Medical inquiries and observations / by Benjamin Rush ... ; four volumes in two. Vol. I.[-II.].

  • Rush, Benjamin, 1746-1813.
Date:
1818
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Medical inquiries and observations / by Benjamin Rush ... ; four volumes in two. Vol. I.[-II.]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    New Testament. These divine epithets, which are very properly founded upon the manner of our Saviour s exis- tence, exalt him infinitely above simple humanity, and establish his divine nature upon the basis of reason, as well as revelation. 10. We have heard that some of the stimuli, which pro- duce animal life, are derived from the moral and physical evils of our world. From beholding these instruments of* death thus converted by divine skill into the means of life, we are led to believe goodness to be the supreme attribute of the Deity and that it will appear finally to predominate in all his works. 11. The doctrine which has been delivered is calculated to humble the pride of man, by teaching him his constant dependence upon his Maker for his existence, and that he has no pre-eminence, in his tenure of it, over the meanest insect that flutters in the air, or the humblest plant that grows upon the earth. What an inspired writer says of the innumerable animals which inhabit the ocean, may with equal propriety be said of the whole human race. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, and they are created. Thou takest away their breath,—they die, and return to their dust, Let us not complain of this tenure of our lives. By taking their capital out of our hands, and dealing it out to us ac- cording to our necessities, our benevolent Creator prevents our squandering it away without judgment or prudence, and thus becoming bankrupts in life as soon as we began to exist. 12. Melancholy indeed would have been the issue of all our inquiries, did we take a final leave of the human body in its state of decomposition in the grave. Revelation fur- nishes us with an elevating and comforable assurance that this will not be the case. The precise manner of its re-or- ganization, and the new means of its future existence, are unknown to us. It is sufficient to believe the event will take place, and that, after it, the soul and body of man will be exalted, in one respect, to an equality with their Creator. They will be immortal. Here gentlemen, we close the history of animal life. I feel as if I had waded across a rapid and dangerous stream. Whether I have gained the opposite shore with my head clean, or covered with mud and weeds, I leave wholly to your determination.