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have I done unto thee? And wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me!" Come, now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord." And again he says, in a tone of authority and rebuke: Yet ye say, the way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, oh house of Israel, is not my way equal? Are not your ways unequal ?" He then goes on to state the great principles of his moral government, in their application to the wicked and the righteous, and appeals to them as judges whether he is not just. And again he says, " And now, oh inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?" And in another passage, "Thus saith the Lord, what iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and have become vain ?"*

From these, among other passages of Scripture, it appears that God does not require his rational offspring to approve his enactments on the ground solely of their proceeding from himself, but is willing that they should exercise their own powers of examination, and judge for themselves whether they are right or not. But this implies that justice on the one hand, and command or law on the other, are different; and that, whenever the law is just, it is not so merely because it is commanded, but for other reasons. And we may here with propriety inquire, whether there is not much satisfaction in the thought that the foundations of right and wrong, of virtue and vice, are thus deeply and immutably laid. If it were true that God himself could overthrow or demolish them, would it not be a source and occasion of great perplexity and dismay? For such a supposition would necessarily involve the possibility of an utter change in his own character. If, in our contemplations of the Supreme Being, it should occur to us, as a thing merely possible, that those high perfections which we now reverence and adore could be transmuted into vices, it would certainly diminish our reverence, disturb our confidence, and fill us * Ezek. xviii., 29. Micah vi., 8. Isaiah i., 18; v., 3, 4. Jerem. ii., 5.

with unspeakable alarm. But this certainly is possible, if the distinction of right and wrong is not fixed and immutable, but depends wholly on the Divine Will.

◊ 296. Remarks in conclusion of what has been said on this subject.

Such are some of the considerations which are commended to the attention of the reader. There are others which we shall not particularly notice. For instance, the doctrine that right and wrong depend wholly upon law or enactment, even that of the Supreme Being, implies, of course, a knowledge of that Being. And yet there can be no doubt of the fact of our being so constituted, that tribes of men, who are destitute of any correct knowledge of the Supreme Being, and also atheists, who deny and disbelieve in his existence, are capable of forming the notions of right and wrong, of believing in a standard of right and wrong, and of conforming their ordinary conduct to that standard, much in the same way and degree as the great mass of mankind. But we do not consider it necessary to remark further; evidence more than enough has already multiplied upon us.

In view of what has been said, we leave the subject in the hand of the reader with this single practical remark, That uprightness or virtue is an object to be contemplated in itself, and to be loved and practised for its own sake. It is to be loved, and honoured, and practised, not simply because it is commanded, not simply because it may in its results be beneficial, but solely for itself, and out of a regard to its own exalted nature. This is a great practical truth, which strikes at the roots of certain systems of moral philosophy, that have too long had an influence in the halls of education. There can be no question that it has a very injurious effect to teach youth that a certain thing is virtuous or vicious, right or wrong, merely because it is commanded, or because it is beneficial. It is pernicious, because it lowers the standard of moral excellence; and it is as false as it is pernicious. Virtue is not secondary to something else, but is primary; it has an entity and a character of its own; of all the objects in the universe, it is highest in rank; it is the great illuminating point of mind, as the sun is the great illumi

nating centre of matter. And youth, instead of being permitted to gaze upon the IGNIS FATUUS of expediency or any other false fire of earth, should be taught to fix their eye upon that great and heavenly light, to contemplate it, to honour it, to love it. They should be so imbued with the love of virtue as to inquire, as it were by a sort of instinct, not whether an action is required by one high in power or promises to be beneficial, not whether it will advance the interests of a particular sect or party, but, in all cases, whether it is RIGHT. With such a training of their moral dispositions, they will stand firm when everything is shaken and in commotion around them they will have strength in themselves, a strength not of earth; they will go forth amid the scenes of this dark world, surrounded with a light emanating from their own bosoms, and under the smiles of an approving God.

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CHAPTER V.

MORAL EDUCATION.

297. Suggestions on the importance of moral education.

WE do not feel at liberty to leave the subject of the Moral Sensibilities without offering a few remarks, chiefly of a practical nature, on the subject of moral education in general. It is perhaps unnecessary to occupy time in attempting to show the importance of such education, since no one can be ignorant of the deplorable consequences which follow from an utter neglect of it. But, notwithstanding the general concession of its importance, it has ever held a subordinate rank compared with that purely intellectual education which deals wholly with the mere acquisition of knowledge.

While no one presumes to assert that moral education is unimportant, it must be acknowledged that it has been exceedingly neglected, in consequence of the greater value which has generally been attached to that training of the mind which has exclusive relation to its intellect

ual part. It seems to be a fact generally admitted, that children and youth have been taught with great zeal in everything where the head is concerned, in grammar, geography, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and the like, and in almost nothing which concerns the heart, No pains have been spared in favour of the intellect; while the sensitive part of our nature, the moral emotions; the lower modifications of desire, and the affections, have been left to take care of themselves.

Supposing this to be nearly the true state of things, every reflecting mind must contemplate it with regret, and will look forward with great interest to the time when moral education shall at least be put on a footing with intellectual, if it do not take the precedence of it. Certain it is that a firm and ample foundation is laid for this species of mental training, if the doctrines which have been advanced in the course of this Work are correct: FIRST, that we have intellectually the power of forming the abstract conceptions of right and wrong, of merit and demerit, which necessarily involves that there is an immutable standard of rectitude; and, SECOND, that, in the department of the Sensibilities, we have, in correspondence with the fact of such an immutable standard, the implanted principle of the Moral Sensibility or Conscience, which, in the Emotive form of its action, indicates our conformity to the standard of rectitude or divergency from it, and in its Obligatory action authoritatively requires conformity. We assert that we have here basis enough for a consistent and durable moral education, especially when we take into view the close connexion existing between the conscience and the intellect, particularly the reasoning power.

298. The mind must be occupied at an early period either with good or bad principles.

It may perhaps be suggested here, admitting the general fact of the great importance of moral education, that it would be better to leave the subject of morals until persons are old enough to decide on all subjects of this nature for themselves. This suggestion would be entitled to more weight, if it were possible in the mean while for

the mind to remain a moral blank. But this does not

appear to be the case. As the mind is continually operative, it is almost a matter of course that it receives, and, as it were, incorporates into itself, moral principles either right or wrong. We are surrounded with such a variety of active influences, that he who is not imbued with good cannot reasonably expect to be uncontaminated with evil. In order, therefore, to prevent the contaminations of vice, it is necessary to preoccupy the mind by the careful introduction and the faithful cultivation of the elements of virtue. Let the young mind, therefore, the minds of children and youth, be made the subjects of assiduous moral culture.

The doctrine which was formerly advanced by Rousseau and others, that children and youth are incapable of receiving moral and religious ideas, and of sustaining a character on moral principles, is unsound in point of fact and most pernicious in its tendency. All experience goes against it. In France, where it has found its most numerous advocates, its evils have been very deeply felt. A recent French writer, who cannot be suspected of giving unfavourable representations of his countrymen without a cause, thinks that the widely-spread domestic corruption and miseries which he acknowledges to exist can be corrected only by a greater attention to early moral education. This remark implies that the origin of those evils is chiefly to be found in the abandonment (or, at least, great neglect) of such education, without which, it must be obvious to every judicious mind, that individual happiness will be exceedingly diminished, that the peace of families will be put at hazard, and that the props and securities of the commonwealth will be dislocated and swept away.

§ 299. Of the time when moral instruction and discipline ought to com

mence.

We cannot but conclude, therefore, that a course of moral training ought to be commenced at an early period. It is a truth sufficiently established, that we begin to learn as soon as we begin to exist. The infant no sooner comes into the world, than the mind expands it