PHILOSOPHY, MORAL. 
be loo strongly impressed upon the mind, 
that correct dictates, and the exaction of 
implicit obedience to those dietates, consti- 
tute tlie perfection of the conscience. 
19. But when we say, it is agreeable to 
the will of God, we seem incapable of ad- 
vancing further. We surely are obliged to 
perform the will of God by every consider- 
ation.— Most true, and yet we are not come 
to the last obligation. Even in the sen- 
tence we have just used, we have, without 
intending it, referred to some other. — Un- 
der the dominion of a wise and good God, 
there cannot be a doubt, that obedience to 
his commands is the highest wisdom ; but 
why ? It is a question that admits of an an- 
swer, and may therefore be put, though re- 
verently ; Why am I obliged to do the will 
of God ? And the answer is obvious. Obe- 
dience to the commands of a benevolent 
God must be productive of the greatest ul- 
timate happiness.— Not that it is necessary 
frequently to take this into consideration ; 
for when we have ascertained that we are 
walking surely, we may walk safely without 
that degree of attention which, before such 
ascertainment, might have been necessary. 
To obey the will of God in all things is the 
highest point of wisdom ; and he is most 
obedient who obeys because he loves. 
20. Every (luestion, Why is any one oblig- 
ed to perform a certain action ? gives us an 
ultimate answer ; because it tends to the 
greatest ultimate happiness of the agent. 
When we arrive at this point it is obvious 
we ean go no further. — And, though 
true wisdom undoubtedly directs, that in 
order to attain the highest point of moral 
excellence, we must leave our own happi- 
ness out of consideration, yet there cannot 
be a doubt, that there could be no obliga- 
tion to any conduct in opposition to happi- 
ness on the whole. — If self must be annihi- 
lated, it is because self-annihilation, or self- 
oblivion, is necessary for the attainment of 
the highest possible happiness. — Here, then, 
we come to the ultimate obligation, and 
upon this ground we shall build our moral 
superstructure. Though the principle ap- 
pears a selfish one, it will be found, that 
the deductions from it are completely the 
reverse. — It has been remarked in favour 
of this as the ultimate obligation, that no 
nearer obligation could ever be admitted, 
which cannot at last be resolved into this id- 
timate one : that happiness is the end of 
the whole creation, though the means by 
which it is to be obtained are not always in 
themselves happiness ; and that revelation 
itself assumes this as the ultimate reason of 
all its requisitions. 
21. We now proceed to the second en- 
quiry (§. 8.) What are those alfectionsj 
conduct, and character, which tend to the 
greatest ultimate happiness of the agent; 
and in considering this the third will receive 
an answer. We shall chiefly confine our 
inquiries to the afiections, for the reason al- 
ready stated (§. 7.) and we shall make an 
estimate of the value of the different plea- 
sures and pains of the mind. This will lead 
to what we deem an indisputable conclu- 
sion, from the laws of the mental frame, 
that the love of man, of God, and of duty; 
(in other words, the affections of benevo- 
lence and of piety, and the moral sense,) 
should be the primary objeets of our aim ; 
and this because he will be most happy in 
whom those affections exist in the greatest 
strength and vigour. We have already 
stated (Philosophy, mental^ §. 73 — 99.) 
the Hartleyan classification of feelings ; and 
we shall here presuppose that our readers 
are aquainted with it. 
t, ESTIMATE OF SENSIBLE PLEASURES. 
22. The first pleasures and pains of the 
human being are obviously those of sensa- 
tion, and they form one source of enjoy- 
ment, and still more of suffering, during the 
whole of life. It is from these that the 
whole round of mental or intellectual plea- 
sures and pains is composed. — To estimate 
the value of these pleasures, in their uncom- 
pounded state, take the extreme case, that 
any one pursued them as a primary object, 
laymg aside all lestraint from tlie virtues of 
temperance and chastity, he would soon 
destroy his bodily faculties, thus rendering 
the objects of sensible pleasure useless ; and 
he would precipitate himself into pain, dis- 
eases, and death, evils of the first magnitude 
in the eyes of the voluptuous. “ This is a 
plain matter of observation, verified every 
day by the sad example of loathsome, tor- 
tured wretches that occur which way soever 
we turn our eyes, in the streets, in private 
families, in hospitals, in palaces.” Positive 
misery, and the loss even of sensible plea- 
sure, are too inseparably connected with 
intemperance and lewdness to leave room 
for doubt even to the most sceptical. — The 
sensual appetites must therefore be regu- 
lated by, and made subservient to, some 
other part of our natures, else we shall miss 
even the sensible pleasure which w'e might 
have enjoyed, and shall fall into the oppo- 
site pains, which are in general far greater 
