The Calvinistic theologians of New England have been universally acknowledged as among the most acute and profound metaphysicians in the world. At the head of these stands President Jonathan Edwards. In reference to our modes of gaining a knowledge of God, he says: “If respect to the Divine Being is of any importance, then speculative points are of importance, _for the only way we can know what he is, is by speculation_.” Dr. Woods, for near half a century a leading theological teacher of New England, says: “All our particular conceptions of God may be found to take their rise from _the conceptions we form of created intelligences_.” Dr. Emmons, a distinguished New England divine, says of man: “In the very frame and constitution of his nature he still bears the natural image of his Maker. In a word, man is the living image of the living God, in whom is displayed more of the divine nature and glory than in all the works and creatures of God upon earth.” Dr. Taylor, the New Haven divine, says: “The only ultimate source of knowledge, and ultimate umpire of truth, is _the knowing mind_.” The celebrated Scotch metaphysician, Sir W. Hamilton, says: “We can know God only as we know ourselves.” In proof of this from the Bible, these writers quote from the Apostle James, that “men are made after the similitude of God.” Another leading feature of the common‐sense system is the position, that we can discover the chief _end_ or _design_ of the Creator, by _the nature_ of his works, and that this end is to produce the greatest possible happiness with the least possible evil. It will now be shown that leading theologians teach the same. President Edwards, in his _Dissertation concerning the end for which God created the world_, teaches that “What God had respect to as an _ultimate end_ of his creating the world, was _to communicate of his own infinite fullness of good_.” He teaches that God is in no way dependent on his creatures for happiness, but that his enjoyment consists in outpouring his own good to his vast family. No one can read that essay without perceiving that, though disconnected passages may make a different impression, the above is a correct statement of the doctrine of that dissertation. It is supposed that this view has been assented to by most of those American and European theologians who most strenuously defend the Augustinian system. The end or design of mind being ascertained, its _right mode of action_ is thus determined. Accordingly we shall find that the great New England divines and metaphysicians, though they use different language, all express the same idea in defining true virtue or holiness. Thus President Edwards taught, as his son states, that