MORAL SYSTEMS. 



81 



sufferers, as well as in the calamities which befall 

 nis brethren in his native land. Nor will- his af 

 fections be confined to the men of the present 

 age, but will stretch forward to embrace the 

 sons and daughters of future times, who are des 

 tined to appear on the theatre of this world, in 

 successive generations, till time shall be no 

 longer. The plans which he now forms, the 

 ground-works of the improvements which he is 

 now establishing, and the diversified operations of 

 oenevolence in which he is now engaged, will 

 have, for their ultimate object, the diffusion of the 

 light of science and of religion, and the communi 

 cation of happiness, in various forms, to unnum 

 bered multitudes of the human race, after his 

 spirit shall have taken its flight beyond the 

 bounds of this terrestrial sphere. Nor will the cur 

 rent of his love towards fellow-intelligences be 

 bounded by the limits of time, and the range of 

 this sublunary system, but will run forward into 

 those interminable ages, which shall succeed the 

 dissolution of our globe, and will rise upward to 

 the inhabitants of those glorious worlds which 

 roll in the distant regions of creation. Contem 

 plating the diversified scenes in which he may 

 hereafter be placed, and the various orders of 

 intellectual beings with which he may mingle, 

 his soul will be transported at the prospect of en 

 tering upon a more extensive field for the range 

 of his benevolent affections, and of being quali 

 fied to receive and to communicate happiness on a 

 more enlarged scale, in company with other holy 

 intelligences, where the field of benevolence 

 will be continually expanding, and the most ex 

 quisite delight springing up in his bosom, and 

 ever increasing, as eternal ages are rolling on. 



Thus, it appears, that Benevolence is an ex 

 pansive and an ever active principle, diffus 

 ing happiness in its train wherever it extends. 

 Were an extensive moral machinery to be set in 

 action by this powerful principle, it is impossible 

 to describe what a variety of blessings would soon 

 be distributed among mankind, and what a mighty 

 change would be effected in the social state of 

 human brings, and on the whole aspect of the 

 moral world. And from what has been already 

 stated, it is evident, that, although intellectual 

 talent, wealth, and influence, have most in their 

 power, as the prime directors of the moral ma 

 chine, yet there is no individual in whom this 

 principle resides, however limited his faculties, 

 and his sphere of action, but has it in his power 

 co communicate happiness to his fellow creatures, 

 and to become at least a subordinate agent in pro 

 moting the plans of universal benevolence. 



From what has been stated above, and in se 

 veral of the preceding parts of this work, we 

 may learn, that, in order to acquire a knowledge 

 of our duty, and of the motives which should 

 stimulate us to its performance, there is no need 

 to engage in the study of voluminous systems of 

 26 



ethical science, or to perplex the mind with la 

 boured disquisitions on the principles of morals. 

 The general path of duty is plain to every one 

 who is inclined to walk in it ; and whoever wishes 

 to be assisted and directed in his progress to 

 wards moral perfection, will find, in the Pro 

 verbs of Solomon, the sermons of Jesus Christ, 

 and the practical parts of the apostolic epistles, 

 maxims, and precepts, and motives inculcated, 

 infinitely superior in regard both to their author 

 ity and their excellence, to those of all other 

 systems of moral philosophy, whether in ancient 

 or in modern times. This seems to be partly 

 admitted even by moral philosophers themselves. 

 The celebrated Dr. Reid, in his &quot; Essays on 

 the Active Powers of Man,&quot; after a variety of 

 learned and abstract discussions on active power, 

 and the principles of human action, when 

 treating on the theory of morals, says, &quot; This 

 is an intricate subject, and there have been 

 various theories and much controversy about it 

 in ancient and in modern times. But it has little 

 connexion with the knowledge of our duty, and 

 those who differ most in the theory of our moral 

 powers, agree in the practical rules of morals 

 which they dictate. As a man may be a good 

 judge of colours, and of the other visible quali 

 ties of objects, without any knowledge of the 

 anatomy of the eye, and of the theory of vision; 

 so a man may have a very clear and compre 

 hensive knowledge of what is right and of what 

 is wrong in human conduct, who never studied 

 the structure of our moral powers. A good ear 

 in music may be much improved by attention 

 and practice in that art ; but very little by study 

 ing the anatomy of the ear, and the theory of 

 sound. In order to acquire a good eye, or a 

 good ear, in the arts that require them, the the 

 ory of vision, and the theory of sound, are by no 

 means necessary, and indeed of very little use. 

 Of as little necessity or use is what we call the 

 theory of morals, in order to improve our moral 

 judgment.&quot; REID, &quot; On the Active Powers,&quot; 

 Essay v. chap. 2. 



To a man who is familiar with the Scriptures, 

 and whose mind has acquired a relish for the 

 simplicity and excellence of the Christian code 

 of morals, how cold, and frigid, and uninteresting, 

 do the laboured disquisitions of our most cele 

 brated ethical writers appear! There is little 

 to be found in such writings to kindle the fire of 

 holy love, and to inspire the soul with a noble 

 ardour, in carrying forward the plan of divine 

 benevolence. What powerful stimulus to ex 

 alted virtue can be expected from abstract dis 

 cussions on active power, on liberty and necessity, 

 on theories of moral action, on the reason and fit 

 ness of things, on self-love, on public and private 

 interest, on the law of honour, and the like ; and 

 of how little practical utility are the results ot 

 such disquisitions ; since every principle of ac 

 tion, every motive, and every duty conducive tc 



