in upon us from our passions, from our selfish partialities,
and from the low-minded world around us. There is one view of God
particularly suited to elevate us. I mean the view of Him as the "Father
of our spirits;" as having created us with great powers to grow up to
perfection; as having ordained all outward things to minister to the
progress of the soul; as always present to inspire and strengthen us, to
wake us up to inward life, and to judge and rebuke our wrong-doing; as
looking with parental joy on our resistance of evil; as desiring to
communicate himself to our minds for ever. This one idea, expanded in
the breast of the laborer, is a germ of elevation more fruitful than all
science, no matter how extensive or profound, which treats only of
outward finite things. It places him in the first rank of human beings.
You hear of great theologians. He only deserves the name, be his
condition what it may, who has, by thought and obedience, purified and
enlarged his conception of God.

From the idea of God, I proceed to another grand one, that of man, of
human nature; and this should be the object of serious, intense thought.
Few men know, as yet, what a man is. They know his clothes, his
complexion, his property, his rank, his follies, and his outward life.
But the thought of his inward being, his proper humanity, has hardly
dawned on multitudes; and yet, who can live a man's life that does not
know what is the distinctive worth of a human being? It is interesting
to observe how faithful men generally are to their idea of a man; how
they act up to it. Spread the notion that courage is true manhood, and
how many will die rather than fall short of that standard; and hence, the
true idea of a man, brought out in the laborer's mind, elevates him above
every other class who may want it. Am I asked for my conception of the
dignity of a human being? I should say, that it consists, first, in that
spiritual principle, called sometimes the reason, sometimes the
conscience, which, rising above what is local and temporary, discerns
immutable truth and everlasting right; which, in the midst of imperfect
things, conceives of perfection; which is universal and impartial,
standing in direct opposition to the partial, selfish principles of human
nature; which says to me with authority, that my neighbor is as precious
as myself, and his rights as sacred as my own; which commands me to
receive all truth, however it may war with