The  doctrine,  therefore,  of  God's  acting  by  means  of  in-
struments or  second  causes,  upon  which  he  has  originally  im-
pressed their  several  laws,  seems  to  have  a  deep  foundation
in  nature  and  the  necessary  train  of  our  ideas,  and  is  con-
formable to  the  first  suggestions  of  the  human  mind  and  the
unsophisticated  sentiments  of  all  mankind.  We  construct  a
cornplicated  piece  of  machinery,  and  prepare  it  for  its  ope-
rations. By  the  turning  of  a  single  wheel  we  set  the
whole  in  motion,  one  wheel  moving  a  second,  and  that  a
third,  and  so  on.  Now,  although  we  are  ourselves  the
principal  and  responsible  movers,  has  not  the  second  wheel
the  power  communicated  to  it  of  moving  the  third,  and  the
third  the  fourth,  and  so  forth?  So  it  is  evidently  with  God.
He  made  and  arranged  the  vast  machinery  of  the  universe,
and  under  his  superintendance  it  is  preserved  in  order,  and
performs  its  diversified  operations;  but  does  it  not  exalt  our
ideas  of  his  wisdom  and  greatness  to  suppose,  that  he  has  so
adjusted  its  parts  to  each  other,  and  so  exquisitely  wrought
the  whole  into  a  regular  system,  as  that  his  immediate  inter-


80  Opinions  of  other  Authors

ference  in  the  scheme,  except  where  he  originally  contem-
plated such  interference,  shall  seldom,  if  ever,  be  necessary?

There  are  two  particulars  in  the  opinions  of  Dr.  Reid,
which  it  will  be  worth  while  to  examine  a  little  more  min-
utely; the  one,  why  we  should  deny  to  matter  the  possibility
of  having  active  power,  even  when  that  power  is  considered
as  derived;  the  other,  why  we  should  deny  that  efficient
causes  are  to  be  traced  in  natural  events,  and  yet  allow  moral
agents  to  be  true  efficients.
