410 
Hera, then, we find the ethical principles of the New Tes- 
tament in exact accord with the purest and best which philo- 
sophers have laid down, or rather I ought to say, the purest 
and best which philosophers have laid down accord with those 
of the New Testament. “Love” (ay ami, equivalent to huma- 
nitas and < piXavOpioTria ) “ is the fulfilling of the law ” ; “ sub- 
jective humanity ” being, as Dr. Whewell affirmed, benevolence , 
and “ objective humanity,” the good of mankind. 
Having thus far shown that there is an agreement, as to 
main principles, between New Testament teaching on the sub- 
ject of virtue and that of the best philosophers, I will compare 
its teaching first with the more ancient doctrine of Plato and 
Epicurus, showing its practical agreement with and superiority 
over them, and secondly, with the recent utterances of Mr. J. 
S. Mill in his “ Essay on Liberty.” 
I will not refer to the main principles or theories of virtue 
held by Plato, Aristotle, Zeno, and Epicurus. I choose rather to 
take up details, and show that what was good in the systems of 
Plato and Epicurus, the most opposed of the ancients, is to 
be found in the New Testament. Plato's little state or re- 
public, with its reasoning, irascible/' or concupiscible parts (its 
XoyiGTiKov — to Ov/lukov — and t7ri0viJ.r)TiKbv) working in due order 
and subordination, is not displaced by the teaching of Christ 
and His Apostles. Neither is that of Epicurus, with its 
pleasure on the whole and in the long run, as the one object 
to be desired, and its pain on the whole and in the long run, 
as the one object to be shunned, altogether put aside. True 
love as the spring or motive to action does not set the different 
parts of man's moral nature in battle-array among themselves. 
Neither does it lead us to prefer pain to pleasure, on the whole 
and in the long run. Eight principles must lead to happiness 
in a world that is governed by infinite wisdom and goodness, 
and therefore rectitude and utility have points of contact in 
actual practice. If we take the four cardinal virtues, alluded 
to in the apocryphal book of Wisdom (viii. 7), and taught as 
main principles by ancient heathen philosophers, we shall find 
much of practical agreement between the New Testament, 
Plato, and Epicurus. 
Prudence, said Plato, consists in a clear discernment of 
right ends to be attained, and the selection of right means 
leading to right ends — Epicurus, that it consists in seeking 
the greatest good and avoiding the greatest evil — the New 
Testament, that it consists in a man's “losing his life” for the 
truth, in “ forsaking all” to further the Grospel. Plato was 
guided by wisdom — Epicurus by desire for happiness — Christ 
by goodness. And what have we here but three sides of an 
