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desirous of pleasing those who contribute to our happiness ; that he who contributes to the happiness of others employs the most certain means of increasing his own ; that it would
contribute greatly to the happiness of mankind in general , if every one would do to others as he would that they should do to him ; that it is the interest of every person to do so , &c « It Consequently follows that a prudent
man , one who takes an extensive and enlightened view of what constitutes his true interest ; upon the whole , will regulate his conduct accordingly . Now , if we examine the evidence on which we assent to the truth of these
moral maxims , we shall Jndlhat it is of a much more complicated nature than in any of the foregoing kinds of truths . We know our own desires and propensities by consciousness and memory - y we become acquainted with our own actions as well as the actions
of others through the medium of our senses ; and it is by our senses that we determine that our own actions are similar to those of other men in similar circumstances ; and , lastly , the inference that other people are actuated by similar desires and propensities , and will act in a similar manner
with ourselves , evidently rests on the two metaphysical maxims that equal effects must have equal causes , and that equal causes must produce equal effects . —Hence the evidence on which we assent to the truth of Xhe above
moral maxims is compounded of consciousness , memory , the testimony of our senses , and of the evidence for the truth of that class of maxims which were examined under the article metaphysical truths .
6 th . Of religious truths . As all truths of this kind originate in the relations which subsist between man and his Maker , the first thing must be to determine what those relations are $ but . as it Jmnlies a manifest contrabut , as it implies a manifest
contradiction to sl | j | K > s 6 that any -created being can fully cofliprehend the nature and powers of its Creator ^ it follows that the utmost we can expect to Arrive at in this case ia to discover a few-vof the most obvious of those relaliona .
Every man is firmly persuaded that there 4 > nce was a time when he himself , or any other particular individual , had no existences he must , therefore .
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have had a Maker , an 4 this Maker mu&t have been possessed of power and intelligence sufficient at the least to produce him . As it ; implies a contradiction in terms to suppose that there can be more than on § being
which exists necessarily , or is selfexistent , it follows that this being must have been the origin of all things ; aud ^ onsequeolly his power and intelligence ai : e the sources of all power and intelligence . This being must likewise be a < benevoljent being : for if we examine all nature , not even a
solitary instance can be adduced of any contrivance , the principal object of which is to produce pain and misery , while almost innumerable cases might be pointed out where the manifest
intention is to produce pleasure and happiness . Indeed , every class of . creatures seem placed in those circumstances most congenial to their nature , and best calculated to secure their
happiness . From the mighty monarch of the ocean to the smallest animalcule , we perceive such evident marks of health , activity . and liveliness , as must convince us that life , even in the stormy deep , is crowned with many enjoyments . If we extend our inquiries from the tawny tyrant of the
forest in the burning plains < of Africa to the grim polar bear enveloped in continual snow , from the stupendous elephant to < c the poor beetle that we tread upon , " we every where discover evident traces of paternal care and tenderness . The eagle soaring amid the clouds and the sleek mole in its
burrow are both provided for according to their natures . When we hear the lark caroling its morning lay ^ the aightingaie pouring forth its midnight melody , ana myriads of insects humming their evening hymn , is it possible to believe that ail this enjoyment is merely accidental , that the great Author of it had no intention to
produce happiness , that he is not a benevolent being i If we prosecute our inquiries , we shall find that health , the greatest -blessing in life ,, is so generally diffused be
through animated nature as to deemed the natural state of every living creature : and when we cpnsider the amazing aiunber of parts of whieh the body o At&y creature is composed ; that all thefce parts must have been arranged lij , one particular order and
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266 Essay on Truth .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1823, page 266, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1784/page/10/
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