on of the very
qualities which he has violated. But this truth applies equally to the
affections more strictly benevolent. The man who lives in the habitual
exercise of a cold and barren selfishness, and seeks only his own
gratification or interest, has indeed, in some sense, his punishment in
the contempt and aversion with which he is viewed by his fellow-men.
Much more than this, however, attaches to such a character;--he has
violated the principles given him for his guidance in the social
system;--he has fallen from his sound condition as a moral being; and
incurs actual guilt in the eye of a righteous Governor, whose will the
order of this lower world is intended to obey. But it by no means
follows, that the man, who performs in a certain manner the relations of
justice, friendship, and compassion, is thereby entitled to claim merit
in the view of the Almighty Governor of the universe. He merely acts his
part in the present system of moral economy, for which he has been
adapted. He is so constituted as to derive satisfaction from the
exercise of these affections; and, on the other hand, he receives an
appropriate reward in the reciprocal exercise of similar affections by
other men, and in the general harmony of society which results from
them. An extensive culture of the affections, therefore, may go on
without the recognition of the moral principle, or that state of mind
which habitually feels the presence of the Deity, and desires to have
the whole character in subjection to his will. We are not entitled to
acknowledge the operation of that great principle, unless when the
affections are exercised in circumstances which imply a strong and
decided sacrifice of self-love to the authority of God. This appears to
correspond with the distinction so strikingly stated in the sacred
writings--"If ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not
even the publicans the same?"--"I say unto you, love your
enemies,--bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, pray
for them which despitefully use you and persecute you."

On this branch of the subject it is also to be observed, that there is a
kind of compensating power among the affections themselves, by which, in
the intercourse of men, they act as checks upon each other. Thus
resentment acts as a check upon injustice; and the dread of exciting
anger in others has probably an influence, in preserving the peace and
harmonies of society, which we often ascr