120 



ON THE GENERAL DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE. 



Tl,re are certain Christian precepts, dif 

 ferent from all that were ever taught by ihe sages 

 of the Pagan world, and in direct opposition to 

 their most favourite maxims, which mi^ht be 

 shown to have the same beneficial tendency. 

 For example, it is one of the precepts laid down 

 by the Founder of our religion, &quot; Resist not evil, 

 but whosoever shall smite thee on the right 

 cheek, turn to him the other also,&quot; &c. ; and in 

 accordance with this precept he propounds the 

 following,&quot; Love your enemies, do good to them 

 that hate you, and pray for them who despite- 

 fully use you and persecute you.&quot; And he en 

 forces it by one of the most sublime and beautiful 

 motives, &quot; That ye may be the children of your 

 Father who is in heaven, for he maketh the sun 

 to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth 

 rain on the just and on the unjust.&quot; Now, these 

 precepts of morality are not only original, and 

 peculiar to the Christian system, but they are in 

 direct opposition to all the virtues generally de 

 nominated heroic, and which are so much cele 

 brated by the poets, philosophers, and historians 

 of antiquity. While the annals of history pro 

 claim, that the exercise of the heroic virtues 

 (among which are classed implacability and re 

 venge,) has banished peace from the world, and 

 covered the earth with devastation and bloodshed, 

 it could easily be shown, that, were the virtues 

 inculcated by our Saviour universally practised, 

 there would not be an enemy on the face of the 

 globe, wars would cease to the ends of the earth, 

 and the whole world would form one vast com 

 munity offriends and brethren. Whereas, were 

 the opposite dispositions universal, an uncon 

 trolled by any counteracting principle, they 

 would produce a scene of universal contention 

 and misery throughout the moral universe. 

 Another disposition peculiar to the Christian 

 system, and which is enforced throughout both 

 the Old and the New Testament, is humility. 

 So little was this disposition regarded by the 

 ancient heathen world, that, in the classical lan 

 guages of Greece and Rome, there is no word to 

 denote the virtue of humility. It is a quality, 

 however, which results so naturally out of the re 

 lation in which man stands to his Maker, and is 

 so correspondent to the low rank which he holds 

 in the scale of universal being, that the religion 

 which so powerfully enjoins it may be said to 

 have &quot; a sign from heaven&quot; that it proceeds from 

 God. And, in his intercourses in society, a man 

 will always find, that there is a far higher degree 

 of quiet and satisfaction to be enjoyed, by hum 

 bling himself, than by endeavouring to humble 

 others ; for every arrogant and haughty spirit 

 will uniformly smart under the feelings of wound 

 ed pride, and disappointed ambition. 



The Christian virtues to which I have now 

 adverted, ought not to be considered as the cha 

 racteristics of a mean and unmanly spirit, or as 

 contrary to the dignity and energy of the human 



character. The apostles and first Christians, 

 who uniformly practised these virtues, were di*. 

 tinguished by undaunted fortitude and almosi 

 unparalleled intrepidity. They advocated their 

 cause, before princes and rulers, with the utmost 

 dignity and composure ; they were ready to suf 

 fer the greatest persecutions, and even the most 

 excruciating torments, rather than betray the sa 

 cred cause in which they had embarked ; arid one 

 of them had the boldness, when brought before 

 the Roman governor as a prisoner, to arraign 

 the very vices for which he was notorious, and to 

 make the profligate judge tremble in his presence.* 

 So far from these virtues being mean or unmanly, 

 they are the principal qualities that are justly en 

 titled to the epithet heroic; for they are the most 

 difficult to be acquired and sustained, as they run 

 counter to the general current of human passion 

 and feeling, and to all the corrupt propensities of 

 the nature of man. A man may have sufficient 

 heroism to bombard a town, or to conquer an 

 army, and yet be altogether unable to regulate 

 his temper, or subdue his boisterous passions. 

 But, &quot; he that is slow to anger, is better than the 

 mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that 

 taketh a city.&quot; In the one case, we strive against 

 the corrupt affect ions of our nature, in the other, 

 (as in giving vent to implacability and revenge,) 

 we give loose reins to our malignant passions. 

 In the one case, we struggle against the stream, 

 in order to obtain safety and repose ; in the other, 

 we allow ourselves to be hurried along with the 

 current, regardless of the rocks against which wo 

 may be dashed, or the whirlpools in which we may 

 be engulfed. In proportion, then, as the Chris* 

 tian virtues prevail in any community, willquar 

 rels and contentions, and every thing destructive 

 of human enjoyment, be effectually prevented, 

 and happiness diffused among all ranks of so 

 ciety. 



In short, Christianity, in its moral requisitions, 

 enjoins every relative and reciprocal duty be 

 tween parents and children, masters and servants, 

 husbands and wives, governors and subjects , 

 and, not only enforces the practice of justice and 

 equity in all such relations, but inspires the most 

 sublime and extensive charity, a boundless and 

 disinterested effusion of tenderness for the whole 

 species, which feels for their distress, and ope 

 rates for their relief and improvement. It pre 

 scribes no self-denial, except with regard to sinful 

 lusts and depraved passions; no mortification, 

 except of evil affections; it gives full scope to 

 every feeling that contributes to the real enjoy 

 ment of life, while it guards, by the most awfu) 

 sanctions, every duty the observance of which is 

 necessary for our present and future happiness. 

 It extends our views beyond the limits of ihe 

 present state, and shows us, that the future hap 

 piness of man is connected with his present con- 



* Acts xxiv. 25. 



