CHAPTER IV. 



A HRIEP SURVEY OF THE MORAL STATE OF THE WORLD ; OR, AN EXAMINATION OF THE GE- 

 NERAL TRAIN OF HUMAN ACTIONS, IN REFERENCE TO ITS CONFORMITY WITH THE PRINCI. 

 PLES AND LAWS NOW ILLUSTRATED. 



THE discoveries of modern astronomy have 

 led us infallibly to conclude, that the universe 

 consists of an immense number of systems and 

 worlds dispersed, at immeasurable distances from 

 each other, throughout the regions of infinite 

 space. When we take into consideration the 

 Benevolence of the Deity, and that the happiness 

 of the intelligent creation is the great object which 

 his Wisdom and Omnipotence are employed to 

 accomplish it appears highly probable, that the 

 inhabitants of the whole, or at least of the greater 

 part, of those worlds whose suns we behold 

 twinkling from afar, are in a state of moral per 

 fection, and consequently, in a state of happiness. 

 At any rate, it is reasonable to conclude, that 

 the exceptions which exist are not numerous. 

 Perhaps this earth is the only material world 

 where physical evil exists, where misery pre 

 vails, and where moral order is subverted ; and 

 these dismal effects may have been permit 

 ted to happen, under the government of God, 

 in order to exhibit to other intelligences, a speci 

 men of the terrible and destructive consequences 

 of moral evil, as a warning of the danger of in 

 fringing, in the least degree, on those moral prin 

 ciples which form the bond of union among the 

 intelligent system. 



Could we trace the series of events which have 

 occurred, in any one of those happy worlds, where 

 moral perfection prevails, ever since the period 

 when it was replenished with inhabitants, and 

 the objects to which their physical and rational 

 powers have been directed, we should, doubtless, 

 be highly delighted and enraptured with the mo 

 ral scenery which the history of such a world 

 would display. Its annals would uniformly re 

 cord the transactions of benevolence. We should 

 hear nothing of the pomp of hostile armies, of the 

 shouts of victory, of the exploits of heroes, of 

 the conflagration of cities, of the storming of for 

 tifications, of the avarice of merchants and cour 

 tiers, of the burning of heretics, or of the ambition 

 of princes. The train of events, presented to 

 our view, would be directly opposed to every ob 

 ject of this description, and to every thing which 

 forms a prominent feature in the hislory of man 

 kind. To beautify and adorn the scenery of na 

 ture around them, to extend their views of the 

 operations of the Almighty, to explore the depths 

 of his wisdom and intelligence, to admire the exu- 

 *rance of his goodness, to celebrate, in unison 



the praises of the &quot;King Eternal,&quot; the Author 

 of all their enjoyments, to make progressive ad 

 vances in moral and intellectual attainments, to 

 circulate joy from heart to heart, to exert their 

 ingenuity in the invention of instruments by 

 which their physical powers may be improved, 

 and the wonders of creation more minutely ex 

 plored ; to widen the range of delightful contem 

 plation, to expand their views of the Divine per 

 fections, and to increase the sum of happiness 

 among all their fellow-intelligences, will doubt 

 less form a part of the employments of the inhabi 

 tants of a world where moral purity universally 

 prevails. One circumstance which may probably 

 diversify the annals of such a world, and form so 

 many eras in its history, may be the occasional 

 visits of angelic or other messengers, from distant 

 regions of creation, to announce the will of the 

 Almighty on particular emergencies, to relate 

 the progress of new creations in other parts of the 

 Divine Empire, and to convey intelligence re 

 specting the physical aspects, the moral arrange 

 ments, and the history of other worlds, and of 

 other orders of intellectual beings. Such visits 

 and occasional intercourses with celestial beings, 

 would, undoubtedly, have been more frequent in 

 our world, had not man rendered himself unquali 

 fied for such associations, by his grovelling affec 

 tions, and by the moral pollutions with which his 

 character is now stained. 



When we turn our eyes from the transactions of 

 such a world, to the world in which we live, how 

 very different a scene is presented to the view ! 

 The history of all nations embraces little more 

 than 



ARECOBDOFTHE OPERATIONS OF MALEVO 

 LENCE. 



Every occurrence has been considered as lame 

 and insipid, and scarcely worthy of being record 

 ed, unles it has been associated with the confused 

 noise of warriors, the shouts of conquerors, the 

 plunderofprovinr.es, the devastation of empires, 

 the groans of mangled victims, the cnes of wi 

 dows and orphans, and with garments rolled in 

 blood. When such malevolent operations cease 

 for a little, in any part of the world, and the tu 

 multuous passions which produced them, subside 

 into a temporary calm, the historian is presented 

 with a blank in the annals of the human race , 

 the short interlude of peace and of apparent 



