ABSTRACT
Christianity affirms that it alone possessed a true standard of morality, and would have us think that, without its assistance, the world would be a wild scene of disorder and wrong. Morality is a science, and as such must be studied. It is fortunately as independent of the flimsy protection of religion as the mountains of the fragment at its base. And not only is morality unassisted by religion, but it receives from it no light, no explanation, no enforcement. Indulgence in intoxicating drinks embraces a wider field of evil, since by their action on the brain they are liable to excite to every species of immorality. Chastity consists in the calm observance of the laws of nature in the cultivation of family affections and the discharge of marital obligations. Rightly constituted persons love virtue for its own sake, and recognise a sublimity in justice, a beauty in generosity, independent even of its results.
