Moral philosophy, or, The duties of man considered in his individual, domestic, and social capacities / by George Combe.

  • Combe, George, 1788-1858.
Date:
1882
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Moral philosophy, or, The duties of man considered in his individual, domestic, and social capacities / by George Combe. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    56/365 (page 48)
    in pninful confusion; we see some moral and religious men struggling with poverty, and others prosperous in their outward circumstances; some rich men extremely unhappy, while others are apparently lull of enjoyment; some poor men joyous and gay, others miserable and re- pining; some irreligious men in possession of vast wealth, while others are destitute of even the necessaries of life. In short, the moral' world appears to be one great chaos—a scene full of confusion, intri- cacy, and contradiction. But if we become acquainted with the primitive faculties, and their objects and laws, and learn that different individuals possess them from nature in different degrees of strength, and also cultivate them with different degrees of assiduity, and that the consequences of our actions bear an established relation to the faculties employed, the mystery clears up. The religious and rich man is he who exercises both Ven- eration and Acquisitiveness according to the laws of their constitution; the religious and poor man is he who exercises Veneration, hut who, through deficiency of the organ, through ignorance, or indolence, or some other cause, does not exercise Acquisitiveness at all, or not ac- cording to the laws by which its success is regulated. The rich man who is happy, is one who follows high pursuits related to his intellec- tual and moral sentiments, as the grand objects of life, and makes Ac- quisitiveness play its proper, but subordinate part. The rich man who is unhappy, is he who, having received from a bountiful Creator moral and intellectual faculties, has never cultivated them, but employed them merely to guide his Acquisitiveness in its efforts of accumulation, which he has made the leading object of his life. After he has succeeded, his moral sentiments and intellect, being left unprovided with employment, feel a craving discontent, which constitutes his unhappiness. I might proceed through the whole list of the faculties, and their combinations, in a similar way ; but it is unnecessary to do so, as these illustrations will, I hope, enable you to perceive the principle which I am anxious to expound. Let us now take a brief and comprehensive survey of the point at which we have arrived. If we are told that a certain person is extremely pious, benevolent, and just, we are entitled to conclude that he will experience within himself great peace, joy, and comfort, from his own dispositions ; be- cause these enjoyments (low directly from the activity of the organs which manifest piety, justice, and beneficence. We are entitled fur- ther to believe, that he will be esteemed and beloved by all good men who know him thoroughly, and that they will be disposed to promote, by every legitimate means, his welfare and happiness ; because hie