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4
EELS-LOVE
AND
VIRTUE
NECONCTtiII..
be, and
especially
our obligations to practise them, stand
in such
a
close
connexion with
the
being and
the
will of
God,
as
Gover-
nor of
the world,
that
if
one could
help it, they should not be
even divided and separated
in
thought.
But
since
these sort of
suppositions
are and
will be made,
I
beg
leave
to
examine, according
to
the
best rules of my
reason,
how
far this
doctrine of eternal and unchangeable obligations
to
practise virtue
may be
supported
;
and
I
will
endeavour
it
in these
following
positions
:
SECT.
II.There
are
Eternal
Fitnesses
in
human
Actions
and
in
Divine.
It
is
granted, there
is an
eternal
fitness
or unfitness
of
things
in
nature, or,
if
I
might
so
express it, in our ideas of
the
natural
world
which do
not
depend
on
the
will or appointment
of
God
;
and these
are perfectly unchangeable.
"
A globe
is
not
fit
to fill up
the
space
of
a
hollow,
cube
;
nor
is
a triangle
fit to fill
up the area of
a circle."
Note, By the eternal
fitness
of
things,
we
must understand
the
same
as before
I
said con-
cerning eternal truths,
viz.
that
in
themselves they
are mere
abstracted
ideas, and
can
have
no
real, eternal
existence
but in
the mind
of God.
Let
it
be
observed
also,
that this
eternal
fitness
of things
does not
require the
actual existence of these
things
from
eternity
:
If
the mere ideas of these things have
a necessary
connexion
together, they
may
be
called eternal
fitnesses,
in
the
sense
I
have explained.
I
think
there
can
re-
main
no
reasonable doubt or contest
upon
this matter.
The
sup-
position of
a
God,
or
no
God,
seems
to make
no
alteration in
these abstracted
ideas.
There
seems also to be an
eternal
fitness
or unfitness in
the
actions
of single, rational and
sensible beings.
Note,
Though
we
are
here speaking
chiefly
of mankind,
yet
I
call
every rational
being
sensible,
whether
it
be
united to
flesh or blood
or
no; be-
cause
it
is conscious
and perceptive of
pleasure
or pain, happi-
ness
or
misery.
I
say therefore,
it
is fit
that
every
rational
being
should
preserve
itself,
at least
so
far as it may
be
made
happy
;
and it
is
unfit
that it
should
destroy
itself,
or permit its
own destruction.
It
is fit
a
rational being
should seek its
owir
general,
ultimate, or supreme
happiness;
and
it
is
unfit
that
such
a
being should procure its
own
misery, or permit it,
if he
can avoid it.
Nature,
self-love, and reason,
seem
to dictate
the
same
thing. This
self
-preservation and self
-
felicitation,
are in-
wrought in our natural
constitution
:
and our
rational
powers
confirm it.
These
may be called single
or personal duties
of
* ]
use the words
o general, ultimate and supreme happiness,'" to distin..
guish
it
from any
particular present pleasures,
winch a man may and ought
to
deny
or refuse
by the
mere rules of reason,
when
they stand in
competition
with
Isis
general
And
ultimate
happiness;