66 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. 



carried on by any process analogous to human 

 generation, where death is unknown, and where 

 rational agents have a fixed and permanent abode. 

 The fifth precept of our law cannot be recognized 

 in a world where the relations of parents and 

 children, princes and subjects, superiors and in 

 feriors, have no existence. And in those worlds 

 where the bounties of Divine Providence are 

 equally enjoyed by all, or where external comforts 

 are not necessary for the happiness of the indi 

 vidual, as in our world, or where the slightest 

 temptation to interfere with the property of 

 another does not exist, there will be no necessity 

 for a distinct moral regulation corresponding to 

 the eighth commandment of our moral code. 

 But in every world where happiness exists, and 

 where the inhabitants have retained their original 

 integrity, love to God, and &quot;love to all subordinate 

 intelligences with which they are connected, will 

 animate every heart, regulate every desire, and 

 run through every action. And in those worlds 

 (if any such exist besides our own) where these 

 principles are counteracted, or not recognized as 

 the foundation of moral action, misery and disor 

 der, in a greater or less degree, must be the in 

 evitable consequence. 



The greater part, however, of the precepts 

 comprised in the moral law given to man, must 

 be considered as obligatory upon all the rational 

 inhabitants of the universe. The first command 

 ment, which forbids the recognition of any object 

 of adoration, or of supreme affection, besides the 

 eternal Jehovah the second, which forbids the 

 representation of this incomprehensible Being by 

 any visible or material objects the third, which 

 enjoins reverence of the name or attributes of 

 God and the spirit of the fourth, which enjoins 

 a certain portion of duration to be set apart for 

 solemn acts of worship and adoration, are appli 

 cable to all the moral agents that Jehovah has 

 created. The sixth commandment, which forbids 

 malice, revenge, and injurious actions of every 

 description the ninth, which forbids falsehood, 

 and inculcates truth, which is the basis of the 

 moral universe and the tenth, which forbids 

 envy, and every unhallowed desire to deprive our 

 neighbour of any portion of his happiness are 

 also binding upon every class of moral intelligen 

 ces, wherever existing, throughout the unlimited 

 empire of God. For, if we suppose any one of 

 these precepts to be reversed, and moral agents 

 to act on the principle of this subversion, their 

 moral order and harmony would be interrupted, 

 and consequently, their happiness destroyed. 

 For example, let the law, which inculcates 

 truth, be supposed to be universally violated 

 among any class of rational beings, and instantly 

 all improvement in wisdom and knowledge would 

 cease ; nothing could be depended upon as fact 

 but what was obvious to the senses of every in 

 dividual ; social compacts would be dissolved ; a 

 mutual repulsion would ensue, and every social 



affection and enjoyment would be unhinged and 

 destroyed. 



By overlooking considerations of this kind, the 

 celebrated Dr. Chalmers, in his &quot; Discourses on 

 the Christian Revelation viewed in connexion 

 with Modern Astronomy,&quot; deprived himself of 

 an important argument to prove that Christianity 

 is not confined to this sublunary region. For, as 

 it is the great object of the Christian Revelation 

 to bring into full effect, in all their practical 

 bearings, the principles 1 have been endeavour 

 ing to illustrate, and as these principles must be 

 interwoven with the moral code of all worlds it 

 follows, that the spirit and essence of our religion 

 must be common to all the holy inhabitants of 

 the universe. 



From what has been now stated respecting 

 the universality of the principle of love, the fol 

 lowing conclusions may be deduced : 



1. That the man in whose heart this principle 

 is predominant, and whose actions are directed 

 by its influence, is qualified for associating with 

 the pure intelligences of all worlds. Were we 

 transported to the surface of the planet Jupiter, 

 and had we access to mingle with its vast popu 

 lation ; or were we conveyed to one of the pla 

 nets which revolve around the star Sirius if the 

 inhabitants of these globes have retained the 

 primeval purity of their natures, and if the prin 

 ciple of love reigned supreme in our hearts, we 

 should be assured of a welcome reception from 

 those distant intelligences, and be qualified to 

 mingle with them in their adorations of our com 

 mon Creator, and in all their affectionate and 

 harmonious intercourses. We should only have 

 to learn the mode by which they communicate to 

 each other their ideas and emotions. Love 

 would form the basis of every union, and amal 

 gamate us with every department of their socie 

 ty. With pleasure, and with the most endearing 

 affection, would they point out to us the peculiar 

 glories of the world they inhabit, and rehearse 

 the history of the Creator s dispensations in that 

 portion of his empire ; and with equal pleasure 

 should we listen to the instructions which flow 

 from the lips of Benevolence, and survey those 

 transporting objects and arrangements which de 

 corate a world where love pervades the breasts 

 of all its inhabitants. To visit a distant world, 

 although it were in our power, where the inha 

 bitants were of an opposite description, conic 

 afford no gratification to an intelligent and bene 

 volent mind, but would overwhelm it with anguish 

 and dismay. What enjoyment would the capa 

 cious mind of a pure intelligence from the regions 

 of the constellation Orion, derive from visiting a 

 world inhabited by such beings as the inhabitants 

 of Nootka Sound, New Guinea, or New Zealand, 

 where the moral and intellectual principle is 

 completely debased, and where the beauties of 

 Nature are defaced with interminable forests and 

 marshes, and the haunts of beasts of prey ? lie 



