54 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. 



.his sublunary world. We behold ourselves 

 mingling with beings of a superior order, culti 

 vating nobler affections, and engaged in more 

 sublime employments than those which now oc 

 cupy our attention. We behold ourselves asso 

 ciated with men of all nations and kindreds, and 

 with those who lived in the remotest periods of 

 time. Millions of years roll on after millions, our 

 capacities and powers of intellect are still ex 

 panding, and new scenes of beauty and magnifi 

 cence are perpetually bursting on the astonished 

 mind, without any prospect of a termination. 

 Amidst those eternal scenes, we shall doubtless 

 enter into the most intimate connexions with per 

 sons whom we have never seen, from whom we 

 are now separated by continents and oceans, with 

 those whose bodies are now mouldering in the dust, 

 with those who have not yet entered on the stage 

 of existence, and with those svith whom we now 

 refuse to associate on account of their rank, and 

 .station, and religious opinions. That man, into 

 whose dwelling we would not at present deign 

 to enter, and with whom we would abhor to min 

 gle in the public services of religion, may then be 

 one of our chief companions in the regions of 

 bliss, in directing and expanding our views of the 

 glory and magnificence of God. The man whom 

 we now hate and despise, and whose offers of as 

 sistance we would treat with disdain, may in 

 that happier world be a principal agent in opening 

 to our view new sources of contemplation and 

 delight. That servant whom we now treat as a 

 being of inferior species, at whom we frown and 

 scold with feelings of proud superiority, may be 

 our instructor and director, and every way our 

 superior, in that region where earthly distinctions 

 are unknown. That humble instructor whom 

 we now despise, and whose sentiments we treat 

 with contempt, may, in that world ofintelligence 

 and love, be our teacher and our guide to direct 

 our views of the attributes of the Deity, of the 

 arrangements of his providence, and of the glories 

 of his empire. There the prince may yield prece 

 dence to his subjects, the master to the slave, 

 and the peer to the humblest peasant. For no 

 pre-eminence of birth, fortune, or learning, no 

 excellence but that which is founded on holiness 

 and virtue, on moral and intellectual endow 

 ments, will have any place in the arrange 

 ments of that world where human distinctions are 

 for ever abolished and unknown. And shall we 

 now refuse to acknowledge those who are to be 

 our friends and companions in that future world ? 

 Is it not agreeable to the dictates of reason and 

 to the voice of God that we should regard them 

 with complacency and affection, whatever be the 

 garb they now wear, whatever be their colour or 

 features, and in whatever island or continent 

 ihey may now reside? 



It must, indeed, be admitted, that all the inha 

 bitants of oui world will not be exalted to dignity 

 and happiness in the future state. A great pro 



portion of them, in their present state of depravi 

 ty and degradation, are altogether unqualified fo? 

 participating in the exercises and enjoyments of 

 celestial intelligences. Whole nations arc stiFi 

 overspread with intellectual darkness, ignorant 

 of their eternal destination, and immersed in im 

 moralities and vile abominations. And, even in 

 those countries where the light of revelation has 

 dispelled the gloom of heathenism, a vast mass of 

 human beings are to be founa&amp;gt; &quot; having their un 

 derstandings darkened, alienated from the life ct 

 God,&quot; and sunk into the mire of every moral pol 

 lution. Still, we have no reason, on this ac 

 count, to overlook their native dignity, and their 

 high destination. Every human being we see 

 around us, however low in rank, or degraded by 

 vice, is endowed with an immortal nature, and is 

 capable of being raised to the dignity of an inhabit 

 ant of heaven; and there is not a single indivi 

 dual to whom we can point, either in our own 

 country or in other lands, in relation to whom we 

 are authorized to affirm, that he will not be a 

 participator in immortal bliss. And, therefore, 

 every man with whom we associate, and whom 

 we recognize in the circle of society around us, 

 ought to be viewed as one with whom we may as 

 sociate in the world to come. And as to those 

 who appear to be partially enlightened and reno 

 vated in their minds, we ought not to withhold 

 our affection and complacency on account of their 

 ignorance, their contracted views, or erroneous 

 opinions. We should view them, not as they ara 

 in their present state of infancy and weakness, 

 but as they will be when arrived at maturity and 

 manhood ; not as they appear in the first weak 

 essays of their intellectual powers, and in the 

 lowest step of their existence, but as they will ap 

 pear in their career of improvement after a lapse 

 of millions of ages. Carrying forward our views 

 to those eternal scenes, and accompanying our 

 brethren of the human family through all the gra 

 dations of their existence in future worlds, we 

 behold their faculties in progressive expansion, 

 their minds approximating nearer to the source 

 of eternal wisdom, their views of the empire of 

 Omnipotence continually enlarging, their know 

 ledge of the plan of redemption, and its numerous 

 bearings, for ever increasing ; their love and af 

 fection to God and to fellow intelligences waxing 

 into a more ardent flame ; every evil propensity 

 corrected, every imperfection removed, every 

 blossom of virtue fully expanded, and &quot; joy un 

 speakable and full of glory&quot; pervading every 

 faculty of their souls. And can we behold intel 

 ligent minds, capable of so high and dignified at 

 tainments, and the companions of our future 

 destiny, with indifference or contempt? Is there 

 not here a broad foundation laid for the most ex 

 pansive emanations of love towards every mem 

 ber of the great family of mankind, however 

 much he may be obscured, and sullied by folly 

 and sin in this first stage of his existence ? 



