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THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. 



him. The blessing of him that was ready to 

 perish comes upon him, and he causes the widow s 

 heart to sing for joy.&quot; 



But the activities of benevolence are not confin 

 ed to the communication of sensitive enjoyments. 

 Man is a rational and immortal, as well as a 

 sensitive being; and the operations of genuine 

 love will have for their ultimate object the pro 

 motion of his best interests as a moral and intellec 

 tual agent, and as an heir of immortality. 



When we consider man as an intellectual be 

 ing, standing in various important relations to 

 his God and to his fellow-creatures, we behold 

 numerous evils which require to be remedied, as 

 well as in the circumstances of his physical con 

 dition. Though the human mind is capable of 

 vast expansion, of acquiring an immense number 

 of sublime and interesting ideas, and of enjoying 

 the purest pleasure in contemplating the objects 

 which lie within its range, yet it is a melancholy 

 fact, that in all ages, mental darkness has en 

 veloped the great majority of our race ; and that 

 the grossest ignorance of the most important 

 truths, accompanied with the most degrading af 

 fections, still prevails among the greater part of 

 the population of every region of the globe. We 

 need not go to the frozen climes of Lapland and 

 Labrador, to the filthy huts-of the Greenlander 

 and the Esquimaux, to the rude savages of 

 Nootka Sound, to the degraded tribes of New- 

 Holland and Van Dieman s Land, to the wild 

 and wretched Boshemen and Caffres, or to the 

 swarthy sons of Central Africa, in order to be 

 convinced of this lamentable truth. We need 

 only to look around us among the various ranks of 

 our own population, and we shall not fail to see 

 ignorance, in all its diversified forms, exerting its 

 malign influence over the minds of men, accom 

 panied with superstition, enthusiasm, bigotry, 

 intolerance, and every grovelling affection that 

 can debase the human mind. Multitudes of the 

 young, both in the city and in the country, are 

 suffered to shoot up from infancy to manhood, as 

 if they were mere animal existences, ignorant of 

 the character and operations of God, of the duties 

 they owe to their Creator and to one another, and 

 of the eternal state of existence to which they 

 are destined. Even in many of those places 

 where instruction is attempted to be communi 

 cated, what a pitiful pictare is exhibited of the re 

 sults of education, and of the folly which attaches 

 itself to the character of man! The pronuncia 

 tion of a number of unmeaning words, the recit 

 ing of passages which the young cannot under 

 stand, the repetition of a few propositions in re 

 gion to which no ideas are attached, and the 

 casting of a few accounts, are considered as suf- 

 *icient to lead them forward in the path of know- 

 edge and virtue ; and are substituted in the place 

 of those definite and luminous instructions which 

 are requisite to expand the opening intellect, to 

 Convey distinct ideas to the mind, to unfold the 



scenes of creation and providence, to display the 

 character of God, and to train up the youthfui 

 mind to glory and immortality. 



Now, in reference to the ignorance which pre 

 vails in the world, love to man, as an intellectual 

 being, will excite to active endeavours in order 

 to counteract its influence. It will prove an ex 

 citement to the erection of seminaries of instruc 

 tion wherever they are deficient ; it will patronize 

 every scheme and every exertion by which know, 

 ledge may be increased ; and will diffuse mental 

 illumination as far as the sphere of its influence 

 extends. It will not rest satisfied with the form 

 of instruction, without the substance ; with the 

 elements of language, without the elements of 

 thought , with the key of knowledge, without 

 knowledge itself; but will devise rational plans 

 for conveying substantial information to the minds 

 of the young, so as to win their affections, arrest 

 their attention, and carry them forward with 

 pleasure in the paths of improvement. It will 

 not offer them stones and ashes instead of bread, 

 but will spread before them an intellectual feast, 

 and &quot; feed them with knowledge and understand 

 ing.&quot; It will not confine its attention merely to 

 the instruction of the young, but will endeavour, 

 by writing, by conversation, by lectures, by lend 

 ing and circulating books, by establishing public 

 libraries, and by organizing rational and scientific 

 institutions, to diffuse the rays ofintellectual light 

 among men of all ages, ranks, and professions ; 

 and will never cease its exertions till ignorance, 

 with all its degrading accompaniments, be ba 

 nished from society, and till the light of truth illu 

 minate the inhabitants of every land. In a word, 

 it will endeavour to render every branch of 

 knowledge subservient to the illustration of the 

 character and the revelation of God, and to the 

 preparing of mankind for the employments of 

 that nobler state of existence to which they are 

 destined. 



Again, as man is possessed of an immortal na 

 ture, and in his present state of sin and degrada 

 tion is exposed to misery in the future world, so it 

 is one of the highest offices of love to endeavour 

 to promote the eternal salvation of mankind. For 

 the accomplishment of this important object, all 

 its activities are concentrated, and all its other 

 labours are rendered subservient. To improve 

 the physical condition of man as a sensitive be 

 ing, and to enlarge his knowledge as an intellec 

 tual, while we overlook his eternal interests, 

 is to neglect one of the most important duties of 

 Christian philanthropy. The sensitive enjoy 

 ments of man are conducive to his happiness so 

 long as they continue ; and &quot; knowledge is plea 

 sant to the soul.&quot; But what are all the acquisi 

 tions and enjoyments of time, when compared 

 with the concerns of eternity ! and what will they 

 avail, if their possessor be found unqualified for 

 the employments of an endless life! If the soul 

 of man be an immortal principle, and if the leas*. 



