sideration, therefore, there is much reason even now to believe, that Jesus stands alone and without example, on an elevation which none before him ever attempted to reach.

61. There is another circumstance, however, which belongs to this place, and must strengthen us in this conjecture. The very character of the religions of antiquity appears to have been extremely prejudicial to that public spirit, that expansive benevolence, from which originated the plan of the Author of Christianity, and to have suppressed it in the greatest minds. Reflect upon the following circumstances.

It cannot be denied that the ancients, in general, agreed to a certain extent in contemplating the Deity, of whom they had a great variety of representations, such as images and pictures, in a terrific point of view, and considered him more as a being before whose anger they were to tremble, than as a benefactor and father, worthy of the utmost confidence and love. That this was almost always the case with rude nations, we know full well, and a great part of the anterior world was very rude.* Unquestionable traces of this mode of thinking are exhibited in the languages of the ancients, for most of the names which they appropriated to the Deity are significant of his almightiness, independence, and unlimited, incontrolable will, and, in reference to it, imply, that nothing remains for the weak creature of the dust but submission. So much do their religious notions hang upon these representations, that many have considered it as a proof that their whole religion took its rise in fear, and all their conceptions of the Deity sprung from terror at the great and powerful changes that take place in nature.† Nations and

his whole race, but each one, like the beasts of a single tribe, always confines himself to his own fellow citizens; and it is a great thing, if he comprehends even these as a body. Vid. p. 368, Davis. ed. [Reisk., I. 86.] The truth of this remark is hereafter very clearly established.

With respect to this remark, comp, Home's Sketches of the Hist. of Man, Vol. III. B. 3. Sk. 3. Chap. II. 269, ed. 1807.

† Vid. Lucretius, De Rerum Nat. 1. V. 1217–1239.

individuals generally furnished the Deity with their own views, inclinations, and characters, and hence originated that almost endless variety of distinctions, at all times connected in their minds with the idea of God. Now as all the nations of the old world exhibited a certain degree of roughness, inflexibility, and inclination to cruelty and revenge, we need not be astonished if we find that their gods also possessed these qualities, were governed by unhappy passions, and could with satisfaction see their altars smoke with human blood.* So long, however, as the soul is pervaded by such opinions respecting the godhead, it is impossible for it to put forth that unlimited kindness, that heavenly desire of doing good as far as able, to all. That heart only will be warm with benevolence towards mankind without distinction, and active in promoting the general good, which looks upon God as a kind and common parent, and considers every human being as his child

*In saying this, I do not deny that many philosophers, especially Socrates, Plato, and the Stoics, had better and purer notions of the Deity, and looked upon him as a good being, exercising a wise and ceaseless care for the welfare of mankind. These notions, however, did not enter into the religion of the people, and so incapable were these men of reforming, or supplanting the wretched popular relig ion prévalent, that they combined a part of the general superstition with their best principles, and endeavored to give it a tolerable meaning. [According to Stollberg's Reise in Italien, II. 267, the finest ancient statues of the gods, exhibit an expression of lifelessness and want of love, which indicates that the prevailing feeling of antiquity in regard to the Deity, was fear. The passage runs thus: "Most of the heads of the old statues, whether of gods or men, males or females, are distinguished for a certain character of hardness, want of sympathy and troubled melancholy, which approaches almost to anger. If I mistake not, a conception of transitoriness and of death as a long sleep (Tavηheyɛos Javaτolo,) produced an effect upon the imagination of the heathen artist;-an effect in different ways, according as he gave himself up to this impression or strove to harden himself against, an effect, which was transferred by the arm and chisel of the artist, from his heart to the marble. In confirmation of this, I appeal to the feelings of every unprejudiced man, who has formed an acquaintance with the art of the ancients from copper plates alone. Even the features of those of their gods that were clothed with immortal youth, seem to be overcast with a dark cloud, the conception of death." Comp. Rom. 8: 15, which was not true of the Jews alone; ovegov To Jelov, Herodot., I. c. 32. III. c. 40.]

and as a brother. It cannot be denied, however, that the founder of Christianity was the first to publish such views of God, and propagate them even among the lowest classes of society. It will be difficult, therefore, for us in antiquity, to meet with that benevolent enlargement of thought, which has a very close and intimate connexion with them.

To all these it may now be added, that every nation of antiquity had its own gods, and its own method of worshipping them, accompanied with peculiar rites and forms; that one nation considered that as holy which another detested; that one gave divine honor to a creature which another despised, or at best treated as common; that this opinion respecting national gods, necessarily created a kind of hatred between nations, as they differed from each other exactly in that point, which they looked upon as the most sacred and important;* and finally, that this hatred must have taken a firm hold of the hearts of the ignorant populace, their zeal in such cases easily degenerating into

fury that knows no bounds.† These additional circumstances being taken into view, it will be evident, as I think, that the religions of antiquity interposed insuperable obstacles in the way of that goodness which embraces all mankind. Hence, if, notwithstanding the character of the ancient world, we should be able to discover in it, a mind which was capable of that enlargement of thought, which shines forth so conspicuously in the plan of Jesus, we should be obliged to look upon it as a kind of psychological wonder.‡

62. We shall, however, not confine ourselves any longer to general considerations. Let us now proceed to

* Vid. a fine passage upon this subject in Athanasius, Contra Gentes, p. 25, 26.

The ancient history of the Egyptians furnishes us with examples. The murder of a sacred, old cat, whether done intentionally or not, would excite the populace to a degree of rage, which could be allayed only by shedding the blood of him who committed the deed. [Diodor. Sicul., I. c. 83, Bip., p. 246.]

Comp. Iselin, Geschichte der Menscheit, B. IV. Kap. X. XI. S. 421 ff.

an examination of those benefactors of the human race which made their appearance before the author of Christianity, and, from a survey of their enterprises and plans, endeavor to ascertain whether history furnishes us with any, who exhibited such greatness and benevolence in their thoughts and actions, as Jesus.

The men, as I think, whom we are to look upon as the benefactors of mankind, and among whom we must search for great plans for the good of the world, are the founders. of states, and legislators; defenders of their native country, and benevolent heroes; wise kings, and statesmen; philosophers, teachers of the human race, and the founders. of religions. We shall make some particular remarks respecting each of these classes.

FOUNDERS OF STATES, AND LEGISLATORS.

§ 62. It is not an easy thing to create a nation by collecting together a mass of wild, uncultivated people, binding them together with salutary laws, and animating them with the spirit of order and mutual good will; or to reunite the severed fragments of a state, which has once fallen to ruins, and is full of internal discord, and, by means of better laws, impart to the whole new strength, harmonious efficiency, and lasting connexion. There are difficulties inseparable from such a work. He who is acquainted with them, will admire those spirits of antiquity which engaged in it, and, though they may have committed great errors, and in a measure failed in their undertakings, must acknowledge and highly prize the courage that could venture upon such important business, as well as the penetrating views which originated and arranged their plans, and the superiority and activity which carried them into execution. Now the numerous difficulties which encompass a plan of this kind, even when confined to a very small nation, entirely discourage us from expecting to find one of any greater magnitude among the founders of states,

and the legislators of antiquity. The education of their own countrymen required all their wisdom, time, and efforts. In resolving to devote themselves to this particular object, they had, as it were, renounced every plan of more general extent, and, I may say, devoted all their powers to acquiring the most accurate information of a definite subject. They were obliged to avail themselves of those measures which were called for by the circumstances of the nation to which they belonged and its relation to other nations, and were calculated to form that character which it was to sustain, and of course such as could not be adapted to other nations or mankind at large. Finally, the work in which they were engaged, forced them to descend to so many views and measures, having respect to individuals and particulars, as to disqualify them, just so far as they were faithful to their own people, from entering into the affairs of other nations. One of the most important resolutions, however, that a inan can make, is to reform a whole nation, and, by means of salutary laws, render its descendants happy, to the latest generations. The plans of these men, therefore, in themselves considered, are always great, and worthy of exalted spirits. But if a plan which aims at the welfare of a single nation, when contemplated alone, appears so great, how small and insignificant must it appear, when viewed in comparison with the plan formed by Jesus for the good of all mankind!

Now such was the narrow sphere to which, according to the representations of history, all the old founders of states, and the legislators of antiquity, were confined. The beginning of most kingdoms was small and insignificant. Their first laws and regulations usually originated in chance and pressing necessity, and of course were enactments for the occasion, rather than the constituent parts of an original and well contrived plan. The time of actual legislation almost always came on at a later period, and not until people began to perceive, that the laws and observances which had arisen at different times, were very defective, had but little connexion, agreement, and dura