PROGRESS OF BENEVOLENCE, 



danger exists of its being deprived, though igno 

 rance and guilt, of happiness in the future world, 

 no words can express the importance which 

 ought to be attached to this &quot;labour of love.&quot; 

 &quot; What will it profit a man if he shall gain the 

 whole world, and lose his own soul ? or what shall 

 a man give in exchange for his soul ? And there 

 fore, the man ip whose breast true benevolence 

 resides, will consider the eternal happiness of his 

 fellow-immortals as the grand and ultimate ob 

 ject which o jght always to be kept in view, 

 and will exert all his faculties, powers, and influ 

 ence, in order to it&quot; accomplishment. He will 

 not rest satisfied witH prayers and wishes for the 

 salvation of men ; he will not wait for any ex 

 traordinary afflatus of the Divine Spirit; but 

 will prosecute with judgment and perseverance 

 that course of active duty, which has a tendency 

 to pioduce the desired effect. So far as the 

 circle of his influence extends, he will endeavour 

 to instruct the ignorant, to arouse the careless, 

 to reclaim the dissipated, to convince the skeptic, 

 to train up the young in the knowledge of God 

 and in the paths of virtue, and to encourage and 

 animate every one who is inquiring the way to 

 eternal life. He will exhibit religion in its most 

 amiable, and attractive, and sublime aspects ; 

 and will endeavour to fix the attention on the 

 lovely tempers, and the beneficial effects which 

 the observance of its precepts has a tendency to 

 produce. He will not make it his chief object to 

 convert men to the belief of certain metaphysical 

 dogmas in religion, nor to gain them over to em 

 brace the peculiarities of a party ; but to produce in 

 their minds a cordial acquiescence in the plan of 

 salvation which the Gospel exhibits, a reverence 

 of the divine character and perfections, a desire 

 to cultivate holy tempers, and a fixed determina 

 tion to walkin the paths of God s commandments. 

 Such a character will give every due encou 

 ragement by his advice and by his wealth to 

 Christian churches, and to faithful and intelli 

 gent ministers of religion. He will patronize 

 every rational scheme which has for its object to 

 propagate the Gospel of peace umong all nations. 

 He will encourage the translation of the Scriptures 

 into the languages of all kindreds and tribes ; he 

 will give countenance to societies formed for cir 

 culating the Bible in foreign lands ; and he will 

 assist in sending forth intelligent and philanthro 

 pic missionaries to barbarous and unenlightened 

 tribes, for the purpose of diffusing the blessings 

 of knowledge, civilization, and religion ; and he 

 will rejoice to co-operate in such benevolent 

 schemes with all who sincerely wish to promote 

 the best interests of their fellow men, by what 

 ever name they are distinguished, and to what 

 ever section of the Christian church they may 

 belong. 



In short, love, when genuine and ardent, will 

 set itself in opposition to every species of bigotry 

 and intolerance, and to all those oetty jealousies 



and bitter animosities which have so long dis 

 tracted the Christian church, which have thrown 

 an odium on its character, and prevented the 

 harmonious intercourse of the followers of Jeaus. 

 It will make every sacrifice consistent with the 

 great objects of Christianity, and will use every 

 appropriate mean to heal the unhappy divisions 

 which exist in the religious world, and to pro 

 mote an affectionate union of&quot; all who love our 

 Lord Jesus in sincerity;&quot; in order that the 

 church of Christ may form one compact harmo 

 nious body, in opposition to atheists, skeptics, 

 and the men of the world, and in order that 

 every plan and effort to diffuse the knowledge 

 and influence of the Christian religion may be 

 carried more speedily and more extensively into 

 effect. 



With regard to all the other branches of Chris- 

 tian morality, and to all the virtues which can 

 adorn the human character, in every station and 

 relation in life, they will be found to flow from 

 the exercise of the principle I have now been 

 illustrating, as naturally as the sap flows from 

 the trunk of the remotest ramifications of a tree, 

 or as the gas which now illuminates our streets 

 and churches flows from the main gasometer, 

 through hundreds of pipes, to all the different 

 burners. Sincerity and veracity in our words 

 and actions, honesty and fair dealing in trade 

 and commerce, fidelity to compacts and engage 

 ments, a regard to public liberty, an equitable 

 administration of justice, condescension and 

 kindness to inferiors, reverence and respect to 

 superiors, submission to just laws and regula 

 tions, friendship, and a cordial interchange of 

 friendly sentiments and affections ; courtesy, ci 

 vility, affability, harmony, and good neigbour- 

 hood ; modesty, chastity, and discretion ; for 

 giveness of injuries, hospitality to strangers, 

 humanity to servants and dependants, compassion 

 to the distressed ; parental, filial, and fraternal 

 affection, sympathy, generosity, temperance, 

 and fortitude, together with all the other social 

 virtues which unite man to man, will as naturally 

 flow from the fountain of love, when it exists 

 in the human breast, as water flows from a 

 reservoir, through all the pipes which distribute 

 it to the inhabitants of a large city. For he 

 who withholds the exercise of such virtues, or 

 acts in direct opposition to them, can never be 

 supposed to be sincerely attached to his fellow- 

 creatures, or to consult their happiness ; and 

 the meaning of language must be inverted be 

 fore we can apply to him the epithet benevolent ; 

 and the order of the moral system deranged, 

 before we can expect happiness to flow from such 

 a conduct. 



The cardinal virtues have been arranged by 

 some moralists under the heads of Prudence 

 Temperance, Fortitude, and Justice. Prudenct 

 consists in judging what is best, in the choic* 



