5528. MORALITY, Foundations of.—[further continued] .
God has formed us moral agents. Not that, in the perfection of
His state, He can feel pain or pleasure in
anything we may do; He is far above our
power; but that we may promote the happiness
of those with whom He has placed us in society,
by acting honestly towards all, benevolently
to those who fall within our way, respecting
sacredly their rights, bodily and mental, and
cherishing especially their freedom of conscience,
as we value our own.—
To Miles King. Washington ed. vi, 388.
(M.
1814)