CHRISTIAN ETHICS,
OR
THE SCIENCE OF DUTY.
BY
JOSEPH  ALDEN, D. D., LL. D.,
LATE PRESIDENT OF JEFFERSON COLLEGE. AUTHOR OF'ELEMENTS
OF INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY," "TIIE 8OIENOE OF
GOVERNMENT," ETC., ETC.
NEW YORK:
IVISON, PHINNEY, BLAKEMAN  &  Co.,
Nos. 48 & 50 WALKER STREET.
CHICAGO: S. C. GRIGGS & Co.
1866.




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by
IVISON, PHINNEY, BLAKEMAN & Co.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the
Southern District of New York.
Stereotyped by SMrTH & MoDorGAL, 82 & 84 Beekman St., N. Y.




TO
ED)WARD SMITH,
MERCHANT, OF NEW YORK.
DEAR SIR:The opportunities for observation
which our long and intimate friendship has furnished, have wrought in me a conviction that the
principles inculcated in this volume have guided you
in your business transactions and social relations.
Those who succeed in acquiring wealth by acting on
such principles, confer a moral as well as pecuniary
benefit on the public. Men of this class are among
the most efficient teachers of morality. Believing
you to belong to this class, I take the liberty of
inscribing to you this volume, as a mark of my
respect and affection.
JOSEPH  ALDEN.








PREFAC E.
THE author designed to write a text-book-not a commentary. He has attempted to furnish a directory of
duty; but in so doing, he has not enumerated all the duties of men in all the relations in which they may be
placed. He has selected such principles and rules as will
readily guide the honest inquirer into all truth in relation
to duty.
The work is emphatically a practical one, yet the author has not been guilty of the folly of attempting to
separate the practical from  the theoretical.  They are
united in every mind.  Every one has a reason, sound or
unsound, for the rule he adopts.  To give the reason for
a rule is to give the theory of it.
The reasons of the duties set forth are stated, except in
cases where they can be readily inferred.  A book which
leaves nothing for the teacher and pupil to think out,
must needs be a dull one.
Truths expressed in technical language and in scientific
forms, are less likely to become incorporated with the
thinking of the student than when expressed in ordinary
language, and illustrated by familiar objects.  A  treatise
on Ethics should be a directory of life: it will be influential in forming the character, in proportion as its prin



vi                   PREFACE.
ciples become incorporated with the mind, and the form
and arrangement are forgotten.
Among the friends of morality, there is not much
diversity of opinion as to duties. There are differences
with respect to the religious theory of certain duties. In
such cases, the authority for the duty has been given in
the language of Scripture, and the theological explanation
left with the teacher. The author has thus not omitted
any important duty, and has avoided giving to his work
a sectarian character. No believer in the Bible will find
in this work any principle to which he can object. He may
differ from the author in his application of principles.
The Bible is appealed to throughout as authority in all
matters of duty.  Its authority is admitted  by all Christians, however diverse may be their theological views.
A deep impression of the importance of moral culture is
felt in the community. It is seen that intelligence alone
will not execute justice, and maintain truth. The pervading influence of moral principle is the only substitute for
the bayonet.  Hence the author trusts that this attempt
to furnish an aid for the moral education of the young
will not be looked upon with disfavor.
NEW YoBr, June 1, 186




CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Right and Wrong-Conscience-Moral Obligation. 11
CHAPTER  II.
Moral Nature of Man -Man a free Agent-Paramount
Claims of Duty-Need of Revelation... 17
CHAPTER  III.
Division of Duties-Duty to God includes all DutyThe Study of his Character-Providence-Obedience
and Reverence....23
CHAPTER IV.
Love to God-Confidence in his Testimony, Promises
and Character-The Reasonableness of Faith.. 
CHAPTER V.
Prayer-Penitence-Submission-A Forgiving SpiritObjects of Prayer-Thanksgiving and Praise. 38




iii                  COTENTNS.
CHAPTER VI.
PAGE
Advantages of the Study of the Bible..      47
CHAPTER VII.
Culture and Care of the Body-Lawful RelaxationsSelf-Defence....54
CHAPTER VIII.
Discipline and Development of Mind —Self-Control. 59
CHAPTER IX.
Regulation of our Desires.....68
CHAPTER X.
Culture of the Domestic Affections.               77
CHAPTER IX.
Duties of Benevolence....                         84
CHAPTER XII.
Duties of Justice....92
CHAPTER XIII.
Duties of the Employer and the Employed. 99




CONTENTS.                       ix
CHAPTER XIV.
rAGE
Personal Liberty-Character-Reputation... 108
CHAPTER XV.
Duty of Veracity..114
CHAPTER XVI.
Promises and Oaths..                            119
CHAPTER XVII.
Associations and Corporations..              124
CHAPTER XVIII.
Duties of Citizens.... 132
CHAPTER XIX.
Duties of Citizens, Continued.  138
CHAPTER XX.
Duties of Legislators...          145
CHAPTER XXI.
Duties of Judges..... 150




:                   CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXII.
PAGE
Duties of the Executive....154
CHAPTER xxm.
Duty of Rest and Worship.. 159
CHAPTER XXIV.
The Future Life....165




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
CHAPTER I.
RIGHT AND WRONG-CONSOIENCE-MORAL OBLIGATION.
EVERY one possessed of common sense knows that
there is a difference between right and wrong, as
truly as he knows that there is a difference between
black and white. He knows that there are some
things which ought to be done, and some things
which ought not to be done. He knows that he ought
to do right, and that he ought not to do wrong. He
knows what duty is. He may not know what his
duty is in all cases, and he may not do it when he
does know it; but he knows what duty is.
If the question be asked, how do we know that
there is a difference between right and wrong? it may
be replied, that we know it in the same way that we
know there is a difference between truth and error.
How do we know that some things are true and some
things false? We see them to be true or false, that
is, the mind sees that they are true or false. How do
we know that two and two make four?  That two




12               CHEISTIAN ETHICS.
things equal to a third thing are equal to one another?
that the whole of a thing is greater than a part of it?
The mind sees the truth of these propositions as soon
as they are set before it. When truths are thus
directly perceived, they are said to be intuitively perceived. They are called intuitive truths.
If it be asked in regard to any one of these propositions, or in regard to any self-evident proposition, in
what does this truth consist?  No answer can be given.
It may be said that it consists in being true; but that
answer conveys no information. It simply re-affirms
the truth of the proposition. If it be asked, why is it
true?  No answer can be given. It may be said, " because it is true;" but that is simply re-affirming its
truth.  It may be said, "on account of the nature of
things;" but that expression, if it have any meaning,
simply re-affirms the truth of the proposition.
If it be asked, how do we know that some things
are right.? The reply is, we see them to be right, that
is, the mind sees that they are right. You see a man
rescue another from drowning: you see that the action is right: you see that the neglect to rescue him,
if within one's power, would be wrong.
You see a man returning money entrusted to him
for safe keeping: you see that the action is right:
you see that a refusal to return it, without just cause,
would be wrong. These actions are intuitively perceived to be right.




CHBISTIAN ETHICS.                13
If it be asked, why they are right, and in what
their rightness consists? no answers, can be given.
We cannot tell why a proposition relating to duty
intuitively perceived is right, or in what its rightness consists, any more than we can tell why an intuitive truth is true, and in what its truth consists.
Perhaps some may say, it is right to rescue a
drowning man, because it is an act of benevolence.
It may then be asked, why is an act of benevolence
right?  The only reply that can be given is, "because
it is right," and that, as we have seen in regard to
truth, is simply re-affirming the proposition,
Some say an act of benevolence is right, because it
tends to promote human happiness: but then it may
be asked, why is it right to promote happiness? In
the end, we are shut up to the answer, "because it is
right," that is, to an intuitive perception of right.
Some truths, like the examples given above, are
perceived intuitively, and some are arrived at by reasoning. For example, you see footprints on the sand,
and you infer that some person has been there. You
see a person  habitually partaking of intoxicating
drinks, and you infer that his health will suffer. In
these and similar cases, you see some things to be
true, because you have seen certain other things to be
true.
The truth of a proposition often depends upon the
truth of several other propositions, and we must know
2




14              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
the truth of those propositions before we can know its
truth. The truth of this remark is plain, especially to
those who have any acquaintance with geometry.
In like manner, while some duties are intuitive,
there are others which are arrived at by reasoning.
Our perception of the rightness of an action may
depend upon our perception of several, perhaps many,
things connected with it.
When our perception of a truth relating to politics
depends upon our perception of several other truths,
we are liable to error. So, also, when our perception
of a truth relating to duty depends upon our perception of several other truths, we are liable to error.
We are as liable to make mistakes in our perceptions
in regard to duty, as in our perceptions in regard to
politics, or law. The human mind is not infallible in
its reasonings on any subject. It may err even in its
mathematical reasonings.
The mind was made to know truth relating to duty
as truly as it was made to know truth relating to
agriculture, or commerce, or legislation. Its mode of
proceeding in regard to all kinds of truth is the same.
In regard to all kinds of truth, some truths are perceived intuitively, and others are arrived at by reasoning: in other words, some truths are perceived
immediately, by simply looking at them, and others
mediately, or by the aid of other truths.
It may be asked, Does not conscience make known




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              15
to us our duty? Yes, but you must understand what
is meant by conscience. Conscience is not an agent
dwelling in the mind, and issuing its commands or
dictates. Conscience is defined to be the power by
which the mind perceives the difference between right
and wrong. But a power of the mind is not something separate from the mind. When we speak of
the mind as having certain powers or faculties, we
mean that the mind can do certain things. When the
mind perceives external objects through the agency
of the senses, it is said to be exercising the faculty of
perception. When the mind recalls past events, it is
said to be exercising the faculty of memory. When
the mind perceives truths, by means of other truths,
it is said to be exercising the reasoning faculty.
When the mind perceives duty, it is said to be exercising the moral faculty, or conscience. The expressions,
" conscience makes known to us our duty," and " the
mind perceives duty," have the same meaning. The
first form of expression is figurative, the second is
literaL  We are much less liable to error, when we
use literal, than when we use figurative expressions.
When it is said that conscience is an original
attribute of our nature, the meaning is, that the
human mind was made with the power of perceiving
right and wrong. When it is said that conscience is
fallible, the meaning is, the mind may make mistakes
as to duty.




16              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
Some writers have attempted to prove that we
ought to do right. They have never succeeded. It is
impossible to prove a self-evident truth; because, no
truth more evident can be brought to support it.
We should do what is right because it is right. The
obligation to do right is involved in the perception of
right. To perceive what is right in our sphere of
action, is to be under obligation to do it. We might
as well ask, why should we believe what is true? as,
why should we do what is right?
Evil consequences may follow  the belief of error;
but that is not the reason why we should believe
truth. A true proposition should be believed because
it is true. A right action should be performed because it is right.




CHAPTER II.
MORAL NATURE OF MAN —MAN A FREE AGENT-OLAIMS OF
DUTY PARAMOUNT-REVELATION NEEDED.
THE phrase, " our moral nature," is often met with,
especially in treatises on duty. When it is said, our
moral nature requires us to act in a certain manner,
the meaning is, we, that is, our minds perceive it to
be our duty to act in that manner.
By our moral nature is meant our capacity to
perceive duty, and to act freely in view of it. We
know that we can perceive duty; we know that we
are free agents.
The proposition, "Man is a free moral agent," is a
self-evident truth. No objections to it are of any
weight. Whether we can answer them or not, we
know that we are free to do right or wrong, and
hence are worthy of blame when we do wrong.
Suppose objections that you could not answer were
brought to the proposition, "The whole is greater
than its part?" It would not in the least shake your
belief of that proposition: so if objections that you
cagnot answer are brought to the proposition, "Man
2*




18              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
is a free moral agent," they will not in the least shake
your belief of that proposition.
Duty has higher claims upon us than anything
else has. An action may be adapted to give us a
great deal of pleasure; yet, if it is not right, it must
not be performed. Suppose some fine strawberries
are before you. It would be very pleasant to eat
them; but they do not belong to you. The claims of
duty are higher than the claims of pleasure.
An action may be adapted to promote our pecuniary interest; yet, if it is not right, it must not
be performed. A man puts into your hands a large
sum of money for safe keeping. He dies and no one
knows that you have it. You might purchase a fine
house with it; but it is not yours. It belongs to the
heirs of the man who placed it in your hands. Duty
requires you to deliver it to them. The claims of
duty are higher than the claims of interest.
That which is right is always to be done. There is
no exception to this rule. It is never right to do
wrong. Nothing can excuse us for doing wrong.
Hence, the knowledge of duty is the most important
of all knowledge.
We have seen that the mind perceives some duties
directly and others indirectly, or by means of reasoning. We have seen that the mind is liable to err in
reasoning. In complicated circumstances, it is often
difficult to find the truth-difficult to learn what our




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              19
duty is. Hence we need aid, in order to arrive at a
perfect knowledge of duty. We need aid from One
who cannot err. We need aid from  our Heavenly
Father. In order to a perfect science of duty-a perfect system of morals-a perfect directory of life, we
need the aid of Divine Revelation.
This will further appear, when we consider that,
without the aid of revelation, we in many cases arrive
at a knowledge of duty, by observing the consequences of actions. We see a white powder resembling sugar. We do not know whether it would be
right for us to take it or not. There is nothing in
the action directly viewed that will enable us to determine whether the act of taking it would be right or
wrong. The decision depends upon a consideration
of consequences. When we learn that the powder is
poisonous, we know that it would be wrong to take it,
or to administer it to others. Knowledge acquired
by personal experience would necessarily come too
late.
There are many things in practical life, in relation
to which, without the aid of revelation, a knowledge
of duty could be acquired only by a consideration of
their consequences.
Our knowledge of right and wrong ought not in
any case to  depend upon experiment, since that
would expose us to the liability of doing wrong. As
it is our duty always to do right, we ought to avoid




20             CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
that liability. We need in all cases to know our duty
at the outset. Hence we need directions from One
who knows all things.  We need directions from
God.
We cannot, by the exercise of our natural faculties arrive at a perfect knowledge of duty, even in
regard to those things which are within reach of our
natural faculties. But we have duties which are entirely beyond the reach of our natural facultiesduties of which our unaided minds could not acquire
even a partial and imperfect knowledge. There are
made known to us in the Bible, truths respecting God,
which the unaided human mind could never discover.
From those truths arise certain duties. A knowledge
of those truths is necessary to a knowledge of duties
grounded upon them.
A consideration of those truths would lead us
into the domain of Natural Theology. Allusion is
made to them to show that the teachings of the Bible
are necessary to a perfect knowledge of duty.
The teachings of the Bible include and sanction
all the duties which the human mind can reach without its aid, and add others peculiarly its own. The
teachings of nature and revelation are always harmonious; but the latter corrects and enlarges the
former. In attempting to give a complete enumeration of our duties, we shall have recourse to both
sources of knowledge.




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.             21
Every one should desire to know his whole duty
that he may do it. He who is willingly ignorant of
a portion of his debts that he may not pay them, is
not honest toward men. He who is willingly ignorant
of some of his duties that he may not do them, is not
honest toward God.
Happiness is connected with the performance of
duty, and unhappiness with the violation or neglect
of it. God has so ordained. Happiness is incidental
to the performance of duty. The true way to secure
it, is to make the performance of duty our first object.
The order and well-being of the state depend.upon
the performance of duty on the part of its citizens.
If all the citizens of a state were to perform all their
duties, that state would speedily reach the highest
degree of prosperity.
Attempts have been made to construct the science
of duty without the aid of revelation: in other words,
attempts have been made to show that a perfect
system of duty can be taught without having recourse
to the Bible. Such attempts have failed. We have
seen the causes of the failure. We have seen that we
may err in our perceptions of duty even on subjects
within the compass of our powers. We have seen
that there are some duties which we owe to ourselves
and to others, which, as they are learned from consequences, could not be learned in time for action.
We have seen that there are some duties to God,




22               CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
which are founded on knowledge concerning him
which the light of nature does not furnish.
Some writers on moral philosophy, though sincere
Christians, have seemed reluctant to be under obligations to the Bible. The astronomer is not reluctant
to avail himself of the aid of the telescope.  The
moralist should not be reluctant to avail himself of
the aid of light from above. If it is the object of a
writer to see how far the unaided mind can go in
learning duty, he will of course confine himself to the
teachings of nature; but if his object is to set forth
a complete system of duty, he will of course avail
himself of the aid of the omniscient One, when that
aid is placed within his reach.




CHAPTER III.
DIVISION OF DUTIES-DUTY TO GOD INCLUDES ALL DUTYTHE STUDY OF HIS CHARACTE —PROVIDENCE —
OBEDIENCE AND REVERENCE.
THE existence of God is taught by nature and by
the Bible, or rather it is taught by nature and
assumed by the Bible. The Bible does not begin by
saying "there is a God," but by saying, "in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
The arguments from nature for the existence of
God, belong to the science of Natural Theology, and
will not be given in this work. The Bible affirms
that nature teaches the existence of God. "For the
invisible things of Him from the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that
are made, even his eternal power and Godhead."
Rom., i. 20.
Our duties to God include all other duties. The
duties which we owe to men, we owe also to God.
For example, to treat our neighbor kindly is a duty
which we owe to him. It is also a duty which we
owe to God.




24              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
Our duties are commonly divided into, 1. Those
which we owe to God, 2. Those which we owe to ourselves, 3. Those which we owe to others.
If we do our whole duty to God, we shall necessarily do our duty to ourselves and to others. To do
our whole duty to God, is to do all his will. It is
his will that we should do what is termed our duty to
ourselves and to others.
The proposition, "It is our duty to do the will of
God," thus includes all our duties. We need then to
know what that will is-what God would have us do
in the varied relations of life. We need to consider
duty in detail. To this we shall now proceed.
It is our duty to study the character of God as it
is made known to us by his word and by his works.
God is our Father. Christ has told us to call him
"Our Father."  It is fitting that the child should
know the character of his father, especially when that
character is one of infinite excellence.
A knowledge of God's character is necessary in
order that we may know the duties we owe him. For
example, we need to know that he is just, that we
may see it to be our duty to submit to his government. We need to know that he is merciful, that we
may see it to be our duty to ask pardon for our sins.
We need to know that he is infinitely lovely, that we
may see it to be our duty to love him with all the
heart.




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              25
The study of the divine character has a tendency
to promote the perfection of our own character. Experience shows that we become like those whose
characters are the object of our admiring study.
The more we study, in a proper manner, the character
of God, the more we shall be like him. The Apostle
recognizes this truth. He says that those "beholding as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, are changed
into the same image from glory to glory, even, as by
the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Cor., iii. 18.
There is no study so glorious, so exalting as the
study of the character of God,-" the high and lofty
One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy."
Isa., lvii. 15.
It is our duty to recognize God's hand in his
works. "All things were made by him, and without
him was not any thing made that was made."  John,
i. 3. Through the agency of second causes, he is still
carrying on his operations in nature. "Who covereth
the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the
earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains."  Ps. cxlvii. 8. "He giveth snow like wool:
he scattereth the hoar frost like ashes." Ps. cxlvii. 16.
"Thou hast made summer and winter." Ps. lxxiv. 17.
"My Father worketh hitherto."  John, v. 17. We
are thus in the midst of the works of God, and he is
constantly at work around us-guiding the stars,




26                 CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
causing the seasons to return, weaving the leaf, painting the flower and ripening the fruit.
We should not live in the midst of these wonderful works and operations forgetful of their Author.
Sir Christopher Wren built St. Paul's church in
London.  Suppose his son should visit that edifice,
and admire its beauties, without once thinking of his
father! Suppose the daughters of Milton should read
and admire Paradise Lost without thinking of their
blind old father who wrote it!  They would do what
multitudes of God's children  do.  They are  surrounded by his handy-work.  On one side there is
the exhibition of stupendous power: on the other,
specimens of exquisite skill: here is an example of
his provident care for the wants of his children, and
there are intimations of his inflexible regard for law,
and yet they notice none of these things.  "God
goeth by them  and they see him  not."  They may
wonder and admire, but "God is not in  all their
thoughts."
We should form the habit of associating thoughts
of God, grateful and adoring  thoughts, with  his
works. There is truth as well as poetry in the following passage from Cowper.
"He looks abroad into the varied field
Of nature, and, though poor, perhaps, compared
With those whose mansions glitter in his sight,
Calls the delightful scenery all his own




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.                    27
His are the mountains and the vallies his,
And the resplendent rivers. His t' enjoy
With a propriety that none can feel
But who, with filial confidence inspired,
Can lift to heaven an unpresumptuous eye
And smiling say,'My Father made them all.'"
It is our duty to recognize God's hand in his providential government.  We do not live in a fatherless
and uigoverned world.  "His kingdom  ruleth over
all."  Ps. ciii. 19.  "The Most High ruleth  in  the
kingdom  of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he
will."   Dan., iv. 17.   "Promotion  cometh  neither
from the east nor from  the west nor from  the south.
But God is the  judge: he putteth one down, and
setteth up another."  Ps. lxxv. 6.  "Affliction cometh
not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out
of the ground."  Job, v. 6.  " Whom the Lord loveth
he chasteneth  and  scourgeth  every  son  whom  he
receiveth."  IHeb., xii. 6.  "Who worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will."  Eph., i. 11.
God governs nature by fixed, uniform  laws.  He
has made men free agents.  In a way unknown to us,
but neither by miraculous agency nor by infringing
on man's freedom, he exerts a controlling influence
over all events.
This controlling Providence should be at all times
recognized.  The neglect of this duty is thus rebuked
by the Apostle, "Go to, now, ye that say, to-day or
to-morrow we will go into such a city, and continue




28              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
there a year, and buy and sell and get gain: for that
ye ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live and do
this or that."  James, iv. 13.
We cannot see how God can control all things
without interfering with the operation of the laws of
nature, or with human freedom.  This does not
disprove the fact that he does so.  The fact is
established, as we have seen, by his own testimony.
It is our duty to render implicit obedience to
God's commands. We should obey him because it is
right to obey him. His commands are the expression
of his will. His will is always right. It is as impossible for his will to be wrong as it is for him to
lie; "It was impossible for God to lie." Ieb., vi. 18.
WTe have seen that we were made to do right: consequently we were made to obey God.
We should obey him because he is our Creator,
Benefactor, and Father, and is possessed of every
conceivable perfection. The creature belongs to the
creator. Of course, the creator has a right to govern
the creature according to the nature given him.
"Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it,
why hast thou made me thus?" Rom., ix. 20.
We are dependent upon our Benefactor for life
and all things. We ought to do the righteous will of
him  on whom  we are thus dependent.  Children
should do the will of their wise and loving Father.
The fact that God will punish disobedience, is not




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.               29
the ground of our obligation to obey him.  That
obligation is founded upon his character and the
relations we sustain to him. It is not proper to say,
"we must obey God, because he will punish us if we
do not."  To conform  to his will through fear of
punishment is not obedience. It is an act of prudence
rather than an act of obedience. At least, it is not
the obedience he requires.  He requires a cordial
obedience-loyalty of heart.
It is our duty to do God's will at all times and in
all circumstances.  To disregard his will is to do
wrong. It can never be right for us to do wrong.
God requires perfect obedience. We are to "have
respect unto all his commandments."  Ps. cxix. 6.
The New Testament does not lower God's claims to
our obedience.  "Be ye therefore perfect, even as
your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Matt.,
viii. 48.
Some seem  to think that doing "pretty nearly
right," will suffice. But we were made to do right
and nothing else. Whenever we see that a thing is
wrong, we know that we ought not to do it. Our
moral nature makes no exceptions in favor of some
acts of wrong doing. It does not decide that little
sins are not wrong. It requires us to avoid everything that is wrong. Thus the voice of our moral
nature is in unison with the voice of God, when it
requires perfect obedience.




30              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
It is our duty to cherish feelings of reverence
towards God. The fear of the Lord which is the
beginning of wisdom, and which is so much insisted
on in the Bible, is not a servile fear, but profound
reverence. The Scriptures describe the angelic hosts
as exhibiting the deepest reverence towards God.
Isa., vi. 2. Rev., iv. 8. He commands us "to reverence his sanctuary." Lev., xix. 30. The apostle Paul
defines acceptable service to be that "accompanied
with reverence and godly fear."  The first petition in
the Lord's prayer, refers to this duty: " Eallowed be
thy name."
Reverence is a feeling which the holy character of
God is adapted to inspire. God makes no arbitrary
requirements.  His commands are always in the
highest degree reasonable. When he commands us to
reverence him, he simply commands us to exercise
that feeling which his character rightly viewed is
adapted to awaken in pure and loyal minds. Such
minds we are under obligation to have.
Some human characters are so pure and august as
to awaken reverence. Who does not reverence the
characters of John Jay and George Washington? If
we reverence the characters of men, much  more
should we reverence the character of God.
Reverence will lead us to avoid not only all profanity but all light and irreverent use of the names of
God. It is said that Sir Isaac Newton always made a




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              31
reverential pause before pronouncing the name of God.
There are forms of expression in somewhat common use, which savor of irreverence and should be
avoided. The exclamations, Gracious! Mercy! Goodness! and the like, are abridged expressions in which
the name of God originally occurred. They may be
regarded as elliptical oaths and should therefore be
avoided.
Reverence will lead us to avoid all trifling with
sacred things, all levity and indecorum in connection
with the public worship of God, all sportive allusions
to solemn religious facts, all ludicrous applications of
passages of Scripture.
A religious character in which reverence is lacking
is very defective, if it be not radically unsound. A
burning zeal, and great apparent devotion to works
of benevolence, will not atone for the want of reverence which is the natural result of right views of the
divine character.




CHAPTER IV.
LOVE TO GOD-CONFIDENCE IN HIS TESTIMONY, PROMISES,
AND CHARACTER-REASONABLENESS OF FAITH.
IT is our duty to love God. " Thou shalt love the
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
thy soul, and with  all thy might."  Deut., vi. 3.
Christ declares this to be "the first and great commandment." Matt., xxii. 38.
To love God with all the heart and soul and
might, is to love him supremely, and as intensely as
the constitution of our nature will allow.
Throughout the Scriptures, the duty of loving God
is set forth with great variety of expression. Love is
said to be "the fulfilling of the law." Eom., xiii. 10.
When it is said that love is the fulfilling of the
law, the meaning is not that the exercise of the emotion or affection of love is a substitute for the various
actions required by the law: the meaning is, that
when  one loves God  supremely, love will spontaneously prompt him to do all God's will. The sense
of obligation will be merged in love.
The affectionate child loves to do his parent's will.
Obedience is rendered not from fear, nor out of re



CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              33
gird to authority, but from love. Such should be the
relation of the soul to God.
Our obligation to love God is founded on the infinite excellence of his character, and on the relations
he sustains to us.  God is holy. "I, the Lord your
God, am a holy God." Lev., xix. 2. Holiness embodies all moral perfection. "As your Father which
is in heaven is perfect." Matt., v. 48.
All who admit the existence of God, agree in
ascribing to him  all possible perfection. He is infinite in knowledge, wisdom, justice, goodness, and
truth: in other words, he is infinitely lovely.
If he were not infinitely lovely, we could not be
under obligation to love him with all the heart. We
were made to love excellence, and nothing else.
Hence, when God commands us to love him with
all the heart, the command is not an arbitrary one.
He simply tells us to exercise our hearts-our emotive
natures, as they were made to be exercised. If he
were to tell us to admire the rainbow or the star-lit
sky, he would tell us to do a very natural thing; for
we were made to admire beauty. So also we were
made to love excellence. The command to love God
with all the heart is in perfect keeping with the
original constitution of the human mind, and the
character of God.
Our obligation to love God rests also on the
relations he sustains to us. He is our Heavenly
2*




34               CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
Father, and all his acts towards us are in keeping
with that relation.  The father who performs all
his duties towards his child, is worthy of love and
honor.
God "giveth us richly all things to enjoy." 1 Tim.,
vi. 17. "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the
Lord pitieth them that fear him." Ps. ciii. 13.  " God
so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life." John, iii. 16.
Thus, from the relations he sustains to us, and the
manner in which he has treated us, we are bound to
love him. We should love him, "because he first
loved us." 1 John, iv. 19.
To love is to be happy. To love with all the heart
a perfect object is to be perfectly happy. When God
commands us to love him with all the heart, he is
simply commanding us to be as happy as the constitution of our nature will permit.
Love is not voluntary.  We cannot love any one
by willing to do so. Our control over our affections
is an indirect control. We can awaken love by contemplating truths adapted to produce it, just as we
awaken the emotion of beauty by contemplating objects adapted to awaken it.
It is our duty to have confidence in God-in his
declarations, his promises, and in his character.
We should implicitly believe his testimony. The




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              35
Bible contains his testimony to many truths that reason cannot reach. A large part of our knowledge in
respect to God and a future life is gained from the
testimony of God. We put full confidence in the testimony of such a man as Washington. If we can
thus put full confidence in the witness of man, "the
witness of God is greater." John, v. 9.
We are not required to believe without evidence,
that the Bible contains the testimony of God-that
the Bible is the word of God.  It must first be
proved that the Bible is the word of God. This
being proved, it is reasonable to believe everything it contains, because it is impossible for God
to lie.
The evidence that the Bible is the word of God is
abundant. To set forth that evidence does not come
within the scope of this work. There are many able
treatises on the subject.
The fact that we may not be able fully to comprehend a proposition, is no reason for not believing it,
provided it rests on the testimony of God. An astronomer may make a statement to a child.  The
child may be unable to understand it, but has no
right to reject it as false.
We must distinguish between the incomprehensible and the contradictory and absurd.
It is our duty to exercise perfect reliance upon
the promises of God. There are some men on whose




36              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
promises we rely. Our reliance is founded upon a
knowledge of their characters.  Our reliance upon
God's promises is founded upon a knowledge of his
character. We know that he is true and unchangeable and omnipotent. Hence his promises will surely
be performed.  All distrust of God's promises dishonors him.  It is practically charging him  with
falsehood. You would consider it an insult to distrust
the promise of a perfectly honorable man. What is it
to distrust the promises of the God of truth?
Many of God's promises to us are conditional. If
we fail to receive the blessings promised, it is because
we fail to meet the required conditions.
We should have perfect confidence in the character of God, that is, we should have perfect faith in
God. This will cause us to feel perfectly sure that all
that he does is wise, and just, and good.
A wise parent often does things which his child
does not and cannot understand. The child should
not call in question the wisdom and kindness of his
parent. He should have confidence in him.
The infinitely wise and holy God does many things
which we do not understand. We should not call in
question his wisdom or goodness. We should have
perfect confidence in him. We should feel perfectly
sure that all he does is right, whether we can see it to
be so or not.
To have confidence in God is to have faith in God.




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              37
Faith is not something distinct from reason-something opposed to reason. It is the most reasonable
of all things. What is more reasonable than to believe what God says, to trust his promises, and to
rely upon his character? What is more reasonable
than faith?




CHAPTER V.
PRAYER-PENITENCE-SUBMISSION-A FORGIVING SPIRITOBJECTS OF PRAYER-THUANKSGIVING AND PRAISE.
IT is our duty to pray to God. We are dependent
upon him for life and all things. It is reasonable that
the child who is dependent upon his father should
ask him for the things he needs. It is reasonable that
the child who has disobeyed his father should ask his
forgiveness. God has commanded us to pray, and
has promised to answer our prayers.  "Call unto me
and I will answer thee." Jer., xxxiii. 3. " He will regard the prayer of the destitute." Ps. cii. 17. "He
heareth the prayer of the righteous." Prov., xv. 29.
Christ says, "Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye
shall find, knock and it shall be opened."  Matt.,
vii. 7. "The fervent effectual prayer of a righteous
man availeth much." James, v. 16.
We are to pray, believing that we shall be heard,
if we " ask according to his will." 1 John, v. 14.
We are not to expect miracles in answer to prayer.
A miracle is a direct exercise of the divine power-an
act not in accordance with the laws of nature. How
God can, in answer to prayer, bring about events




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              39
without interfering with the laws of nature, we do not
know. He declares that he has done so, and will do
so. When God says he will do a thing, we must not
refuse to believe him, because we do not know how he
will do it.
It is objected, that it is unreasonable to suppose
that the omnipotent and omniscient Ruler of the
Universe can be influenced by the prayer of a weak,
ignorant mortal. The question is a question of fact.
Has God said that he will hear prayer?  If he has
said so, all suppositions respecting the reasonableness
or unreasonableness of the fact are out of place.
It is objected that the efficacy of prayer is inconsistent with the unchangeableness of God. If prayer
causes him to do what he would not otherwise do,
it produces a change in him. He is no longer unchangeable.
To this it may be replied, that the unchangeableness of God relates to his character. His character
is unchangeable. He always acts on the same holy
principles. He does to-day what he did not do yesterday, and will do to-morrow what he does not do
to-day; but there is no change in the principles on
which he acts. Some seem to confound unchangeableness with inactivity. Rightly viewed, it will be
seen that his unchangeableness will not prevent his
answering such prayers as are offered according to
his will




40              CHRIISTIAN ETHICS.
It is said, God does not need information as to
our wants. He knows all things, and is infinitely wise,
and has his plan for conducting the affairs of the
universe, and will not turn aside from it to meet the
wishes of individuals.
- No doubt our Heavenly Father knoweth that we
have need of these things. No doubt he is infinitely
wise, and acts on -an infinitely wise plan; but it may
be a part of that plan to do certain things in answer
to prayers offered according to his will. It is a part
of his plan, for he has said so in his holy word.
The Bible records many examples of the efficacy
of prayer. "Elias was a man subject to like passions
as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not
rain; and it rained not on the earth by the space of
three years and six months. And he prayed again,
and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth
her fruit." James, v. 17.
Many persons in all ages have from their own experience borne testimony to the fact, that God hears
and answers prayer.
There have been men who, under the influence of
excited feeling, imagined they received answers to
prayer, when they did not. This does not weaken
the testimony of wise and sober men.
The duty of prayer involves the duty of penitence.
Prayer must be accompanied by penitence and confession.




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.               41
God commands "all men everywhere to repent."
Acts, xvii. 30. " Repent ye, and believe the Gospel."
Mark, i. 15.  Calls to repentance  abound in  the
Scriptures.
It is reasonable that we should repent. We have
all sinned, and ought to be sorry for our sins. Repentance is sorrow for sin. True repentance is such
a sorrow as makes the subject of it desire to avoid all
sin in future. Fear of punishment is not repentance.
Remorse of conscience is not repentance. Sorrow for
sin for its own sake, and because it was committed
against our Heavenly Father, accompanied with a
desire to avoid sin altogether, is repentance.
The child has transgressed the commands and
injured the feelings of his father. He is sincerely
sorry for it, and earnestly desires forgiveness, and
fully purposes never to repeat the act of transgression.
That child is penitent.  When we have similar feelings towards our Heavenly Father, we are penitent.
Penitence is the condition of pardon.  "If my
people which are called by my name shall humble
themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from
their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and
will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2
Chron., vii. 14. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins." 1 John, i. 9.
Penitence is an appropriate condition of mind for
application for pardon. If a man has done wrong,




42              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
and has no sense of the wrong done, and is not sorry
for it, and has no desire to avoid repeating it, there is
no propriety in his asking for pardon. Under such
circumstances, an application for pardon would rather
be an insulting than an humble petition. Penitence
does not atone for sin. Penitence does not merit forgiveness; but it is the required and appropriate condition of forgiveness. Forgiveness is an exercise of
mercy. Mercy is favor shown to the undeserving.
We must pray with faith, that is, with confidence
in God's promise to hear and answer prayer. The
prayer of faith is the prayer of one who implicitly
trusts the promises of God.
Confidence in God's promises does not require us
to believe that every specific petition will be granted.
God's promises are conditioned upon our asking in a
proper spirit, and for objects that are according to his
will. We may ask amiss and not receive, and yet his
promise shall hold good.
Some think they must believe that they shall receive the specific thing asked for. They are about to
pray for the recovery of a friend who is seriously ill.
They endeavor to believe that he will recover; because
they regard this belief as the condition of effectual
prayer. They do not succeed; for belief does not follow the bidding of the will, that is, we cannot believe
a thing by willing to believe it. Belief requires evidence, and where evidence is wanting, there can be




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.               43
no real belief. This error originated in a remark of
Christ relative to the faith of miracles.
We must pray with submission. Prayer without
the spirit of submission is dictation. The child who
is confident that his parent knows better than he
does what is for his good, asks in submission to his
father's better knowledge. He desires what he asks
for, provided his father thinks it is best for him to
have it.
This is the attitude of mind with which we should
approach God in prayer.  He knows what is best for
us, and for the interests of truth and righteousness.
We should desire nothing which he does not see that
it is best for us to have.  Christ closed the most
earnest prayer, perhaps, that was ever offered on
earth, with "not my will, but thine be done."  Luke,
xxii. 42.
It is our duty to pray with a forgiving spirit. It
is unreasonable for one who desires forgiveness for
the wrong he has done, to cherish hostility to those
who have injured him. Christ illustrates this duty
and the reasonableness of it by a striking parable.
"Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a
certain king who would take account of his servants.
And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought
unto him which owed him ten thousand talents. But
forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded
him to be sold, and his wife and children and all that




44              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him saying, Lord, have
patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the
Lord of that servant was moved with compassion,
and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
" But the same servant went out and found one of
his fellow servants which owed him  an hundred
pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by
the throat saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his
fellow servant fell down at his feet and besought him
saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
And he would not, but went and cast him into prison
till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow
servants saw what was done, they were very sorry,
and came and told their Lord all that was done.
"Then his Lord after that he had called him, said
unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all
that debt, because thou desiredst me. Shouldst not
thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant,
even as I had pity on thee?  And his lord was
wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he
should pay all that was due unto him.
"So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto
you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his
brother their trespasses."  Matt., xviii. 23-35. "But
if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will
your Father forgive your trespasses."  Matt., vi. 15.
A forgiving spirit is not inconsistent with a just




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.               45
regard to our rights of person and property, and the
enforcement of the laws of the land.
It is our duty to pray for the pardon of our sins,
for wisdom and strength to do the will of God, for
the blessing of God upon our enterprises and labors,
for the happiness and prosperity of others, and for the.
extension of God's kingdom. These are the general
topics for prayer. The Apostle gives direction that
prayer be offered in connection with everything that
concerns us.  "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known unto God." Phil.,
iv. 6.
It is our duty to pray for the influence and aid of
the Holy Spirit.  Our moral powers are weakened by
reason of sin. We need an influence from without to
give us aspirations for excellence and to aid us in
using the means for acquiring it.  The Scriptures
clearly teach that a divine influence is exerted upon
the mind, leading it towards perfection. How this
influence can be exerted without interfering with
man's freedom as a moral agent, we do not know.
We know the fact on the testimony of God. This
influence is commonly exerted in connection with the
truth.  The mind is enabled to see the truth more
clearly, and is rendered more susceptible to the impression it is adapted to make.
The Holy Spirit is represented as a teacher, com



46              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
forter, inspirer of love to God and of prayer, and
sanctifier of the soul. The gift of the Spirit thus
includes the greatest of blessings. This gift is promised to those who desire it.  "If ye, being evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children, how
much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy
Spirit to them that ask him." Luke, xi. 13.
It is our duty to render to God thanksgiving.
That it is our duty to be grateful for benefits received
is a self-evident truth. Thanksgiving is the appropriate expression of our gratitude. The Scriptures
insist on this duty.  "Offer unto God thanksgiving."
Ps. 1. 14. "Giving thanks always for all things unto
God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ." Eph., v. 20.
Connected with thanksgiving is praise. Injunctions to praise abound in the Scriptures. " Sing unto
the Lord with thanksgiving." Ps. cxlvii. 7. " Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns, and spiritual
songs, singing and making melody in your heart to
the Lord." Eph., v. 19. Praise is represented as one
of the employments of heaven.
Does not the duty of singing praise to God involve the duty of learning to sing, just as the duty of
studying God's word involves the duty of learning to
read? Should not vocal music as well as reading be
taught in our schools?




CHAPTER VI.
STUDY OF THE BIBLE-ADVANTAGES.
IT is our duty to study the word of God. This
duty is involved in that of studying the character of
God. It is, indeed, involved in all the duties that
have been mentioned. Still, its importance is so great
that it is proper to give it separate consideration.
God has written a book for our benefit. Hence it
is our duty to study it, and to seek to derive from it
all the benefit it was intended to convey.
The Bible gives us knowledge of infinite value,
which could be obtained from no other source. It
makes known to us truths concerning God, which we
could never learn from nature, nor from the highest
exercise of reason. Nature teaches us that God is
infinitely wise and powerful, but is he infinitely just?
The mere suspicion of injustice on the part of God,
would throw a pall of darkness over the universe.
But nature cannot assure us that God is just.
In order that we may infer, from a man's actions,
that he is perfectly just, all his actions must be conformed to the law of justice. If some of his actions




48              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
are just and some of them unjust, we cannot infer
that he is a perfectly just man. If some of his actions
appear to be unjust, we cannot be certain that he is a
perfectly just man.
In like manner, all the indications in nature
in regard to the justice of God must point in one
direction, or we cannot conclude from them that God
is perfectly just.
Now what are the indications?  They are twofold.
There are many examples, in the works of Providence, of the wicked punished and the righteous
rewarded. These indicate justice on the part of God.
But there are many examples of an opposite character. The wicked are often prosperous even to the
close of life. The righteous are often oppressed and
afflicted all their days. These facts do not indicate
justice on the part of the Governor of the world. If
we were left to the light of nature, we could come to
no certain conclusion in regard to the justice of God.
But the Bible removes the difficulty. It reveals a
future world of retribution in which all men shall be
rewarded according to the deeds done in the body.
It assures us that God is perfectly just.
In like manner, the indications of nature in regard
to the benevolence of God are, taken as a whole, equivocal.  Benevolence tends to produce happiness.
Some of the arrangements of nature tend to promote
happiness, and some tend to promote misery. There




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.               49
are the sunshine, the delightful breeze, and the refreshing shower.  There are also the storm, the
pestilence, and the earthquake. From some of these
indications, we should infer benevolence on the part
of their author.  From  others, we should infer
malignity.  We need light from above to enable us to
reconcile all the indications of nature with the benevolence of God. This light the Bible furnishes. It
shows us that all suffering is the consequence of sin,
-the result of a system  of justice to be perfected
hereafter.  It assures us of the infinite benevolence
of God.
Nature can give us no assurance that pardon can
be had on repentance. The truth that pardon can be
had, every member of the human family is interested
in knowing.  Every one knows that he is a sinner.
Every one knows that he needs forgiveness; but the
Bible alone informs him how it mav be obtained.
In nature there are some indications which suggest
the possibility of severing the connection between the
violation of God's law and the penalty attached to the
violation.  The transgressor of the laws of health, if
he reforms and takes remedies in season, may recover
from the effect of his transgressions. This suggests
that the transgressor of the moral law, may by timely
repentance  and  reformation  escape  the  penalty.
There are other violations of physical law, which are
invariably followed by their penalties.  Sever the
3




50               CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
jugular vein and death is certain. No acts of repentance can, in such cases avert the penalty.  May not
the same be true of violations of the moral law?
There are some indications in nature which suggest
the possibility of pardon, —there are more which
point in the direction of inflexible justice.
We need therefore the light of revelation to teach
that God is merciful and gracious, forgiving iniquity,
transgression and sins,-that sinners can be forgiven
for Christ's sake.  "Even as God for Christ's sake
hath forgiven you."  Eph., iv. 32. "In whom  we
have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of sin." Eph., i. 7.
Hence the Bible should be studied, because it
teaches truths of infinite value which  cannot be
gained from any other source.
The Bible should be studied, because it has a
tendency to develop and purify all our powers.  It
is a mistake to suppose that it tends to improve our
moral powers only. It has a tendency to improve our
intellectual, and social, as well as our moral nature.
All our powers are improved by exercise. The
Bible has a tendency to exercise all our powers, and
hence, to improve them.
The Bible contains a system  of truth, just as
nature contains a system of truth. It requires careful study to discover it, and that study improves the
mind.




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              51
The facts from which the science of astronomy is
derived appear, at first v iew, to have very little connection with each other. It took centuries of observation before the system  which underlies those
facts and shows that they belong to one harmonious
whole, was discovered.
The facts of the Bible from which the science of
theology is derived, seem  at first view to have but
little connection. They lie scattered as it were
throughout the Bible. There are facts of history and
biography, proverbial maxims, songs of praise, pro,
phecies, and precepts.  When carefully studied, a
connected system is evolved, and all the various facts
of the Bible are found to be parts of one harmonious
whole.  The study of systematic truth, especially
when that truth relates to the highest and most important themes with which the mind can hold converse, must be improving to the mind.
Again, the mind is improved by coming in contact
with minds of power. The books which it is most
profitable to read are not those which convey the
largest amount of information, but those that are
instinct with power.  In reading the work  of a
superior mind, the mind of the reader comes in
contact with the mind of the writer and receives a
portion of his power.
Now in studying the Bible, the mind comes in
contact with the divine mind. If to bring the mind




52               CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
in contact with a powerful human mind be productive
of benefit, much more must it be so to bring it in
contact with the divine mind! If the benefit of
communion with a human mind be in proportion to
the power of that mind, how great must be the benefit
of communing with the infinite mind!
The object of revelation is to restore the soul to
its original perfection.  A well developed intellect is
necessary to a perfect soul. Hence the Bible is, as
we have seen, adapted to develop the intellect. It
is also adapted to develop taste, or the power of perceiving and enjoying  beauty.  There are, in  the
Bible, many passages of unequalled  beauty  and
sublimity.
It is also adapted to exercise the imagination.
Witness the imagery of some of the Hebrew prophets,
and especially that of Saint John in the Revelation.
It is also adapted-to exalt and purify our affections. It makes the exercise of love pervade all our
duties.  It sets before our affections an object of
perfect loveliness in the character of our Heavenly
Father.  In short, it is perfectly adapted to form
wisdom, strength and beauty of character,-to render
us perfect men in Christ Jesus.  It is therefore
infinitely more worthy of study than any other volume.
The Bible should be studied, not kept as a talisman, nor formally read as a mechanical exercise. It
should be studied with reverence, but the same rules




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              53
of interpretation should be applied to it as to other
books. We are to search the Scriptures.  To honest
and vigorous exercise of mind, there should be added
prayer for divine illumination.  "Open thou mine
eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy
law."  Ps. cxix. 18.
In studying the Bible it is important to notice the
relation between its doctrines and its precepts. Some
endeavor to separate them, when, in truth, they are
inseparable. Some regard the precepts as having a
closer relation to practice, and hence as more important. They do not regard the doctrines of the
Bible as having any relation to practice.
The doctrines of the Bible are to its precepts, what
the principles of arithmetic are to its practical rules.
The doctrines are the principles whence the precepts
are drawn. We need to understand the doctrines in
order to understand the reasons of the precepts.
The study of the Bible should be accompanied
with devout meditation.  To know what the Bible
teaches is one thing: to have its truths influential in
directing our actions and moulding our characters is
another thing. That truths may be thus influential,
the attention of the mind must be long and steadily
directed to them.




CHAPTER VII.
CULTURE AND CARE OF THE BODY-LAWFUL RELAXATIONSSELF-DEFENCE.
GOD made man for a certain end. It is man's
duty not to defeat that end. He should endeavor to
be what God made him to be. God made him to
be a man. He has therefore no right to be a brute.
It is his duty to be a man. It is his duty to do everything in his power to realize the idea of a perfect
manhood.
Man is composed of body and mind. They are
mysteriously united and exert a reciprocal influence
on each other.  A feeble and diseased body often
enfeebles the action of the mind. A disordered mind
often produces bodily disease. Both must be in a
healthful condition, both must be properly developed
in order to a perfect mind.
A well developed body is of more consequence
than is commonly supposed. The body is the instrument of the mind. If the instrument is out of order,
the skill of the agent may be lost. This shows that
those are in error who think it a duty to cultivate the




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              55
mind, but regard the culture of the body as optional.
It is our duty to become acquainted with the
structure of our bodies, because this knowledge is
necessary to an intelligent care of them. Intimately
connected with a knowledge of the structure of our
bodies, is a knowledge of the laws of health, that is,
the rules we should follow in order to avoid disease.
Our bodily powers are developed by exercise.
Activity and industry are necessary to the healthful
growth of our bodies,-necessary to the development
of bodily strength. Hence habits of inactivity and
idleness are wrong.
Activity must not be continued to the point of
hurtful exhaustion. Excessive industry is wrong;
for it uses up the staple of life before the time.
It is our duty to avoid all intemperance in eating
and drinking. Gluttony as well as drunkenness is a
vice, and a debasing one. God has rendered eating
and drinking pleasant, but the pleasures thus occasioned are incidental to the nourishment of the body.
We were made to eat that our bodies may be nourished, not for the sake of the pleasure of eating.
The epicure makes that an end which was designed
to be incidental to the pursuit of a higher end.
All excess in eating and drinking tends to injure
the health and enfeeble the mind.  All injurious
articles of food and drink should be avoided. Duty




56              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
requires the moderate use of useful and lawful
things, and entire abstinence from hurtful and unlawful things.
No one has a right wilfully or through carelessness to injure his health. Health is necessary to a
discharge of the duties of life. We have no right to
incapacitate ourselves for performing the duties of
life. We have no right to render ourselves unable to
pay our debts by casting our money into the fire.
No one has a right to say, "my body is my own and
I can neglect or abuse it if I choose to do so."
It is our duty to avoid such amusements as are
injurious to health and morals. It is lawful to take
relaxation and enjoy amusements. The bow is not
always to be bent.  The human mind cannot long
endure  continued vigorous exertion.  There  are
legitimate amusements. There are legitimate social
enjoyments. God has made us social beings. The
perfect example of Christ authorizes us to be present
at the marriage gathering and at the hospitable board.
But lawful amusements and enjoyments may be
indulged in to excess. In regard to these things,
the voice of reason and of revelation unite in saying
to every one, "Do thyself no harm."  God prohibits
those things only which are injurious to ourselves
or to others.
It is our duty to avoid all unnecessary exposure
whereby our health may be impaired, and, when it is




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.               57
impaired, to use the remedies best adapted to restore
it.  Hence it is our duty to have recourse to the prescriptions of men of science and skill, and not to those
of quacks and imposters.
If it is our duty to take care of our health, much
more is it our duty to take care of our lives. We
have no right to do anything that shall needlessly put
our lives in peril.
It is our duty to defend ourselves against lawless
violence. Christ did not teach the doctrine of nonresistance.  When he said, "If any man smite you
on one cheek, turn the other also," he did not intend
to teach a doctrine which gives impunity to violence.
He did not mean to forbid self-defence, or an appeal
to the protection of the laws. He meant to inculcate
a forbearing spirit, and to forbid a retaliatory spirit.
To forbid self-defence when the emergency requires it,
and to forbid efforts to bring the violators of law to
just punishment, would be to give society over to the
wicked-would be to authorize anarchy. No one can
believe that Christ intended to teach such doctrines.
That we have a right to defend ourselves from
lawless violence, when an appeal cannot be made to
the protection of the law, is a self-evident truth.  We
instinctively exercise self-defence, and conscience approves the act, that is, we see that it is right.
This principle does not authorize us to resent and
punish every insult, or to punish  such personal




58:CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
wrongs as can be referred to a legal tribunal.  Government is for the punishment of evil doers, and to it
should they be handed over, except when the emergency requires instant defence.
It is sometimes our duty to suffer wrong, without
even appealing to the laws for redress. Christ's example teaches us that we are sometimes silently to
suffer wrong, and to " commit our cause to Him who
judgeth righteously."  But if a lawless attempt is
made to take our life, it is our duty to defend it, even
at the expense of the life of our assailant. In such
a case, the right and duty of self-defence would be
clear.




CHAPTER  VIII.
DISCIPLINE AND DEVELOPMENT OF MIND-SELF-CONTROLANGER.
IT is our duty to develop and discipline our minds,
so that they may be efficient instruments for performing the work given us to do. Every one sees that it
would not be right for us to dwarf our bodies or
paralyze our limbs, so that they would be unfit to perform their functions. On the same principle, it would
be wrong for us to dwarf our minds, thus unfitting
them for accomplishing what they might otherwise
accomplish. Mental power is far more important and
valuable than bodily power. It is a much greater
wrong to allow it to run to waste.
Our mental, like our bodily powers, are developed
by exercise. The object of education is not so much
to acquire knowledge as to develop power. One may
have a great deal of knowledge and very little power.
Of course, he can do but little. Knowledge is power
only as it prompts to exertion, and gives a right direction to it.
No one can develop and discipline the mind of
another. He can tell him how to do it, but each one




60               CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
must do the work for himself. Every one must educate himself, if he is educated at all.
The degree of culture which each one is under obligation to bestow upon his mind, must be determined
by the circumstances in which he is placed.
It is our duty to train our minds to perceive truth
clearly.  Man was made to act wisely.  A knowledge
of the truth is necessary to wise action. Action from
false principles cannot be wise action. A man who
goes into the manufacture of gunpowder on erroneous
chemical principles, or rather in ignorance of the true
chemical principles which underlie the art, will be
almost certain to fail. If he succeeds, his success will
be accidental. In like manner, he who enters upon
any department of effort, in ignorance of the facts and
principles concerned, cannot pursue a wise and efficient course.
It is our duty to train our minds to an accurate
perception of truth in relation to duty.  Our great,
in truth, our sole business here is to do duty.  We
must know our duty in order to do it.  Ignorance of
duty will not excuse us from  doing it, unless that
ignorance be invincible.
It is our duty to acquire accurate knowledge, so
far as it is possible, in regard to all subjects, in relation to which we are called to act. Where positive
knowledge cannot be acquired, it is our duty to form
as accurate opinions as possible. Our action in rela



CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              61
tion to a given subject will, if we act as rational beings, be determined by our knowledge or opinions in
relation to that subject. Hence, if we are responsible
for our actions, we are responsible for the opinions
that determine the character of our actions.
Our powers were given us for action-for wise action. Action can be wise only as it is inaccordance
with truth. If a man undertakes to be an agriculturist, his labor will be effective only as it is put forth in
accordance with those rules and principles which
experience has shown to be true. He has no right
to waste labor by doing that which will bring about
no valuable end. It is duty to acquire the knowledge
necessary to render his labor productive.
Suppose it to be one's duty to visit with dispatch
and economy certain cities in Europe. It would be
his duty to acquaint himself with the relative position
of said cities, and of the best modes of conveyance.
If in any case accurate knowledge cannot be acquired,
he must do his best to form as accurate an opinion as
possible. For example, if there are two lines of travel,
each claiming certain advantages, he may not be able
to learn which is absolutely the best. In view of the
conflicting claims, he may be able to form an opinion
as to which is best-he may not be able to acquire
actual knowledge. It is his duty to form as accurate
an opinion as possible, since his opinion must determine his action.




62               CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
It is the statesman's duty to promote the best
interests of his country. In order that he may frame
wise measures, he must have an accurate knowledge
of the condition and wants of the country. So far as
his knowledge is inadequate, his action is liable to
be unwise. If it be wise, it will be wise only by
accident.
In many cases, his conduct must be determined by
his opinions. That those opinions should, as far as
possible, be correct, is too plain to require argument.
It thus appears that in every sphere of action, men
are under obligation to acquire accurate knowledge
and form accurate opinions.
The only exception that has been claimed relates
to the acquisition of religious knowledge and the formation of religious opinions. On this subject many
unsound assertions have been made.  It has been
affirmed that men are not responsible for their religious belief, and that a correct belief is a matter of no
consequence. It is sometimes said that it is no matter what a man's belief is, if his practice be right.
This implies that there is no connection between
belief and practice, whereas we have seen that, if we
act rationally, our action will be as our belief.
A moment's reflection will show that there is the
same connection between knowledge and action, in
relation to religion, as there is in relation to other objects. We cannot do our duty to God unless we know




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              63
that God exists, and that he sustains certain relations to us. If we have inaccurate ideas of God, we
must of necessity have inaccurate ideas of duty
towards him. We cannot know our duties in relation
to Christ's mission, unless we have accurate knowledge of the nature of that mission.
The Bible is the source of a large amount of positive knowledge.  There are some things so clearly
revealed that we may be said to know them. There
are statements in the Bible, the meaning of which are
not perfectly clear to us. In regard to these, we have
beliefs rather than knowledge. Those beliefs are often
as influential, and necessarily so, as our knowledge.
Hence it is important that they should be correct.
Hence it is our duty to use all the means in our power
to form correct beliefs. If through carelessness in the
examination of evidence, or through the influence of
prejudice, we form erroneous opinions, and are thus
led to perform wrong actions, we are responsible both
for the actions and the opinions. We were made to
do right.
It may be asked, suppose a man is perfectly
sincere in his erroneous belief, and acts in accordance
with it, will not his action be accepted as right?
Consider the matter in the light of analogy. Suppose a man owes A a sum of money. He meets B,
and mistakes him for A., and hands him the money.
He designs to pay his just debts. He designs to do




64              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
right.  Has he discharged his obligation  to his
creditor?  Will A accept his sincerity in lieu of the
money due him?
Suppose a man sincerely believes it to be his duty
to worship an idol, will God, on account of his sincerity in error, acccept that worship in lieu of the
worship due to himself?
His sincerity would lessen his guilt, but would not
remove it altogether-would not change wrong into
right. To worship an idol, knowing it to be his duty
to worship God, would indeed be a far greater sin,
than to worship an idol under the belief that he was
doing right.
Correct religious knowledge is, therefore, important, as the directory of religious duty.  Correct
knowledge without reference to practice is of no
value.
It is our duty to deliver our minds from the power
of prejudice. Prejudice interferes with the accurate
perception of truth. If we have a prejudice in favor
of a proposition, we receive it as a truth on a very
small amount of evidence. If we have a prejudice
against a person, we readily believe a statement to his
disadvantage.  The only department of truth, free
from  the influence of prejudice, is mathematical
truth.
To free our minds from the influence of every
kind of prejudice is a difficult task. It must be done,




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.               65
or we cannot have accurate perceptions of truth and
duty.
It is our duty to train our minds to perceive and
enjoy beauty. God has given us power to perceive
and enjoy beauty, and has scattered beauty profusely
throughout his works. To turn away from  it with
indifference is to treat him with disrespect.
The useful must ever claim the larger share of our
attention, but the beautiful must not be neglected.
Beauty has its utilities. It is a source of pure and
elevated enjoyment.  What are usually termed the
pleasures of taste,-the pleasures resulting from  a
perception of the beauties of nature and of the fine
arts, are refining and elevating in their influence.
They are higher than the pleasures of sense, and
inferior only to those resulting from the exercise of
our best affections on their proper objects.
The love of beauty is not the love of holiness and
must not be mistaken for it. The worship of beauty
must not be substituted for the worship of God.
True religion has a tendency to form  a beautiful
character, and so far as it fails to do so, the failure
must be owing to the want of a right application of its
principles.
It is our duty  to control and subjugate our
tempers.  The excitement of passion renders clear
perception and sound judgment impossible.  The
angry  man  sees everything through  a distorted




66               CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
medium. He thinks he acts perfectly reasonable in
all that he does under the promptings of his passion.
When his passion has subsided, he sees his folly.
Anger interferes with the performance of all our duties.
The apostle commands us to "lay aside all anger,"
and not to let the " sun go down upon your wrath."
He who cannot control himself, can never have
any considerable degree of control over others.  So
far as a man is unable to control his temper, he loses
the respect of his fellow men. "He that is slow to
anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth
his spirit, than he that taketh a city."  Prov., xvi. 32.
Men differ greatly in their natural tempers. Some
are calm and not easily moved, others are very susceptible of angry feeling. It is difficult for such to
get perfect control of their tempers, but it can be
done. It will require time and effort, but it can be done.
We can control our tempers by constantly trying
to do it. The reason why some persons have no control over their tempers will be found in the fact that
they do not try to have any control. They do not try
to restrain themselves.  Occasionally, when in the
presence of strangers, perhaps, they may put some
restraint upon themselves; but ordinarily, they yield
to every impulse of passion.
We may not be able to prevent the rising of
temper, but we can avoid giving any expression to it.
When anger prompts us to utter harsh words, we can




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              67
keep our lips firmly closed. If we habitually refuse
to give expression to a feeling, by word or deed, its
strength will continually decay.
It may be asked, is it ever right to be angry?
The Bible says, "Be ye angry and sin not." Eph., iv.
26. This would indicate that there is a kind of anger
that is not sinful. God is said to be angry with the
wicked. By this is meant his holy disapprobation of
sin-his righteous indignation at wrong-doing. We
are so made, that we cannot help feeling indignation
when we witness acts of injustice and cruelty. This
feeling is right.
Anger in its ordinary meaning is the perversion
of that capacity of our nature that leads us to look
with disapprobation and indignation at wrong-doing.
The duty of self-control has respect to other feelings as well as anger. Our appetites are to be under
our control. They were given us for certain purposes.
They are to be kept within the limits they were
designed to occupy.  Within those limits they are
sources of lawful enjoyment. Paul said, "I keep my
body under and keep it in subjection."
All our passions should be under the control of
reason  and conscience, that is, they should be
exercised only when it is reasonable and right for
them to be exercised. Just in proportion as a man is
under the dominion of his passions, he approximates
to the brute creation.




CHAPTER IX.
REGULATION OF OUR DESIRES.
OUR desires are the immediate causes of our
actions.  We never act unless we have a desire to do
so. We may do that, which, in itself considered, we
do not desire to do. The cause of our doing it may
be a desire to avoid the consequences of not doing it.
A child may not desire to go to school; yet he goes,
being led to do so by a desire to avoid the punishment
that would follow his failure to go.
Our desires being thus the causes of our actions,
the regulation of them  becomes a very important
duty.
Some desires are original and some acquired. Our
original desires are those which are the result of our
creation-which were implanted in our nature by
God. These are possessed, though in different degrees
of strength, by all men. The desire of knowledge, of
society, of property, of esteem, are original desires.
All our original desires are right when properly exercised. Whatever belongs to our nature as it came
from the hand of God, is right.
There are desires which are not common to all




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.             69
men. They are acquired by some men. The desires
for tobacco and alcoholic drinks, are acquired desires.
Some acquired desires are right and others wrong.
Our original desires may be perverted and directed towards wrong objects, and lead us to adopt wrong
means for their gratification: in such cases they become wrong.
It is our duty to cherish the desire for knowledge.
The fact that this desire is given us, in connection
with the capacity for knowing, shows that it ought to
be gratified. " That the soul be without knowledge is
not good." Prov., xix. 2.
This desire can be gratified by turning our attention to objects of knowledge.
We should not allow this desire to lead us to attempt to know that which is beyond our powers.
Our powers are limited.  There are some things
which we can know: there are some things which
beings with higher powers can know, which we cannot know.
We should seek to acquire useful knowledge. We
are not to indulge an idle curiosity-a desire to know
things that are in no way useful. Some spend their
whole lives in laborious trifling-searching for knowledge which, when found, is of no use to them or to
others.
Useful knowledge is not confined to facts capable
of application to the ordinary pursuits of life. What



70              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
ever tends to expand, elevate, strengthen, and purify
the soul is useful.
There are knowledges which are injurious and debasing. These should be carefully avoided. We cannot willingly increase our knowledge of evil without
guil.
The desire for society is natural to man. Scarcely
any punishment, short of death, is more severe than
that of separating one entirely from the society of his
fellow men.
This desire should not lead us to associate with
men simply to avoid solitude, or to pass away the
time. We should seek the society of those whose influence will be beneficial. Our social nature was
given us that we might associate with the good-not
with the evil.
We are not to separate ourselves from the wicked,
on the pharisaic principle, Stand by, I am holier than
thou. We are to follow Christ's example, by mingling
with all classes of men, for the purpose of doing them
good. But when we would indulge the desire for
society, we should select as our companions "the
excellent of the earth."
The desire of property is natural to man. God
designed that men should produce and possess property, and hence implanted the desire of possession.
Property, wealth, is necessary to the comfort of man,
and is a necessary condition of civilization.  The




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              71
leisure and means of mental and social improvement
cannot be had, unless there is in the community a certain amount of wealth.
It is lawful to gratify this desire by the use of just
and honorable means. Whenever it seeks gratification by unjust and dishonorable means, it has become
perverted and wrong. When excessive, it leads to
avarice, one of the meanest of vices.
This desire must be subordinate to the desire of
pleasing God and doing his will. "Seek ye first the
kingdom of God and his righteousness." Matt., vi. 33.
It may be asked, to what extent may this desire be
indulged? How long may a man continue to accumulate property?
So long as he conducts his operations wisely, and
with strict integrity. So long as he pursues such a
course, he will benefit others by his operations, and
he may benefit himself so long as in so doing he
benefits others.
The desire of esteem is natural to man. A man
must become very much debased before he can lose
all desire of esteem on the part of his fellow men. It
is doubtful whether this desire is ever wholly eradicated.
It is right to seek the esteem of men by right
means. It is right to seek it by rendering ourselves
worthy of esteem. It is not right to seek it in any
other way.




72              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
This desire often becomes excessive. In many,
the desire for popularity is so strong, that truth and
honor are sacrificed in its pursuit. The question such
men ask is not, What is right? but, What will secure
popularity? That which they think will please men,
is substituted for that which will please God.  "For
they loved the praise of men more than the praise of
God." John, xii. 43.
The desire of excellence is a natural desire. Its
direct tendency, when properly directed, is to our improvement. It leads to emulation, but emulation is
not necessarily evil. Paul appealed to this principle, when he was making pecuniary collections for
the members of the church at Jerusalem.
The desire of distinction is closely allied to the desire of excellence. It is lawful to seek for distinction
by the use of honorable means.
The apostle commends those "who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory, and honor, and
immortality." Rom., ii. 7.
The love of distinction must not be a ruling motive. It must be subordinate to the desire to do, in
all things, the will of God.
The desire of distinction, when not rightly regulated, leads to jealousy and envy. When the soul is
under the dominion of jealousy and envy, all the
nobler feelings decay. No evil passion is more pain



CHRISTIAN ETHICS.               73
ful to the person who exercises it, and more blighting
in its effects upon the character.
There is more envy in the hearts of men than they
are willing to admit. Much of the criticism of character which we hear is owing to envy, though it
assumes the garb of justice.
To guard against it, we should be careful to exercise an exact, if not generous justice towards those
who are liable to become to us objects of envy, If it
give us uneasiness to hear one praised, let us take
heed lest this vile passion find a lodgment in our
bosoms.
The desire of power is a natural desire. If indulged
for selfish purposes it is wrong.  It is not lawful to
desire power for its own sake, or as an end. We are
commanded to be strong in the Lord —strong to do
the work he would have us do.
The possession of power is a dangerous trust, and
one liable to be abused. Few have possessed power
over their fellow men without abusing it.
The legitimate desire of power may degenerate
into ambition. The question may be asked, is ambition right?  Is it lawful to cherish an ambitious
spirit?  The answer depends upon  the definition
given to the term ambition.  Some speak of a holy
ambition, but it is doubtful whether that is a proper
form of expression. Ambition, as commonly under4




74                CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
stood, implies such a desire of advancement as may
lead to the use of improper measures for its attainment.
The desire for happiness is an original desire.
There is, therefore, a lawful sphere for its gratification.
Happiness is not something external to the soul
like wealth.  It is a condition of the soul.  The
question arises, how can this condition be secured?
The answer must be derived from experience, and the
teachings of God.
God made us to be happy, or he would not have
given us this desire.  It is therefore our duty to be
happy.  But we must be happy in the way designed
by him.  We must not say "God made us to be
happy; the gratification of our desires yields happiness, therefore we are to gratify our desires." Some
of our desires are to be gratified and some are to be
repressed.  We must make a distinction.
It is a general fact or law of our nature that the
gratification of desire is pleasant.  The gratification
of the desire for food or the desire for property is
pleasant.  So also the gratification of revenge, or
the desire to injure one is pleasant. The gratification
of our evil passions is pleasant for the time being.  It
cannot therefore be right for us to seek for happiness
in the gratification of all our desires.
Virtuous desires are in themselves pleasant, and
pleasant in their gTatification. Vicious desires are




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.                75
in  themselves  painful, yet in  their gratification
pleasant.
The soul as it came from the hand of the Creator
had no evil desires.  The general law, that the gratification of desire is attended with pleasure, was therefore an appropriate law.  Now  when evil desires
spring up in the soul, God does not repeal the original
law with respect to the gratification of desire; but
he shows that he approves virtue and disapproves
vice, by making the exercise of virtuous desires pleasant, and the exercise of vicious desires painful: and
while the gratification of a vicious desire is followed
by a momentary enjoyment, it is also followed by
lasting pain.  One feels hatred toward his neighbor
and does him  an injury.  There is a momentary
enjoyment connected with the gratification of his evil
desire, but it is followed by a sense of guilt and
remorse, which will be felt, at intervals at least, till
the guilt be removed.
Happiness is the result of the proper exercise of
all our powers. It may be said that there is enjoyment in rest, bodily and mental.  True, but rest presupposes exertion, and the rest yielding the highest
happiness derivable from  rest, is the rest following
the proper exercise of our powers.
There is enjoyment resulting  from  the proper
exercise of our physical powers.  There is a higher
enjoyment resulting from  the exercise of our intel



76               CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
lectual and esthetic powers.  There is still higher
enjoyment resulting from  the exercise of our affections.  Now as it is God's will that all our powers
should be properly  exercised, happiness will be
secured by doing his will.  He who loves God with
all his heart and his neighbor as himself, is a happy
man.  He will be led so to exercise his powers as to
secure the greatest amount of happiness attainable by
man.  God's will is a directory for the attainment of
happiness.  Human happiness is the incidental result
of making the performance of God's will, the object
of life.




CHAPTER X.
DUTIES OF THE FAMILY CIRCLE.
IT is our duty to cultivate the affections which
unite us with our fellow men. We are endowed with
various affections, that is, we are capable of exercising
different kinds and degrees of love towards those
sustaining certain relations to us. It is of course our
duty to develop and exercise these affections according to the design of him who made them a part of
our nature.
It is our duty to love, reverence, and obey our
parents. We were the objects of parental love and
care, before our powers were sufficiently developed to
be aware of it.  The tenderness and care that
watched over our infancy, and ministered to the
wants of later years, call for love and gratitude in
return.  Thus the duty of blended love and gratitude
springs from the relation we sustain to our parents,
and from benefits bestowed by them.
Love to parents is natural, spontaneous, but still
it requires cultivation.  It may be cultivated by
reflecting on the parental relation, and on the kind



78              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
ness received, and by reference to the authority of
God.
God has rendered us, in early life, entirely dependent upon our parents, and subject to their control. His commandment is "Honor thy father and
thy mother." Ex., xx. 12. And "Children, obey your
parents in the Lord, for this is right." Eph., vi. 1.
Hence we are under obligation always to treat our
parents with marked respect and to obey them "in all
things," that is in all things that are according to the
will of God. The authority of God is higher than
the authority of the parent. If the commands of a
parent come in conflict with the commands of God,
"we ought to obey God rather than men."
When the child becomes of age, he is no longer
under the authoritative control of the parent, but his
obligation to love and honor him  remains. If the
parent is in want of assistance, it is the duty of the
child to furnish that assistance, if it be within his
power.  Gratitude for -benefits received requires it.
God wills that children "roquite their parents." 1
Tim., v. 4. When the feebleness of old age arrives,
parents should receive from children the tenderness
and care which they themselves received in infancy
and childhood.
The affection of a child for his parent is of necessity modified by the character and conduct of the
parent. A kind and loving parent receives more love




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              79
than a harsh and unfeeling one. Some parents are
more worthy of their children's love than  others.
However unworthy a parent may become, so long as
the parental relation remains, there are duties springing from  that relation, and from  those duties the
child is not absolved. The conduct of the parent
may cancel all obligations to gratitude, but some other
obligations will remain.
It is the duty of brothers and sisters to cherish
an affectionate regard for each other, and to labor to
promote each other's improvement and happiness.
The intimate relations in which they are placed in the
same family, and commonly beneath the same roof,
render love a necessary condition of peace and harmony, without which the object of God in constituting
the family would be defeated.
Affection depends, in a measure at least, for its
continuance upon courtesy.  As it is the duty of
members of the same family to love one another, it
follows that it is their duty to treat one another with
courtesy.  Constant familiarity has a tendency to
cause a neglect of those forms of politeness, which are
intimately connected with the continuance of affection
and growth in refinement.  The forms of affection as
well as of liberty, are essential to the reality.
All tendency to envy, jealousy, and  suspicion
should be carefully guarded against by all the members of the family circle. In that circle the law of




80              CHRISTIAN ETHIOS.
love should be the supreme law.  Then will the
family be what it was designed to be by its author,
one of the most beautiful objects on earth, and a
nursery for heaven.
It is the duty of parents to love, cherish, and provide for the wants and the education of their children.
Parents feel an instinctive affection for their offspring.
This feeling was given by God to secure adequate care
for children in the helplessness of infancy. He has
made it the duty of parents to care for their children;
but to the obligations of duty he has added the
prompting of instinctive and strong affection. It is
their duty to strengthen and purify this affection.
This may be done by faithfully doing that which affection, regulated by reason, would prompt, by reflecting
upon the condition and destiny of the child, and by
striving to perform all the parental duties required
by God.
It is the duty of the parent to provide for the
physical wants of the child. The continuance of its
life depends upon the care of the parent. To every
parent to whom God gives a child, he says, by his
providence, as Pharaoh's daughter said to the Hebrew
mother, " Take this child away, and nurse it for me,
and I will give thee thy wages." Ex., ii. 9.
It is the duty of the parent to educate his children
in the knowledge of God and of duty. This is incumbent upon all parents. All parents are bound to




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.             81
bring up their children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Eph. vi. 4.
It is the duty of parents to teach by example as
well as precept. Parental example is always more
powerful than parental precept. The best instructions
are often neutralized by defective examples.
It is the duty of parents to provide for the intellectual and social education of their children. To what
extent this culture must be carried is to be determined
by the circumstances of the parent and the capacity
of the child. It cannot be the duty of the day-laborer
to do as much for the education of his children as the
merchant of large means. It cannot be a duty to furnish to one of very limited capacity the advantages
which can  be useful to those  only of superior
natural powers.
It is the duty of parents to strive to make home
pleasant to their children. Children seldom fall into
irregular and vicious habits when they have a happy
home. Parents should not allow the cares of life to
render them silent, and perhaps morose, at home.
They must not only love and labor for their children;
they must sympathize with them. The great want of
the young heart is sympathy. To their parents, above
all others, have they a right to look for sympathy. If
they do not find it at home, they will seek for it
abroad.
It is the duty of parents to shield their children




82              CHRISTAN- ETHICS.
as much as possible from evil influences. They should
not, for the sake of worldly advantages, place them
where they will meet with influences unfavorable to
the formation of a virtuous and manly character. All
are commanded to pray, " Lead us not into temptation;" hence it is the duty of all to avoid unnecessary
temptation, and to avoid leading others into temptation. Especially is this the duty of parents with
respect to their children.
The affection which leads to the formation of the
marriage relation is the highest form of human affection. The relation that it introduces is the most intimate of earthly relations.  "For this cause shall a
man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his
wife: and they twain shall be one flesh. Wherefore
they are no more twain but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." Matt., xix. 5.
It is the duty of the husband to love his wife with
paramount affection, and to make her happiness his
first care. It is the duty of the wife to reciprocate
his affection, and to acknowledge him  as her head.
Eph. v. 23.
The relation of husband and wife is entered into
for life, and it cannot be sooner ended without the
incurring of guilt by at least one of the parties. The
New Testament authorizes divorce for one cause
only. Matt., v. 32.  Laws which authorize it for




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.                   83
other causes, are not in accordance with the law of
Christ.
The affection nearest allied to those which exists in
the family circle, is that of friendship. God has given
us a capacity for friendship and has furnished examples of it in his word.  It is a blessed capacity,
one that may add greatly to the joys and lessen the
sorrows of life.
It is our duty to select our friends wisely, since
they will of necessity exert a strong influence over us.
We should cherish for them an unselfish affection; for
friendship is true only so far as it is disinterested.
We should be faithful to their interest in subordination to the will of God. The highest acts of friendship are those tending to render the character of
one's friend more perfect.  It is related of Jonathan,
in the most beautiful instance of friendship ever put
on record, that he "went to David into the wood and
strengthened  his hand in God."  1 Sam., xxiii. 16.
To promote one's spiritual perfection is the highest
act of friendship.




CHAPTER XI.
DUTIES OF BENEVOLENCE.
IT is our duty to exercise benevolence towards
our fellow men-towards all men. We are to "do
good to all men as we have opportunity." Gal., vi. 10.
To this end, we should cultivate a benevolent spirit,
in opposition to a selfish spirit. All are liable to
become selfish. Self-love, or the natural desire for
happiness easily degenerates into selfishness.  We
must be constantly on our guard lest an undue regard
to our own interest lead us to neglect the duties of
benevolence.
We should cherish sympathy for those who suffer.
This is done by turning our attention to objects
adapted to awaken sympathy.  We cannot excite our
sympathies by an act of will. We can excite them by
considering cases of suffering. We can turn aside
from such instances, if we choose to do so.
One reason why there is so little apparent feeling
for those who are in distress is, that attention is not
fixed upon cases of distress.  Men are deeply interested in their own pursuits, and do not feel for others,




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.               85
because they do not think of them. Hence it is our
duty to seek out those who are in distress. We are
not to wait till the objects requiring sympathy force
themselves upon our attention. We are to seek them
out. Sorrow should have an attraction for us, as it
had for Christ.
Our sympathies must be carried out in action.
We should not content ourselves with feeling compassion for those who suffer; we must relieve them
so far as it lies in our power. True sympathy followed
by wise action is true benevolence.
We should also cherish an interest in the welfare
of those who are not in distress. They are the children of our common Father, and hence we should
not feel indifferent to them. Benevolence would lead
us to desire the happiness of all. We should desire
and endeavor to exert a good influence on all with
whom we come in contact.
Our first duties are towards those with whom we
are most intimately connected. But we are under
obligation to do good to our neighbors as well as to
our relatives.  Christ defines our neighbors to be
those who need the aid we are able to bestow. Disinterested benevolence, though not the sum  of all
duty, is nevertheless a very important duty.
It is our duty to give alms to the poor. This is
plain from the structure of our nature and the command of God.




86              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
Indiscriminate almsgiving is not a duty. "Give
to every man that asketh of thee," Luke, vi. 30, is not
to be understood literally. Men are not to be supported in idleness and vice. It is our duty to give to
the poor, not to impostors. We are not at liberty to
give to the wily impostor that which should be given
to the necessitous poor.  Careful discrimination
should be exercised.
The apostle declares that if a man will not work
neither shall he eat. Those who by their industry
can supply their wants, have no claims upon our
charity. When there is any capacity for labor, relief
should, if possible, be given through the medium of
labor.
The duty of almsgiving is modified by the provision made by the state and by benevolent institutions for the relief of the poor.
The unworthiness and ingratitude of some to
whom we may have given aid, does not affect our
obligation to bestow alms upon those who are really
in want.  Our heavenly Father does not withhold
from us his daily bounties because we fail to exercise
suitable gratitude.
One of the best methods of aiding the necessitous,
is to help them to help themselves. To put one in
the way of supplying his own wants is far better for
him, than to supply his wants without requiring from
him any exertion.




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              87
It is our duty to instruct the ignorant and to
endeavor to reclaim the erring. To benefit the soul
is a greater work than to benefit the body. In fact,
the former includes the latter. Make an ignorant
and vicious man intelligent and moral, and you
furnish the conditions of improvement with reference
to his outward estate.
Experience has shown that to bring individuals
and communities under the controlling influence of
religious principle is the most efficient means of promoting their happiness and prosperity.  We have
seen intemperate and otherwise immoral men transformed into virtuous and useful citizens by the power
of the gospel.  We have seen  communities and
nations rescued from degradation and misery by the
same power.  Witness the changes wrought in the
condition of the inhabitants of some of the Islands
of the Pacific through the teaching of Christian
missionaries.
The law of benevolence requires us to do good to
those who hate us. The reason of this lies partly in
the fact that such a course has a greater tendency to
disarm  hatred than has force.  The conquests of
Christ's kingdom over evil are always conquests of
love.
It is our duty to love our enemies,-that is, we
should be free from all malignant feelings towards
them, and should desire to see them delivered from




88               CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
their enmity and made happy. It is not required
that we look upon their characters and conduct with
complacency. It is not required that we love them
as we love the virtuous and lovely. It is required
that we cherish towards them a compassionate, forgiving, benevolent spirit.  It is required that we
follow the benevolent example of the Saviour.
Benevolence requires us to practice  self-denial
for the sake of others. In order to do good to others,
it is often necessary to deny ourselves enjoyments
which would otherwise be lawful.
Nature prompts parents to practice self-denial for
the sake of their children. The friend often delights
to deny himself for the sake of his friend.  There is
thus in the structure of the mind provision for selfdenial.
When we see a man foregoing some innocent indulgence, or voluntarily enduring suffering that he
may relieve the suffering of others, we approve and
admire the act. We regard it as a highly virtuous
act. Now man was made to perform highly virtuous
acts; hence he was made to practice self-denial.
Christ said, "If any man will come after me, let
him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow
me." Matt., xvi. 24.
It is a mistake to suppose that self-denial interferes with or lessens our happiness.  Those are the
happiest who do the most towards making others




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.             89
happy. The most self-denying men are the happiest
of men. The self-denial practiced -must be the selfdenial required by duty, not the self-denial of asceticism.
The amount of self-denial which one may be required to practice, must be determined by the circurmstances in which he is placed. Let it be observed,
that to abstain from doing wrong, is not to practice
the self-denial of which we are treating.
The law of benevolence requires us to cultivate a
cheerful disposition. Cheerfulness promotes the happiness of those with whom we associate. Cheerfulness is like sunshine. We have all known men whose
presence was everywhere welcome, on account of their
cheerful spirit and cheerful countenances.
A gloomy, desponding man throws a chill over
every circle that he enters. The happiness of a family
may be greatly impaired by a want of cheerfulness on
the part of a single member.
If, then, it is our duty to endeavor to make
others happy, it is our duty to cultivate a cheerful
spirit.
This is done, in the first place, by keeping a good
conscience. No one can be cheerful while suffering
from remorse. Then, if desponding thoughts enter
the mind, they can be banished by turning our attention  to thoughts adapted  to introduce cheerful
thoughts. The gathering cloud of gloom may also be




90              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
dispelled by active efforts to do good. The imagination must not be allowed to form gloomy images.
Things should be viewed as they are, and right views
of God's providential government entertained. No
one need be gloomy who has a heavenly Father
pledged to supply all his wants, and who has declared
that all things shall work together for his good.
Romrn., viii. 28.
Benevolence requires us to cultivate kind and
courteous manners. Many upright and kind-hearted
men give pain by their unrefined and uncourteous
manners. It will not do to say, if the feeling is right,
the manner is of no consequence. Our duty is to
have kind feelings, and to give to them their appropriate expression. We cannot do our duty to others
byhaving kind feelings, and keeping them perfectly
concealed-giving no expression to them. Neither can
we do our duty by having kind feelings, and giving to
them a very imperfect expression. We do our duty
when we have right feelings rightly expressed. The
apostolic injunction is "Be courteous." I Pet. iii. 8.
- God has given to man dominion over the brute
creation. That authority should be exercised in accordance with the laws of his moral nature. That
dominion was given for certain ends, and it may not
be exercised with reference to other ends. It was not
given for the exercise of cruelty; therefore he may not
treat brutes with cruelty.
2




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              91
Some portions of the animal creation may be used
for food. Their lives should be rendered as coifortable and their death compassed with as little pain as
possible.
Some animals are given us as servants.  They
should be treated kindly. As they are not moral beings, they are not the proper subjects of rewards or
punishment. Such severity may be practiced as is
necessary to keep them in due subjection. To visit
on them the outbursts of anger, in consequence of
their following the promptings of their nature, is
cruelly unjust. The fearful cruelty practiced on the
brute creation is an awful exhibition of human depravity, and one of the mysteries of the divine government.
Noxious animals may be lawfully destroyed; but
on what principle may harmless ones be destroyed for
mere amusement?




CHAPTER  XII.
DUTIES OF JUSTICE-RIGHT OF PROPERTY-SELLERS AND
BUYERS.
IT is our duty to be just to our fellow-men. That
we ought to act justly is a proposition that needs no
proof. That justice ought to be done is a self-evident
truth.
Justice requires us to respect the right of property.
We have seen in a former chapter, that the desire of
property is natural to man —that God gave man this
desire, and placed him amid circumstances favorable
to its gratification. Man was, therefore, designed by
his Maker to be a holder of property-has a right to
hold property.
Men may become lawfully possessed of property in
various ways. That which is wholly the product of a
man's own labor belongs to him. Men may thus acquire a right to property by labor. The law secures
this right, but does not originate it. The right existed previous to any human law. This right may be
modified by the law. For example, the law may prescribe the mode in which the right shall be exercised,




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.             93
and the mode in which it may be transferred to
another.
Property may be acquired by appropriation, which
is only a form of labor. The fruit growing on an
uninhabited island belongs to those who may see fit
to gather it. Before it was gathered, it belonged to
no one. It becomes property by the act of appropriation. The fish in the ocean do not belong to the human family collectively. Before they are caught, they
belong to no one. When caught, they are the property of the captor. The act of appropriation is not
valid, when exercised upon objects that have been previously appropriated and not abandoned.
Property may be acquired by purchase, that is, one
may exchange the products of his labor for the products of the labor of another; by gift and by inheritance.
The right of property may be violated by robbery,
theft and fraud. The duty of avoiding robbery and
theft need not be insisted on in this treatise. No one
claiming to be a moral man ever contended for the
right to rob and steal. Nor has any one ever defended the lawfulness of fraud. Yet there are modes
of fraud sometimes practiced and defended by those
who profess to do right. Frauds most frequently
take place in the operations of buying and selling.
It is the duty of the seller to make known to the
purchaser the real quality and condition of the article




94               CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
offered for sale. If he sells a damaged article as a
good one, he of course defrauds the purchaser. If he
preserves silence in regard to the article, the transaction is still a fraudulent one. He may say, "I did
not recommend the article; I did not say it was not
damaged; the purchaser had it before him; he was
not compelled or urged to buy it; if he has not got
what he wanted it is his own fault:" all this will not
lessen his guilt. The sale was a fraudulent one.
It is the duty of the seller not to take advantage
of a man's ignorance, and sell him  an article less
valuable than the one called for. It often happens
that the purchaser is not a judge of the goods he is
about to purchase. He designs to purchase the first
quality but is unable to distinguish the first from the
second. If the seller takes advantage of his ignorance, and sells him the second for the first quality, he
cheats him to the amount of the difference in value
between the first and second.
The seller has no right to sell adulterated articles
knowing them to be such, when the buyer thinks they
are pure.
As a matter of fact, the adulterating process is
carried on very extensively.  Some articles can rarely
be obtained pure. In consequence of the wide prevalence of the practice, many do wrong without any
compunctions of conscience. Nevertheless, when a
man calls for ground pepper, and receives a mixture




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.             95
of pepper and buckwheat bran, he is defrauded. It
is no excuse for the seller to say that the custom of
selling adulterated goods is well nigh universal. The
universality of a fact does not change its moral
character.
The seller has no right to take advantage of the
necessities of the buyer, and, in consequence, to exact
a higher price for the goods sold. In such cases the
buyer consents to give the price asked under compulsion, just as the traveller consents to part with his
purse to the highwayman.
The seller is unhder obligation to have exact
weights and measures, and to know that the quantity
sold is actually delivered to the buyer. If the weight
or measure fall short, he cannot excuse himself by
saying, "I bought it for that amount." The buyer
has a right to demand the quantity paid for.
The seller has no right to make a false impression
upon the mind of the buyer in regard to the condition
of the market.  It is possible for him to do this without making any false statement, and the buyer may
be thereby led to purchase to his disadvantage. If
he is led to believe there is a scarcity in the market
when there is not, his action may be quite different
from what it would otherwise have been.
A man of large means may not secure a monopoly
in regard to a certain commodity, in order to raise
the price higher than it would be if there was a com



96              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
petition of sellers. A man has a right to purchase as
much of any commodity in market as he chooses.
The rectitude of his conduct depends upon the use
which he makes of the commodity purchased. If
after having purchased all the market contained, he
exacts a higher price than the article would command
in a fair market, he takes advantage of a necessity
created by his own voluntary act. This is especially
the case if the article in question be one of the necessaries of life. If it be not one of the necessaries of
life, and men choose to purchase it at his enhanced
price, he has taken advantage of his capital to realize
a higher profit than could be realized by the ordinary
modes of trade. If this be not absolutely wrong, it
is, at least, ungenerous towards those of lesser means.
Suppose a merchant imports an article on which
he realizes a very high profit, in consequence of the
fact that no other person imports the article.  He
enjoys a monopoly of it. Suppose another merchant
imports the article and that the former then sells the
article at a price lower than it cost to import it-his
previous high profits enabling him to do so. He thus
destroys the value of the property of his rival in order
to preserve his monopoly. It is said that some claiming to be honorable men pursue the course thus indicated.
Suppose a man runs a stage-coach between certain
places. He has, for the time being, the monopoly of




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              97
the business of transporting passengers. By and by,
another person procures a coach and proposes to
carry passengers. The monopolist, in order to preserve his monopoly, goes and  destroys the new
coach. His conduct could not be defended. Wherein does the conduct of the importer above supposed
differ in principle from that of the stage-coach proprietor?
If a merchant have goods in his possession, and
the price of the same rises in the market, he is justified in advancing his price in proportion to the rise.
If the price falls, he must make a corresponding deduction, even if by so doing he should suffer loss.
Suppose a merchant has an article for sale, and he
knows that on the morrow a large quantity of the
article will reach the market and reduce the price.
Is he at liberty to conceal his knowledge and sell at
the market price of the day? If he put his customers
in possession of his knowledge, they would not buy
but wait for the certain fall in price. Is he under
obligation to communicate his knowledge, or may he
reap the advantage of it? May the advantage be
regarded as the legitimate reward of his superior
enterprise and skill in acquiring knowledge in advance of others?
It would certainly be wrong for him to avail himself of that knowledge, if he had taken any measures
to prevent his customers from acquiring it. If he has




98              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
not done so, is he not entitled to the benefit resulting
from his superior activity and enterprise?  It' certainly cannot be the duty of the industrious and skillful man to share equally with the indolent and stupid
the advantages of his industry and skill.
The duties of the buyer correspond to those of the
seller. It is his duty to pay a fair price for the article
bought, that is, to allow the seller to make a fair profit
as a compensation for the use of his capital and for
his skill. He has a right to buy where he can buy the
cheapest; but he has no right to endeavor to get an
article below its real value. He has no right to deceive the seller as to the state of the market, so as to
induce him to lower his price.
The buyer has no right to take advantage of the
necessity of the seller. The latter may be under the
necessity of raising a certain sum of money by the
sale of goods by a certain time. The former knowing this, may decline purchasing, except at a ruinous
sacrifice on the part of the owner.
It is not, in all cases, wrong to purchase goods below their actual value. When there is no fraud in
the transaction, when there is no advantage taken of
the seller's necessity, and when goods are lawfully
sold by auction, there is nothing wrong in buying
them at a price less than their cost or value.




CHAPTER XIII.
5UTIES OF THE EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYED.
THE relation of employer and employed is an important one, and lies at the foundation of important
and interesting duties. It was formerly designated
by the terms master and servant; but those terms
have become distasteful to many, partly in consequence of the existence of slavery in the country.
The relation must. exist as long as society exists.
The employer should treat the employed with exact justice. In making the contract, he should engage to render a full equivalent for the services
required, or, in other words, fair wages. He must
not take advantage of the ignorance or the necessities
of the laborer, and secure his services for less than
their market value.
The rate of wages in a community will be determined by the wants and means of employers, and the
number of candidates for employment. The matter
will, in a great measure, regulate itself. It will do so
effectually, if there is no selfish and unprincipled interference with the natural course of things. As




100              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
things are, the lowest possible wages that will secure
labor is not always the wages that should be paid,
that is, the actual rates are not always the equitable
rates. The principle laid down by Christ, that the
laborer is worthy of his hire, should be remembered
by every employer.
A distinguished American jurist remarks: "The
true rule is, a fair day's wages for a fair day's work;
and those wages are not fair unless they will support
the honest and virtuous laborer in comfort, and leave
something for the contingencies of life. The practice
of putting down labor to a starvation rate, in order to
enable the employer to undersell a competitor, is
wrong, and will justify a rising feeling of discontent
and injustice in the bosom of the employed.  Unless
such a rule is held sacred, labor must become reckless,
vicious, and degraded; one of the most fearful results
for a country with a dense population and overgrown
towns and cities. There will grow  up feelings of
hatred in the bosom of the toiling many against the
affluent few. There will justly seem to their minds
something wrong in an arrangement which compels
them to create wealth for the ease and indulgence of
others, while they themselves are starving or suffering.
There is, then, a law of proportion between capital
and labor, which ought sacredly to be respected, and
cannot be violated with safety, nor with impunity.  A
consciousness of injustice in the minds of the many is




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.             101
a terrible thing. Injustice cannot last always; God
will not permit it; man will not permit it.
"Cheap goods are not the chief end of man; nor is
free competition the law of salvation for humanity. A
thing is worth what it cost to male it, on the principle
of paying labor a fair day's wages for a fair day's
work, and capital a fair return. It is a sin to sell or
buy at a less price.
" Let justice then enter the soul of him who employs his fellow men; let him so manage that they too
shall have their fair wages, time and means to cultivate their moral powers, to become enlightened and
virtuotis and saving; so that employer and employed
may work together for noble ends by noble means.
Such a relation between capital and labor cannot but
develop the noblest qualities, and the purest emotions
of both; esteem, and confidence, and love would form
the bonds of union between them; and both would
become better, and purer, and holier, by this divine
union between capital and labor;-a union certain in
the future, if humanity should ever become developed
in its noblest capacities, and indispensable to the
safety of capital itself, as well as to the well-being and
dignity of the laborer."*
The employer should exact no more labor than is
consistent with the health and well-being of the labo* Nash's Morality and the State.




102              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
rer.  The brute may be required to labor all the time
except that which is necessary for physical rest.  But
man is not a brute.  He has intellectual, social and
moral wants to provide for.  He has a right to be a
man, and hence a right to the time necessary to that
end. When required to devote all his time to labor
except that which is necessarily devoted to repose,
he is deprived of his rights. There may be times and
circumstances when it may be right for the employer
to require those in his employment, thus to labor;
but, as a general rule, every one is entitled to a
portion of his time to devote to higher objects than
physical labor.
The employer has no right to interfere with the
exercise of the free will of the employed in relation to
matters not included in the contract, and not conflicting with the law of right. He has no right to dictate
where he shall make his purchases, how he shall vote,
or what form of religious worship he shall adopt.
Employers have no right to form combinations for
controlling the rate  of wages.  Large  capitalists
possess great facilities for so doing. If such combinations are ever justifiable, it is when formed to
resist the combinations of laborers to secure higher
wages. Combinations of both kinds have an injurious
influence and are wrong.  Capitalists have greater
facilities for secret combinations than laborers have.
The employer should exercise kindness towards




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.            103
the employed. The law of benevolence written on the
heart, and on the pages of the Bible applies first to
those with whom we are most nearly connected. The
toil of the laborer can be sweetened by the sympathy
of his employer. His burden may be lightened by
acts of kindness easily performed. The fact that such
acts may not always be appreciated is no reason for
their not being performed. Our obligation to practice
benevolence is not found in man's capacity for gratitude.
Those employed should faithfully fulfil their contract with their employer. A contract to perform a
certain amount of labor is as binding as a contract to
deliver a certain amount of goods. The employer
has a right to claim a certain amount of labor. The
employed does not contract to give his time-but his
time faithfully devoted to labor.
The employed should cherish a regard for the
interest of his employer, and should not content himself with a literal fulfilment of his contract. It is his
interest that his employer should be prosperous. All
laborers have an interest in the prosperity of capitalists. The greater the prosperity of capitalists, that
is, the greater the amount of capital, the larger the
fund for paying the wages of labor. An increase of
capital in a country, the number of laborers remaining
the same, will lead to an increase of wages. When
the laborer promotes the prosperity of his employer,




104             CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
he pursues a course adapted to promote his own
prosperity.  Thus the law, "Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself," is a maxim of prudence, as well
as a law of benevolence. It is binding alike on the
employer and the employed. It is not an unreasonable, much less an impossible command. It simply
requires that we cherish such an interest in the welfare of others as is adapted to promote our own
highest interest and happiness.
It is the duty of laborers to make no pretensions to skill which they do not possess. In many
cases, those requiring their labor are not capable of
judging whether they possess the requisite skill or
not. Their condition is analogous to that of the man
who wishes to purchase goods of a certain quality,
but is not a judge of the quality. In neither case
should the want of capacity be taken advantage of.
The physician should acquire the knowledge and
skill necessary to the practice of the healing art.
Kindness, sympathy and assiduous attention are important aids to his prescriptions, and hence should be
practiced. It is the duty of the physician to merit
the confidence of the patient, since confidence is one
of the conditions of recovery.
The physician possesses peculiar facilities for
exerting a moral influence on his patients. This is
one of the talents committed to him, for the exercise
of which he will have to render an account.
3




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.             105
The lawyer should not undertake a case which he
is not competent to manage. He must possess skill
enough to do all that he undertakes to do.
The profession of the law, like the law itself, is
designed to subserve the ends of justice. It should
not be perverted to the perpetration of injustice.
The lawyer may undertake the defence of one
charged with crime, but to the end that he suffer no
injustice, not that he may escape without punishment
if he is guilty. The lawyer is sworn to prove true to
the interests of his client; but not at the expense of
truth and justice.
The professional laborer is not bound to follow
the instructions of his employer. The physician is
not to ask the patient what medicines he shall give.
The lawyer is not to ask the client in what manner he
shall manage his case. When a matter is committed
to a professional agent, he is bound to manage it
according to his best ability. Before the matter is
committed to him, he may act under instructions.
The teacher should not undertake to do that
which he is not qualified to do. Qualifications for
the art of teaching are acquired by study and experience, just as qualifications for other arts are
acquired. A man is not likely to acquire the qualifications of a teacher while giving all his energies to
preparing himself to practice law, any more than a
man is likely to acquire the skill of an engraver while




106             CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
devoting himself to the art of making iron. The useful and the fine arts require preparatory study-an
apprenticeship. The same is true of the most important of all arts, that of giving " form and pressure" to
immortal minds.
If the painter uses the wrong color, he can obliterate it: if the engraver makes an inaccurate line,
he can erase it: but impressions made upon the mind
are made for eternity. Hence the responsibility of
the teacher. Hence the importance of securing for
the young mind at the outset, skillful teaching.
The teacher should cherish a deep interest in the
welfare of his pupil. His object should not be merely
to communicate knowledge but to develop power.
He should show his pupil what to do and how to do
it. He should strive to make him a seer, and not a
mere receptacle of facts.  He should aid him  in
forming proper habits, and in making the mind what
the Creator designed it to be.
He should not only possess the knowledge requisite to give information and supervise the studies of
his pupils in the department in which he is called to
give instruction, but he should possess a character
worthy of imitation. Teachers as well as other men
influence by what they are more than by what they
say.
The pupil should cordially co-operate with the
teacher. In many instances the power of the teacher




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.               107
is in a great measure lost through the antagonistic
attitude of the pupil. There should be co-operation,
respect, affection, that the greatest benefit may result
from the relation.
The legislator is a professional agent.  He is
elected to do a certain kind of work for which he is
presumed to possess the requisite skill.  Hence he is
not to obey the instructions of his constituents or a
portion of them, but to act according to his best
judgment.




CHAPTER XIV.
PERSONAL LIBERTY~-CHARAOTER —-REPUTATION.
JUSTICE requires us to avoid interfering with the
natural liberty of our fellow men. The natural liberty
of a man is not liberty to do wrong. He may do as
he pleases provided he please to do right. So far as
his fellow men are concerned, he is at liberty to do as
he pleases provided he does not interfere with their
rights. For his conduct in other respects, that is, for
his conduct which is in no way injurious to others, he
is responsible to God and not to man.
No man may be deprived of this liberty, unless, he
forfeit it by the commission of crime. Government
may, on his being convicted of crime, deprive him of
his liberty, but individuals may not do it.
Every man who has not forfeited his liberty by
crime, is entitled to the product of his own lawful
labor and capital. The government may, if necessary
for the public good, take possession of his property,
but is under obligation to make compensation for the
same. For an individual forcibly to appropriate the
product of his labor would be robbery.




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.             109
God holds every man responsible for what he
does. To the end that he might justly hold him
responsible, he endowed him with freedom  of will.
Hence he must be allowed to act according to his own
free will, and not be compelled to act according to
the will of another.  A man may act foolishly or
wickedly, but that does not authorize me to compel
him to act according to my will instead of his own.
I have no right to deprive him of his free agency,
because he sees fit to abuse it.
The parent may restrain the liberty of his child,
so far as may be necessary for his educational training. It is the exercise of a power which God has
bestowed upon the parent for the good of the child.
To restrain the liberty of the idiotic and insane, is
not a violation of justice. Justice to others and benevolence to them require restraint in connection with
treatment adapted to promote their recovery and
comfort.
To restrain the liberty of a prisoner of war, is not
a violation of justice. If war is lawful, and with
respect to defensive war there can be no doubt, then
it is right to take prisoners of war. The right to take
prisoners, does not involve the right to deprive them
permanently of their freedom. Justice requires that
all unnecessary severity be avoided in their treatment.
Justice requires that we do no injury to the




110             CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
character of others. Character and reputation are
distinct. Character is the condition of one's soul.
Reputation is the estimation in which one is held by
others.
Character includes habits. When a man is forming habits, he is forming his character. The habits
which he forms determine his character. As a man's
happiness and usefulness depend more upon his
character than upon any thing else, injury done to his
character is a very serious matter.
We may injure the character of others by our
example. If our example leads any one to do wrong,
an injury is thereby done to his character, and for
that injury we are in a measure responsible. We
may not have intended to injure any one, but that
does not change the fact or relieve us from  the
responsibility of an evil example. We are responsible
for our influence conscious and unconscious. A large
part of our influence is unconscious influence. We
influence by what we are-by our characters. Hence
our characters should be such as are adapted to exert
a healthful influence.
The character may be injured by placing temptations before men, by directly influencing them
to  do wrong. This is sometimes done in mere
thoughtlessness, and sometimes for selfish and malignant purposes.
No greater injury can be done than by leading a




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              111
man to violate his conscience, that is, to act contrary
to his conscientious convictions of duty.  His views
may be erroneous, but the effort should be to convince him of his error, not to lead him to act contrary
to his moral judgments. It is far better to act in
accordance with erroneous moral judgments, than to
act contrary to them.  Superstitious obedience, is
better than defiant opposition to erroneous convictions of duty. The latter tends to the destruction of
all moral principle.
It would be regarded as doing one a great injury
if we were to deprive him of a limb or an eye; but
this would be doing him far less injury, than to lead
him into vice. Injuries done to the body are far less
important than injuries done to the soul.
There can scarcely be a baser act than the wilful
ruin of a fellow being. Yet such acts are constantly
taking place. This appears from the multitudes of
unhappy beings who throng at night the thoroughfares of our cities, and revenge upon  society the
wrong of which they have been the victims.
A powerful means of injury to the character are
corrupting books and pictures. Those who issue and
circulate such works, cause a ruin that can never be
measured. Erroneous arguments can be met by such
as are true, but corrupting appeals to the passions
cannot be met by argument.  Hence the law, very
properly, forbids the publication and circulation of




112              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
corrupting books.  Such laws do not interfere with
the freedom of the press.
The character may be injured by the inculcation
of erroneous moral principles. He who leads another
to adopt opinions radically unsound on religious and
moral subjects, may do him irreparable injury. His
character and conduct will, in a measure, correspond
to his principles.  Some men are better than their
principles, and some are worse; but in all cases, the
principles of a man determine the nature of his character. The importance of correct moral and religious
principles cannot be too highly estimated.
Justice requires us to avoid injuring the reputation
of others. All utterances adapted to injure the reputation of a man are unlawful, unless we are called to
bear witness to the truth. A man's reputation, however acquired, is his property, and we have no right
to lessen it, simply because we may think it undeserved. If justice to others, if the cause of truth and
righteousness require us to make statements, the
effect of which may be to damage the reputation of
some person or persons, those statements should be
made. But they should not be made for the purpose
of lessening that reputation, either because we think it
greater than it ought to be, or because we are envious
of it. Many criticisms claiming to be the utterances
of justice, are, in reality, the utterances of envy.
Reputation is often injured through thoughtless



CHRISTIAN ETHICS.             113
ness. A remark may be made or a report repeated,
with no design to injure any one's reputation, and yet
the injury may be done. Thoughtlessness does not
free one from responsibility for his conduct.
We have no right to make public the faults and
failings of others, unless required to do so by duty to
some individual, or to the public. We have no right
to ridicule others; for by thus holding them up to
contempt, we injure their reputation and influence.
Slander is the utterance of falsehood respecting
another, or the utterance of truth with a malicious intent. It is an act of cruel injustice, and one that is
severely punished by municipal law. The evils resulting from this crime are great beyond description.
The slanderer is the basest of men.
Slander, in what may be termed its lighter forms,
is very prevalent.  The criticisms, depreciations,
harsh judgments as to motives, which are so abundant,
are all forms of slander. God's law in relation to this
matter is very explicit.  "Thou shalt not bear false
witness against thy neighbor." Ex., xx. 16.




CHAPTER XV.
DUTY OF VERACITY.
GOD has commanded us to speak the truth and lie
not. Col., iii. 9. No duty is more insisted on in the
Scriptures than reverence for the truth. All agree
that lying is not only a vice, but one of the meanest
of vices.
It is our duty to speak the exact truth in all our
business transactions. In no other way can justice be
meted out and honesty preserved.  Adherence to
the exact truth in all the intercourse of business
would put an end to every species of fraud.
It is our duty to speak the exact truth in our ordinary intercourse with men. Some are careful to speak
the exact truth in relation to important matters, but
are careless as to their statements concerning what
they deem unimportant matters.  Some, without intending to depart from the truth, fall into habits of
exaggeration, and of coloring their statements highly,
for sake of effect. Their motive is not to deceive, but
to make their conversation interesting.  But such
habits ought to be carefully avoided. The truth is too
sacred a matter to be trifled with. Those who thus.4*




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              115
trifle with it, soon become careless in their statements
in regard to important matters. They fail to discriminate clearly between the true and the false. They
lose the confidence of their acquaintances. They are
not regarded as men who intend to deceive; but they
are regarded as men whose statements are not to be
relied upon.  This is certainly a very undesirable
reputation.
Our duty is to speak the truth at all times, just as
it is our duty to be honest at all times. He who is
honest in all large business transactions, but, through
carelessness or design, cheats in small matters, cannot
be regarded as a perfectly honest man. To be a perfectly honest man, he must be honest in all his transactions, however small, and in order to be a perfectly
truthful man, he must speak the truth in regard to
all matters, great and small. There are not as many
perfectly truthful men as there ought to be.
A falsehood or lie is the utterance of an untruth
with the intention to deceive. A fictitious narrative,
written or spoken either for amusement or as a vehicle
for the communication of truth, is not a falsehood.
There is no intention to deceive. Indeed, fiction may
convey truth in the most impressive way. Fiction
may be the intensest truth. The lawfulness and wisdom of using fiction as the means of conveying and
enforcing truth, is sanctioned by the highest possible
authority, that of the Lord Jesus Christ. He spake




116             CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
in parables. A parable is a fictitious narrative employed for communicating truth.
A statement may be strictly true, and yet the utterer may be guilty of falsehood. His intention may
be to deceive. The statement may be verbally true,
but with respect to the meaning intended to be conveyed, or the impression intended to be made, it may
be false. The moral character of an utterance depends mainly upon the intention of the utterer.
Falsehood may be committed by silence, or rather
by omitting to say what is necessary to the full understanding of the matter in hand. A witness may make
no statement but what is perfectly correct, and yet,
by omitting a circumstance, his testimony may make
an impression entirely adverse to the interests of truth
and justice. Hence the oath administered to a witness requires him to tell the whole truth.
A falsehood may be acted as well as spoken.
When by a movement of the limbs, or a look, with the
intention to deceive, a false impression has been made
upon the mind of any one, falsehood has been committed, as really as if the false impression had been
made by spoken or written words.
Is a deviation from the truth-the utterance of a
falsehood ever justifiable?
Suppose a man asks for information which he has
no right to ask for, and which it will do harm for you
to communicate. Suppose, for example, he asks for




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.             117
information which, if received, will enable him to injure an innocent person. Suppose that in declining
to answer, you really give him the information that he
wants, Have you a right to deceive him?  Have you
a right to give him a false answer?
In war, has a general, fighting in a just cause, a,
right to deceive his enemy? Has he a right to convey false information to the enemy?
The answer in both of these cases would rest upon
the same principle. Has misinformation given in such
circumstances the character of falsehood any more
than the shooting of an assassin who attacks you has
the character of murder?  Is not the act as far removed from a voluntary act of deception, as a blow
in self-defence is removed from the malice prepense
of murder?
Acting in this manner is not doing evil that good
may come-a principle condemned by conscience and
the word of God. It is not a voluntary departure
from the truth. It may be said, "You can speak the
truth; you can give the information demanded, and
take the consequences? So you may refrain from
lifting your hand in self-defence, when the assassin
assails you, and may take the consequences.  The
question is, whether in either case you are under obligation to allow those consequences to follow.
When on a certain occasion the Pharisees asked
Christ a question designed to bring him into trouble,




118             CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
he stooped down and wrote on the ground as though
he heard them not. And when they continued asking
him, he gave them  an evasive answer. This would,
at least, indicate that we are not bound to answer
questions having for their design injury to ourselves
or others, in the same way that we are bound to answer legitimate questions.
Lying is regarded by men as one of the meanest
of vices.  To call in question one's veracity is a
grievous offence. And yet the precautions men take
against deception indicate to what extent habits of
truthfulness are wanting in the community.
Young persons sometimes justify the practice of
falsehood on the ground of duty to their associates.
A fellow student, for example, is guilty of some act
that would subject him  to censure or punishment.
His friend, in order to screen him, bears false witness
in his behalf. He regards it as an honorable act to lie.
To refuse to testify against an associate, is different from bearing false witness in his favor. Whether
in a given case one has a right to refuse to testify, depends upon the engagement he may have formed with
the party requiring the testimony, and the circumstances in which he is placed. One cannot be placed
in circumstances which shall make it right for him to
do wrong.




CHAPTER XVI.
PROMISES AND OATHS.
ALL promises are to be faithfully kept. A distinction between important and unimportant promises
ought not to be made, so far as keeping them is concerned. He who fails to keep unimportant promises
is on his way towards failing to keep important ones.
To avoid committing this fault, we should not
make rash and thoughtless promises. Failure to keep
any promise, however trifling, exerts an injurious influence on our character, and tends to injure our reputation. There is felt a profound respect for a man
who always keeps his promises, always does what he
says he will do. It is in the power of every one to
command this respect.
Promises are always to be honestly kept. There
is such a thing as keeping a promise to the ear and
breaking it to the heart. A promise is to be performed in the sense in which it was understood by the
person to whom it was made, or at least in the sense
in which he had a right to understand it. A person
may be so stupid as to misunderstand a clear state



120            CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
ment. The promiser is not bound to depart from that
statement, because stupidity failed to understand it.
Are promises obtained by fraud binding? Suppose
a man tells you he has saved the life of your most intimate friend. In consideration of his supposed conduct, you promise to give him a sum of money on the
the morrow. In the mean time, you find that the
statement which induced you to make the promise is
false. He did not save the life of your friend. He
had never seen him. The promise would not be binding. It was in reality a conditional promise, and the
condition on his part was not fulfilled.
Is a promise extorted by violence obligatory?
Suppose a robber threatens to take your life, and
releases you on your promise to send him a certain sum of money: are you under obligation to keep
your promise? This case seems to come under the
same principle as the question, whether misinformation may be given by an individual, or strategy practiced by a military officer. No rule of universal application can be laid down. There may be cases in
which it would be expedient to keep the promise.
Paul makes a distinction between lawfulness and expediency.  Some things are lawful which are not
expedient, and some things may be expedient which
are not obligatory. I Cor. vi. 12.
Ought a promise to do a wrong thing to be performed? Certainly not. It can never be right to do




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.             121
wrong. If such a promise were obligatory, it would
be right to perform it, that is, right to do wrong. If
any one finds himself in the position of having promised to do a wrong thing, let him refrain from doing
it, and repent of his promise.
When the performance of a promise is impossible
the obligation ceases, provided the impossibility was
not occasioned by the voluntary act of the party who
made the promise. If the want of power to perform
was occasioned by the voluntary act of the promiser,
the obligation remains.
Contracts are mutual promises between two or
more parties.  The promises are conditional. The
failure of one party to perform the conditions required of him, releases the other party from  obligation.
An oath is a solemn promise to tell the truth, with
an appeal to God as the witness of our sincerity.
The violation of an oath is perjury.
Some regard all judicial oaths as unlawful, because
Christ said, "Swear not at all." "Let your communication be yea, yea, and nay, nay; for whatsoever is
more than these cometh of evil." Matt., v. 34-37.
Christ forbade profane swearing. That he did not
intend to forbid judicial oaths is plain from the fact
that he allowed the High Priest to administer to him
an oath.  "I adjure thee by the Living God," Matt.,
xxvi. 63, was the Jewish form  of putting the oath.
6




122             CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
Christ answered to the oath, "Thou sayest it."
Again, we have the example of God himself. "For
when God made promise to Abraham, because he
could swear by no greater, he sware by himself."
Heb., vi. 13. Again, "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy
God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name."
Deut., vi. 13.
Oaths ought never to be taken without great
reverence. They are required too frequently by our
laws and on too unimportant occasions. The effect
is to lessen the reverence felt for the sanctity of an
oath.
Paley remarks that " the levity and frequency with
which it is administered, has brought about a general
inadvertency to the obligation of oaths, which, both
in a religious and political view, is much to be
lamented; and it merits public consideration, whether
the requiring oaths on so many frivolous occasions,
especially in the customs, and in the qualification for
petty offices, has any other effect than to make them
cheap in the minds of the people. A pound of tea
cannot travel regularly from the ship to the consumer,
without costing half a dozen oaths at least; and the
same security for the due discharge of their officenamely, that of an oath —is required from a church
warden and an archbishop, from a petty constable
and the chief justice of England."
These remarks apply equally well to the regula



CHRISTIAN ETHICS.             123
tions respecting oaths in this country. The sin of
irreverence is daily committed by thousands in our
land, in connection with the legal administering of
oaths.
Those who have conscientious scruples with respecting to taking a judicial oath, are permitted to
makle an affirmation. A judicial affirmation differs
from  an oath merely in name. A violation of an
affirmation subjects one to the penalties of perjury.
By the common law of England, those who do not
believe in God and in a future state of rewards and
punishments, are excluded from bearing testimony in
courts of justice.




CHAPTER XVII.
ASSOCIATIONS AND CORPORATIONS.
ASSOCIATIONS may be formed for purposes consistent
with the law of rectitude.  No association can be
rightfully formed to do that which is wrong, or to do
that which it would not be right for an individual to
do. Men in their associated capacity often do that
which they would not do as individuals, but that is no
proof that their. conduct is right.  Going with the
multitude to do evil does not differ in principle, from
going alone to do evil.
No man has a right to engage to act toward the
members of his association in a manner inconsistent
with obedience to the law of the land and the law of
God. The rules formed by a voluntary association of
men, must not set aside the rules of God.
An association formed for a laudable end, must
use lawful means for the attainment of that end.. It
would be lawful and laudable in certain circumstances, to form an association to promote the ends of
justice by the prompt and faithful execution of the
laws, but it would not be lawful to form an association




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.             125
to  promote the ends of justice by violations of
law. The temporary or the permanent good which
has seemed to follow the acts of such associations, do
not justify their disobedience to law. Vigilance committees and all associations proposing to take the
execution of the laws out of the hands of its regularly
appointed ministers, are wrong. It is possible, indeed,
that the ministers of the law may become wholly unfaithful to their trust and may use their power to protect the guilty and injure the innocent.  In such
cases, the law of self-defence may justify resistance to
the perjured minister of the law. This would be having recourse to the right of revolution.
When associations receive, by the action of the
government, a legal personality, they are termed corporations. The formation of corporations is lawful.
They form a convenient mode of employing capital,
and may be useful in accomplishing that which would
not be undertaken by individual enterprise.  It is
scarcely necessary to say, that men do not cease to
become free moral agents by their connection with a
corporation, and hence cannot lay aside any of their
moral obligations.
The acts of a corporation are the acts of those
who compose it-of its members.  The power of a
corporation is wielded by a majority of its members,
but the acts of the majority are binding upon all.
The moral responsibility of those acts rests upon all.




126             CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
A distinction is to be made. If a majority vote to
pursue a dishonest course, and the minority, earnestly
oppose that course, they are not guilty of dishonesty
in the same sense in which the majority are guilty.
Still, they are responsible for the acts of the corporation. So far as those  acts are wrong, they are
responsible for that wrong.
A stockholder of a company that pursues immoral
and dishonest courses may not say, "It is contrary to
my wishes and my vote, but I cannot help it, therefore I am not to blame for it."  He can, at least, help
being connected with a dishonest company.
Suppose three men form a partnership for carrying on the manufacture of cotton. Suppose that two
of them  in opposition to the wishes of the other,
practice fraud in conducting the business. Will it do
for the honest man to say, "It is done in opposition
to my wishes and efforts, and I am therefore not
responsible for it."  Every one knows that he is
responsible for the acts of the firm. When he receives
his dividends, he receives in part, at least, the wages
of iniquity.  Wherein would his conduct differ in
principle from those who receive dividends of corporations who violate the sabbath, or make gains by unlawful means?
Men, that is, some men, are apt to lose their sense
of moral responsibility when acting in an associated
capacity. The maxim "corporations have no souls"




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.             127
doubtless originated in the fact that men acting as
members of a corporation, sometimes seem  to lay
aside their moral characters-seem to abandon those
principles to which they strictly adhere in their individual transactions.
Those entrusted with the management of corporate
funds should exercise, at least, the same care and
economy which they would exercise if they were their
own. By this it is not meant that they are at liberty
to use them as they would use their own. A man
may bestow his own funds in charity, or he may pay
a friend higher wages than others pay. He who is
entrusted with funds for a certain object, must with
all fidelity devote them to that object.
If this rule were adhered to, the cost of operations
carried on by corporations and by the government,
would not exceed that of operations carried on by individuals. Every one knows that the affairs of a
company and of the government, are rarely managed
as economically as the affairs of individuals.




CHAPTER XVIII.
DUTIES OF CITIZENS.
1AN was not created a solitary being. He was
made to live in society. It is only in a social state
that his various powers find occasions for development and room for exercise. Every one is born a
member of some state and a subject of some government.  He who is born in England (of English
parents) is born subject to the constitution and laws
of England, and he who is born in the United States,
is born subject to the constitution and laws of the
United States. The duties of men as members of the
state, that is, as citizens, are very important, and
should be accurately known.
The state consists of all the population of the
country regarded as a body politic. The government
is the agency by which the state exercises its power.
Government is not the state, but the instrument of
the state.
It is the duty of the members of the state, that is,
of all citizens, to entertain right views in relation to
government. If men have erroneous views in regard




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.             129
to the origin, nature and powers of government, they
will have erroneous views of duty with respect to it.
Government is an institution of God-is of divine
origin. It is God's will that men should have government. He has ordained that governments shall exist
wherever men exist. This appears from the following
facts. He has created men with a social nature. That
nature renders it necessary for them to live in society.
In order that they may live in society, the law of
justice must be observed. They must be just to each
other. If all men were perfectly just, government as
a protecting and restraining power would not be
necessary. But we know that all men are not just.
Hence there must be a power to protect men in the
enjoyment of their rights, and to restrain them from
trespassing upon the rights of others. Such a power
is Government.  Government is necessary to the
existence of society.
The Bible recognizes the divine origin of government, and the divine authority of magistrates.  "The
powers that be are ordained of God.  Whosoever
therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance
of God." Rom., xiii. 2. This does not teach that the
tyrannical usurper of the powers of government has
the divine sanction for his conduct. It teaches that
the ordinance of government is from God, and that
obedience is due to its commands as such. Men may
pervert and abuse the institution of government; but
6*




130             CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
its divine authority is not communicated to its perversions and abuses.
If government is an institution of God, then men
should administer it according to his will.
The church is an institution of God. Men have
no right to use it as a means of accomplishing their
selfish purposes. Neither have they a right to use
the institution of government as a means of accomplishing their selfish purposes.  It should be recognized as God's institution and should be administered according to his will.
When a people are called upon to form  a new
government, they should have regard to God's will in
so doing. It is his will that perfect justice should
prevail in a community. The object of government is
to secure justice. It is therefore his will that such a
form of government should be established as will best
secure justice to its subjects.
Some seem to think that governments are wholly
the work of men-that they can make or unmake
them when aid as they please. From what has been
said above, it will be seen that this view is erroneous.
Government is not an optional matter, any more than
conscience is a optional matter.
We are moral beings. All our voluntary acts have
a moral character-are either right or wrong. They
all ought to be right. In all our actions, we are to
have reference to the will of God. " Whether, there



CHRISTIAN ETHICS.             131
fore, ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to
the glory of God." 1 Cor., x. 31. If in all our actions
we are to have reference to the will of God, we of
course must have reference to his will in those relating to government.
The people of every country are under obligation
to have the best government possible. They are not
at liberty to live under a bad government, because
they choose to. They have no right to choose to live
under a bad government. It is not God's will that
bad governments should exist.
If it is the duty of the people of a country to have
the best possible government, then it is the duty of
each one of the people to do all in his power towards
securing such a government. The people determine
the form and character of the government. Whatever
is obligatory on the people is obligatory on the individuals comprising the people. Hence no one may
say, "I will attend to my own business, and let government matters alone. Those may manage them who
choose to."
No one can thus throw  off his responsibility.
Matters pertaining to government are among the most
important ones connected with the interests of this
life.  A good government is necessary to national
prosperity-to intellectual and moral progress.
It is, therefore, our duty to reverence government
as an institution of God, and respect magistrates as




132              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
his ministers. The apostle declares that they are his
ministers. Rom., xiii. 6.
Respect for magistrates is a duty too much neglected at the present day.  The people are accustomed to look upon magistrates as their own creatures
-as deriving all their authority from them. Whereas
the power is ordained of God, and the people simply
designate those who shall wield that power.  The
frequent elevation of incompetent and unworthy men
to office, has had a tendency to lessen the respect for
magistrates.
In other countries, magistrates are surrounded
with imposing forms and ceremonies intended to impress the people with respect. These have been dispensed with in our country.  Our respect, therefore,
must be the result of right views of the nature of government as ordained of God. The magistrate may
be worthy of personal respect.  When this is the case,
it will be rendered him. But if the magistrate should
not be worthy of personal respect, yet we should treat
him with respect, in consequence of the office. His
faults should not be exaggerated; nor indeed should
they be spoken of, unless it be necessary to the public good. The abuse of magistrates tends to lessen
our respect for government, and to weaken its
power.
It is our duty to cherish respect for the forms of
law.  Impatience of forms has become characteristic




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              133
of the American people. And yet there is an important connection between forms and reality. Let the
forms of religion be neglected, and the spirit will decay. Let the forms of liberty be abolished, and liberty
itself will take its departure. Let the forms of justice
be dispensed with, and the reality will soon be found
wanting.
Adherence to established forms of enacting, interpreting, and executing laws, may sometimes interfere
with the prompt administration of justice; but departure from those forms will infallibly be followed by
many instances of injustice.  Temporary inconveniences are better than permanent evils.
It is the duty of all citizens to render a prompt
and willing obedience to the laws of the land. They
are to obey the laws, not because it is prudent and
profitable to do so, but because it is right.  If government is of God, its commands have the authority of
its Author. The teaching of the Scriptures is explicit
on this subject.  "Put them  in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates."
Titus, iii. 1.
The rule here laid down does not sanction the
doctrine of passive obedience and non-resistance insisted on by tyrants and the sycophants of tyrants, in
other days. It teaches obedience and submission to
all just authority.
There are limitations to our obedience. Suppose




134            CHRISTIAN ETHICS,
the government requires of us that which is plainly
beyond our powers: suppose it requires us to work
a miracle, or to believe a proposition without evidence.
It would not be our duty to obey; because it would
not be possible. To punish us for disobedience would
be wrong. If it should command us to do something
lawful and within our power, and we wilfully destroy
our power to do the act required, we could be justly
punished.
When the law is in conflict with the law of God, it
is not our duty to obey. "We ought to obey God
rather than men." Acts, v. 29. God's law is always
right. It is our duty always to do right. Hence we
are not to do what is contrary to the will of God.
We cannot throw the responsibility of our wrongdoing on the government. " So then every one of us
shall give account of himself unto God." BRom., xiv. 12.
In giving that account, it will not do to attempt to excuse a transgression of the law of God, by pleading
that it was done in obedience to the commands of
men.
There are some who have taught that in civil matters the law of the land is to be our rule of actionthat whatever the law prescribes, it is right for us to
do. Suppose the law should command us to worship
idols, or blaspheme God! would it be right for us to
obey?
Government may make things in themselves indif



CHRISTIAN ETHICS.            135
ferent obligatory, but government cannot change
moral distinctions. The color of my garments is a
matter of indifference; but if the government should
command me to wear clothes of a certain color, I
should be under obligation to obey. There would be
no conflict between such a law and the law of God.
If the government should command me to believe
a certain religious creed, and to worship God according to a certain form, it would transcend its powers.
It can rightfully command me to do whatever is just
towards my fellow men, but it has nothing to do with
my personal relations to God. Hence the Church and
the State should never be united. They have different
objects and different spheres of action.
While they should not be united, they should be
in harmony, not in antagonism. The Church should
give its moral support to the State, and the State
should secure the rights of the Church. As both are
God's institutions, their legitimate workings must be
in harmony.
When governments command that which is contrary to the will of God, they are not to be obeyed.
But it does not follow that the execution of the law is
to be resisted. Suppose the government should command you to give a part of your property for the support of idolatry. It would not be your duty to obey.
The government may send its officers to seize your
property. It would not be right for you to make




136             CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
forcible resistance-to shoot down the officers, as in
case of an attempt at private robbery. It may be your
duty to submit to the spoiling of your goods. It is
the duty of all to yield a passive submission to the
government, till the oppression becomes so great as to
justify a resort to revolution.
It is impossible to say when a revolution-that is,
the forcible overthrow of an old government, and the
establishment of a new one, is justifiable. A single
unjust law does not justify the overthrow of the government. If it did, no government would be secure.
Unless a law is perfectly wise, it may have some unjust influence somewhere in its operation.  As few
laws are perfectly wise, so few are perfectly just. To
require a human government to be perfect, as a
condition of obedience, would be to do away with all
obedience.
There is a right of revolution. There are times
when it is right for the people to overthrow by force
the existing government. In order to this, the oppression and injustice must be great, and the prospect of success good. Unsuccessful attempts to overthrow  tyrannical governments have usually been
followed with greater sufferings than those which
caused the attempts.
It may thus be the duty of the people to submit
to a tyrant-to obey the commands of an usurper.
This duty is not founded on his right to command;




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              137
for he has no such right, but on the principle that the
worst kind of government is better than no government, and that submission would be followed by fewer
evils than resistance. In such cases, obedience is a
dictate of prudence. It is often our duty to follow
the dictates of prudence.  The Scriptures enjoin the
duty of suffering wrong under peculiar circumstances.
We are not always to assert our rights.  "For this is
thankworthy, if a man for conscience towards God
endure grief, suffering wrongfully." 1 Pet. ii. 19.




CHAPTER XIX.
DUTIES OF CITIZENS, CONTINUED.
IT is not only our duty to obey the laws, but to
assist by our influence and aid, if need be, in their
execution. It often happens that a particular law is
very unpopular in a given community. Those charged
with its execution find their office a difficult one. No
citizen has a right to throw any obstructions in the
way of the execution of a law, because he may deem
it unwise, or because a majority whom he may wish
to please are opposed to it. If the law has passed
through the constitutional forms-has been legally
enacted, and is not contrary to the law of God, it is
to be obeyed. Citizens are justified in using all lawful measures to cause its repeal; but while it is a law,
it is their duty to obey it, and assist in its execution.
To get up such a public sentiment as renders the law
a dead letter, differs in form only from forcible resistance to the law. Such a course lessens reverence for
the authority of law, and tends to anarchy.
It is the duty of citizens to contribute cheerfully
such sums as are necessary for the support of govern



CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              139
ment, in other words, it is their duty to submit to
taxation. Taxes are sums levied by the government
to defray its expenses and promote the general welfare. A man's taxes are what he pays for the protection of his life and property, and for the conditions of
public prosperity in which he shares. He ought to
pay his just portion of the expense of government.
To endeavor to avoid this, and to throw the burden
upon others is unjust and mean.
There is, on the part of some, a want of correct
moral perception in relation to this duty. Men who
would not defraud others in their ordinary business
transactions, who would not make their indebtedness
a penny less than justice requires, will make their
taxes as small as possible, by not furnishing full information as to their property.  The excuse is, that
everybody tries to pay as little in taxes as possible.
This excuse is not valid for two reasons.  First, it
is not true that this course is pursued by every one.
There are those who wish to do what is just in regard
to taxes, as in regard to other things.  They wish to
do what is right in all circumstances. In the second
place, the fact that another man fails to do his duty,
does not justify me in neglecting mine. In case of a
contract between two parties, the failure of one to
perform his part may absolve the other from obligation to perform his. But there is no analogy between
contracts and taxes.




140             CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
Men should contribute to the expenses of government in proportion to their means. Direct taxes are
those that are assessed, or are intended to be assessed,
on individuals in proportion to the property possessed
by each. It is the most equitable mode of taxation,
and yet perfect justice is never reached in the matter.
Government in this as in other things is affected by
the imperfection of human nature.
Indirect taxes are taxes laid on commodities as
they are produced, or sold, or used. The tax is
added to the price, and is paid by the consumer of the
article. Of indirect taxes, men pay not in proportion
to the amount of property possessed, but to the
amount of taxed articles consumed by them.  The
fact that this mode of taxation is less equitable does
not justify the attempt to evade the law.
Smuggling is a form  of violating the law  of
taxation. When, as in most cases, there are taxes on
goods imported to a country, there are those who seek
to import goods without paying the duties. They can
undersell those who pay the duties, by reducing the
price of their goods. Smuggling is always conducted
by unprincipled men. A professional smuggler is not
regarded  as differing much from  the thief and
gambler.
It is said that ladies and gentlemen of high social
standing sometimes bring into the country, on their
persons or in their luggage, articles on which the law




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              141
requires duties to be paid. The social standing of
such travellers may exempt them from  suspicion on
the part of custom-house officers, but it is difficult to
see wherein the moral character of their conduct
differs from that of the vulgar smuggler.
Purchasing smuggled goods knowing them to be
smuggled, renders the purchaser a participator of the
fraud against the government.
It is the duty of citizens to cherish the spirit of
patriotism, or the love of their country. The love of
country is natural. We are so made that we love
first and most intensely the members of our own
families, next our more intimate personal friends,
next the members of the community in which we live,
and next the people of the country to which we
belong. Love of our own country is not hatred of
other countries. In the family of nations, the interest
of one nation is connected with the interest of all
other nations. In former times, statesmen thought
that they could promote the prosperity of their nation
by injuring the prosperity of other nations.  Juster
views now prevail, and it is clearly seen that it is for
the interest of each nation that all other nations
should be prosperous.
Our love of country should therefore be shown in
honest efforts to promote the prosperity of our own
country, not in efforts to lessen the prosperity of




142             CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
other countries. National, like individual selfishness
is not wise.
Citizens should endeavor to promote the prosperity
of the country by electing competent and honest men
to office. The character of the practical operation of
our government depends upon the character of those
appointed to make, interpret and execute the laws.
It rests with the citizens to determine the character
of the legislators, judges, and executors of the laws.
The exercise of the right of suffrage is one of the most
responsible acts of the American citizen. A single
vote may determine the policy that may affect the
destiny of millions. It is not often that a single vote
carries an important election, but it is sometimes the
case. Not many years ago, a single vote determined
the election for governor in Massachusetts.
The duty of suffrage is violated by those who
abstain from voting. It is not an optional matter any
more than returning money entrusted to one's care is
optional. The right of suffrage is a solemn trust
which those to whom it is committed are bound to
exercise.
The directors of an  insurance company  are
charged with the management of the affairs of the
company. Their duty is to manage it wisely and
justly for the benefit of the stockholders. Suppose a
majority of the directors are honest men. Suppose
they neglect to attend the meetings of the board of




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              143
directors, neglect to attend to the trust committed
to them, and allow the minority to manage the affairs
of the company for their own private advantage.
Such neglect of duty would be severely censured.
The trust committed to those who possess the
power of suffrage is far more important than that
committed to the directors of any insurance company.
It is of far more consequence that the affairs of the
state be wisely and justly managed for the benefit of
the state than that the affairs of the company be
wisely and justly managed for the benefit of the
stockholders. What shall be said of those honest
men who neglect to attend elections and allow selfish
politicians to manage public affairs for their own advantage?
The duty to exercise the right of voting involves
the duty of using the means necessary to render
the votes effective. It involves the duty of taking
part in those preliminary measures which result in
designating the candidates for office.
It is the duty of every citizen to vote for men who
are qualified intellectually and morally, for the trust
proposed to be conferred upon them.  Friendship
and self-interest should not influence men to vote for
those who are not fully qualified. It is to be feared
that votes are often given to candidates merely because they are the candidates of a party.
It is the duty of citizens to cherish a regard for




144             CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
the public good, and to be willing to put forth efforts,
and if need be, to make sacrifices to promote it. To
this end it is the duty of every one to promote the
cause of intellectual and moral education in the community. Intelligence is necessary to enterprise and a
wise direction of industry, and industry lies at the
foundation of national prosperity. Besides, an ignorant people are unfit to manage free institutions such
as ours. Every patriot should be led by his patriotism as well as by an enlightened regard to his own
interest to promote the growth of intelligence among
the people.
But intelligence will not of itself secure wise and
right action. Men do not perform their duty just in
proportion to their knowledge of it. The sense of
duty must be strengthened that the duties which intelligence reveals may be performed. Now there is
an intimate and inseparable connection between religion and morality. Washington warned the people
against the idea that morality could exist without a
religious basis.
Hence it is the duty of every citizen to promote
the religious education of the community. To promote the circulation of the word of God, and its
study, is the duty of the citizen patriot as well as of
the christian. "Godliness is profitable unto all things,
having the promise of the life that now is, and of
that which is to come."




CHAPTER XX.
DUTIES OF LEGISLATORS.
IT is the duty of legislators to make wise and just
laws. It is hardly necessary to add the word just
after wise, for a law that is not just cannot be wise.
A man who is not competent to make wise laws has
no right to be a legislator. No man can with propriety be said to have a right to do what he does not
know how to do. A man cannot claim the right to
read Greek till he knows how to read Greek, and no
man can claim the right to make laws till he knows
how to make laws.
Suppose a man wholly ignorant of the art were to
offer himself for employment as a watchmaker! Is
watch making more important than  law making?
Are interests which would be periled by committing
the delicate structure of the watch to unskillful
hands to be compared with the interests periled
by committing the work of legislation to unskillful
hands?
Legislators should see that all laws enacted by
them are in accordance with the constitution. The
constitution is the fundamental law of the land to




146             CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
which all other laws must be conformed. The constitution distributes the powers of government. It
gives to the legislature its power. The legislature
can make such laws only as the constitution empowers it to make. Laws not in accordance with the
constitution have no authority. They will be formally
pronounced null and void by the tribunal appointed
for that purpose by the constitution.
Legislators must see that the laws enacted by
them are according to the law of God. Laws in conflict with the law of God are without authority. We
are always to obey the higher law. God's law, the
eternal law of rectitude, is the highest'law known
to the universe. It is the grand constitutional law of
the universe, to which all other laws must be conformed.
Legislators should act for the good of the whole
country for which they are called to legislate. A
legislator may be the representative of a particular
community. It is his duty to become acquainted with
the condition of that community, and to pay special
attention to its interests. He is not, however, to attempt to promote the interests of his constituents at
the expense of the interests of the whole country, or
of any part of it. He is one of those chosen to
make laws for the whole country, and should have
paramount regard to the interests of the whole
country.




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.               147
Of course, he should not be influenced by party
prejudices.  He is in all cases to act according to his
own judgment of what is wise and right, and not according to the dictation of the leaders of the party to
which he may belong.
Legislators should treat the institutions of religion
with respect and reverence. They are bound impartially to protect the rights of all worshippers. They
cannot legislate for the conscience. They have no
right to punish men for their creed.
In former days, legislators thought they were to
legislate for religion. They, therefore, prescribed the
doctrines to be believed and the forms of worship to
be observed, and punished men if they differed from
the creed and practice ordained by the government.
The relation of the government to the church is now
better understood. Christ's kingdom  is not of this
world. It seeks no aid from the government in doing
its appropriate work. It simply claims the protection
due to all the subjects of the state. It gives all its
influence to the support of the state acting in its
legitimate capacity.
It is the duty of legislators and all other public
officers to set an example of propriety of manners and
of correctness of moral and religious deportment.
When the leaders of a nation are leaders in vice, and
a majority of the people are content to have it so, that




148             CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
nation may soon expect punishment at the hand of
the Governor of the nations.
The nation is responsible for the acts of its rulers,
for they are its agents. If they pursue an unjust and
iniquitous course, their sins will be visited upon the
nation. There is no truth more clearly asserted in
the Bible, and more fully illustrated in history, than
that God rewards and punishes nations according to
their works. "At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom  to pluck up,
to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against
which I have pronounced turn from their evil, I will
repent of the evil which I thought to do unto them.
And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation
and concerning a kingdom to build and to plant it, if
it do evil in my sight that it obey not my voice, then
will I repent of the good, wherewith I said I would
benefit them." Jer., xviii. 7-10.
The history of the Jewish nation recorded in the
Bible is an illustration of the principles here laid
down. The history of all past nations is analogous to
the history of the Jewish nation.
Nations are rewarded and punished in this world,
because they will have no existence in the next. Individual guilt will be the subject of future retribution,
but national sins are visited by national judgments in
this world.
It may be objected, that the disasters of nations are




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.             149
the natural consequences of their conduct, and, therefore, not visitations of God. But how came it to pass
that disastrous consequences follow  one kind of
conduct and favorable ones another?  Is it not the
result of the ordination of God? Is not that which
he does by means as truly his work as that which he
does without means?




CHAPTER XXI.
DUTIES OF JUDGES.
THE office of the judge is to interpret the law.
He does not make the law: he decides what the law
is in regard to the case in hand.
The welfare of the community is intimately connected with the wise and just interpretation and
application of the laws. It is in connection with the
decision of the judge that the law comes home "to
their business and bosoms." Able and upright judges
contribute largely to the public prosperity.
It is the duty of those having the appointing
power, to select the ablest and most upright men in
the land to act as judges. They should be rendered
so far independent of the other departments of the
government, and of popular favor, that their decision
may be unbiased by considerations of interest.
The judge should be learned in the law and in the
rules of interpretation. As the field from whence he
is to derive knowledge for his guidance in the discharge of his official duties is ever widening, he
should constantly be a diligent student. In other




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.             151
words, he should be constantly increasing his qualifications for the office he holds.
It is the duty of the judge to decide according to
the law. He may deem the law unwise, and he may
even believe that in the case before him it will work
injustice; still he is bound by his oath of office to
decide according to the law.
The character of the judge should be one of spotless integrity. The judge is the redresser of wrongs.
If he lack integrity, if his decisions are the result of
prejudice, or passion and self-interest, a state of
things occurs which is thus described by the prophet,
" And judgment is turned away backward, and justice
standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street and
equity cannot enter." Isa., lix. 14.
The office of a judge is one of dignity, and those
who hold it, should maintain the dignity of the office.
To this, a distant and haughty bearing is not necessary, nor the trappings with which the judges of some
countries are surrounded. The dignity of the judge
should reside in the man, not in his garments.
Jurors are men called upon to act as judges in a
particular case. Jurors are judges of the facts of the
case. Their business is to listen to the testimony,
and give their decision in view of that testimony.
They are to receive the instruction of the judge as to
the law: they are to decide as to the facts according
to the evidence. Suppose a man is on trial for theft.




152              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
He is charged with having stolen fruit. A man is
called to act as a juror on the trial.  He must pronounce the man guilty or not guilty according to the
evidence set before him. It may be that he knows
that the accused is guilty. It may be that he saw him
take the fruit. Still his knowledge must not influence
him in making his decision. He must decide according to the evidence. If proof of the man's guilt is not
brought forward, he must pronounce him, not guilty.
The juror as well as the judge is bound to decide
with fairness and impartiality. All the responsibilities of the judge, so far as justice is concerned, rest
upon the juror.
The trial by jury is regarded as one of the greatest
safeguards of justice and liberty. Its value depends
upon the fidelity with which the jurors exercise their
functions. If their verdicts are rendered in accordance with their prejudices, if they regard their ob5ligations to those with whom they may be associated
in politics or otherwise as superior to their obligations
to do justice, if bribery and corruption enter the jurybox, then the institution may become a curse rather
than a blessing.
The judges are required to adhere strictly to the
law, and the jurors to the evidence set before them.
It may be that false testimony may be brought forward, and thus an innocent man may be declared guilty.
Having been pronounced guilty by the jurors, the




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.            153
judge is compelled to pronounce sentence upon him
according to law, though he may be perfectly convinced that the prisoner is innocent. Or it may happen that the law may be so constructed that in a
given case the judge may be compelled to inflict a
penalty exceeding the deserts of the prisoner who has
been justly convicted.
In such cases, the pardoning power comes to the
aid of justice. The executive is under obligation to
pardon all those who would suffer injustice by the
due execution of the law.




CIAPTER XXII.
DUTIES OF EXECUTORS OF THE LAWS.
ALL experience has shown that the security for
justice is the greatest when one set of men make the
laws, and another administer, them, and another exethem. Hence it is the duty of the people to make
this distribution of the powers of government. They
have done so in our government, and a similar distribution has been made in all constitutional governments which have recently been made.
The chief magistrate of a nation or state, whether
he is called king, president or governor, is primarily
charged with the execution of the laws. He has no
right or power to alter the laws, or to set them aside.
He cannot interfere with the decisions of the judges.
His business is to execute the laws. Ie is not
responsible for the acts of the law makers, nor for the
acts of the judges. He is responsible simply for the
execution of the laws.
As it is not possible for him in person to execute
all the laws, he must appoint subordinates to act
under his direction. It is his duty to appoint men




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.            155
of integrity who are competent to do the work assigned them. He is acting for the public and is to
have regard only to the public good. He may not
bestow offices upon unworthy men as the reward of
partisan services. The example of the Father of his
country should be followed by all who are invested
with the executive power. He sought for men competent to fill the vacant offices. He had regard to
services rendered to the country but not to services rendered or promised to himself. He would
never have appointed a man who founded his claim
on services rendered to the party who elevated him to
power.
Those charged with the execution of the laws
should be fearless and impartial in the discharge of
their duty. They have but one thing to do. They
are to carry into execution the decisions of the courts.
They are to do what the law explicitly tells them
to do.
Security of life and property depends upon the
prompt and vigorous execution of the laws. Wise
laws are of no avail unless they are enforced.
The chief executive of a nation or state is usually
invested with the power to pardon those who have
been convicted of crime. It is his duty to use this
power for the ends for which it was given him, and
for no other.
The pardoning power is given to correct the in



156             CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
justice which a strict adherence to law might sometimes occasion, and to promote the cause of good
government.
The executive is not at liberty to exercise it on
account of pity for the suffering the execution of the
law would occasion, nor because influential men request it. It is to be feared that the increasing frequency with which criminals are pardoned will do
much to impair the efficiency of the laws, and to give
impunity to fraud and violence. No part of the executive duty should be more carefully and conscientiously performed, than that relating to the exercise
of the pardoning power.
It is the duty of the officers of government, and
indeed of all men, to cherish right views in regard to
the object of punishment. Some assume that the object of punishment is the reformation of the offender:
hence, if to pardon him will be more likely to reform
him than to execute the sentence, he ought to be pardoned. This false view of the object of punishment
has already led to great evils, and threatens to lead to
still greater ones.
The primary object of punishment is the meting
out of justice. Justice is the fundamental idea of
government. All the provisions of government have
for their object the maintenance of justice between
man and man. Now it is just that crime should be
punished. It is a self-evident truth that justice ought




CHEISTIAN ETHICS.             157
to be practiced. It is a self-evident truth that injustice ought to be punished. That crime deserves punishment is assumed throughout the Word of God.
A distinction is everywhere made between the righteous and the wicked. The righteous are regarded as
worthy of reward, and the wicked of punishment.
The view of punishment above alluded to implies
that society is under obligation to do more for the
guilty than for the innocent. Abraham, the friend of
God, did not so understand the matter; "that the
righteous should be as the wicked," that is, have no
advantage over the wicked, "that be far from thee.
Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" Gen.,
xviii. 25.
It may be said, by way of objection, that God punishes guilt for its own sake, but that the prerogative
is confined to him-that with man the object of punishment is different.
To this it may be replied, that government is an
institution of God, and hence is to be conducted on
the principles laid down by him. By the voice of our
nature and his written word, he has indicated his will
that the guilty shall be punished.
Another object of punishment by government is
the security of the law-obeying portion of the people.
If no punishments were inflicted, no one will contend
that life and property would be secure. Now just




158              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
so far as punishment fails to be inflicted the security
is lessened.
Security of life and property do not depend upon
the severity of the punishment so much as upon its
certainty. Let it be certain that the penalty attached
to a crime will follow  its commission; that the
offender will be  arrested,  tried, convicted, sentenced, and the sentence executed, and crime would
be almost unknown.  It is the duty of the officers of
government to see to it that this certainty of punishment follows the commission of crime.  Mercy to the
criminal is often cruelty to the innocent.




CHAPTER XXIII.
THE DUTY OF REST AND OF PUBLIC WORSHIP.
IT is the duty of man to labor. Physical labor is
necessary to the development of the bodily powers, and
mental ltbor to the development of the mental powers.
Labor, physical and mental, is necessary to produce
the necessaries and comforts of life. The duty of
labor is thus clearly inferible from the structure of
the body and of the mind, in connection with the
circumstances in which man is placed.
The Bible teaches the duty of labor. It sets forth
the sublimest of examples. "My Father worketh
hitherto and I work."  Adam  was placed in the
garden of Eden to till it and dress it. The command
from Mount Sinai is, "Six days shalt thou labor,"not "Six days mayest thou labor." Labor is here
spoken  of as imperative, not as optional.  The
Apostle speaking of some who were disorderly and idle,
says, "Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they
work, and eat their own bread." 2 Thess., iii. 12. He
also commands Christians to "be diligent in business."




160             CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
There is no exception made in favor of the rich.
The rich have no more right to be idle than the poor.
A different kind of industry may be incumbent upon
them, but every one has or ought to have his own
work, which he is to do with his might.
Hence no one has a right to live by the sweat of
another's brow, and no one has a right to lead a life
of voluntary dependence upon others. The law of
labor cannot be violated with impunity.
The body and mind are so constituted that labor
must be followed by rest. Rest as well as labor is a
duty. It is necessary to the highest efficiency of labor
mental and physical. Labor uninterrupted by rest
will destroy health and all capacity for labor.
At least one-seventh part of the time should be set
apart for rest,-and this in addition to the hours
spent each day in taking food, in recreation and in
sleep. From a wide examination of facts, it has been
found that the physical labor of men and of animals
subject to their control is most productive when every
seventh day is devoted to rest. At first view, it would
seem that more would be accomplished by laboring
seven days instead of six, but facts have furnished
convincing proof of the assertion above made. This
clearly shows it to be the will of the Creator that men
should rest one-seventh part of the time.
If it is the duty of all men to rest one day in seven,
then it is the duty of all to rest on the same day.




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.             161
The advantages of rest can in no other way be secured.
Men are dependent upon one another. There must be
a constant exchange of commodities and services. If
the farmer should rest on one day, the mechanic on another, and the merchant on another, exchange and business intercourse between them must cease, or the rest
of all must be imperfect. Let all observe the same day
of rest, and all these inconveniences will be avoided.
The commandment is in keeping with these deductions of reason. "The seventh day is the sabbath
of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any
work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy
stranger that is within thy gates." Ex., xx. 10.
In accordance with the example set by Christians
of the apostolic times, the first day of the week
according to our mode of reckoning, is observed as a
day of rest and of worship throughout Christendom,
instead of the seventh.
Exceptions to this law of abstinence from  labor
relate to works of necessity and mercy. The necessity
must not be one voluntarily imposed. We must not
confound that which we may strongly desire to do,
with that which is necessary.
It is lawful to do good on the sabbath day. The
sabbath was made for man. Mark, ii. 27. The object
of its institution was his improvement and happiness.




162             CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
Hence the day of rest is not to be a day of
austerity and gloom. It is a day for the reunion of
the family, separated, it may be, during the week, by
the demands of labor. It should be a day of cheerful
enjoyment. It is God's will that the sabbath should
be regarded "as a delight." Isa., lviii. 13.
As the sabbath was made for man, that is for his
improvement, and especially his moral improvement,
such exercises should be held as shall conduce to that
improvement, without violating the law relating to
labor. One most prominent means of securing this
improvement, is that of meeting together for religious
instruction and religious worship.
The mere act of meeting together with the decorum suitable for public worship tends to develop
our sympathies and promote refinement and courtesy.
Our emotions are increased by sympathy, especially
our moral emotions. All experience has shown that
nothing tends so much to strengthen religious principle and promote religious feeling, as the public
worship of God. Where it is not practiced, the community soon becomes immoral and degraded. Where
it is strictly and faithfully observed, a virtuous, intelligent, cultivated and prosperous community is the
result. The apostle insists on the duty of assembling
ourselves together. Heb., x. 25.
The sabbath may be violated by excessive labors
to do good. Attendance upon public services to the




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.            163
exhaustion of the body, is not in accordance with the
design of the institution.
All worldly amusements are inconsistent with the
rest and moral improvement which it is the design of
the sabbath to secure.
It is worthy of remark that constitutional liberty
has been enjoyed in those countries only in which the
sabbath is regarded as a day of rest and of religious
worship. Facts show that there is an intimate connection between a reverence for the sabbath and the
prosperity of nations.
The government is under obligation to protect its
subjects in the enjoyment of the rest of the sabbath,
and of worship according to their own convictions of
duty. They must not, however, on the plea of conscience interfere with the rest and worship of others.
The government should forbid all unnecessary labor
on the sabbath. Hence government works should not
be continued on that day. It is a national violation
of the sabbath for which God will hold the nation
accountable.
Let it be remembered that the voice of nature and
of Christ unite in declaring that the sabbath was
made for man, not for the Jews merely. It is not an
institution of Judaism but of human nature. Hence
the abolition of Judaism does not affect the sabbath.
The government has no right to enjoin the
religious observance of the sabbath. Government has




164              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
to do with the relations men sustain to each other as
members of the state. It can enforce the duties
arising from those relations. With man's duties to
God as a spiritual worshipper, it has nothing to do by
way of enforcement. It can secure to him freedom
from interruption in worship, but with the spiritual
act it has nothing to do.
Whenever government has attempted to legislate
for the conscience, it has inflicted grievous wrongs.
Whenever it has attempted to regulate the affairs of
the church, it has always corrupted it. The union of
church and state has always been fraught with injury
to the church.




CHAPTER XXIV.
THE FUTURE LIFE.
IF man's existence were confined to this world, he
would be none the less a subject of duty; all the
duties we have considered would be incumbent on
him. He is a subject of duty not because he is immortal, but because he has a moral nature, and
sustains certain  relations to God and his fellow
beings.
Man's existence is not confined to this world. He
is to live in another world, and that truth is the foundation of certain duties, or rather modifies all his
duties.
The teachings of nature respecting man's immortality are in keeping with the teachings of the Bible;
but are not of themselves sufficient to establish it.
Nature gives us intimations sufficient to render it
probable that there is a future life; revelation is
needed to give us assurance. Immortality is brought
to light, is rendered an incontrovertible truth, by the
gospel.
If there is a future life, and if there is any connection between our conduct here and our condition




166              CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
hereafter, then, as rational beings, we are under obligation to have regard to that future life. If there is
merely a probability of a future life, we are under obligation to be influenced by that probability.  We
constantly act with reference to probabilities. The
probabilities of a storm affect the action of the sailor;
the probabilities of rain, the haymaker; the probabilities of a future demand for goods, the merchant.
And so, if the evidence of a future life amounted to a
probability only, we should be under obligation to
have regard  to  that probability in our conduct.
Much more when the probability becomes a certainty.
The arguments from nature in favor of the soul's
immortality are chiefly negative, and prepare the way
for the moral argument, which has great force; but
this has for one of its conditions a portion of revealed
truth. When we have, by the word of God, been assured of man's immortality, we can trace in nature
many intimations which had otherwise escaped our
observation.
The argument from analogy is sometimes insisted
on as a strong one; but it simply suggests the possibility of the soul's future life. As man exists, previous to birth, in childhood, and in old age, in very
different conditions, so he may exist hereafter in a
condition very different from those he passes through
here.




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.             167
The different conditions referred to in this life are
different stages in the growth of an organized body.
At death that body is dissolved into its original elements. The analogy scarcely justifies the inference,
that the soul will exist hereafter separate from the
body.
This argument is somewhat strengthened when it
is rendered highly probable that the death of the body
is not the death of the soul. A limb may be cut off,
but the mind remains uninjured.  A considerable
portion of the body, even to a part of the brain,
may be destroyed without destroying the soul. It is,
therefore, possible, perhaps probable, that the destruction of the whole body will not be the destruction
of the soul. The force of this inference is lessened by
the fact, that the destruction of certain parts of the
body, puts an end at once to all indications of the existence of vital powers, bodily or mental.
The fact that the exercise of the mental powers
may be suspended, when they are not destroyed, appears from the phenomena of sleep, and especially
of swooning.  This fact suggests the possibility that
death, though destroying the evidences of the existence of those powers, may not be the destruction of
them.
This suggestion receives an increase of probability,
when the different parts of the body are viewed as the
instruments of the mind. The leg is the instrument




168             CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
of locomotion. Remove the leg, and the mind is not
affected.  The mind can still perform its part towards
the act of walking, as appears from the fact that locomotion can take place through the instrumentality of
a wooden leg. The eye is the instrument of seeing
and the ear of hearing.  The destruction of the eye
may not be the destruction of the mind which sees,
any more than the destruction of a telescope is the
destruction of the mind that has used it.
There are other considerations that might be
adduced to show that the death of the body is not
necessarily the destruction of the soul. They suggest
the possibility, and in the view of some, the probability of the future life of the soul. They remove objections, and prepare the way for the moral argument,
which has great force. Let it be granted that man
is under a perfect moral government, as he must be,
if he is under the government of an infinitely wise,
just, and powerful Being, then a future state is seen to
be necessary. Men are not rewarded and punished
with exact justice here, therefore they will be hereafter.  A future life is necessary for this purpose.
The argument rests on the fact that there exists an
infinitely wise, just, and powerful moral Governor, and
this fact nature does not clearly teach. It is taught
by revelation, which throughout assumes rather than
teaches the immortality of men.
The truth, that man is an immortal being, and




CHRISTIAN ETHICS.              169
that there is a connection between his conduct here
and his condition hereafter, being established, very important duties are brought to light. If it be our duty
in youth to prepare for the period of manhood, much
more is it our duty to prepare in this life for the life
to come.
As no one who has entered the unseen world has
returned  to  give us information  concerning that
world, we are dependent for our knowledge respecting it, and of consequence our duties in relation to it,
wholly on the Bible. The Bible enters into no details
respecting the future life. It contains nothing merely
adapted to gratify human curiosity. It gives us the
knowledge necessary to a knowledge of duty, and no
more.
Heaven is represented as the abode of holy beings.
A holy, that is, a perfect character, is the preparation
for heaven. Without holiness no man shall see the
Lord. Heb., xii. 14. Holiness is the sum of perfection.  So far as we are striving to form perfect characters, we are striving to prepare for a residence in
"the better land."  Hence one of the most important
modes of preparing for the life to come, is the
assiduous performance of the duties of the life that
now is.
All the duties of life receive additional importance
from  their connection with the life to come.  Our
pursuits and aspirations should be worthy of beings




170               CHRISTIAN ETHICS.
whose existence is to run parallel with the existence
of God.
We should have respect to the sublime rewards of
eternity. They will nerve us for stronger exertion
and lift us to a, higher elevation. The Bible does not
inculcate a mercenary spirits  It does not found our
obligations to obedience on the consequences of obedience or of disobedience. But it authorizes us to have
respect "to the recompense of reward" to be bestowed in the future life. " He shall reward every man
according to his works."  Matt., xvi. 27. It authorizes us to derive from  the future life strength to perform difficult duties and endure trials. Christ directed
his disciples not only to endure revilings and persecutions for his sake, but to rejoice and be exceeding
glad in view of them, "for great is your reward in
heaven." Matt., v. 12.
It is our duty and our privilege to look forward
to heaven as our home, and to desire it for its rest
from  painful toil and freedom  from  sin; for its glorious society, and its endless activities in the service
of God.
THE END.




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