Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: SECTION VI. On the moral powers of man. The moral powers with which man is endued form a strong presumptive proof of his immortal destiny. Man is formed for action, as well as for contemplation. For this purpose there are interwoven in his constitution powers principles, instincts, feelings, and affections, which have a reference to his improvement in virtue, and which excite him to promote the happiness of others. These powers and active principles, like the intellectual, are susceptible of vast improvement, by attention, by exercise, by trials and difficulties, and by an expansion of the intellectual views. Such are filial and fraternal affection, .fortitude, temperance, justice, gratitude, generosity, love of friends and country, philanthropy, and general benevolence. Degenerate as our world has always been, many striking examples of such virtues have been displayed both in ancient .and modern times, which demonstrate the vigour, expansion, and sublimity of the moral powers of man. When we behold men animated by noble sentiments, exhibiting sublime virtues, and performing illustrious actions,—displaying generosity and beneficence in seasons of calamity, and tranquillity and fortitude in the midst of difficulties and dangers—desiring riches only for the sake of distributing them—estimating places of power and honour, only for the sake of suppressing vice, rewarding virtue, anil promoting the prosperity of their country—enduring poverty and distress with a noble heroism—suffering injuries and affronts with patience and serenity—stifling resentment when they have it in their power to inflict vengeance displaying kindness and generosity towards enemies and slanderers—vanquishing irascible passions and licentious desires in the midst of the strongest temptations—submitti... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.