Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, IA [i.e. Ind.]) 1839-1854, 1848-05-10

jects of ambition and avarice. are strongly
discountenanced in may places; and an
undue solicit1dc about the ordinary cares
of life is occasionally reproved Ofworll-
Nv prudence, there are rules enough, in the
Proverbs Of Solomon. and in the compiIa-
tions Of the son Of Sirach; Christ passes
no censure upon them. but He left what
call the selfish virtues where lie found
them. II was not to proclaim common
place morality that He came down from
Heaven; His commands were new: that
His disciples should ..love one another"
that they should loy. even strangers, that
they should '.love their enemics.'' He pre-
scrlbed barriers against all the malefcient
passions; He gave as law. the utmost
point Of perfection Of which human pow
ers are susceptible. and at the same time
allowed degrees Of indulgence and relax
alton to human frailtv. proportional TO
the power of any individual An eminent
writer in support Of Christianity. Or.
Paley) expresses the opinion. that the d.
rect object Of the Christian revelation was
to supply m2ttrcs, and not rm/es-sanc
TONS, and not precepts; and he strongly
intimates that, independent Of the purpose
o Chrlst'S atoncment and Precipitation
for the sins Of the world, the only object Of
His mission upon earth was to reveal a fil :
ture state, ''to bring life and Immortality
to light" He does not appear to think
that Christ promulgated any new principle
Of morality; and he positively asserts that
''morality. neither in the Gospel nor in any
other book can be a subject Of discovery,
because qualities Of actions depend en-
tircly on their effects, which effects. must
all along have been the subject of human
experience" To this reply in the ex-
press words Of Jesus: "a ncU command
mcnt give You. that We love one another;'
and add, that this command explained,
illustrated, and dlated, as it was by the
whole tenor Of His discourscs. and cspcci-
ally by the parable Of the good Samaritan,
appears TO me TO be not only entirely new.
but, IN the most rigorous sense of the word :,
a discovery in morals; and discovery, the
importance Of which to the happiness Of
the human race, as far exceeds any dis
covery in the physical laws of Nature. as
the soul is superior to the body. If it be
Objected that the principles Of bencvolcncc
toward enemies, and the forgiveness of
injuries. may be found not only in the Old
I Testament, but even in some Of the hca-
then writers, particularly the discourscs
OF Socrates. | answer. that the same may
be said of the Immortality of the soul. and
of the rewards and punishments of a flu
turc state. The doctrine was not more a
discovery than the prccept: but thcir con-
ncyion with each other, the authority with
which they were taug ut. and the miracles
by which they were enforced belong eX-
clusivcly to the missions Of Christ. At
tend particularly to the miracle recorded
in the second chapter of Luke. as having
taken place at the birth of Jesus: when
the angel of the ord said to the shepherds:
Fear not. 70: behold bring You glad
tdin2s Of great joy. which shall be to all
people; for unto YOU is born this day in the
City OF David. 4 Saviour, who is Christ
the Lord.' In these words the character
Of Jesus. as Il Rcdcemcr, was announced:
but the historian adds-.'And suddenly
there was with the angel multitude Of
the heavenly host praising God and sing
ing. Glory 10 God in the highest. and on
earth peace, good VIII toward men"
! These words, as understand them. an
nounc"d the moral prrccpt of bencvolcncc
as explicitly for the object of Christ's ap-
pearancc. as the preceding words had de-
clarcd the purpose OF redemption. 1t is
related in the liti. Of the Roman dramatic
Poet, Terence. that when one Of the per-
sonages of his comedy. SELF Tormcntor,'
the first time uttered on the stage the line
"Homo sum. humani nil alienum puto,"
/ Il am man, nothing human is unintcrcst-
ing to mn.) a universal shout of applause
burst forth from the whole audience, and
that in 50 great n multitude Of Romans
and deputies from the nations. their sub
lect ana allies. there was not one indivi-
dual but felt in his heart this noble scnti-
ment. YET how feeble and defective it is.
in comparison with the Christian command
of Charity as untolded in the discoveries
of Christ and enlarged upon in the writ
ings of His apostles. The heart of man
will always respond with rapture to this
sentiment when there is no selfish or un.
social passion to oppose it: but the COM
mand 10 lay it down as the great and fun
namental rule of conduct for human life.
and TO subdue and sacrifice all the tvranni-
cal and selfish passions to preserve it. this
is the peculiar and untading glory of
Christianity: this is the conquest over our
selves. which without the aid of mcrci-
full God. none of us can achieve. and
which it was worthy of His special inter-
position to enable us to accomplish.
From your affec.ionate Father.
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.
LETTER WILL