It  is  enough  that  they  be  reconcilable  with  this
supposition  ;  and  it  is  undoubtedly  true,  that  they
may  be  reconcilable,  though  we  cannot  reconcile
them. The  mind,  however,  which  contemplates
the  works  of  nature,  and,  in  those  works,  sees  so
much  of  means  directed  to  ends,  of  beneficial  ef-
fects brought  about  by  wise  expedients,  of  con-
certed trains  of  causes  terminating  in  the  happiest
results  ;  so  much,  in  a  word,  of  counsel,  intention,
and  benevolence ;  a  mind,  I  say,  drawn  into  the
habit  of  thought  which  these  observations  excite,
can  hardly  turn  its  view  to  the  condition  of  our
own  species,  without  endeavouring  to  suggest  to
itself  some  purpose,  some  design,  for  which  the
state  in  which  we  are  placed  is  fitted,  and  which
it  is  made  to  serve. Now  we  assert  the  most  pro-
bable supposition  to  be,  that  it  is  a  state  of  moral
probation ;  and  that  many  things  in  it  suit  with
this  hypothesis,  which  suit  no  other. It  is  not  a
state  of  unmixed  happiness,  or  of  happiness  sim-
ply :  it  is  not  a  state  of  designed  misery,  or  of
misery  simply  :  it  is  not  a  state  of  retribution  :  it
is  not  a  state  of  punishment. It  suits  with  none
of  these  suppositions. It  accords  mucii  better  with
the  idea  of  its  being  a  condition  calculated  for  the
production,  exercise,  and  improvement  of  moral
qualifies,  with  a  view  to  a  future  state,  in  which
these  qualities,  after  being  so  produced,  exercised,
and  improved,  may,  by  a  new  and  more  favouring
constitution  of  things,  receive  their  reward,  or
become  their  own. If  it  be  said,  that  this  is  to
enter  upon  a  religious  rather  than  a  philosophical
consideration  ;  I  answer,  that  the  name  of  Reli-
gion ought  to  form  no  objection,  if  it  shall  turn
out  to  be  the  case,  that  the  more  religious  our
views  are,  the  more  probability  they  contain. The
degree  of  beneficence,  of  benevolent  intention,  and
of  power,  exercised  in  the  construction  of  sensitive
beings,  goes  strongly  in  favour,  not  only  of  a  cre-
ative, but  of  a  continuing  care,  that  is,  of  a  ruling
Providence. The  degree  of  chance  which  appears
to  prevail  in  the  world,  requires  to  be  reconciled
with  this  hypothesis. 