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permitted to apply, to the military enterprises on which he is employed. His duty is to obey; the justice or policy of the war is no part of his business, and is an inquiry with which he rarely troubles himself. On the question whether the practice of warfare be, under any circumstances, reconcileable to the principles of Christian morality, we do not propose at present to offer a decided opinion. We are aware that the subject involves many difficulties, and are not indisposed to admit that they who utterly deny the lawfulness of war, in any conceivable case, pursue a line of argument which cannot be maintained. Yet on this ground we profess ourselves prepared to take our stand, that, really and truly, war can be justified only when it is strictly defensive; and, above all, that such wars as are undertaken for the avowed purpose of national aggrandizement, or of military glory and renown, ought to be objects of abhorrence to every consistent Christian. We should, therefore, be very far from holding up the profession of arms as an eligible school of moral and religious improvement.

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In the chapter on the Desire of Money, we are presented with an interesting and apparently a very just view of the favorable circumstances in the moral condition of that numerous class in the middle rank of society, who, while they possess a sufficient share of education to enable and incite them to avail themselves of every means of intellectual improvement within their reach, are under the necessity, in order to obtain the means of subsistence for themselves and their families, of devoting the greater part of their time to some active and laborious employment. We agree with the author that the moral circumstances of this class, which is perhaps the most respectable and influential in every civilized society, and the class from whose increasing numbers, and intelligence, the growing and beneficial authority of public opinion is in a great degree derived, are much more favorable to their improvement than they are generally imagined to be. Yet we are inclined to think that he has afterward carried these views rather too far, in maintaining that, when a man has raised himself to opulence by an assiduous attention to employments in which the acquisition of money has been the leading if not the sole object, the pursuit of wealth still continues to be his interest, and even his duty. This appears to us by much too worldly-minded a doctrine to be expected from a writer, and a clergyman, who inquires into the nature and discipline of human motives chiefly on principles of religion.' The argument, however, is plausible, and ably stated;

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and therefore we shall allow the author to present it in his own words.

It is to be observed that men even of the greatest opulence and ability may be so placed by the condition of their birth, or by other relations with society, that the pursuit of wealth shall be their natural occupation. A great commercial establishment once built up by labour, and made respectable by integrity, by the labour and integrity perhaps of successive generations, is a sort of inheritance which it may be very unwise, nay wrong, to relinquish, merely because the heir is in possession without it of all the decencies or even splendours of life. It is a post of no inconsiderable importance, which no one else probably can fill so well, and which, if he deserts, he himself probably will lapse into uselessness; a danger always the greatest with those persons who either own but few ties with society, or who abandon those which they

own.

At the same time, it is material to observe that men, in the circumstances which I have now described, though the pursuit of wealth is still properly their business, are above all others indispensably required to dignify it by every possible method. As the motives to desire it for its most obvious uses diminish in the degree in which it is attained, so the influence of the nobler, and particularly of the moral, motives which may combine with it, ought naturally to increase in proportion. And the natural reason there is to expect that, as this ought to be, so it probably will be so, confirms strongly the eligibility of the pursuit for those persons who, though already opulent, may, as has been said, be naturally called to embark in it. For though the intense desire of money is often rivetted by habit in the minds of those persons whom necessity may have first taught to desire it, and will therefore subsist when the necessity is removed, yet they, in whom the pursuit is originally dictated by a freer choice, can hardly be supposed in general to feel the desire with the same intensity. It may be therefore fairly expected of them, that they will in general be both the most able and the most inclined to dignify the pursuit they engage in by combining it with noble and liberal views. The important advantage which may thus result to society, by raising in general the tone of the pursuit, (for even the efforts of a single individual to adorn and elevate the pursuit he is engaged in may possess a very wide and permanent influence,) cannot easily be over-estimated. And though this result is not the criterion of moral worth, yet for a man to model his occupation or pursuit with a judicious view to this result is merit of a high, or of the highest, order.*

We should be very far from denying that there have been, and are, in this great emporium of the commercial world, many eminent individuals not less distinguished for their diligence and success in mercantile pursuits, than for the liberality and munificence which they display in dispensing their honorably acquired gains. We will farther grant that, when this union

does

does take place, of a close and successful attention to trade with a taste not only for the splendors and elegant refinements of a cultivated and luxurious age, but for the variety of noble purposes to which great wealth under the direction of patriotism and philanthropy may be applied, a character is formed which may be extensively beneficial to society, and is peculiarly fitted to exalt and dignify the mercantile profession. It is our duty, however, to consider not merely the advantage which arises to society from the existence of such a character, but also the probability of its being formed under the circumstances here supposed; and we fear there is too much reason to believe that the eminent persons, to whom allusion is here made, are rather exceptions to a general rule; - while the great mass of those, who continue to devote their whole lives to the pursuit of this species of personal aggrandizement, are actuated by motives less honorable to themselves and less beneficial to the public. If we judge either from what passes around us or from the united experience of mankind, such an occupation seems with most men to have a great tendency to absorb the whole attention of the mind, and both to indispose and disable it for any more noble and dignified purusit. The expectation which Mr. P. holds out, that, in proportion as the necessity of farther accumulation diminishes, the intensity of the desire for it will subside, and may consequently be more readily combined with noble and liberal views, we apprehend to be very little countenanced by common observation; which rather shews the still prevailing truth of the remark of the Roman satirist,

"Crescit amor nummi, quantum ipsa pecunia crescit."

The Appendix contains a discussion of the much controverted subject of Moral Obligation. Virtue and obligation, according to the author, are correlative and commensurate terms; whatever is virtue obliges, whatever obliges is virtue; and hence the question why we ought to practise virtue is identical and unmeaning. Yet surely it is one thing to perceive the conformity of a certain mode of conduct with a particular rule, and another to point out the sanction or authority which enforces that rule and converts it into a law. The difficulties which have arisen in the theory of this subject, for there is none in the practice, have occurred in a great measure from the circumstance that ethical writers have in general considered it exclusively with reference to the persons obliged, and not to the authority obliging. Obligation has been defined by some to be the necessary connection between the practice of virtue and the attainment of happiness. Now this connection

connection must evidently arise either from the essential nature of things, that is, in other words, from the course and order of Providence, or from the express and acknowleged will of a Being who is capable not only of enforcing obedience to his laws by rendering it necessary to our happiness, but likewise of inspiring respect and veneration by the intrinsic excellence of his nature. It is from the Divine will, therefore, that all moral obligation must originally emanate; and in the stress which Dr. Paley has laid on this circumstance, his account of this subject appears to us more satisfactory than that which is given in the work before us. We should make the obvious distinction, however, between the ground of obligation and the leading or predominant motive to action; and, from not sufficiently attending to this distinction, considerable obscurity and confusion have arisen, we think, in Mr. Penrose's views of this subject.

ART. VIII. An Address to the People of England in the Cause of the Greeks, occasioned by the late inhuman Massacres in the Isle of Scio, &c. By the Rev. T. S. Hughes, Author of "Travels in Sicily, Greece, and Albania." 8vo. 1s. 6d. Simpkin and Marshall.

No

o reader of Mr. Hughes's Travels in Albania, to which we had pleasure in paying a deserved tribute in our Number for June, 1821, will feel surprized that his mind should be impressed with the shocking scenes now passing in Greece; that his eloquence should be excited by the anxious struggle, and heated to indignation by the horrid sufferings, of the living descendants of the illustrious dead; and that his personal knowlege of that beautiful, interesting, but ill-fated country should enable him to depict with living truth, and harrowing effect, the existing struggle between science and ignorance, arts and barbarism, Christianity and Mohammedism! Creditable it is to his classic recollections and enthusiasm, and worthy of his feelings and character as a Christian minister, that he cannot remain silent in such a crisis, but arises to plead the cause of a tortured nation ; among whom he had experienced the rites of hospitality, and whose misfortunes as well as whose antiquities he had already endeavored to make familiar to his countrymen. Let those countrymen blush that they require his exhortations: let them blush still more, but let them rouse and recover their lost fame, when they hear him say;

• I have

I have learned that the character of England, which once stood so pre-eminent among all nations for generous sympathy towards the unfortunate and oppressed, has become an object of disgust and detestation to a suffering people, who, in the commencement of their struggle, looked up to us as the natural averters of misery, and patrons of humanity. From public documents, and private information, I plainly perceive the inclination of continental confederates, tending to the support of what is called "the balance of power," and "the peace of Europe;" or, in other words, to the protection of an infidel exterminating government, to an alliance with deliberate murderers, barbarians habitually stained with the most abominable vices, and declared enemies of the Christain faith. - Under such reflections, I felt that, in remaining silent any longer, I should be a traitor to myself, a traitor to my country, a traitor to humanity, and a traitor to my God.

I appeal not to governments, statesmen, and politicians. I am aware that they are surrounded with difficulties and perplexing considerations; that they are frequently obliged to pursue what appear to be temporary interests, in preference to those which are more remote, and to adopt a line of policy which their consciences cannot help condemning: but, whilst I endeavour to shew that the policy of supporting such an empire as that of Turkey is weak and vain, unless it were possible to effect an entire change in the moral habits and religious principles of its constituents, I would excite that ardour and enthusiasm in the breasts of my countrymen, which may lead them to express openly their sentiments in the cause of humanity. The vox populi has been sometimes rather impiously denominated the vox Dei: in this instance, however, it might deserve the appellation; and if it should fail to influence our rulers in adopting more liberal and generous resolutions, and redeeming the character of government abroad, upon which the best interests of a nation always depend, let us at least demonstrate by our acts, as individuals, that we are not indifferent to the fate of a Christian nation, struggling for existence with infidels and barbarians. It is not by steel only that the sinews of war are supplied, or its events decided. The expression of a great and generous people's approbation, the very influence of their encouragement, and, above all, the communication of their resources, might at this time operate most powerfully in restoring a miserable nation to its rights; in vindicating the cause of Christianity through the triumph of the Greeks; and in delivering Europe from the disgraceful presence of a tribe, who, to the vices of the most effeminate, add the cruelties of the most barbarous people; who contribute nothing to the general interests of nations, but render the beautiful country which they oppress the common sepulchre of arts and science."

Mr. H. addresses himself warmly to that spirit of benevolence and philanthropy which has so eminently distinguished the British nation, and trusts not alone to an excitement of classic

enthusiasm

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