some faint measure, like Himself and prepare us for His presence. He knows our weakness, and regards us with the pity of a father. His hand is ever stretched out to support us and guide us. Without His help we shall certainly fall."Wilt thou not from this time cry, My Father, Thou art the guide of my youth?"

Rule. The standard by which we are to be guided in life, is a matter of great importance. Among ordinary Hindus, caste rules are the chief code of morals. Provided they are observed, every thing else is of little consequence. A man may be a scoundrel, but if caste is not violated, he is received in Hindu society equally with the most virtuous. A student goes to a house of ill-fame, and the slightest notice is not taken; but let him, to improve himself, visit England, and, as a rule, he is put out of caste on his return. Caste leaders are, in general, the most ignorant and bigoted portion of the community. They are totally unfit to be judges of moral actions, and conduct regulated by their standard must often be grievously wrong.

Besides the more stringent caste rules, there is what may be called "Native Public Opinion"-the general feeling of the people with regard to conduct. This is considered by many to be a safe guide. A celebrated Tamil work on morals gives the advice: "Do as your countrymen do"; "Do as your countrymen approve."

It is evident that "Public Opinion" varies with the standard of civilisation. Among savages, it permits cannibalism. In India, not long ago, it countenanced sati and infanticide. It still frowns upon female education, and only the comparatively enlightened send their daughters to school. Fleming says, "Actions which in one country are but lightly, if at all, censured, will, in another, be loudly and

strongly condemned." "Public Opinion" is therefore a very unsafe guide.

A few philosophers have argued that utility is the great law of morals; that an action is to be estimated by its tendency to promote the greatest happiness of the greatest number. While, in the end, utility is best secured by virtuous conduct, it cannot be made its standard. Fleming condemns the principle as not furnishing a clear or safe rule of human conduct; as not carrying with it a sense of obligation; as not conferring the character of virtue on the actions which flow from it. "A man may be prudent when he consults his real happiness; but he cannot be called virtuous."

It may be asked, what, then, is the rule by which our conduct is to be regulated? By a sense of Duty, or a regard to what is right in itself. Kant, a famous German philosopher, says, "O Duty, O wondrous power, that workest neither by insinuation, flattery, nor threat, but merely by holding up the naked law in the soul, extortest for thyself reverence, if not always obedience; before whom all appetites are dumb, however secretly they rebel." The lamented George Wilson says, "The word DUTY seems to me the biggest word in the world, and is uppermost in all my serious doings."

Duty expresses the law of God and the will of God. By obedience to it in every respect, we become like Him, and His approval will be our richest reward.

Man alone of all creatures on earth is a moral agent. The lower animals are guided by instinct, and neither deserve praise nor blame. Every human being has ideas of right and wrong. This difference is made from the earliest years. A little child who afterwards became a great and good man, when in his fourth year, saw a small tortoise which he was tempt

ed to strike with a stick. He says, " But all at once something checked my little arm, and a voice within me said clear and loud, 'It is wrong.' I hastened home and told my tale to my mother, and asked what it was that told me it was wrong.' She wiped a tear from her eye, and taking me in her arms said, 'Some men call it conscience, but I prefer to call it the voice of God in the soul of man. If you listen and

obey it, then it will speak clearer and clearer, and always guide you right; but if you turn a deaf ear or disobey, then it will fade out, little by little, and leave you in the dark without a guide. Your life depends on heeding that little voice.

A good conscience is one of the greatest blessings:-Shakespeare says,

"I feel within me

A peace, above all earthly dignities,-
A still and quiet conscience."

To act against our conscience,-to do what we consider wrong—is always blame-worthy. If a man considers an action to be wrong and yet does it, to him it is wrong, although in itself it may be innocent. To act according to our conscience,―to do what we think right—is not always right. The Apostle Paul was at one time a bitter persecutor of Christianity; an Indian thug murdered his victim in the name of the goddess Kali. Both thought that they were doing right; but in reality their conduct was strongly to be condemned.

A criminal is not acquitted because he pleads ignorance of the laws of his country. It is his duty to become acquainted with them. The excuse is valid only where knowledge is impossible. Conscience must be enlightened. Earnest effort is here absolutely necessary. Solomon says, "If thou criest after knowledge and liftest up thy voice for understanding, if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest

for her as for hid treasure; then shalt thou find the knowledge of God."

Conscience," Whewell remarks, "is to each man the representation of the Supreme Law, and is invested with the authority of the Supreme Law. It is the voice which pronounces for him the distinction of right and wrong, of moral good and evil, and when he has done all that he can to enlighten and instruct it, by the aid of Religion, as well as of Morality, it is for him the Voice of God."

It is to be observed that men are very prone to mistake what conscience says, or to confound with it their own evil inclination. Conscience can be called the Voice of God only when duly enlightened. This can best be done by the study of the precepts of Jesus Christ, contained in the New Testament. Though eighteen centuries have passed away since they were uttered, no flaw has been discovered in them; no more exalted principles have been enunciated. And the life of their Author is the best illustration of His teaching.

Jesus Christ summed up the whole law in the words: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself."

Conscience, besides being enlightened, must be cultivated. All our faculties are strengthened by use and weakened by disuse. "The more frequently," says Wayland, "we use our conscience in judging between actions as right or wrong, the more easily shall we learn to judge correctly concerning them. He who before every action will deliberately ask himself, is this right or wrong, will seldom mistake what is his duty. On the other hand, if men go on doing right or wrong just as it happens, they will at last care but little whether they do the one or the other; and in

many cases will hardly be able to distinguish between them.”

XIII. GENERAL MORAL DUTIES.

Under this head are included some great duties binding upon all. Subsequent chapters will treat of those which arise from certain relationships in life.

Truthfulness.

"C that Dr.

"There was no virtue," says Smiles,* Arnold laboured more sedulously to instil into young men than the virtue of truthfulness, as being the manliest of virtues, as indeed the very basis of all true manliness. He designated truthfulness as ́ moral transparency,' and he valued it more highly than any other quality."

It has been remarked that different nations vary more in regard to truthfulness than any other virtue. The Indian Mirror says, "There is not a question but that lying is looked upon with much more disfavor by European, than by Native, society. The English notions on the subject are strong, distinct, and uncompromising in the abstract. Hindu and Mahometan notions are fluctuating, vague, and to a great extent dependent upon times, places, and persons."

The difference between Europeans and Hindus in the above respect is thus pointed out by the First Prince of Travancore: "The most truthless Christian is fired by being called a liar.' But turn to an average countryman of our own who has not yet studied to adopt European externals, and see how blandly and unconcernedly the epithet liar' is taken by him. You must have seen people even Character," the perusal of which

* In his admirable book on 66 is strongly recommended.