produced in support of a principle which could not exist without the intellectual faculties of man, and which cannot be destroyed while these faculties exist. The principle and the practice of immortal virtue will long remain after the plundering and bloody theology of Moses, Jesus, The and Mahomet has ceased to afflict the human race. essential principles of morality are founded in the nature of man-they annot be annihilated-they are as indestructible as human existence itself. CHAP XX. Universal Benevolence. THE sentiment which includes the whole sensitive and intelligent world within the sphere of its benignant operations, is justly denominated Universal Benevolence. Every organized being, whether of a high or low station in animal existence, is susceptible of pleasure and pain; they are all alternately affected by the wishes, the passions, and the conduct of each other; and this influence is extended much farther than at first view would strike the mind of the most correct and accurate observer. The universe is a vast assemblage of living creatures, whose relations are reciprocal, and reciprocated under a thousand different forms, and supported by a thousand different ligaments of an imperceptible nature. The parts are interested in the whole, and the whole is interested in the preservation and diver sified modification of the parts. Nothing is foreign or irrelative in the vast fabric to which we belong. Union is most intimate, and the intellectual destiny which awaits the human race will ultimately disclose the consoling secret-that man's highest happiness consists in perspicuously discovering his true connection with nature, and the eternal duration of this connection. The circumscribed condition of man's existence, his wants, his social duties, his appetites, and his passions, constitute a considerable drawback upon the comprehensive conceptions which he would otherwise have been capable of forming concerning bis relationship with nature, and the ultimate destination to which the powers of nature have devoted the component and immortal parts of his existence. The intellectual properties of man are, however, capable of being expanded so far as to indulge an opinion subversive of those narrow views which have excited sentiments of hostility between individuals and nations, whose interests were the same, and whose duties ought to have been universally reciprocated. It is no doubt extremely natural, and even absolutely necessary, that each individual should feel an anxiety extremely impulsive respecting the preservation of his own existence, and the means by which it is to be rendered tranquil and comfortable; but this sensation, the first which is experienced by a sensitive creature, does not preclude that expansion of mind which would benevolently extend the circle of man's moral affections and duties, and which also prepares for himself an additional portion of exalted enjoyment. Sensation alone, or, in other words, mere animal existence, must be deprived in a high degree of the power and the pleasure of reciprocating those sentiments of moral sympathy to which intelligent man is indebted for his highest happiness. The gradual increase of the capacity of sensation constitutes a continual approach toward the possession of those properties on which the sublimity of thought depends, and by which human reason recognizes the benefit of benevolent reciprocation. It is, however, denied by some that man possesses any other qualities than those which are merely selfish or individual; that his sensual impulses repel every sentiment of compre hensive kindness and affection; that in every respect he is a being of insulated nature and character; and, that the powers and properties of his existence are necessarily in a high degree hostile to the interest and well-being of others. Two points of prominent and conspicuous importance invite the activity of mind in the solution of the present difficulty. The one point is the physical relation of man to all existence-the other is his moral relation to his own species, and to all other inferior animals. The component parts of which man is formed are all drawn from the great fountain of existence; they are essentially material in their nature, and destined to return to the source from which they sprang. Organized matter cannot 138 PRINCIPLES OF NATURE. lay claim to a pre-eminent essence; it is modification and refinement which produce visible exaltation, and not the native properties contained in the substance of which man is composed. The constant interchange of matter with matter is a primary and immutable law of nature, and should teach man, through the channel of observation, the ultimate destiny that awaits him; it should teach him that the pain which he inflicts upon sensitive existence will return upon himself with interest, and will pave the way for eternizing a system of misery fatal to the sensations of the whole animal world. Humanity has lessons of a different kind, pregnant with salutary instructions, calculated to enforce conviction upon the intellectual powers of man, The spiritualization of human existence has made man a foul-it has taught him to spurn at matter, to contemn its power, and ridicule its essence; whereas, on the contrary, sound philosophy, which unfolds the connexion between man and nature, is calculated to produce in the mind sentiments of respect and tranquillity-respect for the aggregate of existence to which he belongs, and tranquillity at the idea of an eternal interest in this indestructible mass. The successive changes through which he is destined to pass, and the impossibility of relinquishing bis connexion with nature, should inspire him with feelings of universal sympathy, and with sentiments of universal benevolence. Human reason has an important duty to perform in the institutions which it establishes, for these institutions will affect in succession all the portious of matter destined to pass through an organized predicament. It is, no doubt, difficult to convince the human understanding of this phy. sical or universal connexion, or to make man see his true interest in this respect. It is, nevertheless, a solemn and philosophic truth, that our sensations are at this moment suffering under the cruel lash of ancient institutions; that the whole animal world are reciprocating with each other a system of extensive and perpetual wretchedness, resulting principally from that contempt which has been thrown upon the capacity of material substance, and our ignorance of an important and an indestructible connexion with the great body of nature. If man had a comprehensive view of the successive changes of his existence, and a correct idea of the nature of sensation continually resulting from the renovation of organic forms, sympathy or universal benevolence would become irresistibly impressive upon his moral powers, and form the basis of his subsequent conduct. In the second place, man's moral relation to his own species, and to all other inferior auimals, furnishes cogent evidence in favour of moral sympathy or universal bene. volence. If the subject of man's physical connexion presents us with some philosophical difficulties, the repeated and frequent necessity of performing his moral duties will furnish a mass of instruction adequate to every important decision. The single idea of establishing the doctrine of perpetual reprisals, ought to constitute an ample refutation of those selfish opinions which regard only the individual, to the exclusion of all the other mcmbers of society. It is the interest as well as the duty of every man to be just and benevolent; an opposite conduct would become the signal of universal discord, and the selfish principle which at first had for its object the preservation of self, would become the procuring cause of self destruction. The powers and the properties of human existence are of a similar nature, and require a cor. respondent method of treatment; beside the intimate connexion which subsists between us in this respect, our enjoyments and our capacity of enjoying are augmented by every effort which the mind makes in a comprehensive system of philanthropy. The narrow prejudice which makes one man the enemy of another, and one country the enemy of another, is not only disgraceful, but subversive of the best interests of human society. Political governments, and the prejudices which have been created and nurtured by these governments, have set individuals and nations in battle array against each other, without any good or substantial reason whatever. What is there in the nature of the case which should make a Frenchman and an Englishman hostile to each other; are they. not both men, possessed of similar faculties, equally indebted to nature for the resources of their felicity, and capable of being made happy or miserable by the operation of the same causes? Yes; and it is the iniquity of corrupt go 140 PRINCIPLES OF NATURE. vernment which has perverted those sentiments of the human heart, by which one human being is bound to another in a general system of interest, sympathy, and universal benevolence. This principle should also be ex tended to the whole animal world, so as to exclude acts of cruelty, and annihilate every specics of injustice. The child that is permitted in early life to run a pin through a fly, is already half prepared to run a dagger through the heart of his fellow-creature! It is the duty of parents and the business of instruction to correct the ferocious errors of former ages, and inspire society with sentiments of sympathy and universal goodness. But to do this with effect, our political institutions must be changed, and placed upon the broad basis of universal liberty and universal justice. This will be a work of time; but it is as certain in the ultimate issue of things, as the progress of the earth around the sun, or the general revolution of the planetary system. The individual that withholds his intellectual contribution in this respect, is either grossly ignorant, or a wicked traitor in the great cause of human existence. CHAP. XXI. Moses, Jesus, and Mahomct. THE causes which have produced personal celebrity are numerous, and diversified by a thousand indescribable shades in their modes of operation. It also sometimes happens that the means of popular exaltation and perpetual fame have been either of a passive or uncontrolable Moses and nature. Such is the fact in the present case. Mahomet were active villains, whose characters cannot They were be examined without horror and detestation. both eminent murderers; and their debaucheries have been signalized by acts of barbarous brutality, of which the love-struck Solomon seems to be more destitute. The military ferocities and immoral decrees of these two celestial impostors, have placed upon their characters an indelible stain, which the pretended sanctity of the priest hood can never wipe away! Believers in Christianity, in reading the history and conduct of Moses, ought to blush for his crimes, and spurn at his blasphemy 'in attributing these crimes to the God whom he pretended to adore. lle issues orders for the indiscriminate massacre of men, women, and children, in a defenceless condition, making an exception only of that part of the captives whose sexual predicament invited the passions of man to indulge in the gratification of criminal desires. (Sce Numbers, chap. xxxi. verse 18, &c.) But this is only a single specimen of the murdering temper of this meck Man of God! From the time that he murdered the Egyptian and hid him in the sand, till the moment in which he expired, and was buried without any man knowing where he was buried, he exhibited examples of legerdemain tricks, pretended fami. liarities with God, scenes of debauchery and malignant slaughter of the human race, which would disgrace the most cruel despot of ancient or modern times. For the truth of this remark, an appeal is made to the historic details contained in the books of Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. To shew fully the immoral character of Moses, it would be necessary to quote almost every chapter in these holy and inspired books. Believers in revealed religion, who still believe that Moses was a pious and mcek man, ought once more to pass in review the conduct and transactions which the Bible has attributed to him; especially those details which are contained in the books already mentioned. If there be any member of the Christian church who can believe that God and Moses ever united in the execution of those barbarous decrees and immoral sentiments stated in thsse books, he must be lost to all clear ideas of justice, and must have abandoned every principle of humanity by which the life of man is to be rendered comfortable and happy. The author of "The Age of Reason" has placed these enormities in a striking point of light, and, with his wonted acuteness of discernment, has presented, in the way of Bishop Watson, difficulties which no Christian bishop will be ever able to surmount. Murder and theft are crimes of so detestable a nature, and so destructive to the best interests of society, that they never can be sanctioned either by human |