Eighteenth Century Collection Online Demo

The theory of moral sentiments: By Adam Smith, ...

Deity, is the first rule of duty, all men are agreed. But concerning the particu|lar commandments which that will may impose upon us, they differ widely from one another. In this, therefore, the great|est mutual forbearance and toleration is due; and tho' the defence of society re|quires that crimes should be punished, from whatever motives they proceed, yet a good man will always punish them with reluctance, when they evidently proceed from false notions of religious duty. He will never feel against those who commit them that indignation which he feels against other criminals, but will rather re|gret, and sometimes even admire their un|fortunate firmness and magnanimity, at the very time that he punishes their crime. In the tragedy of Mahomet, one of the finest of Mr. Voltaire's, it is well repre|sented, what ought to be our sentiments for crimes which proceed from such mo|••••ves. In that tragedy, two young peo|ple of different sexes, of the most inno|cent and virtuous dispositions, and with|out any other weakness except what en|dears them the more to us, a mutual fondness for one another, are instigated
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Title
The theory of moral sentiments: By Adam Smith, ...
Author
Smith, Adam, 1723-1790.
Canvas
Page 313
Publication
London :: printed for A. Millar; and A. Kincaid and J. Bell, in Edinburgh,
1759.

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"The theory of moral sentiments: By Adam Smith, ..." In the digital collection Eighteenth Century Collection Online Demo. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eccodemo/k111361.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 13, 2025.
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