PHILOSOPHY, MORAL. 



m kind and in degree to all the rest. 

 We have already seen the influence of 

 the precepts of piety on the four inferior 

 classes of human pleasures, those of sen- 

 sation, imagination, ambition, and self- 

 inlerest ; but the precepts of piety are 

 those which teach us what homage of our 

 affections and external actions ought to 

 be addressed to the Deity in a direct and 

 immediate manner. Now all the affec- 

 tions enjoined by those precepts, termi- 

 nate ultimately in the love of God, which 

 therefore may be used in the same situa- 

 tions in which the term precepts of piety 

 has been employed. But in addition to 

 this, it is obvious in a shorter way. The 

 perpetual exertions of a pleasing affection 

 towards a being who is infinite in power, 

 knowledge, and goodness, and who is 

 also our friend and father, cannot but en- 

 hance all our joys, and alleviate all our 

 sorrows; a sens'e of his presence and 

 protection will restrain all actions which 

 are excessive, irregular, or hurtful ; will 

 support and encourage us in all such as 

 are of a contrary nature ; and will infuse 

 such peace and tranquillity of mind as 

 will enable us to see clearly, and act uni- 

 formly. The perfection therefore of 

 every part of our natures must depend 

 upon the perfection in which the love of 

 God, and a constant sense of his presence, 

 have obtained possession of the mind. 



96. With respect to the support and re- 

 gulation afforded by piety to benevolence, 

 it may be observed, that the love of our 

 fellow men can never be free from person- 

 ality and selfishness, until we are able to 

 view all things in the relation which they 

 bearJ;o God. If the relation to ourselves 

 be made the point of view, our prospects 

 must be narrow, and the appearance of 

 what we do see, distorted. When we 

 consider the scenes of vanity, folly, and 

 misery, which present themselves to our 

 view from this point ; when we are disap- 

 pointed in the happiness of our friends, 

 or feel the resentment of our enemies ; our 

 benevolence will begin to languish, and 

 our hearts to fail us; we shall complain 

 of the corruption and wickedness of that 

 world which we have hitherto loved, with 

 a benevolence merely human, and shew 

 by our complaints, that we are strongly 

 tinctured with the same corruption and 

 wickedness. This is generally the case 

 with young and unexperienced persons in 

 the beginning of a virtuous course, and 

 before they have made advances in piety. 

 The disappointments which human benevo- 

 lence meets with, are sometimes apt to in- 

 cline us to call the divine goodness in 



question. But he who is possessed of a 

 full assurance of this, who loves God with 

 his whole powers, as an inexhaustible 

 fountain of love and benevolence to his 

 creatures, at all times and under all cir- 

 cumstances, as much when he chastises 

 as when he rewards, will learn thereby to 

 love enemies as well as friends, the sinful 

 and miserable as well as the holy and hap- 

 py; to rejoice and give thanks for every 

 thing he sees and feels, however irrecon- 

 cilable to his present suggestions ; and to 

 labour, as an instrument under God, with 

 real courage and consistency, for the pro- 

 motion of virtue and happiness. 



97. In like manner the conscience or 

 moral sense requires a perpetual direction 

 and support from the love of God, to keep 

 it steady and pure. When God is made 

 only a subordinate end, or is shut out 

 from the mind, men are very apt to re- 

 lapse into negligence and callosity, and 

 to act without any virtuous principle. 

 And, on the other hand, if they regard 

 him with slavish fear, they fill their minds 

 with endless scruples and anxieties about 

 the lawfulness of trivial actions. Thus it 

 regulates, improves, and perfects all the 

 other parts of our nature ; but further, it 

 affords a pleasure superior in kind, and in 

 degree, to all the rest of which our nature 

 is capable. 



98. First, the love and contemplation of 

 God in some measure renders us partakers 

 of the divine nature, and consequently of 

 the perfection and happiness of it. Our 

 wills may thus be united to his will, and, 

 therefore, rendered free from disappoint- 

 ment ; we shall, by degrees, see every 

 thing as God sees it, that is, see every 

 thing which he has made to be good. 

 Though this can only be the case in part 

 in the present world, yet it is well known 

 that there have been those who have so 

 far reached this perfection of our nature, 

 as to acquiesce, and even to rejoice in the 

 events of life, however apparently afflict- 

 ing ; to be freed from fear and solicitude ; 

 and to receive their daily bread with con- 

 stant thankfulness. And though the num- 

 ber of these happy persons has been com- 

 paratively small, and the path be not fre- 

 quented and beaten, yet, if the desire be 

 sufficiently earnest, it is in the power of 

 all to arrive at the same state. 



99. Secondly, the love of God may be 

 considered as the central affection to 

 which all the others point. When men 

 have entered sufficiently into the ways of 

 piety, the ideas of the Supreme Being re- 

 cur more and more in the whole course 



