RSECUTOR?

In estimating the character of an individual, nothing is more
calculated to mislead ourselves, or to subject him to injustice at our
hands, than a disregard of the time, and country, and circumstances in
which he lived. It is equally unwise, and unfair, and deceitful, for a
human judge to establish one fixed standard[246] of excellence in any
department whatever of scientific or practical knowledge, and (p. 320)
then to try the merits of all persons alike with reference to that
one test. The injustice and absurdity of estimating the talents for
investigation and acumen, the skill, and industry, and perseverance of
a chemical student, many centuries ago, by the knowledge of the most
celebrated men of the present day, and to pronounce all who fell below
that standard to have been deficient in natural talents, or in a
faithful exercise of them, would be seen and acknowledged by all. At
this time, errors in navigation would be unpardonable, which would
have implicated a pilot in no culpability at all, who lived before the
invention of the mariner's compass, and when half our globe was as yet
unknown. The same observations are applicable when we would estimate
the moral excellence of an individual, his worth in a private or a
public capacity, his character as a subject or a governor,--as the
framer, or the guardian, or the administrator of the laws. Many a
practice in ordinary social intercourse, which would not be tolerated,
and would fix a stigma on those who were examples of it as persons to
be shunned and excluded from society in one age or country, might in
another not only be endured, but be even countenanced and encouraged
by those who would take the lead in the improvement and refinement (p. 321)
of civilized life. The grand broad fundamental principles of right and
wrong must abstractedly be acknowledged always and in every place; but
in the interpretation[247] of them, and in their practical
application, we shall find in the records of successive ages every
conceivable diversity. If, in these days, we are tempted to brand with
the mark of ignorance, and superstition, and cruelty, those among our
predecessors who enacted laws against witchcraft, and condemned to
death those who were found guilty of dealings with the spirit of
wickedness, we must at the same time remember that persons who are
examples of every Christian excellence, of reverence for God's law, of
justice and charity, are now engaged