Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

1

[ocr errors]

294

yet that faculty has so much need of cultivation, that without it, man in a natural state is hardly a rational creature. His analysis of man is most minute and complete, he follows him thro' every gradation, from the inarticulate savage to the highest state of intellectual improvement. Helvetius analyses the species, De la Metherie the individual; it is in such authors as these, who are exalted above vulgar errors, that the true nature of man is to be found. The two last chapters of De la Metherie I recommend to the particular and constant attention of those who seek after truth divested of habit and prejudice.

Burdons In a treatise on morality it may naturally be I non expected that I should say something upon Suicide. In the first place then I consider it no crime, because every man has a right to that which is his own, and nothing can be more his own than his life. No man has a right to the life of another, tho' men collectively, that is the public, have a right to take away the lives of those who take away the lives of others, which is the greatest of all crimes. When we have both the right and the power to take away our life, it is a mere matter of prudence whether we should exert it or not. It seldom happens, however, that any man is reduced to

such a state as to be without hope, and therefore few men can be justified in having recourse to this last resort of misery. To be unable to bear trouble and distress is a proof of a gloomy and impatient disposition, and therefore inconsistent with the dictates of wisdom and philosophy-but surely society, if they had the power, can never have a right to punish any man because he chooses to fly from misfortune, and it is mean and pitiful to shew indignity to a dead body, particularly since it is found to be useless as an example. To confiscate the goods of the deceased is unjust, because the punishment falls on the innocent.The best remedies against suicide are good government and philosophy. The great support of morality is the opinion the opinion of the virtuous, and were they unanimous in discountenancing vice and iniquity, by whom soever committed, the frequency of such deviations would be considerably lessened, and the world considerably improved; but when every species of meanness and villainy which does not grossly offend against the law, is countenanced not only by the wicked, who are naturally kind to each other, but by men who profess to have a hatred of vice, and to wish well to the happiness of society, it is not to be

of the Virtuous,

the great support of Morality.

9

296

wondered that virtue diminishes, and crimes

multiply.

the diffcc The difference between an active moral prinbetween ciple and the mere restraints of decency and positive convenience is much greater than men genenegative rally imagine; the one can only be found in a Virtue pure state of society, the other may be sub

mitted to in an age of the utmost profligacy. 'Moral principles can never operate to any great extent amid the blandishments of luxury, the excess of riches, and the speculations of commerce. The tendency of vice to produce disease and unhappiness is the sole reason why it should be banished from society, and if men were only prevailed on to consider the consequences of their actions, they might possibly stop before they endangered their health and happiness by a continued course of debauchery. Health and content are the greatest blessings of life; without the former riches are nothing, and as to the latter, tho' riches cannot give it, they may take it away; for the rich have so many artificial wants that they seldom find them all indulged.

The Estimal" The great criterion of civilization is the value a human at which the lives of human beings are estiLives, the mated; but as there seems to be a radical dequal crilourfect in the system of the world, consisting in of Civilization

the disproportion which exists between the increase of population and the means of subsistence, it is to be apprehended that mankind will never be completely civilized; that is to say, completely under the dominion of reason and morality. A principle of destruction is implanted in almost all the different parts of nature; some animals are formed expressly to contend with and to feed upon each other, and with man the state of nature is a state of war, which civilization does not entirely change, tho' it somewhat lessens its ferocity and its frequency; and all this for the purpose of counteracting their too great tendency to propagate. Till we make all men think alike upon all subjects, wars and tumults will never cease, and that period seems to be very distant; individuals and nations, therefore, must in the mean time do the best they can for themselves, without grossly violating the principles of justice, but to expect that all men will ever act honestly, and prefer a remote to a present interest, is as ridiculous as it would be according to Hudibras to expect,

All taylor's yards of one
Unanimous opinion.

"The false weight and the false balance are an abomination to the Lord," and so they are to

P P

The rights

298

those who are too honest to use them, but there will always be some that will, in defiance of law, scripture, and philosophy.

Tho' much has been said and written about q Man, the rights of man, I much question whether antic Bout they have any rights antecedent to a state of to cinligat, society; and if so, their duties can only arise doubtful out of the same state of civilization. Reason

is the criterion of right, and law is its best preserver. Strength of force may sometimes be substituted for reason, and become sanctioned by time and possession, but the foundations of justice can never be altered, and tho' it is to be lamented, that right may sometimes be overpowered by might, yet power can never confound the distinction between right and wrong, good and bad, just and unjust. A man of consistent integrity continually acts from a regard to what he owes to the general interest; such a man seldom suffers his passions to get the better of his feelings or his judgment, but if our continual study is to please the world, we can have no leisure to study ourselves, and unless we have formed accurate notions of duty or morality, and continually refer our conduct to these rules, we can do right or wrong only by chance, and can never deserve the praise of virtue even from the multitude.

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »