' 'Admirable!' he
replied; 'nothing can be better,' 'May I then ask, are you prepared to
deny the existence of the cook?"
Of course this is nothing but Paley's illustration of the Watch, reproduced
in a less impressive form.
But Sydney Smith was not content with a system of thought which provided
him with a working hypothesis for the construction of the physical universe
and the conduct of this present life. He looked above and beyond; and
reinforced his own faith in immortality by an appeal to the general sense
of mankind.--
"Who ever thinks of turning into ridicule our great and ardent hope of
a world to come? Whenever the man of humour meddles with these things,
he is astonished to find that in all the great feelings of their
nature the mass of mankind always think and act aright; that they are
ready enough to laugh, but that they are quite as ready to drive away,
with indignation and contempt, the light fool who comes with the
feather of wit to crumble the bulwarks of truth, and to beat down the
Temples of God. We count over the pious spirits of the world, the
beautiful writers, the great statesmen, all who have invented
subtlely, who have thought deeply, who have executed wisely:--all
these are proofs that we are destined for a second life; and it is not
possible to believe that this redundant vigour, this lavish and
excessive power, was given for the mere gathering of meat and drink.
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