The Scottish Philosophy [245]
and seemed to have nothing before him but the pages of the book from which he had learned, and that if any thing had occurred to stop this illusion, he should have stopped instantly." I may give another instance. "A lady, in the last stage of chronic disease, was carried from London to a lodging in the country; there her infant daughter was taken to visit her, and, after a short inter view, carried back to town. The lady died a few days after, and the daughter grew up without any recollection of her till she was of mature age. At this time she happened to be taken into the room in which her mother died without knowing it to have been so. She started on entering it, and, when a friend who was along with her asked the cause of her agitation, replied -- "I have a distinct impression of having been in this room before, and that a lady who lay in that room, and seemed very ill, leaned over me and wept."'
The work on the " Moral Feelings " does not seem to me so valuable, and this because he cannot in treating of such a subject, have so many of those cases which he as a medical man had so carefully noted. But it is characterized by a fine spirit, and it has a useful tendency. He has some important remarks on the " Analogy between first Truths or Intuitive Principles {408} of Belief in Intellectual and Moral Science." "In applying to these important articles of belief the name of first truths or primary principles of moral conviction, I do not mean to ascribe to them any thing of the nature of innate ideas. I mean only that they come with a rapid or instantaneous conviction, entirely distinct from what we call a process of reasoning in every well- regulated mind, when it is directed by the most simple course of reflection to the phenomena of nature without and to the moral feelings of which it is conscious within." In his analysis of man as a moral being, he includes: (1) The desires, the affections, and self-love; (2) The will; (3) Moral principle or conscience; (4) The moral relation of man towards the Deity. The discussion of these subjects is not very deep or original, but it is commonly correct and always useful.
LV. -- DAVID WELSH. [100] A/T\ the time we have now reached there was a strong reaction against moderatism and rationalism, and a tendency to return to the simple faith of the Bible; and a reconciliation of Scotch philosophy and evangelism was openly proclaimed. Ministers from the pulpit, and theologians in the divinity halls, were employing the principles of the mind and of morality to support the peculiar truths of Christianity. If there be a moral law, it points to a law-giver. If that law be immutable and unbending it shows that man is a sinner; it points to the need of an atonement, and requires such evangelical graces as humility, faith, and repentance. We have a fine exemplification of this union of philosophy and evangelism in Dr. David Welsh. He belonged to a " God-fearing " family residing in that somewhat bare but romantic sheep country in which the rivers Clyde, Tweed, and Annan rise. He was born Dec. 11, 1793, was educated first by a private tutor, next at the parish school of Moffat, then at the high school of Edinburgh, and thence went to the university. There he fell, in 1808-9, under the attractive influence of Dr. Brown, " who admitted him to much and intimate intercourse, directed him in his private studies, discussed with him the subjects of his reading, and aided in cultivating his taste for polite literature." When in the university he devoted himself carefully to composition, and afterwards recommended the habit to his pupils. "I cannot conceive it possible for a young man to think very closely or profoundly upon any subject if he does not commit his thought,; to paper. A confused idea, a kind of half comprehension, a partial glimpse of any subject, will satisfy every person -- I mean every young person -- who has not to make an immediate use of his information upon that subject. But if you have to write upon the subject, an indefinite
The work on the " Moral Feelings " does not seem to me so valuable, and this because he cannot in treating of such a subject, have so many of those cases which he as a medical man had so carefully noted. But it is characterized by a fine spirit, and it has a useful tendency. He has some important remarks on the " Analogy between first Truths or Intuitive Principles {408} of Belief in Intellectual and Moral Science." "In applying to these important articles of belief the name of first truths or primary principles of moral conviction, I do not mean to ascribe to them any thing of the nature of innate ideas. I mean only that they come with a rapid or instantaneous conviction, entirely distinct from what we call a process of reasoning in every well- regulated mind, when it is directed by the most simple course of reflection to the phenomena of nature without and to the moral feelings of which it is conscious within." In his analysis of man as a moral being, he includes: (1) The desires, the affections, and self-love; (2) The will; (3) Moral principle or conscience; (4) The moral relation of man towards the Deity. The discussion of these subjects is not very deep or original, but it is commonly correct and always useful.
LV. -- DAVID WELSH. [100] A/T\ the time we have now reached there was a strong reaction against moderatism and rationalism, and a tendency to return to the simple faith of the Bible; and a reconciliation of Scotch philosophy and evangelism was openly proclaimed. Ministers from the pulpit, and theologians in the divinity halls, were employing the principles of the mind and of morality to support the peculiar truths of Christianity. If there be a moral law, it points to a law-giver. If that law be immutable and unbending it shows that man is a sinner; it points to the need of an atonement, and requires such evangelical graces as humility, faith, and repentance. We have a fine exemplification of this union of philosophy and evangelism in Dr. David Welsh. He belonged to a " God-fearing " family residing in that somewhat bare but romantic sheep country in which the rivers Clyde, Tweed, and Annan rise. He was born Dec. 11, 1793, was educated first by a private tutor, next at the parish school of Moffat, then at the high school of Edinburgh, and thence went to the university. There he fell, in 1808-9, under the attractive influence of Dr. Brown, " who admitted him to much and intimate intercourse, directed him in his private studies, discussed with him the subjects of his reading, and aided in cultivating his taste for polite literature." When in the university he devoted himself carefully to composition, and afterwards recommended the habit to his pupils. "I cannot conceive it possible for a young man to think very closely or profoundly upon any subject if he does not commit his thought,; to paper. A confused idea, a kind of half comprehension, a partial glimpse of any subject, will satisfy every person -- I mean every young person -- who has not to make an immediate use of his information upon that subject. But if you have to write upon the subject, an indefinite