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rounded by all the insignia of office, and we may have to bow the knee before them, but will our heart do them homage?

Esteem and contempt assume a peculiar character when directed towards ourselves. Are we conscious of our heart and actions being right? we are raised in our own eyes, we dare to meet the eyes of our fellows, we feel entitled to their good opinion, and should it be withheld, our own conscience makes us amends. But if the latter accuses us, we are overwhelmed with shame, we shrink from the gaze of others, and we experience that nothing is so hard to bear as self-reproach.

It is easy to discover the source of the respect which attaches to what is right, and the contempt which follows upon what is wrong. To do right in the midst of the temptations which arise out of our own personal interest, or out of that which we take in others, requires strength of mind and courage; for we must fight and conquer in the noblest of causes; and this is true honour. On the other hand, defeat would imply meanness and cowardice in yielding to low desires, like the reed which bends before the wind,

Sense of Duty and Desert.

There is in these two feelings an authority which comes in aid of our innate love of right and of the respect with which it naturally inspires us; and they, therefore, claim the serious attention of teachers.

Calling myself aside, I seriously inquire whether it is allowable in me to retain that which has been lent to me; to slander the reputation of others in order to raise my own; to avenge an injury; to make my fellow-creatures the vile sport of my passions or caprices; I put these questions to myself, and conscience answers, "No, it is wrong; you ought to refrain from it. In so doing, you would be guilty." Again I ask, "Ought I to help my parents in old age and infirmity? Ought I to regard every man as my brother? Ought I to do to others as I would they should do to me? Ought I to make sacrifices for my country?" I ask, and the same voice answers, "Yes, it is

your duty to do so; and if you do it not, you are guilty."

There are, indeed, men, who give the reins to all their inordinate desires, and no longer consult this inward monitor; so to them it has become dumb. Nevertheless, events occur in life, when its reproaches cannot be silenced; "What hast thou done?" it cries. "Thou hast trampled duty under foot; thou art verily guilty." This word guilty strikes harshly on our ears; it is so awful to us, that the wicked will have recourse to any and every means, in order to escape its dread sound. The idea of duty is imposing; and though it does not restrain our free will, yet in regard to it we feel ourselves less free; we feel obliged, as our language expresses it, to submit; we have obligations to fulfil. Though we may relax this moral bond, we cannot burst it; for sooner or later it will close around us again, and only press the more tightly.

Moreover, the right which we love and respect, has force of law in human nature; it is a holy law, which forbids all that is evil, and orders all that is right, whether in the affections of the heart, or in the words of our lips and actions of our life. It is "The law written in our minds,” as says the Apostle. (Rom. iv.) None may refuse obedience to it; and if any one dared to claim exemption himself, he would not dispense with it in others. Have you not heard men, who were anything but strict in their own conduct, loud in their censure of others? beholding a mote in their brother's eye, while they saw not the beam in their own eye."

The law of conscience will be obeyed. "You must;" that is its verdict, and from it there is no appeal. There is then a fundamental difference between its mandates and the maxims of prudence, which watches over our individual interests, though these maxims, it is true, often use the same terms; 'you must," "you ought;" because unfortunately our language is so deficient in precision-so equivocal.

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The gamester, for instance, will say, "One must cheat in order to win." A child who wishes his friend to escape punishment, will say, "You must deny this fault." And

thus prudence borrows the expressions which belong to morality. But we have only to sift them in order to discover the difference. The maxims of prudence are always conditional. In the mind of the gamester, 66 one must cheat," means, 66 one must cheat if one would win." The words of the child mean, "you must deny this fault if you would escape punishment." Such are the maxims of prudence. They do not command under pain of breach of duty; they only give advice, which may be followed or not at discretion. We have but to forego the uncertain advantage which they promise, or to incur the evil which seems to impend, and these maxims are no longer valid.

It is far otherwise with moral precepts. They are absolute and peremptory; and they leave no option, except that of incurring guilt, by transgressing them. They bear upon the acts themselves, and not upon their good or ill results. Now the acts retain their nature, whether good or evil, according to their agreement or disagreement with their objects. For instance, it is true at all times and in all places, that man, as man, is equal to his fellow-man; therefore, to do to him as we would he should do to us, will, at all times and in all places, be just and right; and the duty will be as universal and invariable as the truth from which it is derived, and which it carries out into action.

The sense of duty which we have just described is powerful; but as we are beset by temptations, the sense of desert comes in aid of it; that is to say, a deep and unal- • terable conviction that man will be rewarded if he is good, and punished if he is wicked; and that the reward and punishment will be in exact proportion to his deserts. This proportion is what we call justice. And justice does not occur to us as a thing that may happen, but that must happen sooner or later. Therefore is it attended with an expectation which is full of comfort to the good, and of terror to the wicked.

The ideas of merit or desert, of reward, of punishment, and of justice, form a group, which collect round the sense of duty, in order to strengthen and to sanction it. This sanction shows itself early in life. Listen to children,

and you will hear them even in their pastimes speaking very pertinently on these high subjects. We have been told that this is the result of education; and thus we are referred to the parents and teachers, who from generation to generation have instilled these ideas into children. But the parents and teachers who must be placed at the head of this long traditional chain, whence did they derive these lofty ideas? In order to escape from this dilemma, we have been referred to the law-givers of antiquity, who felt the necessity of inventing them for the good of families and nations. Then these men created them, when there was no previous trace of them in human nature, and thus added to this nature a new and necessary element, and completed the imperfect work of the Creator! Such are the absurdities in which those involve themselves who dare to strip man of his primitive qualities, and to mutilate human nature.

The great ideas we are now considering, as well as the hopes and fears arising out of them, conciliate and combine two elements in human nature which often clash in the course of life; our moral tendency, which requires unconditional submission, and our personal and social tendencies, which are often called upon to make sacrifices to the sense of duty. But an equivalent is secured, because there is merit in the sacrifice; and merit will obtain its due reward, as also will guilt.

Thus are the various elements of our nature harmoniously linked together. The unquenchable thirst for happiness is subjected to the rules of virtue, and so indeed it ought to be; but then, on the other hand, virtue will bestow happiness as the reward of its labours, and happiness that we have earned by our own exertions, is far more valuable than that on which we have bestowed no labour. Besides, it must never be forgotten, that in order to be happy, we must begin by being good: and this experience daily teaches. But happiness can only be faintly traced out during our earthly pilgrimage, in which we have to contend with the wants and infirmities of the body, and with obstacles and temptations of every kind so conscience does not confine itself to the present scene.

It speaks the language of prophecy. Whilst it proclaims justice, it refers us to a new order of things for its complete accomplishment. Here we are on trial. This is the time for desert; that of retribution will follow.

Religious Tendency.

For some time the mother is the deity of her child. Poor and weak and ignorant, dependent for the supply of all his wants, the child finds in her all that he needs or desires; and he gives his whole heart to her. Invisible goodness has come in aid of his helplessness, to alleviate his wants. This goodness veils itself from his eyes. He only sees its effects, and experiences its benefits; and yet, in a few weeks, this novice in life has ascertained its existence. He has passed beyond the boundary of the senses; he has traced effects to their causes, and thus he has come to the knowledge of this goodness. He must have some idea of it, since he invokes its help, perceives its presence, and confides in its care. In all this there is reasoning. Confidence springs forth from the past, and stretches forward to the future, to a future which is ever lengthening before him. His desires enlarge, and his confidence expands with them; for the child is convinced that maternal tenderness will not fail, and that it will be powerful enough, and ample enough, to satisfy all his wishes.

This ever-provident tenderness has forestalled his wants, and has won him to itself. By its watchful care it first awakened his mind; and then the gratitude, the love, and the confidence which lay dormant in his young heart. The child, when thus aroused, went forth to meet it, and clung to it. Thus these two souls, equally invisible to each other, have mutually approached. A sweet tie has been formed between them by the intervention of the senses; and a delicious interchange of tender feelings has been established.

And is not this a type of the alliance which, at a later period, takes place between the goodness of the Creator and the piety of man? In this sublime union, it is divine goodness which takes the initiative, manifesting itself to men, by the benefits, the mercies, the wonders,

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