PREFACE. Books of morality abound so much, that any addition to their number may seem superfluous. The ground, however, was not so completely preoccupied, as to leave room for no improvement; and something has hitherto been wanting in this department of literature, which it is hoped the present work may serve to supply. For though, in the numerous productions of our divines and essayists, we possess a rich store of moral instruction, conveyed, in many instances, with all the force of eloquence and all the graces of elegant diction; yet this instruction is so widely scattered, so loosely arranged, and so much mixed with extraneous matter, that it cannot easily be collected, nor presented to the mind with such distinctness as to make the desired impression; and notwithstanding the great and undoubted utility of writings of this description, there is a manifest want of some work which may condense their materials, and combine philosophical views and systematic arrangement with their practical and persuasive strain. Works, indeed, there are, which profess to exhibit a complete system of ethics; but the number of these is surprisingly small, considering the importance and universally-interesting nature of the subject, and few even of this small number are calculated to answer the purpose just mentioned. Some are too exclusively theoretical: others too exclusively practical. Some have too much of a political character, and treat not so much of Morality, properly so called, as of Natural Jurisprudence; others are too deeply tinctured with theological opinions, which are acknowledged to confound, if they do not contradict, our reason. The most popular of the treatises on ethics, which are in possession of the British public, is that of Paley; and so long as good sense, clear reasoning, and perspicuous style are relished, so long it will maintain a high reputation, notwithstanding its inconsistent and too accommodating morality. To have entered into competition with that justly-admired work, would have seemed presumptuous; but a slight inspection of the contents of the present work will suffice to show, that it takes entirely dif ferent ground, and considers the subject of morals in another point of view. Paley's is a work of Casuistry, which, though it exercises the judgment with many interesting discussions on difficult points of duty, is not much calculated to mend the heart, or to inspire the love of virtue. The present work is more strictly a system of Morality, since it treats of the Philosophy of Human Character, investigates the sources of the several passions and affections, points out the aberrations to which they are subject, and lays down rules for their correction and governance. Avoiding for the most part those minute discussions respecting the exact boundaries of right, in contracts, promises, oaths, and wills, which occupy so large a space in Paley's work, and which belong more properly to the Science of Natural Law; it aims to show wherein right feeling, as well as right acting, consists; and to recommend the inward virtue of the heart, by describing not only the conduct which it produces, but the dispositions which constitute its very essence. It aims, in short, to present, in a more condensed and systematic form, such moral instruction as is usually found in sermons and moral essays; and while the practical part, which constitutes by much the larger portion of the work, may prove acceptable to the general reader as a manual of duty for constant use, the author ventures to hope that the theoretical part may be found not uninteresting to the philosophical inquirer, as tending to disembarrass from their wonted confusion the several distinct questions which the theory of morals involves, and to illustrate the formation of human affections on those principles, in the application of which Locke and Hartley have already Jed the way. ALFRED-STREET, Liverpool, JAN. 17, 1827. |