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gf ^ lt ^ tes ^^ p ^ ticpt of ^ v y ^ ibmg ifi ^ iiHei ^ st ^ fpi ^ iJbe cg |« s ^ jpft 4 ife > f ^^ ^ hiiJi li fts so often I ^ i men to ab $$ - j «^ >« # e&y Neairtkly comiort solelyfifor t ^ e promotion . of tbe -public good-££ ut do ' -we find that the first-prouauigators of the religion of Christ , in their arduous efforts to benefit
mankind , lost sight of their future recompense ? Were not the early converts ta the Christian faith exhorted to press toward the math for the prize of their high calling 9 and so to run the race that mas set before them , as to obtain—not the mere approbation of their own consciences—but an
inheritance that fadeth not away ? It does therefore appear to me most unreasonable to maintain , as many moralists delight to do , that the circumstance of being influenced in our conduct by the prospect of retributive happiness or misery in another state of being , deprives our
actions of their real merit , and tends to diminish their real efficacy . It is nothing less than to affirm , that the heroism of Codrus , or Curtius , or the Decii , was decidedly superior , in point of virtue , to the martyrdom of the apostles and primitive believers who sealed with their blood their
attestation to the truth of the most momentous though , according to this party-y the most selfish , doctrine of the Christian religion . I cannot , thei } , avoid believing , that to endeavour to persuade the great mass of
mankind , or , indeed , any except visJQna-ry theorists who have never mingled in the world , that they ought to , practise virtue for its own sake , and to value it solely as its own reward > is idle and preposterous .
Influenced by the false odium attached to the accusation which we have here been considering , many writers have had recourse to the principle of moral obligation winch arises
from the will of God , unmindful that when strictly examined it does not in effect differ from the greatest personal happiness of the agent . It is truly incredible that the Divine will should be efficacious on the mind as
a predominant motive , and should at the same time exclude all consideration of the Divine attributes - for the jfcer , e arbitrary will of any being , vkwed abstractedly , could never prestmt a rational incitement to actions
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* £ « & * % ^ fa ^ fe Mftfelfes I # gffcfe ** « f t ^ € uMji ^ pa } . o ]« d ^ fWl # ^« i ^ the * : oromaBc ) s of * $ ) & ; $ )« & ; , jfeAhHgp . $ Ude ^ I vwoilM ^ sjk ^ Uj < & $ ??^? o ^ f 1 Wa
po ^ rer * Jus * ^ iscl ^> | 0 ^? J 4 a ^ Jiei ^^ l&nce ^ rl&ik possibly tUMtkey should not .. ; p £ * Mhft $ K * 3 ^ eou ^ iiftwH wheiker always present to % h& muul <» r not , that this obedieuse will necessarily ensure the favour of Him on whom
the happiness ^ ranisery biarcreatures must at all tim ^ s abso lutely depend ? « . . < -. ¦ ....- ,, ... > ^ \|' If it be said that though this m $ t $ unquestionably .- . foe the ca&e M § m yet when once the habit : is
established , nothing ulterior to the Divine cpmroaads will be regarded by the agent s it uiast be recollected fey tlfe advocates of this principle-: that t ^ e same allegation '> has b § et * « aade In favour of that theory of virtue which
they themselves have rejected chiefly ob account of its interested views * After estimating tbe weight of the objections to . which I liave here ailverted , though I acknowledge that fir * -. Paley ' s definition of virtue , froin its want of comprehension aj ^ d
exactness , has given rise to much , misui ^ derstandmg ^ I atki still of -opinion that his theory is well founded ^ £ » nd that it ill deserves tbe severity of censure lavished on it by its opponents . Notwithstanding the inconsistent , manner in which tliis admirable , writer hua
\ u some instances expressed -himself , it is evident that his principle of utility , or general expediency , which has excited so much obloquy , is to be regarded as nothing n » ore thpn a rule for discovering the will of the Deity , whenever the latter canoot otherwise
be ascertained . And with re&p et to his obligation of everlasting happiness , into which obedience is . at length resolved , when viewed with reference to those who believe int Christianity , that is , 5 n truth , to all for whom his ethical work was originally designed , I cannot but consider it as far preferable to that to which it is said tu be
closely allied , and which is fn ^ cje-. to consist in the greatest ultimate happiness of the individual . The selfishness ascribed . to the one . is not . oflty limited to the expectation of a future existence , but is in the hi g hest degree instrumental to the practice of UteM ' tereste ( fnt $$ in every action connect " with the pitM'iil world \ while the
Untitled Article
*\ a ^ j ^^^ , Q ^^ ms jfaD ^ Rvh y ' * ^ h ^ m ^^ Hk ^^ m ^ m •
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1826, page 512, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2552/page/4/
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