HISTORY OF EUROPE. [235 



deavour to drum a nation into a 

 religious tone, after the genuine spi- 

 rit of enthusiasm is lost. In Eng- 

 land, and other countries, the higher 

 and middling ranks, perceiving, 

 at last, the connection between a 

 reverence for religion and the pre- 

 servation of rights and properties, 

 became very regular attenders at 

 church. But it was only a ceremo- 

 nious and cold business. The mo- 

 tive of their attendance was ob- 

 vious to every one. To men of 

 discernmen t this constrained respect, 

 for the exteriors of religion, ap- 

 peared ludicrous, and, to people 

 sincerely pious, impious. With re- 

 gard to morality, it has already been 

 observed, that there seems to be a 

 tendency in most of the systems of 

 morals, since Shaftsbury and Hutch- 

 inson, to nurse up the amiable, even 

 at the expense of what we shall on 

 the present occasion, for the sake of 

 contra-distinction, call the respecta- 

 ble and severe virtues. What share 

 that amiable philosophy may have 

 had in softening and harmonizing 

 the world, cannot be ascertained. 

 In fact, it is not probably very 

 great. Moral appeals to men them- 

 selves, to the constitution of their 

 nature, and to the grace and beauty, 

 and propriety of virtue, what do 

 they amount to } Little more than 

 this, that men ought to be morally 

 good, if they jylease. It is the au- 

 thority and sanction of the Supreme 

 Ruler alone, that can give vital effi- 

 cacy to any moral system. It is an 

 ingenious amusement to metaphy- 

 sicians to analyse our moral senti- 

 ments, and inquire what is the prin- 

 ciple on which, independently of 

 •11 autliority, and all punishments 

 or rewards, we conceive ourselves 

 (a-s we all do, even sometimes in 

 Bpitc of ourselves) bound to follow 



one course of action rather than the 

 contrary. But, as to the practical 

 influence of this on society, it is in 

 truth, as we apprehend, but very 

 trifling. Nothing has yetbeendone, 

 or can be done, for humanizing and 

 softening the human heart, so much 

 as the Christian religion. The mo- 

 rality of that divine dispensation is 

 the most pure and sublime that can 

 be conceived, and it is recommend- 

 ed and enforced by every considera- 

 tion that can impress the understand- 

 ing or captivate the affections. It is 

 divinely benevolent and impressive 

 beyond the limits of all human rule 

 or art. The morality of the Christian 

 religion, however, was the same in 

 the last and some preceding centu- 

 ries, when individuals were more 

 harsh in their private intercourses, 

 and the laws more rigorous and se- 

 vere in many respects than at present. 

 The Christian religion was more 

 firmly believed in, when lord Ruth- 

 ven, having imprisoned, in one of 

 his castles, the young king James 

 VI. of Scotland, said, when the 

 captive boy cried, " Better that 

 bairns should greet than bearded 

 men." There was more faith in the 

 world, when men, convicted of se- 

 ditious practices, or other crimes, 

 not only stood on the pillory, but 

 lost their ears : when philosophers 

 and statesmen, and those of even 

 large and patriotic views advised, 

 in times of dreadful scarcity, that 

 the necessitous and helpless should 

 sell themselves and children, as 

 bondsmen and bondswomen, to rich 

 capitalists.* The present age, in re- 

 spect of former times, may be called 

 the age of humanity. Whence this 

 happy change ? Not from the pro- 

 gressive cffectsof moral disquisitions 

 and lectures: not even from the pro- 

 gressive cftects of preaching, trim- 



Flclchcr, of Siiltowii. 



