that of vindictiveness. "I say unto you, love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven."

The enemies of christianity will allow, that it has at least introduced humanity into the practice of war, and into the intercourse of civilized nations. It tells us of a period when its efficacy will subdue the passions of men-when to its peaceful sway all kings and legislators and tribes of the earth shall bow,-and when, according to its own beautiful language, its triumphs shall reach from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. We can discover in what it has already done the earnest of this future age, and can discover in the purifying tendency of its doctrines,-its powerful incentives to charity and benevolence, and in the disinterestedness and selfdenial which it imposes on its disciples, the means by which, under a higher agency, it will succeed in accomplishing this, and all its predictions. Towards this blessed consummation it is at present advancing, silently but effectually removing the barriers which the corruptions of mankind oppose to its progress; augmenting the benefits of civilization and social union, while it goes on to the attainment of its final purposes; establishing the tranquillity and internal order of the communities which afford it protection; and disseminating the seeds of that glorious harvest, which will cover the face of the world with fruit. Possessing the grandeur and comprehensiveness of His plans whose institute it is, it communicates without violence, and

almost without observation, its benefits to mankind; and like the elements of nature, the operation of which, though unseen, is ever constant, it will advance with a resistless progress, till the arrival of its brightest era, when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ, and he shall reign for ever. They shall then beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruninghooks, nation shall not lift sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

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IV. Subjects are bound conscientiously to pay the taxes imposed by government. They are to render to all their dues; tribute to whom tribute is due, and custom to whom custom. To this part of the duty of subjects I adverted in a former part of this work; and shall now do little more than remark its very great importance in reference to our own character, and to the virtue of others.

"In the payment of taxes and of other branches of public revenue, persons who would hold themselves deeply injured, were their honesty and integrity called in question, are sometimes very blameable. They will contrive, in various articles of taxation, to pay less than they ought to pay perhaps by delivering defective accounts of the possessions or indulgences for which they are liable to taxes;-or by some other misrepresentation of which they are conscious. Commodities which have been illegally introduced they will not hesitate to purchase; because such articles may be obtained for less money than those on which custom is paid. Remember, therefore, that to defraud your governors in the discharge of taxes, is to rob the

public; is to rob all the inhabitants of the land is to rob your honest neighbour, who must discharge his portion of new taxes rendered necessary by the dishonesty of those men who do not sustain their full share of the existing burdens. Remember that to purchase smuggled or contraband goods is not only to rob the public, but is to commit a sin resembling that of buying articles which have been stolen. It is to purchase that which does not legally belong to the seller. It is to encourage him to persevere in his habits of iniquity. Remember also, that he who has in any way been guilty of purloining, or of withholding from his country, is bound to prove his repentance by restitution *.”

Gisborne's Christian Morals, p. 246.

VOL. II.

2 Q

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NOTE

Referred to in page 170.

I AM far from wishing to bring against the poet the charge of Spinosism and Pantheism; or, from attaching to his expressions an heretical signification. I have quoted them, because they have been understood by some to convey the doctrine of the Anima Mundi, as held by philosophers, both ancient and modern; and because, to those who are unacquainted with that doctrine, they are calculated to give a lively representation of it. If his words are to be understood as merely expressing the scriptural doctrine of the omnipresence of God, they must be considered as peculiarly beautiful and even sublime. I agree with Professor Stewart in thinking, that "on a subject so infinitely disproportioned to our faculties, it is vain to expect language which will bear a logical and captious examination. Even the sacred writers themselves are forced to adapt their phraseology to the comprehension of those to whom it is addressed, and frequently borrow the figurative diction of poetry to convey ideas which must be interpreted, not according to the letter, but the spirit of the passage. It is thus that thunder is called the voice of God; the wind, his breath; and the tempest, the blast of his nostrils. Not attending to this circumstance, or rather, not choosing to direct to it the attention of his readers, Spinoza has laid hold of the well-known expression of St. Paul, that in God we live and move and have our being,' as a proof that the ideas of the Apostle, concerning the divine nature, were pretty much the same with his own." (Dissertation, Part ii. p. 79.)