PRACTICAL ETHICS.

In the preceding pages, it has been my design to illustrate the moral constitution of man, and to point out the sources from which that truth emanates, which is addressed to his moral constitution. My design, in the present book, is, to classify and explain some of the principal moral laws under which God has placed us, in our present state. We shall derive these laws from natural or from revealed religion, or from both, as may be most convenient for our purpose.

The Scriptures declare that the whole moral law is contained in the single word, LOVE.

The beings to whom man is related, in his present state, are, so far as this subject is concerned, God his Creator, and man his fellow-creature. Hence, the moral obligations of men are of two kinds: first, LOVE TO GOD, OR PIETY; second, LOVE TO MAN, OR MORALITY.

This book will, therefore, be divided into two parts, in which these two subjects will be treated of in their order.

PART I.

LOVE TO GOD, OR PIETY.

CHAPTER FIRST.

THE GENERAL OBLIGATION TO SUPREME LOVE TO GOD.

THE scriptural precept on this subject, may be found recorded in various passages. It is in these words, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength." See Matthew, xxii. 37; Mark, xii. 30; Luke, x. 27.

In order to illustrate this precept, I shall consider, first, the relation which exists between us and the Deity; secondly, the rights and obligations which that relation imposes; and, thirdly, the facts in our constitution which show that these are manifestly the law of our being.

I. The relation which exists between us and God.

1. He is our Creator and Preserver. A few years since, and we had no existence. Within a few more years, and this whole system, of which we form a part, had no existOver our own existence, neither we nor any created thing has any more than the semblance of power. We are upheld in being, by the continued act of Omnipotence. Not only we, ourselves, but every faculty which we

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and which all creatures enjoy, was created, and is continually upheld, by the same Creator. Nor this alone; all the circumstances by which we are surrounded, and all the modifications of external nature, of what sort soever they may be, whether physical, intellectual, social, or moral, are equally created and sustained by God, and derive their powers to render us happy, or wise, or good, purely from his own provident care, and from the exertion of His omnipotent and omnipresent goodness. The relation, therefore, existing between the Deity and us, is that of dependence, more profound, universal, and absolute, than we are able adequately to comprehend, upon a Being, absolutely and essentially, independent, omniscient, omnipotent, and allproviding.

2. The Deity has revealed himself to us, as a Being, in whom are united, by the necessity of his existence, every perfection of which the human mind can conceive, and every perfection that can possibly exist, how much soever they may transcend the powers of our conception. To Him belong, from the necessity of His being, almighty power, omniscient wisdom, unchanging veracity, inflexible justice, transcendent purity, illimitable benevolence, and universal love. Not only does He treasure up within Himself all that can be conceived of every perfection, but He is the exhaustless fountain, from which emanates all of these attributes, that exists throughout this wide creation. As every object in nature that we see, is seen only by its reflecting rays of the sun, so every exhibition of goodness which we behold in creatures, is nothing but the reflection of the perfections of Him who is the Father of Lights, with whom is neither variableness nor shadow of turning. The relation, therefore, in this respect, which exists between us and the Creator, is that between Beings whom He has formed to admire and love all these perfections, and the Uncreated Being, in whom they all exist, in a degree infinitely surpassing all that it is in our power to conceive.

3. This creative power, and this incomprehensible wisdom, have been exerted in obedience to all these transcendent moral perfections, for the production of our best good, our highest temporal and eternal happiness; nay, they have been as fully exerted in behalf of our race, as though there were no other race in existence; and in behalf of each one of us, as though each individual were the only being created, within this illimitable universe. And upon all this exertion of goodness, towards us, we have not the semblance of a claim; for God was under no manner of obligation to create us, much less, to create us capable of that happiness which we enjoy. The relation, therefore, in this respect, existing between us and the Deity, is that between beings who, without any claim whatever, are, at every moment, receiving the results o the exercise of every conceivable perfection, from a Being, who is moved thus to conduct towards us, by nothing but His own independent goodness.

II. From these relations, existing between creatures and the Creator, there arise various rights of the Creator, and various obligations of the creature.

Every one, who will reflect upon this subject, must be convinced, that, inasmuch as these relations are entirely beyond the range of human analogies, and also manifestly beyond the grasp of finite conception, they must involve obligations, in their very nature more profound and universal, than we can adequately comprehend; and that, therefore, no conception of ours can possibly transcend their solemnity and awfulness. As, in our present state, we are so little able to understand them, or even to inquire after them, we see the need of instruction concerning them, from Him, who alone, of all beings that exist, can fathom their depth, or measure their immensity. Let us, therefore, inquire, what are the claims, which, in his revealed word, God asserts over us, and what are the obligations which in his sight bind us to Him.