transgressed, what the nature of the sin committed. This principle is
acknowledged by our religious teachers, but the laws which have been
broken, have not been wisely sought after. The field of search has been
almost exclusively the moral, or the theological field; whereas the
correct rule is, for physical effects, look for physical causes; for
moral effects, moral causes. This rule has not been followed. A few
cases illustrative of what I mean will clearly demonstrate the
superstitious nature of what is a widely diffused opinion among the
religious societies of this country at the present time.

Forty-six years ago, when cholera first broke out in this country, it
was immediately proclaimed to be a judgment for a national sin; and so
it was, but for a sin against physical laws. I well remember the
indignation which arose and found expression in almost every pulpit in
the country, when the Prime Minister of that day, in reply to a petition
from the Church asking him to proclaim a national fast for the removal
of the plague, told his petitioners to first remove every source of
nuisance by cleansing drains and ditches, and removing stagnant pools,
and otherwise observe the general laws of health, then having done all
that lay in our power, we could ask God to bless our efforts, and He
would hear us. All sorts of absurd causes were seriously advanced to
account for the presence of this alarming malady. One party discovered
the cause in a movement for the disestablishment of religion. Another
considered it was a judgment from God for asking the Reform Bill. The
Radicals proclaimed it to be a trick of the Tories to prevent agitation
for reform, and added that medical men were bribed to poison wells and
streams. The non-religious displayed as great superstition in this
matter as did the religious. Large bills, headed in large type "Cholera
Humbug," were at that time posted on the blank walls of the streets of
Glasgow. The feeling against medical men was then so intense, that some