THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. 



To contemplate the various orders of intelli 

 gences which people the material universe, and 

 the relations which subsist among them the ar 

 rangements of the different worlds to which they 

 respectively belong the corporeal vehicles by 

 which they hold a correspondence with the ma- 

 erial system the relation in which they stand to 

 ather worlds and beings, from which they are 

 separated by the voids of space and the excur 

 sions they occasionally make to different regions 

 of that vast empire of which they furm a part 

 io trace the superior intellectual faculties and the 

 sensitive organs with which they are endowed 

 the profound investigations they have made into 

 the economy of the universe the trains of thought 

 which they pursue, and the magnificent objects 

 on which their faculties are employed the emo 

 tions with which they view the scenes and trans 

 actions of such a world as ours the means by 

 which they have been carried forward in the 

 career of moral and intellectual improvement 

 the history of their transactions since the period at 

 which they were brought into existence the pe 

 culiar dispensations of the Creator, and the re 

 volutions that may have taken place among them 

 the progressions they have made from one 

 stage of improvement to another the views they 

 have acquired of the perfections and the plans of 

 their Almighty Sovereign the transporting emo 

 tions of delight which pervade all their faculties 

 and the sublime adorations they offer up to the 

 Fountain of all their felicity would constitute a 

 source of the most exquisite gratification to every 

 holy, intelligent, and inquiring mind. But, since 

 we are at present confined to a small corner of 

 the universe of God, and surrounded by immea 

 surable voids of space, which intervene between 

 our habitation and the celestial worlds, through 

 which no human power can enable us to pene 

 trate, we must remain ignorant of the nature 

 and economy of those intellectual beings, till our 

 souls take their flight from these &quot; tabernacles of 

 clay,&quot; to join their kindred spirits in the invisible 

 world. While we remain in our sublunary man 

 sion, our investigations into the world of mind 

 must, therefore, of necessity, be. confined to the 

 nature and attributes of the Uncreated Spirit, and 

 to the faculties of our own minds and those of the 

 sensitive beings with which we are surrounded. 

 These faculties, as they constitute the instru 

 ments by which all our knowledge, both human 

 and divine, is acquired, have employed the at 

 tention of philosophers in every age, and have 

 been the theme of many subtle and ingenuous 

 speculations; and they, doubtless, form an in 

 teresting subject of investigation to the student 

 of intellectual science. 



But, of all the views we can take of the world 

 of mind, the moral relations of intelligent beings, 

 and the laws founded on these relations, are topics 

 by far the most interesting and important. This 

 subject may be treated in a more definite and 



tangible manner than the theories which have 

 been formed respecting the nature and operations 

 of the intellectual powers. Illustrations level to 

 every capacity, and which come home to every 

 one s bosom, may be derived both from reason 

 and experience, from the annals of history, and 

 the records of revelation. It is not involved in 

 the same difficulties and obscuiity which have 

 perplexed the philosophy of the intellect ; and 

 there are certain principles which may be traced 

 in relation to this subject, which apply to all the 

 rational intelligences that God has formed, how- 

 ever diversified in respect of the regions of the 

 universe which they occupy, and in the extent 

 of their intellectual powers. Above all, thig 

 subject is more intimately connected with the 

 present and future happiness of man than any 

 other which comes within the range of human 

 investigation ; and therefore, forms a prominent 

 and legitimate branch of what may be termed 

 &quot; The Philosophy of Religion.&quot; 



That ihe moral relations of intelligent minds, 

 and the temper and conduct corresponding with 

 these relations, are essentially connected with 

 the happiness of every rational agent, might be 

 made to appear from a variety of cases, in which 

 the reversing of certain moral laws or principles 

 would inevitably lead to disorder and misery. 

 I shall content myself with stating the following 

 illustration : We dwell in an obscure corner of 

 God s empire,- but the light of modern science 

 has shown us, that worlds, a thousand times larger 

 than ours, and adorned with more refulgent splen 

 dours, exist within the range of that system of 

 \vn,ch we form a part. It has also unfolded to 

 our view other systems dispersed throughout, the 

 voids of space, at immeasurable distances, and 

 in such vast profusion, that our minds are unable 

 to grasp their number and their magnitude. Rea 

 son and revelation lead us to conclude, that all 

 these worlds and systems are adorned with dis 

 plays ofdivine wisdom, and peopled with myriads 

 of rational inhabitants. The human mind, after 

 it has received notices of such stupendous scenes, 

 naturally longs for a nearer and more intimate in 

 spection of the grandeur and economy of those 

 distant provinces of the Creator s empire ; and 

 is apt to imagine, that it would never weary, bul 

 would feel unmingled enjoyment, while it winged 

 its flight from one magnificent scene of creation 

 to another. But although an inhabitant of ouj 

 world were divested of the quality of gravitation 

 endowed with powers of rapid motion adequate 

 to carry him along &quot; to the suburbs of creation, 

 and permitted by his Creator to survey all tha 

 wonders of the universe, if a principle of lova 

 and kindly affection towards fellow-intelligences 

 did not animate his mind, if rage and revenge 

 pride and ambition, hatred and envy, were inces 

 santly rankling in his breast, he could feel na 

 transporting emotions, nor taste the sweets of 

 true enjoyment. The vast universe, through 



