service both of the intellectual and voluntary mind, but especially of the voluntary.[1] It is the office, then, of the eye to supply the rich materials or rudiments of thought and intelligence, but of the ear to furnish the more valuable materials or rudiments of those numberless affections which enter into the composition of the human will.
I might add much more, if necessary, on this very fruitful and interesting subject of the natural and temporal uses of the organ of hearing, and thus lead you to a more distinct estimation of the immense debt which you owe to the ALMIGHTY FATHER of your being, for having originally bestowed upon you, and so long continued to you, such an inestimable blessing: but it is time that I hasten to the more important consideration of the spiritual and eternal benefits which you derive from the same organ.
And here I might still continue to dwell on the advantages resulting from ordinary conversation or discourse with your fellow-mortals, which is frequently over-ruled of the DIVINE PROVIDENCE of the MOST HIGH to the purposes of spiritual instruction and im-
- ↑ It is a fact, which has been often noted by philosophers, that sounds operate principally on the affections, but not on the thoughts; thus that they tend to increase the energies of the will, but not to add light to the understanding.
