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there the very relations which lie at the foundation of our modern life discussed and explained and enforced. We shall find there the course of study which should pertain to every one who would present himself for the office of a legislator. And we shall find also a discussion of those principles which should be instilled into the mind of every one who has the privilege and the responsibility of a vote ; of every one who has the opportunity which his position gives him of directing the moral life of the community; or, he may study in it the relations of property and the theory of contracts. All this grew up under the Roman people. It is a heritage which has come down to all succeeding ages and the states of modern times. But I refer to this to show how law and morality must go together, and how law exhibits the conceptions which a people entertain of moral questions. Their conceptions are embodied in their law. And thus in the "Jus Civile" you have not only a great body of law, but also a profound system of ethics.

These are the very questions which claim a share of our study. The well-being of society is not only involved in that study, but the very being of society itself. The public teacher should be interested in whatever shall be for the religious and moral welfare of the state. And he ought, therefore, to put before the community the knowledge which should

guide them in the performance of public duty. He should put before them the institutions and states of society, such as the family and the rights which appertain to it, property and the duties which it. involves, contract and the relations which it must establish, crime and the treatment which must be exercised. These are subjects which must occupy the mind of every one who has the general welfare at heart. They should be understood in the community generally, where so much depends on the influence which one can exert. And they should

especially be understood and appreciated by the lawmakers the legislators of a community.

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And it is no less necessary that a public sentiment should be created. Law is powerless, and fails of its purpose, unless it is sustained by the sentiment of the community. It ought to be one of the purposes of the public teacher to form that sentiment. All those great principles on which law depends, and which must regulate and give character to the community, should be placed before the mind of men. The public mind should be saturated with right views of the common life, and of the duties which arise out of that life. The community should be made to see and appreciate those virtues on which its well-being depends.

And this can be done, not by spasmodic efforts, not by denunciations when great and startling wrongs

are perpetrated, but it should be the constant and calm teaching which enlightens the mind, and forms the opinions, and creates the sentiment. In a community thus enlightened, the law is respected and appreciated, and enforced through the regular channels. When shall we get laws on marriage and divorce, which shall accord with the divine law, until we enlighten and instruct the public mind? Our lawgivers must study the question as one of morals; and the community must so appreciate the question that it shall encourage, and, if need be, demand of the legislators, the laws which shall recognize the relations of marriage to be fundamental to the state, and to be regulated by conceptions which shall accord with those fundamental relations. I may also in illustration mention another great question of morals; which requires the regulation of law, which is temperance in the use of intoxicating drinks. It is a question of vast importance, and requires a profound acquaintance with the nature of man, and the mode of dealing with the appetites, and of bringing the body into subjection. It is a question which possibly has not yet received the attention which it requires. And the relation in which it stands to Christian grace may not yet have been considered in such a way as to obtain the results which have not yet appeared. I might mention a great many more, but these two will best afford the illustration which

I desire. They are two questions which, in different lines, require very profound and accurate study, and courageous illustration and enforcement.

The life of morality has come to require our attention and teaching, as well as the life of devotion. There can be no holiness where the moral life is neglected, where it is not cultivated by the grace of God obtained in the offices of religion. And it should receive the same systematic attention that the events and doctrines of Christianity receive. Such systematic teaching will alone set the community to thinking, and show them that the moral life is a large part of the life of holiness.

There is the opportunity to bring up the moral tone as well as the religious tone. Dr. Dale of Birmingham, in a very able book on the moral teaching of the Gospels, has said that we require a “moral revival." Nothing would be more to the purpose. There should be created a high-toned feeling about every virtue and duty and obligation. Every Christian believer should blush for every immorality. Every member of the Church of God should feel that his life should be characterized by every moral virtue. There is a lamentable falling below the mark when men, high in the confidence of the Church, who are intrusted with her administration and the teaching of her children, prove false in trusts, and

Laws of Christ for Common Life, chap. xviii. By R. W. Dale, LL.D.

betray confidence, and bring reproach on the sacred name. What we want, therefore, is a profound study of the moral nature, and its relations to Christian. grace. It is this which ought to bring about a "moral revival."

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