moral right? Where my life is in peril, and can be preserved only by the death of my assailant, I am at liberty to defend myself to the last extremity, since my life is, at least, of equal value with his. But is it certain that my property is of equal value with the life of the assailant? This is not so clear. There may be cases in which the protection of property may be justifiable, even at the expense of life. But, where any doubt remains, it were certainly better to part with any amount of property, rather than to incur the guilt of unlawfully shedding human blood.

Defence of the Rights of Others. I would by no means be understood as limiting the right of defence to those cases in which our own life, person, or property is in danger. The same principle extends to the rights of others. The lives, the safety, the property of others, may be committed to our care, and dependent on us; in that case, the same reasons that render the defence of our own lives or property justifiable, require us to defend theirs. Every man owes it both to himself and to his family, to defend from danger those who look to him as their natural guardian and protector.

A Questionable Case. It may sometimes happen, in other cases besides those of lawless aggression, that our own lives, or property, can be protected only at the expense of the life and property of another. My neighbor's house and my own are both in danger of destruction, by fire, at one and the same moment. There are means of preserving one of them, but not both. Which shall it be? Does duty to myself require me to protect my own property at the expense of his? A plank, floating on the water, comes within my reach as I am struggling for life. It is sufficient to bear up one alone. At my side is another person, also struggling for life. Does the law of self-pro

tection apply in such a case? It is difficult to lay down any rule that shall apply to all such cases. They must be determined according to circumstances. As a general principle, it is better to suffer harm ourselves, than to protect ourselves at the risk of injustice to others; better always to suffer wrong, than to do wrong; and where there is danger of wronging another, in the act of protecting self, it would be the impulse of a true and generous heart to forego the claims of self-protection. There can be no doubt on which side we shall be most liable, in such cases, to err. The danger is, that selfishness will prevail over a due consideration of the rights of others, and that the instinct of self-preservation will prove stronger than all our scruples.

CHAPTER III.

SELF-CONTROL.

PROMINENT among the duties which we owe to ourselves, is that of self-control. This relates to the government of the temper, and of all those appetites, propensities, and passions, which, while having their foundation in the constitution of our nature, require to be kept under restraint, subject to the dictates of reason and discretion.

As relates to the Temper. - Every man owes it to himself to maintain perfect control over his own temper. I refer more particularly to those feelings of indignation and resentment which naturally arise in view of injury received, and which is properly called anger. These feelings require to be held in check with a firm and steady hand. Unrestrained, they trample on all that is sacred, and subject reason, judgment, principle, the man himself, to their

petty tyranny.

They destroy character and influence,

and shorten life itself.

The man who has no control over himself in this matter, -whose anger breaks forth, lawless and ungovernable, on every provocation,-is wholly at the mercy of events. He is not his own master. He is like one afflicted with the St. Vitus' dance, who has no control over his own movements, but must go when the fit takes him, wherever he may be. Nay, worse; it is in the power of his enemies to bring the fit of anger upon him, and make themselves. merry at his expense.

These feelings are capable of control. By due care and self-discipline, they may be brought into subjection to reason and the will. But to do this, requires effort, resolution, vigilance. It is the work of time. There is, however, no nobler conquest for any man to make than the conquest of himself; none, perhaps, more difficult; must I add, none more seldom made. It is easier to subdue kingdoms, and lead armies captive, than to subdue and lead captive one's own rebellious passions. Hence it is, that "He that is slow to anger, is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh a city." For want of this control, many of the greatest men in the world's history, most distinguished for valor and brilliant achievement, have been really among the weakest of men-objects of compassion rather than of envy to every sensible mind. The hero who wept that there were no more worlds to conquer, seems never to have learned that within his own bosom lay a restless and turbulent kingdom, over which, with all his armies and all his power and valor, he had as yet attained no dominion.

As relates to other Passions and Propensities. But self-control relates not to the temper alone; it implies the

due restraint of all our passions, appetites, and propensities. It includes what we mean by temperance, in its widest sense abstinence from all those excesses and vices which injure the health, impair the strength and activity of body and mind, weaken the character and influence, cut short the life. To yield to the passions and appetites of the animal nature, without restraint, involves these consequences. They may be remote, and slow of approach, but they are sure. The eternal and immutable laws of nature have established this connection, and decreed these results. They are not to be avoided. Hence,

it is one of the plainest dictates of prudence, one of the first and most imperative duties which we owe to ourselves, to keep these appetites and propensities of the animal nature under strict control. If to defend the person from the violent assault of robber or assassin, be a duty, much more to defend the mind and moral nature from injury and ruin. Sensuality ruins both body and soul. He who yields to this foe is lost.

It may be difficult, in many cases, to assign the precise limit within which indulgence of the appetites is allowable, and beyond which it becomes a crime. Such limits there are; and it is for each one, by careful observation, to determine for himself where they lie. One thing is certain, that he who finds the demands of appetite increasing upon him beyond his power of successful resistance, has already passed that limit.

Objection. It may be urged by some, that, inasmuch as the passions and propensities of our nature are a part of our original constitution, and, in a sense, the gift of the Creator, it is therefore right to indulge the same, without other limit than that which nature itself imposes; in other words, without restraint. This is the practical philosophy according to which too many, doubtless, are disposed

to govern their conduct. It is a philosophy, however, as false as it is shallow at war not more with reason and revelation than with the common sense of mankind. The fact that a given propensity or passion is founded in the nature with which the Creator has endowed us, is surely no warrant for the indulgence of that propensity or passion beyond the limits which the Creator has himself assigned. He who indulges his passions without restraint, transgresses these limits, and, in reality, does violence to his own nature. Self-control, firm and habitual, is not less the dictate of reason than the command of God.

Necessary to Self-respect, and the Respect of Others. The exercise of a due self-control, both in regard to the temper and the various animal propensities of our nature, is necessary to all true self-respect. No man who is under the dominion of his baser appetites and passions, can truly respect himself. He knows his own weakness and degradation; knows and feels that he is a slave, that the sceptre has departed from him, that the crown of his integrity and honor is in the dust. The effect of this is most disastrous upon the character. He who has lost his self-respect, has lost that which no gold can buy. His courage and his moral strength are gone; nor can virtue long maintain its ascendency in the absence of this principle.

Self-control is necessary also in order to the respect of others. No man can for any length of time receive the real homage and respect of others, who lacks the mastery of himself. Station, power, wealth, may do something for him; native talent and genius, still more; but not even these can ultimately keep back from merited contempt the helpless slave of his own miserable passions. Sad indeed is the spectacle, of one born to high honors, and endowed by nature with princely gifts, from whose hand is stricken the sceptre of dominion over his own spirit.