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MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 



Moral for granted that there is a regular gradation of exist- 

 Philosophy. e nce rising through every possible variety, and that, 

 " "/ ^ therefore, there must be such a creature as man, and 

 such a world as this. 



Of systems possible, if 'tis confest 

 That wisdom infinite must make the best, 

 A V here all must fall, or not coherent be, 

 And all that rises, rise in due degree ; 

 Then, in the scale of reasoning life, 'tis plain 

 There must be somewhere such a rank as man. 



This reasoning, if reasoning it can be called, is then 

 confirmed by another hypothesis, in which it is assumed, 

 or insinuated, that our present state of being has a re- 

 ference to some other sphere, or system, as yet un- 

 known. The reader must not suppose that this has 

 any allusion to the commonly received doctrine of a 

 future state. Nothing could be farther from the mind 

 of the writer : he speaks of some system to whose con- 

 venience we are, at this moment, unconsciously subser- 

 vient. This is evident from what he subjoins to his 

 former reasoning. 



So man, who here seems principal alone, 

 Perhaps rcte second to some sphere unknown ; 

 Touches some wheel, or verges to some goal ; 

 'Tis but a part we see, and not the whole. 



It would be unfair to be very severe on this poetical 

 system of the universe, in which splendid imagery and 

 most beautiful versification make some atonement for 

 the grievous deficiency of logical precision ; and which 

 is in fact not worse than a hundred other schemes which 

 have been invented to account for the same thing. It 

 is sufficient to say that it consists wholly of gratuitous 

 assumptions. 



Sciipture I" stat ' n g the various theories that have been sug- 

 account. gested to account for the origin and existence of evil, 

 we may, without encroaching on the province of theo- 

 logy, be permitted to advert to the most ancient account 

 of this subject ; which is professedly not a theory, but 

 a statement of historical facts. The account is, that 

 God created man at first upright ; but that he fell from 

 his innocence and happiness, by eating of the fruit of a 

 . certain tree of which God had commanded him not to 

 eat. There is no violation of probability or verisimili- 

 tude in this account. On the contrary, there are nu- 

 merous memorials in the traditional histories of all na- 

 tions, which bear a striking resemblance to this state- 

 ment. The Grecian account approaches nearest to that 

 of the sacred record. It celebrates the innocence and 

 happiness of the golden age ; and tells us that this de- 

 sirable state of things was destroyed by the theft of 

 Prometheus, who stole fire from heaven ; and that the 

 gods, to revenge his sacrilege, sent forth hosts of dis- 

 eases and crimes to desolate the earth. 



1'he coincidence between this account and that con- 

 tained in Scripture, is too striking to be accidental. 

 The offence and the punishment bear such a resem- 

 blance, that both accounts must evidently refer to the 

 , same event ; and we would naturally assign the supe- 

 riority, in point of authenticity, to the account which 

 we know to be the most ancient. We do not, however, 

 positively affirm that the various accounts of the origi- 

 nal innocence and fall of man, so widely disseminated 

 throughout the world, have all been immediately de- 

 rived from the Scripture history. We would rather 

 suppose that the knowledge of these interesting facts 

 was universally diffused ; that it remained uncorrupted 

 among the Jews by being so early embodied in the re- 

 cord of their history and laws ; whilst among other na- 

 tions, being left to float down the uncertain channel of 



t h is ac _ 



tradition, it assumed those various appearances which Moral 

 have so much obscured and disguised the truth. Philosophy. 



The features of probability which distinguish the 

 Scripture account, are, first, that God prescribed to man 

 a test of obedience, in his state of innocence ; for with- 

 out such a test he could not have been a moral and count. 

 accountable being : he could have hail no choice be- 

 tween good and evil, and therefore could not have been 

 a proper object either of punishment or reward. And, 

 secondly, the test prescribed being of a positive and 

 arbitrary kind, wa's perfectly adapted to the singular 

 circumstances in which man was placed on his creation, 

 in which, as far as we can perceive, he could only sin 

 against an arbitrary statute. 



But the difficulty lies not so much in ascertaining the 

 manner in which evil was introduced, as in explaining 

 the reason why it was permitted. Here we may ob- 

 serve, that evil could not have been absolutely prevent- 

 ed, without destroying the character of man, as a moral 

 agent. The few intimations contained in Scripture, 

 respecting the condition of the Angels, are in confor- 

 mity with this idea. They also were made capable of 

 sinning, in consequence of which some of them fell ; 

 whilst the rest, who withstood the trial, completed, in 

 all probability, their probation by that resistance, and 

 are now exempted from the possibility of falling ; as the 

 souls of the just shall be, when removed from this state 

 of discipline, into the blessedness of heaven. So far, 

 then, our reason compels us to vindicate the Almighty, 

 for having made man 



Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall." 



Another ground of vindication is presented to us, when 

 we consider that even the evils which are in the world, 

 are productive of good on the whole. With regard to 

 temporal or physical evils, this is undoubted. The 

 human character is improved by suffering ; and the 

 evils which we most grievously deplore, if borne with 

 fortitude, never fail to improve our natures, to increase 

 our knowledge, and exalt our virtue. The havoc and 

 devastation of war correct the licentiousness and effe- 

 minacy which result from peace ; and difficulties and 

 hardships give a vigour to the character, and an en- 

 largement to the understanding, which never could 

 have been acquired in the midst of ease and soft indul- 

 gence. 



Even the mutual depredations of the lower animals 

 which prey on each other, though we cannot suppose 

 them productive of any thing like moral improvement, 

 yet display a thousand resources provided by their 

 Creator for their security and comfort ; and in this way 

 furnish to rational observers many striking proofs of 

 the goodness and provident care of the Almighty. 

 Besides, the very havoc which is made by mutual 

 slaughter, increases the number of genera and species ; 

 and in consequence of the different tribes of animals 

 preying on each other, provision is made for an infinite- 

 ly greater variety and number than could have existed, 

 had they all lived on one kind of food. 



In short, the whole system of external nature seems 

 completely adapted to man, as a creature born in igno- 

 rance, and continually liable to sin ; and we might have 

 inferred, though we had had no information on the 

 subject, that the constitution of nature, or the system 

 of the universe, was changed, when man forfeited his 

 innocence, and became subject to sin ; for as it exists 

 at present, it could have answered no purpose in the 

 primeval state of purity, but to impair human happi- 

 ness. The Scripture account corresponds with this 

 suggestion, or rather, perhaps, the suggestion itself has 



The exist- 

 ence of evil 

 not incon- 

 sistent with 

 the divipe 

 goodness. 



The pre- 

 sent sys- 

 tem of na- 

 ture adap- 

 ted tc man 

 in a state of 

 trial, but 

 inapplicable 

 to 3 Mate of 

 innocence. 



