Francis Hopkinson – We All Know, Or May Know, The Unquestionable Path Of Virtue
My Notes
The quote listed below is an essay by Francis Hopkinson titled “On Adversity”. Mr. Hopkinson shares some of his faith in God as the “omnipotent Creator”. His belief is that “pain, distress, and disappointment, the loss of those we love, and injuries from those who love not us”, are meant to “wean the heart from too strong an attachment to the transitory pleasures of life, and direct our views to better hopes.” This topic is broadly covered by C.S Lewis in his teaching, The Problem of Pain
I also see him struggling with the ideas of the sovereignty of God and the free will of man. This is a struggle that has gone on for centuries before and still goes on today. He states, “To will, or not to will, to be good and happy is in our own power; but really to be so, is the gift of God.”
He ends his essay with a call to pursue virtue and to be prepared for the end of life. “[W]e all know, or may know, the unquestionable path of virtue. Let us pursue that path with unremitting diligence.”
You can find this essay and other writings of Francis Hopkinson in:
The Miscellaneous Essays And Occasional Writings Of Francis Hopkinson, Esq. V1 (1792)
Quotes I Like From Francis Hopkinson
On ADVERSITYTHE least attention will satisfy the enquiring mind, that the present state of man is not final, but preparatory to a future existence; the happiness or misery of which will not be determined by the unalterable decree of the omnipotent Creator, but will more probably depend on the temper and capacity of the soul of each individual to become an angel of light or a fiend of darkness. We cannot reasonably suppose that God will forcibly compel any man to be either happy or miserable. Good and evil are set before us, and our own wills must determine the choice. Such, indeed, are the infirmities of our nature, that without divine assistance we are unable to persevere in the paths of righteousness. This assistance, however, is graciously promised to those who sincerely desire it. To will, or not to will, to be good and happy is in our own power; but really to be so, is the gift of God. He doth indeed continually incite men to a happy choice by the various dispensations of his Providence: either by an accumulation of benefits, which ought to engage their love and gratitude; or by suffering them to experience the trials of adversity, that they may fee the vanity of temporal enjoyments, and turn their views to more substantial happiness. Yet so entirely free is man, that he too often suffers neither of these powerful inducements to influence his mind as they ought. The smiles of prosperity frequently producing arrogance, self-sufficiency, immorality, and excess: and the wholesome chastisements of an affectionate Father frequently creating murmurings and discontent.
In the early periods of life our senses alone are the touch-stones of good and evil. Whatever is grateful and pleasant to them we denominate good; whatever is painful and uneasy, we denominate evil. This simple distinction is sufficient for the state of infancy, when the nurture and security of the body is the chief concern; but when the mind comes to be enlightened by reason and religion, it will easily perceive, that an undue attention to present enjoyments, or a misapplication of them, may be productive of much future misery; and that temporal crosses and afflictions fit the soul for eternal happiness and glory.
Human nature hath a strong abhorrence of pain, grief, and care. Were it otherwise they would be of no use in weaning the affections from the vanities of the world. Most medicines arc nauseous to the palate and severe in their operation. In this their virtue consists. Affliction is the medicine of the soul. It softens the obdurate heart, and renders it susceptible of good impressions. When we are in pain and sorrow, we learn to feel for the distress of others, and are prompted to acts of charity. When we find that the pleasures of the world cannot give solid, permanent satisfaction – cannot gratify all our desires, we are induced to turn to that only Being who is the source of true felicity, and in whom alone there is fullness of joy. In the time of distress we feel and know what we only had, perhaps, a transient idea of before, that the Christian graces and virtues are the only true sources of happiness; and will be our comfort in the last inevitable hour: when all the palliating vanities of the world, and the anodynes of pleasure, must entirely lose their effect. The sensibilities attendant on affliction and distress, are too strong to be continued through the common course of life. The wounds of the mind will heal as well as those of the body. But if afflictions produce their proper effect, the mind, ever remembering that those things may be, will acquire a calm and steady adherence to the dictates of conscience and the practice of virtue: not as a talk imposed by a superior power whose wrath he would deprecate; but as the highest gratification to himself. He will become habituated to do good; and what is duty in others will be nature in him.
Thus it is that the calamities of life may become real blessings, if a right use be made of them. If the smiles of prosperity do not fill the soul with gratitude, love, and religious joy; they will produce arrogance, self sufficiency and pride: If pain, distress, and disappointment, the loss of those we love, and injuries from those who love not us, do not wean the heart from too strong an attachment to the transitory pleasures of life, and direct our views to better hopes; they will either plunge us in the giddy eddies of vicious enjoyments, to drown every painful sensibility, or will throw the mind into a wicked despondency, and occasion profane murmurings against the Author of our existence, or fix us in a gross and sinful infidelity.
I may, perhaps, in some parts of this paper, have left open a door for controversy. But I shall not enter the lists with any one. I would rather spend my time in the most unmeaning amusements, than corrupt my heart with the pride and obstinacy of what is called religious disputation.
Placed as we are in a transitory scene of probation; drawing nigher still and nigher, day by day, to that interesting crisis which must introduce us into a new system of things; ought it not to be our principal concern to use every means that may have a tendency to fit us for that heaven we hope to enjoy? This cannot be done by speculative opinions or ingenious theories; but by habituating the heart to devout sensibilities, and making that, rather than the bead, the seat of virtue.
Dry and unfruitful reasonings, on the one hand, and the enthusiastic rambles of unbridled imaginations on the other, have been the sources of much error to mankind in religious matters. We are not all capable of understanding the casuistical refinements of the book learned, neither can we all follow the extravagant sallies of over-heated brains; but we all know, or may know, the unquestionable path of virtue. Let us pursue that path with unremitting diligence: performing the duties of our respective stations in life with a cheerful activity; enjoying the world without being wedded to its follies, and prepared to leave it when the awful summons shall arrive.
Francis Hopkinson. Pennsylvania. Court of Admiralty. The Miscellaneous Essays and Occasional Writings of Francis Hopkinson, Esq. Printed by T. Dobson. 1792
Brief Biography
Francis Hopkinson, (father of Joseph Hopkinson), a Delegate from New Jersey; born in Philadelphia, Pa., September 21, 1737 (O.S.); was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia in 1757; the first native American composer of a secular song in 1759; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1761 and commenced practice in Philadelphia; secretary of a commission of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania which made a treaty between the Province and certain Indian tribes in 1761; appointed collector of customs at the port of Salem, N.J., in 1763, and at New Castle, Del., in 1772; settled in Bordentown, N.J., in 1774 and resumed the practice of law; member of the Provincial Council of New Jersey 1774-1776; member of the executive council from January 13 to November 15, 1775; was admitted to practice before the bar of the supreme court of New Jersey on May 8, 1775; elected an associate justice of that court in 1776 but declined the office; Member of the Continental Congress from June 22 to November 30, 1776; a signer of the Declaration of Independence; elected on November 18, 1776, to serve on the Navy Board at Philadelphia; returned to Philadelphia in 1777; treasurer of the Continental Loan Office in 1778; judge of the Admiralty Court of Pennsylvania in 1779 and reappointed in 1780 and 1787; member of the constitutional convention in 1787 which ratified the Constitution of the United States; judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania 1789-1791; died in Philadelphia, Pa., May 9, 1791; interment in Christ Church Burial Ground.
