ANTIPATHIES OF NATIONS UNDERMINED. 



141 



antipalhies ol iheir respective nations. During 

 the late long-continued and destructive warfare 

 between the French and English, which was 

 carried on with unprecedented hostility and ran 

 cour, the naturalists, mathematicians, astrono 

 mers, and chemists of the two countries, held the 

 most friendly correspondence in relation to the 

 subjects connected with their respective depart 

 ments, m so far as the jealousies of their politi 

 cal rulers would permit. In the communication 

 of the French and English philosophers respect 

 ing the progress of scientific discovery, we find 

 few traces of nationality, and should scarcely be 

 able to learn from such communications that their 

 respective nations were engaged in warfare, un 

 less when they lament the obstructions which 

 interrupted their regular correspondence, and 

 their injurious effects orithe interests of science. 

 It is a well known fact, that, during the late war, 

 when political animosities ran so high, the Na 

 tional Institute of France announced prizes for 

 the discussion of scientific questions, and invited 

 the learned in other nations, not even excepting 

 the English, to engage in the competition; and 

 one of our countrymen, Sir Humphrey Davy, ac 

 tually obtained one of the most valuable and dis 

 tinguished of these honorary awards. 



When knowledge is conjoined with a recogni 

 tion of the Christian precept, &quot; Thou shalt love 

 thy neighbour as thyself,&quot; its possessor will easi 

 ly be made to enter into such considerations as 

 the following, and to feel their force: That all 

 men, to whatever nation or tribe they belong, are 

 the children of one Almighty Parent, endowed 

 with the same corporal organs, the same intellec 

 tual powers, and the same lineaments of the Di 

 vine image that they are subject to the same 

 animal and intellectual wants, exposed to the same 

 accidents and calamities, and susceptible of the 

 same pleasures and enjoyments that they have 

 the same capacities for attaining to higher de 

 grees of knowledge and felicity, and enjoy the 

 same hopes and prospects of a blessed immortal 

 ity that God distributes among them all, thou 

 sands of benefits, embellishing their habitations 

 with the same rural beauties, causing the same 

 sun to enlighten them, the same vital air to make 

 their lungs play, and the same rains and dews to 

 irrigate their ground, and ripen their fields to 

 harvest that they are all capable of performing 

 noble achievements, heroic exploits, vast enter 

 prises; of displaying illustrious virtues, and of 

 making important discoveries and improvements 

 that they are all connected together by nu 

 merous ties and relations, preparing for each 

 other the bounties of Nature and the productions 

 of art, and conveying them by sea and land from 

 one country to another ; one nation furnishing 

 tea, another sugar, another wine, another silk, 

 another cotton, and another distributing its ma 

 nufactures in both hemispheres of the globe in 



hort, tnat they are all under the moral govern 



ment of the same Omnipotent Being, who &quot; hath 

 made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on 

 the face of all the earth, who hath determined 

 the boundaries of their habitations,&quot; who carries 

 them yearly around the centre of light and heat, 

 and who &quot; gives them rain from heaven and 

 fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with food and 

 gladness.&quot; How various, then, the ties, how 

 sacred and indissoluble the bonds, which should 

 units men of all nations ! Every man, whether he 

 be a Jew or a Greek, a Barbarian or a Scythian, 

 a Turk or a Frenchman, a German or a Swede, a 

 Hottentot or an Indian, an Englishman or a Chi 

 nese, is to be considered as our kinsman and our 

 brother, and, as such, ought to be embraced with 

 benevolence and affection. In whatever region 

 of the globe he resides, whatever customs or 

 manners he adopts, and to whatever religious 

 system he adheres, he is a member of the same 

 family to which we all belong. And shall we feel 

 indifferent to our brethren, shall we indulge re 

 sentment and hostility towards them, because 

 they are separated from us by a river, by a chan 

 nel, by an arm of the sea, by a range of moun 

 tains, or by an arbitrary line drawn by the jea 

 lousy of despots, or because their government 

 and policy are different from ours ? Ought we 

 not, on the contrary, to take a cordial interest in 

 every thing that concerns them to rejoice in 

 their prosperity, to feel compassion on account 

 of the ravages, desolation, and misery which er 

 ror andfolly, vice and tyranny may have produced 

 among them ; and to alleviate, to the utmost of 

 our power, the misfortunes and oppressions under 

 which they groan? Reason, as well as Chris 

 tianity, spurns at that narrow-minded patriotism 

 which confines its regards to a particular coun 

 try, and would promote its interests by any 

 means, although it should prove injurious to every 

 other nation. Whatever tends to fhe general good 

 of the whole human family, will ultimately be 

 found conducive to the prosperity and happiness 

 of every particular nation and tribe ; while, on 

 the other hand, a selfish and ungenerous conduct 

 towards other communities, and an attempt to in 

 jure or degrade them, will seldom fail to deprive us 

 of the benefits we wished to secure, and to expose 

 us to the evils we intended to avert. Such appear 

 in fact to be the principles of God s moral govern 

 ment among the nations, and such the sanctions by 

 which the laws of natural justice are enforced. 



Were such sentiments universally recognised 

 and appreciated, the antipathies of nations would 

 speedily be vanquished, and union and harmony 

 prevail among all the kindreds of the earth. And 

 what a multitude of advantages would ensue 

 what a variety of interesting scenes would bo 

 presented what an immense number of delight 

 ful associations would be produced, were such a 

 union effected among mankind! Were men 

 over all the globe living in peace and harmony, 

 every sea would be navigated, every region ex- 



