Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Sermon,
out God in the Avorld ? " To have no sense of the influence of religious principles upon the moral conduct , is the consummation , the very apex of depravity , and will subvert the power of conscience itself ; for an uninformed conscience can be no guide , and a misinformed conscience must prove a false one . From this reli gious principle as the basis , pass we on to the moral duties
pointed . at in my . text , designed to form the beautiful superstructure—and -what doth the Lord thy God require of thee , bat to do justly , to love mercy , and -walk humbly with thy God ? Placed as we are in a state of dependence upon each other , there must of necessity exist a certain intercourse among us , supported by the reciprocal exertion of virtueswhich connect and advance the
, general good ; and none , in the number of these , is of greater importance to the Avelfare of mankind than Equity . By the influence of this excellent principle , men are cemented together in bonds of unity ; the rights of private property are guarded ; the peace of society is secured from the rude hand of" violence ; injured innocence is relieved , the poor are free from oppression , and mutual
confidence pervades the various vs'alks of civil life . With respect to the measure of this duty , we cannot be at a loss ; it is by one sentence of the Gospel rendered remarkably clear and comprehensive—whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you , even so do unto them . —A law , by which every claim of ri ght may be immediately adjusted , as far as the private conscience requires to be
informed . —A law , of which every man may find the exposition in his own breast ; and which may always be observed without any other qualifications than honesty of intention , and purity of will . The exact observance . of Equity ,-however , is by no means the sole criterion to form our idea of moral goodness ; to complete the good charactersome other virtues must be associated Avith it . The Apostle
, , therefore , by a very proper gradation , has connected Mercy Avith it . By Mercy , in this place , he certainly understands Brotherly Love , and Charity—disinterested generous love and charity , formed of the tenderness of compassion , and the noble aims of beneficence . The end and office of compassionate Charit y is to lessen the miseries of human life .
NotAvithstanding the many clear and undoubted marks of wisdom and goodness , which are found in . all those parts of the creation of which we have any knowledge , it must be confessed , that the present world , from the very settlement and condition of it , abounds with misery , and that men , instead of prudently availing themseh'es of those remedies which Nature has , in pity , provided against the evils to which they are necessarily exposedhaveby their own mismanagement and
, , perverseness , added to them numberless others which might have been avoided . Hence it became requisite , that both the accidental and the necessary defects of reason should be supplied by the active , uniform , instinctive princi ple of compassionate Charity . For b y giving to all men this principle , and placing them in a state x 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Sermon,
out God in the Avorld ? " To have no sense of the influence of religious principles upon the moral conduct , is the consummation , the very apex of depravity , and will subvert the power of conscience itself ; for an uninformed conscience can be no guide , and a misinformed conscience must prove a false one . From this reli gious principle as the basis , pass we on to the moral duties
pointed . at in my . text , designed to form the beautiful superstructure—and -what doth the Lord thy God require of thee , bat to do justly , to love mercy , and -walk humbly with thy God ? Placed as we are in a state of dependence upon each other , there must of necessity exist a certain intercourse among us , supported by the reciprocal exertion of virtueswhich connect and advance the
, general good ; and none , in the number of these , is of greater importance to the Avelfare of mankind than Equity . By the influence of this excellent principle , men are cemented together in bonds of unity ; the rights of private property are guarded ; the peace of society is secured from the rude hand of" violence ; injured innocence is relieved , the poor are free from oppression , and mutual
confidence pervades the various vs'alks of civil life . With respect to the measure of this duty , we cannot be at a loss ; it is by one sentence of the Gospel rendered remarkably clear and comprehensive—whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you , even so do unto them . —A law , by which every claim of ri ght may be immediately adjusted , as far as the private conscience requires to be
informed . —A law , of which every man may find the exposition in his own breast ; and which may always be observed without any other qualifications than honesty of intention , and purity of will . The exact observance . of Equity ,-however , is by no means the sole criterion to form our idea of moral goodness ; to complete the good charactersome other virtues must be associated Avith it . The Apostle
, , therefore , by a very proper gradation , has connected Mercy Avith it . By Mercy , in this place , he certainly understands Brotherly Love , and Charity—disinterested generous love and charity , formed of the tenderness of compassion , and the noble aims of beneficence . The end and office of compassionate Charit y is to lessen the miseries of human life .
NotAvithstanding the many clear and undoubted marks of wisdom and goodness , which are found in . all those parts of the creation of which we have any knowledge , it must be confessed , that the present world , from the very settlement and condition of it , abounds with misery , and that men , instead of prudently availing themseh'es of those remedies which Nature has , in pity , provided against the evils to which they are necessarily exposedhaveby their own mismanagement and
, , perverseness , added to them numberless others which might have been avoided . Hence it became requisite , that both the accidental and the necessary defects of reason should be supplied by the active , uniform , instinctive princi ple of compassionate Charity . For b y giving to all men this principle , and placing them in a state x 2