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of the intellectual scale may be the faculties with which a man is born; whether he bring with him into our world the abilities of a Bacon, or the imbecility of a "Poor Joseph,"* there he is-is as God hath made him. Yes; as God hath made him! And shall men be so idolatrous and foolish as to extol and adore the one,,—so impious and cruel as to despise and degrade the other, on the simple ground of the states in which they have been respectively brought into being by their Creator? Is there merit or demerit in simple essence apart from action? Is there any thing moral in mere being? No! morality is inseparable from volition. Our praise and our reprobation ought to rest, not upon what men are, but upon what men do! How long will it be ere we shall judge as God judges? Why do not mankind learn from the parable of the talents! The decision in that case turned primarily, not upon the number of the talents, but upon their use, and upon their number only as it regarded the degree of profiting to be looked for; of him to whom more was given, more was required; but the praise was wholly grounded, not on the amount of the talents entrusted, but of the gain which the parties respectively had realized. The principal was the giver's concern; the profit was theirs. In all the accounts we have of the final Judgment, motive and action, purpose and practice, are represented as every thing. The simple possession of talents, influence, or property, is never mentioned as having any thing moral in it. Possession involves responsibility; but, taken by itself, it affords no claim whatever to praise, neither is it subject to censure. According to the Scriptures of truth, not the possession, but the use of our talents, will govern the decisions of the great day! Moral greatness is the only greatness regarded in the world whither our friend has

* See the affecting Tract entitled "Poor Joseph."

gone; and it ought, therefore, to be the only greatness supremely regarded here. As the society of earth approximates that of heaven, and as men improve in their apprehensions of the character of God, this fatal error will be corrected. The idolatry of mere intellect will cease; and men will "judge just judgment." Real goodness is real greatness; but greatness admits of degrees; and the scale of its measurement is sincere desire, as tested by practical efforts, to promote the welfare of the human race, and to promote the honour of our Creator. Under the guidance of these principles we shall now attempt to delineate the character of the Martyr of Erromanga, and I wish that, with the poet, I could truly say,

"Materiem superabat opus."

All

Magnanimity was a leading feature in the character of Mr. Williams, constituting its moral foundation. This quality, as the word imports, consists in a certain largeness of heart, an elevation of soul in contradistinction to whatever is little and narrow, pitiful and mean. true Christians are, in their several measures, magnanimous. Magnanimity and Christianity are indeed identical. A species of magnanimity, however, may exist without Christianity. This magnanimity is found in degrees so different, that even Christianity cannot wholly remove, although it will lessen, the difference. This fact, in the natural history of mankind, did not escape the notice of the ancients, who likewise observed that this greatness of soul was too generally allied to a passion which rendered it a curse to mankind as well as to its possessor. Of all the classic writers, I remember none who appears to have been so much alive to these facts as Cicero. Adverting to the mischief which had arisen from the lust of honour, power, and empire, he observes that "it is a very great misfortune that this lust is chiefly found in men of the

greatest souls, and most exalted natures."* Again, when discussing the beauty of Justice, and the inducements to its violation, he says, "It is a very unhappy circumstance that, for the most part, great and exalted minds are naturally ungovernable and ambitious of rule. For the more any man has of this greatness of soul, the more eager he is to be the chief of all, or rather to be absolute." This infirmity has unhappily been visible in all ages. All history exemplifies it. Lord Bolingbroke was a remarkable instance among ourselves. I am not sure, all things considered, that a greater soul was ever born on British ground. Goldsmith has finely portrayed him. "In whatever light we view his character, we shall find him an object rather for our wonder than our imitation, more to be feared than esteemed, and gaining our admiration without our love. His ambition ever aimed at the summit of power, and nothing seemed capable of satisfying his immoderate desires, but the liberty of governing all things without a rival. With as much ambition, as great abilities, and more acquired knowledge than Cæsar, he wanted only his courage to be as successful; but the schemes his head dictated, his heart often refused to execute; and he lost the ability to perform just when the great occasion called for all his efforts to engage. The same ambition that prompted him to be a politician, actuated him as a philosopher. His aims were equally great and extensive in both capacities: unwilling to submit to any in the one, or any authority in the other, he entered the field of science with a thorough contempt of all that had been established before him, and seemed willing to think every thing wrong, that he might show his faculty in the reformation."

It is the glory of Christianity that it possesses the power of divesting this kind of magnanimity of its

*De Officiis, lib. i. cap. 8.

+ Ibid. lib. i. cap. 19.

destructive qualities wherever they may happen to be combined with it. Of this the apostle Paul is a wondrous instance. Had he been another Philip's son, without the grace of God, he had been a second Alexander. This greatness of soul, however, is always associated with greatness of intellect; and I remember no instance in which it has been destructive except when allied with stupendous mental power-while it deserves especial notice that the association does not necessarily imply destruction. It is to cases of the latter class chiefly, that history has spoken, for the obvious reason, that their fatal operations lay within her province. Immense intellectual power, on the other hand, may exist without a particle of magnanimity. History abundantly attests this fact; magnanimity and great intellectual capacity, therefore, must not be confounded. Perhaps in none did they ever meet in more complete equality of measure than in Alexander, whose generosity was, beyond doubt, as great as his genius; but it appears to me, that, in both, he was much excelled by Columbus. Napoleon, and even Cæsar, were very defective in magnanimity, as compared with their superabundant intellect. John Williams, on the other hand, was deficient in intellect as compared with his magnanimity. This magnanimity was one of the chief elements of the wonderful character of Solomon. It is set forth as an article distinct from understanding. "God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore." This "largeness of heart" is the very thing meant by the following passage, "the liberal deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things shall he stand."

The magnanimity of Williams, philosophically speaking, was the real cause of his amazing success in dealing with mankind. He easily believed that what

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he was ready to do for others, they would not refuse to do for him. This noble feeling prompted what to little souls seemed his extravagances. It led him to believe that the Christians of England would provide him with a ship, and they gave it! It inspired him with confidence to ask the Corporation of London for money to promote his object, and they bestowed it! It prompted his application to many of the nobles of England to aid him in the work of missions-and they did it! The measure of his expectations and demands was taken from his own heart, which, in this matter, never misled him. He found what all will find, that according as he meted it was meted to him again :

"Victor volentes per populos dat jura."

Philanthropy was a marked feature in the character of Williams. This quality, which signifies the love of man, is one of the choicest ornaments of our nature. It is the basis of all true and lasting glory. Although it never exists in perfection except in union with the love of God; yet so essential is it to man's notion of a superior human character, that the ancients set great store by it as a chief moral virtue. PLATO lays down the doctrine, that "we are not born for ourselves alone ; but that our native country, our friends, and relations, have a just claim and title to some part of us." Cicero, in the most important of all his works, admirably expounds this doctrine of Plato and of the Stoics: he insists that "whatsoever is created on earth, was merely designed for the service of man, and men themselves for the service, benefit, and assistance of one another. In this (he continues) we certainly ought to be followers of nature, and second her intentions; and by doing all that lies in our power for the general interest, by mutual acts of kindness, by our knowledge, industry, riches, or other means, we should endeavour to keep up that

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