the best intentions, and after using the greatest care and diligence to inform themselves, moreover after the most mature reflection, are unable to foresee and calculate the consequences of their actions. Unforeseen contingencies sometimes occur in human affairs, which baffle human sagacity and foresight. However anxiously we look into consequences, they often elude our penetration. Hard, indeed, would be our condition, if, without regarding our intention and the accompanying circumstances, our actions were to be ultimately and finally estimated by their consequences.

2. Again, by directing our attention too exclusively to a moral estimate of our external actions, we are in danger of losing sight too much, of that restraint, which it is indispensable to impose on the thoughts and inclinations; in other terms, of neglecting the moral culture of the heart, out of which are the issues of life, and which is to be kept with all diligence. The rule of expediency is a rule of calculation; valuable as it is, it refers chiefly to our external conduct, and ought never to be permitted to withdraw our attention from the suggestions of an enlightened and unsophisticated conscience. It may be useful in aiding the conscience, but must not be allowed to supersede its high functions.

I subjoin two practical applications of this principle, by way of illustration. 1. Every one is morally responsible for the consequences of his actions, so far as he foresaw them, or might have foreseen them by diligence and care.

2. We are prepared to understand and to explain several current maxims, which are in the mouths of many persons, but not always with a just understanding of their import. "We must not do evil that good may come," that is, we must not violate a general principle, for the sake of any particular and immediate good consequence, which may result from such violation. The converse of this maxim, couched in very different terms, is often cited thus, "The end sanctifies the means; a dangerous maxim, and the more so, because men of worth and of the best intentions, having good objects to accomplish, have

*Prov. iv. 23; Mat. xv. 18-20.

sometimes acted upon it. They seem to have made this mistake by looking so intently at their good object, that they did not scrutinize the means, by which they proposed to attain it. In truth, there is always an inclination to view the means in the favorable light which the end reflects upon them. We know how apt persons are to consider the cause good which they wish to see advanced; and, on the strength of this maxim, they are tempted to be unscrupulous in using any means which they deem likely to promote it. A good object should be accomplished by good means only. A bad cause may be consistently advanced by bad means. Moreover, we sometimes hear this maxim; "We must do our duty without shrinking, and leave the consequences to God." But we have seen, that one test, by which we are to judge of our duty, is the consequences which may probably result from our conduct. If we foresee, that the consequences of a particular line of conduct will probably be evil, or that the evil will probably preponderate over the good, we ought to abstain from such line of conduct. This maxim is often used by the inexperienced, the rash, the passionate, the enthusiastic, and the fanatical, to justify their conduct.

III. The preceding sources by which conscience is enlightened and guided, to wit, the law of the land, and a regard to the consequences of our conduct, are subordinate; and the supreme authority, which supplies their deficiencies, is the sacred Scriptures. These contain a system of moral truth, comprised in facts, customs, precepts, and principles, adapted to all ages, nations, climates, and circumstances of life.

This position is an important one, and, moreover, is not so obvious as not to require a careful illustration. The Scriptures, in reference to the periods of time which they embrace, are usually considered by divines under three dispensations; the Patriarchal, the Mosaic, and the Christian. It will be convenient to review the various writings of which the Scriptures consist, under these same divisions; by which we shall see, that this moral system was gradually unfolded, according as these dispensations succeeded each other in the order of time, and according to the degree of knowledge mankind possessed, the

kind of life they led, and various other circumstances which affected their condition.

1. The book of Genesis comprises nearly all the Patriarchal writings. It is more valuable for the moral facts (that is, facts having a moral bearing and influence,) and institutions which it makes known, than for the principles of a moral kind which it contains, though it is not destitute of the latter. It makes known the creation of the earth, the heavens, and all things else, from nothing, in opposition to the ancient philosophers, some of whom maintained that the universe had existed for ever, while others ascribed its origin to blind chance. It also makes known, that the universe was created by one God, in opposition to Polytheism; and these two facts united, along with the duty of worshipping one God, lay a foundation for a belief in the moral doctrine of a Divine Providence.

The creation of man in the divine image, by which the dignity and excellence of his nature are recognised, and by this recognition, the duty of acting up to the dignity of his nature, the origin of all the branches of the human family, however diversified by complexion, features, habits, and degrees of improvement, from a single pair, thus creating between them all, the ties and obligations of kindred, and the interest and sympathy in each other's welfare which spring from a common original, the institution of the Sabbath, and of marriage between one man and one woman, all have a silent, but most effectual

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moral bearing and influence.

These facts and institutions prepare the way for the high estimate set on hurnan life by the Almighty, and for the command, under the most severe penalties, against taking it away.* The introduction, wide-spread increase, and overwhelming punishment of sin by a universal deluge, viewed in connexion with the accompanying circumstances, imply a coextensive standard of morals, not indeed reduced to writing, but that law of God written in the hearts of men, which has in all ages and among all nations, as we have seen,† caused substantially the same acts and habits to be recognised as virtues or vices, merits or crimes. During

*Gen. iv. 5-14; ix. 5, 6.

+ See above, pp. 6-10.

the remainder of the Patriarchal times after the deluge, when the pastoral life chiefly prevailed, furnishing ease, leisure, and abundance, crimes against the person do not seem to have been numerous, and against property they were almost unknown.

2. It has been seen, that the morality of the Patriarchal dispensation consisted in facts and institutions having a moral bearing and influence, much more than in written precepts and positive principles. This was consistent with the circumstances of the times, and the simple state of society which then prevailed. But, as the institutions of Moses contemplated that the Hebrews should dwell in settled residences, and pursue chiefly the agricultural life, written rules of law and morals became desirable and necessary.

Accordingly, as soon as their deliverance from the Egyptians was fully accomplished, Moses, under divine guidance, began to organize their civil and religious polity, by the enactment of various laws and ordinances, suited to their condition and prospects. Among them the great moral laws, usually called "the Ten Commandments," are the most remarkable. They were ever after their promulgation the basis of the Jewish polity; and, while the other parts of the Mosaic ordinances have been superseded by "the bringing in of a better hope," they retain the freshness of their divine original, and, surviving the polity of which they were originally the corner-stone, they have been made the basis of the morals of the new and more perfect dispensation.†

The first commandment requires us to acknowledge but one God, the creator of the heavens and of the earth, and to make him the object of our supreme love, reverence, and homage. The second forbids idolatry, a most degrading sin, and, as history shows, the prolific parent of almost every other. The claim of the Almighty to be acknowledged as the God of the Hebrews was exclusive of the claim of every other being. The Hebrews were very much addicted to idolatry, and in fact were never effectually weaned from it, until they had tasted the bitterness of a seventy years' captivity in Babylon. The third commandment forbids profaneness, a sin which has not even the

*Heb. vii. 18, 19. See Schleusner in verb, axis.

† Mat. xxii. 35-40; xix. 16-20; Luke, x. 25-28; James, ii. 8-11.

excuse of being committed under circumstances of temptation, which is destructive of all reverence of God's holy name, and which is equally a violation of manners, morals, and religion. The fourth appoints a time for religious worship. All nations, that have been blessed with the true religion, have concurred in the duty of worshipping the true God; and, so strong is the conviction, that "there is a power above us," in the minds of men, that they who have not enjoyed the true religion, have still worshipped gods which their own imaginations have devised, and which their own hands have fashioned. In the acknowledgment of God, it is suitable that there should be an outward homage, significant of our inward regard and reverence. If, then, it is a duty to worship God, it is proper that some time be set apart for that purpose, when all may worship him harmoniously and without interrupting each other. One day in seven is surely no more than a reasonable portion of time to be devoted to so high a purpose. The fifth enjoins upon children that respect and honor of their parents, which is due to them next after the homage paid to Almighty God, and which, as St. Paul says, "is the first commandment with promise."*

Injuries to our neighbour are then classified in the remaining five commandments. They are divided into offences against life, chastity, property, and character. It is worthy of notice, also, that the greatest offence in each class is expressly forbidden. Thus, murder is the greatest injury to life; adultery, to chastity; theft, to property; and perjury, to character. Again, the greater offence must include the less of the same kind. Murder must include every injury to life; adultery every offence against chastity, and so of the rest. Moreover, the moral code is closed and perfected by a command forbidding even improper desire in regard to our neighbour. The neglect of the duties thus prescribed, and the committing of the offences forbidden,

* Ephesians, vi. 2.

+ This view of the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth commandments is fully sustained by our Saviour himself. See Mat. v. 21, 22, 27, 28, where every thing tending to endanger life is pronounced to be a violation of the sixth; and every thing tending to excite or inflame lust, a violation of the seventh commandment.