BUTLER
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buttp:ii
In this view of the several principles within us, and their relations to each ether, virtue may be said, in the language of the ancients, to consist in following nature ; that is, nature correctly interpreted and un- derstood.
In the Analogy of RtVigiim, Butler vindicates the truths both of natural religion and of Christianity by showing that they are paralleled by the facts of our experience, and that nature, considered as a revelation of God, teaches (though to a more limited extent and in a more imperfect way) the same lessons as the Scriptures. He proves that the evidence is the same as that upon which we act in our temporal concerns, and that perhaps it is left as it is, that our behavior with regard to it may be part of our probation for a future life. Nor does the aim of the " Analogy" stop here. The opinion has very extensivel}' prevailed that the utility of the work consists solely in answer- ing objections. Dr. Reid, the Scotch philosopher, has so expressed himself. Of a like purport is the happi- ly-conceived language of Dr. Campbell : " Analogical evidence is generally more successful in silencing ob- jections than in evincing truth. Though it rarely re- futes, it frequently repels refutation ; like those weap- ons which, though they cannot kill the enemy, will ward his blows." The outward form, of the "Analo- gy," to be sure, gives some countenance to this view, for the objector is followed through all the mazes of his error. But, besides the effect of particular analo- gies, there is the effect of the "Analogy" as a whole — of the likeness so beautifully developed between the system of nature and the system of grace. Every one who has received the total impression of the argument is conscious that he has derived therefrom new convic- tions of the truth of religion, and that these convic- tions rest on a basis peculiarly their own. On this point Butler's own language is quite definite: "This treatise will be, to such as are convinced of religion upon the proof arising out of the two last-mentioned principles [liberty and moral fitness], an additii nal proof, and a confirmation of it ; to such as do not ad- mit those principles, an original proof of it, and a con- firmation of that proof. Those who believe will here find the scheme of Christianity cleared of objections, and the evidence of it in a peculiar manner strength- ened; those who do not believe will at least be shown the absurdity of all attempts to prove Christianity false, the plain, undoubted credibility of it, and, I hope, a good deal more" (part ii, chap. viii). His books are more pregnant with thought than any uninspired vol- umes of their size in the English language. He was an Arminian in theology. The best edition of the "Analogy" is that edited by B. Emory and G. R. Crooks (New York, Harper & Brothers), to which is prefixed a thoroughly logical analysis, of the Eth- ical Discourses, a new and excellent edition, by Pass- more, appeared in Philadelphia in 1855. It was the opinion of Sir James Mackintosh that the truths con- tained in these sermons are "more worthy of the name of discovery than any other with which we are acquaint- ed, if we ought net, with some hesitation, to except the first steps of the Grecian philosophers toward a theorv of morals." The best edition of his Complete Works is thatof Oxford (1849, 2 vols. 8vo). See .Mack- intosh, Hist, of Etli. Phil., p.113; Whewell, iKrf.o/J/or- als, lect. viii ; Land. Qu. R< v. xliii, 182 ; bar, L83 ; .'/< th. (in. Rev. i, 556; iii, 128; xi, 247; Am, Bib. Repos. x, 317; Christ. Rev. ix,199; Hart let ;t, Mem. of Butler (Lona. 1839, 8vo) ; Brit. Qu.Sev., July, 1868, art. vi ; Allibone, Diet, of Authors, i,312; Am.Presb. Rev., Oct, 1P68.
Butler, Samuel, D.D., an English Bcholar and prelate, was born at Kenilworth 1774, and was edu- cated at St. John's Colic re, < lambridge, where he be- came fellow in 1797. In 1798 he was made head mas- ter of Shrewsbury School, where his scholarship and skill made him eminent as an instructor. The senate of Cambridge appointed him to prepare a complete
edition of JEschylus, which was published in 4 vols. 8vo (1809-1816). In 1*11 he was made D.I), at Cam- bridge; in 1836 he was appointed bishop of Litchfield. He published a number of books in classics, and his Classical Geography and Attn* continues to this day to be a standard work.— Hoefer, Biog. Generate, vii, 906; Allibone, Diet, of Authors, i, 315.
Butler, William, was born in the county of An- trim, Ireland, in 1783, and in 17m! emigrated with his father's family to the United States, and settled in Cumberland county, Penn. Having joined the Meth- odist Church in 180l>, he was received on trial in the Baltimore Conference in 1807, and travelled in its bounds for nearly 30 years, Ins last appointment being to Lewistown Circuit in 18-13, from which time till the day of his death he sustained a supernumerary rela- tion to the Conference. It appears from his own diary that under his ministry nearly four thousand souls were added to the Church. Mr. Butler was a man of deep piety, and of great consistency of character. Be died Jan. 11, 1852, at Carlisle, Penn., where he had been converted fifty years before. — Minutes of Confer- ences, 1852, p. 8.