,,the ,,growth ,,of ,,thought ,,as      
,,affecting ,,the ,,progress ,,of       
,,society4  ,by ,william ,withington4   
#ahea4     ,contents4   ,part ,i4       
,introductory4  ,life ,defined4         
,intellectual ,culture and ,intellectual
 ,life1 ,distinguished4  ,human ,life1 a
 ,problem4  ,the ,evil to be ,managed4  
,self-,love ,considered under a         
,three-fold ,aspect4  ,three ,agencies  
for meliorating the ,human ,condition4  
,the ,growth of ,thought1 ,slow2 and oft
 most in unexpected quarter4  ,part     
,,ii4  ,welfare as dependent on the     
,social ,institutions4  ,limited ,aim of
 the ,received ,political ,economy4  ,an
 ,enlightened ,policy but the ,effective
 ,aim at managing ,self-,love1 directed 
towards ,present ,goods1 vulgarly       
understood4  ,the ,political ,fault of  
the ,papacy4  ,its ,substantial         
,correction by the ,reformation4        
,republicanism carried from ,religion   
into ,legislation2 still without a clear
 perception of its ,principle4 ,its     

,progress accordingly ,slow4  ,part     
,,iii4  ,philosophy the ,second ,agency 
for promoting ,general ,welfare1 as the 
,educator of ,self-,love2 the ,corrector
 of mistaken apprehensions of ,temporal 
,good2 the ,revealer of the ties which  
bind the ,members of the ,human ,family 
to ,one ,lot1 to suffer or rejoice      
together4  ,progress in estimating      
,life4  ,part ,,iv4  ,mightier          
,influences yet needed1 to contend with 
the ,powers of ,evil4 ,supplied by      
,man's recognizing the whole of his     
,being2 the extent of his ,duties2 the  
,duration of his ,existence4  ,religion1
 supplying the defects of the preceding 
,agencies2 ,considered in nine          
particulars4  ,conclusion4              
,recapitulation4  ,suggestions to       
,christian ,ministers4     ,preface4    
,a contemporary thus reveals the state  
of mind1 through which he has come to   
the persuasion of great insight into the
 realities1 which stand behind the veil3
 ,what more natural1 more spontaneous1  

more imperative1 than that the          
conditions of his future being should   
press themselves on his anxious thought6
  ,should we not suppose1 the 'every    
third thought would be his grave1'      
together with the momentous realities   
that lie beyond it8  ,if man is indeed1 
as ,shakespeare describes him1 'a being 
of large discourse1 looking before and  
after1' we could scarcely resist the    
belief1 that1 when once assured of the  
possibility of information on his head1 
he would1 as it were1 rush to the       
oracle1 to have his absorbing problems  
solved1 and his restless heart relieved 
of its load of uncertain forebodings499 
,bush's ,statement of ,reasons1 c41 p4  
#ab4  ,not less frequently or intensely1
 the writer's mind has turned to the    
problem of applying know truth to the   
present1 reconciling self-love with     
justice and benevolence1 and vindicating
 to godliness1 the promise of the life  
that now is4  ,if1 meanwhile1 he has    
been intruding into those things which  

he hath not seen1 like affecting an     
angelic religion1--then it were hardly  
possible but that he should mistake     
fancy for fact4  ,but if his inquiries  
have been into what it is given to know1
 then he cannot resist the belief1 that 
some may derive profit from the results 
of many fearfully anxious years1 here   
compressed within a few pages4  ,he     
might have further compressed1 just     
saying3 ,mainly1 political wisdom is the
 management of self-love2 civilization  
is the cultivation of self-love2 the    
excrescenses of civilization are the    
false refinements of self-love2 while   
unselfish love is substantial           
virtue1--the end of the                 
commandments1--the fulfilling of the    
law3 ,or1 he might have enlarged        
indefinitely2 more especially might have
 been written on practically applying   
the principles to the advancement of    
society4  ,he may yet produce something 
of the kind4  ,of the substance of the  
following pages he has only to say1     

that1 if false1 the falsehood has       
probably become too much a part of his  
nature to be ever separated4  ,as to    
such minor considerations1 as logical   
arrangement and the niceties of style1  
he asks only the criticism due to one1  
whose hands have been necessitated to   
guide the plough oftener than the pen1  
through the best years of life4     ,the
 ,growth of ,thought1 ,as ,affecting the
 ,progress of ,society4     ,part ,i4   
,introductory4   ,the meditation on     
human life--on the contrast between what
 is1 and what might be1 on supposing a  
general concurrence to make the best of 
things-yields emotions both painful and 
pleasing2--painful for the              
demonstrations every where presented1 of
 a love of darkness1 rather than light2 
pleasing1 that the worst evils are seen 
to be so remediable2 and so clear the   
proofs of a gradual1 but sure progress  
towards the remedy4  ,the writer is not 
very familiar with those authors1 who   
have so much to say on the problem of   

life--the question1 ,what is life8  ,he 
supposes them to follow a train of      
thought1 something like this3 ,the life 
of a creature is that perfection and    
flourish of its faculties1 of which its 
constitution is capable1 and which some 
of the race are destined to reach4      
,thus1 the life of the lion is realized1
 when the animal ranges undisputed lord 
of the sunny desert2 finds sufficiency  
of prey for himself and offspring1 which
 he raises to inherit dominion2 lives   
the number of years he is capable of    
enjoying existence1 and then closes it1 
without excessive pains1 lingering      
regrets1 or fearful anticipations4      
,life differs from happiness4  ,it is   
supposable1 that the lion1 tamed and    
petted1 trained to feed somewhat after  
man's chosen manner1 may be as happy as 
if at liberty in his native range4  ,but
 such happiness is not the animal's     
life2 since this implies the kind of    
happiness proper to the creature's      
constitution1 in distinction from that  

induced by forced habits4  ,to happiness
 add knowledge and intellectual culture1
 and all together do not realize the    
idea of life4  ,the tame lion may be    
taught many arts1 assimilating him to   
the intelligence of man2 but these      
remove him so much further from his     
appropriate life4  ,thus there may be a 
cultivated intelligence1 which          
constitutes no part of the creature's   
life2 and this without considering the  
same as a moral agent4  ,macauley       
remarks1 that the ,jesuits seem to have 
solved the problem1 how far intellectual
 culture may be carried1 without        
producing intellectual emancipation4  ,i
 suppose it would be only varying the   
expression of his thought to say1       
,jesuitical education strikingly        
exemplifies1 how much intellectual      
culture may be superinduced upon the    
mind1 without awakening intellectual    
life--without developing a spontaneous  
aptness to appreciate1 seek1 find1      
embrace the truth4  ,the head is filled 

with the thoughts of others-many        
ascertained facts and just conclusions4 
,it can reason aright in the circles of 
thought1 where it has been trained to   
move2 but elsewhere1 no spontaneous     
activity--no self-directed power of     
thinking justly on new emergencies and  
questions not yet settled by rule--no   
spring within1 from which living waters 
flow4  ,the difference between          
intellectual culture and intellectual   
life appears in the fact1 that in regard
 to those mastering ideas1 which to     
after times mark one age as in advance  
of the preceding1 the classical         
scholars1 the scientific luminaries1 the
 constitutional expounders of the day1  
are quite as likely to be behind the    
general sense of the age1 as to be in   
advance4  ,the question1 ,what is human 
life8 arises on a contemplation like    
this3 ,there is no difficulty in        
determining the life of all the other   
tenants of earth2 unless1 indeed1 those 
which man has so long and so universally

 subjected to his purposes1 that the    
whereabouts1 or indeed the existence of 
the original stock1 remains in doubt4   
,the inferior animals1 left to          
themselves in favorable circumstances1  
manifest one development1 attain to one 
flourish1 live the same life1 from      
generation to generation4  ,man may     
superinduce upon them what he calls     
improvements1 because they better fit   
them for his purposes4 ,but said        
improvements are never transmitted from 
generation to its successor2 left to    
itself1 the race reverts to proper life1
 the same it has lived from the         
beginning4  ,man here presents a        
singular exception to the general rule  
of earth's inhabitants4  ,the favorite  
pursuits of one age are abandoned in the
 next4  ,this generation looks back on  
the earnest occupations of a preceding1 
as the adult looks back on the sports   
and toys of childhood4 ,it is more than 
supposable1 that the planning for the   
chances of office1 the competition for  

making most gain out of the least       
productiveness--these earnest pursuits  
of the men of this age--in the next will
 be resigned to the children of larger  
growth2 just as are now resigned the    
trappings of military glory4  ,where    
then is the human mind ultimately to    
fix8  ,where is man to find so          
essentially his good1 as to fix his     
earnest pursuit in one direction1 in    
which the race is still to hold on8     
,such seems to be the question1 ,what is
 life8  ,the elements of that darkness1 
which excludes the light of life1 may be
 considered as these three3 ,first1 the 
excessive preponderance of self-love1 as
 the ruling motive of human conduct4    
,secondly1 the short-sightedness of     
self-love1 in magnifying the present1 at
 the cost of the distant future4  ,and1 
,thirdly1 the grossness of self-love1 in
 preferring of present goods the vulgar 
and the sensible1 to the refined and    
more exquisitely satisfactory4  ,and    
there are three ways1 in which we may   

attempt the abatement of existing evils2
 or1 there are three agencies we may    
call in for this purpose4  ,in the first
 place1 leaving individuals to the      
operation of the common motives1 we may 
labor at the social institutions1 to    
adjust them to the rule1 that1 each     
seeking his own1 after the common       
apprehension of present interests1 may  
do so consistently with acting the part 
of a good citizen--contributing         
something to the general welfare2 or1 at
 least1 not greatly detracting          
therefrom4  ,here1 the agency employed1 
the ,greeks would have called by a name1
 from which we have derived the word    
politics2 which word1 from abuse1 has   
well nigh lost its original sense1 ,the 
science of social welfare4  ,policy1 we 
might say1 for want of an exacter word4 
,the second way1 in which we may seek   
the same result1 is1 to inculcate juster
 apprehensions of present good--to      
inform and refine self-love2 to show1   
that the purest of present enjoyments1  

are like the loaves and fishes          
distributed by divine hands1 multiplying
 by division and participation--the best
 of all being such as none can enjoy    
fully1 till they become the common      
property of the race4  ,for want of a   
more accurately defined term1 the agent 
here introduced may be called           
,philosophy2 understanding by the term1 
the search1 what would be the conduct   
and preferences of a truly wise man1    
dispassionately seeking for himself the 
best enjoyment of this life1 uninformed 
of another to follow4  ,or1 thirdly1 we 
may seek to infuse a nobler principle   
than self-love1 however refined--even   
the charity1 whose essence is1 to love  
one's neighbor as one's self2 while1 at 
the same time1 this life being earnestly
 contemplated as but the introductory   
part of an immense whole1 additional    
security is provided for the coincidence
 of interest with duty4  ,in a word1 the
 third agency to be employed is         
,religion4  ,the whole subject thus     

sketched is one of which the writer is  
not aware1 that it has been distinctly  
defined1 as a field for thought and     
investigation4  ,he has little to learn 
from the successes or the failures of   
predecessors4  ,be this his excuse for  
seeming prosy and dull2 possibly for    
mistakes and crudities4  ,he has the    
doubly difficulty of attempting to turn 
thought into trains to which it is not  
accustomed2 and yet of offering no      
results so profound as to have escaped  
other observers2 or so sublime as to be 
the due prize of genius1 venturing where
 few can soar4  ,if he offers any       
thoughts new1 just1 and important1 they 
have rather been overlooked for their   
simplicity and obviousness4  ,one may   
dive too deep for that which floats on  
the surface4  ,here are to be expected  
none of the splendid results1 which     
dazzle in the popular sciences4  ,the   
cultivator of this field can hope only  
to favor1 imperceptibly it may be1 the  
growth of thoughts and sentiments1      

tending slowly to work out a better     
condition of the human family4  ,and he 
begs to commend that advice of ,lacon1  
which himself has found so profitable3  
,in the pursuit of knowledge1 follow it1
 wherever it is to be found2 like fern1 
it is the produce of all climates2 and  
like coin1 its circulation is not       
restricted to any particular class4 99  
99 99 99 ,pride is less ashamed of being
 ignorant1 than of being instructed2 and
 she looks too high to find that1 which 
very often lies beneath her4  ,therefore
 condescend to men of low estate1 and be
 for wisdom1 that which ,alcibiades was 
for power4  7,vol4 ,i41 p4 #abb47  ,the 
difficulty with us ,americans1 in the   
way of being instructed1 has been1 that 
too proud1 as if already possessed of   
the fullness of political wisdom1 we    
have withal cherished a self-distrust1  
forbidding us to harmonize our          
institutions and modes of thinking into 
conformity with our work and altered    
situation4  ,we have seen the ,british  

nation1 choosing by the accident of     
birth a baby for its future sovereign1  
and training it in a way the least      
possible calculated to favor relations  
of acquaintance and sympathy with varied
 wants of the many2 and our first       
impression1 ,i fear1 has been our last3 
,what drivellers6 ,obstinately blind to 
the clearest lights of common sense6    
,whereas wiser for us would it be1 to   
derive from the spectacle these general 
conclusion3 that hard is it for the     
human mind to proceed in advance of     
ideas received and fashionable2 that the
 so-called independent and original     
thinkers--leaders of public             
sentiment-are such as anticipate by a   
little the general progress of thought1 
as our hill-tops catch first by a little
 the beams of the rising sun1 before    
they fill the intervening valleys2 that 
men's superiority in profound thought or
 liberal ideas1 in one direction1       
affords no security for their attaining 
to mediocrity in others2 and that one   

familiar with the history of thought1   
may pronounce1 with moral certainty1    
that such and such ideas were never     
entertained in such or such society1    
where due preparation did not exist4    
,as we may confidently say1 ,no         
mountain-top can tower high enough1 to  
catch the sunbeams at midnight2 with    
equal confidence we may say of many     
ideas now familiar as school-boy truths3
 no intellect in ancient ,greece or     
,rome soared high enough above the mass 
to grasp them4     ,part ,,ii4  ,welfare
 as ,dependent on ,policy4   ,as        
generally at all points1 so the         
materialism of the age particularly     
appears1 in that the political          
economists take wealth1 defining their  
science in the vulgar acceptation1      
rather than in the good old ,english    
sense1 welfare1 well-being4  ,if they   
occasionally venture a remark of a more 
liberal bearing on the general subject  
of public welfare2 such is the exception
 to the general rule4  ,money1 with its 

equivalents and exchangeables1 is their 
usual theme in treating of wealth2      
thought the common use of the word      
economy might suggest a higher science4 
,for he does not exhaust our idea of a  
good economist1 who manages to have at  
command abundant materials for rendering
 home happy2 while1 for lack of wisdom  
to turn such materials to account1 that 
home may be less happy than the         
next-door neighbor's1 where want is     
hardly staved off4 ,we exact1 for       
fulfilling that character1 wisdom in    
using the material means--provision for 
physical1 intellectual1 and moral       
training of the household--the just     
apportionment between labor and         
recreation-the true contentment1 which  
frets not at present imperfection1 while
 it still presses on to that perfection 
conceived to be attainable4  ,our       
writers on political economy would do   
well1 to give the word as liberal a     
latitude of sense1 as it legitimately   
assumes1 when used in its primitive     

meaning of household management4  ,but1 
rather than attempt to raise a          
scientific term so much above its       
received sense1 ,i use another word1 and
 say1 ,policy must begin with the       
admission1 that self-love is the        
mightiest mover of human conduct2 and   
not a self-love enlightened1 deep1      
calculating1 directed to the sources of 
fullest contentment2 but following the  
groveling estimate1 that riches1 power1 
office1 ease1 being the object of envy  
or admiration1 are the chief goods of   
life4  ,every business man admits1 that 
his security for men's conduct must be  
found in their self-interest4  ,he      
admits thus much practically1 so for as 
his own business is concerned2 the      
exceptions being so rare1 as not to     
justify neglect of the general rule4    
,yet1 neither business men nor          
politicians grasp the principle clearly1
 nor consequently apply it consistently4
  ,and he who would make a new          
application of it1 is met with charges  

of great uncharitableness4  ,this       
backwardness to generalize a rule1 found
 so necessary practically to be         
followed1 may be resolved into that     
flattering conceit of human dignity1    
which is yielded reluctantly1 inch by   
inch1 as plain demonstration wrests it  
away4  ,and further1 self-love conceals 
itself1 because generally it operates   
first to pervert the judgment4  ,the    
consciousness of preferring private     
interest to worthier considerations1 is 
too painful to be endured4  ,the man    
therefore strives1 but too successfully1
 to misrepresent the case to himself4   
,he contrives to make that seem right1  
which tends to his own advantage4 ,but  
though indirect1 the operation of       
self-love is none the less sure4        
,whether the individual be any the less 
blamable1 because self-love assumes this
 disguise1 is not now to be considered4 
,there are individuals1 to whom implicit
 confidence in their unguarded honesty1 
proves but an added motive to be more   

tremulously sensitive1 not to abuse such
 confidence4  ,there are1 whom respect  
for their calling binds wholly to more  
carefulness1 to prove worthy of such    
respect4  ,so always if one is          
thoroughly pervaded with the right      
spirit4  ,but dealing with bodies of    
men1 as men yet are1 these two rules    
should shape political institutions and 
social relations4  ,first1 so far as men
 can command confidence and respect1 for
 the sake of birth1 calling1 or office1 
so far they are relieved from the       
necessity of seeking the same by        
personal qualifications2 and accordingly
 a body of men so protected1 will       
perceptibly fall short of the average1  
in the staple elements of               
respectability4  ,respect for station or
 calling so ample is here meant1 as to  
satisfy the average desire of           
approbation4  ,the extent1 to which this
 is satisfied by the respect paid by the
 child1 to the parent1 for the          
relation's sake1 is so moderate1 as one 

of the elements tending to the formation
 of character1 that it may be expected  
to operate generally as it universally  
would1 where the right spirit fully     
reigns4  ,the remark holds good1 with   
moderate abatement1 in the relation of  
teacher and pupil4  ,in the infancy of  
the ,christian church1 the relation     
between pastor and flock was closely    
analogous to that between parents and   
children4  ,on the one side were men of 
a disinterested and paternal spirit1 so 
earnestly living the new life hid with  
,christ in ,god1 that hardly the        
possibility could be conceived of a     
desire to exalt and magnify self1 over  
the ignorance and degradation of their  
spiritual charge4  ,on the other side   
were men1 children in knowledge1        
incapable of estimating the ministry    
simply after the consciousness of       
benefits received4  ,we are not then to 
condemn the arrangement1 which clothed  
the ministry with an official dignity1  
the office being revered independently  

of the claims of the man2 nor to wonder1
 if the arrangement outlived the        
necessity1 or passed the bounds of      
moderation2 or if it was not fully      
calculated1 the danger1 lest men of the 
primitive spirit yield places to those  
of an inferior stamp2 and how truly     
eternal vigilance is the cost1 at which 
all things here must be saved from their
 tendencies to deterioration4           
,accordingly the history of the ,papacy 
for centuries has been1 that its        
ministers are sure of unbounded respect 
from the populace1 independently of     
their personal claims4  ,the consequence
 is1 that while a few are thus moved to 
heroic and almost angelic devotion to   
the spiritual good of their flocks1 the 
many would never command respect for    
what they are as men4  ,similar remarks 
may be applied to the infancy of civil  
society4  ,the prevalence of monarchy   
and aristocracy has been too universal1 
to be charged wholly upon force or      
chance4  ,and yet in the origin1        

rational considerations can hardly be   
supposed to have been distinctly        
entertained4  ,still there may have been
 a dim consciousness of thoughts like   
these3 ,it is so necessary that civil   
rulers be at all events respected1 and  
so uncertain how to secure due respect  
to men meriting it1 that we must invest 
a class of men with a factitious        
official dignity1 and take the          
risk--rather the certainty--of its      
proving1 in most cases1 a cover for     
personal unworthiness1 some degrees     
below the ordinary standard of humanity4
  ,if there existed a dim consciousness 
of such reasoning1 it might have been   
well entertained4  ,the second rule of  
,policy--the master maxim of political  
wisdom--is1 that no class of men must be
 expected to concur heartily1 for       
extirpating the evils1 from which its   
own revenues and importance are derived4
  ,speaking of men acting in a body1    
there is no room for the many           
exceptions1 necessarily admitted to the 

rule1 that with the individual self-love
 is the ruling motive4  ,the individual 
sometimes yields to nobler              
considerations1 than the calculations of
 self-interest4 ,in the corporation1 the
 esprit du corps--the clannish          
spirit--is sure to master it over public
 spirit4  ,devotion to the honor1       
aggrandizement1 wealth and power of the 
order1 company1 or corporation1 is more 
sure to control their acts as           
individuals4  ,it is less liable to     
self-rebuke for conscious meanness4  ,it
 looks somewhat more like the public    
spirit which ought to be4  ,it is less  
liable to occasional counteractions from
 impulses of honor1 humanity1 or regard 
to reputation4  ,accordingly a body of  
men1 so constituted as to find its best 
flourish short of the perfection of the 
whole social system1 will inevitably1   
sooner or later1 prove an obstacle to   
the onward march of improvement4  ,a    
corporation is not necessarily a        
grievance and a sore on the body        

politic4  ,if it can have its full      
flourish1 without let to the progress of
 society1 it may be harmless or         
beneficent4  ,sooner or later2 be this  
condition marked1 in estimating the     
spiritual policy of ,rome4  ,the body of
 reverends1 which mediates between ,god 
and men1 finds its best flourish1 in    
just such degree of popular intelligence
 as suffices for comprehending the      
specious arguments1 on which rest the   
claims of ,holy ,mother ,church2 and    
such amount of conscientiousness as     
galls the offender1 till he has         
purchased absolution4  ,more            
intelligence generally prevailing1 and  
better appreciation of the divine law as
 a living rule of duty1 would abate the 
awe in which the priesthood is held1 and
 diminish the revenues accruing from    
mediating between offending man and his 
offended ,maker4  ,but ,christianity    
found the world sunk below this moderate
 standard of intelligence and morals4   
,the best flourish of the priesthood    

required in the people cultivation of   
understanding and conscience1 up to the 
point of caring for their account in    
heaven's record4  ,so the faulty        
relation between priesthood and people  
did not at once appear in the results2  
and1 accordingly1 the weight of the     
qualification1 sooner or later4  ,but in
 the early growth of society1           
considerations like the above have been 
little attended to1 compared with the   
obvious advantages of the division of   
labor4  ,as ordinarily each handicraft  
is best exercised by those earliest and 
steadiest in their devotion to the      
trade2 so it is argued1 universally1    
that the several departments of the     
public service will be best attended to1
 by being left to their respective      
trades1 guilds1 faculties1 orders1 or   
corporations1 each strictly guarded from
 unhallowed intrusion4  ,so religion has
 been left to its official              
functionaries1 prescribing articles of  
belief and terms of salvation by a      

divine right1--legislation to princes   
and nobles1 equally claiming by the same
 right to give law in temporals2 and so 
of other general interests4  ,now a     
movement has been slowly going on1      
through some centuries1 for working     
society into conformity with a rational 
rule2 a rule not overlooking the        
advantages of the division of labor1 but
 taking in too such qualifying          
considerations as the healthful stimulus
 of free competition1 watchfulness over 
public functionaries1 and the necessity 
of harmonizing private and corporate    
interests1 with public duty4  ,the      
movement has been slow2 for the actors  
have dimly apprehended the part they    
were acting1 and the principles by      
themselves vindicated4 ,it has consisted
 of two principle acts4  ,the           
,reformation carried republicanism into 
religion3 our own ,revolution into      
legislation4 ,the two movements were    
parts of one whole2 and1 to get at the  
principles at bottom1 either will serve 

for both1 as well as for what may remain
 for finishing the work begun4  ,the    
,reformation having been conducted by   
theologians1 it was natural that        
disproportionate importance should have 
been attached to theological niceties4  
,so far as ,luther was right in         
regarding the doctrine of justification 
by faith only as the great article at   
issue1 it must have been1 because the   
opposite doctrine favored the conceit of
 a mysterious mediating power vested in 
a priesthood--a conceit so favorable to 
the aggrandizement of the order thus    
distinguished4  ,but considered as a    
politic movement--as an advance in      
rightly adjusting the social            
relations--the ,reformation aimed       
principally at that ill arrangement1 by 
which the authorized expounders of the  
law divine found their account1 in      
involving that law in a glorious        
uncertainty1 and entrapping people in a 
frequent violation thereof4  ,considered
 as a politic institution1              

,protestantism differs essentially from 
,popery1 in that it makes more of       
prevention than of remedy2 gives the    
ministry its best flourish1 in the best 
welfare of the whole body2 and pays for 
spiritual health1 rather than for       
spiritual sickness4  ,if all            
,protestants do not consistently so1 the
 fact accords with the dim              
understanding1 on both sides1 of the    
essential points contested4  ,this dim  
understanding further appears1 in that  
after all the political discussion which
 has been1 the success of republican    
institutions is still appealed to1 as   
vindicating the reign of justice and    
benevolence in the public mind2 mankind 
have within so much of the divine1 are  
so self-disposed to do right1 that they 
do not need much control1 but may pretty
 safely be left to their own guidance4  
,nor is it left to the mere demagogue to
 talk thus4  ,doubtful it may be1       
whether it should be called dimness of  
understanding1 or rather perverse       

ingenuity1 that men reason thus1 when   
the facts are3 ,so general is the       
disposition to abuse power1 that        
wherever it is accumulated1 it will     
surely be abused2 accordingly it must be
 distributed as equally as possible4    
,if government be made the business of  
one part of the community--one tenth1 or
 one hundredth1 or one thousandth--that 
part will inevitably exalt self1 at the 
cost of the others4  ,so strong is      
self-love1 turned towards temporal      
interests1 so acute to discern what     
tends to the one desired end1 and so    
sure to bend every thing that way1 that 
men's temporal interests are pretty safe
 in their own hands1 and safe no where  
else4  ,now the legitimate end of civil 
government being1 to secure the temporal
 welfare of all1 all must have a share  
in it1 or the excluded portions must    
find their rights neglected4  ,it may   
have favored the common mistake1 that   
the leaders in successful republican    
movements have so often shown a heroic  

self-devotion and disinterestedness--men
 like ,luther1 and ,washington4  ,but   
these are the exceptions1 the rare gems 
of humanity4  ,if they were the fair    
specimens1 their work would never have  
been needed4  ,then we might leave to a 
class the regulation1 whether of our    
spirituals or temporals1 with the like  
advantage1 that we leave the making of  
our watches or our shoes to their       
respective trades4  ,but the indistinct 
apprehension1 why the advantages of the 
division of labor fail in the matter of 
government1 accords well with the       
observation1 that republican principles 
make slow progress in the world1 are    
held in gross inconsistencies2 and the  
most zealous assertors thereof in one   
department1 are oft found most          
strenuously opposed in others4  ,it is  
thus that we are so slow to conform to  
one rule1 our arrangements for spiritual
 instruction2 for preserving health2 for
 preventing crime2 for cheaply1         
expeditiously1 and satisfactorily       

settling disputed claims2 for furnishing
 the whole people with instruction in   
their rights1 interests1 and duties2 as 
well as that thorough cultivation of the
 whole man1 which the full success of   
republicanism requires4     ,part ,,iii4
  ,welfare as ,dependent on ,philosophy4
   ,but the whole office of ,policy1 in 
arranging the social relations1 supposes
 the prevalence of an ill-informed and  
misdirected self-love4 ,and1            
accordingly1 the second way of          
attempting the promotion of general     
welfare is1 to convey and impress just  
estimates of its constituents4 ,such is 
the office of ,philosophy3 the study of 
the truly wise man-wise for the present 
life--still leaving out man's hold on a 
future1 and his relations to his ,maker4
  ,what would such an one pursue2 as    
life's chief ends--covet1 as life's best
 goods8  ,we still suppose self-love to 
be as really as ever the main-spring to 
human conduct2 but that self-love       
enlightened1 regulated1 refine--        

choosing first the goods which satisfy  
the nobler parts of man's nature1 and on
 a liberal estimate of the ties which   
bind society together2 in virtue of     
which1 if one member suffer1 all the    
members suffer with it4  ,the items1    
claiming to constitute life's happiness1
 may be divided into two classes1       
distinguished by this important         
difference3 one class essentially such1 
that only a limited number of mankind   
can obtain them2--if some succeed in the
 pursuit1 their success involves the    
failure of others3 ,the other class are 
such1 as to involve no contradiction in 
the supposition of their becoming the   
common property of all4  ,the success of
 a part1 far from obstructing1 rather   
facilitates the success of others2 they 
constitute a store of wealth1 from which
 each may take his fill2 and the more he
 takes1 the more he leaves1 to satisfy  
the desires of all who come after4      
,now1 in view of the case1 ,philosophy  
inquiring for life's chief goods1 cannot

 make them to be fortune's prizes1      
scattered to tempt the cupidity of all2 
but which a few only can catch1 while   
their luck proves the disappointment and
 vexation of the many4  ,the supposition
 were monstrous4  ,we so instinctively  
recoil from supposing such to be the    
appointment of nature's ,author1 and so 
consciously grasp it for a truth clear  
by its own light--the conviction of a   
provision fully made in nature for all1 
whenever nature's wants are truly       
consulted--that we may safely reject1 by
 this test1 every notion of temporal    
good1 which makes it consist            
preeminently in whatever1 by the nature 
of the case1 can be the lot of but a    
limited number4  ,eminent above all     
other conceptions of temporal good1 is  
that which makes it to consist          
emphatically in the possession of money1
 or the ability to command it by its    
equivalents4  ,and because the          
capacities of enjoyment have never been 
measured1 nor material wealth rationally

 estimated as a means of meeting those  
capacities1 riches are prized1 not as a 
means1 but an end2 and becoming         
themselves the end1 no amount of        
possession lessens the desire to        
accumulate4  ,a just philosophy argues  
on the case1 that all cannot be rich1 in
 the common acceptation of the term1    
whether be considered the limits to     
earth's productiveness1 and the         
possibility of increasing material      
wealth2 or whether1 rich being more a   
relative than an absolute term1 that the
 supposition of all rich is             
self-contradictory3 therefore1 in a     
juster sense1 the supposition of all    
rich must be admissible2--the sense1    
namely1 that whenever riches shall be   
reasonably estimated simply as the means
 of meeting capacities of enjoyment     
surveyed and known1 then it will be     
found that the earth's productiveness1  
and the stock of material wealth1 admit 
each to take to the fullness of his     
wants1 leaving enough for all who come  

after4  ,it is further the office of    
,philosophy to show in detail1 what is  
thus wrought out as a conclusion from   
general principles2 to show how much is 
consumed by artificial wants1 and       
subjection to the tyranny of fashion2 to
 show how the correction of factitious  
desires would leave natural and rational
 desires for better enjoyment than is   
now found1 so that self-love would find 
not occasion for envy1 or repining at a 
brother's prosperity4  ,the unceasing   
desire to become richer would be1       
however1 but a mitigated evil1 if men   
sought only wealth by production4  ,the 
aggravation of the case is1 that they   
whom the desire most impels1 seek the   
increase of their own store1 not by     
producing1 but by contriving to turn to 
their own stock the avails of the       
industry of others4  ,our young men1 in 
deplorable numbers1 slide into the      
persuasion1 that any means of living and
 thriving are better than productive    
industry4 ,hence the rush into trade1   

the professions1 into speculations1     
where the hazards are such1 that the    
cool calculations of pure avarice would 
rather incline a man to prefer the      
prospect of growing rich by digging the 
earth4  ,so much the preference of      
contrivance to labor overmaster the     
mastering desire to become rich4  ,but  
there is a strange hankering after      
whatever is of the nature of a lottery4 
,so the prizes are but splendid1 no     
matter1 if they are but few compared    
with the blanks4  ,we are given to      
presuming each on his own good fortune4 
,nothing venture1 nothing have1 has     
become a proverb4  ,so agriculture is   
treated as if it had no rewards1 because
 one ventures so little by engaging     
therein4  ,and one might almost think   
that the conscious earth resented the   
indignity4  ,aided by ,philosophy1 we   
shall argue on this matter thus3 ,all   
cannot live by their wits2 the many must
 produce with the hands2 and1 the       
greater the part who shuffle off the    

charge1 the more heavily it falls on    
others4  ,the first law given to man in 
innocency1 was1 to keep the garden and  
till it2 the first after the loss of    
innocency1 ,in the sweat of thy face    
thou shalt eat bread2--so a dispensation
 from such law1 given by ,him1 who best 
knows what is good for man1 in whatever 
state1 is not worthy to stand high among
 life's blessings4  ,more particularly  
we are taught in the same school1 that  
the good thus contemplated must cost    
something at least on the score of that 
best of physical enjoyments--health4    
,if it were duly appreciated1 how high  
this stands among life's goods1 and how 
much its perfection depends on freedom  
to the mind from the anxieties of       
hazardous speculation1 and a goodly     
amount of manly labor1 of which the     
varied occupations of agriculture are   
the most favorable of all2 this         
consideration would check the prevalent 
ambition to make the contrivance of the 
brain supply the place of the labor of  

the hands4  ,health is commended to us1 
not only as among the first of present  
goods1 but as one1 the security of which
 is placed very much in our own power2  
if we will but study and practise the   
means4  ,it is remarkable1 that1 while  
the healing art is proverbial for its   
sects and uncertainties--amid the       
disputes of homoeopaths and allopaths1  
mineralists and herbalists1 stimulators 
and depletors--there is a pretty general
 agreement of parties on the laws of    
hygiene1 or the art of preserving       
health4  ,we might find here a law1     
taught by the constitution of nature1   
that its ,author never intended healing 
to hold an important place in the cause 
of human welfare4  ,he meant it should  
be well nigh dispensed with1 by the     
obedience men should pay to laws1 which 
they may understand4  ,the full         
appreciation of these considerations    
would tend greatly to establish friendly
 relations in society2 because1 first1  
the good contemplated is such1 that the 

success of one in seeking1 facilitates  
the success of all4  ,secondly1 it would
 abate the strife for                   
luxuries1--amassing without producing1  
and cultivating artificial wants1--most 
fertile sources of discord4  ,and1      
thirdly1 it would establish between     
physicians and their employers1         
relations the most agreeable4  ,another 
most unmanageable misconception of      
life's good1 makes one of its choicest  
items to be1 the possession of power and
 superiority4 ,to what depths of        
degradation will man depress his        
fellows1 just to contemplate the        
distance between his might and their    
weakness6  ,if this ambition seems less 
general than the desire of accumulating1
 or of substituting contrivance for     
productiveness1 it may be1 because the  
necessity of the case more limits the   
number who can bear rule2 otherwise1 the
 passion for power might find as ready  
an entrance to as many hearts as are    
taken by the love of gain1 or the       

dislike to labor4 ,we may find in this  
thought a partial explanation of the    
fact1 that the thrift of the            
non-slaveholding ,states contrasted with
 the stagnation at the ,south1 is so    
powerless an argument addressed to the  
slaveholders there2 for you have not    
only to satisfy avarice of the superior 
profitableness of free labor2 you have  
still to contend with the lust of       
dominion--the passion for power and     
superiority4  ,to manage this passion is
 the heaviest charge of policy--to      
provide that the offices which must be  
intrusted to human hands1 be filled     
peaceably and worthily4  ,philosophy    
explodes this notion of good 7as        
claiming to be eminently such71 in that 
it cannot stand the general test3 ,it is
 a good1 which a few must share by      
detracting so much from the happiness of
 others4  ,and further1 to the love of  
power is submitted the consideration1   
that knowledge is power4  ,it may be    
feared1 this maxim oft suggests scarce  

other sense1 that that deeper insight   
into the tricks of trade or politics    
enables the possessor to outwit         
competitors for riches or honors in the 
game4  ,it is still a low understanding1
 that knowledge of nature's laws        
multiplies the means of physical        
enjoyment4  ,knowledge is power in a    
higher sense1 in that it empowers the   
possessor to call forth stores of       
enjoyment form objects1 which seem to   
vulgar apprehension most barren of      
utility4  ,but knowledge--taken for the 
round of mental cultivation--is power1  
in that it is competent to yield to all 
more than the delightful sense of       
conscious superiority1 which vulgar     
ambition may afford to a few of its     
successful votaries2 a store1 from which
 each in taking does but multiply the   
remainder4  ,but to find it so one must 
look well1 that he apprehend knowledge  
to be a good of itself1 independently of
 the distinction it confers4  ,for a    
vain ambition often takes this          

direction2 and then it matters little to
 one whether himself advance1 or others 
be kept back--since1 in either case1 the
 difference between him and them1 the   
distinction chiefly enjoyed1 is the     
same4  ,now1 the love of knowledge is   
prior in time to the love of            
distinction2 it should seem then1 that1 
with proper care1 it might maintain the 
mastery over its rival4  ,the child is  
delighted with the acquisition of new   
ideas1 before it thinks of turning them 
to a vain-glorious account4 ,it deserves
 to be considered1 whether our modes of 
education1 offering prizes and honors of
 scholarship1 do not train into the     
ascendancy that love of distinction1    
which education ought and might keep    
subordinate2 which in fact is one of the
 greatest hinderances to progress2--for 
when one's immediate aim is not truth   
itself1 but the glory which attends the 
acquisition1 he meets a thousand        
sidelong impulses from the              
straightforward search4  ,that knowledge

 is a good which grows by being shared1 
is a truth more fully apprehended1 as   
the idea of knowledge is enlarged4  ,it 
is measurably so1 while taken for       
eminence in common studies and the      
received sciences4  ,one's advance is   
facilitated by the advance of others4   
,much more does this hold1 when the     
distinction between intellectual culture
 and intellectual life is made1 and the 
preference due to the latter            
apprehended4  ,when the missionary      
enterprize was a new thing1 in favor of 
the missionary's being a married man was
 argued the advantage of having children
 trained up in a ,christian way before  
the eyes of the heathen4 ,but so        
completely has that expectation been    
disappointed1 that now the missionaries 
send home their children to be educated2
 alleging the danger1 lest their        
children become stumbling blocks1       
through the apparent little difference  
between them and the heathen children4  
,and the difficulty is not1 that they   

cannot there1 as well as here1 be taught
 ,latin1 ,greek1 ,mathematics--all the  
received sciences-the branches of what  
is nominally education4  ,it is not so  
much1 that they cannot there be shielded
 from evil influences abroad2 as that   
their children there want1 what our     
children enjoy--the sight of magnificent
 enterprises2 a spirit of inquiry and   
freedom breathing all around them2 and  
the healthful contact and stimulus of   
multitudes of young minds1 in the like  
process of intellectual and moral       
training4  ,it is such nameless         
imperceptible influences1 that awaken   
intellectual life1 from the mind1 and   
determine the future man more than the  
teaching1 which is nominally education4 
,why else does the acknowledged         
excellence of the teaching in the       
,prussian schools do so little to       
quicken intellectual life--to form men  
of progressive thoughts8  ,we should be 
repaid the whole cost of the missionary 
enterprize1 were it only in the         

clearness and importance of the lesson  
thus taught us1 as otherwise we should  
hardly have suspected--the doctrine of  
our mutual dependencies and tendencies  
to a common average--how our            
intellectual life is subject to the law1
 ,whether one member suffer1 all the    
members suffer with it4  ,we may hence  
take instruction1 first1 in the matter  
of educating our children4  ,we have but
 half done our duty as parents1 when we 
have joined with such of our neighbors  
as better appreciate1 or readier furnish
 the means1 of good instruction1 to     
unite our children in a select school1  
furnished with competent masters and    
ample apparatus4 ,the children of one   
neighborhood educate one another mainly4
  ,they receive from one another more of
 those impressions which form the mind  
and fix the after character1 than all   
they get from their masters4 ,the       
carefully trained will receive a        
deleterious impression from the         
neglected portion1 despite of care to   

ward off evil influences4  ,or1 however 
successfully care may be applied1 that  
is but negative success4 ,our children  
still want the kindly stimulus to mental
 growth1 to be realized in a whole      
community of young minds1 all sharing   
the like wise training4  ,we may hence  
take occasion1 secondly1 to mark 7what  
is not so obvious71 that through life   
the same law binds us3 the law1 that our
 intellectual life depends more on the  
state of society in which we exist1 than
 on our direct efforts at self-culture4 
,individual effort may give one great   
preeminence before his associates in any
 of the acknowledged sciences1 though   
even in such their success facilitates  
his2 and if he prizes the knowledge--the
 truth--for itself1 rather than for the 
attending glory1 he will find in        
another's success1 that1 whether one    
member be honored1 all the members      
rejoice with it4  ,but distinctively is 
it so1 in regard to the general progress
 of universal mind in justness of       

thought and sentiment--those new        
developed master ideas which mark the   
place of each successive age in the line
 of progression2 and in regard to which1
 the masters in the received sciences   
are quite as often found lagging behind1
 as going before4  ,in regard to this1  
we are all of us individually very like 
the several drops which compose the     
mighty current of the ,mississippi1     
moving with resistless force to its     
destination4  ,a few may outstrip by a  
little the general progress of thought1 
and but a little2 just as one drop in   
the current may receive an impulse1     
carrying it a little in advance2 or1 if 
we might suppose the drops gifted with  
intelligence1 some by self-directed     
effort and seizing opportunities1 might 
speed themselves a little4  ,so study   
and determination will enable one to    
anticipate by a little the birth of     
ideas4  ,and1 on the other hand1 the    
current of thought none can resist4     
,sometimes a man resolves to be so      

conservative1 as to stick fast by the   
old moorings--he is not going to yield  
to popular impulses4  ,but it fares with
 him very much as it would with the     
single drop in the ,mississippi1 which  
should resolve to stop in its place1 and
 so reluct against impulses and take    
advantage of all impediments4 ,the      
result from day to day would be1 not    
that it had stopped in its place1 or any
 thing like it2 but that its daily      
approach to the ocean was a little less 
than that of its fellows4  ,thus we are 
brought round to the same position--that
 the attempt to monopolize ,heaven's    
best gifts to man1 must be a very small 
affair-- that the individual best       
consults his own attainments in         
knowledge1 after the sublimest sense of 
the term1 by consulting the progress of 
his neighbors and the race2 just as the 
single drop in the ,mississippi sees its
 best hope of speedily reaching the     
ocean1 in whatever gives onward impulse 
to the whole current4  ,the thought     

receives force from the consideration1  
that here emphatically is that          
knowledge1 which he who increaseth      
beyond the average increase1 increaseth 
sorrow4  ,a saying of so much currency  
must have some foundation in reality4   
,and yet is not knowledge commended to  
us as one of the richest sources of     
enjoyment8        ,happy the mortal1 who
 has traced effects        ,to their    
first cause4  ,where is the reconciling 
link between these seeming              
contradictions8  ,now eminence in any of
 the received sciences1 or branches of  
literature1 has rich capabilities of    
affording happiness4  ,to penetrate the 
depths of mathematics1 chemistry1 or    
astronomy--to revel in the stores of    
ancient lore2--all such pursuits        
generally become more delightfully      
attractive1 the further one advances2   
or1 after the ancient indefinite use of 
terms1 knowledge might be taken for the 
just proportionate training of all the  
faculties1 in distinction from the      

teaching1 which impresses so many items 
of truth4  ,and such education          
preeminently fits one to pass time      
happily4  ,the maxim in question then   
applies emphatically to the forethought1
 which anticipates the dawn of ideas499 
,or1 more generally1 we might define1 an
 accurate perception of the difference  
between what is and what ought to       
be--between reality and ideal           
perfection4  ,perhaps we might say1     
insight into logical futurity4  ,and    
although1 as above said1 none do greatly
 anticipate beyond the general sense of 
the age1 yet some may too much for their
 own comfort4  ,this thought ,schiller  
finely sets forth in his ,cassandra4    
,at the hour of her sister's nuptials1  
while the rest give loose to merriment  
at the festival1 the prophetess wanders 
forth alone1 complaining1 that her      
insight into futurity debars her from   
participation in the common joy4        
,to all its arms doth mirth unfold1     
,and every heart foregoes its cares1    

,and hope is busy in the old2           
,the bridal robe my sister wears1       
,and ,i alone1 alone am weeping2        
,the sweet delusion mocks not me2       
,around these walls destruction         
sweeping1           ,more near and near 
,i see4       ,a torch before my vision 
glows1           ,but not in ,hymen's   
hand it shines2      ,a flame that to   
the welkin goes1           ,but not from
 holy offering shrines3      ,glad hands
 the banquet are preparing1             
,and near and near the halls of state1  
,i hear the god that comes unsparing1   
,i hear the steps of fate4       ,and   
men my prophet wail deride6             
,the solemn sorrow dies in scorn2       
,and lonely in the waste ,i hide        
,the tortured heart that would forewarn4
      ,and the happy1 unregarded1       
,mocked by their fearful joy1 ,i trod3  
,oh6 dark to me the lot awarded1        
,thou evil ,pythian god6       ,thine   
oracle in vain to be1           ,oh6    
wherefore am ,i thus consigned1         

,with eyes that every truth must see1   
,lone in the city of the blind8         
,cursed with the anguish of a power     
,to view the fates ,i may not thrall2   
,the hovering tempest still must lower1 
,the horror must befall4       ,boots   
it1 the veil to lift1 and give          
,to sight the frowning fates beneath8   
,for error is the life we live1         
,and1 oh1 our knowledge is but death6   
,take back the clear and awful mirror1  
,shut from mine eyes the blood-red      
glare2      ,thy truth is but a gift of 
terror1           ,when mortal lips     
declare4       ,my blindness give to me 
once more1           ,the gay1 dim      
senses that rejoice2      ,the past's   
delighted songs are o'er           ,for 
lips that speak a prophet's voice4      
,to me the future thou has granted2     
,i miss the moment from the chain--     
,the happy present hour enchanted6      
,take back thy gift again699 ,bulwer's  
translation4  ,these lines express more 
than the trite observation1 that a      

knowledge of futurity would prove a     
torment to the possessor4  ,beneath that
 obvious is couched the deeper moral1   
which expresses the sufferings of the   
philosophic prophet--of the man who1 too
 much for his own quiet1 anticipates    
reasonings1 conclusions1 sentiments1    
forms of social life yet to prevail--the
 man to whom not coming events1 but     
coming ideas1 cast their shadows before4
  ,if we could suppose one at the time  
of the crusades1 educated to associate  
and sympathize with the choice spirits  
of the age1 yet anticipating the sense  
of their age1 in making the comparative 
estimate of chivalrous adventure1 and   
successful cultivation of the arts of   
peace and industry2 he must have felt   
somewhat like ,cassandra among the less 
gifted4  ,if we could look on life1 as  
our successors will two hundred years   
hence1 we too might complain of being   
lone in the city of the blind2 unless   
large ,hope and ,benevolence enabled us 
to live on the future4  ,thus we find   

additional motive to desiring a united  
and absolute1 rather than an individual 
and relative progress1 in the           
consideration that knowledge most       
worthily so called--whoso increaseth    
greatly beyond the average attainment1  
doth so to his own sorrow4  ,to complete
 the list of false estimates of good1   
refuted by one test1 we should allude to
 the frivolities of gentility and       
fashion-the passion for wearing badges  
of distinction1 however impotent or     
unmeaning such may be4  ,this is the    
very poorest form of finding delight1 in
 what from the nature of the case can be
 shared by few4 ,for its                
incommunicableness is its only          
recommendation4  ,it is an icy          
repellant1 freezing up the kindly flow  
of sympathy with universal humanity2 and
 uncompensated loss of that best        
ingredient of earthly felicity--the     
interchange of friendly feelings and    
offices2 that store of wealth1 from     
which the more that take1 and the fuller

 their share1 the more they leave to be 
taken by others4  ,the foregoing may be 
treated as a fine and just speculation1 
but as what ever must remain a barren   
speculation2 as if it were after the    
example of all ages1 that men should    
mistake the material of happiness for   
happiness itself4  ,so it always has    
been1 so it always will be1 that false  
notions of good usurp the place of the  
true1 despite the demonstrations of     
moralists and divines to the contrary4  
,mind1 however1 has not stood still in  
this matter4  ,it has moved1 and that in
 the right direction4  ,we may note a   
progress from age to age1 in coming to a
 just estimate of life4  ,start not at  
the use of terms1 rendered suspicious by
 the extravagancies of which they have  
been made the vehicle4  ,but we must not
 reject ideas great1 just1 or new1      
because of the distortions and          
caricatures of little minds4  ,if one   
idea occupies the mind all them more for
 being great and just1 it will be likely

 to overmaster that mind1 so as not to  
be produced in its fair proportions1 or 
rightly applied4  ,so fare they1 with   
whom the one idea is1 the progress of   
society--the growth of thought4  ,the   
,mississippi in its progress throws     
froth and scum on its surface1 more     
conspicuous than the under-running      
current4  ,so radical folly and         
transcendental nonsense is obtruded on  
the sight1 from the sympathy of little  
minds with the deeper current of        
thought4  ,to gauge the progress of mind
 from those who are most noisy on the   
matter1 would be1 like taking the       
direction and rapidity of the           
,mississippi1 from the froth1 which the 
wind blows hither and thither over its  
surface4  ,let us go on to              
perfection--,forgetting the things      
behind1 and pressing onward to the      
things before4  ,such language describes
 distinctively the ,american character1 
and the spirit of ,christianity4 ,only1 
where is perfection8  ,what are the     

things before8  ,if1 as a people1 we do 
fully take these expressions in their   
author's sense1 we may hope there is one
 element of agreement1 betokening good  
for the future4  ,it is encouraging1    
that the two rival systems1 most boldly 
promising to lead to perfection1 both   
had their birth under political and     
mental bondage4  ,so evidently with     
,romanism1 whether under its proper form
 and name1 or refined and disguised     
after the modern fashion4  ,and the same
 is true of the baptized infidelity     
imported from ,germany4  ,the ,german   
mind is cramped and diseased by the     
bands which confine it4  ,it is not     
allowed to speculate freely on politics1
 and the many questions most nearly     
touching present interests4  ,therefore1
 on the records and on the doctrines    
which pertain to eternal interests1 it  
falls with an insane avidity for        
innovation1 and runs into licentiousness
 a liberty no where else enjoyed4       
,hence the levity1 in dealing with      

things sacred1 in ,germany often found  
in minds of the first and second orders1
 here is taken up by those to the third 
and fourth--the copyists and imitators2 
nay1 by the buffoons who figure at the  
farces of mock philanthropy4  ,now1     
though every folly must find minds whose
 caliber it fits1 we may hope the       
genuine ,american mind will not be      
extensively beguiled by either of the   
misbegotten offspring of ,europe's      
mental servitude4  ,but1 to the         
point--progress made in estimating life4
  ,a few centuries ago1 a torrent of    
enthusiasm set in the direction of      
bearing the cross into ,asia1 to fight  
for glory1 and the propagation of       
,christianity1 on the fields of         
,palestine4  ,already the old ,roman    
military character was greatly improved 
on4  ,virtue1 7manliness1 a vir-man7 was
 no longer supposed to fulfil its       
highest office in        ,parcere       
subjectis et debellare superbos4  ,a    
delicate sense of honor1 of the courtesy

 due to a foe and the gallantry to the  
other sex1 betoken a type of humanity in
 advance of the brute ferocity of the   
best days of ,rome4  ,but1              
notwithstanding ,mr4 ,burke's eloquence1
 and the opinion sometimes expressed1   
that the courtly knight of the middle   
age1 realized the perfection of         
humanity2 we have no reason to regret   
that the age of chivalry is gone by1 and
 that the age of speculation1 and       
money-making1 and industrial enterprize 
has succeeded4  ,the materialism of this
 age1 with all its faults1 is better    
than the chivalry of an age gone by4 ,it
 tends to keep the world at peace2 that 
tended to perpetual turmoil4  ,the      
supposition all rich1 according to      
modern ideas1 is not so flat a          
contradiction as the supposition all    
glorious1 in military heroism4  ,as the 
past age estimated life's supreme good1 
the enjoyment of a few required the     
exclusion of the many from its benefits3
 as this age estimates the enjoyment of 

some1 admits the exclusion of others4   
,whether the mercantile spirit          
thoroughly entered into makes a better  
man than did the spirit of chivalry1 may
 be doubted2 not so1 which best comports
 with the welfare of society4  ,now if  
one1 at the time of the crusades1 had so
 anticipated the spirit of the age1 as  
to picture to himself modern ,europe and
 ,america1 manufacturing1 trading1      
flocking to ,california1 as if there a  
holy sepulcher was to be rescued from   
hands profane1 glorying chiefly in      
mechanical development and mercantile   
enterprize2 and had ventured to suggest1
 that instead of trooping to ,asia to   
fight for glory1 and the fancy of       
promoting religion by arguments of      
steel1 it would be worthier of the      
choice spirits of the age to stay at    
home1 and by industry and enterprize aim
 at multiplying the means of content to 
quiet life3 he might have found a harder
 task than now devolves on him1 who     
urges1 that the materialism of this age 

must pass away1 as has passed the       
chivalry of the crusades2 both for the  
same reason2 the progress of thought    
must outgrow the one1 as it has outgrown
 the other4  ,a new age with another    
spirit will be ushered in4  ,what is to 
be the spirit of that age8  ,are we to  
find the forebodings in the dreamy      
sentimentalism1 which boasts so much its
 flights beyond common material ideas8  
,i trow rather1 we may trace the        
character of the coming age in an       
increasing estimation of health1        
knowledge1 mental cultivation1          
intellectual life1 and the flow of the  
social affections1 as the prime of      
earthly felicities--in an approximation 
towards rationally estimating money     
7with the ability to command it7 as the 
means of meeting one's capacities of    
enjoyment--to be no longer worshipped as
 itself the idol or the end4  ,when a   
pestilential disease breaks out in the  
city1 the plainness and urgency of the  
case compel all to see in the sickness  

of one the danger of all4  ,wants and   
discomforts1 which charity had been too 
cold to attend to1 now considered as    
sources of contagion1 are administered  
to with a ready alacrity4  ,the law is  
recognized1 according to which1 if one  
member suffers1 all the members suffer  
with it4  ,and this law will be more    
fully recognized1 as self-love is       
educated--as men better understand their
 own welfare1 and choose with reference 
to the whole of their nature1 and the   
duration of their existence4  ,self-love
 is a motive of the indifferent         
kind--not of itself essentially good or 
bad4  ,this appears from its being an   
essential part of our nature4  ,indeed1 
we can hardly conceive it as within the 
province of ,omnipotence1 to create a   
rational sentient being1 who should be  
indifferent to his own happiness4  ,the 
advantages accruing from an educated    
self-love are3  ,first1 additional      
security1 that the good work of charity 
be done2 and to all but the individual  

doer1 it may matter little what be the  
prompting motives4  ,secondly1 the      
expansion of yet nobler principles4     
,each act favors the growth of the      
sentiments1 of which it is the          
expression4  ,so he who does as         
benevolence bids1 though from a motive  
secondary on the score of purity1 will  
be likely again to do the same from yet 
purer motives4 ,so at least if the      
essential principle be there1 though    
appearing no more vividly than as a cold
 sense of duty4  ,but1 thirdly1         
self-love is made the rule and standard 
of charity3 ,thou shalt love thy        
neighbor as thyself4  ,one must then    
first love himself1 in order to loving  
his neighbor4  ,keeping this rule1 there
 is no danger of loving thyself too     
well2 rather1 the more truly thou lovest
 thyself1 the more truly thou lovest thy
 neighbor4  ,suppose one to cherish the 
vulgar notion of life--that it consists 
in the abundance of the things which one
 possesses1 in the ability to live      

without exertion1 amid plenty of good   
cheer4  ,suppose him to love his        
neighbor as himself4  ,his charity must 
partake of the contraction and grossness
 of his self-love4  ,suppose another to 
prize duly intellectual riches4  ,to him
 the discovery of a new principle in the
 physical1 intellectual1 or moral world1
 brings a joy unsurpassed by the        
merchant's1 on the return of his heavily
 laden ship from a successful voyage4   
,as the best legacy to his children1 he 
would leave them a good education2 and1 
knowing the natural influences and      
dependencies existing between young     
minds1 he aims to have all the children 
in the neighborhood well educated1 as   
the best security against failure in the
 attempt to educate his own4  ,if all is
 but a refined calculation1 how best to 
benefit himself and household2 it is far
 more estimable and amiable than the    
gross selfishness which grovels after   
vulgar goods1 and in the success of a   
brother sees an obstacle to its own     

success4 ,but if he too loves his       
neighbor as himself1 why how far his    
self-love is educated to find its       
satisfaction in nobler ends1 by so much 
his charity is better than the other's4 
,there is hope for the future in the    
consideration1 that self-interest1 the  
first1 as well as love of approbation1  
the second1 of the great powers which   
move the world1 indeed all the          
indifferent motives1 are getting still  
more into coincidence of action with    
justice and benevolence4  ,when ,jesus  
enforced a duty by the consideration1   
,then shalt thou have worship respect1  
approval1 in the presence of them that  
sit at meat with thee1 he implied two   
things2 first1 that regard to the       
world's respectful esteem is not a      
censurable motive2 and1 secondly1 that  
the same operates to good1 rather than  
to evil4  ,so it must have been even in 
that corrupt generation1 so disposed to 
call evil good and good evil4  ,it must 
be much more so now1 when public        

sentiment has so much improved4         
,notwithstanding the danger of loving   
the praise of man more than the praise  
of ,god1 and the mischiefs resulting    
from such preference1 we should lose1 on
 the whole1 by eradicating the love of  
human praise4  ,witness the accounts of 
the atrocious outbreaks of depravity at 
the gold diggings1 while society was yet
 unformed4 ,witness1 wherever cease the 
common restraints of civilization4      
,thus agents--so often the authors of   
discord and confusion1 so often the     
fire-brands to set the world in         
fumes--philanthropy is more and more    
firing as her sure allies4        ,even 
so1 the torch of hellish flames         
,becomes a leading light to heaven3     
,and so corruption's self becomes       
,to bread of life the living leaven4    
,all analogies point to a still         
increasing vigor in the growth of the   
kingdom of heaven4  ,if the mustard tree
 is never seen growing1 but only to have
 grown2 yet the greater the tree1 the   

greater its power of daily making large 
growth1 without its growing being       
perceived4  ,all considerations indicate
 the power of each to do something to   
forward the consummation4  ,no member of
 society is so insignificant1 that his  
spiritual life does not affect the      
health of the whole4  ,the obscurest1   
who cherishes a preference of ideal     
wealth over material riches and sensual 
delights1 does something towards forming
 a sane public sentiment1 just as surely
 as the tenant of the humblest city     
dwelling1 who keeps clean his own       
premises1 does something towards        
promoting the general health4  ,it is   
well to review the progress made in     
estimating life--to impress our minds   
with its existence as a reality2 because
 mind and enterprize just now tend so   
strongly to the material and mechanical1
 that we might be tempted to doubt1     
whether any other improvement were to be
 thought of4  ,if so1 we might well     
enough stop where we are4  ,but we shall

 contemplate with most satisfaction our 
multiplied facilities for manufacturing1
 transportation1 fertilizing the earth1 
and conveying intelligence1 if we see in
 the whole a store1 from which we may   
draw with good effect for promoting     
general welfare1 whenever the true end  
of these means shall be earnestly       
studied4  ,otherwise the discovery1 how 
to make two kernels of corn grow where  
one grew before1 would all redound to   
the tyranny of fashion1 and only        
foreshadow an increase of artificial    
wants1 quite up to the increased supply2
 so that want would still be as close   
treading on our heels as ever4  ,but if 
we yet scarce attain to longer life1    
better health1 or more content1 than    
fell to the lot of our fathers1 with    
their simpler arts and manner1 because  
we are forgetting to discriminate       
between true and false wants--between   
real and imaginary happiness3 the true  
voice of history still is1 not that the 
material means must always thus fall    

short of their legitimate end2 but that1
 though the material and the mechanical 
travel first and fastest1 the moral and 
the spiritual are following after4      
,these in due time will reveal the      
meaning and the value of our stored     
acquisitions4  ,dr4 ,franklin           
calculated1 that the labor of all for   
three or four hours a day1 would furnish
 all the necessaries and all the        
conveniences of life2 supposing men     
freed from the exactions of an arbitrary
 fashion4 ,if he was near correctness1  
his time must be abundant in our day1   
when the productiveness of machinery1   
and skill in the arts1 are so much      
improved4  ,then it is within existing  
possibilities1 that every mind be       
thoroughly cultivated2 and every body   
taxed for labor1 only to the extent     
required by the conditions of its own   
best vigor and that of the inhabiting   
mind4  ,so far afield from truth is the 
common supposition1 that the many can   
receive but the elements of learning2   

while the few must sacrifice bodily     
vigor to excessive intellectual         
cultivation4 ,connect with this thought 
that before advanced of the irresistible
 tendencies of our intellectual life to 
one average2 and what a boundless vista1
 in the direction of human progress1    
opens before us4  ,as citizens of the   
republic1 we have comparatively little  
cause to exult in the conceit of being  
freer or happier than other communities2
 much more in the chance1 having broken 
the fetters of superstition and tyranny1
 next to rend those of false habit and  
fashion--to enthrone reason over the    
authority of one another's eyes and     
prejudices3 to say in truth1--          
,here the free spirit of mankind at     
length             ,throws its last     
fetters off2 and who shall place        
,a limit to the giant's untamed         
strength1             ,or curb his      
swiftness in the forward race8          
,far1 like the comet's way through      
infinite space1             ,stretches  

the long untravelled path of light      
,into the depth of ages2 we may trace1  
,distant the brightening glory of his   
flight1       ,till the receding beams  
are lost to human sight4                
99,bryant4     ,part ,,iv4  ,welfare as 
,dependent on ,religion4   ,but in all  
our attempts to educate self-love into  
harmony with ,universal benevolence1 we 
contend with the enemy1 somewhat as     
,hercules wrestled with ,antaeus3--     
,und erstickst du ihn nicht in den      
,luften frei1       ,stets wachst ihm   
die ,kraft anf der ,erde neu499         
,if thou strangle him not high lifted in
 air1       ,fresh strength from the    
earth he continues to share4  ,thus we  
come to speak of present welfare1 as    
dependent on the cultivation of the     
whole man--on a recognition of his      
immortality1 his allegiance to his      
,maker1 and his capacity for more       
disinterested sentiments1 than          
self-love1 however modified4  ,the      
influences thus accruing are a          

confirmation1 from higher authority1 of 
the conclusions approved by philosophy1 
ethics1 the prudence which calculates   
how man should live with man1 considered
 as but creatures of earth--a           
re-binding--a re-ligation to what was   
obligation before2 and such precisely is
 the proper sense of the word religion4 
,that the promise of the life that now  
is attaches to godliness-the vivid      
recognition of a ,father in heaven1 with
 the union of reverence and love        
cherished by a dutiful child--and that  
naught else secures the possession1     
might be argued1--  #a4  ,first1 as     
anticipated from the nature of the case4
  ,if man is formed to own allegiance to
 his ,maker1 and to spend this life as  
preparatory and introductory to a coming
 existence1 then1 till these conditions 
are fulfilled1 he must be expected1 not 
to fill worthily his place1 as possessor
 of the present life2 but must1 in      
important points1 compare               
disadvantageously with the beasts that  

perish4  ,if1 like the inferior races1  
ours attained to a life which should be 
the full flourish of its demonstrable   
capacities1 while immortality entered   
not into account1 then would fail one   
argument to prove us destined to an     
hereafter4  ,if the philosopher1 from   
the examination of the chick eaglet in  
the shell1 knowing naught else of the   
animal1 could make out for it1 within   
its narrow walls1 a life answering to   
the indications of its organization2 he 
might fitly question1 whether it were   
destined to burst its prison1 and soar  
aloft4  ,and such embryo eaglet is man1 
considered only as to what this life    
realizes4  #b4  ,historically1 we are in
 little danger of being confounded on   
this argument4  ,the evidence from fact 
is very plain and positive1 that men    
have never become wise for the life that
 now is1 but as they have first become  
wise for the life that is to come2 that 
self-love never becomes a just prudence1
 till informed by the faith1 hope1 and  

charity of ,jesus2 in a word1 that in   
,him is life1 and only through the light
 derived from him is life realized to   
men4  ,seeking the lowest form of       
worldly wisdom--political science       
applied as the agent for promoting      
general welfare--we may look in vain for
 a beginning thus to apply such science1
 in any nation unblest by revelation4   
,they on whom the light has shone1 have 
generally so imperfectly comprehended   
it1 that they have only attained to that
 vulgar love of liberty1 which ,guizot  
defines to be removed but a step from   
the love of power4  ,rather1 we might   
say1 that step is not--the two are but  
the same thing4  ,viewed on one side1 it
 is the hatred of being domineered over2
 on the other1 it is the love of        
domineering4  ,only where the ,christian
 account of human character has been    
taken for a sober reality1 has been     
taken for a sober reality1 has been     
practically understood the rule of      
dividing power equally1 because so      

universal is the tendency to grasp it   
inordinately4  ,only 7we may add7 where1
 better still1 some good deference has  
been paid to the charge1 ,call no man   
master on earth1 for one is your ,master
 in heaven4  ,if this is the            
instruction1 after which one becomes a  
republican1 and shapes his love liberty2
 the conclusion is equally obvious and  
inevitable-call no man slave or vassal  
on earth1 for ,one in heaven is the     
common ,master of all4  ,mistaking here1
 ,france has gone through a series of   
signal failures4 ,her ,liberty1         
,equality1 ,fraternity1 still prove     
empty names2 while want and oppression  
stare millions in the face1 despite the 
promises of more than half a century's  
experimenting with revolutions4  ,a     
vision of political blessedness mocks   
her sight1 which1 like fabled enchanted 
island1 ever and anon seeming just      
within the grasp1 still escapes1 and    
flies the faster1 the faster it is      
pursued4  ,o my country6 mercy spare    

thee from thus mistaking ,heaven's high 
decree6  ,but if we should allow to some
 of the more enlightened ,gentiles of   
antiquity1 some degree of political     
wisdom2 we might still look in vain for 
their progress in that estimation of    
temporal wealth1 which reveals our      
community of interests1 thus divesting  
self-love of its hatefulness1 by        
training it to its best satisfaction4   
,historically1 we every where find      
self-love too blind1 freakish1 springing
 upon immediate results1 too envenomed  
with maliciousness to calculate         
prudently4  #c4  ,religion affords      
altogether the readiest1 shortest1      
directest way to the conclusion1 that   
interest and duty most coincide4  ,it   
brings the man of humblest intellectual 
attainments at once to the conclusion1  
which the prudent calculator may reach1 
after long research and extensive       
induction of particulars2 namely1 that  
he cannot add ultimately to his own     
stock of enjoyment1 by detracting from  

another's share4  ,what might seem      
prudence at the expense of justice and  
benevolence1 may assume a contrary      
aspect1 at the first flush of           
conviction1 that another life shall     
rectify the inequalities of this4       
,philosophy1 having done its best at    
showing the interest of each in the     
welfare of all1 and how much would      
redound to the happiness of all if all  
heartily concurred in thus regarding    
life1 still labors at the question1 as  
the world goes1 how the individual will 
fare1 who takes a course so different   
from the general current1 as to devote  
his best zeal to bettering the condition
 of that world1 which will be likely so 
little to appreciate his devotion4  ,so 
that1 as matter of fact1 one is little  
likely to see first 7in earnestness7 the
 reign of righteousness1 as the best    
security for the necessaries and        
conveniences of life1 unless in the     
faith which apprehends1 that all these  
things shall be added to those thus     

devoted to promoting the holy cause of  
humanity4  #d4  ,again2 to the great    
majority of mankind1 religion is the    
best spur to the understanding1 towards 
the conclusions of a just prudence4     
,the entrance of the word giveth        
understanding to the simple1 says the   
,psalmist4  ,how often have we found its
 so6  ,how often the first impulse to   
intellectual activity is given by the   
man's religious interest6  ,how often   
they1 in whom a taste for reading could 
never be formed otherwise1 begin to read
 for satisfying their spiritual wants1  
and so develop mental powers which else 
had ever lain dormant4  ,if we mark     
those extremes of social humanity1 the  
masses of ,hindostan and the people of  
,new ,england--the monotonous stagnation
 there1 and the progressive enterprize  
here--we see a difference mainly        
attributable to a religion whose very   
spirit is1 forgetting the things behind1
 and pressing onward to the things      
before4  ,and1 though this spirit may   

not always go forth in accordance with  
the teaching of that religion1 it is    
none the less true1 that such was its   
source2 mind being awake1 enterprising1 
on the track of improvement1 only where 
a lively faith in ,christianity has     
kindled the flame4  ,every where else1  
policy at best presses so hard on the   
subject individuals1 as tolerably to    
restrain the passions from breaking out 
of one against another4  ,only where the
 spirit of the ,lord is1 ventured the   
experiment1 of making the pressure on   
each so light1 as to become the best    
security for his keeping in place4  #e4 
,philosophy fails 7once more71 because  
it has no adequate malady for the moral 
malady under which our race labors4     
,when we speak of men weighing fairly   
the present and the future1 comparing   
impartially the substantial with the    
showy1 the gross with the refined1 and  
choosing after the decision of a fully  
informed prudence1 we suppose what does 
not exist2 ,the good that ,i would1 ,i  

do not2 but the evil that ,i would not1 
that ,i do4        ,the better seeing   
and approving1        ,towards the worse
 ,i still am moving3  ,such is the      
united testimony of ,christian and      
heathen to that law of sin and death1   
through whose tyranny the united        
decisions of reason1 prudence and       
conscience are powerless1 till what the 
law could not do1 in that it was weak   
through the flesh1 the grace of the     
,gospel accomplishes2 restoring reason  
and conscience to the throne1 giving    
effect to the conviction1 how fully     
coincident are interest and duty-- that 
the righteousness of the law might be   
fulfilled by us1 who walk not after the 
flesh1 but after the spirit4  ,paul's   
account of this matter may have         
accommodated to it1 what ,john says of  
the command to mutual ,christian love2  
that it is an old history1 and yet not  
an old but a new one4  ,old1 in the     
sense1 that1 from what time by one man  
sin came into the world and death by    

sin1 every one in earnest to fulfil the 
true end of his being1 has found the    
dame impotence attached to good         
resolves2 the same supremacy gained by  
the baser impulses1 in the hour of      
trial2 the same temptation to find an   
excuse in what seems so like a law      
unavoidable1 as if it were no more ,i   
that do it1 but sin that dwelleth in me1
 as if it were not the responsible ,i   
that did wrong3 this ,i being controlled
 by sin1 which is fancied as a foreign  
agent taking up a residence within1 and 
controlling the man in spite of him4    
,and1 escaped from this and the like    
deceits1 all have been brought to the   
stand1 ,o wretched man that ,i am1 who  
shall deliver me from the body of this  
death6--that species of self-despair1   
finishing the preparation for that      
renewing influence1 which is not of him 
that willeth1 nor of him that runneth1  
but of ,god that showeth mercy4  ,thus  
the enemy is raised in die ,luften frei1
 no more to receive fresh strength from 

mother ,earth1 to renew the contest     
successfully4  ,but this account1 so old
 in one sense1 is not so in another--in 
the sense of being obsolete1 or out of  
date4  ,it still retains the freshness  
of novelty1 to answer to the last       
example of a man's ordering life1 as1 he
 knows1 meets the approval of his       
,judge1 and his own truest welfare4  #f4
  ,but the end of the commandment1 or   
the result of the process by which the  
soul is put into condition to contend   
successfully with the powers of evil1 is
 charity4  ,so religion preeminently    
rebinds men to the rule of not seeking  
their own advantage at the cost of      
others2 because it implants a principle1
 which might dispense with the certainty
 of always calculating prudently in     
doing right4  ,charity seeketh not her  
own--not one's own welfare calculated on
 the largest scale1 exclusively1 or at  
the cost of the greatest good of the    
whole4 ,thus it is essentially distinct 
from a prudence1 however refined1 and   

calculating its ends through eternity4  
,it is called the bond of perfectness1  
or a most perfect bond2 because1 if men 
were all devoted thus disinterestedly1  
each to the good of the whole1 society  
would be perfectly held together1       
without other bond4  ,all forms of civil
 compact and voluntary association might
 be dispensed with4  ,even prudence     
might fail to calculate1 how the present
 sacrifice to general good is to be     
compensated2 and charity would rebind   
the man to love his neighbor as himself1
 and do as he would receive again4  ,it 
is further called the perfect law of    
liberty2 as by a simple rule it         
perfectly secures to individuals those  
immunities1 which constitutional        
provisions at best secure but           
imperfectly by complicated apparatus1   
and where philosophy halts at the       
perversities of human selfishness4  #g4 
,faith alone is the sure foundation1    
whereto to add virtue courage1 and that 
for the further addition of knowledge4  

,this courage is du ,coeur--of  the     
heart1 and alone gives that simple love 
of truth1 which1 for its sake1 dares    
equally to be new and singular1 or to be
 vulgar and common-place4  ,without that
 foundation1 assuming to be courageous  
enough to leave the beaten track1 and   
reject received opinions1 one does but  
attain to the bravery1 which1 in its    
efforts to dare danger or opposition1 is
 sure to overact its part4  ,who holds  
an even balance in weighing evidence1   
equally guarded against rejecting the   
old1 because it is old1 or the new1     
because it is new8  ,i know not1 unless 
such as have apprehended the urwahr--the
 essential truth1 which throws all      
temporal considerations into the shade4 
,there are two difficulties in the way  
of attempting changes in the existing   
state of things1 with good prospect of  
improvement4  ,the first arises from the
 force of habit1 and a reluctance to try
 a new1 it may be1 hazardous course4    
,the other form the little              

discrimination exercised1 when men set  
about in earnest exchanging the old for 
the new--discrimination to avoid        
treating the old as necessarily         
antiquated1 and the presumption of      
laying again the foundation of all      
things4  ,and these difficulties will   
hardly be met successfully1 except by   
men1 in whom the fear of ,god has cast  
out other fear4  ,the intelligent part  
of the people of southern ,europe have  
been1 for many years1 more thoroughly   
divested of reverence for the papacy1   
than was ,luther in the days of his     
greatest vehemence4  ,but they have     
quietly taken things as they are4  ,they
 have wanted ,luther's substitute for   
superstition--a fervently religious     
spirit4  ,they have had only worldly and
 political motives1 for wishing to see  
the old imposition done away2 and these 
have been powerless against natural     
apathy1 and the fixedness of old        
establishment4  ,infidelity and         
indifferentism prove poor antagonists to

 superstition4  ,but when this apathy is
 one overcome1 then the difficulty is1  
to temper with discretion the zeal for  
innovation4  ,throughout1 such only as  
heartily prize the true1 because it is  
true1 will be likely to shun alike1     
rejecting the old for its antiquity1 and
 the new for its novelty4  ,the first   
lesson is1 to learn how much of human   
wisdom is but folly3 the second1 that it
 is not yet all folly1 but a good deal  
of it genuine wisdom4  ,and he will be  
most likely to unite these in the habit 
of thinking soberly1 who first moderates
 his estimate of human power and wisdom1
 by marking how far their utmost flights
 had failed to anticipate1 what has     
proved the power of ,god and the wisdom 
of ,god to the world's renovation4      
,such is the best preparation for still 
learning1 how much that wears the       
appearance of wisdom and science        
unsubstantial4  ,this best teaches so to
 reason soberly and conscientiously1 as 
not to run into licentiousness the      

liberty of thinking4  ,religious zeal   
indeed has hitherto been little enough  
tempered with discretion2 but no other  
zeal has glowed so intensely1 without   
still more disastrous consequences1 in  
setting the world on fire4  ,it is yet a
 consideration in point1 that1 as in all
 undertakings hope of success best      
stimulates and sustains exertion2 so the
 hope1 that the world's disorders will  
yet be cured1 is best furnished by the  
faith1 which recognizes a ,sovereign    
ordering and disposing all1 bringing    
light out of darkness2 making the wrath 
of man to praise him1 and the remainder 
thereof pledged to restrain4  ,judging  
from history and appearances1 the       
philanthropist may often doubt1 whether 
the race be not destined still to go a  
ceaseless round2 ever exchanging one    
delusion for another1 but no real       
progress4  ,as it was in character for  
the prophetess of ,apollo1 it complain3 
,my youth was by my tears corroded1     
,my sole familiar was my pain2          

,each coming ill my heart foreboded1    
,and felt at first--in vain4 ,so the    
philosophic prophet may lament1 that he 
anticipates so much more clearly1 what  
ought to be1 than what will be2 that he 
finds the increase of knowledge1 beyond 
the general sense of the age1 to be but 
the increase of sorrow4  ,but the       
religious insight into futurity saves   
from such anguish1 by the hope which    
gilds and realizes the future3 hope for 
the race1 armed with a higher assurance 
than philosophy can work out1 that and  
right and peace shall reign triumphant2 
and personal hope1 inasmuch as1 however 
dark the prospect for earth's races may 
be1 the individual has a future1 whose  
joy is his strength4  #i4  ,and this    
habitual reference of the government of 
earth to its ,supreme ,ruler1 is not    
more necessary to the hope1 that        
sustains endurance1 than to the patience
 which bides the time1 in opposition to 
the indecent1 passionate haste1 which   
defeats its own end4  ,he that believeth

 shall not make haste4  ,there is much  
fruitless haste to bring the world to   
rights1 for want of a lively belief in a
 sovereign controlling ,power2 whose    
wisdom1 whose goodness1 whose resources1
 whose interest1 to bring the world to  
order and happiness1 infinitely         
transcend ours4  ,thus is missed the    
conclusion1 if ,he can endure to see the
 stream of evil flow on age after age2  
then discretion would set some bounds to
 our zeal1 to see all evil rectified4   
,and the clearer this conclusion is the 
result of faith1 the surer the bounds   
will be just such1 as to save from      
losing all by a headlong precipitancy4  
,in short1 that habit of mind equally   
ready to accept the right and the true1 
whether it come with a suspicious air of
 novelty and singularity1 or whether as 
old and vulgar it be scouted for being  
behind the age-- that habit which       
neither yields to discouragements1 nor  
favors the fool-hardy haste1 which      
calculates neither time nor its own     

strength2 which discriminates1 when to  
contend earnestly1 and when to let them 
alone1 the dogged adherents to falsehood
 and wrong1 to the teachings of time and
 circumstances1 their conscience and    
their ,god1 till every plant which he   
hath not planted be rooted up by these  
mightier energies--the habit1 realizing 
all the good of the radical1 in proving 
all things1 and all the glory of the    
conservative1 in holding fast what is   
good2--this habit1 so favorable to human
 progress1 but involving so rare a      
combination of seemingly opposite       
qualities1 as scarcely to be accounted  
for on all apparent influences1 has been
 well described1 as a life hid with     
,christ in ,god4  ,and truly has it been
 remarked1 in view of the general result
 of ordinary tendencies and influences  
in forming one-sided characters1 that   
becoming as a little child1 expresses no
 less fittingly the conditions of       
entering the kingdom of nature1 and     
thinking with the wise1 than of entering

 the kingdom of heaven1 and worshipping 
with the holy4  ,of the spiritual more  
grievously than of the intellectual life
 is it true1 that1 whether one member   
suffer1 all the members suffer with it4 
,here emphatically does the individual  
labor hardly1 to digest into his life   
the conclusions of reason and           
conscience1 in advance of the average   
understanding of the age4  ,professor   
,lyell1 speaking of the ,millerite      
phrenzy1 and how some men of pretty     
sound mind were carried away with it1   
remarks to this effect3 ,religious      
delusion is like a famine fever1 which  
attacks first the hungry and emaciated1 
but in its progress cuts down many of   
the well-fed and robust4  ,so it is4    
,so strong are our tendencies to one    
tone1 that the ,christian1 in setting to
 his worldly desires the bounds which   
his religion exacts1 feels to be        
exercising a self-denial--yielding the  
temporal to the eternal4  ,he scarce    
seems to himself to be acting the part  

of true worldly wisdom4  ,in reading the
 life of ,dr4 ,payson1 it is obviously  
manifest1 that his deeply spiritual     
views were not inwrought harmoniously   
into his life's web1 as would have been1
 if he had carried along with him a     
whole community4  ,the materialism of   
this age must pass away1 as has passed  
the quixotism of the crusades4  ,each   
has but expressed a stage in the        
progress of thought2 and neither        
measures the mature life of the soul4   
,it is not so certain to sight1 what    
will be next grasped by this reaching   
onward to the things before2 whether a  
better reconcilement of the life that   
now is with that which is to come1 or   
whether a vaporing1 misty sentimentalism
 is to be the spirit of the next age4   
,there are not wanting indications1 that
 the materialism of this age is to be   
followed by a dreamy spiritualism1      
raising men above the observance of     
vulgar duties1 but not above the        
practice of the grossest vices4  ,it is 

not uncharitable to mark such           
tendencies1 where we see canonized      
,rousseau1 the very embodiment of       
sensuality1 egotism1 and misanthropy2   
and progress so taught to be the law of 
individual man1 that1 whether going to  
commit his crimes at the brothel1 or to 
expiate them on the gallows1 his        
tendencies are still and forever upward4
  ,we need better evidence than sight   
can afford1 to say1--        ,o no6 a   
thousand cheerful omens give            
,hope of yet happier days1 whose dawn is
 nigh3        ,he who has tamed the     
elements1 shall not live        ,the    
slave of his own passions2 he whose eye 
,unwinds the eternal dances of the sky1 
,and in the abyss of brightness dares to
 span        ,the sun's broad circle1   
rising yet more high1        ,in ,god's 
magnificent works his will shall scan2  
,and love and peace shall make their    
paradise with man4                      
99,bryant     ,conclusion4   ,the matter
 of the preceding thoughts may be thus  

summed up4  ,a progressive movement has 
been going on towards the rule1 that1   
self-love directed towards the material1
 the sensible1 the showy1 the           
distinguishing1 is so the ruling motive 
of human conduct1 as to constitute it   
the first requisite in adjusting the    
social relations1 that private          
interests1 and class interests may not  
flourish best1 short of the best        
attainable flourish of the whole4  ,when
 this point shall be so thoroughly      
understood1 that it shall be taken for  
no reproach of any class of men to      
regard them practically as subject to   
the common influences which control     
human conduct2 we may expect an         
effective move1 for giving to the lawyer
 and to the physician a relation to     
society1 analogous to that sustained by 
the pastor among ,protestants2 instead  
of leaving their professions to find    
their best flourish1 at about the vigor 
of intellectual and moral life1 which   
just now we live4  ,but this idea loses 

its importance as another comes into    
appreciation1 --namely1 that the        
conflicts of self-love with self-love1  
suppose mistaken estimates of happiness 
to be uppermost2 and1 just in proportion
 as men rightly estimate life1 and truly
 love themselves1 they appreciate those 
strong1 numberless1 delicate1           
indissoluble ties1 which bind the       
members of the social body to suffer1 or
 to rejoice together4  ,and this idea   
again lessens in importance1 as yet a   
third gains the ascendancy--the living  
conviction1 that time is but the portal 
to eternity2 the soul meanwhile tasting 
the powers of the world to come2 and    
knowing the persuasiveness of that      
strongest call to mutual endearment1 ,if
 ,god so loved us1 we ought also to love
 one another4  ,and now the             
consideration of these three points is  
commended especially to the attention of
 those1 who1 in the execution of their  
office and ministry1 have weekly access 
to the mind of the people4  ,we mourn   

the waning influence of the ,american   
pulpit4  ,where the power thence        
emanating in the stirring days of trial 
to men's souls1--when its ministers     
stood on that commanding point1 where   
they caught the first beams of rising   
day1 and reflected the light in the face
 of the people8 ,at our ,revolutionary  
period1 ministers1 in their earnestness 
to preach to the times1 might have come 
short in preaching eternity4  ,so far   
there was a mistake to be rectified2 but
 they did well to preach to the times4  
,it is among the reasons1 why religious 
so tempered political zeal2 and1        
accordingly1 why1 as our ,revolution was
 without a model1 so it remains without 
a rival4  ,it is well that the struggle 
came1 before the toad-eaters to         
capital's feed agents in legislative    
halls occupied the high seats of moral  
influence4  ,the true successors to the 
fathers are not the preachers of party  
politics1 but they who aim to supply the
 lack of all parties1 in that they fail 

to make liberty a means1 valuable only  
as affording facilities to improvement4 
,we are exceedingly contracted in our   
notions of the ,christian preacher's    
just province4  ,if we confine it to    
administering directly to the soul's    
spiritual wants and everlasting         
interests1 we stray wide from the       
example1 which ,god himself sets1 when  
he writes a revelation for man4  ,the   
,bible is full of histories1 maxims1    
laws1 just as might be expected in a    
book1 which ignored any other life1 than
 that which now is4  ,one half of it    
7within bounds7 might remain as it is1  
on the supposition1 that men have       
neither hopes nor duties1 but such as   
pertain to them as joint tenants of this
 earthly life4  ,if we would keep people
 superior to the impulses of appetite1  
and the solicitations of sensual        
pleasure1 we must attempt servitute     
corporis uti by imperio animi99 ,in     
,sallust's well known sentence servitute
 may be the object of utimur1 imperio   

the ablative of the means2 or1 reversing
 the construction1 the sense may be1 by 
keeping the body in subjection1 we      
better maintain the mind's supremacy4   
,neither1 ,i believe1 is the common     
understanding of the passage4--by       
training the mind to know its capacities
 and powers4  ,if this be neglected1    
purely spiritual influences1 supposing  
them forthcoming1 will hardly save the  
body from unduly controlling the man4   
,vulgar ambition is to be forestalled in
 the same way4  ,imperium populi may be 
expected to be attractive1 in proportion
 as imperium animi is unstudied1        
unknown2 and of course the full sense   
missed1 in which knowledge is power4    
,he who knows the greatness of the world
 within1 hears nothing strange in the   
declaration-that greater is he who      
ruleth his own spirit1 than he who      
taketh a city4  ,that the recipients of 
a 7so called7 liberal education so often
 become the votaries of vulgar ambition1
 and vulgar pleasure too1 is to be      

accounted for on the three-fold         
consideration3 first1 that what passes  
for a liberal education is often a very 
illiberal thing1 doing very little to   
unfold the spirit to itself1 and so     
impress the greatness of mastering its  
capabilities2 secondly1 that merely     
intellectual without moral influences1  
do not suffice2 and thirdly1 the law is 
supreme1 which binds all to suffer1 in  
their intellectual and spiritual life1  
from the mental and moral degradation of
 a part4  ,jesus thought it not beneath 
the dignity of his office1 nor the      
sacredness of the ,sabbath1 nor the     
proprieties of the synagogue1 to        
discourse to people on politeness and   
good breeding2 nor to enforce attention 
to decorum1 by the comparatively low    
consideration1 ,then shalt thou have    
worship in the presence of them that sit
 at meat with thee4  ,unworthy alike1   
both the lesson and the motive1 would   
cry a false spirituality1 if the example
 of such preaching were set by any lower

 authority4  ,a false spirituality it   
is1 for it originates in missing the    
close connection between the temporal   
and the spiritual1 the outward and the  
inward1 the life that now is1 and that  
which is to come4  ,in faithfully       
delivering the whole counsel of ,god1 we
 may encounter something like the wrath 
of the ruler of the synagogue1 whose    
spirituality was offended at the        
restoration of a withered hand on the   
,sabbath4  ,we may find1 that we have   
cast pearls before swine4  ,we may be   
referred to ,paul's determination to    
know nothing among the ,corinthians1    
save ,jesus ,christ and him crucified4  
,and1 if we minister to a people who1   
like the ,corinthians1 need to be fed   
with milk and not meat2 like them       
carnal1 factious1 party-spirited1 and if
 we would delicately hint to them their 
character--let us do it indirectly1     
following ,paul's example1 when he put  
restraint on the fullness of matter     
within1 and discoursed only on the      

elements of ,christian doctrine4  ,but  
shall the strong man be confined to a   
milk diet1 because the careful nurse    
ventures to supply nothing else to the  
tender infant8  ,if when for the time   
our people ought to be teachers1 they   
need to be taught again the first       
principles of the oracle of ,god1 we may
 reserve pearls for a worthier          
reception4  ,but1 if they are           
well-grounded in the elements1 let us   
lead them on to perfection4             
,society's pillars1 the temple's three  
,p4s1       ,philosophy1 ,policy1       
,piety--these       ,i commend to your  
notice4  ,my labor is done3       ,may  
we meet in that city where temple is    
none1       ,nor sun supervenes on the  
shadows of night2       ,jehovah--the   
,lamb--are its temple and light4