There is, no doubt, in society, a
quantity of misplaced honour; but so long as there are employments
exceptionally arduous, and virtues signally beneficent in their
operation, honour is a legitimate spur and reward, and should be
graduated according to the desert in each case.
In spurring the ardour of youth to studious exertion, it is common to
repeat the Homeric maxim, "to supplant every one else, and stand out
first". The stimulating effect is undoubted; it is strong rhetorical
brandy. Yet only one man can be first, and the exhortation is given
simultaneously to a thousand.[5]
[JUSTICE ADMIRABLE ONLY IF RECIPROCATED.]
In the discussion and inculcation of the moral duties and virtues, there
has been, in all ages, a tendency to suppress correlative facts, and to
affirm unconditionally what is true only with a condition. Thus, the
admirable nature of Justice, and the happiness of the Just man, are a
proper theme to be extolled with all the power of eloquence. It has been
so with every civilized people, pagan as well as Christian. In the
dialogues of Plato, justice is a prominent subject, and is adorned with
the full splendour of his genius. Aristotle, in one of the few moments
when he rises to poetry, pronounces justice "greater than the
evening-star or the morning-star".
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