Temptation and Its Sources.
By Henry Alton
THE more endowed a man is, the more liable to evil he is. This is really the answer to the foolish question sometimes put: Could not God have made evil impossible? Could he not have made man incapable of sin? He could have made evil impossible, but he could not have made a man incapable of evil. A thing, he might; evil is not possible to a star or a vegetable. A brute, he might; sin is not possible to a horse or a dog. But a man! Why, the very quality that makes him a man is power to sin,—freedom of moral action, freedom of will. If I have no freedom I can do neither good nor evil. If I have freedom so as to do good, I must have freedom to do evil. If a man has no strong desires, he cannot be tempted; but he cannot therefore claim any praise. He is pulseless, passionless, safe, but cold and ignoble. The ratio of passion in a man is the ratio of his temptation; the heroic man is the man of strong desire, strong lust, who resists and conquers it. A man who has no desire for alcoholic liquor cannot be tempted to drunkenness; a man of bold, fearless temperament cannot be tempted to cowardice; a man of a mild or cold nature is not tempted to anger; a free, generous nature is not tempted to avarice. No credit to such for being free from those vices. It may be even a debasement, an inferiority of nature, not to have such passions. The noble man is he who resists when they are strong in him. The measure of temptation is the measure of passion; the more sensitive and nervous and emotional a man's temperament—the higher, that is, the qualities of his manhood—the more he can be tempted. See, then, how temptation arises. Desire springs up in a man, and occasion may be perfectly innocent. It may be gold lying in the till of a counter, or a purse carried loosely in the pocket, and the temptation is to steal it. It may be drink at the wine-seller's, and the temptation is to drink. Or the occasion may be purposely furnished; companions may solicit and urge, the devil may suggest. But it is within the man himself that the desire springs up and becomes a peril. If his conscience is sensitive, if his religious feeling is strong, it will keep the desire from becoming masterful, keep it from all unlawful indulgence.—Rev. Henry Alton.