RELATIONS OF MANKIND. 



49 



t ten, nor the rich without the poor ; the prince 

 without his subjects, nor subjects without wise 

 and enlightened rulers, and equitable laws. All 

 are linked together by innumerable ties ; and the 

 recognition of these ties, and the practice of the 

 reciprocal duties which arise out of them, form 

 the source of individual happiness, an4 the bonds 

 of social enjovment 



SECTION II. 



THE CONNEXIONS AN1&amp;gt; RELATIONS WHICH 

 SUBSIST AMONG MANKIND CONSIDERED AS 

 ESTABLISHING THE BASIS OF LOVE TO 

 OUR NEIGHBOUR. 



THE relations which subsist among mankind 

 lay a foundation for the exercise of the benevo 

 lent affections, and for the various duties of social 

 life ; and these relations are far more numerous 

 and extensive than the generality of mankind are 

 disposed to admit. The relations of parents and 

 children, of husbands and wives, of brethren and 

 sisters, of masters and servants, of rulers and 

 subjects, of teachers and scholars, of buyers and 

 sellers, &c. are recognized by all as involving an 

 obligation to the exercise of certain correspond 

 ing duties and affections. The moment we con 

 template the relation of a parent and a child, we 

 at once perceive the obligation of love on the part 

 of the parent, and of reverence and obedience on 

 the part of the child ; and, in every other relation, 

 a corresponding duty is involved, resulting from 

 the nature of that relation, and founded on the 

 principle of love. But as these relations, and 

 their corresponding duties and affections have 

 been frequently illustrated, I shall advert to a va 

 riety of circumstances, generally overlooked, 

 which demonstrate the universal connexion of hu 

 man beings with each other, and the reasonable 

 ness of the exercise of love towards all man 

 kind. 



Wherever we turn our eyes towards the great 

 family of mankind whether we look around on the 

 land of our nativity, or to distant continents, and 

 (he oceans which surround them, we behold thou 

 sands of human beings toiling for our ease, our 

 convenience, our pleasure, and improvement. 

 Here, we behold the ploughman turning up the 

 furrows of the soil, and the sower casting in the 

 seed which is to produce the fruits of harvest: 

 there, we behold the reaper cutting down the corn 

 which is to serve for our nourishment. On the 

 one hand, we behold the cow-herd tending his 

 cattle, which are to afford us milk, butter, and 

 cheese ; on the other, we behold the shepherd 

 tending his flocks, whose wool is to provide us 

 with warm and comfortable clothing. One is 

 preparing leather from the hides of oxen, another 

 n shaping it into shoes and boots. One is spin- 

 24 



ning flax and cotton into yarn, ancthtr is weav 

 ing it into linen and muslin, to cover and adorn 

 us. One is dressing the vine, whose juice is to 

 cheer and refresh us ; another is treading the 

 wine-press, and preparing the wine for our use. 

 Here, we behold the blacksmith toiling and 

 sweating at the anvil, preparing tongs, and 

 shovels, and grates, for our apartments ; there, 

 we behold the carpenter, with his hammer, and 

 plane, and saw, fitting up beds, and tables, and 

 chairs, for our ease and accommodation. Here, 

 one is preparing our food, and another our cloth 

 ing ; there, one is preparing our drink, and 

 another our medicines. In one chamber, the 

 student of nature and of science is preparing, at 

 the midnight lamp, those compositions which are 

 to convey entertainment and instruction to the 

 minds of the public ; in another, the herald of 

 salvation is meditating on those divine subjects, 

 which he is about to proclaim for the illumination 

 and comfort of assembled multitudes. In short, 

 to whatever department of human society we di 

 rect our attention, and to whatever quarter we 

 turn our eyes, in the busy scene around us, we 

 behold thousands of our fellow-men exerting their 

 corporeal and intellectual powers in those em 

 ployments which will ultimately contribute either 

 to our ease, our entertainment, our security, our 

 accommodation, our subsistence, or our moral 

 and intellectual improvement. 



But our connexions with human beings are 

 not confined to our immediate neighbourhood, nor 

 even to the nation in which we reside. There 

 is scarcely a region of the globe towards which 

 we can direct our view, in which we do not be 

 hold innumerable links which connect us with the 

 great family of mankind. Let us turn our eyes 

 to the West India islands, and we shall behold 

 the poor African slave toiling under the scorch 

 ing heat of a tropical sun, and smarting under 

 the cruel lash of an unfeeling overseer, in order 

 to provide for us sugar, molasses, and rice, to 

 mingle with our dainties, and to regale our appe 

 tites. If we direct our view to the enpire of 

 China, on the opposite side of the globe, twelve 

 thousand miles distant from the former region, 

 we shall behold thousands and tens of thousands 

 of our brethren of the human family busily em 

 ployed in planting the tea tree, in plucking its 

 leaves, in exposing them to the steam of boiling 

 water, in spreading them out to dry, in assorting 

 them into different parcels, in packing and ship 

 ping them off for distant shores, that we, at a 

 distance of nine thousand miles, may enjoy a de 

 licious beverage for our morning and evening 

 meais.* If we turn our eves on India and Persia, 



For a portion of this beverage we are indebted 

 even to some of the monkey tribe. As the tea shrub 

 often grows on the rucjred banks of steep mountains, 

 access to which is dangerous, and sometimes irn 

 practicable, the Chinese, in order to come at th 

 leaves, make use of a singular stratagem. These 



