ADAM SMITH. 125 



At the same time, nothing can be more clear than the 

 very high merit and the very great value of the work 

 in which that theory is explained, illustrated, and applied. 



In the first place, it is the first modern systematic 

 work on ethics which exhausts the subject by going over 

 its whole range, both as regards the principles of our 

 nature, whereby we distinguish moral thoughts, words, 

 and actions, and as regards the grounds of our approving 

 or disapproving of these. The writings of his predeces- 

 sors, particularly, as we have seen, those of Butler, Hutch- 

 eson, and Hume, had done much, but they had left much 

 to be done in forming a comprehensive and general 

 system. 



Secondly. The important operation of sympathy was 

 never before explained and traced, its effects upon our 

 feelings and our judgments, its sudden and even instan- 

 taneous action, its direct and indirect, and immediate and 

 reflex workings ; all the modifications which it under- 

 goes. There remains a great body of important truth, 

 even concerning sympathy, in the work, after we shall 

 have deducted the portion of it which cannot be sup- 

 ported. Sympathy is a great agent in our moral sys- 

 tem, though it may not be allowed either to be the only 

 one, or one of unlimited power ; and its agency was 

 never before so fully perceived, or so clearly traced. 



Thirdly. In a system of ethics the truth or falsehood 

 of the fundamental principle is not, as in a physical or 

 mathematical speculation, the only point to be regarded, 

 and upon our determination respecting which the whole 

 value of the theory depends. The exhibiting an extensive 

 and connected view of feelings and judgments, of moral 

 qualities and sentiments, referring the whole to one prin- 



