"I am glad," said Mr. Roscoe, "to hear that you are happy; but I must confess that it is a sort of happiness of which I can form no idea. The Almighty is very good; he wishes to make all his creatures happy—some in one way and some in another; we should follow where inclination leads. Inclination is the first law of nature, which all must obey if they wish to be happy; and I think that we ought not to interfere with each other's propensities."
"But as by nature we are inclined to evil, ought not such a propensity to be restrained? What are the various laws of civil society but so many proofs of the evil propensity of our nature, and so many restraints on its indulgence?"
"I admit that the majority are wicked, and that they require the strong arm of the law to keep them in subjection; but I cannot admit that all are corrupted by the evil principle. What models of perfection may we select from the circle of our acquaintance!—men of honour, of integrity, of benevolence—men in whose character all the virtues are concentrated, and who live amidst the contagion of the world without being injured by it—men who would scorn an act of meanness or duplicity; who would sacrifice their ease and their wealth to promote the general good; who are religious without ostentation; and who know how to enjoy the felicity of social life without being entangled by its snares. Are we to suppose that such men are corrupted by evil principles, and that they are under some fatally evil inclination?"
"You will admit, my dear father, that a community of rebels may cultivate the social virtues among themselves, even while they live in a state of revolt against their sovereign, and in hostility against all who retain their loyalty?"
"Yes, my dear, certainly they may."
"Do we not read in the Scripture, that all have sinned against God—that all are gone astray from their subjection to his authority—that all are become corrupt? And do we not know that the sentence of death has passed upon all men, because all have sinned? Now if, as you suppose, some have escaped the general contagion, and are absolutely pure and virtuous, how is it that they are involved in the same sentence of condemnation with the openly depraved and wicked? Where is the equity of such a decision? And are we not accustomed to say, when kneeling before the Lord our Judge, 'We have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep; we have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts; we have offended against thy holy laws; we have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done, and there is no health in us; but thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders?'"
"Yes, my dear Sophia; but you must remember that our excellent Liturgy was composed to suit the moral condition of the great majority of the people; and therefore it became necessary that such strong language should be employed; but you cannot suppose that it is strictly applicable to the virtuous part of the community."
"Then why do they adopt it? Why do they acknowledge, on their knees before God, what they deny to man? Is not this a resistless proof of the evil propensity of human nature?"
"I think not. I think it is a proof of the generous amiability of human nature, as the virtuous part of society consent to employ language which is not strictly applicable to themselves, out of compassion to the more degenerated and worthless, who ought to make such concessions, and pray in such strong terms of humiliation."
"How, then, ought the virtuous to pray, if they ought not to pray in the strongest terms of humiliation? Shall we revive the spirit of the ancient Pharisee, which our Lord condemned; and shall we approach the footstool of the divine throne with his language: 'God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess?' In this prayer there is the language of self-gratulation and the spirit of censoriousness, but no humble confession for sin, nor any petition for mercy."