If he sees an
American student spend the whole of his small fortune, on leaving
college, in travelling in Europe, he will not blame him as he would
blame a young Englishman for doing the same thing. The Englishman would
be a spendthrift; the American is wise: and the reason is, that their
circumstances, prospects, and therefore their views of duty, are
different. The American, being sure of obtaining an independent
maintenance, may make the enlargement of his mind, and the cultivation
of his tastes by travel, his first object; while the conscientious
Englishman must fulfil the hard conditions of independence before he can
travel. Capital is to him one of the chief requisites of honest
independence; while to the American it is in the outset no requisite at
all. To go without clothing was, till lately, perfectly innocent in the
South Sea Islands; but now that civilization has been fairly established
by the missionaries, it has become a sin. To let an enemy escape with
his life is a disgrace in some countries of the world; while in others
it is held more honourable to forgive than to punish him. Instances of
such varieties and oppositions of conscience might be multiplied till
they filled a volume, to the perplexity and grief of the
unphilosophical, and the serene instruction of the philosophical
observer.

The general influences under which universal ideas and feelings of right
and wrong are formed, are dispensed by the Providence under which all
are educated. That man should be happy is so evidently the intention of
his Creator, the contrivances to that end are so multitudinous and so
striking, that the perception of the aim may be called universal.
Whatever tends to make men happy, becomes a fulfilment of the will of
God. Whatever tends to make them miserable, becomes opposition to his
will. There are, and must be, a host of obstacles to the express
recognition of, and practical obedience to, these great principles; but
they may be discovered as the root of religion and morals in all
countries. There are impediments from ignorance, and consequent error,
selfishness, and passion: the most infantile men mistake the means of
human happiness, and the wisest have but a dim and fluctuating
perception of them: but yet all men entertain one common conviction,
that what makes people happy is good and right, and that what makes them
miserable is evil and wrong. This conviction is at the bottom of
practices which seem the most i