Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Memorial Edition of Collected Works of W. J. Fox, Vol. 7: Reports of Lectures at South-Place Chapel, Finsbury
Nor let any one say that, not feeling himself identified with this or that particular class, these lessons have for him no moral, and are unconnected with his own particular im provement. I say again, that they must, in their spirit and tendency, contain a lesson for all; not only such as I have just described - the purest and best of all lessons - that of universal charity, but also this, which any one ofyou, which any man whatever, may learn, - namely, to estimate the temptations of his own state. For if, While I describe poverty as tending to comparative disregard of property, any should say, What have I to do with this? I am nei ther poor, nor in danger of poverty, I would reply Look a little further into the matter have not you temptations, as well as the poor, to aggression, to extortion, to an in justice which is not the less so because it may be perhaps a legal injustice? And if you find this acting on your mind, then you have to do with the exposition which I make, and may learn from it how far more culpable in: your own case is such an overstepping of the boundaries of moral honesty, than it istin others who are exposed to much harder trials, and subjected to far more pernicious in?uences. The same remark will apply to a review of the circumstances and moral condition of any class.
Should it be shown, with reference to the legal or the clerical profession, that there is in these a tendency to insin cerity, let none turn away and say, I have nothing to do with this. For if his own tongue, or his own actions, have ever failed of being the faithful expositors of his thoughts and feelings, he has, to do With it; and in the in?uences which Operate upon others, he may read a lesson of caution for himself, and start back from a result which he might not. Be aware that he was approaching but towards which, seeing others advancing in a different, and, it may be, a broader highway, he may be led to look more closely to the crooked paths wherein his own feet have been entrapped.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
