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Untitled Article
much deducted ffc « n < tfoe f fanishiwent which awaits the fofrtieY . If st pfiifetoa thropist visit a family suffering at the same iime under poverty and Snlictioh of some other kind which he eaowot refmove , he remedies tfoe owe and' ^ shates the other . He feeds the hungry , clothes the naked , and Weeps v ^ ith those
who weep , out in neither case does he remove men sorrows upon himself ; he does not suffer cold and hunger for them on the one hand , nor tioos his sympathy remove the cause of their grie £ on the other . The sorrows and j * oys of every man issue from the workings of his own heart ; and it is as toaamfestly impossible to grieve or rejoice , as to breathe , or sleep , or think , by substitution . By * communicating our thoughts to others , we induce them to think ; but they think with , and not for us . The principle of vicarious suffering , however applied , appears to us as inconsistent with our nature , as it is incompatible with our conceptions of the Divine justice and mercy .
Christian philanthropy is obligatory : and though natural religion enforces th ? e same obligation , it is by considerations much less efficacious in promoting humility than those by which the Christian is actuated . This obligation is clearly laid down , and , in the following passage , strikingly illustrated :
, ' * Let it , for example , have been given to a man to receive superior mental en&otvments- ^ force of understanding" , solidity of judgment , and richness of khagmatiota , command of language , and graces of utterance—a soul fraught with expansive kindness , and not tnore kind than courageous ; and let Sail , $ hjs furnished by nature , have enjoyed the advantages of rank , and wea&b , and secular influence ; and let it have been his lot , in the prime of life , to be
stationed just on the fortunate centre of peculiar opportunities : and then let it have happeited that a fourth part of the human family , cruelly maltreated , stood as clients at his door , imploring help : and let Mm , in the very teeth of ferocious selfishness , have achieved deliverance for these suffering millions , arrd have given a deadly blow to the Moloch of blood and rapacity : and let Mm nave t > een Kfted to the heavens on the loud acclamations of ail civilized
nations , a * id Messed amid the sighs and joys of he ransomed poor , arid his name doused , lilce « . charm , through every barbatfofcs dialect off a cofttfn&itV let aH this signal felicity have belonged to the lot of a Chri $ aan—^ a Ohrfstiaii well taught in tfa-e principles of his religion ; nevertheless , in the midst of ffcdl honest joy , he will find plaoe rather for humiliation than for that vain ; exciter meat and exultation wherewith a man of merely natural benevoleaee wpuW not fail , in like circumstances , to rbe intoxicated . Without at all allowing the exaggerations of an affected humility , the triumphant philanthropist confesses
mat he is nothing ; and far from deeming himself tt > nave surpassed the requirements of the law of Christ , feels that lie has done less than his ditty . "—** Chai ^ ttan phi lanthtopy , ' ( fh u * broadty and solidly based on a sense of unlimited ' 4 A > ligation , acquires a cnaraciter 'eBs&ntiftlljr diflferiiig foam that of spontaneouB kindness ; wmi white , as a source « rf relief io-tlm wmtched ^ iris rendered imxaensely xnore copious , is , at tke same time , secured against the flatteries of self-dove , and the excesses of enthusiasm , by the s ^ lejoQn sancti on s of an unbounded responsibility *"— -Pp . l ^ O , 171 . ' ¦
The * hope of reward is utidaiibtefdly necessary to stimulate the early exertie «) S -of Christian benevolence ; ftnd stibsequently , the perception of the disproportion between Ifhe feeble service and the eternal reward ^ tends to enemfrage humility , and not to foster a regard to self-interest . The balancing of tndtrves to pure benevodence is another manifestation of Divine Wisdom in ft * e formation of the Christian scheriie . Christian philamtliiroW y 'is the instrument of a higher and efficient agency . Man tnhy pfatit iarid water ; hut it is Clod who -givethite increase . Relieving th « s , &nd f flacing no undue
Untitled Article
47 $ Natural ffwtory of Enthusiasm-
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1829, page 478, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2574/page/30/
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