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catentss of the man as a p hilosopher , ^ d of his attainmen ts as the Principal of a University , nvho could give the following account of conscience , and endeavour to confirm it by the illustration with which it is concluded ! « By conscience , or a jnoral sense , I understand that internal perception which
we have of right and wrong , of moral good and evil , of virtue and vice , antecedently to any reasoning concerning the more remote consequences of habits and actions , either to individuals or to society . This internal sense furnishes principles for judging-of moral subjects , as Intellect affords priocipies for truth and error . The exercise of the moral faculty , however , it
is to be remarked , is always accompanied by certain feelings either of complacence or disgust . " " We feel contempt or indignation rising in our minds towards those who have acted in an unworthy and base manner , and love and esteem for such as maintain a conduct just and beneficent . These principles ,
whether of morals or of speculative reason , are not the mere effect of education , but are implanted in the soul . For without study or inquiry they present themselves to the mind . Nay , what is more , if they were not innate principles , education " could no more be carried on , than a building could be raised without a foundation , or a tree
produced without its original seed . All that education does is to direct , improve and enlarge these original principles , and to lead them to their proper results . Jfhoever contests this affirmation , may try to instruct a dog or d horse in morality f "Pp . 112 . 116 .
J iere , the learned Principal affirms that conscience , or as he terms it the mo | W , sense , is an innate principle ; and his proof is that if it were not so , education could no more be carried on ffian , a tree could be produced without its see < I : and why ? Because do what you will you cannot instruct a dog in
moralityi But the worthy Principal wpuld find it rather a difficult task to teach a dog mathematics , or even to make it enunciate his favourite proposition that the whole is greater than a r ^ Jt : yet because his labour would be entirel y thrown away upon such a pjpi ' , but would not be wasted upon a toy , the learned Principal must admit , u pon his own showing , that mathematlc » and even the very faculty of speech are the boy innate principles . " assrng over > the chapters on the PNoT . of . tht > bejng of God , from the
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almost universal assent of mankind to > this opinion , which is not a very solid argument ; from the appearance which , the world exhibits of a recent origin , and from the tradititions concerning it , which is equally equivocal and
inconclusive ; from the Scriptures , which in this argument cannot be referred to as affording any proof without really , not apparently , reasoning in a circle ; and omitting also the chapters on the conclusion which follows these various proofs of the
existence of God , and on the causes of Atheism , which arc the commonplace observations of a thousand sermons expressed in a most commonplace manner : we come to the Second
Book , which treats of the perfections of the Deity , namely , his infinite power , wisdom and goodness . And here we are happy to say the author writes with somewhat more closeness
and accuracy . He seems to have formed in the abstract a just conception of the divine goodness , for he defines it to be" That affection and habit of mind which prompts to communicate and to diffuse happiness , which is gratified by the contemplation of it 5 aud is averse from
the infliction and the view of misery . " iC The goodness of the Deity being- an attribute strictly moral must be a constant and immutable disposition to communicate and extend the highest measure of happiness to all his creatures . This definition when applied to omnipotence and infinite wisdom implies the commniuni cation of all possible happiness to the whole and to every part of his sensitive creation . "
c < If it could be shewn that , in any case sucb faculties were clearly designed for misery ^ and the beings to which they belonged were irresistibly impelled to the exercise of them , the inference would be unavoidable that the Supreme Power was malevolent . But the first branch of
this supposition is contrary to universal fact , and the second is in itself incomprehensible . For it is impossible to conceive that any being , endued with activity , would delight to exercise powers which were constantly attended with pain and misery . Inactivity must in this case be the inevitable result . We must therefore
conclude that he also has bestowed on every sensitive ^ p ing its powers of perception and action ; must desire those to |> e exercised and to produce their natural results ; and since in the exercise and gratification of those the happiness of every such being
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Review . ' —Browns Prize Essay . 537
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1816, page 537, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2456/page/37/
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