I was in such a hurry to kill it, that I saved
its life. When I got to it, it was drowning itself as nicely as it could
do; and if I had had patience to wait, it would have been dead in ten
minutes. But because I would not wait, and let it die quietly, it would
not die at all. And it may be living now for anything I know, and may
have bred a hundred other rats since then, and all because I would not
give it time to die in peace. There are rats everywhere still. There are
rats in the Church, rats in the State; rats in palaces, and rats in
hovels. There are rats of despotism and tyranny, rats of slavery and
war, rats of rebellion and anarchy. There are rats of superstition and
idolatry, rats of heresy and infidelity, rats of intemperance and
licentiousness. And it is right to try to kill them off. But we had
better go to work carefully. We cannot put things right in an instant.
And when wicked laws, or vicious principles have received their death
blow, we had better give them time to die in quiet. Haste and impatience
may spoil all.
12. Though unbelief may not always be a sin, it is always a great
calamity. As we have said, its tendency is always to immorality, and
immorality always tends to misery and death. Byron perished in his
prime, and his short life and his untimely death were both unhappy.
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