without ceasing," and various expressions of this kind, show that prayer chiefly consists in a state of constant and earnest desire to obey the will of God, and to lead others to do the

same.

The manner in which this duty is spoken of throughout the Bible, leads to the belief, that prayer to God was the means used by good men as the respite from care, anxiety, and sorsow; the mode adopted to relieve and soothe the spirits, instead of exciting them. It is declared, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose soul is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in Thee;" that "to be spiritually minded is life and peace;" that "the fruit of the Spirit is joy and peace;" that we are to "acquaint ourselves with Him, and be at peace;" that "the peace of God is to rule in our hearts." God is repeatedly called the God of peace, and the God of all comfort. The ardent Apostle Paul speaks of the "anguish of heart, and many tears" with which he writes to those he loves, who have sinned; and then speaks of being "comforted by God in all his tribulation." Afterwards he directs to be anxious for nothing," but in every thing, by prayer and supplication, let your request be made known to God; and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts.”

And we find that those of the Apostles who were not cut off by violence, in spite of all their trials, hardships, and external sufferings, lived to a good old age. Paul, it is supposed, was over eighty, and John more than a hundred years old at death. Thus by that "perfect peace" which reigned in their hearts, they were enabled to encounter incessant labours and sufferings, without being worn down.

And this seems reasonable, not only from Scripture, but from the nature of the case. What can so relieve from fear, as communion with Him who has all power in heaven and on earth? What can sustain in sorrow, like the sympathy and love of Him, in whom the soul finds its chief good? What çan relieve from anxiety like confident access to Him who is

equally engaged in redeeming the lost, comforting the sorrowful, restoring the guilty, and who is much more ready to bestow good gifts, than his children are to supplicate. The Word of Truth then, presents the most infallible restorative to an anxious and wearied spirit, and the best safeguard from the inroads of those excessive emotions, that disorder and disarrange the animal frame, and thus impede the operations of mind.

But the physical system is often so essentially injured, that the natural experience of mind is suspended, and its faculties altered in operation. This is sometimes a transient affection, and sometimes a permanent evil. The slightest affections of this kind, are what are called "excited conceptions." Various causes produce this effect. The mind is so made, that when interest is powerfully awakened by any object of conception, by a continued effort of the will, and by the constant increase of interest, the attention may be completely withdrawn from any of the impressions made on the senses. When this is the case, the object of conception becomes so vivid, that the belief is awakened of its real existence, and a conception seems transformed into a perception.

Thus remorse for a crime, has sometimes been so powerful, that the form of a murdered man would seem to stand in all the perfectly defined destinctness of perception, before the guilty criminal. It is also not unfrequently the case, that enthusiastic persons of heated imaginations, work up their feelings to such a pitch, that the senses cease to affect the mind, and the objects of their conceptions become like real existences. This is the cause of those illuminations, inspirations, and visions, with which many good, but misguided persons, have often supposed themselves especially favoured. These visions were excited conceptions, caused by the excessive indulgence of emotions that ought to have been restrained, as contrary to the spirit of religion, and to the laws of health

and reason. The continued operation of such excitement, sometimes leads to permanent derangement. When the mind is thus deranged, man ceases to be a moral and accountable being.

This phenomenon of mental derangement, has many varieties. Sometimes the senses are deranged, so that there is a constant succession of sights and sounds which are not real, but which seem to be so to the diseased person. Sometimes the principle of belief is affected, and human testimony and the evidence of the senses, do not affect the mind. The good Dr. Rush, seems half disposed to consider infidelity, as a species of mania of this kind, and does not seem exactly to decide whether bleeding and blistering, or moral remedies, are the most appropriate.

Sometimes the power of association seems destroyed, and all the conceptions are disconnected and at random. Sometimes the susceptibilities are deranged, and the mind is harassed by causeless fear, or perturbed with paroxysms of anger, or elevated with joy, or oppressed with ceaseless grief. All these affections are caused by a diseased body, but in many cases, the diseases are originally occasioned by the over-action of the mind on the material system. The remedy for such affections, is committed to the physician, who prescribes for both body and mind.

There is probably no subject of equal importance, where the rule of duty is so often violated, as the care of the bodily health. Men seem to feel their obligations to keep the mind in order, and yet constantly take the most effectual way to disorder it, by neglect or abuse of the body. It is probable that half the dulness, stupidity, ill humour, and irritability, that exist in the world, originate from the operation of an injured and abused animal frame, on the mental susceptibilities. And yet it is very common to find that mankind exhibit a sort of pride in neglecting themselves, or in encountering rash exposures. How often is excessive study, neglect of sleep,

carelessness in regard to exposures, or excess in food and drink, made an occasion of boast. And how few persons are found, who from conscientious motives, by regular habits of sleep and exercise, by temperance in food and drink, and by protecting the body from the injuries of dress and exposure, are preserving the health of mind and of body, for the fulfilment of duty, and the promotion of happiness.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

EDUCATION ACCORDING TO THE LAWS OF MIND, AND THE PRINCIPLES OF THE BIBLE.

It has been shown that the object of the formation of mind, is happiness; that the mode of securing this happiness, is to act for the general, instead of for selfish good, from love to God, and according to the rules he reveals. The object of education is, to train the mind of man to accomplish this object for which it was formed.

All the phenomena and operations of mind, are under the influence of these two general principles, habit and emotion. It is on the formation of the habits, that the character of the intellect, the susceptibilities, the will, and the physical operations is depending, while the relative grade of mind (all other things being equal,) depends upon the amount of susceptibility, or the power of feeling emotions. The cultivation of mind then, is divided into two general departments, the formation of habits, and the cultivation of the susceptibilities.

In the commencement of existence, the first habit which is to be formed, relates to the will. Long before the faculties

are so developed, or the use of language so acquired, that the reason of a child can be addressed, it is indispensable to its own happiness, and to the comfort of the parents, that a habit of implicit obedience should be formed. In regard to the gratification of the palate, and the possession of objects of desire, there is a constant collision between the wishes of the child, and the judgment of the parent; and the sooner the child can form a habit of readily yielding, the sooner occasion for peevishness, anger, and contention, will be banished. To effect such a habit, two things are indispensable.

The first is, that the child should learn that it is an inevitable and invariable fact, that when its own will clashes with that of the parent, the parent's is always to be dominant; and the second is, that the child shall become convinced that importunities, tears, and impatience, will never make any alteration in the will of the parent. If the child perceives that sometimes it must yield, and sometimes it can conquer, at each recurrence of collision, there will be a temptation to try its own powers. If successful, the encouragement of success stimulates; if defeated, resentment and irritation is the consequence. But when the child learns that the will of the parent is the never-failing law, he will no more attempt to oppose it, than he would raise his puny arm, to overturn the house in which he dwells. Of course, much irritation and sorrow, will thus be saved to the child, and much trouble to the parent.

In like manner, if the child finds that supplication and tears, will bend the will of its parent, it will soon learn how to use these weapons; but if they are found useless, they will soon be relinquished, and ready, cheerful, and implicit obedience, be perpetually rendered. When the child is old, enough to understand the necessity of general rules, and the various causes of restraint, the parent can explain. But so long as the child is under parental authority, this maxim needs to be invariably impressed on the mind, that the experience, age, and affection