Thou hast seen the fond mother withhold the work of culture, because she was afraid of the instruction. She was wishing the child good, but was afraid of the truth that was important to the child’s welfare. She was disqualified to aid the child. The child was sympathetic, but the instruction she gave, was full of cruelty. The horrors of malignity were impressed upon the mind, and corroded the generous emotions of benevolence and affection. The voice of nature became stifled; the warm impulse of kindness met no response in the cold wrongs rehearsed and predicted; and the soft yearnings of love were repulsed with the cruel anticipations of evil. The windows of hope were closed, and angry clouds of despair were thrown around the mind. God and nature were in seeming conflict. I have seen minds tortured with painful descriptions of evil, until the evil became a fixed principle within them; and, when the evil became fixed in their minds, evil only would gratify it. Hence, nature, being overcome by wrong education, has not the power to satisfy what it did not create. It will not satisfy wrong; and, as wrongs are instilled into minds by those who are in the wrongs themselves, so the wrongs make minds wrangle with the voice of nature and the good of the soul. There can not be a remedy in nature, which will satisfy the wrongs of ignorance. Thus, a mind, educated in the wrong of cruelty, will find no response in nature. Thus, a mind educated in the errors of pagan theology, in the wrong of infinite cruelty in God, in the wrong of eternally increasing wretchedness of the miserable, in the wrong of wicked spirits growing worse and worse, will find no wrong in nature to meet the wants of such wrongs. I have seen wrong; but I have seen no wrong of greater magnitude than the wrong inflicted by the inculcation of these wrongs. I have seen these wrongs germinate in the mind where they were sown, and produce a great harvest of wrongs. They have brought forth their own fruit; they have not brought forth love, sympathy, kindness, and mercy. The seed of cruelty, no matter with what care it may be cultivated, or sown, never will produce the fruit of righteousness. I have seen these wrongs inculcated by law, by creeds, by sects, by nations; but I have never known them to do good. I have never known a good doctrine to produce evil fruit, nor evil seed to produce a good work. I have seen cruel doctrines produce cruelty. I have seen sentiments, which were offensive to sympathy, mould minds into their own spirit, and prepare it to work wrongs. I have witnessed the sources of evil, acting in harmony with evil; but I have never known nature to wrong itself. I have never known minds, acting in harmony with nature, to become cruel, vindictive, or unjust. M. Then nature is not wrong, nor the works of nature evil. W. Nature can not be wrong, for it is the harmonious work of God. M. Is not mind a harmonious work of God?