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into vassalage, and suffer nothing to exist, but what was tributary to its own comfort.

Selfishness sometimes causes its subjects only to neglect the things of others. They do not oppress, or injure, or despoil; they are neither robbers nor calumniators: but they are so engrossed by self-interest, and so absorbed in self-gratification, as to be utterly regardless of the miseries or comfort of which they cannot but be the spectators. They have no sympathies, no benevolent sensibilities; they have cut themselves off from their species, and care nothing for the happiness of any of their neighbours. Their highest boast and attainment in virtue is, to wrong none: their idea of excellence is purely of a negative kind; to dispel sorrow, to relieve want, to diffuse gladness, especially to make sacrifices; to do this, is an effort which they have never tried, and which they have no inclination to try. The world might perish, if the desolation did not reach them. Miserable and guilty creatures, they forget that they will be punished for not doing good, as well as for doing evil. The unprofitable servant was condemned; and the wicked are represented, at the last day, as doomed to hell, not for inflicting sorrow, but for not relieving it.

A man is guilty of selfishness, if he seeks his own things out of all proportion to the regard he pays to the things of others.

If, from a regard to our reputation, we cannot live in the total neglect of those around us, and, in deference either to public opinion, or to the remonstrances of our consciences, we are compelled to yield something to the claims of the public; yet, at the same time, our concessions may be so measured in quantity, and made with such reluctance and ill will, that our predominant selfishness may be as clearly manifested by what we give, as by what we withhold. That which we call our liberality, manifests, in this case, our avarice; that which we denominate generosity, demonstrates our sinful self-love.

Selfishness sometimes seeks its own, under the pretence and profession of promoting the happiness of others. Where the ruling passion of the heart is the love of applause, large sacrifices of wealth, and time, and ease, and feeling, will be readily made for fame; and where men have objects to gain, which require kindness, conciliation, and attention, nothing in this way is too much to be done, to accomplish their purpose. This is a disgusting operation of this very disgusting temper, when all its seeming good will is but an efflux of kindness, which is to flow back again, in full tide, into the receptacle of self. Many are the detestable traders, whose geneosity is only a barter for something in return. How much of the seeming goodness of human nature, of the sympathy with human woe, of the pity for want, of the anxiety for the comfort of wretchedness, which passes current for virtue among mankind, is nothing better than a counterfeit imitation of benevolence, -is known only to that God whose omniscient eye traces the secret workings of our depravity through all the labyrinths of a deceitful heart.

• But notice now the subjects, in reference to which selfishness is indulged.

Property is the first. It shows itself in an

anxiety to obtain wealth, and an unwillingness to part with it; a disposition greedy as the sea, and barren as the shore. You will see some men so excessively eager to get profit, that they are ever watching to take undue advantage, and so keeneyed in looking after their own, that they need be closely inspected, to prevent them from taking more than their own: for a man who is prevailingly selfish, can hardly be honest. And what they gain, they keep: neither the cause of humanity, nor of religion, can extort a guinea from them, except now and then, to get rid of an importunate suitor, or to prevent their reputation from being utterly ruined.

It is sometimes exercised in reference to opinion. Some will not bear contradiction; they must be listened to as sages: to question what they say is to insult them, and is sure to bring down upon the presumptuous sceptic their contempt or their frown. They will scarcely allow any one to speak but themselves; they must be the oracle of every company and the director of every affair, or they retire in disgust, and refuse to act at all. In the concerns of our churches, this is often seen and felt. What is it but pure selfishness, that leads any one to wish that he should dictate to the rest; that his opinion should be law; and his wishes be consulted and obeyed? This is not love: no; love gives up her own, where conscience does not interfere to forbid it, and meekly and quietly resigns its wishes to increase peace and promote harmony: its object is the public good, and its law is, the best means of promoting the general welfare. If in the intercourse of life, or the affairs of a church, every individual determined to consult only his own views and wishes, society would be dissolved, and its separate parts embroiled in a state of mutual conflict. In the various discussions which come before a public body, Selfishness says, "I am sure my opinion is correct; and I will, if possible, have my way:" but the language of Love is, "I have stated my opinion and my wishes; if the former does not carry conviction, I by no means wish it to be adopted, nor my desires to be gratified. I am anxious for the comfort of my brethren, and I yield my wishes to theirs."

Some persons have acquired habits in their general conduct, which are exceedingly annoying to others; they have sources of personal gratification, peculiarities of humour, in which it is impossible to indulge, without greatly incommoding those around them: but so detestably selfish is their disposition, at least with regard to these practices, that let who will be disturbed, offended, or put to serious inconvenience, they will not forego, in the least degree, their accustomed indulgence. When the unfortunate sufferers were expiring in the Black Hole at Calcutta, and entreated the centinels to represent their agonizing and fatal condition to the tyrant who had imprisoned them, the guards answered, "No; he is enjoying his repose, and it will be certain death to us if we disturb him, even for your relief." And what better in principle, though certainly a less degree of its operation, is that regard to their appetite, ease, or humour, which many indulge to the annoyance of their neighbours, and which they indulge against the remonstrances of those who suffer? In short, that regard to our comfort which leads us to neglect or sacrifice the felicity of another, let the object to which it is directed be what it may, is the selfishness which kindness opposes and destroys.

This hateful disposition has contrived to conceal itself under many false names and disguises, and thus to find protection from much of the obloquy which it deserves, and which would otherwise be more unsparingly heaped upon it.

The plea of frugality, or a just regard to the claims of a family, has often been urged as an excuse for the selfishness of avarice. A man certainly must take care of his own, but not to the injury, or even to the neglect, of all besides. "I have no more," it is often said, "than I want for my style of living; and that style I think necessary for my rank in life. I spend all I get upon my family, and hoard nothing; how, then, can I be selfish?" Mistaken mortal! do you forget that a man's family, is himself multiplied himself reflected. Selfish! yes, you are detestably so, if you spend all upon yourself and family, however lavish and unsparing you may be to them.

No expression, no sentiment, has ever been more abused than that of the apostle-" Do all to the glory of God." It has been employed to disguise the most improper motives, and never more frequently, nor more profanely employed, than when it has been used to give a character of religious zeal to actions which every eye could discern originated in an unmixed selfishness. It is to be feared, that when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed, it will be found that, while much has been professedly done for the glory of God in the affairs of religion, pure

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