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406
CHRISTIAN MORALITY, VIZ. JUSTICE,
&C.
ISERM.
XXIV.
efforts
of
kindness for
his
security,
and pluck
him
as
a
brand out of
the
fire.
Our
own
conscience
dictates
this-
to
us,
since
we
.should
think
it
a
very
reasonable thing
to
expect
the
same
kindness
from
our neighbour,
when
we
are
found
in
the
like
circumstances.
Can
we
suppose
that
the
law
of
God
should
appoint
us
to lift the
ox
or the
ass
of
our neighbour
out of
a
pit,
or to restore
his
sheep
to him when
going
astray;
Deutr
xxii.
1.
and
yet
that
we
are not bound
to fulfil
the same
duty
of
love
toward
our neighbour
himself?
Nay, the
command
of
Moses reaches
still
farther;
Kv.
xxiii. 4.
If
thou
meet
thine
enemy's ox
or
his ass
going astray, thou
shalt
surely
bring
it
back to
him
again.
How
much
more
should this be
practised toward the
soul
or the
body
of
a
fellow
-
Christian
?
If
the
law
of justice require
us
to
secure the cattle or
possessions of
our neighbour
;
surely
then
we
are
obliged
to deal
as
kindly with
his
reputation and
good name,
which
in some cases
is
the best
part of
a man's estate,
and
is
almost
as
dear
to many
as
their health or life.
'When
we
happen therefore
into
such company
as
give
their
tongues a loose
to
scandal,
and
we
hear
.our neigh
-
bour
vilified
and
reproached,
we
ought
to
ward
off
the
calumny, and
to
refute the
scandal, where
we
know
that
our
neighbour does not
deserve' it.
This
piece
of justice
or
duty, to assist
a
suffering
neighbour, arises
from the social
nature of
man, who
by
the
law
of nature
is so
far born
for
a
social
life, as
to
come into the
world
with this claim,
and under
this
sort
of
obligations; for a naked exposed infant
may claim the
patronage and
protection
of
every
eye
that
beholds
him.
Andwhere
other
circumstances are equal, those
who
are
most capable
of
affording help,
seem to be
most
obliged.
Now
if
it
be
a
work
of
human
justice
to
preserve
such
a,
helpless piece
of
human
nature
from
death, surely
every
infant
grown
up
to any degrees
of
capacity
and
manhood, ought
in like
manner
to esteem himself
obliged to afford some assistance
to
his fellow
-
creatures,
according
to
their
distress,
and
his
capacity
welt
consi-
dered
and adjusted.
Therefore,
my
assistance
or
relief
of
an injured or
perishing creature,
is
a sort
of
duty
to
mankind, though
the person himself
be
an
utter
stranger
to
me:
The
his-
-
d