PROIiEGOMENA. XXIU. 



or rebellion. When we speak of the goodness 

 of God, we mean only to transfer to him, in the 

 highest degree, all those perfections which man, 

 made in his image, would possess in a subordinate 

 degree, if he were to be good. But to be good, 

 we must act right ; let us see what right is 

 therefore ? And whether there can be a Natural 

 Right ? or more rights than one ? 



Right is the past participle of the verb 

 regere to rule or to direct, being the same as 

 rectum : and it implies a director. Parson 

 Home observes, and I may quote it, since yiis est 

 ab haste doceri, that straight is a word of the 

 same root and meaning : so that to act right, is 

 to do as we are directed, and implies conformity 

 to Guidance. Now there can, therefore, be no uni- 

 versal or absolute right but that which comes 

 from the Omnipotent Director, to whom we are 

 bound by Religion ; a word derived from 

 religare to bind, and used, jaar excellence, for the 

 greatest of all obligations. In order to be 

 bound we must have some tangible hold ; and the 

 chair of St. Peter is the holy rock of safety, placed 

 eminent above the ocean of time ; to which 

 the bark of life is anchored, and on it is placed 

 the light that cannot be hid, which, like the star of 

 Bethlehem, is our guide through all the waves 

 of temptation, and the winds of adversity. 

 The Saints recorded in this little book, are the 



