RELATIONS OF MANKIND. 



51 



hi similar toils and 1 abours, in order that we may 

 enjoy the riches, the elegancies, and the con 

 veniences of life. In our own country, how 

 manv thousands of our brethren are labouring 

 in the dark recesses of the earth, far beneath its 

 surface, exposed to the suffocation of the choke- 

 damp and the explosions of the Jire-damp, in 

 procuring for us that invaluable fossil, which 

 warms and cheers our winter apartments, which 

 oooks our victuals, and enables us to carry on 

 the various processes of our arts and manufac 

 tories ! 



Thus it appears, that we are connected with 

 our fellow-men, in every quarter of the world, 

 Jy thousands of ties ; that millions of human be 

 ings, whom we have never seen, nor never will 

 see on this side the grave, are labouring to pro 

 mote our interests, without whose exertions we 

 should be deprived of the greatest proportion of 

 our accomodations and enjoyments. While we 

 are sitting in our comfortable apartments, feast 

 ing on the bounties of Providence, thousands, 

 and ten thousands of our brethren of mankind, in 

 different regions of the globe, are assiduously 

 labouring to procure for us supplies for some 

 future entertainment. One is sowing the seed, 

 another gathering in the fruits of harvest ; one is 

 providing fuel, and another furs and flannel, to 

 guard us from the winter s cold ; one is convey 

 ing home the luxuries and necessaries of life, 

 another is bringing intelligence from our friends 

 in distant lands ; one is carrying grain to the 

 mill, another is grinding it, and another is con 

 veying it along the road to our habitations ; one 

 is in search of medicines to assuage our pains, 

 and another is in search of consolation to sooth 

 our wounded spirits. In the midst of these ne 

 ver-ceasing exertions, some are crossing deep 

 and dangerous rivers, some are traversing a vast 

 howling wilderness ; some are wandering amidst 

 swampy moors, and trackless heaths ; some are 

 parched with thirst in sandy deserts ; some are 

 shivering and benumbed amidst the blasts of 

 winter; some are toiling along steep and dan 

 gerous roads, and others are tossing in the midst 

 of the ocean, buffeted by the winds and raging 

 billows. 



And, since we are connect sd with our fellow- 

 creatures by so many links, ij it not reasonable, 

 is it not congenial to the nature of man, that we 

 should be connected with them by the ties of 

 sympathy and benevolent affections ? It is true, 

 indeed, that the various classes of mankind in 

 every country, who are toiling for our ease and 

 gratification, seldom or never think of us in the 

 midst of their difficulties and labours. Perhaps 

 they have no other end in view than to earn their 

 daily subsistence, and provide food and clothing 

 for their families ; perhaps they are actuated by 

 the most selfish motives, and by principles of 

 vanity and avarice; and some of them, perhaps, 

 nder the influence of that depravity which is 



common to the species, may be secretly cursing 

 and reproaching us as individuals, or as a nation. 

 But, from whatever motives their labours and 

 exertions proceed, it is a fact which cannot be 

 denied, and which thev cannot prevent, that we 

 actually enjoy the benefit of them ; and, that, with 

 out them, we should be deprived of the greater 

 part of those comforts and enjoyments which 

 render existence desirable, and which cheer us 

 in our pilgrimage to the grave. 



We have, therefore, in almost every artificial 

 object that surrounds us, and in every enjoyment 

 we possess from day to day, so many sensible 

 emblems of our connexion with every branch of 

 the great family of mankind. When we sit down 

 to a dish of tea, we are reminded of the crowded 

 and busy population of China, where this plant is 

 produced, and of the poor African slave, through 

 whose sorrows and toils the sugar we mix with 

 it is prepared. And shall we not feel a kindly 

 affection for those whose labours procure us such 

 a refreshing beverage ? And should not our love 

 prompt us to every active exertion by which their 

 miseries may be alleviated, and their intellectual 

 and religious improvement promoted ? When 

 we look at the pearls which adorn us, we are re 

 minded of the poor wretch who has plunged to 

 the bottom of the deep, and scrambled among 

 projecting rocks, to the danger of his life, in or 

 der to procure them. When we look at a cop 

 per-plate engraving, we are reminded of the dark 

 and cheerless recesses of the copper mines, 

 where hundreds are employed in digging for this 

 useful metal. When we enjoy the comfort of a 

 cheerful fire, we are reminded of the gloomy sub 

 terraneous regions to which so many of our coun 

 trymen are confined, and the toils and dangers to 

 which they are exposed, before our coals can be 

 dragged from the bowels of the earth. And while 

 we feel delighted with the diversified enjoyment 

 which flows from the labour and industry of every 

 class of mankind, is it reasonable that we should 

 look with indifference on any one of them ? Is 

 it not accordant with the dictates of enlightened 

 reason, and with every thing that we consider as 

 amiable in the nature of man, that we should 

 embrace them all in the arms of kindness and 

 brotherly affection, and that our active powers, 

 so far as our influence extends, should be em-, 

 ployed in endeavouring to promote their present 

 and everlasting happiness? At present, they 

 seldom think about the benefits they are procur 

 ing for us and others by their useful labours ; but 

 were their circumstances meliorated, were their 

 miseries relieved, were their minds expanded by 

 instruction, were their moral powers cultivated 

 and improved, were they to behold the various 

 branches of the human family for whom they are 

 labouring, exerting every nerve to promote their 

 moral improvement and domestic enjoyment, it 

 would produce many pleasing emotions in their 

 breasts, in the midst of all their toilsome Uh 



