Mr. Chairman: I perfectly agree with my friend in his discriminations between knowledge, belief, and opinion; but all I have to say is, that in the case to which he has referred, it was his interest that generated his will, and therefore it was his interest that compelled him to [67] investigate. I am also much indebted to my friend, Mr. Campbell, for his learned dissertation upon the opinions of others, for I did not trouble myself very much about a knowledge, in detail, of these opinions before. My researches were not in that direction, after I ascertained they contained so little really useful practical information. The object I had in view compelled me to become a practical man, "to study from the life, and in the original peruse mankind." I have totally avoided metaphysical reading, because I discovered it was not calculated to relieve society from its errors and difficulties; it has too many words and too few facts.

      Much have I read formerly of this character, that was unsatisfactory, and much have I seen and observed since. In consequence, metaphysical disquisitions which have interested me in my youth have long since given place to the investigation of facts, and legitimate deductions from them that I might acquire a knowledge of their best application to practice. Many of these metaphysical disquisitions have already continued for thousands of years, and may continue to proceed for millions more, without producing any practical benefit, or bringing us nearer to our object. It is now full time that we direct our attention to facts, and to a just practice founded on those facts. It does appear to me, from all the facts I know, that not only our belief but our knowledge and opinions are determined for us by the strongest impressions which external circumstances make upon our individual organizations. That no man has, of his own will, by the exercise of his own volition, formed his own knowledge, belief, or opinion. I have never heard a single argument or seen any fact to prove that man ever forms his opinions by the decision of his will contrary to the convictions made upon his mind by the impressions which he has received from external circumstances, or subsequent intimate reflection, the individual not knowing what would be the result of those reflections until they were completed.

      My friends, the next great law of human nature which goes to prove the gross ignorance in which human nature has been kept, and the injurious effects of all religions, is the seventh in my arrangement. It is--"That each individual must like that which creates agreeable, and dislike that which produces unpleasant sensations upon his nature, while at the same time he cannot discover, previously to experience, what these sensations shall be." When our minds shall have been relieved from the prejudices of a vicious education, when we shall be permitted, without prejudice, to examine facts as they really are, and to infer the rational deductions from those facts, we shall discover, that all the governments of the world, all the religions, all the [68] codes of laws, and all the social and other institutions of mankind have been founded in the false notion, that human nature was so organized, that it had the power by its own mere volitions, to believe conformably to its inclinations, and to love or hate according to its will. Now I contend that no human being has the power of his own will to like, be indifferent to, or dislike any person, or anything contrary to the sensations which they produce upon him. Who, in this assembly, when any new food is brought before him can determine before tasting it, whether it is insipid, grateful, or distasteful to his palate? Will not his determination upon this point depend entirely upon the sensations produced by this food upon his palate after tasting it? If a stranger were announced as being about to come into this assembly, where is the individual among you, who is prepared to determine, before he has seen this stranger, whether he shall like, be indifferent to, or dislike him? Would not one and all of you be compelled to receive the impressions which the countenance, the figure, the manner, and the address of this stranger, would enforce upon your individual organizations?

      Now, those who think they are doing good service to the world by attempting to disprove the doctrine which I advocate, should consider well these two fundamental laws of our nature. I rest a very large portion of my argument to prove the errors of all religions, and of the truth of the principles which I advocate, on a thorough conviction from the evidence of innumerable facts, that human nature is so organized by the laws of its creator, as to be passive in the reception of its sensations, except so far as it may be influenced by previous sensations of liking, or disliking. You have been taught some fanciful notions of what you have heard termed God, Deity, or First Cause; and you have been taught other fanciful notions of a being who has been introduced to you by the name of the Devil, who was created by an infinitely wise and good power. Then, my friends, if you have a control over your likings and dislikings, just for the sake of the experiment, endeavor to hate the first, and to love the second. Can any one of you so far control his will as to do this? In common candor, my friends, you must be compelled to acknowledge that you cannot. But you will be pleased to observe, that I, by no means, admit by anything I may have said that any intelligence infinitely wise, good, and powerful, ever did make (knowing what it was about) a devil, to torment us. No, indeed, I cannot believe any absurdity so monstrous as this. But to return to our subject. We are, fortunately for us, compelled to like that which produces pleasant sensations, and to dislike that which produces their opposites. Then if there be wisdom in the command, that [69] we should love one another, there is but one practical course whereby to obey it. It is to act consistently with the principle I have now developed, which will lead you to train your children to acquire such qualities as are universally lovely, and then they must be beloved for possessing those qualities. Our nature is such, that when they are so formed, we cannot help loving them; and until they are so formed, it is not in human nature to love them. But we shall soon become acquainted with the method whereby to train our infants, step by step, in such a manner that they shall command our love. And when this shall be the case, the command to do so will become useless. What utility is there in commanding me to love that which possesses qualities which are disagreeable to me? And what necessity is there for such a command, when we know that we have the power to create the best dispositions, manners, and habits in the whole human race, and thus give such qualities as will always insure love or affection from every one? How often have uninstructed, unenlightened men told you that these principles lead to vice? But if ever virtue shall be known and practiced among mankind, it will only be through the knowledge of these principles, and through the universality of the practice which they demonstrate to be the best for man to adopt.

      There never was, in the imagination of any human being, a collection of facts so truly valuable to the whole of mankind as those which are contained in these twelve laws; each one of them is of invaluable truth. But when united and formed into a system for reforming the character of men and governing them, what a glorious change will be effected for the well-being and happiness of the human race! When this shall be accomplished, as I anticipate will be the case in a few years, how very different will our residence in this world become! How different from any state or condition ever yet witnessed in any former period, or in the present times! There will be then no strife nor contention. Then all will say, "If any of my fellow-beings do not love or respect me, I know the cause is in myself; and therefore, I will, thus informed, endeavor to remove the disagreeable parts of my character, and set about the correction of all my faults and failings, if the superior knowledge of those who educate me have left any of them to be now corrected; but I could not be displeased with my fellow-being for expressing a sensation which I had caused him to feel; this will necessarily remove an error too palpable to be entertained." That we should have acted so long upon any other principle, is a proof of the ignorance and darkness in which the errors of religion have surrounded us. But unfortunately, my friends, a steady attention in the investigation of facts, will now enable us to discover the [70] road which leads unerringly to certain happiness; and the means by which to secure it permanently, without the horrible notion, that some of our fellow-beings must suffer eternal torments.

      My friends, I do not know what your ideas of deity may be, but having attended to the realities of human life and human nature, I am compelled to believe that if I knew that one sentient being existed in eternal torment, that knowledge alone would prevent me from being perfectly happy. How, therefore, an all-wise, all-good, and perfect being, should make human beings thus to suffer, knowing what he was doing when he made them, is too inconsistent to make any conviction of its truth in my mind. To me it appears an extraordinary and unaccountable notion of error--one really too absurd to be longer taught to man, or child.

      We now come to the 8th fundamental law of human nature, viz: "that each person is so created, that the impressions made on his organization, although pleasant at first, yet, if continued beyond a certain period, without change, will become disagreeable; and when this change is too rapid it impairs our physical, intellectual, and moral powers and enjoyments."

      It is of no use for the human mind to waste its powers and faculties in imagining what human nature ought to be according to the whims and fancies of some men. True knowledge will direct us at once to inquire what it is. Of no use is it to imagine that it ought to be, according to our ignorant notions, something else than what it is. We have nothing to do but to inquire what human nature is, what are its organic laws, and how it is formed from infancy to maturity.

      We shall discover it to be a universal law that human nature requires for its happiness, health, well-being, and a change of sensations. If any one sensation were to be continued without change, it would, after a certain time, become as painful as at first it was agreeable. We are, therefore, beings so organized as to require a certain change of our sensations. But when we proceed beyond a certain number in a given period, these sensations will gradually become disagreeable, and ultimately produce misery instead of happiness. This is another admirable law of our organization. It teaches us in the most emphatic manner, that to preserve health, spirits and happiness, we must proceed in all our exercises, in all our enjoyments, to the point of temperance, and not beyond it; or in other words, that the highest enjoyment of human life is to be attained by a due exercise of all our propensities and capacities at the point of temperance. I will endeavor to develop to you some of the miseries arising from the infraction of this law. Men and women, by the laws of many countries, are made solemnly to [71] promise that they will love each other to the termination of their lives; and yet neither the one nor the other can know that it will be in their power to perform the promise for one day. They commit this error by not attending to this and other unchanging laws of our nature. Where is now the man or woman who has committed this moral perjury, who knew certainly, at the time of making the vow, whether they would be able to love each other for an hour? And how much misery has this error produced? How much happiness has it destroyed? Your ignorance on the subject of belief, and of liking and disliking, have produced almost all the evils of domestic life, as well as almost all the dissensions between nations. Ignorance of this law of our nature has divided and subdivided the world into various classes greatly to the injury of all. One class, which may be called producers, have their physical powers called into action far beyond the point of temperance. Another class, which may be called non-producers, have their memory and imagination overstrained far beyond the natural limits. The former class are subject to innumerable evils in consequence of their physical powers being over-exerted and their mental powers being unexercised. The latter class has been, perhaps, still more unfortunate in having their physical powers neglected and their memory and imagination too much exercised. And the world is generally divided into these two classes and their subdivisions. When we shall come to the knowledge of what manner of beings we are, these errors must cease; society will be differently arranged, and there will be but one class trained and educated, and placed under new circumstances that will enable all to enjoy the full extent of their respective capacities at the point of experience; and that class will have their physical, intellectual, and moral faculties equally cultivated, and duly and temperately exercised. We shall, by acquiring an accurate knowledge of these laws of our nature, begin to discover what real knowledge is, and what is necessary to constitute our true and substantial happiness. At present we do not know what plan, system, or practice is necessary to constitute our happiness, and therefore we do not know what to adopt to promote it.

      Before our meeting in this place shall terminate, I will endeavor to explain what are those things which are necessary for our happiness--that all may know what it is that we should endeavor to attain.

[COD 68-72]