Page:The Works of Samuel Johnson ... A journey to the Hebrides. The vision of Theodore, the hermit of Teneriffe. The fountains. Prayers and meditations. Sermons.v. 10-11. Parliamentary debates.pdf/446

 of the pains and pleasures of the world, when they obstruct the progress of religious excellence.

The power of godliness, as it is exerted in the love of our neighbour, appears in the exact and punctual discharge of all the relative and social duties. He whom this power actuates and directs, will regulate his conduct, so as neither to do injury, nor willingly to give offence. He will neither be a tyrannical governour, nor a seditious subject; neither a cruel parent, nor a disobedient son; neither an oppressive master, nor an eye-servant. But he will not stop at negative goodness, nor rest in the mere forbearance of evil; he will search out occasions of beneficence, and extend his care to those who have no other claim to his attention than the great community of relation to the universal Father of mankind. To enumerate the various modes of charity, which true godliness may suggest, as it is difficult, would be useless. They are as extensive as want, and as various as misery.

We must, however, remember that where the form of godliness appears, we must not always suppose the power to be wanting, because its influence is not universal and complete; nor think everything to be avoided, in whom we discover either defective virtues, or actual faults. The power subsists in him who is contending with corruption, though he has not yet entirely subdued it. He who falleth seven times a day may yet, by the mercy of God, be numbered among the just; the purest human virtue has much feculence. The highest flights of the soul soar not beyond the clouds and vapours of the earth; the greatest attainments are very imperfect; and he who is most advanced in excellence was once in a lower state, and in that lower state was yet worthy of love and reverence. One instance of the power of godliness is, readiness to help the weak, and comfort the fallen, to look with compassion upon the frail, to rekindle those whose ardour is cooling, and to recall those who, by inadvertency, or under the influence of strong temptation,