principles of action, which go to constitute the department of the Pathematic sensibilities, we feel at liberty from what has been remarked to place at their head, both as most important in its results and as highest in rank, the principle of supreme love to God. If it be said, as undoubtedly it may be said with too much truth, that this principle of human action, considered as a distinct and permanent principle, is obliterated, it is nevertheless true, that it is susceptible with divine aid of a restoration. If it be asserted, that men are not naturally governed by it, it still remains certain, if the precepts of Scripture may be understood with their obvious import, that they ought to be governed by it. The simple fact is, that man in his present condition, is not the man, which a holy God created him; but rather a mutilation of humanity, a darkened and shattered fragment of original workmanship. Geologists assure us, although even in the present condition of things there are abundant evidences of a workmanship equally powerful and wise, that there are marks and proofs of some great physical convulsion, such as is related in the Scriptures to have once taken place; and in like manner mental philosophy, as well as Divine Revelation, clearly indicates, that there has been at some period a great mental convulsion; that the glory of the human mind, although not absolutely extinct, is greatly obscured; and that man, in respect to his intellectual and moral condition, is truly and aptly described, as a depraved and fallen being. And in this deplorable state of moral obliquity and mutilation he will continue to remain, if the views which have been proposed are correct, until the principle of supreme love to God, is reinstated. The wisdom, which we claim for the structure of human nature, cannot be asserted with confidence to exist, except on the supposition that this great pillar of its support originally belonged to it, and may yet by possibility belong to it. Now supposing this principle to exist in the human mind, either by being originally implanted as in Adam, or by being restored under the name of a Regeneration or New Creation, we naturally proceed to inquire what relation it holds to the other principles in this department of the mind, and what results are likely to attend upon it. In point of mere rank, (that is to say, in the position which it occupies and ought to occupy in our estimation,) we cannot hesitate to say, that it stands first; not only before the Appetites and Propensities, but before all the other Affections, the class with which it is itself properly arranged; taking the precedence, by an incalculable remove, not only of the love of country and the love of friends, but of the love of parents and children. "He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he, that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me." Matt. 10, 37. The beneficial results, connected with the exercise of this principle, are such as might be expected from the preeminent rank it sustains. When it is in its full exercise, rendered to its appropriate object, in the language of Scripture, with all the heart and mind and soul, it may be regarded as a matter of course, that all the subordinate principles will be kept in their place. The appetites, the propensities, and the domestic affections still exist, but such is the ascendency of love to the Supreme Being, that every inordinate tendency is rebuked, and they all revolve in the circle, which God in the beginning assignto them. §. 193. Illustration of the results of the principle of love to God from the character and life of the Savior. We have an impressive illustration of these favorable results in the character and life of Jesus Christ, who we are informed in the Scriptures is set before us as an example for our imitation. The Savior, it will be recollected, appeared on the earth not only in the fashion of a man, but was constituted also with those various attributes, which pertain to man as a human being. He was hnngry and thirsty, he ate and drank, he toiled and was susceptible of fatigue, he showed indignation, he loved and rejoiced and wept, as other men. Not only this, we are expressly assured, that he was tempted in all points as we are, and yet without sin; and this is just what might be expected, when we take into view his feelings towards God. In him the principle of love to God the Father was a supreme principle. It sustained an unshaken dominion. And under its pervading and paramount influence, the appetites asked for no inordinate indulgence; the propensities fulfilled the intentions of nature without de generating into unseemly and sinful perversions; and all the departments of the mind maintained a harmony with each other. And this will be the result in all other similar instances. The Savior is set before us as an example, not merely in bodily and outward action, but still more in the propensions and affections of the heart. All, that has been said of him, may by possibility be true of all men in every situation of life. Under the blaze of a burning love to God, the appetites of men, so far as they are inordinate and sinful, will necessarily wither and die. Such is its infinite ascendency, in its appropriate and perfect exercise, that all their desires, whether they relate to themselves or their fellow-men, will be absorbed and hardly perceptible in this great flood of the heart's movement upward to the Source of life and light. We do not mean to say, that the appetites and propensities, or any other of the natural or pathematic principles will actually cease to exist; but the mind will be so intensely occupied with the higher and paramount principle, so long as it operates with a power proportioned to its object, that they will attract but comparatively little notice; and it will be impossible for them to become excessive. §. 194. The absence of this principle attended with an excessive and sinful action of other principles. Now take for a moment the opposite view; and let us see, if we may not account for what has sometimes been called the Depravity of human nature, without the necessity of supposing the implantation of principles, which, in themselves necessarily and under all circumstances, are evil. If the principle of Supreme love to God be removed from the place, which both Scripture and reason agree in assigning to it in the original constitution of the mind, one of the most important checks on the undue exercise of the subordinate principles is of course taken away. The love, which is drawn from the great source of all good, will naturally centre in ourselves; and the principles, which have relation to our present enjoyment and interest, will become predominant. Hence we see the disorders, which all impartial inquirers, even heathen philosophers,* acknowledge to exist in the human race; and which it is the aim of enlightened reason and philosophy, and particularly of religion in its instructions and its special influences, to rectify. The Appetites, which before had their appropriate place and offices, have now broken over their allotted limits, and are, on every hand, leading their victims into the various forms of excess and debauchery. The Propensities, many of which connect us closely with our fellow beings, and in their proper exercise impart no small degree of strength and enjoyment to human character, have become inordinately intense in their action. Conscience, it is true, continues to repeat its remonstrances; and the Will, under the suggestions of Conscience, makes more or less of resistance; but as they are not sustained by the love of the Supreme Being, which, could not fail, if it existed, to operate in their favor, the contest becomes unequal; and the efforts which they make are found to be unavailing. In this state of things, men, who under other circumstances would have leaned, and loved to lean, on the great arm of the Almighty for support, now find their chief enjoyment in the pursuit of wealth and power, and in the unrestricted intercourse and the uncertain enjoyments of the world.It is in such a condition of things as this, that we find the true source of the follies and crimes, which afflict the human race. The dethronement of God in the heart necessarily involves the predominance of principles, which, however innocent and useful in their just exercise, become in their excess evil, and "only evil continually." In the striking language of Ovid, (Metam. VII, Fab. 1.) Cicero repeatedly asserts the fact of human depravity, not only in decided language, but in terms, which in their import nearly coincide with the views, which appear to be communicated in the Holy Scriptures. “Simul atque editi in lucem et suscepti sumus, in omni continuo pravitate, et in summa opinionum perversitate, versamur ; ut pæne cum lacte nutricis errorem suxisse videamur."- -"Sed cum tot signis eadem natura declarat quid velit, anquirat, ac desideret; obsurdescimus tamen nescio quomodo; nec ea, quæ ab ea monemur, audimus." (Questiones Tusculanæ, III, 1. De Amicitia, c. 24.) There are a number of passages in Seneca, particularly in the Treatises De Ira and De Clementia, of a similar import. -"Si possem, sanior essem. "Sed trahit invitum nova vis; aliudque cupido, §. 195. Further illustrations of the results of the absence of this principle. The topic of the last section is one of no small importance. The section, it will be noticed, consists chiefly of a statement of facts, without any attempt at explanations. As some persons may not at first readily perceive, how it happens, that the suspension or obliteration of the principle of love to God is necessarily or naturally attended with the evil results there ascribed to it, we will delay upon the subject a little longer. It is sometimes the case, that a mere additional illustration, placing the subject in a new light, will have the effect upon the mind of the inquirer of an argument or proof. If the suspension or obliteration of any other principle will be followed by results analogous to those, which have been described as accessory to the extinction of love to God, we shall clearly have in this circumstance an evidence, that the results in the last case have been correctly indicated. And on the other hand, if the extinction or utter inaction of subordinate principles be not attended with irregularity and perversion in other parts of the mind, it will furnish a strong presumption, that the extinction or utter inaction of the higher principle will, in its collateral results, be equally harmless. By the aid of these statements we may easily bring the subject, in a considerable degree, to the test of common observation. And what is the fact? We will make the supposition, that, in the case of some individual, the domestic affections have, for some reason become permanently extinct, either in their nature or in their action. Such instances, though not by any means frequently, may yet sometimes be found. The person, in whom this obliteration or utter inaction of the domestic affections takes place, has no attachment for his children or any of his family, such as he used to have. It is a matter of common observation and remark, that a person in such a situation will be much more likely than another to fall under the dominion of the lower appetites; to addict himself, for instance, to licentious practices, or to become a drunkard. While the domes |