is
succeeded by one recording the operation of the
Spirit. " The earth was without form, and void ;
and darkness was upon the face of the deep :
and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of

198 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

the waters." The whole matter being created,
out of which the globe should be fashioned, and
from which all living creatures were soon to be
educed, He assumed its preservation, and cherish-
ed its elements, that, having its subsistence by
the power of the Word of God, so it might be re-
duced to that form, order, and beauty, predeter-
mined in the eternal counsels. It seems, from
the form of expression employed, that He com-
municated unto the elements of the globe a
quickening and prolific virtue by which, at the
command of God, vegetable and animal life, in
every varied form, sprung into existence. This
agency, which was ascribed to the Spirit, in the
act of creation, is still ascribed to Him in the
continued dispensation of Providence. Thus,
while the Psalmist represents the decay of
nature by death, the revival of nature is attri-
buted to the Spirit's influence. " Thou sendest
forth Thy Spirit, they are created ; and Thou re-
newest the face of the earth."

In the creation of man there was a twofold
operation — the forming of the body, and the in-
spiration of the soul. " The Lord God formed
man of the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life, and man be-
came a living soul." In this act of the Spirit,
there is the introduction of the moral principle,
in relation to a world which had previously been

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 199

a chaos, destitute of light and life. There was
here evolved a physical good, and a moral good
— a world fitted and furnished for the habitation
of a rational being, and that being constituted
so as to stand in close connexion with that physi-
cal world ; nay, more, to unite in his person
mind and matter. Man forms the connecting
link between the irrational creatures and holy
angels. He was formed of the dust physically, and
made in the image of God spiritually. At this
stage of human history there were unfolded two
aspects of the Divine government — a moral
good, having respect to man, and a physical
good, having respect to the world in its future
history, as made subservient to his interests. To
both these aspects of the Divine government the
Spirit is closely allied, and in both the Bible
represents Him as the permanent operator. The
physical world is so constituted as to minister
to the moral, consequently, the events of Pro-
vidence must ever have produced their influence
upon the character of man. Thus, while the
Spirit has a special and peculiar operation in
forming and endowing this moral agent, man
is constituted a permanent physical operator, by
which the world, in its elements and creatures,
is made subservient to the interests and happi-
ness of the human family.

The fall of Adam, by transgression, produced

200 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

a moral chaos in the soul of man, which was
accompanied by a shock of judgment that reach-
ed not only his corporeal system, but produced a
revolution throughout the entire physical system
of that world and its creatures, over which he
had obtained dominion. The earth and its in-
habitants, under the curse, appear in a state of
universal schism. The lord of creation, having
lost the centre of moral attraction by turning to
the creature, has also lost the sceptre of moral
power, and dominion. The creatures — the very
elements of nature, are armed against the rebel
king. The " creation groaning " proclaims hu-
man guilt, and if unrestrained, would execute
the vengeance of God upon its author.

But here again, the Spirit of God is revealed
in Scripture as engaged in a twofold operation.
That which has respect to nature, and that
which has respect to grace. The world itself is
not abandoned, though man has fallen. The
same Spirit that operates in the plan and appli-
cation of redemption is incessantly operating in
the physical world, and its inhabitants, for the
accomplishment of the Divine purposes. That
Holy Spirit who is restoring to order, the moral
chaos in the renewed soul, is also restoring to
order the universal chaos of this revolted region
inhabited by man. In the one department
spiritual means are universally employed. In

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 201

the other, physical and mental instrumentality-
are brought into operation. In the work of re-
demption the Son of God was the mighty agent.
In the restoration of nature's harmony, the sons
of men are employed as instiuments. In the
assumption of our nature by incarnation, the
holy humanity of Christ was formed, and rilled
by the Holy Spirit without measure. In the
creation of successive generations, the constitu-
tion of man, physical and mental, is formed,
and endowed with intellectual gifts by the Spirit
of infinite wisdom. " There is a spirit in man ;
and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him
understanding."

It seems clear, in the light of Scripture, that
there is nothing excellent amongst men, whether
absolutely above the production of natural prin-
ciples, or whether it consists in a peculiar en-
largement, and improvement of those principles
and abilities, that is not ascribed to the agency
of the Holy Spirit, as the immediate operator,
and efficient cause of its production. That
which results from the common operations of the
Spirit, however extraordinary in degree, is en-
tirely distinct from those influences which are
gracious and saving. Thus, a man may be em-
ployed in distinguished service as an instrument
while he is absolutely guilty as a person or moral

agents

9*

202 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS,

In regard to those gifts which are altogether
extraordinary, and in their very nature abso-
lutely beyond the limits of man's mental consti-
tution, however highly improved, it may be ob-
served that these have a direct and immedi-
ate bearing upon the development of the plan of
salvation. The gift of prophecy lies beyond the
compass of man's finite nature. But " Holy
men of old spake as they were moved by the
Holy Spirit." The writing of the Scriptures
falls within the same category. Many prophe-
sied who never wrote, for aall Scripture is given
by the inspiration of God." The power of work-
ing miracles was realized from the same source.
Even the Redeemer of men, gave these as the
seal of heaven, attesting His doctrine. "If I,
by the finger of God, cast out devils, no doubt
the kingdom of God is come upon you." Such
were all the signs and wonders wrought by
Moses, by the prophets, and by the apostles, for
these were exhibited as pledges and tokens of
the Spirit's presence, by whom their message
was communicated, and their miraculous power
imparted. In the earliest record of supernatural
power as bestowed upon Moses, the very magi-
cians of Egypt were constrained to admit the
reality of that power, and to acknowledge the
source from which it was derived. " The ma-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 203

gicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of
God/'

But there is a second class of the Spirit's in-
fluences and operations which consist in the ex-
pansion and exaltation of those mental and
physical powers which are common to hu-
manity.

INSPIRATION OF GENIUS FOR LEGISLATION AND

GOVERNMENT.

The special influence of the Spirit in prepar-
ing men for legislative and political administra-
tion is minutely recorded. The glory of God,
and the good of mankind, were deeply involved
in the institution of civil government. Desti-
tute of this ordinance, the whole world would be
rilled with violence, and the human family would
soon he thrown into inextricable confusion. In
the establishment and exercise of judicial au-
thority, the best gifts require to be improved, and
even the best of ordinary gifts are found insuf-
ficient to restore order out of political chaos.
Thus, when the God of infinite wisdom would
organize a model nation out of the rude ele-
ments of a long enslaved people, the Holy Ghost
inspired Moses with wisdom and courage to
conduct their emancipation from Egypt, and to
initiate them in the elementary principles of
political economy. In the first institution of the

204 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

Sanhedrim, or court of seventy elders, to bear in
conjunction with Moses the burden of the
people, in their rule and government, the Lord
is said to " put His Spirit upon them," and again
it is said, that the " Spirit rested upon them."
" And the Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto
me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom
thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and
officers over them. . . . And I will take of
My Spirit which is upon thee, and will put it
upon them ; and they shall bear the burden of
the people with thee. . . . And the Lord
took of the Spirit that was upon Moses, and gave
it unto the seventy elders, and the Spirit rested
upon them." , Previous to this appointment, the
spiritual influence was concentrated in Moses as
the sole ruler of the people, whereas now, that
the government was divided among a number
of individuals, it was requisite that each should
be duly qualified, and furnish some evidence
that he was commissioned by Divine autho-
rity, hence it is said that, " when the Spirit
rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not
cease."*

Again, when God organized a limited mon-
archy in room of the Sanhedrim, and of the
judges, there was a special communication of
the Spirit to him who was chosen as the first

* Numbers, xi.

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 205

sovereign. Eegarding Saul, it is said, that
" God gave him another heart ; that is, as after-
wards expressed, " the Spirit of God came upon
him, and he prophesied." He was, by the special
influence of the Spirit, endowed with that wis-
dom, and energy, and magnanimity, which were
essential to the proper exercise of magisterial
authority. The anointing with oil at the in-
auguration ceremony, when the kings of Israel
were set apart to public office, was a symbol of
the communication of the gifts of the Holy
Spirit. So great is the burden of responsibility
under which a just and righteous government is
laid — so numerous are the temptations to which
the exercise of authority gives rise, that even
the best of men without the special assistance
of the Spirit, will be found ready to sink under
its weight, or to mismanage its administration.
This sense of responsibility and human incapa-
city overwhelmed the spirit of Solomon, though
trained by circumstances, in the family and
court of David, to the exercise of legislative and
judicial functions. Consequently, when he had
the Divine grant of whatsoever he should ask,
the right discharge of official duty lay nearest
his heart, hence the petition for wisdom — " I am
but a little child : I know not how to go out or
come in. And Thy servant is in the midst of
Thy people which Thou hast chosen, a great

206 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

people, that cannot be numbered nor counted
for multitude. Give, therefore, Thy servant an
understanding heart to judge Thy people, that I
may discern between good and bad : for who is
able to judge this Thy so great a people ?" In
answer to this petition, the Divine response is
most significant — " The speech pleased the Lord
that Solomon had asked this thing. And God
said unto him, Because thou hast asked this
thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life ;
neither hast asked riches for thyself ; neither
hast asked the life of thine enemies ; but hast
asked for thyself understanding to discern judg-
ment ; Behold, I have done according to thy
words ; So, I have given thee a wise and an un-
derstanding heart, so that there was none like
thee before thee, neither after thee shall any
arise like unto thee." We shall have occasion
afterwards to consider how this communication
of wisdom and understanding displayed itself in
science, and art, and literature, as well as in
government.

These special gifts were not confined within
the limits of the Church. In the case of one
heathen monarch, the inspiration of the Spirit
is recorded, as preparing him for the special
work to which God had appointed him. Cyrus
was chosen by name, and in the prophecy of
Isaiah, God calls him His " anointed," for Cvrus

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 207

had a special work to accomplish, for which he
needed special qualifications. The work in one
aspect, had relation to human history — for he
was made the executioner of Divine justice upon
Babylon — while on the other hand it was closely
allied to the Church — for he was the appointed
instrument to deliver the captive Israelites.
Though he was in himself but a " ravenous bird
of prey," he was especially endowed as an instru-
ment to effect the purposes of God. " Thus saith
the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right
hand I have holden to subdue nations before
him, and I will loose the loins of kings to open

before him the two-leaved gates For

Jacob, My servant's sake, and Israel Mine elect,
I have even called thee by thy name ; I have
surnamed thee, though thou hast not known Me.

I girded thee though thou hast not

known Me."* Thus, the administration of Cyrus
had special reference to the Church, though he
was not within her pale, and though he knew
not the Holy One of Israel. " The Lord stirred
up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, that he
made a proclamation throughout all his king-
dom, and put it in writing, saying, Thus saith
Cyrus, king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the
earth hath the Lord God of heaven given me,
and He hath charged me to build him an house

* Isaiah, xlv. 1-5.

208 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

in Jerusalem which is in Judah ; who is there
among you of all His people ? The Lord his
God be with him, and let him go up."* Thus
Cyrus was divinely qualified as an instrument,
though in a state of condemnation as a person,
and thus we apprehend that many distinguished
conquerors, and renowned deliverers have re-
ceived special inspiration though unsconscious of
the fact, and though considering themselves as
the source of that wisdom and ability in the
exercise of which they had conquered nations,
and reigned in earthly glory. Nay, more, seeing
that the affairs of the world are regulated with
a special view to the Church, and that Christ is
constituted head over all " principalities and
powers" for her benefit : and seeing that the rise
and fall of nations is preparing the way for the
full establishment of His visible kingdom, is it
not evident that the Spirit of God is from age
to age endowing special instruments for special
work, as really as He did Cyrus for the infliction
of judgment upon Babylon, and the administra-
tion of mercy to the captive Israelites ? Alas !
that in the infidelity of our hearts, we are so
prone to contemplate the most distinguished
talents as if they had sprung of earth, and to
view their application in relation to the creature
only ; whereas, by these recorded examples, the

* Ezra, i. L|

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 209

human mind is taught to recognize the gifts of
the Spirit, and to adore that God who reigns as
moral Governor, and who makes even the wrath
of man to praise him !

INSPIRATION OF GENIUS FOR WAR.

The existence of war is demonstrative evi-
dence that man is fallen. In itself it is evil,
only evil, and that continually. But in the moral
government of God, it is at times as necessary
as the existence of civil government. Civil ma-
gistracy being " an ordinance of God/' the gird-
ing on the sword is as necessary, in peculiar
circumstances, as the wielding of the sceptre
The Bible bears testimony to the connexion of
the Spirit's influence with special warriors and
special victories. " Blessed be the Lord my
strength," says David, ''which teacheth my
hands to war, and my fingers to fight/' There
seems not a shadow of doubt that the moral
courage wherewith he met the Philistine was
an inspiration from on high. The names of
David's chief warriors, to the amount of thirty-
seven, are given in the sacred volume, not we
presume, because of their delight in war, or of
their deeds of martial prowess, but because they
were endowed by the Spirit with extraordinary
strength and valor to execute vengeance upon
the enemies of Israel. What is said of one of

210 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

these, regarding the slaughter of the Philistines,
is in fact true of all. They conquered, but it was
" the Lord who wrought a great victory." But
there is no room for conjecture or inference re-
garding inspiration of genius for war, when the
sacred volume explicitly reveals the doctrine.
Of such men as Othniel, and Gideon, and
Jephtha and Samson, it is said, "the Spirit of
the Lord came upon them." Of Othniel the
record is, that " the Spirit of the Lord came
upon him ; and he judged Israel and ivent out to
war." Of " Gideon and Jephtha, it is intima-
ted previously, that they were men of valor,"
consequently, the coming of the Spirit of God
upon them must imply that their natural gifts
are peculiarly enlarged, and their natural courage
excited and sustained amidst the dangers to
which they were exposed, in the field of conflict.
Besides, it seems evident that they experienced
an efficacious impression of His power upon them,
by which their call to the work was confirmed,
and the confidence of those whom they led to
victory stimulated by the conviction that God
was with them. The degree of influence seems
at times peculiarly adapted to the danger and
difficulty of the work to be accomplished. Such
were the gifts bestowed upon Samson. His
bodily strength was supernatural — an immediate
effect of the power of the Spirit — while his mind

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 211

was endowed with courage unknown to the
human species. In the record of his victory-
over the lion, which "he rent as he would have
rent a kid" without a weapon in his hand, it is
said that, "the Spirit of the Lord came mightily
upon him." When he went down to Askelon
and slew thirty men that he might obtain their
changes of garments, the influence imparted is
expressed in less emphatic language. Like that,
which has been noticed in the case of the dis-
tinguished judges who went out and conquered
at the head of their respective armies, it is said,
" the Spirit of the Lord came upon him." But,
when the Philistines shouted against him, as
bound at Lehi, "the Spirit of the Lord came
mightily upon him," so that " the cords became
as flax burnt with the fire," and one thousand of
the enemies of Israel fell by his hand, smitten
"with the jaw-bone of an ass." Is there not
here evolved the fact, that the measure of influ-
ence is granted, in accordance with the difficulty
and magnitude of the work to be done, or the
deliverance to be achieved ? Can we possibly —
with these examples Divinely recorded — read
the pages of human history, and not recognize
the inspiration of that patriotism and philan-
thropy, which have led the most distinguished
victors to risk their lives in defence of the rights
of humanity and the liberty of nations ?

212 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

INSPIRATION OF GENIUS, MECHANICAL OR
SCIENTIFIC.

This species of inspiration belongs to the same
category as that which is unfolded in legislation
and warfare. To this inspiration the whole
development of artificial phenomena may be
traced. The care with which Providence
watches over, and the particularity with which
the Spirit has recorded some of the earlier inven-
tions, has been already noticed. The object
now is, to prove directly the communication of
intellectual gifts by the Spirit, to be exercised
about physical elements, and to be embodied in
mechanical inventions.

THE TABERNACLE.

The construction of the Tabernacle is at once
a proof and illustration of the inspiration of
mechanical genius. God Himself is represented
as the Divine Architect. He contrived the
mysterious plan, furnished the materials, through
the instrumentality of His people, raised up the
artificers in the dispensations of His providence,
and qualified them for their work by the inspi-
ration of the Spirit. The command to make a
sanctuary is accompanied by a description of all
its parts. "And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Speak unto the children of Israel that

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 213

they bring Me an offering : and let them make
Me a scantuary, that I may dwell among them.
According to all that I shew thee, after the pat-
tern of the tabernacle, and the patterns of all
the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make
it." It appears from the sequel that the entire
plan was Divinely propounded. Not merely the
dimensions of the fabric, as formerly in the
building of the ark, but every part was described
in its relative proportions and special aspect.
The curtains, the hangings, the loops, the taches,
the pins, and the sockets, the ornamental work,
and the curious furniture, were each and all spe-
cially described. Every object and element,
from the least to the greatest, was modelled in
the Eternal Mind, and presented to the concep-
tion of Moses upon the mount, with the most
explicit nota bene. " Look that thou make them
after their pattern, which was shewed thee in
the mount ;" or still more emphatic, as found in
the marginal reading, " according to the pattern
which i" caused thee to see." In this contract
there was nothing left for the exercise of human
ingenuity, as respects the plan. The perfection
of infinite wisdom could admit of no interfer-
ence. But while the design was absolutely per-
fect, the skill to fill it up was not to be found in
the concentrated wisdom of the human family,
and much less among those who had been

214 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

trained from infancy under the yoke of abject
slavery.

The whole plan was original, nay, Divine.
No earthly model could be examined, no pre-
vious experience could be consulted. To God
the Hebrews must look for all that pertained to
this itinerant sanctuary. There is something
very peculiar and instructive in the fact that
God who " stretched out the heavens like a cur-
tain, and who laid the foundations of the earth,"
should now, in the wilderness, sketch, and plan,
and preside over, and at length fill with His
glory, an artificial tent, constructed and furnished
by human hands. Does not the fact imply that
He is the God of order and beauty in the mecha-
nical as well as in the natural world ? By the
fall, the lines of beauty and proportion had been
obscured or obliterated in the darkened under-
standing. By the flood, the physical world was
despoiled of its pristine glory. But here the
God of grace evolves in symbol the highest glory
of the moral world — Christ the true Tabernacle
— while the symbol itself seems designed to ex-
hibit the adaptation of material elements to
mechanical purposes, and to restore, in a pecu-
liar manner, the primitive ideas of the beautiful
and true. In the day that Adam sinned, that
wisdom with which he was endowed returned to
God who gave it, but in the economy of redemp-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 215

tion there seems to be a restoration in measure
of that practical skill or genius by which the
subjection of the creature to man shall be duly-
regulated. In the case of the Israelites, there was
the organization of a Church, and of a state, des-
tined to extend over centuries, and impart in-
fluences to the world through coming ages.
The whole training of the wilderness has a rela-
tion to their future greatness nationally, as well
as to their present instruction in spiritual
knowledge, consequently their arts and sciences,
their martial enterprizes, and their civil consti-
tution, are all evolved in connexion with that
revealed religion which recognizes every blessing
as emanating from, and conducive to, the glory
of the moral Governor.

Considered in this light, the erection of the
Tabernacle is peculiarly instructive. The Cre-
ator of the heavens and the earth condescends
to become the teacher of degenerate man, in
common as well as in spiritual things. While
the revelation of the Covenant occupies the first
place, the dispensations of Providence regarding
the condition of man in the present world are
not overlooked nor forgotten. That G-od who
reigns over universal nature deigns to direct, in
the spreading out of badgers' skins, the binding
of curtains, the planting of a beam, the fitting
of a socket, the insertion of a pin, so that the

216 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

perfection of natural beauty might be displayed,
while the radiance of Divine glory was lumin-
ously reflected.

EXPOSITION OF THE ARTS IN CONSTRUCTING THE
TABERNACLE.

The Tabernacle was in itself a most compre-
hensive exposition of the arts. There was the
hewing, sawing, plaining, joining, carving, and
gilding of wood. There was the melting, casting,
beating, boring, and engraving of metals. There
was the spinning, weaving, dyeing, bleaching,
sewing, and embroidering of fabrics. There
was also the tanning and coloring of skins.
There was work in gold, and in silver, and in
brass, in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and
in fine linen, and in goats' hair. There was
work in the preparation of oil for the light, and
spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense.
There was work for the lapidary in polishing
stones, and for the sculptor in their engraving.
But it is impossible to enumerate all the profes-
sions introduced in this Divinely-planned edi-
fice. They are best described by the Spirit,
when speaking of the qualifications of those
called to the filling up of this perfect design, as
being capable of working " in all manner of
workmanship."

But how could all this artistic work be exe-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 217

cuted by those who had been trained in slavery
for the manufacture of bricks, and the building
of store-cities, in the land of Egypt ? Even
Moses, ' who was instructed in the highest
branches of Egyptian learning, nay, who was
Divinely instructed in " the words of God, and
the visions of the Almighty/' though he had
been made to see the model Tabernacle on the
mount, yet he knew not how to weave, or en-
grave, or embroider. His position in the court
was as far above the daily toils of the silversmith
or the founder, as the degradation of his brethren
was below them ; nor had the shepherd life in
Midian tended to the elucidation of his mechani-
cal genius. But that God who had caused His
Spirit to rest upon the Jewish legislator, now in-
spired by the same Spirit the artisans who were
chosen to construct the Tabernacle ; thus clearly
evincing the instructive fact that mechanical
skill flows from the same Divine source as legis-
lative wisdom and moral courage. Thus it ap-
pears that human distinctions are found to
vanish in proportion as we come within the
radiance of the eternal throne. The ruler and
the artisan feel alike distant from the infinite
majesty of the universal Sovereign, while both
are equally dependent upon Him for the wisdom
respectively imparted. That G-od who had said
to Moses at the back of the desert, " I will be
10

218 . THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt
say/' now promised to direct the head and the
hands of those called to the building of the
Tabernacle. "And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, See, I have called by name Bezaleel, the
son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah :
and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in
wisdom, and in understanding, and in know-
ledge, and in all manner of workmanship. And
I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the
son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan : and in
the hearts of all that are wise-hearted I have
put wisdom, that they may make all that I have
commanded thee." There is no previous record
regarding these artificers, by which it can be
ascertained whether they had formerly given
themselves to the acquisition of a knowledge of
the arts and sciences. The probabilities are
rather against such a supposition. The frequent
removal of the camp, together with the fact that
their garments waxed not old in their march
through the wilderness, go far to prove that
there was no extensive cultivation of the arts
prior to this period. Be this as it may, the in-
timation of their call to the work, and the
announcement with which it was accompanied,
leaves no room to doubt that the present endow-
ments were altogether extraordinary. The Spirit
of God inspired them with genius to understand

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 219

the Divinely-communicated plans, and with skill
to fill them up, in that order and beauty which
had been prescribed.

But this inspiration of genius was not con-
fined to Bezaleel and Aholiab, the chief archi-
tects and partners in this vast undertaking. All
who were called to the work are designated
" wise-hearted." " And Moses called Bezaleel
and Aholiab, and every ivise-hearted mail, in
whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, even
every one whose heart stirred him up to come
unto the work to do it." Nor were the daughters
of Israel excluded from having a part in the
sanctuary, and in the gifts of the Spirit. " And
all the women that were wise-hearted did spin
with their hands, and brought that which they
had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of
scarlet, and of fine linen. And all the women,
whose hearts stirred them up in wisdom, spun
goats' hair." Thus, it would appear that there
was a general inspiration of genius in proportion
to the special work given each to accomplish ;
and in the case of all the will and the affections
seem to have been moved in conjunction with
the understanding. The erection of the Taber-
nacle was a " labor of love," succeeding the re-
vival of true religion among the tribes of Israel.
For a season that work had been retarded by
the backsliding of the people. The erection and

220 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

worship of the golden calf had provoked the
Holy One to hide His face, and to inflict His
judgments. But, by the intercession of Moses,
their sin was pardoned, the promise of the Di-
vine presence was renewed, and the tables of
stone were again engraven with the moral law.
The people had been deeply humbled, so that
the return of Moses with the message of
mercy was a signal for universal gratitude. The
same commission that restored the tables an-
nounced the purpose of God regarding the sanc-
tuary, and His holy command regarding the
offerings to be dedicated for its construction
and future service. This revival of true religion
in the souls of the Israelites, accounts for that
unparalleled liberality which characterized their
offerings ; and it accorded with, and was prepara-
tory to, that extraordinary inspiration of genius
which, like their goods, was laid as a voluntary
sacrifice upon the altar of a gracious God. The
season and the circumstances in which the offer-
ings were presented, and the work itself accom-
plished, indicate, in the most convincing manner,
the close relation which subsists between the
moral and the intellectual powers, and especially
between the work of grace in the soul, and the
expansion of all the human faculties. Is there
not reason to believe, from this coincidence in
the building of the Tabernacle, that when the

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 221

whole human family shall become wise-hearted,
through the illumination of the Spirit during
the Millennium, and when their offerings shall
again flow with equal liberality into the treasury
of the Lord, human genius shall be extended
beyond all present conceptions ? May it not be
that, through this very channel, the God of
providence shall open the treasury of nature,
and pour out a blessing, that there shall not be
room enough to receive it.

THE SACRED VESTMENTS.

The sacerdotal garments for the priesthood
were made in conformity to a Divine pattern,
and the skill whereby they were prepared is
attributed to a Divine source. " Thou shalt
make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for
glory and for beauty. And these are the gar-
ments which they shall make ; a breastplate,
and an ephod, and a robe, and a girdle." So
explicit is the command regarding their forma-
tion that a whole chapter* is devoted to a de-
scription of the materials, the form, and mode of
joining the various parts, the setting of the
stones in the breastplate, together with the
order and the seasons when they should be put
on. These, like the Tabernacle, were prepared
under the inspiration of the Spirit. " Thou

* Exodus xxviiL

222 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

shalt speak unto all that are wise-hearted, whom
I have rilled with the Spirit of wisdom, that they
may make Aaron garments to consecrate him,
that he may minister unto Me in the priest's
office." The harmony of all parties in the erec-
tion of the Tabernacle, and the preparation of
the sacred garments, is peculiarly marked by the
forms of expression employed in their descrip-
tion. Those who gave are designated " willing-
hearted," and those who wrought are represented
as " wise-hearted." These terms seem to indi-
cate the union of genuine piety with liberality,
on the part of those who offered ; and the com-
bination of moral interest with inspired genius,
on the part of those who performed the work.
Here there was " wisdom dwelling with pru-
dence, and integrity of purpose associated with
consummate skill. Never before had there been
seen such workmen, and never since has there
been such perfection displayed in filling up the
individual details of a stupendous design. The
inspired penman has recorded their eulogium.
" According to all that the Lord commanded
Moses, so the children of Israel made all the
work. And Moses did look upon all the
work, and behold, they had done it as the Lord
had commanded, even so had they done it : and
Moses blessed them." No sculptured marble
transmitted their names or physiognomies to

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 223

future generations. No earth-born titles of
knighthood were conferred by the king in Je-
shuran upon these successful artificers ; but " he
blessed them in the name of the Lord," and re-
corded their zeal and obedience in the Divine
service as an imperishable memorial. The
Tabernacle itself was their monument ! The
benediction of Moses was the public record of
approbation from God and man. Realizing the
inspiration of the Spirit, their work had been
characterized as a labor of love. To them the
glory of Divine wisdom was apparent in the
selection of every element, in the formation of
every instrument, in the adaptation of every part
to the consummation of the original design.
What must have been their feelings at its final
dedication, when the whole was irradiated with
the glory of the God of Israel ?

THE TEMPLE.

The Temple, like the Tabernacle, was a work
of God, though erected and furnished by human
hands. The record regarding it is less explicit
concerning the inspiration of the workmen, but
there is enough to convince the unprejudiced
mind that the skill of Solomon's artificers must
be traced to the- same source as that of Bezaleel
and Aholiab. In this, however, the circum-
stances are entirely different. The exposition of

224 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

the arts involved in the construction of the
Tabernacle, had been progressing for nearly four
centuries. The nation of Israel was the most
prosperous of all the nations of the earth. We
doubt not that during this intervening period,
many artificers had been specially endowed for
the development of art as well as for the science
of war. The accumulative wisdom of these
centuries must be devoted spontaneously to the
service of God in the building of that house
where the Holy One of Israel should place His
name. But there is another circumstance which
must not be overlooked. The chosen king of
Israel was endowed with understanding, and
wisdom above all the men who had gone before
him ; and also above all by whom he has been
succeeded. " God gave Solomon wisdom and un-
derstanding exceeding much, and largeness of
heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.
And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of
all the men of the east country, and all the
wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all
men." This special inspiration immediately
preceded the building of the Temple. The
first efforts of this wisdom were consecrated to
God.

But though this was the largest measure of
wisdom ever communicated to mere man, it was
not sufficient to plan that house which was now

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 225

to be built to the Lord upon Mount Moriah.
The God of infinite wisdom communicated the
design to David, which Solomon was inspired
with wisdom and understanding to fill up in
mechanical detail. The parting counsels of the
dying sovereign to his son and successor on the
throne of Israel, has especial reference to the
building of the Temple. " Take heed now, for
the Lord hath chosen thee, to build an house for
the sanctuary ; be strong and*do it. Then David
gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch,
and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries
thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and
of the inner parlors thereof, and of the place of
the mercy seat, and the pattern of all that he had
by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of the
Lord, and of all the chambers round about, of
the treasuries of the house of God, and of the
treasuries of the dedicated things, and all the
vessels of service in the house of the Lord. . . .
All this said David, the Lord made me under-
stand by writing, by His hand upon me, even all
the works of this pattern." In receiving this mo-
mentous charge, there were communicated gra-
cious promises. David said unto Solomon his son,
" Be strong and of good courage and do it ; fear not,
nor be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God
will be with thee, He will not fail thee nor forsake
thee until thou hast finished all the work for the
10

226 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

service of the house of the Lord. And be-
hold the courses of the priests and the Levites,
even they shall be with thee, for all the service
of the house of God, and there shall be with
thee for all manner of workmanship, every tvill-
ing and skilful man for any manner of service,
also the princes and all the people will be wholly
at thy commandment." Here there is the pro-
mise of Divine guidance, the promise of skilful
willing workmen— the promise of priestly coun-
tenance, and of princely assistance. Does not
this promise, as given by inspiration to David,
necessarily imply that the skill and the readi-
ness of mind must be traced to the source from
whence the promise itself emanates ? The har-
mony and co-operation are similar to what was
unfolded in the previous construction of the
Tabernacle, consequently, even upon the philo-
sophical maxim, that " like causes produce like
effects," the mechanical glory and perfection of
the Temple must be traced to the inspiration of
the. Spirit of God.

This is fully acknowledged in the dedication
prayer by which it was set apart to the service
of Jehovah, on that solemn day, when it was
filled with " the glory of the Lord." " Blessed
be the Lord God of Israel who hath ivith His
hands fulfilled that which He spake with His
mouth to my father David. ... 0 Lord

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 227

God of Israel, there is no God like Thee in the
heaven nor in the earth ; which keepest cove-
nant, and showest mercy unto Thy servants. . . .
Thou which hast kept with His servant David
my father that which Thou hast promised him,
and speakest with Thy mouth, and hast fulfilled
it with Thine hand, as it is this day."* In the
introductory sentences of this dedicatory prayer,
he unfolds the relation in which this holy house
stood to God the designer, and to Solomon the
architect. " The Loed hath said, That He
would not dwell in the thick darkness. But I
have built an house of habitation for Thee, and
a place for Thy dwelling forever." While pro-
ceeding with a review of the Divine promise,
made to the house of Israel ; and while reflect-
ing upon the dispensations of Providence to-
wards the house of David and especially when
he gazed upon the Temple as filled with the
Divine glory, he lost sight of his own regal dig-
nity— he forgets his comprehensive wisdom — he
rises above the priests, the princes, the cunning
artificers — he beholds the Temple as of God and
to God — as the exposition of eternal wisdom in
its first elements of thought, and of Almighty
power, and infinite goodness in its final consum-
mation.

In the dedication of that, which David the

* 2 Chron.. vi. 14, 15.

228 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

king had prepared for the building of the Temple,
God was in the fullest sense recognized as the
Author of every gift. " Thine, 0 Lord, is the
greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the
victory, and the majesty ; for all that is in the
heaven and in the earth is Thine : Thine is the
kingdom, 0 Lokd, and Thou art exalted as head
over all. Both riches and honor come of Thee,
and Thou reignest over all ; and in Thine hand
is power and might ; and in Thine hand it is to
make great, and to give strength unto all. Now,
therefore, our God, we thank Thee, and praise
Thy glorious name. But who am I, and what is
my people that they should be able to offer so
willingly after this sort ? For all things come
of Thee, and of Thine own have ive given Thee?'
To this the gracious soul of Solomon responds,
when he beheld the goodly Temple beaming
with the rays of heavenly glory. In every stone
of that building — in every gilded beam — in every
ornamental pillar, in every brazen altar, the
hand Divine was visible. Nay, in every object,
from the tongs and the snuffers, to the mercy
seat and the cherubim, the glory of God was
exhibited to the eye of faith, in their original
construction and sacred use. Genius, and wis-
dom, and princely power, and sovereign author-
ity, vanish in conception, before the glory and
majesty of the Holy One of Israel. The God of

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 229

the promise fulfilled — the God of the covenant
pledged — the God of the Temple irradiated —
the God of the Holy of Holies beaming in in-
finite majesty from above the mercy seat — was
"all and in all" to the faith and hope of Solo-
mon, and unto Him alone will he ascribe
the glory. " Blessed be the Lord that hath

given rest unto His people, Israel

Now, therefore, arise, 0 Lord God, into Thy
resting-place, Thou and the ark of Thy strength ;
let Thy priests, 0 Lord God, be clothed
with salvation, and let Thy saints rejoice in
goodness."

The Tabernacle, and the Temple, and the
sacred vestments were holy, and in their con-
struction and use were typical. But though
typical, they were still mechanical. That wis-
dom by which they were formed was available
for common purposes, and those Hues of beauty
which they displayed might serve as models to
future artisans. In their consecration to God,
they were not viewed simply as types, but also
as the exponents of that wisdom and skill which
the Spirit of God had conferred. The artificers
were willing-hearted as well as wise-hearted,
consequently, the intellectual gifts communi-
cated, were dedicated to the service of God, as
really as the materials from which it was formed.
Is there not here a type of the future renova-

230 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

tion of the arts and sciences, and their entire
consecration to the service and honor of God ?
To this the prophet Zechariah looked forward.
" In that day shall there be upon the bells of
the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD ;
and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like
the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in
Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto
the Lord of hosts." That is, when with the
gracious outpouring of the Spirit, there shall be
vast enlargement of the human powers, all their
energies shall be devoted to God. The wisdom
communicated from above will be profitable to
direct in every enterprize, and the most common
operations of business, shall be conducted with
an eye to the glory of God. Then shall the
matron and the merchant meet at the Lord's
treasury. Then shall the architect and the me-
chanic rejoice together in the work of the Lord.
Nor is this all, The Spirit of the sanctuary shall
pervade the workshop and the manufactory —
the counting-house and the exchange — the
stately mansion and the humble cottage. Then
shall the family crests — the badges of earthly
heraldry — be supplanted by this universal sym-
bol of the supremacy of Jehovah. Nor shall
this recognition of the moral Governor be only
public or official. Holiness unto the Lord
shall be the motto exhibited in every social circle

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 231

and reflected in the grace and purity of every
Christian family. Then shall the angelic song,
" Glory to God in the highest," be re-echoed
from the mountain and the plain — from the
bosom of the sea, and from the solitude of
the desert — from the joyous city, and from
the sober hamlet. The factory and the fireside
shall both become vocal with the praise of the
Lord.

The language of the prophet is peculiarly
emphatic. It is not only in the Temple, that
the dedicated vessels of service are holy, but
"every pot in Jerusalem and Judah" shall bear
the same inscription. That is, In the Temple
— in the city of solemnities, and in the rural
mansion, God shall be recognized, acknowledged,
and adored. The religion of the Bible shall no
longer be confined to the Sabbath or the sanc-
tuary, but permeating the hearts of the reno-
vated community, it will manifest itself in every
enterprize — sweeten every relation — sanctify
every joy — alleviate every trial, and mitigate the
sum total of human suffering. Then shall in-
deed be realized the conclusion of the angelic
stanza — " On earth peace, good-will toward
men." Then shall the redeemed of the Lord
rejoice in the reign of righteousness, and in the
triumphs on earth, of grace and truth. Such

232 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

were the inspired anticipations of the poet
Cowper —

" The groans of nature in this nether world
Which heaven has heard for ages, have an end,
Foretold by prophets, and by poets sung —
Whose fire was kindled at the prophet's lamp,
The time of rest, the promised Sabbath comes.
Six thousand years of sorrow have well nigh
Fulfill 'd their tardy and disastrous course
Over a sinful world; and what remains
Of this tempestuous state of human things
Is merely as the working of a sea
Before a calm that rocks itself to rest."

CHAPTER VI.

SCRIPTURE RECORD OF INSPIRED GENIUS DEVOTED TO THE
ORDINARY PURPOSES OF SOCIAL LIFE.

The building of the Temple was succeeded
by the golden age of Jewish history. The reign
of Solomon was the culminating point of the
Hebrew dynasty. During his administration
the body politic had realized its fullest develop-
ment. The preceding ages were preparatory
for that wonderful display of human wisdom and
regal glory by which the land of Palestine was
distinguished at this period among the nations
of the earth. It has been poetically remarked,
that "just as the aloe shoots, and in one stately
blossom pours forth the life which has been
calmly collecting for a century, so it wtould ap-
pear as if nations were destined to pour forth
their accumulated qualities in some characteris-
tic man, and then they droop away/' It was
thus with the nation of Israel during the period
of Solomon's glory. That vine which the Lord
had brought out of Egypt had taken deep root,

234 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

and had filled the land. The previous inspira-
tion of legislators, and warriors, and artisans,
had prepared the way for a fuller and richer
display of justice, peace, prosperity, and progress,
than were attained during any other period of
the Jewish nationality. In Solomon is exhibited
the apex of this constitutional pyramid, radiant,
indeed, with the rays of wisdom, but reflecting
a borrowed light, even that effulgence which
beams from the eternal throne. " The Lord
gave him wisdom and understanding exceeding
much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand
that is on the sea shore, so that his wisdom ex-
celled the wisdom of all the children of the East
country, and all the wisdom of Egypt." As
" Melchisedec, King of Salem, priest of the most
high God," stood alone in the ministrations of
the spiritual sanctuary, thus stood Solomon as king
in Jerusalem, gloriously isolated by the magni-
tude of his mental powers, when inspired as the
minister of Nature's temple, to elicit and ex-
pound her hidden treasures. The first fruits of
inspired* genius were properly devoted to the
building of the Temple ; but that wisdom where-
with he was endowed was not exhausted by one
gigantic effort. His mental powers seem only
to have been strengthened by exercise in accom-
plishing that stupendous enterprise. Having
tasted the sweets of wisdom in laying nature

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 235

under tribute for the honor of God, he turned
again in the giant strength of that genius
wherewith the Spirit had endowed him, to her
exhaustless resources, that he might elicit her
treasures for the benefit of man, and increase the
stock of human knowledge, by an exposition of
their nature and purposes.

It is customary to contemplate and to speak
of Solomon in regard to his regal glory and
mental magnitude, and to view these as if they
were designed for his personal aggrandisement.
But though isolated by the expansion of his
mental powers, there was no design that his wis-
dom should be concentrated in himself, or appear
merely to be admired by his fellow-men. The
inspiration of the Spirit was received as a talent
to be traded with, for the benefit of humanity.
The record of his great works is a Divine testi-
mony to the manner in which his peculiar wis-
dom was exercised. In his person and history
we are furnished with an illustration of the
mind's capabilities, and of the natural course it
will pursue when Divinely illuminated. The
interests of the Church, the welfare of the state,
and the comfort of the family, are beautifully
blended in the early period of his administration.
Each of these branches might furnish a topic
for lengthened illustration, but the present ob-
ject is, to contemplate the wisest of men in the

ZOO THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

most favorable circumstances for mental de-
velopment ; and, more especially, to consider the
objects and pursuits in which this colossal genius
is found embodied.

INSPIRED WISDOM EVOLVED IN AGRICULTURE.

His reign was distinguished by the cultivation
of the useful arts. In agriculture, and land-
scape designs, he had no compeer. " I made me
great works, I builded me houses, I planted me
vineyards. I made me gardens and orchards,
and I planted in them trees of all kinds of fruits.
I made me pools of water, to water therewith
the wood that bringeth forth trees. I had great
possessions of great and small cattle, above all
that were in Jerusalem before me." Here is,
perhaps, the first example of scientific agricul-
ture. The record, as furnished by the Spirit
seems to indicate, though yet future, the partial
restoration of the luxuries and beauties of Para-
dise. Under the hand of Solomon the " earth
was subdued/' and its fruitfulness elicited, as it
never had been in any preceding age. Is there
not, in the portrait of Jerusalem and Judah, as
drawn by the Spirit, a lively picture of what
this barren world shall yet become, when the
Lord shall pour forth his blessings upon his re-
deemed people ? Is there not here a type of
earth's golden era ?

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 237

1 Of scenes surpassing fable, and yet true,
Scenes of accomplished bliss ; which who can see,
Though but in distant prospect, and not feel
His soul refreshed with foretaste of the joy ?
Rivers of gladness water all the earth,
And clothe all climes in beauty : The reproach
Of barrenness is past. The fruitful field
Laughs with abundance, and the land, once lean,
Or fertile only with its own disgrace,
Exults to see its thistly curse repealed.
The various seasons, woven into one,
And that one season an eternal Spring

INSPIRED GENIUS UNFOLDED IN ARCHITECTURE.

Of the Temple, as a monument of architectu-
ral magnificence, notice has already been taken.
As a monument of Divine wisdom reflected in
the person of Solomon, it stands in the sacred
category with the Tabernacle, and the Altar, and
the Ark of the Covenant, which were all conse-
crated to the spiritual service of Jehovah. But
there are other monuments of his inspired wis-
dom, which stand in the class of common bless-
ings— such as his royal palace, which occupied
thirteen years in its construction, and the house
of the Forest of Lebanon, of which the Spirit of
God has gi^n us a geometrical design.* The
magnificence of these palaces can only be con-
ceived by a careful scientific study of the descrip-
tion recorded. The exposition of the arts ap-
pears in comprehensive development, when we

* 1 Kings, vii.

238 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

reflect upon all the inventions which must neces-
sarily have been brought into use at their erec-
tion. Of some of these the Spirit has given us
distinct information. ' These palaces were built
of " costly stones, according to the measures of
hewed stones, saioed ivith saivs, within and
without, even from the foundation unto the cop-
ing And the foundation was of costly

stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits,
and stones of eight cubits.'' These must have
required extensive engineering skill to transfer
them from the distant quarry, and to place them
upon the stately edifice. The ornamental work
was in keeping with the building, and all the
fittings and furnishing were of the most exqui-
site description. Let one specimen suffice.
" Moreover, the king made a great throne of
ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold. The
throne had six steps, and the top of the throne
was round behind, and there were stays on either
side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood
beside the stays. And twelve lions stood there
upon the one side and upon the other, upon the
six steps. There was not the like m any king-
dom." Why, it may be asked, did the Spirit
record this exposition of art ? Simply because
it was the exponent of that Divine wisdom
wherewith the king was so largely endowed —
the innocent application of that architectural

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 239

taste of which he was constituted the historic
head. The designs of Babylonian palaces have
perished with the ruins of the doomed city ; but
though Jerusalem has fallen, the plans of the
Tabernacle, the Temple, and the House of the
Forest of Lebanon, have been deposited in the
imperishable archives of Bible history. This re-
cord is at once a testimony to God's faithfulness
in fulfilling the promises of prosperity made to
David, to the inspiration of genius wherewith
Solomon was endowed, and to the resources of
wealth in that land in which the Israelites were
planted. May it not be that during the Millen-
nium, when righteousness shall reign, and uni-
versal peace shall be enjoyed, spiritually illumi-
nated kings and nobles shall yet revive this
model architecture, restoring the beautiful and
the true, while exhibiting the riches of the Di-
vine Benefactor ?

INSPIRED GENIUS DISPLAYED IN WORKS OF
TASTE AND ORNAMENT.

The precious wood imported from Ophir im-
parted a fresh impulse to Solomon's inventive
powers. " The king made of the almug trees
pillars for the house of the Lord, and for the
king's house, harps also and psalteries for singers."
These he afterwards describes by the significant
appellation, " The delights of the sons of men,

240 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

as musical instruments, and that of all sorts."
Though his reign was one of peace, his halls ex-
hibited the trophies of war wrested- from the
enemy. Beside these were placed the targets
and the shields of beaten gold which were made
by the hundred, and deposited in the house of
the forest of Lebanon. To these warlike sym-
bols may be added the gorgeous drinking
vessels of gold, and " all the vessels of the house
of the forest of Lebanon which were of pure
gold." Space forbids a description of the mol-
ten sea, or the chapiters of molten brass, or the
nets of checker work, and the wreaths of chain
work, which were prepared for ornament. We
refer the student of artistic operations to the full
and explicit record given by the Spirit in the
seventh chapter of the first book of Kings. But
let it be observed that in addition to the inspi-
ration of Solomon, a heathen artist was prepared
by the Spirit to accomplish this work. " King
Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre.
He was a worker in brass, and he was filled with
wisdom and understanding, and cunning to
work all works in brass." Like Bezaleel and
Aholiab he was Divinely qualified, and called by
the king of Israel to special work, both sacred
and civil. If there was found a worker in brass
" filled with wisdom" at Tyre in the highest day
of Jewish prosperity and favor, may not such

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 241

be found from age to age even in the lands of
heathenism, and shall not many such be found
in this world's Christendom during the coming
Millennium ?

INSPIRATION OF GENIUS, GIVING RISE TO NAVAL
ARCHITECTURE, AND INTERNATIONAL COM-
MERCE.

Prior to the reign of Solomon, there seems to
have been little traffic by sea. The wants of
the Israelites were supplied from internal re-
sources. But Palestine being destitute of gold
in its mineral state, the necessity for commerce
with other lands soon became apparent to the
mind of Solomon. David obtained gold by
conquest in great abundance ; but Solomon in-
troduced a peace-policy, and obtained by com-
merce what had formerly been sought only by
the sword. " King Solomon made a navy of
ships in Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth, on
the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom."
This fleet was manned by Tyrian sailors, who
were distinguished for nautical skill. " Hiram
sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had
knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solo-
mon/' This navy traded with the East Indies,
bringing gold and almug trees and precious
stones from Ophir. He traded with Egypt and
the surrounding kingdoms, in horses and cha-
II

242 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

riots and linen. It seems evident, that the prin-
ciples of free-trade, which in modern times have
so long been overlaid by national selfishness,
were fully established by the king of Israel ;
and so great was his prosperity under that
policy, that " he made silver to be in Jerusalem
as stones, and cedars made he to be as sycamore
trees in abundance." These records of Bible
history are sufficient to prove the tendency of
true wisdom to develop itself in the useful
arts ; and also the influence of the arts in pro-
moting the brotherhood of nations. The won-
der is, that with such convincing evidence the
question of free-trade should have been so long
pending for solution in Britain ; and the greater
wonder is, that Britain alone has adopted this
jiolicy. The reign -of Solomon is a standing
memorial of the legitimate application of native
genius in solving the question of national inter-
course. Strange ! that with the aid of the com-
pass, and the use of steam, nations should still
be iron-bound by the shackles of prejudice and
local selfishness ! But the time shall yet come
when inspired genius shall sit upon the thrones
of earth, and the world shall become like Pales-
tine, in its policy of peace, and universal pros-
perity.

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 243

THE INSPIRATION OF GENIUS AS EMBODIED IN
PHILOSOPHY AND LITERATURE.

The bent of Solomon's mind towards agricul-
ture, art, and commerce, has already been no-
ticed, and the record of his achievements is such
as to place him pre-eminently above all kings.
But even these departments were insufficient to
exhaust that genius wherewith he was endowed.
It is in the higher branches of human know-
ledge that he stands transcendently above the
stature of all his contemporaries and successors.
His mind appears, in the plane of human know-
ledge, as a mental Colossus, whose altitude can-
not be measured by the ordinary intellectual
quadrant. His was a culminating mind which
embraced the entire region of existing know-
ledge. His genius was the practical embodi-
ment of that prophetic type of intellect which
stretches far in the distance, and grasps the full
development of a future age: He was the chief
of those master spirits which constitute the land-
marks of human progress. As the snowy-crown
of the Alpine chain reflects the morning rays of
the sun of nature, long ere the depths of the
vallies are flooded by his effulgent beams ; so the
towering intellect of Solomon was made to reflect
that light of genius which shall yet be diffused
in copious measure upon future generations.

244 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

None can predict what may be the expansion of
the mental powers in that coming age, when
" the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and
all flesh shall see it together/'

How difficult to classify his studies or his ac-
quirements ! The amplitude of his knowledge
confounds philosophic distinctions. Each branch
appears so radiant that it naturally blends with
the pure light of every other. Each topic
and object seems as if brought within the
beams of divinity, reflected through the most
exalted of merely human intellects. He was a
living Encyclopaedia of the arts and sciences — a
system of philosophy — a body of divinity. The
cabinet of knowledge — natural, political, moral,
and sacred — opened before the touch of his
genius ; as the prison gates unfolded their leaves
before the Apostle when led by an angel. Of
his general knowledge it is said, " he was wiser
than all men, than Ethan, and Heman, and
Chalcol, and Darda." " His wisdom excelled
the wisdom of the children of the East country,
and all the children of Egypt, and his fame was
in all nations round about."

As a naturalist, " he spake of trees, from the
cedar tree that is in Lebanon, even unto the
hyssop that springeth out of the wall ; he spake
also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping
things, and of fishes." As a moralist and econo-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 245

mist, he stands unrivalled — for "he spake three
thousand proverbs/' of which such as were suited
to general utility have found a place in the
sacred volume. As a poet, we may form some
conception of his genius from the number of
songs indited, being no less than " one thousand
and five." The solitary specimen of these, which
has found a place in the temple of revealed
truth, is eulogised by the Spirit, when he speaks
of it as " the song of songs" — that is, the perfec-
tion of moral purity and poetic beauty! As a
philosopher, he could solve the most abstruse
problems, and with inimitable brevity and power
record their solution in some proverbial sentence.
Thus, the question of circulation in the atmos-
phere, and liquid elements of nature — as now
discovered by philosophical observation — was
stated in a single verse, as an ordinary matter of
course. "All the rivers run into the sea, yet the
sea is not full : unto the place from whence
the rivers come, thither they return again."
Volumes have been written by those esteemed
great philosophers, upon such topics, but by this
master-mind the essence of most comprehensive
truths is combined in a sentence, replete with
instruction.

Acquaintance with even one of these depart-
ments of knowledge would render the name of a
philosopher illustrious in our own day, notwith-

246 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

standing the lapse of more than twenty-eight
centuries since Solomon's prelections were deliv-
ered to crowned students in Jerusalem. To write
or speak with scientific acumen upon any branch
of modern physics, will furnish a note of intro-
duction to the literati of Europe. But Solomon
was alike at home in every department of know-
ledge, and not more at home than ready to, com-
municate. The fame of Solomon's wisdom drew
around him all the master spirits of the age.
Jerusalem was the seat of science for the world ;
the court of Solomon the rendezvous of philo-
sophers, who came to light their lamps at this
planetory orb, that they might shine by his re-
flection in their own remote and gloomy spheres.
" There came of all people to hear the wisdom
of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which
had heard of his wisdom."

The wisdom of Solomon was associated with
the most enlarged affections, even " largeness of
heart as the sand that is on the sea shore."
In ordinary minds, a very diminutive portion of
Solomon's learning frequently leads to the nur-
ture of pride, which is usually exhibited in the
ungainly hauteur of the pedantic preceptor.
But amidst the vastitude of knowledge in which
his capacious soul daily revelled, there was ever
found benignity beaming from those eyes, which
reflected the inner light upon his distinguished

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 247

pupils, and ain his tongue was the law of kind-
ness," even while pouring forth that burning
eloquence which astonished and enriched the
world. Though grasping in one intellectual
embrace, philosophy, morality, and divinity ; and
though sweeping with a heaven-taught and
divinely-directed hand the sympathetic chords
of Nature's harmonicum, yet, as a wise and
humble preacher, " he still taught the people
knowledge." Every question was answered with
candor and kindness. In his presence feminine
delicacy was encouraged to pour forth freely all
its interrogatories. " When the Queen of Sheba
heard of the fame of Solomon, concerning the
name of the Lokd, she came to prove him with
hard questions." When admitted to an audi-
ence, " she communed with him of all that was
in her heart. And Solomon told her all her
questions : there was not any thing hid from the
King that he told her not/'

Perhaps the best comment upon Solomon's
greatness is the simple Scripture record of this
interview. This Queen was the sovereign of
one of the richest countries, even of Sheba. She
was a person of no ordinary acquisitions in
knowledge and wisdom. She came not merely
to see the magnificence of the palace, and the
manners of the court, but to obtain from this
master-spirit the solution of all her perplexing

248 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

questions. How striking the result upon her
mind — though trained amidst the profusion of
earthly glory in her court at Sheba — " when she
had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house
that he had built, and the meat of his table, and
the sitting of his servants, and the attendance
of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cup-
bearers, and his ascent by which he went up to the
house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in
her. And she said unto the King, It was a true
report that I heard in mine own land of thine
acts and of thy wisdom ; and behold the half
was not told me." To whom does she ascribe the
honor of all this wisdom and magnificence ?
Does she flatter Solomon, or give him the praise
of his architectural achievements ? Does she
look upon his wisdom as self-attained, and give
him the personal honor of all his acquisitions ?
Does she burn incense to genius, and present
her offering at the shrine of human wisdom ?
Verily, no ! " Blessed be the Lord thy God,
which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne
of Israel : because the Lord loved Israel for-
ever, therefore made He thee king to do justice
and judgment." The conduct of the Queen of
Sheba is the best illustration of the principle for
which we contend throughout this treatise. She
admired the works of Solomon as highly as her
mental constitution would admit. She admired

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 249

the genius by which they had been contrived
and constructed. But she admired most of all,
nay, adored, the blessed God of Israel, by whose
Spirit that genius was inspired, and by whose
providence these riches were provided, and thus
presented in their forms of magnificence and
beauty.

This feeling was common to the ancients. The
worshippers of the true God, and the worship-
pers of heathen idols, were wont to ascribe
peculiar manifestations of genius to a Divine
source. The poets invoked the muses, and war-
riors presented their sacrifices to propitiate fic-
titious deities. Shall Christianity alone discard
the recognition of God from the gifts He com-
municates ? The inspirations of genius, as re-
vealed, and the operations of genius, as recorded
in the Bible, clearly prove that it is a special
gift, which God in His supremacy bestows upon
whom He will, for the accomplishment of His
designs. It is a reflected light, which centres
in the fountain of infinite wisdom — the source
of all that is beautiful, and true, and beneficent
in nature and in art.

" Say, why was man so eminently raised
Amid the vast creation ; why ordain'd
Through life and death to dart his piercing eye,
"With thoughts beyond the limits of his frame ;
But that the Omnipotent might send him forth,
In sight of mortal and immortal powers,
11*

250 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

As on a boundless theatre, to run
The great career of justice ; to exalt
His generous aim to all diviner deeds."

Some may be ready to found an objection
against the general theory deduced from this
species of inspiration, upon the testimony of So-
lomon, when describing all such achievements
as characterized by vanity. " I have seen all
the works that are done under the sun, and be-
hold all is vanity and vexation of spirit/' Again,
the decline of Solomon's piety may be ascribed
by some to his occupation with these works of
science, art, and literature. Of this cause there
is no indication in the sacred narrative. As to
the origin of his apostacy the Bible is explicit.
He yielded not obedience to his own maxim. He
ceased to rejoice with the wife of his youth ; and
having loved idolaters, their influence over him
alienated his affections from the true God.
Though these works were characterized as
vanity, there was no condemnation of any of
those legitimate pursuits in which he had been
engaged. It is evident that while he was most
occupied, the current of his piety ran deepest.
It was only when his ardor in the service of God
had somewhat abated, and when his studies had
been supplanted by ease and indulgence, that
his piety declined. Besides, his record of embit-
tered experience may bo viewed as an evangelical

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 251

reflection upon the relation between the immor-
tal soul and the most exalted of creature com-
forts. If any descendent of Adam could possibly
realize happiness in temporal things, Solomon
had the best opportunity ever afforded. But
the wildest range — the fullest cup of creature
comforts, viewed apart from God, is utterly in-
sufficient to confer happiness.

" Attempt how vain —
With things of earthly sort, with aught but God,
With aught but moral excellence, truth, and love,
Jo satisfy and fill the immortal soul !"
This is the attempt :
" To satisfy the ocean with a drop ;
To marry immortality to death ;
And with the unsubstantial shade of time
To fill the embrace of all eternity." — Pollok.

The argument, as hitherto pursued, has been
illustrated by reference to special and peculiar
cases. These cases, however, though beyond
the ordinary capabilities of man, embrace the
common operations of the human mind, and the
ordinary application of human knowledge to
material things. The great difference is in the
degree of skill and knowledge brought into
operation. There is another point of difference
— the fact that they are historically associated
with the development of the plan of redemption.
Legislators, such as Moses, the Elders, Saul,
David, and Solomon, were raised up in immediate
relation to the Church of Israel. Artisans,

252 THEOLOGY OF INVEN'flONS.

such as Bezaleel, and Aholiab, and Hiram, were
specially prepared for the construction of Di-
vinely-planned sanctuaries, to be dedicated to
holy purposes. Warriors, such as Othniel, and
Gideon, and Jephtha, and Samson, and David,
were chosen deliverers of a chosen people. Con-
sequently, the inference is fallaciously drawn,
that it is only in such peculiar cases that we can
expect extraordinary gifts, or that we ought to
recognize the outgoings of the Spirit of God as
a ruling and guiding Spirit in the moral go-
vernment of Jehovah. Is not this to set limits
upon the Holy One, and to confine the Provi-
dence of God to special cases related to the
Church instead of embracing the circumstances
of the Church in the universal plan, and viewing
the government of God as directing the whole
with a reference to His own glory in her complete
development ? This is also to draw a line of
distinction between great and little events,
founded upon our local conceptions of moral and
physical relations among the creatures. But
the whole world has a relation to the universe,
and to the Moral Governor. The whole family
of man has a physical relation to the world, and
a moral relation to God, by whom both were
created. The " principalities and powers" of
the world have a relation to the Divine govern-
ment, and are made subservient to the Divine

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 253

purposes. The Church has a relation to huma-
nity, to civil institutions, and to the Divine do-
minion. The family institute has a relation to
the Church, to the state, and to the moral
dominion of God. Each individual has a relation
to all these ; consequently nothing that transpires
in the universe can he unimportant to the Moral
Governor, nor to the various parties within the
range of that government. Science and art, or
the knowledge of physical things, and the capa-
bility to use them, have a relation to every man
personally, and to all men socially, as respects
the means of sustenance, the enjoyment of phy-
sical comfort, and the progress of mental devel-
opment. Science and art have a relation to
God, inasmuch as they expound His attributes,
and show forth the riches of His kingdom. It
is no degradation of Deity in our conceptions,
to behold Him producing and conducting physi-
cal and mental operations in the artificial, as
well as in the natural world. If the comfort and
happiness of His creatures are not beneath the
condescension of His love, the means by which
these may be promoted are certainly not beyond
the compass of His wisdom, or the grasp of His
power. Why, then, should any display of Di-
vine beneficence in the history of His creatures
be overlooked and disregarded ?

It is true that those special dispensations and

254 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

peculiar gifts, which are recorded in the Bible,
stand in near relation to the Church and the
exhibition of the plan of mercy. Are all
other dispensations of providence, besides those
recorded, or such as may be in the same
category, to be treated as common ; nay, as the
operation or acts of the creature only ? Would
not this be an exclusion of God from His own
dominion ? The acts of the Redeemer to which
John refers, as not recorded, are not less Divine
than those which have obtained a place in the
sacred narrative. In like manner, the dispen-
sations of providence relating to the world, and
to the history of humanity in the world, are as
really Divine as any recorded in connexion with
the history of His Church. But this is a doc-
trine, not merely to be inferred from the Divine
testimony regarding His moral government, but
a doctrine explicitly stated by the prophet
Isaiah,'-' in which God is represented as the au-
thor of agricultural skill, and also of the ordinary
farming implements.

"Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my
speech,

Doth the plowman plow all day to sow ? Doth he open and
break tho clods of his ground ?

When he hath made plain the face thereof,

Doth he not cast abroad the fitches, amd soatter the cum-
min,

Chapter xxviii. 23—30.

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 255

And cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley, and
the rye in their place?

For his God doth instruct Mm to discretion, and doth teach
him.

For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instru-
ment,

Neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin ;

But the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin
with a rod.

Bread corn is bruised ; because he will not ever be thresh-
ing it,

Nor break it with the wheel of his cart ; nor bruise it with
his horsemen.

This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts

Which is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working."

This passage is so direct and explicit, that it
requires no comment when adduced in proof of
the whole theory propounded in the preceding
chapters. The simple reading of the text, will
convince any mind believing in Bible truth, that
the works of art were emanations of Deity. The
man who will deny the fact in face of this testi-
mony, must be prepared to deny the existence
of God, and to reject that revelation which un-
folds His character. This is a testimony to the
minute care with which the moral Governor
watches over the lives and actions of His crea-
tures. The Spirit here selects the simplest
efforts of human skill, to " subdue the earth,"
and He shows that even these elementary prin-
ciples of agricultural genius must be traced to
the fountain of infinite wisdom. By beginning

256 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

thus, with the simpler arts, would He not teach
us that God is the author of all ? If the plough-
ing, sowing, reaping, and threshing out of the
grain by the simplest Oriental implements be of
God ; on what principle, shall Divine wisdom,
power, and goodness be excluded from the com-
plicated machinery of modern husbandry ? If
the communication of knowledge and wisdom
and power be derived from God, in conducting
the concerns of a farm, is it not equally, nay,
more clearly manifest in the complex machinery
of the workshop, and the factory — in short, of
all that obtains a place in the region of artificial
phenomena ? If the common flail or staff, the
drag, the threshing-wain, and, even the tramp-
ling hoofs of oxen, as employed by the Orientals
in separating the grain from the straw, led the
prophet to adore the Loed of hosts, as " won-
derful in counsel and excellent in working/'
shall those upon whom the light of the Gospel
has risen, become obscure in their views of God's
special providence ? Shall the increase of know-
ledge make men so far forgetful of God that
mechanical inventions will only elicit the wor-
ship of genius ?

If these simpler operations and implements
moved the mind of the ancient prophet, shall
magnetism and steam, and electricity excite no
sense of gratitude to the God of Providence ?

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 257

If the sight of a plough, and the lowing of the
oxen, and the sound of the flail, drew forth
these sublime and pious acknowledgments of
God, shall the spinning-mill, the power-loom,
the steam-ship, the railway, and the electric
telegraph, elicit no glory to the Lord of hosts
who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in
working. God forbid, that with the rapid de-
velopment of the world's resources — the expan-
sion of knowledge — the extension of commerce
— the increase of national wealth — the multipli-
cation of the means of personal and social com-
fort— we should become so far atheistic as to
forget or deny the Author of every blessing !
With the Bible doctrine of a presiding and
directing providence so clearly revealed, shall we
become the worshippers of mammon or bow
down to genius, or sound the note of praise to
national enterprize ? Shall the discoveries in
science, and the inventions of art tend only to
lead this highly favored generation away from
God? Shall the mitigation of the physical
curse only tend to produce fresh acts of rebellion
against the supremacy of the moral Governor ?
Let it not be, is the warning voice of inspira-
tion ! Let it not be, is the solemn response of
enlightened reason ! Let it not be, is the testi-
mony of God engraven at once upon the mental
and artificial phenomena of the world. To be

258 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

guilty of such ingratitude would degrade the
civilized nations below the scale of heathendom.
The bards of Greece and Koine celebrated the
praises of their fictitious deities — the supposed
sources of wealth — the patrons of agriculture, of
science, of art, and of war. Shall Christian
nations withhold from the " Father of lights —
the Giver of every good and perfect gift," that
homage which the heathen world accords to
imaginary deities ? Nay, rather let us plant
our foot upon the firm foundation of a special
providence. Let us see as of old, the operations
of the Spirit revealed in this or that aspect of
human genius. Let us receive every useful in-
vention as a special gift of the bountiful Bene-
factor. Then shall we feel that " God is in the
heavens, in the earth, and in the sea." Then
shall His steps of infinite majesty appear in the
mighty deep, and on the swelling tide of human
history. Then shall the traces of omnipotence
be seen inscribed upon every mechanical, as
really as upon every natural object. Then shall
it be felt that God's presence is not confined to
consecrated temples or hallowed shrines ; nor
the homage which he justly claims, to the stated
worship of the Sabbath or the sanctuary. While
heaven is His throne, and earth His footstool ;
angels and men, in all the busy walks of life,
are but His agents. Consequently, amidst the

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 259

revolving wheels of the factory — the sounding
hammers of the workshop — the rushing car-
riages of the railway, and the trembling vi-
brations of the electric telegraph, the Divine
presence may be seen and felt as really as when
reflected by the sublimest objects of natural
scenery. To the devout philosopher, the pious
mechanic, and the Christian operative, the vari-
ous works of art must appear as the spontaneous
emanations of infinite wisdom, and the standing
monuments of boundless beneficence.

Were we heaven-taught, as we might have
been, with the Bible for our guide, we would
discover by a spiritual intuition, that the natural,
the intellectual, and the moral, are but three
concentric spheres of which God is the author ;
in and over every department of which Divine
sovereignty and glory are peculiarly displayed.
Consequently, that which holds true of the uni-
verse— that " without Him was not any thing
made that was made/' is also true of the entire
region of artificial phenomena. The genius
that contrived, the skill that formed, and the
materials out of which every invention was con-
structed, furnish no exception to this universal
announcement. That propriety which God as
Creator claims over the artificer in iron, is ap-
plicable to every constructor of machinery.
" Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth

260 THEOLOGY OF INVENVlONS.

the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an
instrument for his work, and I have created the
waster to destroy/' The artisan that forges the
sword of destruction, the iron of which it is
formed, and the hand that wields it, are but
different instruments employed by the God of
providence to avenge His quarrel. If this be
true regarding the weapons of war, is it not
equally true of those inventions which confer in-
numerable blessings upon the family of man ?
And is it not evident if they are God's, to
Him redounds the glory, whosoever may be em-
ployed to discover their elementary principles,
or to adjust their due proportions ?

However vast may be the expansion of mind
in the contemplation of nature, there is here
also a source of mental elevation when behold-
ing the rude elements of her material system re-
modelled in innumerable forms of utility and
beauty. In not a few cases the inanimate
elements are presented as the very automatons of
active life ; doing man's work and increasing
general comfort. Nothing in science or art is
so humble as to be unworthy of notice, nor so
simple, if viewed in a believing spirit, as not to
afford profitable lessons. The fact that God has
made provision in nature for its production, and
in due time created the reflecting agent to ad-
just its proportions, is sufficient to invest it with

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 261

a permanent interest. As a mere machine, it
is associated with a living agent, by whom its
symmetry was evolved. That moral agent is asso-
ciated with a still higher intelligence — even
with the Author of the universe. Of all that is
sublime in nature, the mind of man is the most
exalted. Though now a ruin, it bears evidence
of its original glory. Even as fallen, it exhibits
some of the remaining rays of Divine efful-
gence.

"Search, undismayed, the dark profound,
Where Nature works in secret ; view the beds
Of mineral treasure, and the eternal vault
That bounds the hoary ocean ; trace the forms
Of atoms, moving with incessant change,
Their elemental round ; behold the seeds
Of being, and the energy of life
Kindling the mass with ever active flame ;
Then to the secrets of the working mind
Attentive turn ; from dim oblivion call
Her fleet ideal band ; and bid them go
Break through time's barrier, and o'ertake the hour
That saw the heavens created. Then declare,
If aught were found in these external scenes
To move thy wonder now." — Akenside.

CHAPTER VII.

INQUIRY REGARDING THE SOURCE OF THAT DIFFERENCE OF
CONCEPTION WITH WHICH THE MIND IS WONT TO VIEW THE
WORKS OF NATURE AS COMPARED WITH MECHANICAL IN-
VENTIONS.

The source of that difference of feeling with
which man contemplates artificial, as contrasted
with natural phenomena, becomes an important
subject of inquiry. Having proved that both
are of God, and that both are designed to re-
flect the Divine glory ; how is it, that in the one,
God is almost universally acknowledged, while
in the other he is almost as universally disre-
garded ? How is it that even the Bible student
— absorbed though he may be with the wonders
of redemption — can yet overlook any department
of the works of God, or mentally exclude the
Deity from the walks of science, or the achieve-
ments of art ? Whence that apathy of the me-
chanic, which leads him to contemplate with
indifference those manifestations of wisdom and
goodness, which are brought to light by the in-
vestigations of philosophy, and made to minister

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 263

to human comfort by the inventions of art ?
How is it that a cascade or a boiling fountain
— a burning volcano or an eddying whirlpool —
a deep defile or a towering mountain — a bril-
liant star or a glowing worm — a blazing sun or
a shining pearl— will tend at once to lift the
meditative soul to God ? And yet the same in-
dividual— be he peasant or philosopher — may
be conducted through the most intricate and
beautiful works of art, and recognize not that
God is there ! He may admire the complicated
machinery of the spinning-mill, with its thou-
sands of revolving wheels and belts and shafts
and spindles — he may survey the mighty engine
standing at majestic distance, propelling them
all, in their complex and reflex revolutions, as
if moved at will by some master spirit of irre-
sistible authority — he may stand upon the beach
and behold the gallant ship dashing through the
angry surf, or breasting the mountain billow,
propelled by the same artificial power of steam
-he may mark the rapid progress of the rail-
way train as dragged at will by the breathing
locomotive — he may recognise the presence of
the mimic lightning, noiselessly receiving its
message, and ascending with trembling footsteps
the wiry path-way to distant continents — you
may show him the products of mechanical skill
— inventions of every description — from the

264 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

agricultural implements of savage life to the
draining, watering, reaping, threshing, steam-
propelling instruments of a model farm — you
may include naval architecture, from the wicker
skin-covered coracle of the ancient Druid, to the
British man-of-war or steam-propelled fleet —
you may rise in the survey from the Oriental
maiden's distaff, to the princely merchant's
spinning-mill — nay, you may traverse the nave,
the galleries, and the suburbs of this world's
" Palace of Industry," and yet not hear one note
of response to the devotional announcement of
the prophet, " this also cometJi forth from the
Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel
and excellent in working ;" nor one expression
of sympathy with the apocalyptic elders as seen
by John, casting their crowns at the feet of Him
who sat upon the throne, exclaiming in holy
ecstacy, " Thou art worthy, 0 Lord, to receive
glory, and honor, and power, for Thou hast
created all things, and for Thy glory they are
and were created !"

For this difference of feeling in the review of
mechanical inventions, as contrasted with natu-
ral objects, many reasons might be adduced and
largely illustrated from human experience.
Every mind might present some new phase of
the subject, though all may be traced to one
source— the natural atheism of depraved hu-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 265

manity. That God is dishonored by mental
exclusion from any department of His works,
must be apparent to every reflecting mind.
Hence, before concluding the arguments already
presented, the following reasons are assigned as
some of the more prominent in leading to the
practical denial of the wisdom and goodness of
God:—

FIKST — THE HUMAN MIND RECOGNIZES IN NATU-
RAL PHENOMENA THE IMMEDIATE CREATIONS
OF DEITY, WHILE IT BEHOLDS IN MECHANICAL
INVENTIONS, THE PRODUCTIONS OF GENIUS.

This difference of conception arises not simply
from that disparity which must ever exist, be-
tween the works of God, and those of the most
exalted of His creatures. We admit the con-
trast, and hold that the mind must be atheistic,
indeed, that cannot, or rather will not recognize
the impress of the Divine hand upon the stu-
pendous works of nature. The experience of
David meets a response in every bosom, in which
reason has not been completely perverted, when
beholding the wonderful works of Deity, he ex-
claimed, " The heavens declare the glory of
God, and the firmament sheweth His handy-
work." In the least — if we can pronounce upon
magnitude, where creative power alone operates
— as well as in the greatest the presence and
12

266 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

power of God are distinctly visible. The ephe-
meral insect, fluttering in the sunbeam, pro-
claims the divinity of its Author as much as the
soaring eagle, borne aloft upon his untiring
pinions, beyond the reach of human vision, in
the azure vault of heaven. The animalculas,
whose ocean is a single drop from the stagnant
pool, declares by its existence, that the life giv-
ing God is there, as really, as the mighty levi-
athan, whose watery habitation and store-house
encircle the globe. The molecule of light, as
truly as the blazing sun, reflects the glory of
Him who dispelled chaotic darkness by the
word of His power. And, what is true of one
is true of all the productions of creative energy.
Regarding the whole of these, the reason of the
philosopher responds to the faith of the Chris-
tian while exclaiming with gratitude —

" My Father made them all."

This clearly proves, that it is not mere mag-
nitude, nor apparent utility, which produces
disparity of feeling in the contemplation of na-
tural as contrasted with artificial phenomena.
Neither is it the wonderful mechanism of the
former, as compared with the latter, that gives
rise to pious emotions in reviewing nature, while
the review of inventions is calculated to excite
only speculative ideas regarding commerce and

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 267

profit. It seems that this disparity arises partly
from the association of ideas with them, as the
productions of different agents. In the natural
world the hand of God is seen directly and ex-
clusively. The history of creation exhibits these
objects as formed before man had a being ; hence
they are associated in human conception, with
Divine attributes. In the artificial phenomena
of the world, the hand of man is seen inclusively
and proximately, consequently, overlooking the
Author of the artisan, and the work of art pro-
duced, the mind is ready to associate inventions
with man entirely, and to exclude from its con-
ceptions the perfections of Deity. Forgetful of
the universal Proprietor, mental associations are
connected with the immediate object, and the
proximate agent by which it has assumed its
present form, rather than with the original
elements, and the powers of genius in their re-
lation to the Creator of both. There is thus a
mental transference of the invention from God,
the primary cause of its existence, to man the
immediate agent employed in its construction.
Thus, the steam-engine is associated with the
genius of Watt, while the relations to God of the
iron and brass — the water and the coal — the
mental faculties and skilful hands — are com-
pletely forgotten. It is thus, that in the mental
separation of the artificial, from the natural

268 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

phenomena, there is a separation of all associated
ideas, and this separation extends to the Author
as well as to the objects. In consequence of
this, there is a corresponding transference of the
glory which is due to God, to the creature em-
ployed and qualified as an agent in accomplishing
the Divine purposes. This has given rise to the
atheistic adage —

"God made the country, but man made the town" —

while it is evident that nothing can possibly be
exhibited in the erection of the town, but the
elements of which have been provided in the
country, and no skill or genius can be displayed
but such as God has communicated. " The earth
is the Lord's and the fulness thereof, the world
and they that dwell therein."

SECOND THERE IS AN INNATE TENDENCY IN

DEPRAVED HUMANITY, TO EXCLUDE THE IDEA
OF GOD THE FIRST CAUSE, WHEREVER REASON
CAN DISCERN THE OPERATION OF AN INTEL-
LIGENT PROXIMATE CAUSE.

The original error of Adam is oft repeated by
his posterity. He turned for happiness from
the Author of his being, to the subjects of his
dominion — from the Creator of all his comforts,
to the creature, denied in infinite wisdom. This

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 269

is the radical error of all his fallen descendents.
The more of human reason there is displayed in
any object, the less is God, the Author, of reason
recognized. " The fool hath said in his heart,
no God." Under a sense of guilt, and a conse-
quent dread of punishment, yet resolved to
gratify his depraved lusts and appetites, the de-
sire of the heart, rather than the conviction of
the understanding is, that there were no God.
And, it is not in the moral world only that the
unrenewed soul would seek to dethrone Jehovah.
It would, if possible, banish every trace of God
from the universe. The carnal mind would
willingly exclude Deity from the moral world,
as it has practically done from the natural and
artificial ; because, if convictions of the presence
of God be retained, in association with any de-
partment of His works, it is impossible to ex-
tinguish a sense of responsibility. It is natural
therefore, to exclude the thoughts of God from
those works with which sinful man is most con-
versant ; and especially from those artificial
works in the construction or use of which selfish-
ness, envy, jealousy, and pride, are the predomi-
nating motives. It would be difficult for the
most depraved, to over-reach and defraud, in
the current transactions of business, with appar-
ent complacency, if the presence of God, even
as the God of infinite wisdom and goodness

270 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

were felt, as reflected in the artificial phenomena
by which the mechanic or the operative is daily
surrounded. " No God " is consequently the
wish, and no God is the unphilosophical conclu-
sion attained in the face of the clearest evidence
revealing His character. "It is thus that the
atheistic heart makes atheistic logic."

The palpable fallacy, which would not be ad-
mitted for a moment in the simplest chain of
reasoning regarding causation in the natural
world, is voluntarily adopted in deciding upon
the first, and fundamental question of all exist -
ence, and eternal destiny. The denial of the
existence of God, or of His providential arrange-
ments in any department of His works is not so
much simple atheism, as antetheism. It is not
a feeling of indifference only, in regard to that
relation which man sustains to the Author of his
being, but the risings of rebellion against the
holy nature, and righteous claims of the moral
Governor. Such sceptics cannot think of God
without a sense of actual hatred. Their eyes
are voluntarily closed against the evidence of
His existence, because the fact of that existence
to the resolute sinner is the foreboding of eternal
destruction. The sceptic does violence at once
to God, and to his own mental constitution.
Because conscience warns him of danger, and
reproves him under a sense of guilt, he would

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 271

root up this radical principle from his sentient
nature. Should he succeed in obliterating the
last remnants of his moral sense, or even con-
vince himself that there is no God, will he
prove a more faithful husband, a more affec-
tionate father, a kinder master, a better servant,
a more confidential friend, or a more useful
member of society ? Will he soar higher upon
the wings of genius, than the believer in God,
or leave behind him the precious ointment of a
better name ? The concurrent testimony of
centuries proves the very opposite. The sceptic,
as a moral Upas, poisons the atmosphere of so-
ciety, and blights the last remnants of human
happiness. How can it be otherwise ? As well
might the earth expect a summer, were the sun
of nature blotted out from the universe ! To
reject the conviction that God is present, acting
in, producing, regulating, restraining and over-
ruling all facts, times, persons, and events, is to
aggravate ten thousand fold the perplexities and
miseries of humanity. Once drifted from the
sure anchorage of faith in Divine providence, or
the sense of a presiding Deity, the human soul
is tossed like a shivered bark amidst the con-
flicting elements, without chart or compass,
helm or sounding line. To such an one crea-
tion is a chaos, and thick darkness broods in-
cessantly over its fairest scenes of life and beauty.

272 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

The events of providence to such are confusion
worse confounded. What next ? amid the ap-
parently new career of uncertainties, is a ques-
tion that must excite the deepest anxiety. The
floating clouds of moral gloom are suspended
upon all sides, which if lifted at all, only admit
a sufficiency of light to make the " blackness of
darkness" visible. This is no exaggeration of
the sceptic's feeling. The dread reality could be
illustrated by the life and deathbed of hundreds,
who in the agonies of violated nature, have
borne testimony to their own experience. Thus
David Hume, the infidel philosopher, and avowed
enemy of all true religion, recorded the writhings
of his mental misery.

" I am affrighted and confounded with the
forlorn solitude in which I am placed by my
philosophy. When I look abroad, I see on every
side dispute, contradiction, destruction. When
I turn my eye inward, I find nothing but doubt
and ignorance. Where am I ? or what ? From
what cause do I derive my existence, and to
what condition shall I return ? I am confounded
with these questions, and begin to fancy myself
in the most deplorable condition imaginable,
environed with the deepest darkness." This ex-
position of infidel experience is but the groan-
ings of a spirit whose elementary principles
have been violated by sheer enmity to that God

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 273

whom it cannot dethrone. Let another of the
rebel chiefs be interrogated respecting his
boasted freedom and mental independence.
" Who," says Voltaire, " can without horror
consider the whole world as the empire of de-
struction ? It abounds with wonders, it abounds
also with victims. It is a vast field of carnage,
and contagion. Every species is without pity
pursued and torn to pieces through the earth,
the air, the water. In man there is more
wretchedness than in all other animals put .to-
gether. He loves life, and yet he knows that he
must die. This knowledge is his fatal preroga-
tive : other animals have it not. He spends the
transient moments of his existence in diffusing
the miseries which he suffers — cutting the
throats of his fellow-creatures for pay — -in cheat-
ing and being cheated — in robbing and being
robbed, and in repenting of all he does. The
bulk of mankind are nothing more than a crowd
of wretches, equally criminal and unfortunate.
I tremble at the review of this dreadful picture
— I wish I had never been born."

These extracts have been introduced as faintly
representing the mental conflict, by which the
bosoms of the whole infidel class are torn through
self-inflicted torture. It is impossible to con-
ceive views more gloomy, out of the place of
eternal doom. It is true that such men are
12*

274 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

wont to represent Christianity, or even the be-
lief of a God, as calculated to produce a sense
of moral gloom. The theory we have been pro-
pounding would, in their estimation, be an
eclipse of human glory — the suspension of a
cloud over the joyous and busy scenes of human
industry. But where can any thing be found
in the experience of the believer akin to this ?
Were there ever lighter hearts, or happier work-
men, than those who constructed the Tabernacle ?
The beams of Divinity reflected through the
genius of Bezaleel and Aholiab, shed a light upon
the elements of nature, which resolved every
problem, and made the labors of the " wise-
hearted" artificers joyous and pleasant. Would
not a similar sense of the Divine presence dis-
pel the clouds in which many of our modern
mechanics are laboring in sullen gloom ? And
would not a believing trust in the God of provi-
dence enable many of our desponding operatives,
in times of depression and trial, to say in the
language of the prophet, "Although the fig-tree
shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the
vines ; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the
fields shall yield no meat ; the flocks shall be cut
off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in
the stalls ; yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will
joy in the God of my salvation."
It is not, however, with speculative atheism,

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 275

or antetheism, that we have more immediately
to do. It is rather with that practical atheism
which pervades the human heart — that tendency
to forget God in the matters of common life —
against which even the believer must resolutely
struggle. There is a disposition to limit the
presence of Deity to the highest heavens, or at
least to the sacred sanctuaries raised amidst the
scenes of the earth — an unbelief that would say
to the Divine attributes, "Hitherto shalt thou
come, but no farther." There is an expedient
policy which would freely admit the Divine pre-
sence in certain peculiar circumstances of a re-
ligious kind, but which would be disposed to
say, " Abide here by the sanctuary, while I go
and trade }^onder." This is the practical atheism
which is so widely spread among all classes in
our manufactories, workshops, and marts of mer-
chandise. Of a very large proportion it may
be said, in truth, that " God is not in all their
thoughts." How, then, can they see His glory ;
either in the works of nature, or in those mecha-
nical works which He has brought into exis-
tence, by the intervention of man as a spiritual
agency ?

276 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

THIRD — THE MORAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
RESPECTIVE AGENCIES TEND TO FOSTER THAT
DISPARITY OF FEELING, WHICH DISPLAYS IT-
SELF IN THE CONTEMPLATION OF ARTIFICIAL,
AS CONTRASTED WITH NATURAL PHENOMENA.

In beholding the works of nature, the mind
conceives of a holy and beneficent Being creat-
ing, arranging, and preserving all for wise and
holy purposes. But in the contemplation of the
most distinguished inventions, the depravity of
man clings to His works in our mental concep-
tions. Viewed historically, also, many of the
inventions of men are constructed from sinful
motives, and jierverted to sinful purposes. The
man of brilliant genius may be, and not unfre-
quently is, a very wicked man ; hence, by the very
association of ideas, the moral character of the
agent is transformed to the work of art pro-
duced. In consequence of this, the superficial
thinker sees more of God in the instinct of a
humble insect than in the most exalted men-
tal powers of a distinguished genius. Thus, for
example, the wonderful instincts displayed in
the bee hive have elicited the admiration of
heathen poets, and the highest eulogiums of
Bible-taught believers ; while few of either class
seem to have discovered still greater wonders in
the industrial instincts of their fellow-men. Why

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 277

is this ? In the contemplation of pure instinct,
as displayed in the bee hive, the mind is intui-
tively lifted up to that God by whom it was
implanted. Why are not similar, yea, sublimer,
feelings excited in surveying a sugar plantation,
where the works and designs are in some
respects similar ? The reason is obvious. Here
there is a moral eclipse ! The element of human
depravity is present in full development ! The
laborers are slaves. Slaves of the planter, as
regards their civil rights, but worse slaves of
sin, that bitter plant transmitted through the
root of human depravity ! A sense of their
wrongs as men, and of their guilt as transgres-
sors, pervades every thought regarding the pro-
ducts of their labor. In many respects their
work resembles that of the bees. Both are ex-
tracting the luscious treasures deposited in the
storehouse of nature. Both are toiling with a
view to personal interest, though, in the one
case, every act is voluntary, with a view to en-
joyment ; while, in the other, it is the result of
constraint, arising from a desire to avoid a greater
evil. Both are preparing luxuries for man. But
among the inhabitants of the hive there is no
tyranny. Tears and blood mingle not with their
produce, as they frequently do with the stores
extracted by the degraded slave. Their song-
mingles with the melody of nature, while joy-

278 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

fully hastening from flower to flower, beneath
the bright ray of the summer sun. They sip, as
necessity requires, their own sweet nectar, during
the dreary months of winter. Whereas the poor
slave too frequently mingles his sigh with the
pestilential breeze. He is moved like a mere
machine, by propulsion from without, preparing
the juice of the sugar cane to sweeten the Euro-
pean cup of comfort, without knowing the plea-
sure of possessing, or the luxury of enjoying, the
fruits of his toil. Besides, in the happy hive,
there is no rude violence, no swearing, no pro-
fane language, no dissipation, no immorality.
It is far otherwise, not only with the benighted
slave in the toils of the plantation, but with the
sons of boasted freedom in the factory and the
workshop. The most splendid achievements of
art are too frequently stained by the immorality
of the artisan. The obscene jests and profane
oaths of our manufactories, not unfrequently
tarnish their brightest ornaments in our moral
conceptions. Now, as all these elements of
thought are combined in beholding the works
of art, the mind insensibly not only detracts
from the manifestations of Deity therein exhi-
bited, but is disposed to consider them as though
they were completely separated from (rod, their
divine author. Even the pious mind is ready
to vield to the feeling, that if a genuine servant

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 279

of God can scarcely occupy a place in many of
our public works, without his soul being daily
vexed with the profane conversation of his com-
panions in labor, how can God Himself be
there ? But this is to overlook the fact of His
omnipresence, to exclude the idea of His univer-
sal dominion, and to forget that He employs
even wicked men as the ministers of comfort
to humanity ; and, as in the case of Balak and
Balaam, makes the wrath of man to praise
Him.

In the latter day, when " knowledge shall be
increased," and when the " wise-hearted" and
the " willing-hearted" shall provoke each other
to love and good works — when " holiness unto
the Lord shall be upon the bells of the horses,
and every pot in Jerusalem shall be holy," then
the mists of infidelity shall for ever vanish, and
the monuments of human skill shall be no
longer tarnished by the rust of immorality.
Every trophy of genius shall reflect the glory
of God, and point the thoughts of man to the
bountiful Benefactor.

280 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

FOURTH — FROM THE COMMON POINT OF OBSERVA-
TION, MEN ARE MORE AFFECTED BY PROXI-
MATE OBJECTS ADDRESSED TO SENSE, THAN BY
A REMOTE SPIRITUAL OBJECT ADDRESSED TO
FAITH.

This might be illustrated largely both from
reason and Revelation. - The atheistic philoso-
pher recognizes a certain connexion between
cause and effect in nature, though he admits not
the same connexion between the world and God,
as the source of all causation. He believes that
fire burns — that light dispels the deepest dark-
ness, but he believes not that " the worlds were
framed by the word of God" — that the original
darkness was made to vanish when " God said,
Let there be light, and there was light." Thus
also he beholds the triumphs of science and art,
as the productions of applied genius ; while he is
told in vain of that God by whom the materials
were deposited at earth's formation, by whom the
body and the soul of the artificer were created at
the appointed time, and by whose Spirit that
genius was inspired, wherewith the forms of
utility and beauty were successively evolved.
Nor is this fallacy common only to the sceptic.
It pervades the entire constitution of fallen
humanity, and is displayed in subjects of eter-
nal importance.

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 281

How difficult, at any time, and even upon
subjects the most momentous, to arouse human
activity, or to excite personal interest, by the
strongest appeals to motives presented only to
faith ? Tell a man that a fire has broken out
upon the side of the city opposite to that in
which he dwells, and tell him of the possibility
that the consuming flames may reach his habi-
tation in their dire progress ; how comparatively
small his excitement, because the distance of
the fire, which he has not yet seen, affords hope
of escape. But let the same man see his nearest
neighbor's house ignited, his fears are at once
awakened, and all his activities put forth to
avert the impending danger. Or, to apply the
same test in reference to things temporal and
spiritual, the burning roof of a human dwelling
will present stronger inducements to activity
upon the part of the inmates, than the fullest
description which the Bible gives of the " worm
that dieth not, and of the fire that shall never
be quenched/' as the final portion of the impeni-
tent sinner. And why is this, but because of
the unbelief of the carnal heart ? Depraved man
is more affected by the temporal calamity ad-
dressed to sense, and in immediate prospect,
than by the dreadful infliction of eternal punish-
ment, as addressed to faith, but seemingly far in
the distance.

282 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

Thus it is with mechanical inventions, when
compared with natural objects. Sense seizes
the inventor, or the artisan, being the proximate
agent, glad to discover an intelligent cause upon
its own level ; while faith must rise above the
intermediate agency to the first cause, or Author
of both the agent and his work. Nor is this
all. In such a mental process the mind is car-
ried above and beyond an agent to whom it
feels a natural approximation, to one at an infi-
nite distance, both natural and moral. It is
only the believer in God who " walks by faith,
and not by sight ; " and, consequently, the me-
dium through which God reveals his attributes,
both in the book of nature and the book of pro-
vidence, is mistaken for himself. Hence the
praise that is due to His name, from every new
discovery and mechanical invention, is freely
lavished upon the intelligent instrument by
whom it has been introduced to the notice of
the world. As reasonably might the honor of
a victory be ascribed to the warrior's steed, or
the regal homage rendered to a beloved Sove-
reign be lavished upon the state chariot by
which the royal personage was borne through
the streets of the capital to the palace and the
throne, as to give to man, the created instru-
ment, the honor which is due to God the
Author ! Hence, we infer, that the enlightened

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 283

citizen who worships genius, and who makes
the gifts of heaven an occasion of rebellion, dis-
honors God more than the degraded Indian
who bows down to the dragon-fly sporting in the
sunbeam, or renders homage to the base reptile
crawling in the dust !

FIFTH — THE TENDENCY OF HUMAN PRIDE IS TO
EXALT THE CREATURE, AND DETHRONE THE
CREATOR.

It is generally believed that pride lay at the
root of the first development of moral evil in the
universe. It entered largely into the first temp-
tation. " Ye shall be as gods, knowing good
and evil." It has characterized the whole his-
tory of man's rebellion against G-od. It is the
last point yielded in the subjugation of the soul
by the power of the Spirit ; and all other ele-
ments, it forms a chief ingredient in that aliena-
tion of the heart from God, which leads man to
reject, even the overtures of redeeming love.
That native pride, which would dethrone the
Deity in the moral world, is equally ready to
disown him in the primary works of creation,
and in the progressive emanations of wisdom,
power, and goodness, as these are displayed in
the dispensations of Providence. This charac-
teristic of depraved humanity is well described
by the Scottish poet Pollok, when he says —

284 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

"Pride, self-adoring pride ; was primal cause
Of all sin past, all pain, all woe to come.
Unconquerable pride ; first, eldest sin,
Great fountain head of evil! highest source,
"Whence flowed rebellion 'gainst the Omnipotent.
Whence hate of man, and all else ill.
Pride at the bottom of the human heart
Lay, and gave root and nourishment to all
That grew above. Great ancestor of vice !
Hate, unbelief, and blasphemy of God.

Pride

It was the ever moving, acting force,
The constant aim, and the most thirsty wish
Of every sinner unrenewed, to be
A God ; in purple, or in rags to have
Himself adored."

SIXTH — GENERAL NEGLECT IN CULTIVATING THAT
PIOUS SPIRIT OF OBSERVATION, WHICH RECOG-
NIZES GOD IN EVERY EVENT AND OBJECT, TENDS
TO THE EXCLUSION OF THE RECOGNITION OF
DEITY IN RELATION TO MECHANICAL INVENTIONS.

The habit of spiritual contemplation must be
cherished in order to its growth, and general
application in viewing the objects with which
we are surrounded. In savage life the sublimest
objects of nature excite no perceptions of beauty,
and awake no feelings of interest, unless when
associated with acts of idolatrous worship.
Those scenes of nature which awake the
sublimest strains of poetry, and which elicit the
most glowing descriptions from the cultivated
tourist, move not the lethargic soul of the child

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 285

of ignorance. Nor is this absence of the con-
templative spirit confined to the untutored
savage ; it is common to all in whom the habit
of observation has not been cherished. The
rustic, though surrounded by the most cultivated
minds, if unaccustomed to reflection, will see
nothing to admire even in nature's beauty.

" The primrose by the river's brim
A yellow primrose is to him,
And it is nothing more."

It cannot* for a moment arrest his thought, nor
excite any peculiar emotions. But to the
botanist it is invested with scientific interest.
To the believing observer of nature's profusion,
its fragrance and beauty are calculated to
awaken the liveliest emotions of gratitude to
that God who has constituted the world not
only a store-house of essential provisions, but
also a floral depository of beauty's choicest
treasures.

The cultivation of taste invests every object
with peculiar interest. This interest once ex-
cited, and associated with faith in God, must
necessarily lead the mind from nature to the
Author of all existence ; and also from the tran-
sitory operations of nature to the embodied acts
of Divine Providence. In a similar way, the
sanctified cultivation of science and art, and the
pious habit of viewing mechanical objects in

286 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

relation to the moral government of God, and
the happiness of His creatures, must necessarily
tend to enlarge our conceptions of Divine wis-
dom, power, and goodness. Were pious parents
imbued with the same sense of the providence
of God, in leading their children through the
productions of art, which many are, in beholding
and in directing the youthful mind to the won-
ders of nature, there is reason to hope that at
no distant period, the region of artificial, might
re-echo in unison with the world of natural phe-
nomena, proclaiming the presence and power of
Deity to every beholder. Then would all feel
disposed to respond to the Psalmist, when lifting
up his soul in the contemplations of Divine good-
ness, he exclaims, " Thy works jDraise Thee, 0
Lord, Thy saints bless Thee."

These reasons for the non-recognition of God
in the works of art can furnish no excuse to the
Bible reader. In the teachings of the sacred
volume, every element, and object, and creature,
are traced to God as their Author, and to the
manifestation of the Divine glory as their end.
The rightful claim, as Author of man, and all
the works and wisdom of man, He will not
forego — the glory He will not give to another.
The earth replenished with the descendents of
Adam, the earth transformed by human in-
genuity— is under tribute to God in every ele-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 287

merit, in every existence, in every invention, as
really as it was when originally created. Hence
we infer that the non-recognition of God, in
relation to any object, is the practical embodi-
ment of infidelity ; and that the worship of
genius by a refined and civilized people is more
offensive to the God of Revelation than even the
superstitious homage which the benighted na-
tions of heathenism render to their imaginary
deities. Is it, therefore, any wonder, when that
God who sent the pestilence with the miraculous
provision of the ungrateful Israelites, should send
at times increase of misery with mechanical gifts
to a people who will not so much as acknowledge
their Author ? The gift is not withheld — the
Divine purpose is accomplished — but the inven-
tion, like the world under the curse, is restrained
in its ultimate power to bless, until the receiver
shall recognize the beneficence of the giver, and
until the benediction of the moral Governor
shall accompany the machinery bestowed. The
extension of Scriptural knowledge shall ulti-
mately lead to the universal recognition of the
claims of Jehovah. When the way of the Lord
is known upon the earth, and His saving health
among the nations, " Then shall the earth yield
her increase ; and God, even our God, shall
bless us. God shall bless us ; and all the ends
of the earth shall fear Him."

288 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.
IN CONCLUSION.

Let none despise the sons of toil. They are a
part of the machinery by which the beneficent
purposes of God are accomplished. Let none
be ashamed of the duties of his humble calling
To labor was honorable in Paradise before the
fall. It has opened up the path to honor ever
since, and shall in the Providence of God usher
in the physical comfort, and social honors of
the Millennial world. Let the operative bless
God for the means of employment, and the im-
plements of industry. Let the artisan study
closer the elements of nature, that he may appro-
priate and employ them for the benefit of man-
kind. Let those who are relieved from harassing
labor devote their leisure hours to the acquisi-
tion of knowledge, and the objects of philan-
thropy. Let genius bow in reverent homage
to the God of infinite wisdom who giveth to all
men liberally, and upbraideth not. Let none
be exalted in the achievements of human in-
genuity. The triumphs of science are not the
products of finite wisdom, but the revelations of
eternal purposes — the footprints of Omnipotence,
upon the sands of human existence. The tide
of popularity, or the whirlpool of selfishness,
may for a season seem to obliterate the primary
impression, but the world shall yet discover that

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 289

God was there, and in the end it will be patent
to every observer that, as there is nothing use-
less in the kingdom of nature, so there is no-
thing superfluous or wanting in the kingdom of
Providence. Even now it is evident, to every re-
flecting mind, that those inventions which prove
a failure, as regards the object of the artisan,
and which are not unfrequently the jest of the
scientific world, are yet made subservient to the
designs of God, by stirring up other minds
through which He communicates other imple-
ments. " Thus saith the Lord, let not the wise
man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty
man glory in his might, let not the rich man
glory in his riches ; but let him that glorieth
glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth
Me, that I am the Lord, which exercise loving
kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the
earth/'

Let us carry a sense of the Divine presence
into all the walks and relations of life. Let the
eye of faith gaze upon every aspect of artificial
phenomena, as it does upon the changing scenes
of the vast and sublime in nature. In every
distinguished genius, let us see the reflection of
fresh rays from the central Sun of the universe.
In every discovery, let us behold the dawning
beams of that Divine light which is destined to
illuminate our world. And while we mark the
13

290 THEOLOv.lV OF INVENTIONS.

rapid progress of this enterprising age, let us
"behold with joy the majestic shadow of Omni-
potence sweeping over the currents of time, ad-
justing the most complicated events, while
restraining the influence of the most refractory
agents, and directing the steps of the wise and
the prudent. It is thus that the providence of
God is found seizing the elements of mind and
of matter, in order to combine, harmonize, and
reproduce them in mechanical form, for the ad-
vancement of His glory, in the comfort and hap-
piness of man. And while we gaze in wonder
at the works of nature, and while we turn in
amazement at the marvels of art, let us hear the
re-echo of the voice of the Eternal, as it once
came from the throne of universal dominion —
" I am the Lord ; that is My name, and My glory
will I not give to another/'

Let those who mingle with the scenes and
subjects of toil, be reminded by the revolving
machinery, of the goodness of that God who
directs and sustains the mechanism of the uni-
verse. Let the manifestations of Infinite Wis-
dom sweeten the hours of labor, and dispel
from the mind those gloomy clouds of discontent-
ment, which are evidently of Satan's brooding,
and which ascend as the poisoned malaria of
envy from the bottomless pit. The design of
the seducer is to spread a cloud of gloom ovei

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 291

every portion of human history, and to render
the descendents of Adam dissatisfied amidst the
profusion of Divine beneficence, as their first
father was with the fulness of Paradise. Thus,
by exciting the feelings of jealousy, man is made
the enemy of his fellow-man, and class is leagued
against class in the social fabric. Ought not
those who are dependent on the same bounty
to live in amity ? Why should any aggravate
the trials of a fellow-laborer, or increase the
sorrows of a dependent ? Should not all rather
unite in the song of praise with the symphony
of nature ? Let the cords of mutual sympathy
be drawn closer around the hearts of those who
employ and those who labor, that both may
occupy their appropriate sphere, and each fulfil
his relative destiny. Let all look above the dic-
tates of human wisdom, and the acts of human
legislation, to the administration of the Moral
Governor. He alone can open the channels of
national or personal sustenance. He alone can
solve the hidden problems of science and of social
comfort !

That there is approaching a physical, as well as
an Ecclesiastical and Political, Millennium, the
Bible plainly testifies. Until it dawns upon the
benighted world, let faith and hope oil the wheels
of industry. Let gratitude for the gifts bestowed
excite to greater diligence in personal and rela-

292 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

tive duty. The whole circle of the sciences —
the entire development of the arts — the expan-
sion of human knowledge— the progression of
civil liberty — and the increasing wealth of
nations, have an immediate bearing upon the
Church of Christ. And, as easily as He obtained
the services of the ass's colt upon which He rode
in triumph to Jerusalem, so He can render the
whole artificial phenomena of the world subser-
vient to His purposes, when " the Divine glory
shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it
together." As the devout astronomer rejoices
in the discovery of a new planet, and hails with
adoring wonder the approaching silver beams
of some distant sun, to us only a star, so let our
philosophy stand upon the watch-tower, with
the torch of Divine truth in her hand, which
will, in every event and object, declare a present
God ; and ever and anon, as new discoveries
burst upon the mental world, and original works
of art are deposited in the temples of industry,
let there be heard from within a voice proclaim-
ing their Divine Author, and let them find in
the soul of the spectator a spiritual response,
corresponding to the language of David, "0 that
men would praise the Lord for His goodness,
and for His wonderful works to the children of
men !"

How happy would be the inmates of our work-

THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS. 293

shops and factories, were all imbued with the
spirit of the Gospel, and all impressed with
the presence of Deity ? Then would fellow-
laborers provoke each other to love and to
good works. The language of faith would find
embodiment in such poetic effusions as the
following, addressed by an artisan to his com-
panions, during the elemental strife of Chartism,
which seemed ready to explode in a social revo-
lution : —

: God, my brothers, will not leave us,

Still His heaven is o'er us bent ;
His commandments are not grievous,

Do His will, and be content.
Only truth and love shall nourish,

In the end, beloved mates ;
Onhr charity can nourish

Those whom charity creates.
Believe in God.

1 Tou have wrongs by forge and furnace,

You have darkness, you have dread,
But you work in radiant harness,

And your God is overhead.
Does not night bring forth the morning?

Does not darkness father light ?
Even now we have forewarning,
Brothers, of the close of night.
Believe in God.

1 Many, many are the shadows
That the dawn of truth reveals ;

Beautiful on life's broad meadows
Is the light the Christian feels.

294 THEOLOGY OF INVENTIONS.

Evil shall give place to goodness,
Wrong be dispossess'd by right ;

Out of old chaotic rudeness
God evokes a world of light.
Believe in God.

" Do ye toil ? 0, freer, firmer

Ye shall grow beneath your toil :
Only craven spirits murmur,
Lightly rooted in the soil.
Through the gloom, and through the darkness,

Through the danger and the dole,
Through the mist and through the murkness,
Travels the great human soul.
Believe in God.

M I through doubt and darkness travel,
Through the agony and gloom,
Hoping that I shall unravel

This strange web beyond the tomb.
0, my brothers ! men heroic !

"Workers both with hand and brain !
'Tis the Christian, not the Stoic,
That best triumphs over pain.
Believe in God.

"0, my brothers! love and labor,
Conquer wrong by doing right ;
Truth alone must be your sabre,

Love alone your shield in fight.
Virtues yet shall cancel vices ;
Look aboA% beloved mates !
Only God Himself suffices

Those whom tiod alone createa
Behove in God."

THE END.

mat 3 1 1968