CONCLUSION. 297 



tains with respect to those great moral propositions, which 

 ought to form the directing principles of human conduct. 

 It is one thing to assent to a proposition of this sort, anoth- 

 er, and a very different thing, to have properly imbibed its 

 influence. I take the case to be this. Perhaps almost every 

 man living has a particular train of thought, into which his 

 mind glides and falls, when at leisure from the impressions 

 and ideas that occasionally excite it ; perhaps, also, the 

 train of thought here spoken of, more than any other thing, 

 determines the character. It is of the utmost Consequence, 

 therefore, that this property of our constitution be well reg- 

 ulated. Now it is by frequent or continued meditation upon 

 a subject, by placing a subject in different points of view, 

 by induction of particulars, by variety of examples, by ap- 

 plying principles to the solution of phenomena, by dwelling 

 upon proofs and consequences, that mental exercise is drawn 

 into any particular channel. It is by these means, at least, 

 that we have any power over it. The train of spontaneous 

 thought and the choice of that train, may be directed to 

 different ends, and may appear to be more or less judiciously 

 fixed according to the purpose, in respect of which we con- 

 sider it : but, in a moral vieiv, I shall not, I believe, be con- 

 tradicted when I say, that, if one train of thinking be more 

 desirable than another, it is that which regards the phenom- 

 ena of nature with a constant reference to a Supreme In- 

 telligent Author. To have made this the ruling, the habit- 

 ual sentiment of our minds, is to have laid the foundation 

 of every thing which is religious. The world thence- 

 forth becomes a temple, and life itself one continued act of 

 adoration. The change, is no less than this, that, whereas 

 formerly God was seldom in our thoughts, we can now 

 scarcely look upon any thing without perceiving its relation 

 to him. Every organized natural body, in the provisions 

 which it contains for its sustentation and propagation testi- 

 fies a care on the part of the Creator, expressly directed to 

 these purposes. We are on all sides surrounded by such 

 bodies ; examined in their parts, wonderfully curious ; com- 

 pared with one another, no less wonderfully diversified. So 

 that the mind, as well as the eye, may either expatiate in 

 variety and multitude, or fix itself down to the investiga- 

 tion of particular divisions of the science. And in either 

 case it will rise up from its occupation, possessed by the 

 subject, in a very different manner, and with a very differ- 

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