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AMBITION A SANCTIONED PRINCIPLE.

with all this, the ruling principles of society, are the ruling principles in them all; and hence it is that, in spite of the diversity of creeds, of feelings, and of interests, they have their leading features all in common.

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Where, for instance, is the school in this country, from which the principle of ambition is banished? From the aristocratic seats of learning, where the fellow-commoner, with the gold laced coat, is publicly acknowledged to be above the law, to which his humbler fellow-student must submit, down to the lowest description of "Classical and Commercial Academies," and "Boarding-schools for Young Gentlemen," the principle of ambition is used as a stimulus for the performance of what is in each place called duty, and is, in numberless exhortations, enlarged upon, as the noblest feeling of the human breast, as the master key to wealth and power, to honour and immortality of The head of a college will tell the young duke that, without ambition, no great statesman was ever formed; and so does the commercial schoolmaster tell his boys, that never a man got on in business, who had no ambition in his soul. But whilst they thus all talk of ambition, none of them ever takes it into his head, to ask himself the plain question-which, as Christians, they are bound to ask concerning every thing,-the question, whether it be of God, or of the world. For, if it be of God, it is proper that it should not be desecrated, by being turned into a means for the attainment of success in business, or of political grandeur; and if it be of the world, it is meet that they should teach their pupils to keep themselves unspotted from it. That selfish spirit, however, which presides over our education, only asks what is likely to be conducive to comfort or gratification; and, spurning the idea of having recourse to first principles, it takes ambition as a fact, a phenomenon, of our moral existence, which, as it proves to be a good tool for a variety of purposes, has thereby given satisfactory evidence of its intrinsic value. And shall this evidence be deemed satis

ITS TRUE NATURE EXAMINED.

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factory for ever? Shall it never be inquired, whether the feeling which we thus cultivate in our children, as the mainspring of their actions, is, or is not, consistent with the Christian character? Surely it is time, that such an inquiry should be instituted, after we have gone on in Pagan blindness for centuries.

Ambition, when closely examined, seems to me to be nothing else, but an excrescence of emulation: it is the wish to attain an eminence over others; in business, or in politics, behind the counter, or in the pulpit-wherever it be, it is the wish to excel, to be the greatest among many. That this wish is anti-christian, is as clear as that Christianity is a doctrine of humility and of brotherly love; and it only remains for us to examine, what difference there is between this ambition, and the emulation of charity schools. I have remarked before, that the vices by which the wealthier classes are corrupted, are essentially the same as those by which the education of the poor is blasted; the only difference being, that, in the schools for the rich, there is greater scope for the operation of every bad principle. Of the truth of that remark, the present subject affords a striking illustration; for, whilst it is quite plain, that as far as the principle is concerned, namely, the desire of excelling others, ambition and emulation are one and the same thing; it appears, that in the schools for the poor, that bad feeling is confined to the moment when it is excited, or, until the reward is given, and, at all events, never reaches beyond the time of education, or even beyond school hours; whereas the principle of ambition, which is inculcated by word and practice in the schools for the rich, connects the boyish strife for superiority with all the prospects of after life, and throws the value of a whole existence into the balance against humility and charity. It is no light matter to think, that every exertion of a young man has for its motive the exaltation of his own self, that all his thoughts and feelings, all the tendencies of his being, are concentrated upon this one object; that he considers his

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THE CAREER OF HONOUR.

instructors, his parents, and all that are concerned in his welfare, merely as the pedestal, on which his own statue is to be erected; that he looks with an eye of envy and suspicion upon his fellow pupils, whose excellency, so far from being to him an object of delight, on the contrary, fills him with apprehension, lest they might increase the difficulties of his struggle, and lessen his chance of success; that he anticipates, with impatience, the moment, when he shall be allowed to sally forth into the world, and to pursue in it the objects of his ambition with all his power; and that, so far from considering himself the servant of Christ, and, for Christ's sake, the servant of all men, he values society, nay, the church of Christ itself, only as a means for the more full gratification of his selfish appetite for vain glory. And if it is deplorable to think, that one young man should have so systematically made himself his own idol, how much more afflicting is the idea, that a whole nation is guilty of this idolatry; and that it is the great object of education, to propagate that spirit from generation to generation! After having been educated in this manner, with a constant reference to their own honour, is it to be wondered at, that our public men speak of the pursuits of ambition in a way, as if they were to be numbered amongst the most lawful and the most praiseworthy exertions; that, so far from being ashamed to harbour such a feeling in their breast, they allege the motives derived from it, in their justification, when their conduct is impeached. And, vice versâ, with such a tone prevailing throughout society, is it to be wondered at, that no reform is attempted, nay, even thought of, on this point, in education? But, it shall not remain so for ever. There was a time, when the principles and laws of duelling were held in as general estimation, as the maxims of ambition are now; but a time came, when the true nature of that practice was explored,-when, in the estimation of a large majority, at least, an affair of honour began to be classed together with an attempt at murder; and so, likewise, the

BRITISH FREEDOM OF OPINION.

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time will arrive, when the service of ambition will be unequivocally condemned, as a service of the devil, as an idolatry of self; and when our age will, on account of its gross violation of the spirit of christianity, in this particular, be termed an irreligious age, even as we bestow the appellation "barbarous" upon those ages, in which the practice of duelling was universally sanctioned.

Another great vice, which prevails throughout the higher classes of society, and which consequently exercises its baneful influence upon their education, is party spirit, that is to say, the bigoted adherence to the notions and feelings, entertained and professed by some party or other. On this subject a great truth has been spoken on a late occasion, which, as it proceeded from a quarter where the nature of bigotry is, no doubt, perfectly understood, carries with it a considerable weight of authority. It was said, with no less correctness than spite, that there is a bigotry of liberality, as well as a bigotry of illiberality. The truth is, that the bigotry consists, not so much in the nature of the opinions which are entertained as in the slavish spirit with which we adhere to them, no, because we are convinced of their truth, but because they happen to be the peculiar principles of that set of men, of of that system of society, to whose support we consider ourselves irrevocably pledged. One of the most invaluable privileges of this country is British freedom, and especially the freedom of opinion; but it is a sad use, or rather abuse, of this freedom, that men should render then selves the slaves of party views. No one will deny that a man addicted to drunkenness has lost his moral freedom, although it cannot be denied, that his abandoning hj nself to that vice, was an act of his moral freedom; and so, likewise, a man cannot be considered as enjoying and exercising the freedom of opinion, if he pledge himself irrevocably, to advocate and propagate a certain set of opinions, although his pledging himself thus were an act of the most perfect freedom, and though he lived under the freest constitution in the world.

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THE TRUE STANDARD OBLITERATED.

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The consequence of this voluntary slavery of opinion is, that gradually the real distinctions between right and wrong, the absolute criteria of truth and error, of morality and immorality, are entirely lost sight of by the mass, and that, instead of the original standard of judgment, which is one of life, planted as the voice of God in the heart of man, a sort of conventional tariff is introduced, which, as it has nothing to do with the true purpose of man's life, so it can only serve to entangle him more effectually in the pursuit of false purposes, and to render him more and more blind to what his real condition requires of him. The question is no longer: Is this or that line of conduct, this or that mode of thinking and feeling, consistent with those principles and laws, which God has laid down for the vernment of man? is it in itself right or wrong, Christian or unchristian? but: is it generally approved or disapproved of? or, is it consistent with the views of such and such a party, or with the fundamental principles of this or that system? The churchman asks not: Is such a view of the subject, or such a mode of proceeding, accordant with, or agreeable to, the principles laid down by Jesus Christ? His question is and must be: Is it, or is it not, in conformity with the fundamental articles of the Church of England doctrine and discipline? Is it, or is it not, in accordance with the received opinions, the usages, and interests of the Establishment? In vain, that you demonstrate to him, that such or such an opinion or practice is not only consistent with Christian principles, but indispensably required by them, as a practical proof of faith in, and obedience to Christ-if it be opposed to, or even merely an innovation upon, that which is received in the Church, his choice is decided; he cannot embrace it or adopt it, without a violation of his pledged duty to the Establishment, from which to deviate is, according to the prejudiced notions, with which his education has filled him, equivalent to departing altogether from the profession of the Christian faith. And let it not be supposed, that this bondage to the "traditions