ngs of other men, bodily and mental, in
great matters and in small; of the ease, the accommodation, the
self-complacency of all with whom he has any concern, especially of all
who are in his power, or dependent upon his will.

Now what, in the most applauded philosopher of the most enlightened age
of the world, would have been deemed worthy of his wisdom, and of his
character, to say, our Saviour hath said, and upon just such an occasion
as that which we have feigned.

"Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting
him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind; this is the first
and great commandment: and the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself: on these two commandments hang all the law and
the prophets." (Matt. xxii. 35-40.)

The second precept occurs in St. Matthew (xix. 16), on another occasion
similar to this; and both of them, on a third similar occasion, in Luke
(x. 27). In these two latter instances the question proposed was, "What
shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

Upon all these occasions I consider the words of our Saviour as
expressing precisely the same thing as what I have put into the mouth of
the moral philosopher. Nor do I think that it detracts much from the
merit of the answer, that these precepts are extant in the Mosaic code:
for his laying his finger, if I may so say, upon these precepts; his
drawing them out from the rest of that voluminous institution; his
stating of them, not simply amongst the number, but as the greatest and
the sum of all the others; in a word, his proposing of them to his
hearers for their rule and principle, was our Saviour's own.

And what our Saviour had said upon the subject appears to me to have
fixed the sentiment amongst his followers.

Saint Paul has it expressly, "If there be any other commandment, it is
briefly comprehended in this saying, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself;" (Rom. xiii. 9.) and again, "For all the law is fulfilled in
one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." (Gal.
v. 14.)

Saint John, in like manner, "This commandment have we from him, that he
who loveth God love his brother also." (1 John iv. 21.)

Saint Peter, not very differently: "Seeing that ye have purified your
souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, un