CHAPTER XII. Man can be blessed only by his Adaptation to Laws, Pre-ordained by God, and which may be recognized in Us, and in the World around Us. IF it was possible for man to have direct communication with God, as he has with his fellow-beings, and thus receive undoubted instruction, advice, in short, the Father's recognition of his child in its manifold needs and yearnings, O how delightful, how consoling, how supremely satisfac tory it would be! But as far as the writer's experience goes, this unspeakable pleasure, this high prerogative is, alas, denied to him, and his only resource is a resort to the Revelation which God vouchsafes to him through the light of Reason, the pre-eminently authorized representative guide and monitor of God in man. To reason, then, as the God-appointed and legitimate medium of instruction, we must direct our attention for the needed spiritual succor, and it is clear that the more it is cultivated or improved, the better will it be able to perform its sacred and exalted functions, and the greater and more enduring will be the blessings which it shall be capable of imparting. But when I thus speak laudingly of reason as the guidingstar of life, I wish it to be distinctly understood, that I include the moral sentiments among the mental faculties or functions, and that hence the normal man, as he is constituted and indorsed by God, is both the intellectual and the moral man; the dual-man of true thought and right feeling. Owing to this two-fold nature, man is evidently in Both his tended not merely to be wise, but to be happy. physical organization and mental endowments most decidedly indicate this distinguished and enviable destiny. The susceptibility of happiness, properly so called, is peculiar to humanity, and is based upon a harmonious combination of reason and the moral sentiment. Hence, the inferior animals enjoy their existence when their situation is comfortable, or when they want nothing to satisfy the cravings of their natures, but to attain to the rank and blessing of being happy, is an enjoyment and a privilege surpassing their intellectual constitution: it is among all terrestrial beings, man's sole prerogative. What then, such being the case, is the cause of the existence of so little happiness among mankind? Evidently perverse and reckless conduct alone, can readily and adequately account for the sad and lamentable failure; for both history and experience teach that, with proper care and steady perseverance, it is neither impossible nor difficult to attain it, and may thus be made, more or less, to be the common boon and blessing of all. To say, therefore, that the wise and the goodmade such by compliance with the conditions, essential to moral success, must necessarily be happy, is simply to enunciate a self-evident truth. For whatever may be their fortune, it can never rob them of the approval of a good conscience, or the verdict of an enlightened and a virtuous judgment. To convey some correct and intelligible idea of the manner of acquiring the possession of happiness by a wise and assiduous adaptation to the laws or order of Nature, it will be necessary in referring to some of the adaptations to be mentioned here, to treat of them in groups, and thus pre sent under well-defined and distinct views, the exact nature and feasibility of adaptation to the Divinely pre-ordained and fixed arrangements, as they are recognized and proclaimed in the constitution of man and that of the world around him. Our intellects, our sentiments, our experience, in short, induction, more or less verified by attention to the different objects, which greet our senses or invite our reflection, and which constantly present themselves for our pleasure, our wonder, our consideration, both in their distinct properties and mutual relations; their. structures, forms, uses, etc., reveal and inculcate the will of God in respect to the duties and responsibilities of man. In this way, it is possible, to some extent at least, to know and to obey the laws which absolutely condition our happiness and prepare us for the only true, natural, really rationally and available, and therefore properly philosophical mode of Divine worship. Let man but wisely and diligently endeavor to adapt himself to the simple rules and indispensable conditions of the laws of health, taught by long and careful reflection, and a tried experience founded on the nature of things, or approved hygienic principles, and he will, as a matter of course, be happy or realize a soterial state of being. By the prudent use of only such food as agrees with us; as imparts vigor to our system, and promotes pleasurable sensations, we prove ourselves in close and genial adaptation to the natural, wise and just laws of the Creator. Common-sense, impartially and boldly exercised, in the pursuit of this subject, is, of course, of the greatest importance towards the accomplishment of these beneficial and most desirable ends. Let every one too, as he values the blessings of health and the advantages of a sound physical constitution, scrupulously shun all excesses in the indulgence of the use of food and drink, whether they are included in the homely fare, essential to the wants of nature, or rank among the luxuries and superfluities of the table. Nature thrives best and moves freest under the wise guidance of moderation, and too much or too little, in its cravings or needs, is as inimical to its dictates as it is repugnant to the orderly and efficient performance of its diverse and weighty functions. Once disturbed or deranged, it requires speedy remedial agency, a fact, which has originated the necessity in human society, for the advice and skill of the Physician. Necessary, however, as medical assistance often is under circumstances, evincing a criminal or a stupid disregard to the laws of health, it would be far preferable that men should exercise greater prudence in the manner of living, and, thus, the use of medicine be rendered unnecessary; for, according to the old proverb, whose truth is never obsolete, "Prevention is better than cure:" because it is wiser as well as safer to preserve a blessing than by imprudently or carelessly losing it, run the risk and mortification of never regaining it. Our passions and affections too, to fit snugly in the place assigned to them, and to work harmoniously and pleasantly in the mental system, must be rigidly kept under constant control, and be allowed neither too violent nor too frequent a gratification. Dryden, a writer of eminence, and one of the great English classics, well says, and it will be well for us well to observe what he says: "There is a mean in all things." An acquaintance with the interesting science of sociol ogy, develops the valuable fact, that man prospers really only in so far as he is virtuous or distinguished for the commendable attributes of a good and useful citizen, and hence, according to his ability, diligently contributes his share to the general welfare. The wicked may, indeed, triumph in his unhallowed career for a brief season; he may, now and then, in the hastily or injudiciously formed estimation of the Public, even be supposed to excel in social efficiency or private worth his upright and exemplary neighbor, and, thus, owing to such sinister influences and false seeming, outstrip him in the competition for place or emolument, but his race, as it deserves, will generally be short, and its end ignominious. Should he even, however, survive the disasters and disappointments incident of a bad and unprincipled life, as is sometimes, alas, the case in the present corrupt and iniquitous state of society, his relation to the future must necessarily be dark and ominous, justly filling his recreant soul with profound sentiments of apprehension and alarm for his safety. The principles which are here concisely advocated, are found corroborated, for example, in the marital institution of society; in its enactments of laws providing for the proper observance of the social relations; and in the creation of appropriate tribunals, intended to prevent the infringement of the laws, or to punish the commission of crimes. Every where accordingly, the inexorable social dicta, borrowed from the ethical code of the Christian religion, and thus cogently enunciated: "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them," stare the citizen in the face, and peremptorily |