stances of our present condition, he is bound to take into view every fact and every cirumstance which may have a bearing on the important question which he undertakes to decide. Now, it is a fact, that such a book as the Bible actually exists-that, amidst the wreck of thousands of volumes which the stream of time has carried into oblivion, it has survived for several thousands of years—that its announcements have directed the opinions and the conduct of myriads of mankind-that many of the most illustrious characters that have adorned our race have submitted to its dictates, and governed their tempers and their actions by its moral precepts-that those who have been governed by its maxims have been distinguished by uprightness of conduct, and been most earnest and successful in promoting the happiness of mankind—that this book declares, that a moral revulsion has taken place in the constitution of man since he was placed upon this globe-and that the whole train of its moral precepts proceeds on the ground of his being considered as a depraved intelligence. These are facts which even the infidel philosopher must admit; and, instead of throwing them into the shade, or keeping them entirely out of view, he is bound, as an unbiassed inquirer, to take them all into account in his researches into the moral economy of the human race. In particular, he is bound to inquire into the probability of the alleged fact of the depravity of man, and to consider, whether the general train of human actions, the leading facts of history in reference to all ages and nations, and the destructive effects of several operations in the system of nature, have not a tendency to corroborate this important point. For the fact, that man is a fallen intelligence, must materially modify every system of ethics that takes it into account. Should this fact be entirely overlooked, and yet ultimately be found to rest on a solid foundation, then, all the speculations and theories of those moralists who profess to be guided solely by the dictates of unassisted reason, may prove to be nothing more than the reveries of a vain imagination, and to be built on "the baseless fabric of a vision."

CHAPTER 1.

ON THE MORAL RELATIONS OF INTELLIGENT BEINGS TO THEIR CREATOR.

SECTION I.

On the primary or most general idea of Morality.

I CONCEIVE, that the first or most general idea of Morality is, ORDER,-or, that harmonious disposition and arrangement of intelligent beings, which is founded on the nature of things, and which tends to produce the greatest sum of happiness.

Physical Order, or the order of the material universe, is that by which every part is made to harmonize to the other part, and all individually to the whole collectively. Thus, the adaptation of light to the eye, and of the eye to light; the adaptation of the structure of the ear, and of the lungs to the constitution of the atmosphere, and its various undulations; the adaptation of the waters, the vegetable productions of the field, the minerals in the bowels of the earth, the colours produced by the solar rays, and all the other parts and agencies of external nature, to the wants and the happiness of sentient beings; the adaptation of day and night to the labour and rest appointed for man; and the regularity of the motions of the planetary bodies in their circuits round the sun-constitute the physical order, or harmony of the visible world; and it is this which constitutes its principal beauty, and which evinces the wisdom of its Almighty Author.

Moral Order is the harmony of intelligent beings in respect to one another, and to their Creator, and is founded upon those relations in which they respectively stand to each other.Thus, Reverence, Adoration, and Gratitude, from creatures, correspond or harmonize with the idea of a self-existent, om nipotent and benevolent Being, on whom they depend, and from whom they derive every enjoyment,—and love, and good-will, and a desire to promote each other's happiness, harmonize with the idea of intelligences of the same species mingling to

gether in social intercourses. For, it will at once be admitted, that affections directly opposite to these, and universally prevalent, would tend to destroy the moral harmony of the intelligent universe, and to introduce anarchy and confusion, and consequently misery among all the rational inhabitants of the material world.

The following brief illustration, by way of contrast, may, perhaps, have a tendency more particularly to impress the mind with the idea of order intended to be conveyed in the above stated definitions.

Suppose the principle which unites the planetary globes in one harmonious system, to be dissolved, and the planets to run lawlessly through the sky-suppose the planet Jupiter to forsake his orbit, and in his course to the distant regions of space, to impinge against the planet Saturn, and to convulse the solid crust of that globe from its surface to its centre, to disarrange the order of its satellites, to shatter its rings into pieces, and to carry the fragments of them along with him in his lawless career, suppose the sun to attract his nearest planets to his surface with a force that would shake them to their centres, and dissolve their present constitution,-suppose the moon to fly from her orbit, and rush towards the planet Venus,-the earth to be divested of its atmosphere, the foundations of its mountains to be overturned, and to be hurled into the plains, and into the ocean; its seas and rivers to forsake their ancient channels, and to overflow the land, and its human inhabitants swept promiscuously along with the inferior animals, into dens and caves, and crevices of the earth, and into the bottom of the ocean:-in such a scene, we should have presented to our view a specimen of physical confusion and disorder; and it would form an impressive emblem of the state of rational beings, whose moral order is completely subverted.

Again, suppose the rational inhabitants of our globe to be universally set against each other, in order to accomplish their misery and destruction-suppose the child rising in opposition to his parents, the wife plotting the destruction of her husband, the brother ensnaring his sister, and decoying her to ruin,teachers of all descriptions inculcating the arts of deception, of revenge, and of destruction, and representing every principle and fac as contrary to what it really is falsehoods of every description industriously forged and circulated as facts through every rank of society--rulers setting themselves in opposition to the populace, and plotting their destruction, while they are at the same time actuated by a principle of pride, of envy, and malice against each other--the populace setting themselves in

opposition to their rulers, exterminating them from the earth, subverting every principle of law and order, gratifying, without control, every principle of revenge, avarice, lasciviousness and sensual indulgence, and enjoying a diabolical satis faction in contemplating the scenes of misery they have creat ed:-in short, every one beholding in his neighbour the ma levolence of a fiend armed with instruments of destruction, and devising schemes to secure his misery and ruin. Suppose the lower animals, impelled by revenge, to rise up in indignation against man, and to swell the horrors of this general anarchy-suppose the superior orders of intelligences to mingle in this scene of confusion, to exert their high physical and intellectual powers in adding fuel to these malevolent principles and operations, and in attempting to drag other intelligences of a still higher order from their seats of bliss-suppose all these intelligences actuated by an implacable hatred of their Creator, combined to deface the beauties of the material creation, and then to engage in a war of universal extermination throughout the whole intelligent system in every region of the universe: such a state of things, if it could exist in the universe, would form a perfect contrast to moral order; it would present a scene in which existence could not be desiraole to any intelligent mind, and in which happiness could not possibly be enjoyed by any rational being, but by Him who is eternally happy independently of his creatures. Moral order then, is completely opposed to such a state of things as has now been represented; it consists in every being holding its proper station in the universe, acting according to the nature of that station, and using its powers and faculties for the purposes for which they were originally intended; and the grand object intended to be accomplished by this order, is, the happiness of the whole,--without which misery would reign uncontrolled throughout all the ranks of intelligent existence.

Its

This state of the moral world is most frequently designated in Scripture by the term holiness. Of the ideas included under this term, and several of its kindred epithets, very vague and imperfect conceptions are frequently entertained. leading or generic idea, from what has been now stated, will evidently appear to be, a conformity to order, founded on the relations of intelligent beings to each other; or, in other words, it consists in a complete conformity to the law of God, (which is founded on those relations) including both the action and the principle from which it flows. In reference to created beings, holiness, may, therefore, be defined to be a conformity to the moral order of the universe,—and, in relation to the

Creator, it is, that perfection of his nature, which leads him to promote the moral order and happiness of intelligent beings, and to counteract every thing which stands in opposition to this object.

That the leading ideas and definitions now stated are correct, will, perhaps, more distinctly appear in the course of the following discussions and illustrations; but should any one be disposed to call in question the statements now given in reference to the primary idea of morality, his difference of opinion on this point will not materially affect the leading train of sentiment prosecuted in the further elucidation of this subject.

SECTION II.

On the Fundamental Principles of Morality.

THE leading idea of morality or holiness, as now stated, resolves itself into the two following principles-love to God the Creator, and love to fellow intelligences. These are the two grand springs on which the whole moral machine of the universe depends. All the diversified actions by which happiness is diffused among intelligent agents, are only so many ramifications of these two simple and sublime principles, which connect all holy beings throughout the wide empire of God, in one harmonious union. This we are not left to infer merely from the nature of things, but have the authority of the supreme Legislator, as our warrant for placing these principles as the foundation of all moral virtue among every class of moral agents. For thus saith our Saviour "THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART, AND WITH ALL

THY MIND, AND WITH ALL THY STRENGTH. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it: THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

These principles, now that they are communicated, and sanctioned by divine authority, appear quite accordant to the dictates of enlightened reason, and calculated to promote the happiness of the intelligent creation; yet we never find that the moral systems of pagan philosophers, in any country, were built on this foundation, or that they assumed them as indispensable axioms to guide them in their speculations on the subject of ethics.