312 Dr. Lindsay's Oration at the Red-Cross-street Library, 200 poor children receive annually that kind of education which is suited to their circumstances; whilst the endowment for this purpose, forms an important addition to the little stipend of those dissenting ministers to whose care our schools are committed. His next aim was to furnish a few young men seriously disposed to embrace the profession of religious teachers among Protestant Dissenters, with those advantages from which they are excluded by the universities of this country. With this view he established exhibitions at the college of Glasgow; and, owing to the increased value of his estates, and the care and fidelity with which the produce of them is husbanded and applied by this trust, we are now enabled to assist eight young men annually at that college, besides giving occasional aid to several more at other institutions. Thus numerous students derive from our funds the means of that liberal education which qualifies them for being honourable and useful ministers of Christ, among Protestant Dissenters in England and Wales. It was the intention of our founder in this bequest to provide a succession of men who, subjected to no test, and acknowledging no ecclesiastical jurisdiction, might be nursed in the very bosom of freedom; might be encouraged to think without bias or constraint, and to speak conscientiously and boldly what they think. This is the inestimable advantage of our dissent. It was seen and appreciated by our founder, and he was anxious to do his part that it might be tendered perpetual: nor have his efforts been vain. Many of those who, for almost a century, have distinguished themselves amongst us as the advocates of a simple worship, a rational belief, and a truly gospel liberty, have been indebted to his funds for that learning which enabled them in their day to uphold the cause of truth and piety. These are considerations which cannot but speak to the judgment of any impartial man who looks into our history. For there he will see, how much freedom, and the consequent prosperity of the kingdom, have been owing to the barrier erected by Dissenters against those -encroachments on the rights of conscience to which even the most moderate establishments have a natural tendency. How much more power fully then should such considerations speak to the heart of that Protestant Dissenter, who regards religious freedom as the best foundation of all that is truly excellent and dignified in the moral nature of man? If we set any value upon our own principles, if we believe what some of our adversaries have been forced to confess, that to these principles, asserted by our forefathers at the expense of persecution and blood, our country itself is chiefly indebted for that share of civil and religious privileges which it enjoys; if we are persuaded that the same principles, more generally understood and more widely diffused, would extend and perfect this liberty with all the rational views of truth and piety that are connected with it;-then what respect, what gratitude do we not owe to the memory of a man who has done so much, living and dying, to encou rage and propagate these principles, and to render them efficient for the great purposes of godliness and virtue? One thing more was necessary to complete the beneficent design of our pious founder. There was no public library in this great metropolis, to which Dissenters, as Dissenters, might have easy access. The sagacity of Dr. Williams perceived, and his munificent love of learning supplied, the defect. He purchased the curious books of Dr. Bates, and adding them to his own, formed a valuable collection, which, by the donations of Dissenters, and even of liberal Churchmen, aud recently by an annual sum of 50/ from our funds, has been greatly increased. Every lay Trustee gives a donation of ten guineas when he enters upon the trust; and if other wealthy individuals amongst us, who have the honour of our institution at heart, would remember it as they ought, we might soon have to boast one of the most valuable and magnificent collections in this capital. This is not all. The house in which we are now assembled, built in compliance with our founder's will, has become, through the liberality of the trustees, the place of public business to the collective body of Dissenters in this great city; a place, in which noble stands have often been made against ecclesiastical usurpation; in which generous efforts have originated to promote the extension of religious privileges to men of on the Centenary of Dr. Williams's Death. all persuasions; a central point, round which the friends of religious freedom in every part of Britain rally, and from which even recently a spirit has gone forth, by which the bigots and persecutors of another country are abashed, at least, if not finally overcome. Having thus laid before you a short account of the objects which Dr. Williams contemplated, in a scheme so wisely planned, so nobly endowed, permit me to say, (and from the small share of merit that I can claim in the management, I trust I may be exempted from the imputation of vanity, when I do say confidently,) that no trust was ever discharged with more care, or applied with more disinterested fidelity to fulfil the intentions of the founder. If that founder could have foreseen that men who were to be the ornaments of science as well as of religion, the Chandlers and Kippises, -the Prices and Priestleys, the Reeses and Belshams of the coming age--the future champions of that learning and freedom which he loved: -if he could have foreseen that such men would have given their time and labour to promote the objects of his piety, it would have added one delight ful feeling more to those which must have passed through his mind, in contemplating the probable effects of his own beneficence. It is difficult indeed to conceive a more exquisite satisfaction to a pious and good heart, than that which our founder must have enjoyed at the close of a life devoted to virtue, and the approach of a death, after which he was to become, under God, a powerful and constant agent in promoting the kingdom of his Son. It is a satisfaction compared with which all the pleasures of selfishness are less than nothing and vanity; a satisfaction which every man who is conscious of having a soul to exalt and save, should covet as his richest treasure. We may not, indeed, possess the means of that extensive usefulness which has dignified the name of Dr, Williams-but every one of us, by being an advocate for truth and freedom in his own age; by speaking, acting and giving for the support of those institutions by which knowledge is diffused and liberty promoted, may form, and is bound to form, one link in that chain upon which the future destiny of social man depends. Despicable are the pretences 313 by which so many excuse themselves from taking any active part in those public labours which are essential to the improvement of the world. They, forsooth, are not public men. It is enough for them to attend to their private concerns. They leave the civil and religious affairs of their country to princes and statesmen, and wonder that private individuals should be officious enough to meddle in such matters. It is a language too common; sometimes heard even in the mouth of Dissenters. But from whatever quarter it may proceed, I can never hear it without indignation. True, we must mind our private concerns; but have we not likewise a duty to discharge to that social state of which we are members? Are we not bound to watch over that liberty which we inherit from our fathers, and to see that this inheritance is not tarnished or diminished in passing down to our posterity? And is it not by the combination of individual exertion that all great effects must be produced? No man who has enjoyed the advantage of education is so insignificant, but that by uniting his own efforts with those of others, he may withstand the inroads of civil and ecclesiastial power, and extend the limits of that religious knowledge and civil freedom which must ultimately enlighten and bless mankind. A Priestley in his closet communicates those ideas of liberty which a Smith carries with him into the senate, and renders triumphant, at last, over narrow views and impolitic laws. And a Wood,† under the like influence of education and principle, goes into the magistracy, and I trust will one day go into the legislature, with the determined purpose of becoming the advocate of popular rights and of the reform and improvement of popular institutions. Thus the student co-operates with the man of active life, and from this co-operation no individual can justly plead an exemption. He who will not lend his arm to the work of purification, because, forsooth, he has not the arm of a Hercules, is a selfish dastard, who, under the cover of weakness, hides corruption, and deserves to suffer the worst * Wm. Smith, Esq. M. P. for Norwich, present. + Matthew Wood, Esq. the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor, present. 314 On the Sources of Human Happiness. evils that the most abject slavery can inflict upon him. What would have been our state if Dr. Williams and our Puritanic ancestors had been thus indolent, thus ignoble? What but that we should have been bending under the yoke of superstition, and consigned to dangerous or to ignominious labours, by weak kings and their appropriate instruments, selfish and bigoted priests, without the hope of deliverance? Let us think of this, and be zealous for the maintenance of our principles, and the increase and diffusion of civil and religious advantages. In one word, let us imitate our founder, If we should ever grow indifferent to these glorious objects, or to any of the great interests of truth and freedom, the spirit of Dr. Wil, liams, and of the mighty dead our predecessors (with whose portraits we are surrounded), would rise up to reproach our apathy, to record our condemnation, and to seal our disgrace. MISCELLANEOUS COMMUNICATIONS. On the Sources of Human Happiness. THE principal object which I have in view in the following remarks, is to point out some circumstances which are eminently conducive to well-being, but which yet are not commonly regarded as possessing a moral quality, or as entitling the possessor to moral approbation or reward, -although the improvement and practice of them is in a high degree calculated to increase the efficacy of those dispositions which we unversally denominate virtuous. If the question be proposed generally, wherein consists human happiness; it would be difficult, perhaps impossible to give an answer which would apply with absolute precision to the character and circumstances of every individual. The characters, situations, abilities natural or acquired, and the consequent duties, of different persons, are so various, that what would be expedient and desirable for one, might be impracticable or very injurious to another; so that to lay down any one precise rule to apply to all cases would evidently be a vain and absurd attempt. Some general observations however may be safely hazarded, since, though the situations of different individuals are extremely various, yet the general principles of human nature are the same; and the influence of particular modes of conduct on the physical and moral constitution of man, is in a great measure the same in all ages and nations. It can never cease to be true for example that the active man cæteris paribus, is more likely to be happy than the lounger; or that a serene and cheerful temper is more conducive to real enjoyment than a fretful repining disposition. It may be observed then in the first place, that activity is a very important requisite to human happiness. The exercise of the bodily and mental faculties in the pursuit of some interesting occupation, seems absolutely essential to the enjoyment of life. It is true that if we were to judge of the result of general experience by the general language of mankind, we should deduce a very different infer ence; and might suppose that the true happiness of man consisted in indolence and inaction. For we are constantly complaining of the labour and toil we are subjected to, and express ourselves as though exertion of mind and body were the greatest burden and most grievous evil to which our present situation exposes us. When we examine human life however a little more attentively, we shall soon be led to perceive the fallacy of any inference deduced from this al most universal language of mankind. The most active men are invariably the happiest; while none are more destitute of enjoyment than such as are given up to slothful indulgence. To relieve themselves from the insupportable burden of idleness, we often see them have recourse to the most childish and frivolous amusements ; which however commonly fail to produce the effect, because they are incapable of exciting that degree of interest in the mind which is necessary to rouse its powers into exertion. Employment of any kind has commonly a surprising effect on the spirits and temper, and is highly instrumental to our improvement in bodily On the Sources of Human Happiness. health and vigour as well as in many other things of much greater importance. The idle man is commonly low-spirited, peevish and splenetic; every little inconvenience or obstacle to the accomplishment of his desires, vexes him and ruffles his temper; but since he is not thus excited to exert himself in its removal, his life is rendered an endless scene of petty trou.bles and vexations, which if he had any habits of enterprise or activity would be removed without difficulty as soon as they made their appearance, and before they had had time to occasion any material inconvenience. But when allowed to remain and accumulate, they grow up to a serious amount; which one more accustomed to look difficulties in the face might contemplate with apprehension, and which fill him with absolute despair. Still, though he despairs of getting rid of them, they are not on that account the less felt; they produce a permanent effect upon his temper, he contracts a sour, morose, complaining disposition; and thus, from being at first merely indolent, he becomes a thoroughly discontented, dissatisfied creature, caring for no one but himself, and despised or disliked by every one else. Even when it does not operate in this manner; when circumstances are not such as to throw any of these petty miseries in his way, yet the necessary effect of laziness is to bring on ill-humour and disquiet; a temper of mind which is most destructive of his own peace, and must greatly impede his usefulness to others. To correct this unhappy disposition, there is no remedy more effectual than employment; perhaps no sovereign remedy but this. In so far as its efficacy in promoting this object is concerned it is of little consequence what the employment is; provided it interests the mind and presents it with some other object on which it can dwell with more complacency than on its own grievances and complaints. If the employment be one which is fitted at the same time to answer some valuable end, to contribute to his own comfort or convenience; to promote his improvement in useful knowledge; or still more to promote the comfort or relief of others; so much the better. It is scarcely necessary to dwell on the obvious tendency 315 of idleness to concentrate the thoughts on self, in a manner which is utterly inconsistent with the cultivation of any elevated or enlarged sentiment, and destructive of all real enjoyment; while on the other hand, an active disposition is continually carrying us beyond these narrow bounds; and thus, as it is often first excited by benevolent and amiable feelings, so it has commonly the happiest effect in continuing, enlivening and purifying these feelings, converting them into habitual states of mind, and ruling principles of conduct. "The necessity of action," says Dr. Johnson, “is not only demonstrable from the fabric of the human body, but is also evident from the universal practice of mankind; since all men, for the preser vation of their health, for pleasure and enjoyment, even when exemp ted by circumstances from the necessity of pursuing any kind of lucrative labour, have invented sports and diversions which though not equally useful to the world with the mecha nical or menial arts, yet equal them in the fatigue they occasion to those who practise them; differing from them only as acts of choice differ from those which are attended by the painful sense of compulsion." Even this sense of compulsion which is the general subject of complaint, may nevertheless be of considerable service, by excluding that undecided, vacillating state of mind which often attends those who are aware that their laborious exertions are merely the objects of their own free choice, and than which nothing can be more mortifying and humiliating to those who are conscious of its influence yet cannot shake off its power. This is another reason why it is a most wise and excellent appointment of Providence, that in most cases it is not left to our own choice whether we will exert ourselves or no; but that we are most of us compelled, in order to gain the means of comfortable subsistence, to devote ourselves to some regular employment. Dr. Johnson himself seems to have furnished a striking illustration of the truth of this remark ;-though abundantly active in the earlier part of his life, his latter years which were spent in ease and comparative affluence were clouded with melancholy, occasioned it would scem in a great 316 On the Sources of Human Happiness. measure by the absence of imperious inotive to exertion. I have no doubt that he was much happier when compiling his Dictionary, or even when writing the parliamentary debates in a garret in Grub Street, than in the luxurious indolence of Streatham. I have said that employment, constant regular employment of any kind, cannot fail to have a most beneficial effect upon the spirits and temper; but it is evident that this effect must be greatly heightened, if it be directed towards honourable pursuits, or arise from the prosecution of objects suggested by a generous and benevolent disposition. It may therefore he added in the second place, that the happiness of man must materially depend on the gratification of the more enlarged and benevolent feelings of his nature. It is scarce possible for any man to be happy in a state of absolute solitude. I do not speak here of those occasional seclusions from social intercourse which are useful to promote meditation and thought, and which may thus tend greatly to exalt and improve the benevolent feelings, and suggest to us additional opportunities and modes of calling them into action, but an entire and permanent separation from all intercourse with our fellow-creatures. The happiest men probably are they who enjoy the most frequent and constant opportunities of culti vating the sentiments which belong to and arise out of domestic society. What picture of human felicity can equal that which is often enjoyed in the simple scenes of private life; where every one is deeply interested in the general welfare; where every heart glows with delight in contemplating the enjoyment of all; where every one is actively employed in ministering to the general good of the little society. Such feelings thus generated and improved, in a mind Otherwise well disposed, are the best means of introducing and nourishing inore exalted and extensive affections and of leading to a complete forgetfulness of self in an habitual regard through the whole conduct of life to the general welfare and improve ment of the human race. Closely allied to benevolence is what is commonly called a good temper. Though nearly connected, how ever, these qualities are sometimes seen separated, and may easily be distinguished from each other. There are many persons of great and eminent worth, and who possess abundance of benevolence, or who are at least continually performing acts of the most disinterested and even profuse beneficence, who are yet destitute of all command of temper; who either administer their good offices with a sour moroseness of manner which takes from them their most powerful charms, or are liable to sudden fits and starts of passion which sometimes induce them to inflict serious evils upon the very persons whom but a moment before they had cherished and assisted. Thus their kindness even towards those whom they wish to serve, is interrupted or prevented, and all its happy effects both on the giver and the receiver are in a great measure destroyed. A temper of this kind is one of the greatest bars to happiness in those who are afflicted with it :-it becomes therefore one of our most important personal duties to be strenuous in our endeavours to restrain and sweeten it. There is an apology, but a very imperfect one, which is sometimes made for this unhappy irritability of temper, which ascribes it to a morbid sensibility in the original constitution of such persons. This apology might be made with nearly equal justice for every moral defect and for every intellectual foily whatever; and if admitted, puts a stop to all sorts of improvement. It is true that original temperament, or rather, perhaps, improper management in early life, may occasionally give rise to an unusual degree of this disposition; but this can be no justification of it; it cannot render it less inconsistent with our enjoyment of life and society; and rather furnishes an additional motive to such persons as have laboured under these disadvantages, to be more than ordinarily solicitous to keep it in check. And let no one imagine that this is impossible;-that his own case is so peculiar as not to yield to the ordinary influence of moral medicine. There is a course of discipline before which the most inveterate mental disorders will give way. The remedy, however, it must be admitted, is often more easily perceived and pointed out than applied. To perceive it only requires good sense |