an as
a moral being. We can view it only as a matter of fact, without being
able to refer it to any other principle than the will of Him who framed
us;--but the facts which are before us claim the serious attention of
every man, who would cultivate that most important of all pursuits,--the
knowledge of his own moral condition. The fact to which I chiefly allude
is a certain relation, formerly referred to, between the truths which
are calculated to act upon us as moral causes, and the mental emotions
which ought to result from them;--and between these emotions and a
certain conduct which they tend to produce. If the due harmony between
these be carefully cultivated, the result is a sound moral condition;
but by every instance in which this harmony is violated, a morbid
influence is introduced, which gains strength in each succeeding
volition, and carries disorder through the moral economy. We have
formerly illustrated this important moral process, by the relation
between the emotion of compassion, and the conduct which ought to arise
from it. If this tendency of the emotion be diligently cultivated, the
result is the habit of active benevolence;--but, if the emotion be
violated, its influence is progressively diminished, and a character is
produced of cold and barren selfishness.

A similar chain of sequences is to be observed respecting the operation
of those great truths, which, under the regulating power of conscience,
are calculated to act as moral causes in our mental economy;--we may
take, for example, the truths relating to the character and perfections
of the Deity, and the influence which these ought to produce upon every
rational being. We have seen the knowledge which we derive from the
light of nature respecting the attributes of God, when, from his works
around us, we discover him as a being of infinite power, wisdom, and
goodness; and when, from the moral impressions of our own minds, we
infer his perfections as a moral Governor of infinite holiness, justice,
and truth. By a proper direction of the mind to the truths which are
thus conveyed to us respecting the Deity, there would naturally arise a
corresponding chain of emotions of which he is the object. These are a
sense of veneration towards him, as infinitely great, wise, and
powerful,--of love and thankfulness, as infinitely good,--and of
habitual regard to his authority and will, as a moral governor of purity
and justice, and as requiring a correspond