It

aspect it may show itself at different times and in different persons, is undoubtedly to be regarded as, on the whole, one of the interesting and ennobling traits of human nature. imparts a feature of loveliness, a mingled aspect of amiability and justice, to the human character, which it might not otherwise possess. It is also practically important, inasmuch as it affords an indirect, but still a decided encouragement to deeds of benevolence. And although there are some, in whom the principle, if it exists at all, exists in too slight a degree, yet in general the man, who has received what he knows to be a well meant kindness, will not withhold this tribute of nature. There are some interesting lines of Southey, which Bishop Heber on the occasion of his leaving England for India has quoted as descriptive of his own personal experience, that may be appropriately introduced in connection with this subject.

"I've heard of hearts unkind-kind deeds

"With scorn or hate returning.

"Alas! The gratitude of man

"Has oftener left me mourning.

CHAPTER EIGHTH.

THE BENEVOLENT AFFECTIONS.

LOVE TO THE SUPREME BEING.

§. 189. Man created originally with the principle of love to God.

In order to preserve the other principles of human nature in the position, which the great Author of that nature has assigned to them, and to render their action just in itself and harmonious in its relations, we have reason to believe, that there was originally, in the human constitution, a principle of love to the Supreme Being. This affection, it may well be supposed, was entirely analagous, both in its nature and its operations, to the other Benevolent Affections, possessing like them a twofold action, INSTINCTIVE and VOLUNTARY. It differed, however, greatly in the degree or intensity of its action; being rendered to its appropriate object, as might be expected from the unspeakably high and holy nature of that object, with all the energy, of which the mind was capable. That man must have been created originally with such a principle of love, overruling and regulating all the subordinate principles, we think must be evident, in the first place, from the considerations furnished by Analogy.

In all the departments of the mind, so far as it has hitherto passed under our examination, we have seen evidences of contrivance and wisdom; every thing has its place, adaptations, and uses; and nothing, so far as we can judge, is done imperfectly. If it were necessary in this inquiry to put out of view the Intellect, so wonderful in its adaptation and its resources, we should hardly fail to find, in the distinct departments of the Sensibilities, ample illustrations and proofs of this remark. The Instincts, which naturally arrest our at

tention first, have obviously their appropriate place and office; and, although they rank lowest in the enumeration of our active principles, are yet indispensable. If man were constituted physically as he is at present, and yet without the Appetites, the next higher class of the principles involving desire, there would obviously be a want of adaptation between his mental and physical arrangements. The Propensities also, as we advance still upward, have each their sphere of action, their specific nature and uses; and are adapted with wonderful skill to the necessities of man, and to the relations he sustains. The same remark, and perhaps in a still higher sense, will apply to the Affections.As a father, man has a natural affection for his children, that he may thus be supported in the discharge of the arduous duties he owes to them; as a child he has naturally an affection for his parents; and as man simply, he is evidently constituted with a degree of love for his fellow-man.

When we consider the relations which men sustain, still more important than those which are the basis of the principles which have been mentioned, are we not justified in saying, on the ground of Analogy, that there must have been originally in the human constitution a principle of love to the Supreme Being? If there was not originally in the mental constitution such a principle as love to God, was not the structure of the mind in that respect obviously at variance with what the Analogy of its nature in other respects requires? If, from the urgent necessities of our situation, there must be strong ties of love binding together parents and children and brothers, if these ties must reach and bind with some degree of strictness all the members of the human family, on what principle can the doctrine be sustained, that man was originally created without an implanted love to that Being, who is infinitely more and better to him than an earthly brother or father?

§. 190. That man was originally created with a principle of love to God, further shown from the Scriptures.

In the second place, we have great reason to believe from the testimony of the Scriptures, that man was, in the first instance, created with the distinct and operative principle of

love to his Creator. At the creation, it is worthy of notice, that every thing which came from the hands of the great Architect, was pronounced to be GOOD. But if man, raised from nothingness into existence, furnished with high powers. of thought and action, and supported by the daily gifts of the divine bounty, was created without a principle of love to his Maker, (analagous to the other implanted affections, only that it existed in an exceedingly higher degree, corresponding to the greatness of the object,) we cannot deny, that we are utterly unable to perceive in such a result the basis of so marked a commendation, as far as the parents of the human race were concerned. It would seem, on the contrary, that such a work, framed with such a disregard of the most important relations, could not be pronounced good, even in the estimate of human reason, much less in that of a reason infinitely comprehensive and divine.

But, furthermore, man is expressly said to have been created in the image of his Maker. That is to say, in the great outlines of his mental constitution he was, in the first instance, a copy, (on a very limited scale it is true,) but still a copy, in fact, of the Divine Mind. But we must suppose, that God, both in his administration of justice and benevolence, is regulated by a wise and full consideration of the relations of things. He always loves, from the very perfection of his nature, what is worthy to be loved; and if he created man in his own image, (that is to say, with affections and moral sentiments corresponding to the nature and relations of things,) He must have created him with a disposition to love himself. We are not at liberty to suppose, that he could by possibility create a being, who should either hate, or be indifferent towards another being, whom he knew not only to be infinitely wise and good, but to sustain the relation of a Creator, preserver, and benefactor. A being thus created, so utterly wanting in those affections, which are required by the immutable relations of things, could hardly be said with any degree of truth to be created in the image of God. We infer, therefore, from the statement of man's being created in the Divine image, that he was created with a principle of love to his Maker. And the same reason leads us to believe, that the principle was paramount to every other other; cor

responding, as far as the limited powers of man would permit, to the infinitely exalted nature of its object. And in addition to this, the analogy of the other implanted principles points to the conclusion, that like them it possessed a twofold action, instinctive and voluntary.

§. 191. Further proofs that man was thus created.

Again, many of those passages of Scripture, which are addressed to man in his present fallen state, appear to comtemplate the restoration of this great principle. When the Savior on a certain occasion was asked, in respect to the commandments, which of them was to be regarded as having the first or leading place, his answer was; "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment." Matt, 22: 37,38. This language implies, to say the least, the possibility of the existence of this principle; and particularly, that in a sinless or perfect state of the human race it is indispensable. Finally, that renovation of our nature, which is so frequently spoken of in the New Testament under the name of a New Creation or New Birth, and which is represented as being brought about by divine assistance, unquestionably, in the meaning of the writers of the Scriptures, involves the restoration of this essential element of the mental constitution. To be what he is required to be, man must be what he was before the Fall; and in order to be in this situation, the great requisite is, what has just been mentioned, to love God with all the heart. We feel authorized, therefore, in asserting, that originally supreme love to God was an essential element of human nature; and that at the present moment, it is, or ought to be, in every human bosom, a distinct and operative principle. Its presence, as we shall be led to see in the succeeding section, makes man what he was designed to be; its absence furnishes an easy and philosophical explanation of those evils, which in the present state of things so frequently press themselves on our notice.

§. 192. Relation of the principle of supreme love to God to the other principles of the pathematic sensibilities. In giving an account, in their succession and place, of the