that when institutions of learning and benevolence
increase, frivolity and dissipation decrease.

The following reflections were found among Mr.
Eddy

's papers, in his own hand writing, and show
how deeply this great cause had sunk into his heart.

The formation of the American Bible Society

, has
often disposed my mind, to reflect on the past and
present state of society in the world. In the course
of such reflections, I am naturally led to admire the
goodness and love of the divine author of our exist-
ence, in preparing, in his own way, the improvement
and melioration of mankind. His wisdom is dis-
played, in proportioning the degree of light to our
weak and feeble state. The splendour of the sun
is preceded by the dawn of day—so it is with respect
to the many essential and important truths, with
which the minds of men have been enlightened at
different periods of the world. Thus, formerly, an
eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or the life of an
offender as an expiation for his crime, were the rude
summary laws, which then seemed to be the perfec-
tion of justice. But the mild principles of the Chris-
tian religion, held out an easy and simple lesson for
the instruction of men, and taught them—Whatso-
ever ye would that men should do to you, do you
even so to them—love your enemies—do good
unto them that despitefully use you.—It is certain,
that even many of those, who were not baptized into
the spirit of our holy religion, were considerably in-
fluenced by these solemn and self-evident truths.

It requires but a very slight acquaintance either
with the principles of human nature, or the history
of civil society, to be convinced, that until the human
mind became capable of perceiving the enormity of
tolerating slavery, and the cruel injustice of holding
a portion of human beings in a state of abject bond-
age, we should never have been able to discover
the necessity of those prudent, humane, and salutary
regulations, which have taken the place of sangui-