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CHAPTER VII.

SECTION LXXXIV.

DUTIES TOWARDS GOD.

EVERY reflecting man, without distinction of creed or country, will perceive that there are duties towards God, towards himself, his fellow man, and the state, which devolve upon him.

Our duties towards God consist in the acknowledgment of his unity, supremacy, power, wisdom, and goodness, and in obedience to the commands which he has given. From these perceptions of the divine nature, we are led to expect reward or punishment, to confide in his paternal love, to indulge the hope that whilst we seek his favour in preference to worldly

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interests, with uprightness of heart, the eye of the Lord is upon us, and his ear is open unto our cry.

Thus we are furnished with an antidote against despair, a condition the most deplorable and appalling, against which the testimony of the prophet is directed: "As sure as I live, speaks the Eternal God, I have no pleasure in the death of a sinner, but I desire that he may return from his wicked way and live." (Ezek. xxxiii. 11.)

All the duties of man may be comprised in the general precept, "Fear thou the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul; walk thus in his ways."

SECTION LXXXV.

DUTIES TOWARDS OURSELVES.

There are duties to be performed to ourselves, and amongst those is that we should ever retain a consciousness of our dignity and destination, that we are created in the Divine image, and that eternity is our home and dwelling-place. That we are created in the likeness of God affords us the strongest motive to

attain to moral excellence and purity, to cultivate the powers of mind and body which God has given, and to strive to approach perfection.

In the regulation of our thoughts and passions, and in the formation of our character, we are thus admonished to use these powers discreetly, to direct them to wise and useful objects, and, in imitation of the Deity, to blend wisdom and goodness with influence and power, that reason and religion should unite to form our character and govern our lives.

It is true, that no direct command to love ourselves is given, but it is rather implied as a necessary condition of our being; but the Divine command, " to love our neighbours as ourselves," has recognized it so fully that it has made it the standard or measure of the love which we are desired to bear to others. Self-love, founded on self-respect in its purest form, requires that we should examine the aspects and chances of the objects which present themselves before us, select the good and reject the evil, that we should penetrate the surface, and not content ourselves with blind attachment to pleasing and grateful aspects which appearances lest we should mistake the shadow for the sub

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stance, and find that our hopes are ultimately extinguished by despair. The body endowed with health and vigour demands our care for its preservation, and the avoidance of excess of appetite or passion which might weaken or destroy it. Considered rightly, the body is a temple for the Deity, a sacred shrine, in which his presence may be recognized, whilst our thoughts, our words, and actions show that we reverence his presence, and delight to obey his will.

SECTION LXXXVI.

Again, we observe that by self-love we endeavour to acquire perfection; this can only be attained by increasing knowledge, benevolence, and piety, our sense and reason, our perceptions of honesty, justice and virtue; every good feeling implanted or awakened in our nature, are so many sources through which we may attain to moral excellence. These lead us to consider the duties which we owe to ourselves, the care necessary to be bestowed upon the body and the spirit, and the collective faculties, and to remember that the bond of union is so perfect, and the mutual sympathy so

great, that neither the body nor the mind can endure suffering alone, the enfeebled body being accompanied by the sorrowful spirit, and the dejected mind leaving the furrows of its care traced on the countenance. The intelligent and serious man will thus bestow his care both on the containing casket and the jewel which is deposited within.

Self-love will lead to the exercise of prudence; we shall consider our condition and the circumstances by which we are surrounded. The regulation of our desires will follow,-never to indulge ourselves to satiety, and be oppressed by gluttony or intemperance and excess; to avoid the extremes of prodigality and avarice; to regulate our benevolent propensities and emotions, lest they should lead to self-neglect and poverty; in short, so to adapt our conduct to our circumstances, that we may examine ourselves rigidly, and return from the examination with a feeling of satisfaction and self-approval.

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