WRITINGS OF DR. SMITH. XXXI

Thefe obfervations lead Mr. Smith to anticipatea little the fubjefl of the fecond great divifion ofhis work, by a fiiort inquiry into the origin ofour fenfe ofjuftice as applicable to our own condufl;and alfo of our fentiments of remorfe, and erf gooddefert.

The origin of our fenfe ofjuftice, as well as of allour other moral fentiments, he accounts for bymeans of the principle of fympathy. When Iattend only to the feelings of my own breaft, myown happinefs appears to me of far greater con-fequence than that of all the world befides. ButI am confcious , that in this exceffive preference,other men cannot poffibly fympathize with me,and that to them I appear only one of the crowd,in whom they are no more interefted than in anyother individual. If I willi, therefore, to fecuretheir fympathy and approbation , ( which, accor-ding to Mr. Smith, are the objefts of the ftrongeftdefire of my nature,) it is necelfary for me toregard my happinefs, not in that light in whichit appears to myfelf, but in that light in which itappears to mankind in general. Ifan unprovokedinjury is offered to me, I know that fociety willfympathize with my refentment; but if I injurethe interefts of another, who never injured me ,merely becaufe they Hand in the way of my own,

I perceive evidently, that fociety will fympathize