And when the atheist descanted on
the unceasing motion and circulation of matter through the animal,
vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, never resting, never annihilated,
always changing form, and under all forms gifted with the power of
reproduction; the theist pointing 'to the heavens above, and to the
earth beneath, and to the waters under the earth,' asked, if these did
not proclaim a first cause, possessing intelligence and power; power
in the production, and intelligence in the design, and constant
preservation of the system; urged the palpable existence of final
causes; that the eye was made to see, and the ear to hear, and not that
we see because we have eyes, and hear because we have ears; an answer
obvious to the senses, as that of walking across the room, was to
the philosopher demonstrating the non-existence of motion. It was in
D'Holbach's conventicles that Rousseau imagined all the machinations
against him were contrived and he left, in his Confessions, the most
biting anecdotes of Grimm. These appeared after I left France; but I
have heard that poor Grimm was so much afflicted by them, that he kept
his bed several weeks. I have never seen the Memoirs of Grimm. Their
volume has kept them out of our market.
I have been lately amusing myself with Levi's book, in answer to Dr.
Priestley. It is a curious and tough work. His style is inelegant and
incorrect, harsh and petulant to his adversary, and his reasoning flimsy
enough.
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