Suppose one to cherish the vulgar notion of life--that it consists in
the abundance of the things which one possesses, in the ability to live
without exertion, amid plenty of good cheer. Suppose him to love his
neighbor as himself. His charity must partake of the contraction and
grossness of his self-love. Suppose another to prize duly intellectual
riches. To him the discovery of a new principle in the physical,
intellectual, or moral world, brings a joy unsurpassed by the
merchant's, on the return of his heavily laden ship from a successful
voyage. As the best legacy to his children, he would leave them a good
education; and, knowing the natural influences and dependencies
existing between young minds, he aims to have all the children in
the neighborhood well educated, as the best security against failure in
the attempt to educate his own. If all is but a refined calculation,
how best to benefit himself and household; it is far more estimable and
amiable than the gross selfishness which grovels after vulgar goods,
and in the success of a brother sees an obstacle to its own success.
But if he too loves his neighbor as himself, why how far his self-love
is educated to find its satisfaction in nobler ends, by so much his
charity is better than the other's.
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