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according to this difference in the subject, there is a like difference in the kind of evidence: but from this it will by no means follow, that, because the evidence to be expected in morality is not the same as that of the mathematics, that, therefore, it is not satisfactory.

5. Ethics give satisfaction, where it is most of all desirable, in the enquiry after happiness. It has been already observed, that one great end of ethics is happiness.; and will any one say that happiness is an impossible attainment? A most wise and good God hath made ample provision for other creatures, that they might reach the ends to which they incline, and for which by their several natures he hath fitted them; and it is hard to conceive that man only should be under a necessity of falling short of the happiness of which he is capable. It is possible for God to make man happy; the thing does not imply a contradiction; nor is there any insurmountable incapacity in the subject to oppose it; for, being furnished both with understanding and will, man wants not the principles of fruition. And who can doubt but that infinite power can supply objects of enjoyment adequate to the faculty? Certain it is then that God can make man happy; and because he is infinitely good, we are justified in inferring that he will do it, with this only condition, that man be not wanting to himself.

We shall conclude this chapter with some observations on happiness, which are well worthy the attention of the young reader.

1. Happiness differs from pleasure by its duration. single pleasure, or even several pleasures, may be scattered over the whole dark picture of life, as rare luminous points, and yet the whole life, or the person to whose share these pleasures fall, cannot be called happy. Hence, it is justly asserted, that the man who spends his life in sensual pleasures is not to be reckoned happy. Sensual pleasures, if we addict ourselves to them alone, are attended with disagreeable and painful consequences; and should they even not be immediately followed by such disagreeable and painful circumstances, he who hunts after sensual pleasures only, is, however, debarred from the enjoyment of more refined and nobler pleasures. Happiness is the uninterrupted enjoyment of the best pleasures. The rude joy of

the savage gives him, at times, the sensation of pleasure; but he is not happier than the member of a civilized community. The constant alternative of intemperance and want frequently disturbs his pleasure, and his rudeness deprives him of the more refined pleasures enjoyed by man in a state of civilization.

2. If happiness be superior to pleasure in duration, it is superior to contentment in intensity. All men may be equally content, either because ignorance precludes them from wishing for more than they possess, or because they know how to limit their wishes. But all men are not equally happy. They cannot all possess an equal share of good things; and if they did, they are not equally capable of enjoying them. Hume's assertion, that all who are equally content,-the little girl in her new gown, the commander at the head of a victorious army, the orator after having delivered a brilliant speech in a large assembly, are equally happy, must be pronounced erroneous. Happiness consists, farther, in the variety of the agreeable sensations of which we are conscious. A peasant has not the capacity of enjoying equal happiness with a philosopher. A large glass and a small one may both be filled to the brim, yet the larger one holds more liquor than the small one.

3. Were the savage even content in his situation, it would still be wrong to infer from thence, with Rousseau, that he ought to be left in that situation. Man's vocation is happiness. So true it is that the most splendid paradoxes are frequently built upon undefined ideas; and that, in the investigation of philosophical subjects, the accurate discrimination of the terms employed is of the highest importance.

4. The result of Dr. Paley's inquiry into the nature of happiness, in bi Moral and Political Philosophy, is comprised in the following propositions.

I. Happiness does not consist in

i. Pleasures of sense,

Because they are of short duration at the time;
Because they cloy by repetition;

Because eagerness for intense delights takes away

relish for others.

These objections are valid, independently of loss of health, &c.

ii. In exemption from evils which are without, as labour, &c.

Because the mind must be employed.

Hence pain is sometimes a relief to the uneasiness of vacuity.

iii. In greatness, or elevated station.

Because the highest in rank are not happiest, and so in proportion.

Because superiority, where there is no competition, is seldom contemplated.

II. Happiness is to be judged of by the apparent happiness of mankind, which consists in

i. The exercise of the social affections.

ii. The exercise of the faculties of body or mind for an engaging end,

Because there is no happiness without something to hope for.

Those pleasures which are most valuable are most productive of engagement in the pursuit.

Therefore endeavours after happiness, in a future state, produce greater happiness in this world.

iii. In a prudent constitution of habits.

Habits of themselves are much the same, because what is habitual becomes nearly indifferent;

Therefore those habits are best which allow of indulgence in the deviation from them.

Hence that should not be chosen as a habit, which ought to be a refreshment.

Hence by a perpetual change the stock of happiness is soon exhausted.

iv. In health of body and good spirits.

Because necessary for the full enjoyment of every pleasure.

Because itself is a pleasure, perhaps the sole happiness of some animals.

From the above, Dr. Paley deduces two conclusions : i. Happiness appears to be pretty equally distributed. ii. Vice has no advantage over virtue with respect to this world's happiness.

Nothing, in our estimation, can tend more to the production of genuine happiness than the cultivation of the dispositions of mind and heart recommended by our Lord in Matthew chap. v. verses 3-12.

Select Books on Ethics.

Paley's Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy, 2 vols. 8vo. should be read with Gisborne's Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy Investigated, 8vo. Gisborne's Enquiry into the Duties of Men in the higher and middle Classes of Society, 2 vols. 8vo. and his Enquiry into the Duties of the Female Sex, 8vo. and 12mo. Hutchinson's Moral Philosophy, 8vo. and 12mo. Ferguson's Moral and Political Science, 8vo. Mason on Self-Knowledge, 12mo. The stereotype edition of this excellent book is to be preferred to all others.

PART IX.-Theology.

1. THE former part of the present work having been appropriated to the gradual development of the general principles of useful knowledge, we now arrive at the last and most important subject, which comes home to the bosom of every one: for, "besides his particular calling for the support of life, every individual has a concern in a future life, which he is bound to look after."

*

2. That great master in the art of reasoning, Mr. Locke, says: "There is one science incomparably above all the rest, where it is not by corruption narrowed into a trade or faction, for mean or ill ends, and secular interests; I mean THEOLOGY, which, containing the knowledge of God and his creatures, our duty to him and our fellowcreatures, and a view of our present and future state, is the comprehension of all other knowledge directed to its true end, i. e. the honour and veneration of the Creator, and the happiness of mankind. This is that noble study which is every man's duty, and every one that can be called a rational creature is capable of." The history of mankind in every period, will furnish us with a certain fact, which is this, that without Divine revelation, not only the heathen world, but the most polite, the most civilized, and the most learned nations, have been sunk into the most deplorable ignorance of every thing relating to God. If we look back into the early ages, we shall find the great bulk of mankind founding their religious rites in the most abominable corruption aud depravity of manners. Their philosophers, who pretended to have juster notions of morality and religion than the rest of the world, understood not the true nature of God, his attributes nor perfections, nor had they any clear notions of immortality.

* On the Conduct of the Understanding, sect. 22.

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