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should frequently slide into the paths of infidelity and dissipation; since they neglect an attention to those departments of knowledge which alone can guide them in the paths of rectitude. We may as soon expect to gather "grapes from thorns or figs from thistles," as to expect pure morality from those, however high they may stand in literary acquirements, who either neglect or oppose the great truths of religion. We do not mean, however, to insinuate, that the subjects alluded to above are either trivial or unworthy of being prosecuted. On the contrary, we are fully persuaded, that there is not a subject which has ever come under human investigation, when prosecuted with proper views, and in connexion with other parts of knowledge, but may be rendered subservient, in some way or another, both to the intellectual and the moral improvement of man. But, when we speak of diffusing useful knowledge among the mass of mankind, we do not so much allude to the capacity of being able to translate from one language into another, of knowing the sentiments of the ancient Greeks and Romans, and the characters and squabbles of their gods and goddesses, or to the faculty of distinguishing ancient coins, fragments of vases, or pieces of armour-as to the facts of history, science, and revelation, particularly in their bearing upon the religious views and the moral conduct of mankind. And, if the attention of the great body of the people were directed to such subjects, from proper principles and motives, and were they exhibited to their view in a lucid and interesting manner, there cannot be the smallest doubt, that the interests of virtue and of pure and undefiled religion would be thereby promoted to an extent far beyond what has ever yet been realized.

SECTION VIII.

On the Utility of Knowledge in relation to a future world.

MAN is a being destined for eternity. The present world through which he is travelling is only a transitory scene, introductory to a future and an immortal existence. When his corporeal frame sinks into the grave, and is resolved into its primitive elements, the intellectual principle by which it was animated shall pass into another region, and be happy or miserable, according to the governing principles by which it was actuated in the present life. The world in which we now reside may be considered as the great nursery of our future and eternal existence, as a state of probation in which we are educating for an immortal life, and as preparatory to our entering on higher scenes of contemplation and enjoyment. In this point of view, it is of importance to consider, that our present views and recollections will be carried along with us into that future world, that our virtues or vices will be as immortal as ourselves, and influence our future as well as our present happiness, and, consequently, that every study in which we engage, every disposition we now cultivate, and every action we perform, is to be regarded as pointing beyond the present to an unseen and eternal existence.

If, then, we admit that the present state is connected with the future, and that the hour of death is not the termination of our existence, it must be a matter of the utmost importance, that the mind of every candidate for immortality be tutored in those departments of knowledge which have a relation to the

future world, and which will tend to qualify him for engaging in the employments, and for relishing the pleasures and enjoyments of that state. The following remarks are intended to illustrate this position. We may remark, in the first place, in general, that the knowledge acquired in the present state, whatever be its nature, will be carried along with us when we wing our flight to the eternal world. In passing into that world we shall not lose any of the mental faculties we now possess, nor shall we lose our identity, or consciousness of being the same persons we now feel ourselves to be; otherwise, we behoved to be a different order of creatures, and consequently could not be the subjects either of reward or of punishment for any thing done in the present state. A destruction of our faculties, or a total change of them, or the loss of consciousness, would be equivalent to an annihilation of our existence. But, if we carry into the future state all our moral and intellectual powers, we must also, of necessity, carry along with them all the recollections of the present life, and all the knowledge, both physical and moral, which these faculties enabled us to acquire. We have an exemplification of this in the parable of our Saviour respecting the rich man and Lazarus, where Abraham is represented as addressing the former in these words; "Son, remember, that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things;" evidently implying, that the rich man retained the power of memory, that he possessed a consciousness that he was the same thinking being that existed in a former state, and that he had a perfect recollection of the conduct he pursued, and the scenes in which he was placed in this sublunary world. If, then, it be admitted, that we shall be, substantially,

the same intellectual beings as at present, though placed in different circumstances, and that the ideas and moral principles we now acquire will pass along with us into futurity, and influence our conduct and happiness in that state, it cannot be a matter of indifference whether the mind of an immortal being be left to grope amidst the mists of ignorance, and to sink into immorality, or be trained up in the knowledge of every thing that has a bearing on its eternal destination. On the contrary, nothing can be of higher value and importance to every human being, considered as immortal, than to be trained to habits of reasoning and reflection, and to acquire that knowledge of his Creator, of himself, of his duty, and of the relations in which he stands to this world and to the next, which will qualify him for the society in which he is hereafter to mingle, and the part he has to act in a higher scene of action and enjoyment. For, as gross ignorance is the source of immoral action, and as immoral principles and habits unfit the soul for the pleasures and employments of an immortal state, the man who is allowed to remain amidst the natural darkness of his understanding, can have little hope of happiness in the future world, since he is destitute of those qualifications which are requisite in order to his relishing its enjoyments.

Scientific knowledge, as well as that which is commonly designated theological, is to be considered as having a relation to the future world. Science, as I have already had occasion to notice, is nothing else than an investigation of the Divine perfections and operations as displayed in the economy of the universe; and we have every ground to conclude, both from Reason and from Revelation, that such investigations will be carried forward, on a more enlarged

scale, in the future world, where the intellectual powers, freed from the obstructions which now impede their operation, will become more vigorous and ex∙pansive, and a more extensive scene of Divine operation be presented to the view. There are certain applications of scientific principles, indeed, which may have a reference solely to the condition of society in the present life, such as, in the construction of cranes, diving-bells, speaking-trumpets, steam-carriages and fire-engines; but the general principles on which such machines are constructed, may be applicable to thousands of objects and operations in other worlds with which we are at present unacquainted. The views, however, which science has opened of the Wisdom and Benevolence of the Deity, of the multiplicity of ideas and conceptions which have existed in his Infinite Mind, of his Almighty Power, and of the boundless range of his operations-will not be lost when we enter into the eternal world. They will prepare the soul for higher scenes of contemplation for acquiring more expansive views of Divine Perfection, and for taking more extensive and sublime excursions through the boundless Empire of Omnipotence. The same may be affirmed of the principles of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, conic sections, and other departments of the mathematics, which contain truths that are eternal and unchangeable, and that are applicable in every mode of existence, and to the circumstances of all worlds. Such knowledge may form the ground-work of all our future improvements in the world beyond the grave, and give to those who have acquired it, in conjunction with the cultivation of moral principle, a superiority over others in the employments and investigations peculiar to that higher sphere of existence; and, con

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