112 THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE MIND. mightworry the assembly, and do much mischief. Yet again, Mario killed him with .a pistol, which he happened to have in his pocket since yesterday's journey, now hereby the whole congre- gation was terrified and discomposed, and divine service was broken off; this carries an appearance of great indecency and impropriety in it ; but after all, when we consider a further cir- cumstance, that Mario being thus violently assaulted by a mad doghad no way of escape, and had no other weapon about him, it seems to take away all the colours of impropriety, indecency or unlawfulness, and to allow that the preservation of one or many lives will justify the act as wise and good. Now all these concurrent appendices of the action ought to be surveyed, in order to pronounce with justice and truth concerning it. There are a multitude of human actions in private life, in domestic affairs, in traffic, in civil government, in courts of justice, in schools of learning, 8fc. which have so many compli- cated circumstances, aspects and situations, with regard to time andplace, persons and things, that it is impossiblefor any one to pass a right judgment concerning them, without entering into most of thése circumstances, and surveying them extensively, and comparing and balancing them all aright. Whence by the way, I may take occasion to say, how many thousands there are who take upon them to pass their cen- sures on the personal and the domestic actions of others, who pronounce boldly on the affairs of the public, and determine the justice or madness, the wisdom or folly of national ad- ministrations, of peace and war, &c. whom neither God nor men ever qualified for such a post of judgment ? they were not capable of entering into the numerous concurring springs of action, nor had they ever taken a survey of the twentieth part of the circumstances which were necessary for such judgments or censures. It is the narrowness ofour minds, as well as the vices of the will, that oftentimes prevents us from taking a full -viewof all the complicated and concurring appendices that belong to human ac- tions : thence it comes to pass that there is so little right judg- ment, so little justice, prudence, or decency, practised among the bulk of mankind ; thence arise infinite reproaches and cen- sures, alike foolish and unrighteous. You see therefore Korb needful and happy a thing it is, to be possest of some measure of this amplitude of soul, in order to make us very wise, or know- ing, or just, or prudent, or happy. I confess this sort of amplitude or capacity of mind is in a great Measure the gift of nature, for sonic are born with much more capacious souls than others. The genius of some persons is so poor and limited, that they can hardly take in the connec- tion of two or three propositions unless it he in matters of sense,
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