PHILOSOPHY, MORAL. 



mind even of those who have advanced 

 highest in the scale of present excel- 

 lence ; and in the eurly stages of the mo- 

 ral progress, mav be called in us a most 

 caivfil auxiliary, and importam support; 

 but even this must be made subordinate 

 to the cultivation of those atfections, 

 which are only perfect as they approach 

 disinterestedness. 



59. We shall conclude this head in the 

 words ot Dr. Reid, with a few alterations. 

 Though a steady pursuit of our own 

 real good may, in an enlightened mind, 

 produce a degree of virtue which isintitled 

 to some approbation, yet it can never, 

 while the mind rests with this explicit 

 regard to self, produce the noblest kind 

 of virtue which claims our highest love 

 and esteem. We account him a wise 

 man who is wise for himself; and if he 

 prosecute his end through difficulties 

 and temptations, his character is far su- 

 perior to that of the man who, having the 

 same end in view, is continually starting 

 out of the road, from an attachment to his 

 appetites and passions, and doing every 

 day what he knows he shall heartily re- 

 pent. Yet, after all, this wise man whose 

 thoughts and cares are all centered ulti- 

 mately in himself, who indulges even his 

 social and divine affections only with a 

 view to his own good, is not the man 

 whom we cordially esteem, nor who pos- 

 sesses the noble elevation of mind which 

 commands our admiration. Our cordial 

 esteem and admiration are due, are given, 

 only to him whose soul is not contracted 

 within itself, but embraces a more exten- 

 sive object ; who loves religion, not for 

 her dowry only, but for her own sake ; 

 whose benevolence is not selfish, but ge- 

 nerous and disinterested; who, forgetful 

 of himself, has the common good at heart, 

 not as a means only, but as an end ; who 

 abhors what God and conscience con- 

 demn, however attractive its appearance ; 

 who chooses, without hesitation, what 

 God and conscience approve, though sur- 

 rounded with ten-fold dangers. Such a 

 man we esteem the perfect man, com- 

 pared with whom, he who has no other 

 aim than good to himself, is a mean and 

 despicable character. To serve God and 

 be useful to mankind, without any con- 

 cern about our own good and happiness, 

 is probably beyond the pitch of human 

 nature. But to serve God and to be use- 

 ful to men, merely to obtain good to our- 

 selves, or to avoid ill, is imperfect ser- 

 vice, and not of that liberal nature which 

 true devotion and real virtue require. 

 60. Though we might be apt to think, 



that he has the best chance for happi- 

 ness who has no other end of his dehbe - 

 ratt; actions but his own good, yet a little 

 consideration will satisfy us of the con- 

 Irary. A concern for our own good is 

 not a principle that of itself gives any 

 enjoyment ; on the contrary, it is apt to 

 fill the mind with fear, and care, and 

 anxiety. And these concomitants of this 

 principle often give pain and uneasiness, 

 which counterbalance the good they have 

 in view. We may compare, in point of 

 present happiness, two imaginary cha- 

 racters, the h'rst, of the man who has no 

 other ultimate end of his deliberate ac- 

 tions than his own good, and who has no 

 regard to religion and duty but as means 

 to that end: the second, of the man who 

 is not indifferent with regard to his o\vn 

 good, but has another ultimate end, (per- 

 fectly consistent with it) a disinterested 

 love of goodness for its own sake, or a 

 regard to duty as an end. Comparing 

 these two characters in point of happi- 

 ness, that we may give all possible 

 advantage to the selfish principle, we 

 shall suppose the man, who is actuated 

 solely by it, to be so far enlightened as 

 to see it his interest to live soberly, 

 righteously, and piously in the world, 

 and that he follows the same course of 

 conduct from the motive of his own good 

 only, which the other does, in a great mea- 

 sure, or in some measure, from a sense of 

 duty. The one labours for hire, without any 

 love to the work; the other loves the work, 

 and thinks it the most noble and the most 

 honourable he can be employed in. In 

 the first it is mortification and self-denial, 

 to which he submits only through neces- 

 sity ; to the other it is victory and tri- 

 umph in the most honourable warfare. 

 It ought further to be considered, that 

 though wise men have concluded that 

 virtue is the only road to happiness, and 

 the commands of a benevolent Creator 

 necessarily lead us to consider it as such; 

 yet he who follows it only as a means to 

 an end, and who obeys God only for the 

 sake of the rewards he has attached to 

 obedience, would, in all probability, be 

 continually wandering from the direct 

 path, and seeking for happiness where it 

 was not to be found. The road to duty 

 is so plain, that the man who seeks it 

 with an upright heart cannot greatly 

 wander from it ; but the road to happi- 

 ness, (except where that confidence 

 in the Supreme Being is formed, 

 which supposes the pious affections to 

 have become disinterested) would be 

 found dark and intricate, full of thorns 



