Whoever has derived from God this perception and capacity of rectitude, has a bond of union with the spiritual world, stronger than all the ties of nature. He possesses a principle, which, if he is faithful to it, must carry him forward for ever, and insures to him the improvement and happiness of the highest order of beings. It is this moral power which makes all men essentially equal, which annihilates all distinctions of this world. Through this the ignorant and the poor may become the greatest of the race; for the greatest is he who is most true to the principle of duty. It is not improbable, that the noblest human beings are to be found in the least favoured conditions of society, among those whose names are never uttered beyond the narrow circle in which they toil and suffer, who have but "two mites" to give away, who have, perhaps, not even that, but who "desire to be fed with the crumbs which fall from the rich man's table;" for in this class may be found those who have withstood the severest temptation, who have practised the most arduous duties, who have confided in God under the heaviest trials, who have been most wronged, and have forgiven most; and these are the great, the exalted. It matters nothing what the particular duties are to which the individual is called-how minute or obscure in their outward form. Greatness in God's sight, lies not in the extent of the sphere which is filled, or of the effect which is produced, but altogether in the power of virtue in the soul, in the energy with which God's will is chosen, with which trial is borne, and goodness loved and pursued. The sense of duty is the greatest gift of God. The idea of right is the primary and the highest revelation of God to the human mind, and all outward revelations are founded on and addressed to it. All mysteries of science and theology fade away before the grandeur of the simple perception of duty which dawns on the mind of the little child. That perception brings him into the moral kingdom of God. That lays on him an everlasting bond. He, in whom the conviction of duty is unfolded, becomes subject from that moment to a law, which no power in the universe can abrogate. He forms a new and indissoluble connexion with God, that of an accountable being. He begins to stand before an inward tribunal, on the decisions of which his whole happiness rests; he hears a voice, which, if faithfully followed, will guide him to perfection, and in neglecting which, he brings upon himself inevitable misery. EXTRACT. CHANNING. Ir in thy journey through life thou overtake, or art overtaken by any one who is seeking Truth for its own sake, thou need not inquire from whence he came, nor from which particular tribe he sprang, but frankly give him thy hand, for be assured thou hast found a safe and instructive companion. TO EDWARD. AND wouldst thou know the Spirit's flight? Ask not the stars: though e'er so bright, They have not power nor will to tell Where soul may rest or spirit dwell. "Tis not in human ken to see Expect not then the crumbling mould And when death's gath'ring shades in gloom Shall veil thy sight from nature's bloom, Thou shalt awake, to ask no more Where soul may rest or spirit soar. Whate'er in nature thou may'st see, May charm thy heart and sight allure, To veil the view from future scenes, A world, whose lustre would defy Which to the Earth would backward turn, So pure those kindling glories burn. How kindly in this outward light, Which nature's God has made so bright, Our eyes are shaded from the glare How long before it learns to feel It deems a world is too confined To satisfy its quenchless thirst |