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Each perfect attribute, must act at once,
Nor even wait volition!

O. M. Proud reasoner-would'st thou thus circumscribe Omnipotence? Could it indeed not will

All thou surveyest from eternity?

ALT. This is absurd! you argue that the will Must be eternal-yet you also fix

A period to creation, which is but

That will made manifest, hast thou not read

In thy God's own revealment of his will?

God said, "Let there be light,-and there was light!"
Which means no more than that the will and deed,
Were the immediate action of one mind

Or principle of being. Thus e'en from
Thy holy book, I prove the will and pow'r
Were instant, ere that instant, where was God?

O. M. Stagger'd, confounded,—yet not satisfied,
Reason and revelation war within me,

That which was peaceful thou hast troubled,-that
Which was a glorious hope of future joy,

Thou hast o'erwhelmed in darkness, all that gave
Support to nature's feebleness, that sheds
E'en in the very agonies of death,

On the believer's dauntless brow a smile,
As if through the dim portal of the tomb,
Heav'n's light shone out to hail him on his way,
All-all hast thou destroy'd! Oh thou destroyer!
Could I pour forth the worldless consciousness
Of all I feel a title to,-e'en thou-

Would'st not deprive me of the thrice sweet hope,
That would not leave me till I ceas'd to want it.
ALT. Father, I would not rob thine aged breast
Of one support, or source of consolation.

O. M. On-on, since thou hast taught me to be hopeless, I would be fearless too!

ALT. Next then, I treat of all the attributes,
Which thou ascribest to thine idol God,
Eternity, omniscience, omnipresence,
Omnipotence, unchanging goodness, love
Of all we know of, and thou say'st he made.
Behold the earth,—its creatures,—and declare
If it, or they are perfect? answer, if
The thunder cloud with its destroying bolt
That often strikes adoring man to earth,
Baffled and mangled, to groan out his breath
In the most piteous wretchedness,-bespeaks
Foresight and love?-Or the volcano's sea
Of bursting desolation sweeping o'er

Whole multitudes, their peaceful dwellings, loves,
All which we cherish! do these breathe the care

Of that thou deem'st their maker ?-more than these,
The elements themselves are fraught with strife
Of rage and inborn violence. The calm
Scarce rippled ocean, that thou lookest on,
Is it for ever so? Have not its waves

Curl'd up in mock'ry o'er the struggling forms,
And half breath'd prayers of thousands? yea, their lips
Shriek'd in the parenthesis of the storm,

The intervals of past and coming waves,

Their prayer for mercy which they found not, yet
Their bitterest foe had helped them in their need!
Where was the omnipresence and the love

Of that thou vauntest then? Thou hast in store
Another world I know, but thousand worlds
Could never stifle helpless mis'ry's shriek,
Nor prove that there was foresight, wisdom, love,
In but a moment's torture; thus this world
Affords no proof of that thou worshippest
And why another?

O. M. There is design in most things we survey,
Prove that there is not, and I'm satisfied!

ALT. It is soon done; thy God is omnipresent,
Unchanging too; therefore whate'er he will'd
Must be unchanging-since he's omnipresent,
That is, his vast ubiquity pervades

All pow'rs, all forms, all things which he hath made,
And since you trace design in man and flow'r,
And track it out among the rolling orbs,
Which light up space with their undying fires,
Say if thou can'st, why, in this seeming order,
A careless evil lurks, and wildest ruin?
Why comes the blight upon the opening flow'r,
Blasting what might be fair to usefulness?
Why through the hosts of beings small or great,
The strong oppress the weak? why teems the womb
With monsters? why do idiots abound?
Those driveling gazers! Those devoted butts
Of brutal mirth, abortions! yet alive?
Such mockeries as these blab out the truth-
And grin down all suspicion of a God!
Can evil spring from an all-seeing goodness?
Yet evil is!-you vaunt yourself as free;
But urge eternal pow'r accorded life!
Eternal providence provided for it!

If there's a God at all,—you are not free!
You are his creature, all your thoughts and ways
He knew and therefore will'd eternally.

His knowledge gave him pow'r had he not known
What he should make, then nothing had he made,
Thus what he knew, as certainly would be.
He made you too, with all your human pangs,
Or else you limit infinite pow'r,-and say

He has done much,--but could not have done more!
Nor betters it to urge a demon's pow'r!
Since were there such a thing, he must be
Inferior or equal to thy God.

If an inferior, hence but the subject

And creature of the pow'r thou worshippest,
Or being equal, he was then endow'd
With the same pow'r, and like eternity,
And both being equal, neither one could act,

Since both could not be omnipresent. Thus
If you still urge design, your choice must be,
Eternal demon or eternal God,

Now it remains to prove that there is neither,
And thou must acquiesce to this my proof,
Eternal evil could not bring forth good,
Nor could eternal goodness bring forth evil;
Yet good and evil are, thus frankly own,
That 'tis but power you would personify,
And deity no more than a mere name.

O. M. Aye, I am satisfied,-'tis merely pow'r!
LAVINIA. Nothing more!

Thy honest love

O. M. Now Altamont, to other themes.
Shall be rewarded with Lavina's love.
Nay, blush not at my words,—an old man's eye,
Is quick in the detection of such things,
And you have won upon an old man's heart.
Then take her and be happy; but to night
You must away with us, to home and rest,
To-morrow, thou shalt have the blooming whole
Of her whom thou hast had the heart of long.
What sayest thou Lavinia?

ALT. Why need she speak! the hurricane is slow
To the intelligence of her young brow!

It is enough, I read my welcome there,

LAVINIA. Aye, and my tongue confirms it.
ALT. Thank thee Lavinia, thou shalt be to me

A pattern of pure virtue. Thy dear smile
Shall light my path, as even's deep hue'd lamp
Burns on the night cloud, till the shadowy scene
Deepens to darkness,-virtue shall be ours.
Unbless'd by her,—man is a wretch at best,
The slave of ev'ry lust and low desire;
With her the bright companion of his way—
In peace he lives, and dies in peace with all,
For virtue must be right, whatever may befall.

THE END.

[They walk of together.

TO THE REVEREND ROBERT TAYLOR.

SIR, I am directed by a few friends of freedom, meeting at the Duke of York public house in this town, to make an offer of their thanks for the information they have derived from your writings, and for the noble example you have set in so boldly meeting persecution, even at its very teeth; and in gratitude for which, they desire me to forward the enclosed £3. for your use, being an earnest of their future endeavours, should your imprisonment be continued, and their circumstances enable them to proceed. Acknowledgement of receipt can be made through the medium of "THE LION," and believe me to be, Sir, most respectfully yours, &c. Nottingham, June 2, 1828.

THOMAS HILL.

Printed and Published by RICHARD CARLILE, 62, Fleet-street, where all Communications, post-paid, or free of expense, are requested to he left.

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The Lion.

No. 25. VOL. 1.] LONDON, Friday, June 20, 1828. [PRICE 6d.

PHYSIOGNOMY AND PHRENOLOGY ESSENTIAL TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A CORRECT MORAL PHILOSOPHY.

THIS appears to be the real gradation of Mental Science and Moral Philosophy, -PHYSIOG NOMY, PHRENOLOGY,- MORAL PHILOSOPHY.

PHYSIOGNOMY.

Every man more or less makes for himself a science of Physiognomy and estimates character by countenance. This science is a compound of nature and art, growing out of human experience. Wherever a principle of this kind is discovered generally to exist, the more precise observer may deduce from it some system of observation, and careful judgment a rule of accuracy: and hence only can be rightly grounded a system of Moral Philosophy that shall have its basis in nature. All the lectures or writings on Moral Philosophy, which I have read, abound with error, from the circumstance of mixing Moral Philosophy with Divinity, or of deducing moral theory from the theory of an all-managing God. A ground of deduction has been erroneously made, on the supposition, that there is a natural equality of disposition among mankind; but that the inequality of practice is produced by education, or by external agents, among which the demons, good or bad, have a conspicuous share in the agency. Such a theory as this excludes the Physiognomical and Phrenological view of Moral Philosophy, and I purpose to controvert it, by showing, that Moral Philosophy can only be correctly established upon the basis of Physiognomy and Phrenology. To do this, it is not necessary to write a volume, or a series of volumes, mere bookmaking is become a vice in, and a mischief to society, if it can be done at all, it can be done in a few pages.

Printed and Published by R. CARLILE, 62, Fleet Street. No. 25.-VOL. I. 3 D

It will be granted by all, that there is a variety of human countenances, or forms of head and forms of face, to say nothing of colours and shades of colours, and a variety of human dispositions; and that the variety of the one is as extensive as the variety of the other. The great question is, do the two kinds of varieties correspond, so that the one may be deduced from the other? The Physiognomists assert that they do, and the Phrenologists assert that they do, so that they who unite the two sciences must come to the same conclusion. We have to deal with those who assume that education makes all the difference.

I am not among those, nor do I find the Phrenologists among those, who make no account of education. There are cases enough proved to show, that education will alter the figure of the head and the form of the face. If the absolutists in education would but allow that one half of the variety depends upon first construction, we can take them by the hand and say we are agreed; but so long as they contend that education does all, we must stagger them with the multitudinous, aye, universal facts, which Physiognomy and Phrenology present; and with this one fact too, subversive of their own assumption, that education changes upon the physiognomical or phrenological principle: that where education does make a change, it changes the figure of the head, and the form or countenance of the face.

The face is certainly an index of the health of the body, and in a great measure, of the sanity, experience, or extent of the mind; and, whether we will or not, we are instinctively, naturally, aye, rationally compelled to judge of the body and mind by the face physiognomically. All do it, and, therefore, though it may be difficult to define, there must be a rule and a reason in the judgment. Moral character must have some relation to the human organization, as sure as, if we describe the variety of animal passions, the whole of which may be found concentrated in the human race, we refer in offensiveness to the sheep and sporting lamb, ferocity to the wolf, fierceness to the tiger, and dignified courage to the lion: and we find the variance to be in the organization, for the principles of the mere animalization, or animal life, are the same in all animals.

PHRENOLOGY.

Physiognomy being the external and silent indication of the passions and character of the individual, was formerly treated of in a confined relation to the face; but phrenology is a science which treats of the envelopement and developement of the brain, and has its physiognomy in the form of the skull, as the yielding or expanding cover of the brain. The Phrenologists have somewhat improperly discarded the parentage of physiognomy, and treat of no part of the face below the eye; but they have reduced their science to a craniographical rule, by due admeasure

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