even that mediocrity would
never be attained. Examine the conduct of those who are placed at a
distance from all labour and fatigue, and you will find the most
trifling exertions act upon their imaginations with the same force as
the most insuperable difficulties.

"If I have now succeeded in laying down the genuine principles of
Christian morality, I apprehend it will not be difficult to deduce the
duty of one who takes upon him the office of its minister and
interpreter. He can no more have a right to alter the slightest of its
principles than the magistrate can be justified in giving false
interpretations to the laws. The more the corruptions of the world
increase, the greater the obligation that he should oppose himself to
their course; and he can no more relax in his opposition than the pilot
can abandon the helm, because the winds and the waves begin to augment
their fury. Should he be despised, or neglected by all the rest of the
human species, let him still persist in bearing testimony to the truth,
both in his precepts and example; the cause of virtue is not desperate
while it retains a single friend; should it even sink for ever, it is
enough for him to have discharged his duty. But, although he is thus
restricted as to what he shall teach, I do not assert that it is
improper for him to use his understanding and experience as to the
manner of his instruction. He is strictly bound never to teach anything
contrary to the purest morality; but he is not bound always to teach
that morality in its greatest extent. In that respect, he may use the
wisdom of the serpent, though guided by the innocence of the dove. If,
therefore, he sees the reign of prejudice and corruption, so firmly
established, that men would be offended with the genuine simplicity of
the Gospel, and the purity of its primeval doctrines, he may so far
moderate their rigour as to prevent them from entirely disgusting weak
and luxurious minds. If we cannot effect the greatest possible
perfection, it is still a material point to preserve from the grossest
vices. A physician that practises amongst the great may certainly be
excused, though he should not be continually advising the exercise, the
regimen of the poor; not that the doctrine is not true, but that there
would not be the smallest probability of its ever being adopted. But,
although he never assents to that luxurious method of life, which he is
continually obliged to see, he may content himsel