The first article in every system of religion is, who is the God who
controls our destinies, and what is his character?
In attempting to answer this question by the light of nature,
independently of revelation, we have gained these positions. There is an
Intelligent Mind who created all things, whose natural attributes are the
same as ours in kind, but vast beyond our comprehension in extent. In
moral character, or that which is exhibited in choice or action, he is
perfect in wisdom, benevolence, and rectitude; that is to say, he is a
being whose chief end or ruling purpose is to do the best he can to make
the most possible happiness with the least possible evil.
This being discovered as the grand design for which all human minds are
created, we are thus enabled to decide as to what is the right and perfect
_construction_ or “nature” of mind, and also as to its right and perfect
_action_.
In regard to the perfect _construction_ of mind, we must again refer to
the fact that in a system of things where both natural and moral evil
exist, we are obliged to suppose a limitation of power by the nature of
things, so that a system is perfect, not as excluding all evil; for as
evil does exist, a system without any evil is impossible. All that
remains, then, to constitute the idea of perfection, (as used in reference
to things as they are) is this, that whatever is created by God, is the
best possible in the nature of things.
The question then must be this, is the mind of man, _as a race_, the best
in construction, that is possible in the nature of things? Is our mind
made _as good as it can be_, so that no change is possible that would make
it better?
In replying to this question, we must regard the matter in two relations.
We have noticed, in the chapter on the Constitutional Varieties of the
Human Mind, that while there are powers and attributes of mind which are
common to all, there is an endless variety of character resulting from the
diverse _proportions_ and _combinations_ of these several faculties, and
also that there are diverse _grades_ of mind, each having these diverse
combinations. Some races of men are much lower in the scale of being,
every way, than other races, while the same disparity exists among
individuals of the same race.
Now when we compare individuals with each other, or when we compare races
in these respects, we regard them as more or less perfect in organization
with reference to the highest grade or species known to us. In this
relation some minds are to be regarded as imperfect and defective in
organization. And in reference to any one individual or race in this
relation, we feel that the organization could be improved.
But when we regard each mind as a part of a vast _system_, in which the
highest good of the whole will prove the highest possible good of each
individual part, we are to judge of perfection in the organization of mind
in another relation. If it is for the greatest happiness of the whole that
there should be grades and ranks in mental powers; if disparities and
varieties in organization give scope and exercise to virtues and modes of
enjoyment that would be impossible were all minds exactly alike, and on
the pattern of the highest in the scale of being, then the very points
which are imperfections in the individual relations, become perfections in
relation to the great whole. In this view, the lowest and humblest in the
scale of being, when acting in his appropriate place and according to the
great Creator’s design, is perfect in mental construction, and is fitted
to be happier in every respect than he could be if the whole system were
changed by placing him among the highest in mental organization.
Just as it is with the human system—the lowly foot is perfect and complete
in its place, though inferior in construction and service to the regal
head and cunning hand. And should the foot be endowed with the higher
gifts it would be a departure from its perfection in organization as
related to the whole. The question, then, of the _perfect nature_ of each
human mind requires that we regard each one as a part of an infinite
system demanding grades and ranks, and thus, also, relative disparities.
And having proved that the chief design of the Creator is to make the
_best possible_ system, we are necessarily led to the conclusion that the
lowest order of mind is as perfect in its nature, in relation to the great
whole, as is the highest of all.
From the above we gain this definition:
_A perfect mind_, as to _construction_ or _nature_, is one which is better
fitted to its position in the best _possible_ system of minds than it
would be by any possible change.
In this use of the words _nature_ and _perfect_ it is claimed that in the
preceding pages it has been proved that the mind of man is _perfect in
nature_. Our next inquiry will relate to the perfect _action_ of mind in
respect to that which is _voluntary_ or _self‐originated_. In other words,
we shall inquire as to the _perfect moral action_ of the human mind, as
discoverable by reason and experience, independently of revelation.