PHILOSOPHY, MENTAL. 



quickly forgotten though their effects 

 lain ; future pleasures are thought of 



to promote the happiness of their child, 

 by making its present pleasure subordi- 

 nate to its happiness on the whole, from 

 checking their own irregularities of dis- 

 position, so as to raise no suspicion in its 

 mind that their own pleasure was their 

 object, and by aiming to connect, by all 

 the rational means in their power, plea- 

 surable feelings with obedience, painful 

 feelings with disobedience. We suppose 

 there never was yet an instance, where 

 all this was done, and done sufficiently 

 early, where the effect did not follow. 

 And the habit of disinterested obedience 

 may be formed much easier in the ear- 

 liest period of life than in those further 

 advanced. There are then no opposing 

 habits which must be checked before 

 obedience can be secured: little pains 

 are 



remain ; 



but little, and the value of their sacrifice 

 not falsely estimated ; above all, the con- 

 stant connection is formed between good 

 and obedience, by various methods of 

 obedience, and between unpleasant feel- 

 ing and disobedience. The desire of 

 obeying parental directions is the feeling 

 which we have been considering ; but 

 precisely the same observations may be 

 made with respect to the wish to increase 

 parental happiness, and remove parental 

 pains : and where parental influence has 

 acquired such power, we need not go a 

 step further to ascertain the cause of a dis- 

 interested love of truth and other virtues. 

 We do not think that a child who has been 

 thoroughly disciplined, so as to have form- 

 ed the confirmed habit of prompt affec- 

 tionate obedience, and who has had this 

 feeling transferred to his heavenly parent, 

 by the wise instruction of his earthly pa- 

 rents, will even wander far and long from 

 the road of duty; but in other cases, 

 where the habit is less confirmed, or not 

 rightly directed, it often falls before the 

 influence of erroneous views as to the 

 efficacy of the means of private happi- 

 ness, before the constant influence of ex- 

 ample, before the influence of disap- 

 pointment, &.c. : but these effects our 

 limits will not allow us to explain ; we 

 merely wished to show how disinterest- 

 edness might spring up very early in the 

 mind. These things, so far from giving 

 any countenance to the theory that the hu- 

 man mind is originally disinterested, con- 

 firm the theory that disinterestedness is 

 the growth of custom ; and point to various 

 important practical conclusions, which pa- 

 rents will do well to lay to heart, to make 

 the regulating principles of their conduct. 



45. We will now proceed to the t\* t* 

 last objects which we had in contempla- 

 tion, the formation of disinterested bene- 

 volence, and a disinterested love of duty. 

 Every human being receives his first 

 pleasurable impressions in society. His 

 appetites are gratified by the assistance 

 of his kind; and probably there is no 

 agreeable feeling which is not in some 

 way or other associated with those who 

 attend him in the period of infancy and 

 childhood. Hence arises sociality, or the 

 pleasure derived from the mere company 

 of others: and, as the child increases in 

 years, the associated pleasure increases 

 almost continually. In the innocent and 

 generally happy period of childhood, he 

 receives all his enjoyments in the com- 

 pany of others ; most of his sports and 

 amusements require a playfellow ; and if 

 by any untoward circumstances he is pre- 

 vented from joining his companions, he 

 feels an uneasiness which it is scarcely in 

 his own power to remove, but which va- 

 nishes as soon as he can rejoin them. 

 But his happiness derived from others, 

 depends greatly upon the happiness of 

 others. He is happiest when those around 

 him are happy ; partly from the contagion 

 of feeling, and partly because his means 

 of happiness considerably depend upon 

 the convenience of others. If his com- 

 panions are ill, his sources of pleasure are 

 diminished ; if his parents are unable to 

 take their customary care of him, he 

 misses it in various ways, he loses the 

 caress of affection, or the little kind- 

 nesses of parental tenderness. Hence 

 the comfort and happiness of others ne- 

 cessarily becomes the object of desire ; 

 and even in children, it not unfrequently 

 happens, that this desire becomes suffi- 

 ciently disinterested to forego small plea- 

 sures, or endure small pains, in order to 

 increase the comfort of their parents, or 

 to prevent what would diminish it. Be- 

 nevolence is that affection which leads us 

 to promote the welfare of others to the 

 best of our power ; and general benevo- 

 lence is founded upon particular benevo- 

 lence ; for instance, upon affection to 

 parents. We have seen the rudiments 

 of it spring up ; and that in some in- 

 stances, even in children, it becomes dis- 

 interested : but it has been in only one 

 branch, and it will be well to pursue it 

 further. The endeavour to promote the 

 comfort or welfare of others, is almost 

 invariably followed in the early part of 

 life with an increase of pleasurable feel- 

 ings. Parents approve, and tell children 

 that God approves, of those who do good 



