How much is implied in the mere names of the steamengine, power-looms, rail-roads, steam-boats, canals, and gas-lights; and yet of how much misery are several of these inventions at present the direct sources, in consequence of being almost exclusively dedicated to the gratification of the propensities! The leading purpose to which the steam-engine in almost all its forms of application is devoted, is the accumulation of wealth, or the gratification of Acquisitiveness and Self-Esteem; and few have proposed to lessen, by its means, the hours of toil of the lower orders of society, so as to afford them opportunity and leisure for the cultivation of their moral and intellectual faculties, and thereby to enable them to render a more perfect obedience to the Creator's institutions. Physical has far outstripped moral science; and it appears to me, that, unless mankind shall have their eyes opened to the real constitution of the world, and be at length induced to regulate their conduct in harmony with the laws of the Creator, their future physical discoveries will tend only to deepen their wretchedness. Intellect, acting as the ministering servant of the propensities, will lead them only farther astray. The science of man's whole nature, animal, moral, and intellectual, was never more required to guide him than at present, when he seems to wield a giant's power, but in the application of it to display the ignorant selfishness, wilfulness, and absurdity of an overgrown child. History has not yielded half her fruits, and cannot yield them until mankind shall possess a true theory of their own

nature.

Many persons believe that they discover evidence against the moral government of the world, in the success of individuals not greatly gifted with moral and intellectual qualities, in attaining to great wealth, rank, and social consideration, while men of far superior merit remain in obscurity and poverty. But the solution of this difficulty is to be found in the consideration, that success in society depends on the possession, in an ample degree, of the qualities

which society needs and appreciates, and that these bear reference to the state in which society finds itself at the time when the observation is made. In the savage and barbarous conditions, bodily strength, courage, fortitude, and skill in war, lead a man to the highest honors; in a society like that of modern England, commercial or manufacturing industry may crown an individual with riches, and great talents of debate may carry him to the summit of political ambition. In proportion as society advances in moral and intellectual acquirements, it will make larger demands for similar qualities in its favorites. The reality of the moral government of the world appears from the degree of happiness which individuals and society enjoy in these different states. If unprincipled commercial and political adventurers were happy in proportion to their apparent success; or if nations were as prosperous under the dominion of reckless warriors as under that of benevolent and enlightened rulers; or if the individuals who compose a nation enjoyed as much serenity and joy of mind when they advanced the bold, selfish, and unprincipled to places of trust and power, as when they chose the upright, benevolent, and pious,-the dominion of a just Creator might well be doubted. But the facts are the reverse of these,

CHAPTER VI.

ON PUNISHMENT.

SECTION I.

ON PUNISHMENT AS INFLICTED UNDER THE NATURAL LAWS.

THE last point connected with the Natural Laws, which I consider, is the principle on which punishment for infringement of them is inflicted in this world.

Every law presupposes a superior, who establishes it, and requires obedience to its dictates. The superior may be supposed to act under the dictates of the animal faculties, or under those of the moral sentiments. The former being selfish, whatever they desire is for selfish gratification. Hence laws instituted by a superior inspired by the animal powers, would have for their leading object the individual advantage of the law-giver, with no systematic regard to the enjoyment or welfare of those who were called on to obey. The moral sentiments, on the other hand, are altogether generous, disinterested, and just; they delight in the happiness of others, and do not seek individual advantage as their supreme end. Laws, instituted by a law-giver inspired by them, would have for their grand object the advantage and enjoyment of those who are required to yield obedience. The story of William Tell will illustrate my meaning. Gessler, an Austrian governor of the canton of Uri, placed his hat upon a pole, and required the Swiss peasants to pay the same honors to it that were due to himself. The object of this requisition was obviously the gratification of the Austrian's Self-Esteem, in witnessing the humiliation of the Swiss. It was framed without the least regard to their happiness; because such abject slavery could gratify no faculty in their minds, and ameliorate no

principle of their nature, but, on the contrary, was calculated to cause the greatest pain to their feelings.

Before punishment for breaking such a law as this could be justly inflicted, it would be indispensably necessary that the people called on to obey it should not only possess the power of doing so, but likewise be benefited by their obedience. If it could be established, that, by the very constitution of their minds, it was impossible for the Swiss to reverence the hat of the tyrant, and that, if they had pretended to do so, they would have manifested only baseness and hypocrisy,-then the law was unjust, and all punishment for disobedience was pure tyranny and oppression on the part of the governor. In punishing, he employed Destructiveness as a means of procuring gratification to his own Self-Esteem.

Let us imagine, on the other hand, a law promulgated by a sovereign whose sole motive was the happiness of his subjects, and that the edict was, Thou shalt not steal. If the law-giver were placed far above the reach of theft by his subjects, and if respect to each other's rights were indispensable to the welfare of his people themselves, then it is obvious, that, so far as he was personally concerned, their stealing or not stealing would be of no importance to him, while it would be of the highest moment to themselves. Let us suppose, then, that, in order to prevent the evils which the subjects would bring upon themselves by stealing, he were to add as a penalty, that every man who stole should be locked up, and instructed in his duty until he clearly felt the necessity of abstaining from theft,—the justice and benevolence of this sentence would rest securely on the circumstance, that it was in the highest degree advantageous, both to society at large and to the offender himself. Suppose that the latter was born with large organs of Acquisitiveness and Secretiveness, and deficient Conscientiousness, and that when he committed the offence he really could not help stealing,- still there would be no cruelty and no injustice in locking him up, and instructing him in

moral duty until he learned to abstain from theft; because, if this were not done, and if all men were to follow his example and only steal, the human race, and he, as a member of it, would necessarily starve and become extinct.

Now, the Creator's natural laws, so far as I have been able to perceive them; are instituted solely on the latter principle; that is to say, there is not the slightest indication of the object of any of the arrangements of creation being to gratify an inferior feeling in the Creator himself. No well-constituted mind, indeed, could conceive Him commanding beings whom He called into existence, and whom He could annihilate in a moment, to do any act of homage which had reference merely to the acknowledgment of his authority, solely for his personal gratification, and without regard to their own welfare and enjoyment. We cannot, in short, without absolute outrage to the moral sentiments and intellect, imagine him doing any thing analogous to the act of the Swiss governor-placing an emblem of his authority on high, and requiring his creatures to obey it, merely to gratify Himself by their homage, to their own disparagement and distress. Accordingly, every natural law, so far as I can discover, appears clearly instituted for the purpose of adding to the enjoyment of the creatures

The object of the punish

who are called on to obey it. ment inflicted for disobedience is to arrest the offender in his departure from the laws; which departure, if permitted to proceed to its natural termination, would involve him in tenfold greater miseries. This arrangement greatly promotes the activity of the faculties; and, active faculties being fountains of pleasure, the penalties themselves become benevolent and just. For example,

Under one of the physical laws, all organic bodies are liable to combustion. Timber, coal, oils, and animal substances, when heated to a certain extent, catch fire and burn: And the question occurs, Was this quality bestowed on them for a benevolent purpose or not? Let us look to the advantages attending it. By means of fire we obtain