674 



MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 



Moral o f Christianity was to unfold a plan of mercy, which 

 osopby. mus t otherwise have remained unknown : its peculiar- 

 "*" Y ~"" ' ity, as a moral system, consists in the powerful sanc- 

 tions by which its simple and obvious precepts are en- 

 forced. Instead, then, of being jealous of those moral 

 maxims adopted, and beautifully illustrated, by many 

 heathen authors, every Christian should consider them 

 as so many attestations to the existence of that immut- 

 able law on which God has laid the foundation of mo- 

 rals. To deny the existei>ce of such a law, would be 

 to destroy at once the moral responsibility of man, 

 where the light of revelation is unknown ; for " where 

 there is no law, there is no transgression," an assertion 

 whicli the apostle makes, not to free the unenlightened 

 heathen from responsibility, but to show their great 

 guilt in neglecting the clear intimations written on 

 their hearts, and pointed out by the general constitu- 

 tion and course of nature. But unless such intimations 

 existed, no blame could attach ; for who could be cen- 

 sured for invincible ignorance ? 



The law of moral action is in fact so irrevocably fix- 

 ed, that even when we violate it unconsciously, we are 

 corrected, and called back to the consideration of the 

 circumstances which have affected our comfort. Thus 

 We cannot temperance, one of the cardinal virtues, is forced on us 



no ate the by necessity ; and whenever we go beyond the limits 

 londamen- ; ., , '. ' , . ! r 



nil princi- prescribed by the constitution of our nature, we are 

 pies of mo. instantly punished, and taught to seek that just me- 

 rals with dium which may satisfy, but not satiate ; and exhila- 

 Hupunity. rate, without subverting by excessive excitement. 



But although it is quite evident that the Author of 

 our existence has put into our hands the materials of 

 knowledge, and directed us, by the constitution and 

 circumstances of our nature, to the course of moral ac- 

 tion which we should pursue; yet it is certain that we 

 never could convert these materials to our advantage, 

 without the aid of information superior to that afforded 

 by the natural reason of man. All that we have hither- 

 to said amounts merely to this, that God has most 

 abundantly furnished the means of information, with 

 regard to the leading duties of morality : and we must 

 now farther admit, that the materials of prejudice and 

 error are no less abundantly supplied by the tendency 

 of our appetites and passions. It is this which renders 

 human nature a strange medley of folly and of wisdom ; 

 of virtuous feelings and depraved affections ; which 

 weakens the convictions even of the most enlightened, 

 and teaches them to desire an authoritative rule and 

 Natural sanction, for the regulation of their conduct. In short, 

 morality on the principles of natural morality stand pretty nearly 

 the same on the same footing with the principles of natural reli- 

 iooting gion: for though the being and attributes of God may 

 be inferred from all his works, yet we see that the na- 

 tural reason of man never led him to just and accurate 

 conceptions on the subject. In the same manner, 

 though the rule of moral conduct may be traced in the 

 order of nature, and in the constitution of our own 

 minds, yet there can be no doubt that the light of re- 

 relation was necessary, to enable mankind to distin- 

 guish, with certainty, truth from error, and the illu- 

 sions of the passions from the rule of right reason. For 

 who could decide with absolute certainty amidst the 

 endless varieties of human opinions ; or expect to have 

 the authority of an oracle in commanding the assent of 

 mankind ? 



This difficulty was so powerfully felt by Socrates, 



with natu- 

 ral religion. 



that he deemed it necessary that an instructor should Moral 

 be sent from heaven with special authority to reveal Philotcphy 

 and enforce the duty of man. Cicero did not go quite j?~~.'~~~ 

 so far as this ; but his words evince no less clearly the "oTa'us 

 necessity of such a teacher. He says that he was not audCicei* 

 one of those who maintained that there was no such 

 thing as absolute truth ; but that error was so mixed 

 up with every truth, that it could not be accurately 

 distinguished *. And to prove the truth of this obser- 

 vation, he adduces the discordant opinions of the prin- 

 cipal philosophical sects respecting the nature of the 

 gods. If we are more fortunate than those two illus- 

 trious heathens, anil can proceed with greater confi- 

 dence in our investigations, it is because we have been 

 favoured with a revelation which was denied to them, 

 and which has materially influenced the moral discus- 

 sions even of those who reject its assistance. 



In our researches we do not mean to set reason and Moral* 

 revelation in opposition to each other, but to exhibit cannot be 

 them as mutually co-operating to establish the same whcll J 



important results. It is the proper province of theo- P ara '"' 



,. '.. ' ..... liuir. theo- 



logy to enforce the sanctions of revealed religion : it is ( 



the business of our present department to analyse the 

 principles of moral action, and to point out their foun- 

 dation in the nature and circumstances of man. It is 

 not indeed possible, in any discussion on the subject, 

 to separate morals wholly from theology. For as soon 

 as men have acquired a belief in the existence of a God, 

 their moral perceptions must be considerably influenced 

 by the attributes which they assign to him. If he is 

 supposed to be cruel, or vindictive, or lascivious, we 

 may naturally expect to see the same qualities exem- 

 plified in the character of his votaries ; for wherever 

 men have admitted the existence of a God, they have 

 also admitted that they were bound both to imitate and 

 obey him. It is absolutely necessary, then, in all mo- 

 ral discussion, to endeavour to ascertain how far the 

 unaided powers of man can go in obtaining right con- 

 ceptions of the divine nature and attributes; for if 

 these could be properly ascertained, they would con- 

 stitute a rule from which there could be no appeal. 



This point will be soon settled, if we take facts for 

 the foundation of our argument, and consider what has 

 actually been done in the province of natural theology, 

 by the unassisted efforts of the human understanding. 

 We have only to recollect the impure and absurd theo- 

 logy of the Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians ; which 

 some writers have chosen to denominate elegant, mere- 

 ly because its absurdities have been concealed under 

 the splendour of poetical diction and imagery : or we 

 have only to read Cicero's book on the nature of the 

 gods, and if facts may be allowed to influence our rea- 

 soning, we will not hesitate to pronounce at once the 

 incompetency of human reason to discover the attri- 

 butes and perfections of the Supreme Being. 



It may, perhaps, be thought unfair to decide on the p rov j nM 

 capabilities of the human mind, from its aberrations O f na: . lr 

 and perversions ; and we may be called upon to con- theology, 

 template what it is naturally able to achieve. But here 

 our speculations roust be involved in great uncertainty. 

 We find, indeed, the belief in a Supreme Being to be 

 almost universal. In many instances, we discover very 

 enlightened views respecting the unity of his nature, 

 and some of his attributes ; but in no one case can we 

 pronounce with certainty how far these notions are the 

 product of unassisted reason. We have stated else- 



Non enim surans ii, quibus nihil verum essc videatur ; Bed ii, qui omnibus veris falsa qutedam adjuncts ease dicamus, tanta simili- 

 tudine, ut in ii* nulls insit certa judicandi et adsentiendi nota. D* Nat, Dear. lib. i. c. 5. 



