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the power of the most insignificant person to disturb the happiness -of thousands ! If the benevolent dispositions of mankind , therefore ^ had not a very decided predominance over the principles which give rise to competition and enmity , what a different aspeqt would society have from what it actually presents to us /; or . rather , how would it be possible for the existence of society to be continued ?
" 2 . There is another fact which strongly confirms the same conclusion , — the constant exertion and circumspection necessary to acquire and maintain a ^ good name in the , world i a circujnspectkjR not only in avoiding any gross violation of duty , but in avoiding even the appearance of evil . For how often does it happen that a well-earned reputation ,. thes fruit of a long and virtuous life , is blasted at once by a single inconsiderate action , not pertiaps proceeding from any very criminal ' motive , but froin a momentary
forgetfulness of what is due to public opinion ! The common complaint , therefore , we hear of the prevalence © f vice in tfte world ; ( I mean the opinion © f good and candid men on the subject , fc& I speak m > t at present of the follies of the splenetic axrd censorious ;) ought rather to be considered as proofs of the high standard of excellence presented to our view by the Author of our moral constitution , than as proofs of any peculiar degeneracy in the manners of our contemporaries .
" 3 . It is of importance to remark how small is the number of individuals who draw the attention of the world by their crimes , when compared with the millions who pass their days in inoffensive obscurity . Of this it is scarcely necessary to produce any other proof than the fact which is * commonly urged on the opposite side of the argument , the catalogue of crimes and of calamities which sully the history of' past ages : for where is the interest we take in historical reading , but from the singularity of the events it records , and from the contrast ? which its glaring colours present to the
uniformity and repose of private life } " We may add to this observation , that even in those unhappy periods which have furnished the most ample materials to the historian , the storm has spent its rage in general on a comparatively small number of men placed in the more conspicuous stations of society by their birth , by their talents , by their ambition , or by an heroical sense of duty , while the unobserved multitude saw it pass over their head , or only heard its noise at a distance . Nor
must we pronounce ( among men called upon to the discharge of arduous trusts ) all those to have been unhappy who are commonly styled the unfortunate . The mind suits itself to the part it is destined to act ; and , when great and worthy objects are before it , exults in those moments of hazard and alarm which , even while they threaten life and freedom , leave us in possession of every thing that constitutes the glory and perfection of our nature . " —Vol . II . pp . 141—147 .
We make no apology for the length of this quotation , which , after all ,, contains only a fragment of a very extended discussion . To say the truth , the diffuseness of the author ' s style , and his propensity to run off into criticism and varied ( sometimes far-fetched ) illustration , makes it very difficult to select any entire argument which shall afford , within a moderate compass , a fair specimen of his general manner .
The evidence derived from the light of nature for the reality of a future state is ably stated by Mr . Stewart , though we are inclined to think that Mr . Jevons , in his Systematic Morality , a work which is destined , we hope , ultimately to procure for its ingenious author the reputation it deserves , has done it better , and , notwithstanding the hackneyed nature of the subject , with some portion of originality . To say the truth , however , we are at a loss to account for the extraordinary pains which many Christian philosophers have taken with this argument , which after all can only be considered as subsidiary to the clear and decisive testimony of revelation .
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38 Dugald Stewart .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1829, page 38, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2568/page/38/
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