2. What is our obligation to be just ? Is it the civil and criminal courts of law ? The large majority of unjust acts are not punishable by these courts. Is it the belief in a coming day of judgment ? That is an obligation to self-interest, not to justice. Is it the welfare of the greatest number ? In the order of nature number one is the greatest, and each man is for himself. Is it
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the existence of a power called conscience ? That is the very thing to be explained. What is conscience ? It means literally a " knowing together." In the things of this world it is the sight of my brother in my own looking-glass, my seeing of him in me. In the most common act of justice, I have, I must have, a double vision ; he and I are reflected in one mirror. There can be no justice without sympathy, and there can be no sympathy without substitution.
It is a familiar doctrine of theologians that Christ " offered up a sacrifice to satisfy Divine justice " — to pay the debts of man. It is truer than some of these theologians dream of. It is not an abnormal, a miraculous thing. It is the illustration of a universal principle which holds always, everywhere. To estimate the debt of another is not an easy thing ; it demands a sacrifice. It was a bold and a deep insight which ventured to affirm that Christ Himself was no exception to the law. To estimate the debts of man He, too, had to descend — to sacrifice. He, too, had to begin, not only by self-forgetfulness, but by incorporating a new self — a servant's form. He had to put Himself in the place, in the environment, of the debtor. He had to consider his circumstances, to live within his experience. He had to measure the influence of his heredity, the force of his passions, the strength of his tempta- tions, the contagion of his surroundings, the power of his examples, the bane of his upbringing. All this and infinitely more, to Christ, to us, to every living spirit, is involved in estimating the moral debt of another.
TJ When we affirm that justice is an attribute of God, our conception of justice is a human one, but if man is made in the image of God, as Christianity affirms, and God not fashioned after the image of man, the fact that it is a human conception does not prevent it from being an attribute which really exists in God ; and when we affirm that God's justice is perfect we mean that God's omniscience gives Him a perfect knowledge of the minutest circumstances connected with each individual, and that this enables Him to estimate correctly the precise degree of his responsibility. This knowledge man has not, and, therefore, as far as this ignorance prevails, his estimate of the character of an act is imperfect, and, consequently, the judgment formed of it partakes of the same degree of imperfection. But this defect of our knowledge does not prevent our conception of justice from
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being a true representation of that attribute as it exists in God. The only difference between justice as administered by God and justice as administered by man is that the omniscience of God enables Him to take into account the circumstances of a man's birth, of his surroundings, and of those tendencies which have been transmitted from ancestors, with the formation of which as an individual he has had nothing to do, and for which he is therefore irresponsible. This a human judge is incapable of doing, and therefore justice, as administered by him, is necessarily im- perfect.1
II. "Lore mercy."
1. There is an instinctive mercy in the heart of man. It is described by one word — pity. Pity is the instinct of mercy, and it belongs to man as man. But is pity also the love of mercy ? Love supposes some object of attraction. Does pity imply an object of attraction ? Is the sensation of pity one of attraction at all ? In the living being attraction involves a certain amount of pleasure. Is not the sensation of pity one of pain ? It is true men go to witness on the stage scenes of horror. But they do not go on account of the horror ; they wish to see the situations of dramatic power which the horror will bring forth. Pity is a sensation which in itself and by itself is painful, and therefore repulsive. The men of the most pitiful nature are precisely those who wish most to avoid it. This is surely not the love of mercy.
TJ Where will you find a kinder-hearted soul than Oliver Goldsmith ? No beggar's cry could reach his ear without empty- ing his pocket. And yet, if Oliver saw the beggar in the distance, he turned the corner to escape him. It was not the wish to protect his money; it was the desire to escape the pain of a sad story. How many a young minister making his parochial rounds feels exactly the same in relation to the contact with sorrow ! 2
2. But the prophet tells us that we must love mercy. There is no religion without love. The man who does good, but does not love, is not a good man. He pretends to be, but would be different