be a convenient way to raise men to perfection, by lowering the standard down to the level of their imperfections, and even of their vices.

This artifice of human pride is not pe culiar to heathens; it was practised by many among the Jews, as we may learn from Christ's sermon upon the mount. The law received from Moses, and written by the finger of God, became at length, through the vail upon their hearts, so much depraved and misunderstood, that there was need of the divine legislator himself to interpose in order to vindicate its purity and perfection from the corrupt glosses of the scribes and pharisees, and to expose the vanity of their pretensions to a legal righteousness; though such was the pride and obstinacy of these unhappy men, that all this instruction and warning was to them generally ineffectual.

Should we from the Jewish extend our view to Christian nations, and in particu

E

lar to our own, (as it lies nearest to our observation,) we shall find the same propensity to bend the rule of duty to a consistency with our character and conduct. If we examine into the several orders of society amongst us, it will appear, that they all have their peculiar moral standard, to which if they approach in any tolerable degree, it is sufficient, as they imagine, not only to satisfy the claims of their own circle, and of their country at large, but also every demand of virtue and religion *. If the labouring man is honest, sober, and industrious; if the merchant is fair and punctual in his dealings, regular in his domestic conduct, and occasionally liberal to

* During the middle ages, Dr. Robertson tells us, it was universally a custom, for "every person to chuse among the various codes of laws then in force, that to which he was willing to conform." From the observations in the text it might be supposed, that the thick cloud of monkish barbarism and ignorance, which formerly sat deep upon this in common with other nations, was not yet entirely dissipated

Hist. of Ch. 5. vol. i. p. 378.

the distressed; if the gentleman of rank and fortune, besides that high sense of honour which is supposed to distinguish his station, is generous in his temper, kind to his dependants, and courteous to all; in short, if a man comes up to the law of reputation according to the sphere in which he moves, he will generally be considered by others, and too often by himself, as not far remote from perfection, and as an undoubted object of divine complacence. It was by this fashionable law, I suppose, that Hume judged of himself, when he asserted, that " his friends never had occasion to vindicate any one circumstance of his character or conduct*:" and it was probably the same law which dictated to his panegyrist, Adam Smith, when he solemnly declared, that "both in the lifetime, and since the death, of his friend, he had always considered him as approaching as nearly to the idea of a perfectly wise and virtuous man, as perhaps the nature of human frailty will permit." That I here do no injustice to this canonized * See his Life by himself. + Smith's Letter to Strahan.

philosopher, in venturing thus to assign the principle upon which both he himself and his encomiast formed so high an estimate of his character, may appear from his own definition of virtue; which he makes to consist in "those mental actions and qualities that give to a spectator the pleasing sentiment of approbation;" and the contrary he denominates vice*. Such is the pious standard set up by some pretended sages, who affect to reclaim the world from its former barbarism and ignorance, and to raise it to its natural state of perfection.

To guard against this, and other similar impostures, which are now become so common in the world, every man should labour to fix in his mind a just idea of the law of nature in its integrity. To this end, he should withdraw himself as much as possible from the contagion of error; and, with the Bible in his hands, and in the calm of recollection, should endeavour to exercise his thoughts on the being and perfections of the Deity; his necessary Hume's Essays, vol. ii. p. 363. 8vo.

existence and absolute independence; his power and wisdom; his goodness and justice; and that untainted purity which invests the whole of his character, and exalts every other attribute. Let him next consider this glorious Being in the several relations he bears towards his rational offspring, as their creator, their ruler, and their benefactor; together with the correspondent duties thence arising on their part, of the most profound adoration and submission, the most entire love and obedience, as his creatures, subjects, and beneficiaries. Let him then descend to the earth, and consider his obligations as a member of the great family of mankind; the debt of justice, of candour, and charity, which he owes to all, whether they are his friends or his enemies, whether they are virtuous or wicked, his fellow-citizens or strangers; with the particular regards due to his country, his family, or individuals. And lastly, let him reflect on what he owes to himself, in order to secure his own virtue and happiness, amidst those circumstances of trial in which he is placed dur