5529. MORALITY, Religion and.—
Reading, reflection and time have convinced me
that the interests of society require the observation
of those moral precepts only in which
all religions agree (for all forbid us to steal,
murder, plunder, or bear false witness), and
that we should not intermeddle with the particular
dogmas in which all religions differ, and
which are totally unconnected with morality.
In all of them we see good men, and as many
in one as another. The varieties in the structure
and action of the human mind as in those
of the body, are the work of our Creator,
against which it cannot be a religious duty to
erect the standard of uniformity. The practice
of morality being necessary for the well-being
of society, he has taken care to impress
its percepts so indelibly on our hearts that
they shall not be effaced by the subtleties of
our brain. We all agree in the obligation of the
moral precepts of Jesus, and nowhere will they
be found delivered in greater purity than in His
discourses. It is, then, a matter of principle
with me to avoid disturbing the tranquillity of
others by the expression of any opinion on the
innocent questions on which we schismatize.—
To James Fishback. Washington ed. v, 471.
(M.
1809)
