Book Description

Excerpt from The Philomathic Journal and Literary Review, Vol. 4: Jan., 1826 It is here that Revelation lays the foundation of morals. I am aware that, at this stage of the discussion, I can assume nothing from Revelation as such; but I professed, at the com mencement of these lectures, to give it equal bearing on moral questions with other systems of ethics. Let it, then, be. Heard in respect of the basis of morals - that basis is Relation, and in its first and most distinguished form, as associating man with the Deity. It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves. The spring of moral obligation rises here. It was pointed out by Paul, at Athens, to the philosophers who surrounded him - the most brilliant spirits of the age. Stand ing on the hill consecrated to Mars, under the covering of heaven's own temple - the sky, with all the bright evidences of the Being and erfections of God encompassing him, the images of superstition and idolatry could not arrest his atten tion, except fora little moment, which he dedicated to pity the natural sentiment of a good and a generous mind for the weakness or the wickedness of others - he pointed to those glorious heavens, and appealed to the surrounding features of creation, - attesting the hills and the vallies, the sun and the stars, - and pleading their relation to God, who made the world and all thin therein as the basis of their obligation confirming t e living Witnesses of nature by referring to cer tain of their own poets, who had said, For we also are his oil's ring. This was an argument which the pure philosophy of thens would not impugn, and could not resist. It was the voice of reason and conscience, as well as of nature. It had been heard by all nations. It was a testimony which the sun had borne in his restless career, and carried round the circle of the earth; while the night repeated the evidence When his beams were withdrawn. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.