Part III.] THE RELATIVE DUTIES OF MANKIND.

139

neighbourhood, moreover, is one on which much of our peaceand happiness depends.

This enumeration of the relations in which men stand to eachother is not complete, nor is designed to be complete ; but itcomprises all those which are usually made the subjects of in-quiry in elementary treatises of moral philosophy. Some ofthem are natural, others voluntary, others both natural and volun-tary. Some are permanent and sanctioned by law, others aretransient and incidental. One (marriage) is sanctioned by theunited power of personal choice, law, and religion. Our relativeduties are chiefly performed in private, and are withdrawn fromthe gaze of the world ; but they are extremely important, byreason of their number, the constancy of their recurrence, andthe endless variety of their ramifications ; by which they pervadehuman society in all its ranks, modifications, and degrees of im-provement. The happiness of mankind, therefore, is deeplyconcerned in these relations being well understood, and the dutieswhich flow from them being suitably performed. Some atten-tion must have been given them in every stage of society.Their importance is of the first order ; and, in every civilizedcountry, they have been made the subject of anxious and carefulconsideration and inquiry. They are made the subject of threeof the ten commandments, and the Hebrew Scriptures aboundwith precepts and examples, illustrating their nature, and en-forcing their fulfilment. Christianity has recognised, strengthened,and refined these relations, and has prescribed and enforced theduties of many of them by new, positive, and more definite in-structions. To collect these instructions, to arrange, amplify,limit, and apply them to the relations of life, giving their authoritythe first rank, and accompanying them with argument and eluci-dations drawn from reason, experience, authors ancient andmodern, and every other accessible source, will swell this branchof my treatise much beyond the size of the other parts intowhich it is divided.

The key to the morals of this important branch of the subject,is given us by our Saviour in this saying, “ All things whatsoeverye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them,for ” (it is added to give preeminence to the precept) “ this is