It is not surprising, that Mr. Locke has confounded this moral principle with _reason_, or that Lord Shafts bury has confounded it with _taste_, since all three of these faculties agree in the objects of their approbation, notwithstanding they exist in the mind independently of each other. The favourable influence which the progress of science and taste has had upon the morals, can be ascribed to nothing else, but to the perfect union that subsists in nature between the dictates of reason, of taste, and of the moral faculty. Why has the spirit of humanity made such rapid progress for some years past in the courts of Europe? It is because kings and their ministers have been taught to _reason_ upon philosophical subjects. Why have indecency and profanity been banished from the stage in London and Paris? It is because immorality is an offence against the highly cultivated _taste_ of the French and English nations. It must afford great pleasure to the lovers of virtue, to behold the depth and extent of this moral principle in the human mind. Happily for the human race, the intimations of duty and the road to happiness are not left to the slow operations or doubtful inductions of reason, nor to the precarious decisions of taste. Hence we often find the moral faculty in a state of vigour, in persons in whom reason and taste exist in a weak, or in an uncultivated state. It is worthy of notice, likewise, that while _second_ thoughts are best in matters of judgment, _first_ thoughts are always to be preferred in matters that relate to morality. _Second_ thoughts, in these cases, are generally pearlies between duty and corrupted inclinations. Hence Rousseau has justly said, that "a well regulated moral instinct is the surest guide to happiness." It must afford equal pleasure to the lovers of virtue to behold, that our moral conduct and happiness are not committed to the determination of a single legislative power. The conscience, like a wise and faithful legislative council, performs the office of a check upon the moral faculty, and thus prevents the fatal consequences of immoral actions.