I
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 
 
 ( t
 
 When I employ myfelf upon a paper of morality, I 
 generally confider how I may recommend the par- 
 ticular virtue which I treat of, by the precepts or 
 examples of the ancient heathens ; by that means, 
 if poffible, to fhame thofe, who have greater ad- 
 vantages of knowing their duty, and therefore 
 greater obligations to perform it, into a better 
 courfe of life : befides that, many among us are 
 unreafonably difpofed to give a fairer hearing to a 
 pagan philofopher, than to a chriftian writer. 
 
 ADDISON'J Works, Vol. III. p. 193.
 
 The following Pieces, by the Author of this 
 Book, may be had either bound together in 
 One Volume, or fmgle. 
 
 I. A Letter to a Lady on Card-Playing on the 
 Lord's Day. Price I s. 
 
 II. On the Employment of Time. Three EfTays. 
 The Third Edit. Price 2s. 
 
 III. The Deity's Delay in punifhing the Guilty, 
 confidercd on t.he Principjes ,of Reafon. Price i s. 
 
 IV; Aa Anfwer to the-Queftion,' Where are your 
 Arguments- againft, what yqu call Lewdnefs, if you 
 make ha ufe of the Bible ? Price I s. 
 
 V. The.Ghoft of Erneft, Great Grandfather of 
 her Royal Highnefs the Princefs Dowager of Wales. 
 With fonie Account of his Life* Price is. 6d. . 
 
 VI. A Letter to an Officer of the Army, on 
 Travelling on Sundays. Price is.. In this Pamphlet, 
 p. 1 8. ), 9. for this r. his. p. 21. 1, 9. for pa/I r.poft. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 PAGE 9. line 3. in the note, for irripiat read arripiat. 
 p. 10. 1. 5. for ftoronger read rtronger. p. 87. Greek 
 motto, zd line, for 77 read T]&>. p. 98. 1. 9. for 
 agravated read aggravated. p. 1 1 1. 1. i. in the note, 
 for Aax.?/'a/u3!'/ read Aaxs/'et/juot'/. p. 126. 1. I. in the 
 note, for i<r-vpsn read wyvpov. p. 160. 1. 6. for They 
 read There. p. 220. 1. 6. for unconftrained read un- 
 reitrained. p. 223. 1. 3. for it's read its without an 
 apoftrophe. p. z $$. 1. i. in the note, for concenfuram 
 read confer.furam. p. 267. 1. 5. for becaufe read as. 
 p. 284. laft line, for nither read neither. p. 300. 1. 5. 
 for again read againft. p. 3oz. 1. 26. for ordertd rea4 
 order.
 
 LETTERS 
 
 AND 
 
 TRACTS 
 
 O N T H E 
 
 C H o i c ' of COMPANY 
 
 AND 
 
 OTHER SUBJECTS. 
 
 The SECOND EDITION. 
 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for J. WHISTON and B. WHITE, in Flett-ftrttt ; 
 
 and R. and J. DODSLEY, in Pall-mall. 
 
 MDCCLXII.
 
 
 
 . 
 
 - ' - 
 
 .
 
 TOT H E 
 
 vj i#/n 
 
 Earl of H 
 
 A/y L JR D, 
 
 H E N You have contributed 
 ^ w fa Co much to eafe me of the 
 kjujfejrf cares of life. You have a 
 right to know, how far I have 
 been employed in the proper bujl- 
 nefs of it. 
 
 I wifh that I could have given 
 Your LORDSHIP an account of this 
 entirely to your fatisfaclion : You 
 would, perhaps, have had a fome- 
 what better than what you now re- 
 ceive, had I enjoy'd the fame de- 
 gree of health^ that I have of ~ leifure. 
 
 My intention, however, you will 
 
 find in my attempt \ and if there be 
 
 any merit in the one, I am fure that 
 
 A 2 you 
 
 1239840
 
 iv DEDICATION. 
 
 you will be difpofed to transfer 
 fome fliare of it to the other. 
 
 An addrefs to your LORDSHIP, on 
 this occafion, in the ufual ftyle, 
 would as ill fuit your Inclinations, 
 as it doth my Age and Profeffion. 
 We are both of us on the confines of 
 Eternity, and fhould therefore alike 
 make Truth our care that Truth, 
 which duly influencing our prac- 
 tice will be the fecurity of our Eter- 
 nal Happinefs. 
 
 Diftinguifhed by my obligations 
 to Your LORDSHIP, I would be fo 
 by my acknowledgment of them : 
 I would not be thought to have 
 only then owned them, when they 
 might have been augmented. What- 
 ever teftimony I gave of Refpecl: to 
 You, when in the higheft civil Of- 
 fice under your Prince, I would ex- 
 prefs the fame, when You have re- 
 ligned it ; and fhew as ftrong an 
 attachments theLordHARDwicKE, 
 
 as
 
 DEDICATION. v 
 
 as I ever did to the Lord Chancel- 
 lor. 
 
 Receive, therefore, a tribute of 
 thanks, the laft which I am ever 
 
 likely in this manner to pay. 
 
 But I am haftening to mygrave,with 
 a profpect, which muft be highly 
 pleafing to me ; unlefs diverted of all 
 juft regard to thofe, who furvive me. 
 
 From a KING, whofe folemn de- 
 claration it has been, that he hath 
 the caufe of Religion and Virtue at 
 heart, and whofe PraElice gains en- 
 tire credit to his Profejjjons^ whilft 
 he has fuch Counfellors as Your 
 LORDSHIP, how much have we to 
 hope ! 
 
 And if that Hope cannot but be 
 confirmed by Prayer^ every Lover 
 of his Country will moft earneftly 
 and devoutly pray That our great 
 expectations may be fully anfwer'd 
 That a Spring, which promifes 
 the faireft fruit, may have the ad- 
 vancing
 
 vi DEDICATION. 
 
 vancing year productive of it That 
 as experience has taught us the fad 
 confequences of ation y it may as 
 fully convince us ofthofe not to be 
 
 lefs dreaded ones of Ir religion - 
 
 That united as we are in the love 
 of our Sovereign, we may be fo in 
 what is equally necefiary to his, and 
 to our own, happinefs, in a juft con-* 
 
 cern for the progrefs of Virtue 
 
 in our care to extend the influence 
 of that true Piety ^ from which Vir- 
 tue hath its only fure fupport. 
 
 Supplicating thefe Blejjings for his 
 Country, may He leave the World, 
 who, whilft he continues in it, 
 muft, if he retains any fenfe of 
 Defert, be, 
 
 My LORD, 
 
 With the utmoft rcfpett and gratitude ^ 
 Your LORDSHIP'S moft obliged, 
 Mo/l bumble and obsdient Servant.
 
 [vii] 
 
 > ',f* 
 
 PM 
 
 P R E F A C E. 
 
 - f T^M -, -( .-^ ',f\- 1 
 
 the following pieces had the fame 
 recommendation from the manner, 
 in which the fubjecls of them are 
 treated, as they have from the importance 
 of thofe fubjecls, there would be no need 
 s of an Apology for their publication. 
 
 Nothing, certainly, ought to be more 
 the care'of every man, than to make him- 
 felf of fome ufe to his Species, If to be fo 
 but in a very fmall degree, is all the hope, 
 which an obfcure perfon muft entertain ; 
 that hope fhould not be defeated by his 
 negligence he mould do his bed his En- 
 deavours, how little fuccefs foever may at- 
 tend them, will not fail to recommend him 
 to the common Parent, whilft they cor- 
 refpond to his Abilities. 
 
 Mucht, I grant, has been already faid 
 dn all the points, on which I here treat : 
 But on every moral point much has been 
 faid j which, yet no one, I am perfuaded, 
 
 will
 
 vfii PREFACE. 
 will think a reafon, why he fhould decline 
 offering his thoughts to the public, on any 
 thing that concerns its Morals. The very 
 fame things, exprefs'd in a different flyle 
 or placed in a different light or enforced 
 in a manner more fuitable to the prevailing 
 tafte, compofe by far the greateft part of the 
 Books y which have been befl received. 
 
 It is the benefit of the Toung y which thefe 
 letters and tracts chiefly confult j furnifhing, 
 it is hoped, fome remarks not unworthy of 
 their attention ; and which, when engaging 
 it, will convince them, that when they 
 come to the ufe of Reafon^ they have fome- 
 tbing elfe to mind, befides the pleafures of 
 Scnfc. 
 
 It has been endeavour'd, that the advice 
 here offered may clearly appear founded on 
 the principles of right reafon : but left there 
 ihould be any failure either in the Writer's 
 argument, or in the Reader's apprehenfion 
 of its force ; care has been taken, to fliew 
 in the moft material articles, what fupport 
 they have from the authority of thofe ex- 
 cellent perfons, whofe wifdom their own, 
 and all fucceeding, times have concurred to 
 applaud. 
 
 The
 
 P R E F A C E. ix 
 
 The Letters on the Choice of Company 
 feem entitled to the firft place in thefe 
 Mifcellanies ; as on that choice the influ- 
 ence of any right obfervation in them 
 chiefly depends. 
 
 An attempt to perfuade the generality of 
 mankind to think for themfelves, might 
 truly be pronounced a very wild one : But 
 where I mould idly fay Think for your- 
 felf j I might properly fay ^ Be careful 
 whom you fufFer to think for you Do 
 not let thofe direct your reafon, who make 
 DO ufe, or the worft ufe, of their own. 
 
 Women, indeed, take Rakes for their huf- 
 bands, in hope, as they pretend, to reclaim 
 them j but none of our fex, whom I meet 
 with, allege fuch a plea for making them 
 their companions. The moft which 
 
 feems expected by any one virtuoufly edu- 
 cated, when he enters into a familiarity 
 with the Vitious, is, that his attachment 
 to their perfons will never induce him to 
 imitate what is wrong in their practice. 
 How ill grounded fuch an expectation is, 
 the following Letters will, if I miftake not, 
 fully prove. 
 
 a Some
 
 x PREFACE. 
 
 Some time after my writing them, I met 
 with Keyjlers Travels, the firft Volume of 
 which, p. 217, furnimes an inftance of 
 what may be feared even for the moft com- 
 mendably difpofed, and the moft wifely 
 inftructed, when they make a wrong choice 
 of the perfons with whom they aflbciate, 
 which very well defer ves to be here in- 
 ferted. 
 
 <f It is with the greateft pleafure I men- 
 " tion young Prince EUGENE de SoiJ/b?2s. 
 " All thofe qualifications and endowments 
 " that can procure love and efteem mine 
 " confpicuous in this young Prince, A 
 " graceful perfon, the moft engaging affa- 
 " bility and fweetnefs of temper, a quick 
 " underftanding, an heroic ardour, a ikill 
 " in the Sciences and other parts of polite 
 " literature, which is the more extraordi- 
 " nary in a Prince of fifteen years of age, 
 <s juftify the exalted hopes conceived of 
 " him. He (hews a ftrong inclination to a 
 " military life, and is already inuring him- 
 :c felf to it, fo that commonly a bare board 
 
 " ferves him for a pillow. The 
 
 " King has taken the greateft care of his 
 *' education, and fuffer'd him to be igno- 
 
 " rant
 
 PREFACE. xi 
 
 <f rant of no branch of knowledge which 
 <c may contribute to his future advance- 
 " ment. To keep him out of the way of 
 " public diverfions and other diflipations, 
 ". he has hitherto refided at a diftance from 
 " Court, having apartments at the Riding 
 c< Academy : there he gives himfelf up to 
 cc the fludy of the Sciences with fuch ap- 
 ' plication and intenfenefs, that he fcarce 
 c came to Court once in a week, nor ap- 
 
 <c peared at any public diverfions. 
 
 " The apartments of the Prince and 
 
 " his excellent Tutor are full of a philofo- 
 cc phical apparatus and mathematical in- 
 " ftruments; the conftrudion and ufe of 
 f which the Prince has gained a perfect 
 " knowledge of, as it were by way of di- 
 (t verfion. Nothing gives him greater fa- 
 " tisfadtion than to explain every thing to 
 ft ftrangers of curiofity, who happen to 
 
 " vifit him. The young 
 
 cc Prince allows himfelf no other amiife- 
 <c ments, but fuch as improve, as well as 
 *' divert, the mind j and is as fond of ma- 
 ct thematical problems and philofophical 
 " experiments, as too many young Gentle- 
 " men are of fuch diverfions as tend to 
 a 2 " alienate
 
 xii PREFACE. 
 
 " alienate their minds from any intenfe ap- 
 <c plication, and render them unable to 
 " bear the leaft hardship." 
 
 How great things were to be expected 
 from a Prince of fuch endowments fo 
 difpofed to the worthieft purfuits fo clofe- 
 ly applying himfelf to them making fo 
 happy a progrefs in them ! What could 
 not but be expelled from him, when he 
 was both under the care of a Nobleman 
 diftinguifhed as much by his Science as his 
 Station, and under the inftruction of an 
 Ecclefiaftic, an excellent Scholar and a very 
 wife Man ! 
 
 Alas ! every pleafing expectation form'd 
 of him proved in the event vain. Bad ex- 
 amples found him unable to withftand 
 them. When the Vitious were his compa- 
 nions^ their Manners were no longer his 
 abhorrence. By affociating with them, he 
 foon became as bad as the world of them. 
 The Letter which I have quoted, fo much 
 commending this Prince, appears to be 
 written about the end of the year 1729: 
 He ferved in the campaign on the Rhine in 
 1734, was then the reverfe of what Keyjler 
 
 repre-
 
 PREPACK xiii 
 
 reprefents him loft his virtue, and with it 
 his life. 
 
 I have given the fecond place in this 
 collection to the Tract on Intemperance in 
 Rating -, as the reproach, which we have 
 long fince incurred with refpect to the 
 quantity of our food, may now receive a 
 fad addition from the extravagant expence 
 which we are at, in the kinds' of it. 
 
 The price, formerly, of an elegant din- 
 ner is now that of a DefTert What would 
 provide half a dozen plain difhes, we now 
 fpend in rendering more palatable a fingle 
 
 one. The wages of a foreign Cook, 
 
 whofe naftinefs fhould as much difguft, as 
 his poifonods fkill terrify, us, are thofe of 
 five or fix Servants of our own country, 
 whom we might ufefully employ. 
 
 ' You wonder, fays a Roman Writer about 
 the time of the height of the Roman luxu- 
 ry, at the number of the Difeafes among 
 us: confider the number of our Cooks. 
 The increafe of the former was the necef- 
 fary confequence of an encouragement that 
 increafed the latter. The principal bufi- 
 nefs of Cookery, as an Art, is, to deceive 
 
 a 3 us 
 
 <j
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 us in fuch a manner, as will make it pleaf- 
 
 ing to us to deftroy ourfelves. Its bufi- 
 
 nefs is to counteract Nature to invite us to 
 cat when we are not hungry to create an 
 appetite which it is fafeft for us to be with- 
 ou t to give us that relifli of our food, 
 which we mould only feek from exercife or 
 abftinence' to render us unmindful how 
 abundantly our natural wants have been al- 
 ready fupplied to make even a frefh meal 
 agreeable to us, when our VefTels are yet 
 loaded with the preceding. 
 
 In confidering how much our health fuf- 
 fers by this fpecies of Intemperance, I may 
 appear to have meddled with the bufmefs 
 of a Profeflion, in which I cannot but be 
 unlkilled. My plea here muft be That 
 as every Phyfician will think it reafonable 
 to inform himfelf, what errors in Religion 
 may endanger his happinefs in a future 
 flate; fo every Ecclefiaftic, and, indeed, 
 every man, may fairly be allowed to en- 
 quire, what errors in Diet may either mort- 
 en the continuance of his prefent exigence, 
 or lefTen its comforts ; may occafion either 
 a fpeedy death, or a painful life.
 
 PREFACE, xv 
 
 It is highly fitting, that he, whofe en- 
 quiry it has for many years been, what 
 fymptoms attend the feveral kinds of dif- 
 eafes to which the human body is fubjecl:, 
 and what methods of treating them have 
 been mod fuccefsfully purfued, fhould be 
 thought the bed qualified to remove them : 
 But it is not lefs fitting, that All who are 
 fubjecT: to thofe diforders mould know 
 how they are moft likely to be efcaped 
 what neglect of ourfelves will bring the 
 moft diftreffing of them upon us, and ren- 
 der the ikilfulleft of his Profeffion unable 
 to relieve us. 
 
 An ingenious Gentleman of the Faculty 
 giving the character of a perfon whom he 
 did not think devout, though the writer of 
 a Book of Devotion, faid, That he bad put 
 all his Devotion into his Book. 
 
 They who fee the feeble frame, which I 
 with fo much difficulty fupport, may be 
 tempted to judge of my Temper ance y as this 
 Gentleman did of his neighbour s Devotion j 
 or elfe to think Temperance not very wife- 
 ly prefcribed by one, whom it has fo little 
 benefited. 
 
 a 4 But
 
 xvi PREFACE. 
 
 But were it to be qonfldered, for hciw 
 many years a conftitution has been upheld, 
 which feemed originally unable to with- 
 fland the very flighteft mock, there would 
 not appear any ground to treat the infirmi- 
 ties of a perfon of fuch an advanced age, 
 as proofs, either, that he did pot fpeak in 
 character, when he recommended Temperance, 
 or fo .much difcredited it, that he fhould 
 notiexpqct to make Converts to it, by what 
 he could fay in its recommendation. 
 
 Of the pieces in this fmall collection, 
 that on Drinking to excefs will, probably, 
 be look'd upon as the leaft feafonable. 
 
 But, Since it is chiefly the Difcounte- 
 nance fhewn this Vice, fome years paft, by 
 thofe in the higheft pofts among us, which 
 
 has been its Reftraint . Since we may 
 
 juftly think the forbearance of it to be in 
 Many rather from a compliance with Fa- 
 fhion, than from a regard to Duty rather 
 from their feeing that the Great do not 
 praftife it, than from their knowing the 
 inducements which All have to deteft it r 
 Since there is not, perhaps, even now any 
 part of the Kingdom, in which fome are 
 
 not
 
 PREFACE. xvii 
 
 pot to be found, who are much lefs fober 
 than their good fenfe ought to make them, 
 and who do not too frequently fubjeft them- 
 felves to as Vile a transformation, as the C/>- 
 cean cup could produce Since, further, 
 though it may be cuftomary with very few 
 of any Rank to afFedt, what Sir J, More 
 called the praife of a Brewer's Horfe, that 
 of bearing a great quantity of liquor j yet 
 as various forts of wines are not lefs eiTen- 
 tial to an elegant table, than a variety of 
 food ; and thefure ejjeft of them both, is, 
 to make us unmindful when we have 
 
 reached the bounds of Temperance- 
 
 Since, I fay, this is the prefent ftate of the 
 Sobriety of our Gentry, I cannot think it 
 an ufelefs employment, to fearch after thofe 
 arguments, which may be likelieft to con- 
 vince the younger part of them, how much 
 it was for their Anceftors praife, that they 
 wanted not the inflammatory draught to 
 raife either their courage or their fpirits, 
 either to promote their mirth or alleviate 
 their fatigue ; and how amiable All will 
 appear, of whom- this is truly the cha- 
 rader.
 
 XV1U 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Agefihus, when afk'd What die Lace- 
 damoniam had gained by the Laws of Ly- 
 curgus ? anfwer'd, A Contempt of Pleafure. 
 r A Leflbn, the ufefulnefs of which feems 
 not likely to be learn 'd by us, 'til it will be 
 too late, I fear, to profit by being taught 
 it 'til we experience the Evils confequent 
 on Pleafure fo eagerly purfued. 
 
 The EiTay upon this fubject has been 
 drawn up three times the number of years 
 for which we are advifed to confine our 
 writings to our clofets; and it is now pub- 
 limed, not, indeed, with the . hope that it 
 will induce Any to divert their attention 
 from the Sirens Song which has already en- 
 gaged it; but from an apprehenfion, that it 
 may contribute to give fome few a juft 
 fenfe of the Danger, to which they have not 
 yet expofed themfelves. Alterations ma- 
 ny I would have made in it, could they 
 have been Amendments j but Cupidum 
 Vires deficiunt ! 
 
 My Decay is now fuch, that it is with 
 what I write as with what I act ; I fee in 
 it the faults, which I know not how to a- 
 mend. 
 
 Church-
 
 PREFACE. xix 
 
 Churchmen and Old men are under thefe 
 great difadvantages, when they fpeak of life 
 as given us for a quite different purpofe, 
 than to pafs it in fchemes of Mirth and 
 Diverfion, that the One are thought only 
 to fuit their language to their Profeflion, 
 and the Other to their Weaknefs. But, 
 whatever can be objected to the advice of 
 fuch perfons whatever can be faid to leffen 
 its weight ; they, certainly, in the prefent 
 cafe, fpeak but the very fame language with 
 thofe, to whom no exception of a like na- 
 ture can be made whofe fentiments have 
 a general deference paid them. 
 
 It would be eafy to produce Poets, Hifto- 
 rians, Philofophers, the ableft Generals, the 
 wifeftStatefmen,the moft renowned Princes 
 concurring in their Diffuafives from the fe- 
 veral gratifications, on which our People of 
 Faihion are fo intent from acting, as if we - 
 were born only to confume the produce of 
 the earth, and to give our days as much / 
 Mirth and Amufement as fancy and folly 
 can afford them. 
 
 I don't know any topic, on which more 
 numerous paffages might be collected from 
 
 the
 
 
 xx P R E F A C E: 
 
 the beft antient writers, than on Pleajure 
 on the unbecoming part that we act in 
 abandoning ourfelves to it. 
 
 Even in the Poet, who exprefles fo much 
 complaifance towards a Lydia, a Cbloe, a 
 Phyllis i a Glycera^ &c. and who, by the 
 praifes he gives, mews with what relim he 
 drank, Chian, Lefbian, Falernian, Ccecuban, 
 &c. wine, we meet with Initructions, to 
 which if the Men of Fortune among us 
 would attend, the employment of their 
 time would be the very reverfe of what we 
 every where at prefent fee it. 
 
 " What is right and becoming engroiTes 
 " his fearch. He is uneafy, when he lofes 
 <c the time which he might have employ'd 
 *' in adlions alike advantageous to the Poor 
 " and the Rich, and the neglect of which 
 c< is alike hurtful to the Young and to the 
 Old. 
 
 " He confiders Homer > as propofing, in 
 (< UlyJ/es an excellent pattern of wifdom 
 " and virtue 5 as inviting us, by fuch an 
 " example, to refift thofe pleafures, in 
 " which we cannot indulge ourfelves, but 
 <( we quit our Rank in the Creation, and 
 " fink into that of Beafts. ' 
 
 " He
 
 PREFACE. xxi 
 
 " He would have us (hake off Sloth 
 " apply ourfelves before the day breaks to 
 tl what is worthy of us, and will be of 
 " real ufe to us, fure that, if we fail here- 
 " in, great difquiet will be the confequence. 
 " His language is Defpife pleafure Con- 
 " fider it as dearly bought, when your cafe 
 
 " will be its purchafe. Dare to be wife. 
 
 {< To delay acting rightly is as abfurd, 
 
 <e as it would be to Hop at the River we 
 11 are to pafs, 'till the water is run off, 
 <c which will continue running to remotefl 
 * e ages. 
 
 " He glories in the Parent, whofe efpe- 
 cc cial care it had been to preferve his Vir- 
 <c tue who had kept him from many 
 <c faults ; and whofe advice though he has, 
 c< in fome inftances, neglected to follow, 
 " he yet hopes that fuch failure will, at 
 " length, be in no fmall degree corrected. 
 " He is not wanting tohimfelf, either when 
 u taking his walk, or retired to his cham- 
 
 " ber He then confiders, how it will be 
 
 " right for him to proceed, what courfe it 
 
 " will be moft for his benefit to take 
 
 " He then turns his thoughts on the 
 " mifionduff of this or that perfon of his 
 
 "ac-
 
 
 xxii PREFACE. 
 
 " acquaintance, and afks himfelf, how im- 
 
 " prudent he mould be, if he were to aft 
 
 <{ in the fame manner ? He regards it as 
 
 " wrong, to think any Happy, but the wife 
 
 " and virtuous." &c. &c. &c. 
 
 The Letter on Puttie Worfoip was writ- 
 ten under very great concern from an ac- 
 count of the indecent neglect of it, by a 
 Gentleman, whom his friends confidered as 
 likely to be a bleffing to his Country: Such, 
 
 the Poet's excellent Inftruclors Longa 
 
 <ztas, liber Amicus> Con/ilium proprium> may 
 yet make him; Such, I am perfuaded, he 
 will be, When it is not any man's practice, 
 but his own Reafon that guides him When 
 he becomes convinced, that there are None, 
 whofe examples it will be more abfurd and 
 dangerous to follow, than thofe of his Ac- 
 quaintance, either who rank themfelves a- 
 mong the Learned, or who are called Great. 
 In order to counteract the force of thefe, 
 it was judged expedient to (hew, what dif- 
 ferent Patterns former ages afford in the 
 perfons moft celebrated for their Know- 
 ledge or their Rank what fentiments of 
 Piety they have left us- the part they took 
 
 in
 
 PREFACE. xxiii 
 in fupporting a reverence of the Deity, by 
 joining in public acts of it. 
 
 Thefe particulars will, I truft, appear 
 fully {hewn. 
 
 I cannot, indeed, without the utmoft in- 
 dignation behold a Rabble of Pretenders to 
 Science and Honour making their infamy 
 their boaft taking pains to publiih, how far 
 they have diverted themfelves of thofe aw- 
 ful ientiments of the Supreme Being, which 
 have been the mod carefully expreffed by 
 the worthiefl of mankind by men, with 
 whofe Gbtrtttfers it is a reproach for one 
 of a liberal education to be unacquainted, 
 though the world has for fo many Centu- 
 ries been deprived of their Perfons whom, 
 when we neglect to imitate, we do not fail 
 to applaud-, and of whofe merit not to mew 
 efteem> would be thought a clear proof, how 
 ill we were entitled to it. The large addi- 
 tion, that might be made to what will occur 
 in its proper place on their religious fenti- 
 ments, cannot be unknown to any, who are 
 at all converfant with the writings of the 
 Antients. 
 
 A very
 
 P R E F A C 
 
 A very few obfervations on this head it 
 may not be improper to infert here. 
 
 Of the Seven Perfons anciently diftin- 
 guifhed by the title of Wife, and feveral of 
 whofe maxims are tranfmitted to us, we 
 have, from Six, leflbns of Piety ; fuch as 
 <c Honour, Wormip, the Gods Whatever 
 Good you do, afcribe it to the Gods Af- 
 fert every where their existence Think 
 
 that they fee all things It is fo far from 
 
 being poffible to conceal from them the 111 
 you do, that you cannot conceal from them 
 
 your very thought of doing it Cultivate 
 
 Piety." 
 
 Nor was this the language of fpeculativc 
 men. There is only one of thofe here re- 
 ferred to, who came under the denomina- 
 tion of a Philofopher ; and furely no man 
 ever better deferved it : The wifdom fo con- 
 liderable in the reft was difcovered in their 
 civil prudence, in their political capacity j 
 it was the wifdom of the Statefman, or 
 Prince, or Legiflator. 
 
 The doctrine of Pythagoras was, That 
 as God is Lord of all things, we mould ap- 
 ply to him for whatever is good for us, and 
 
 be
 
 PREFACE. xxv 
 
 be careful to do the things, with which he 
 will be pleafed. 
 
 The life of Socrates is faid to have been 
 a life of Prayer. 
 
 As it has been obferved of the writings 
 of P/ato, that they throughout tend to 
 give us worthy conceptions of the Deity ; 
 it may be as truly remarked of Xenopbon^ 
 that he defcribes his Hero, Cyrus, as under 
 the ftrongeft influence of the Principles of 
 Religion. He even introduces him appeal- 
 ing to his Soldiers, as knowing^ < that in all 
 " his undertakings, whether of lefs or 
 cc greater moment, his firft care was, to 
 ' addrefs himfelf to Heaven." 
 
 Such is the language that an Officer , alike 
 famous for his literary and military accom- 
 plifhments, puts into the mouth of one, 
 whom he propofes as a pattern to the Great 
 as a model, on which the Prince ought to 
 be formed, who would have his Worth fuit 
 his Station. 
 
 I muft not forget, that I am writing a 
 Preface, and (hall therefore only add what 
 
 a Greek writer fays of the Romans That 
 
 their affairs were kept in fuch order, by their 
 b great
 
 xxvi PREFACE. 
 
 great care for Religion. POLYB. Lib. VI, 
 
 P- 497- 
 
 Moft ardently is it my wifh, that this 
 may one day be truly faid of my Country- 
 men ! But, alas, how unpromifing of fuch 
 an event are fome prefent appearances ! 
 
 The large military force, which the reft- 
 lefs ambition of a powerful neighbour ob- 
 liges us to have always in readinefs for our 
 defence, muft, necefTarily, in the manner 
 in which it is now difpoied of, be utterly 
 ruinous of our morals. 
 
 A late able Writer thus exprefles himfelf 
 " What I lament is, to fee the fenti- 
 <c ments of the Nation fo amazingly re- 
 " conciled to the profpecl of having a far 
 " more numerous body of regular Troops 
 " kept up, after the Peace, than any true 
 " Lover of his Country,, in former times, 
 " thought could be allowed, without en- 
 " dangering the Conftitution. Nay, fo un- 
 " accountably fond are we become of ths 
 " military Plan, that the eredtion of Bar- 
 " racks, which twenty years ago would 
 " have ruined any Minifter, who mould 
 " have ventured to propofe it^ may be pro- 
 
 (t pofed
 
 PREFACE, xxvii 
 
 " pofed fafely by our Minifters now-a-days, 
 
 ** and, upon trial, be found to be a fa- 
 
 *' vourite meafure with our Patriots, and 
 
 " with the Public in general." 
 
 I am by no means qualified to ipeak to 
 the expediency of keeping up, even in the 
 time of Peace, a far more numerous body of 
 regular Troops than what a Lover .of bis Coun- 
 try 'would formerly have thought dangerous to 
 the ConJIitution. But of this I am certain, 
 that no Lover of his country can have h:s 
 refidence, where Soldiers are quartered, 
 without wifhing them at fome diftance from 
 it. Oaths he woald hear as familiar to their 
 mouths, as any of the terms of ordinary 
 difcourfe The fuccefs of lewd Intrigues 
 he would find to be the cuflomary topic of 
 Converfation He would know, that al- 
 lowance is given to be abfent from all pub- 
 lic wormip, on one part of the Lord's day, 
 and he would perceive a call to it on the 
 other either very carelefsly obferved, or 
 wholly neglected. 
 
 When there has not been, in a parilh 
 
 abounding in public houfes, a Jingle one, I 
 
 think, in which a Soldier was not quarter'd, 
 
 b 2 I have
 
 xxviii PREFACE. 
 
 I have not feen a Soldier, on a Sunday, at 
 
 Church. 
 
 I have been an eye-witnefs of the men 
 entering the Church at one Door, and in- 
 flantly going out of it at another. 
 
 Nor is it to be expected, but that the 
 Licentioufnefs of the Soldiers mould exceed 
 in other towns, what it is in that, in which 
 I am relident ; as here any very great irre- 
 gularity would be fo likely to come to the 
 notice, and have the reproof, of a General 
 Officer, of whofe moft amiable manners I 
 always with great pleafure fpeak. 
 
 Suffice it here to fay, he has as many 
 friends as neighbours : All Sects and Par- 
 ties he unites in the efteem of him ; and 
 would unite the whole Nation in an appro- 
 bation of the largeft military force, even in 
 time of Peace, were He to be imitated by 
 thofe, who compofed it. 
 
 I am particularly concerned thus to men- 
 tion this worthy Nobleman ; as he, when 
 reprefentation has been made to him of the 
 Soldiers non-attendance on the public wor- 
 fhip, has moft readily interpofed, and by 
 his interpofition removed the caufe of com- 
 plaint. 
 
 But,
 
 PREFACE. xxix 
 
 But, really, it is not more dangerous to 
 the Morals of Others, that the Soldiery 
 fhould be difpofed of as they now are, than 
 it is to their Own. 
 
 The Idlenefs, in which they live the 
 'weak women, to whom they get fuch eafy 
 accefs the very bad women, often under the 
 fame roof with them the intoxicating li- 
 quor, fold at a low price, in every houfe, in 
 which they are lodged the artifices, by 
 which their Hoft can fo conveniently tempt 
 them to a debauch with it the fecrecy, 
 with which their guilt can be attended, ren- 
 .der it next to impoffible, that grofs immo- 
 rality mould not prevail among them. 
 
 The apprehenfion, that, by feparating the 
 Soldiers from their fellow- fubjects, our li- 
 berty would be endanger'd, is juft as rea- 
 fonable, as a Phyfician's fear to prefcribe 
 bleeding .in a high inflammatory fever, left 
 a tendon mould be injured. In both cafes, 
 the greateft immediate hurt is fuftained, and 
 a danger is apprehended, which is quite re- 
 mote which any degree of care would 
 prevent, and which is not to be fuppofed, 
 when a fure evil of fuch a magnitude is to 
 be obviated. 
 
 The
 
 xxx P R E'> F A' C E. 
 
 The lofs of Liberty is to be feared from 
 nothing fo much, as from the lofs of Virtue 
 ^-is, indeed, the unavoidable confequence 
 of it. Slaves to their own Paffions will be 
 
 readily fuch to their Prince's will They 
 
 are to he bought by any, who will come up 
 to their Price. When we make no fcruple 
 of doing the worft affions to gratify our lujls ; 
 it is not to be thought that we fhould fcru- 
 ple to obey the moft unjuft command of Him, 
 who will fupply us with the means of gra- 
 tifying them. 
 
 Common Soldiers in every State have the 
 leafl: {hare of the liberty enjoy 'd in it, and 
 daily feel that they have fo : they are only 
 to be made good Citizens, by being made 
 good Men. Let no other fenfe of Duty be 
 inculcated on them, than that towards their 
 Officers, (and with wfiat care and zeal is 
 this continually inculcated !) what- muft be 
 the Confequence, but their regarding no 
 WORD, except that of COMMAND ? This 
 will be thought to licenfe any action, how 
 contrary foever to the Word of God, or to 
 the Voice of Reafon, and howfoever mif- 
 chievous to the Peace of the Nation, or 
 ruinous to its Liberty. 
 
 I know
 
 PREFACE, xxxi 
 
 I know not what can be more obvious 
 than the Danger, in which we mould be 
 from 20,000 able-bodied Men, quarter'd 
 among us well armed well difciplined 
 but without property or virtue with no 
 check on their conferences with nothing 
 to lofe but a life, which for fix-pence a day 
 they frequently hazard. 
 
 I would feparate the foldiers from their 
 fellow-citizens, not that they might be ali- 
 enated from them, or be induced to think, 
 that they have not a common Intereft with 
 them ; but that they might be better fitted 
 to ferve them that they might be made 
 more happy themfelves, and more ufeful to 
 others that their health and their morals 
 might be better preferved that they might 
 have fewer temptations to vice, or, if not 
 to be hindered from contracting Guilt, 
 might be reftrained from fpreading it. 
 
 I have been for fo many years an eye- 
 witnefs of the extreme hurt, done by the 
 prefent method of billeting Soldiers, that I 
 cannot but moft earneftly wim myfelf able 
 to reprefent this evil ki fueh a manner, ?.s 
 might give thofe a juft fenfe of it, who 
 have the power to remedy it. 
 
 The
 
 xxxn 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The laft piece in this collection is a Let- 
 ter, written towards the end of the year 
 1737, or in the beginning of 1738, but 
 never fent to the honourable perfon, for 
 whom it was intended -, and I have lately 
 feen fuch proofs given by him of his Abili- 
 ties, very little after the time when I was 
 thus addreffing myfelf to him, as have 
 fully convinced me, how prudent a ftep I 
 took in fuppreffing Advice to one, from 
 whom I might, with fo much Advantage, 
 have received it. 
 
 Should I be afked, why that, which has 
 been fo long fupprefled, is now publifhed ; 
 I can truly fay, becaufe there were thofe, 
 whofe opinion it was, that what I thought 
 needlefs to a particular perfon, might be of 
 ufe to others. And where there is a pro- 
 fpect of being able, in any injlance, to ferve 
 the caufe of Religion and Virtue, I hope, 
 that it will always appear to me a fufficient 
 inducement not to decline the attempt. 
 
 LET-
 
 LETTERS 
 
 O N T H E 
 
 CHOICE of COMPANY, 
 
 tlftTAt KAKOtf AMft 
 
 Ou TWTTOT' ypuTtiffet, ytvu<rx.uv OTI 
 
 To/8TO< *StV OlfTTif nftt&l %tJVOV. 
 
 Si quis malorura pafcitur confortio, 
 Inquirere ultra parco, corapertum hoc habens, 
 Talem efle quemque quali amicitia utitur. 
 
 EURIP.
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 S I R, , 
 
 eS you are now no longer under the 
 eye of either a parent, or a go- 
 vernor, but wholly at liberty to 
 act according to your own inclinations ; 
 your friends cannot be without their fears, 
 on your account , they cannot but have 
 fome uneafy apprehensions, left the very 
 bad men, with whom you may converfe, 
 mould be able to efface thofe principles, 
 which fo much care was taken at firft to 
 imprint, and has been fince to preferve, in 
 you. 
 
 The intimacy, in which I have, for 
 
 many years, lived with your family, fuf- 
 
 fers me not to be otherwife than a fharer 
 
 of their concern, on this occafion - y and' 
 
 B 2 you
 
 4 On the Choice of Company. 
 
 you will permit me, as fuch, to lay before 
 you thofe confiderations, which, while they 
 {hew you your danger, and excite your 
 caution, may not be without their ufe in 
 promoting your fafety. 
 
 That it mould be the endeavour of our 
 parents, to give us juft apprehenfions of 
 things, as foon as we are capable of re- 
 ceiving them; and, in our earlier years, 
 to flock our minds with ufeful truths to 
 accuftom us to the ufe of our reafon, the 
 reftraint of our appetites, and the govern- 
 ment of our paffions, is a point, on which, 
 I believe, all are agreed, whole opinions 
 about it you would think of any confe- 
 quence. 
 
 * From a neglect in thefe particulars, you 
 fee fo many of one fex, as much Girls at 
 
 * Natura tenaciffimi fumus eorum quae rudibas annis 
 percipimus ; ut fapor, quo nova imbuas, durat ; nee lana- 
 rum colores, quibus fipiplex ille candor mutatus eft, clui 
 poffimt. QUJNCTIL. Lib. I. 
 
 K9ox* avtifytti/vr^ffnittt, & Ct j n univerfum malorum 
 confuetudine prchibendi funt pileri : nam affricatw illis all- 
 quid inde vitii. Atque hoc etiam Pythagoras monuit fuis 
 
 praeceptorum involucris No* gujla quibus nigra efl 
 
 cauda. Hoc fignificat, non confuefcendum cum hominibus 
 ob malitiam nigris. PLUT. de lib. Ed. 
 
 Sixty,
 
 On the Choice of Coriipany. 5 
 
 Sixty, as they were at Sixteen their fol- 
 lies only varied their purfuits, though dif- 
 ferently, yet equally, trifling ; and you 
 thence, likewife, find near as many of the 
 other fex, Boys in their advanced years as 
 fond of feathers and toys in their riper age, 
 as they were in their childhood living as 
 little to any of the purpofes of Reafonj 
 when it has gained its full ftrength, as they 
 did when it was weakeft. a And, indcedj 
 from the fame fource all thofe vices pro- 
 ceed, which moft difturb and diftrefs the 
 world* 
 
 When no pains are taken to correct our 
 bad inclinations^ before they become con- 
 firmed and fixed in us ; they acquire, at 
 length, that power over us, from which 
 we have the worft to fear We give way to 
 them in the inftances where we fee plaineft, 
 how grievoufly we muft fuffer by our com- 
 pliance we know not how to refifi them t 
 notwithstanding the obvious ruin which 
 
 a Non pueritia in nobis, fed, qiiod eft gravius, puerili- 
 fas remanet : Et hoc quidem pejus eft, quod au&oritatem 
 habemus fenum, vitia, puerorum ; nee puerorum tantnm, 
 fed infantium. SEN, Epift. 
 
 B 3 will
 
 6 On the Choice of Company. 
 
 will be the confequence of our yielding to 
 
 them. 
 
 I don't fay, that a right education will be 
 as beneficial, as a wrong one is hurtful : the 
 very befl may be difappointed of its proper 
 
 effeds. 
 
 Though the tree you fet be put into an 
 excellent foil, and trained and pruned by 
 the fkilfulleft hand} you are not, however, 
 fure of its thriving : Vermin may deftroy 
 all your hopes from it. 
 
 When the utmoft care has been taken to 
 fend a young man into the world well 
 principled, and fully apprifed of the reafon- 
 ablenefs of a religious and virtuous life ~, 
 he is, yet, far from being temptation proof 
 he even then may fall, may fall into 
 the worft both of principles and practices a 5 
 and he is very likely to do fo, in the place 
 
 a Sumuntur a converfantibus mores. Et ut qusdam ad 
 contaftus corporis vitia tranliliunt, ita animus mala fua 
 proximis tradir. JEbriofus conviftores in amorem vini 
 traxit. Impudicorum coetus fortem quoque & filicium vi- 
 
 rum emolliit. Eadem, ex diverfo, ratio virtutum eft, 
 
 ut omne, quod fecum habent, mitigent. Nee tam valetu- 
 dini profuit utilis regio & falub.rius ccelum, quam animis 
 parum firmis in turba meliorum verfari. Qua? res quantum 
 
 where
 
 On the Choice of Company. 7 
 
 where you are, if he will aflbciate with 
 thofe who fpeak as freely as they aft ; and 
 who feem to think, that their underftand- 
 ing would be lefs advantageoufly fhewn, 
 were they not to ufe it in defence of their 
 vices. 
 
 That we may be known by our compa- 
 ny, is a truth become proverbial. * The 
 ends we have to ferve may, indeed, occa- 
 fion us to be often with the perfons, whom 
 we by no means refemble : or, the place, 
 in which we are fettled, keeping us at a 
 great diftance from others, if we will con- 
 verfe at all, it mufl be with fome, whofe 
 manners we leaft approve. But when we 
 have our choice when no valuable intereft 
 is promoted by aflbciating with the cor- 
 rupt when, if we like the company of 
 
 pofiit, intelliges, fi videris feras quoque convidlu noftri 
 manfuefcere ; nallique immani beftije vim fuam permanere, 
 fi hominis contubernium diu paiTa eft. Retunditur omnis 
 afperitas, paulatimque inter placida dedifcitur. SEN. de 
 Ira, Lib. III. cap. vii. 
 
 a >uinlilian having mentioned fome proverbial expref- 
 fions, and among others this Pares cum paribus facillime 
 (or, as fome MSS. maxime) congregantur, adds Neque 
 enim duraflent haec in sternum, niii iiera omnibus itidcren- 
 tur. Lib. V. 
 
 B 4 the
 
 8 On the Choke of Company. 
 
 the wife and confiderate, we may have it ; 
 that we then court the one, and fhun the 
 other, feems as full a proof, as we can well 
 give, that, if we avoid vice, it is not from 
 the fenfe we have of the amiablenefs of 
 virtue. 
 
 Had I a large collection of books, and 
 never looked into any that treated on 
 grave and ufeful fubjefts, that would con- 
 tribute to make me wifer or better ; but 
 took thofe frequently, and thofe only, into 
 my hands, that would raife my laughter, 
 or that would merely amufe me, or that 
 would give me loofe and impure ideas, or 
 that inculcated atheifticai or fceptical no- 
 tions, or that were filled with fcurrility and 
 invective, and therefore could only ferve to 
 gratify my fpleen and ill-nature; they, 
 who knew this to be my practice, muft, 
 certainly, form a very unfavourable opi- 
 nion of my capacity, or of my morals/ If 
 nature had given me a good undemanding, 
 and much of my time pafled in reading; 
 were I 'to read nothing but what was tri- 
 
 * Studio mores convenienter eunt. 
 
 OVID. 
 
 fling,
 
 On the Choke of Company. 9 
 fling, it would fpoil that underftanding, it 
 would make me a Trifler: And though 
 formed with commendable difpofitions, or 
 with none very blameable ; yet if my fa- 
 vourite authors were-^^ as encouraged 
 me to make the moffc of the prefent hour, 
 not to look beyond zY, to tafte every plea- 
 fure that offered itfelf, to forego no ad- 
 vantage, that I could obtain -fitch as gave 
 vice nothing to fear, nor virtue any thing 
 to hope, in a future ftate ; you would not, 
 I am fure, pronounce otherwife of thofe 
 writers, than that they would hurt my na^- 
 tural difpofition, and carry me lengths of 
 guilt , which I mould not have gone, with- 
 out this encouragement to it. 
 
 Nor can it be allowed, that reading 
 wrong things would thus affedt me r but it 
 muft be admitted, that hearing them would 
 not do it lefs. * Both fall under the head 
 of Converfation j we fitly apply that term 
 
 a T <" **x<*j &c. Vitiis, multx panes corporis, mul- 
 taque loca aditum fpatiumque per fe ad animam penetrao- 
 di praebent. Unica virtuti, qua adolefcentes irripiat, an- 
 fa aures funt, fiquidem purs fmt, & jam inde ab initio 
 adulatoriarum corruptelarum vacuse, intadlzque a pravis 
 fermonibus ferventur. Icaque Xenocraies aurium muni- 
 
 i 
 
 alike
 
 io On the Choice of Company. 
 ajike to both ; and we may be faid, with 
 equal propriety, to converfe with books, 
 and to converfe with men. The impref- 
 fion, indeed, made on us by what we 
 hear, is, ufually, much ftoronger than 
 that received by us from what we read. 
 That which pafles in our ufual inter- 
 courfe is liftened to, without fatiguing 
 us : Each, then, taking his turn in fpeak- 
 ing, our attention is kept awake: We mind 
 throughout what is faid, while we are at 
 liberty to exprefs our own fentiments of it, 
 to confirm it, or to improve upon it, or to 
 object to it, or to hear any part of it re- 
 peated, or to afk what queftions we pleafe 
 concerning it. 
 
 Difcourfe is an application to our eyes, 
 as well as ears; and the one organ is here 
 fo far affiftant to the other, that it greatly 
 increafes the force of what is tranfmitted 
 to our minds by it. The air and action of 
 the fpeaker gives no fmall importance to 
 
 tnenta pueris potius quam athletis applicari jubebat. PLUT. 
 de Auditlone. 
 
 T* ttrn a* fjtH veLrt) &f. Aures tuas ne cuivis fermoni 
 przebe ; malus eiiim fermo malorum operum dux eft. 
 
 EPICHARM. apud STOB. 278. 
 
 his
 
 On the Choice of Company. i 1 
 his words : the very tone of his voice adds 
 weight to his reafoning ; and occafions that 
 to be attended to throughout, which, had 
 it come to us from the pen or the prefs, 
 we mould have been afleep, before we had 
 read half of it. 
 
 That bad companions will make us as 
 bad as themfelves, I don't affirm. When 
 we are not kept from their vices by our 
 principles, we may be fo by our conftitu- 
 tion j we may be lefs profligate than they 
 are, by being more cowardly : But what I 
 advance as certain is, That we cannot be 
 fafe among them that they will, in fome 
 degree, and may in a very great one, hurt 
 our morals. You may not, perhaps, be 
 unwilling to have a diflindl view of the 
 reafons, upon which I affert this. 
 
 I will enter upon them in my next. 
 
 I was going to write Adieu, when it 
 came into my thoughts, that though you 
 may not be a ftranger to the much cenfured 
 doctrine of our countryman Pe/agiusa. 
 ftranger to his having denied Original Sin ; 
 you may, perhaps, have never heard how 
 
 he
 
 12 On the Choice of Company. 
 he accounted for the depravity, fo manifefl 
 in the whole of our race He afcribed it 
 to Imitation. Had he faid, that Imitation 
 makes fome of us very bad, and moft 
 of us worfe than we otherwife fhould have 
 been ; I think he would not have pafled 
 for an Heretic. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER
 
 On tie Choice of Company. 1 3 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 IPromifed you, that you fhould have 
 the reafons, why I think that there is 
 great danger of your being hurt by vitious 
 acquaintance. The firft thing I have here 
 to propofe to your confideration is, what I 
 juft mentioned at the clofe of my laft our 
 aptnefs to imitate. 
 
 For many years of our life we are form- 
 ing ourfelves upon what we obferve in 
 thofe about us. We do not only learn their 
 phrafe, but their manners. You perceive 
 among whom we were educated, not more 
 plainly by our idiom, than by our beha- 
 viour. The cottage offers you a brood, 
 with all the rufticity and favagenefs of its 
 grown inhabitants The civility and cour- 
 tefy, which, in a well ordered family, are 
 constantly feen by its younger members, 
 
 fail
 
 1 4 Q# the Choice of Company. 
 fail not to influence their deportment 5 and 
 will, whatever their natural brutality may 
 be, difpofe them to check its appearance, 
 and exprefs an averfenefs from what is rude 
 and difgufting. Let the defcendant of 
 
 the meaneft be placed, from his infancy, 
 where he perceives every one mindful of 
 decorum j the marks of his extraction are 
 foon obliterated -, at leaft, his carriage does 
 not difcover it : And were the heir of his 
 Grace to be continually in the kitchen or 
 {tables, you would foon only know the 
 young Lord by his cloaths and title : In 
 other refpe&s, you would judge him the 
 fon of the groom or the fcullion. 
 
 Nor is the difpofition to imitate confined 
 to our childhood ; when this is part, and 
 the .man is to (hew himfelf, he takes his 
 colours, if I may fo fpeak, from thofe he 
 is near he copies their appearance a he 
 feldom'is, what the ufe of his reafon, or 
 
 At t*ri, &c. Familiares aiunt Pla- 
 tonis curvitatem imitates, & balbutiem Ariftotelis, & Ale- 
 ocandri regis colli inflexionem, inque dicendo vocis afperi- 
 tatem. PLUT. de Ad. &f Am. Diff. 
 
 what
 
 On the Choice of Company. 1 5 
 what his own inclinations, would make 
 him.* 
 
 Are the opinions of the Generality, in 
 moft points, any other, than what they 
 hear advanced by this or that perfon high 
 in their efteem, and whofe judgment they 
 will not allow themfelves to queftion ? You 
 well know, that one could not lately go 
 into company, but the firft thing faid wai 
 
 You have, undoubtedly, read What 
 
 an excellent performance it is ! The fine 
 imagination of its noble author difcovers 
 itfelf in every line. As foon as this noble 
 author feriouily difown'd it, all the admi- 
 ration of it was at an end. Its merit, with 
 thofe who had moft commended it, ap- 
 peared to be wholly the name of its fup- 
 pofed writer. Thus we find it through- 
 out. It is not what is written, or faid, or 
 acted, that we examine ; and approve or 
 condemn, as it is, in itfelf, good or bad : 
 Our concern is, who writes, who fays, or 
 
 a Non ad rationem, fed ad fimilitudinem, vivimus. 
 
 SEN. de Vit. beat. 
 
 Incendent libidines tuas adulterorum fodalitia. Si veils 
 vitiis exui, longe a vitiorum cxemplis recedendum eft. 
 
 SEN. Ep. 104. 
 
 does
 
 ! 6 On the Choice of Company. 
 
 does it ; and we, accordingly, regard, or 
 
 difregard it. 
 
 Look round the kingdom. There is, 
 perhaps, fcarce a village in it, where the 
 ferioufnefs or difiblutenefs of the Squire, if 
 not quite a driveller, is not more or lefs feen 
 in the manners of the reft of its inhabitants. 
 And he, who is thus a pattern, takes his 
 pattern fafhions himfelf by fome or other 
 of a better eftate, or higher rank, with whofe 
 character he is pleafed, or to whom he 
 feeks to recommend himfelf. a 
 
 In what a fliort fpace is a whole Nation 
 metamorphofed ! Fancy yourfelf in the 
 middle of the kft century. What grave 
 faees.jtfo you every where behold 1 The 
 moft duTolutely inclined fuffers not a liber- 
 .tine expreflion to efcape him. He who 
 
 ,:'.".' ; ".I:! f!" /'3 L Y/ : , 
 
 * Ut cupiditatibus Principum, & vitiis, infici folet tota 
 
 civitas; fie emendati & corrigi continentia. Non tan- 
 
 tarn mali eft peccare Principes (quamqaam eft magnum hoc 
 per feipfum malum) quantum illud, quod permulti imita- 
 tores Principum exiftunt. Nam licet videre, fi velis repli- 
 care memoriam temporum, qualefcumque fummi civitatis 
 viri fuerunt, talem civitatem fuifle : quaecumque mutatio 
 morqm in Principibus exftiterit, eandem in populo fecu- 
 turam. Cic. de Leg. L. III. 
 
 leaft
 
 On the Choice of Company. 1 7 
 
 leaft regards the practice of virtue, aiTumes 
 Its appearance. 
 
 None claim, from their flations, a pri- 
 vilege for their vices. The greateft ftran- 
 gers to the influence of Religion obferve its 
 Jorm. The Soldier not only forbears an 
 oath, but reproves it j he may pofiibly 
 make free with your goods, as having more 
 grace than you, and, therefore, a better 
 title to them ; but you have nothing to fear 
 from his levvdnefs, or drunkennefs. 
 
 The Royal Brothers at length land The 
 Monarchy is reftored. How foon then is 
 a grave AfpecT; denominated a puritanical ; 
 Decorum, precifenefs ; Serioufnefs, fanati- 
 cifm ! He, who cannot extinguijh in him- 
 felf all fenfe of Religion, is induftrious to 
 conceal his having any appears worfe than 
 he *; would be thought -to favour the 
 crime, that he dares not commit. The 
 lewdeft converfation is the politeft. No 
 reprefentation pleafes, in which Decency 
 is confulted. Every favourite Drama has 
 its Hero a Libertine introduces the Ma- 
 giftrate, only to expofe him as a knave, or 
 a cuckold 5 and the Prieft, only to defcribe 
 him a profligate or hypocrite, 
 
 C How
 
 1 8 On the Choice of Company. 
 
 How much greater the power of fafhion 
 is, than that of any laws, by whatfoever 
 penalties enforced, the experience of all 
 ages and nations concurs in teaching us. We 
 readily imitate, where we cannot be con- 
 ftrained to obey ; and become by Example, 
 what our Rule feeks in vain to make us. 
 
 So far we may be all truly ftyled Players, 
 as we all perfonate - borrow our charao 
 ters a reprefent fome other act a part 
 exhibit thofe who have been moft under 
 our notice, or whom we feek to pleafe, or 
 with whom we are pleafed. 
 
 As the Chameleon, who is known 
 To have no colours of his own -, 
 But borrows from his neighbour's hue 
 His white or black, his green or blue ; 
 And ftruts as much in ready light, 
 Which credit gives him upon fight, 
 As if the Rainbow were in tail 
 Settled on him, and his heirs male : 
 So the young Squire, when firft He comes 
 From country fchool to Wilts or Tom* ; 
 
 -+\ a Nemo errat uni fibi, fed dementiam.fpargit in proxi- 
 mos, accipitque invicem. Et ideo in fingulis vitia popu- 
 lorum funt. SEN. Ep. 94.. 
 
 And
 
 On the Choice of Company. 1 9 
 And equally, in truth, is fit 
 To be a Statefman, or a Wit ; 
 Without one notion of his own, 
 He faunters wildly up and down ; 
 Till fome acquaintance, good or bad, 
 Takes notice of a flaring lad, 
 Admits him in among the gang : 
 They jeft, reply, difpute, harangue ; 
 He acts and talks as They befriend him, 
 Smear'd with the colours which They 
 
 lend him. 
 
 Thus, merely, as his fortune chances, 
 His Merit or his Vice advances. 
 
 PRIOR, 
 
 lam, &c. 
 
 C 2 LET-
 
 20 On the Choice of Company. 
 
 L E T T E R III. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 MY laft endeavoured to (hew you, 
 how apt we are to imitate. Let 
 me now defire you to confider the difpofi- 
 tion you will be ander to recommend 
 yourfelf to thofe, whofe company you de- 
 lire, or would not decline. 
 
 Converfation, like marriage, muft have 
 confent of Parties. There is no being 
 intimate with him, who will not be fo 
 with you ; and, in order to contract or 
 fupport an intimacy, you muft give the 
 pleafure, which you would receive. This 
 is a truth, that every man's experience muft 
 force him to acknowledge : We are fure 
 to feek in vain a familiarity with any, who 
 have nq intereft to ferve by us, if we dif- 
 ,regard their humour. 
 
 In
 
 On the Choice of Company* 2 1 
 
 In Courts, indeed, where the Art of 
 pleafing is more fludied than it is elfewhere, 
 you fee people more dexteroufly accommo- 
 dating themfelves to the turn of thofe,/for 
 whofe favour they wiili a ; but, wherever 
 you go, you, almofl conftantly, perceive 
 the fame end purfued by the fame means ", 
 though there may not be the fame adroit- 
 nefs in applying them. What a proof 
 Jiave you in your own neighbourhood, how 
 effectual thefe means: are ! 
 
 Did you ever Jiear Charles tell a good 
 (lory make a mrewd obfervation drop 
 
 E> ZvpuKKirsus 9<tan, &c. Ferunt Syracufis, cum eo 
 veniffet Plato, ac Dionyfius infano philofophiae ftudio ex- 
 arfiflet, Regiam pulveris plenam fuifle ob mukitudinem 
 geomctrica tradlantem. Poftquam Plato gratia excidit, 
 Dionyfiufque, philofophia valere jufla, rurfum fe vino, 
 nugis, libiuinique & intcmperantise, quafi pra;cipit(in3, de- 
 dit ; confei tim univerfos, velut in Circes asdibus transfor- 
 matos, infcitia, oblivio, fatoitafque occnpavit. PLUT. de 
 Adul. & Am. difcr. 
 
 I AXK/,3</)ij Advy/ /wir a-xenrloet, cffc. Alcibiadcs Athenis 
 
 di&eria jatiebat, equos alebat, vitamque facetam S; grati- 
 cfara agebat : ad vivam cutem Spartan radebatur, palfiatus 
 ibat, frigidaque lavabatur. Idem in Thracia militabat ac 
 potabat : ubi ad Tiffapherneip yentum eft," mollitie & luxu 
 atque arj-ogantia utebatur ; hocque modo pmnes demulce- 
 bat, eorum fe moxibus ftudii/que adfimilaris. PLUT. 
 
 C 3 an
 
 22 On the Choke of Company. 
 an exprefiion, which bordered either on wit 
 or humour? Yet he is welcome to all 
 tables he is much with thofe, who have 
 wit, who have humour, who are, really, 
 Men of Abilities. Whence is this, but 
 from the approbation he mews of whatever 
 pafles ? A flory he cannot tell, but he has 
 a laugh in readinefs for every one he hear -s : 
 by his admiration of wit, he fupplies the 
 want of it ; and they, who have capacity -, 
 find no objection to the meannefs of his, 
 whilft he appears always to think as they 
 do. Few have their looks and tempers 
 fo much at command as this Man -, and 
 few, therefore, are fo happy in recommend- 
 ing themfelves j but as in his way of doing 
 it, there is, obvioufly, the greateft likely- 
 hood of fuccefs, we may be fure that it 
 will be the way generally taken. 
 
 Some,, I grant, you meet with, who by 
 their endeavours, on all occafions, to fliew 
 a fuperior difcernment, may feem to think, 
 that to gain the favour of any one, he muft 
 be brought to their fentiments, rather than 
 they adopt his j but I fear thefe perfons will 
 be found only giving too clear a proof, ei- 
 ther how abfurdly felf-conceit fometimes 
 
 operates,
 
 On the Choice of Company. 23 
 
 operates, or how much knowledge there 
 may be, where there is very little common 
 fenfe. 
 
 Did I, in defcribing the creature called 
 MAN, reprefent him as having, in propor- 
 tion to his bulk, more brains than any other 
 animal we know of j I fhould not think 
 this defcription falfe, though it could be 
 proved that fome of the Species had fcarce 
 any brains at all. 
 
 Even where favour is not particularly 
 fought, the very civility, in which he, who 
 would be regarded as a welkbred man, is 
 never wanting," muft render him unwilling 
 to avow the moft juft difapprobation of 
 what his companions agree in acting, or 
 commending. He is by no means to give 
 difguft, and, therefore, when he hears the 
 worft principles vindicated, and the beft ri- 
 diculed j or when he fees what ought to 
 be matter of the greateftfoame, done with^ 
 out any ; he is to acquiefce, he is to fhew 
 no token, that what pafles is at all offenfive 
 to him. 
 
 Confider yourfelf then in either of thefe 
 
 fituations deflrous to engage the favour of 
 
 C 4 the
 
 24 On tie Choice of Company. 
 the bad man, into whofe company you are 
 admitted or, only unwilling to be thought 
 by him deficient in good manners ; and, I 
 think, you will plainly fee the danger you. 
 ihould apprehend from him the likely- 
 hood there is, that you fhould at length 
 lofe the Mcrrcnce of his crimes, which, 
 when with him, you never qxprefs. 
 
 Will you afk me, why it is not as Pro- 
 bable that you fhould reform your vitious 
 acquaintance, as that they fhould corrupt 
 you ? Or, why may I not as well fuppofc 
 that they, will avoid fpeaking and acling 
 what will give you offence, as that you will 
 be averfe from giving them any that they 
 will confult your inclinations, as that you 
 will theirs ? 
 
 To avoid the length, which will be equal- 
 ly difagreeable to both of us, I will only 
 anfwer Do you know any inftance, which 
 can induce you to think this Probable? 
 Are not you apprifed of many inftanccs, 
 that greatly weaken the Probability of it ? 
 
 The vaft difproportion, which there is 
 between the numbers of the ferious and 
 the duTolute, is fo notorious, as to render it 
 
 un-
 
 On the Choice of Company* 2 
 unqueftionabk that the influence of the 
 latter far exceeds the Influence of the for- 
 mer that a vitious man is much more 
 likely to corrupt a virtuous, than to bo re- 
 formed by him. a 
 
 An anfwer of the fame kind I (hould 
 have judged fatisfactory ; if, with refpect to 1 
 what I had urged in my former Letter, you 
 queftioned me why the readinefs to imi- 
 tate thofe, with whom we are much con-r 
 verfant, might not as juftly encourage you 
 to hope, when you aflbciated with the lefs 
 fober, that they might be won to yotir to- 
 gularity j as occafion you to fear, that you 
 fbould be brought to join in their exceffes? 
 The Good have been for fo long a fpace 
 
 Hzc ipfa magis pertinaciter haerent, quz dcteriora. 
 funt. Nam bona facile mutantur in pejus: nunc quando 
 in bonum verteris vitia ? QUINCTIL. Lib. I. 
 
 : . .. Dociles iflnitandis 
 
 Turpibus ac pravis omnes fumus ; Sc Catilinini 
 Quocunque in populo videas, quocunque fub axe : 
 Sed nee Brutus erit, Bruti nee avunculus ufquam. 
 
 Juv> Sat. XIV, 
 I 
 
 Omne tempus Clodios, non omne Catones feret. Ad 
 deteriora faciles fumus, quia nee Dux poteft, nee Comes 
 deefle : & res etiam ipfa fine Duce, fine Comite procedit. 
 Non pronura iter eft tantuito ad vitia, fed praeceps, &?r. 
 
 Sri*. Ep. 97. 
 
 lofmg
 
 26 On tie Choice of Company. 
 lofing ground among us, and the Bad gain- 
 ing it ; and thefe are now become fuch a 
 prodigious multitude j that it is undeniable, 
 how much more apt we are to form our- 
 felves on the manners of thofe, who difre- 
 gard their duty, than on theirs, who are at- 
 tentive to it. 
 
 You will here be pleafed to remark, that 
 I don't confider you as fetting out with any 
 reforming views as converting with the 
 immoral^ in order to difpofe them to rea* 
 fonable purfuits $ but that I only apply to 
 you, as induced to afTociate with them from 
 the eafmefs of their temper, or the plea- 
 fantry of their humour, or your common 
 literary purfuits, or their fkill in fome of 
 your favourite amufements, or on fome 
 fuch-likc account: and then, what I have 
 obferved may not appear a weak argument, 
 that they are much more likely to hurt 
 you, than you are to benefit them. 
 
 I will clofe my argument and my Let- 
 ter, with a pafTage from a very good Hifto- 
 rian, a which will mew you the fenfe of one 
 
 8 DIODOR. Sic. Bib. Lib. XII. Scdl. 12. 
 
 Of
 
 * *"J 
 
 On the Choke of Company. 2 7 
 of the ableft of the ancient Legiflators on 
 my prefent fubjeft. 
 
 This writer, mentioning the Laws which 
 Charondas gave the Tburians, fays " He 
 <{ enabled a Law with reference to an Evil, 
 " on which former Lawgivers had not animad- 
 " verted, that of keeping bad company. As 
 " he conceived that the morals of the Good 
 " were fometimes quite ruined by their dijfi- 
 " lute acquaintance that Vice was apt, 
 " like an infectious difeafe, to fpread itfelf t 
 <l and to extend its contagion even to the be ft 
 
 " difpofed of our Species In order to pre- 
 
 <c vent this mif chief > he exprefsly enjoined \ 
 <c that none Jhould engage in any intimacy or 
 "familiarity with immoral perfons be ap. 
 " pointed that an Accufation might be exhi- 
 " bitedfor keeping bad company ', and laid a 
 " heavy fne onfuch as were convitfedofit" 
 
 Remember Charondas^ when you are dif- 
 pofed to cenfure the caution fuggefted by, 
 
 Dear SIR, 
 
 , &c. 
 
 LET-
 
 28 On the Choice of Company. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 IR, 
 
 . Vv;}.! ' '. 
 
 S IK Francis IValfingbam, in a Letter to 
 Mr. Anthony Bacon, then a very young 
 man, and on his travels, exprefies himfelf 
 
 thus " X ne danger is great that we are 
 
 tc fubjed: to, in lying in the company of 
 " the worfer fort. In natural Mies, evil 
 " airs are avoided, and infection fhunned 
 <{ of them, , that have any regard to their 
 
 " health There is not fo probable a 
 
 : * reafon for the corruptions, that may grow 
 " to the mfnaof One, from the mtfiaofAn- 
 " other ; but the danger is far greater, and 
 <l the effetfs, we fee, mbre frequent : for 
 et the number of evil-difpofed in mind is 
 " greater than the number of lick in bo- 
 " dy: . i .' 1 . .Though the well-difpofed 
 e will remain fome good fpace without 
 
 " cor-
 
 On tie Choice of Company. 29 
 
 e * corruption, yet TV/0*, I know not how, 
 
 cc worketh a wound into him. ; 
 
 < Which weaknefs of ours confidered, and 
 " eafmefs of nature, apt to be deceived, 
 look'd into; they do beft provide for 
 " themfelves, that feparate tbemfefoes, as 
 far as they can, from the Bad, and 
 < draw as nigh to the Good, as by any 
 " poffibility they can attain to." * 
 
 To what I have already faid, in proof 
 that we fhould thusfeparafe ourfehes, I {hall 
 now add two further reafons for our doing 
 it: i. The wrong inclinations, the prone- 
 nefs to violate fome or other part of our du- 
 ty, which we all find in ourfelves. 2. The 
 power which Cuftom hath, to reconcile us 
 to what we, at firft, moft dreaded. ,<** 
 
 Need I tell you, that our natural depra- 
 vity has not only been the theme of Chri- 
 flian writers ; but that the moft eminent 
 Heathen AuthorsPoets, Hiftorians, Phi- 
 lofophers, join in confefling it ? 
 
 a Memoirs of the Reign of Q. Elizaletb, by Dr. Ri 
 Vol. I. p. 13. 
 
 Where,
 
 30 On the Choice of Company. 
 
 Where, alas ! is the man, who has not 
 his wrong tendencies to lament ? Whom do 
 you know able to conceal them, to prevent 
 a clear difcovery of them in his practice ? 
 
 According as we are liable to act amifs, 
 we, certainly, muft be in more or lefs dan- 
 ger from aflbciating with thofe, who ei- 
 ther will feek to draw us into guilt or will 
 countenance us in it or will diminifh our 
 abhorrence of it. Some danger from fuch 
 company there muft be even to him, whofe 
 inclinations are leaft faulty j fince they may 
 be made worfe they may produce bad 
 aftions, the repetition of which would 
 form bad habits ; and nothing could be 
 fo likely to heighten any depravity of dif- 
 pofition, and carry it to the moft fatal 
 lengths of mifconducl:, as a familiarity with 
 thofe, who have no dread of guilt, or none 
 that reftrains them from complying with 
 the temptations they meet with to guilt. 
 
 You may, perhaps, think, that you could 
 be in no danger from any companion, to 
 whofe excefles you found not in yourfelf 
 the leaft propenfity : but believe me, my 
 
 Friend,
 
 On the Choke of Company. 3 1 
 Friend, this would by no means warrant 
 your fafety. 
 
 Though fuch a companion might not 
 induce you to offend in the very fame way, 
 that he doth -, he would, probably, make 
 you the offender, that you otherwife never 
 would have been. If he did not bring you 
 to conform to his practice, would he not 
 be likely to infmuate his principles ? His 
 difregard to his duty would tend to render 
 you indifferent to yours: and, while he lef- 
 lened your general regard to virtue, he 
 might make you a very bad man, though 
 you mould continue wholly to avoid his 
 particular crimes. 
 
 a The unconcernednefs, with which he 
 .gave his worft inclinations their fcope, 
 could hardly be day after day obferved, 
 without making you lefs felicitous to re- 
 ftrain your own wrong tendencies, and 
 ftrongly urging you to a compliance with 
 them. 
 
 a Affiduitate quotidiana & confuetudine oculorum afluef- 
 cunt animi : neque admjrantur, neque requirunt rationem 
 earum rerum, qiias Temper vident. 
 
 Cic.4eNat.Deor. Lib. II. 
 
 2. The
 
 32 On tie Choice of Company. 
 
 2. The danger there is in converging 
 with the Immoral will be yet more appa- 
 rent ; if you "will, next, attend to the power 
 of Cuflom in reconciling us to that, which 
 we, at firft, moft dreaded. 
 
 Whence is it, that veteran troops face 
 an enemy, with almoft as little concern as 
 they perform their exercife ? The man of 
 the greateft courage among them felt, pro- 
 bably, in the firft battle wherein he was, 
 a terror that required all his courage to fur- 
 mount. Nor was this terror, afterwards, 
 overcome by him, but by degrees ; every 
 fucceeding engagement abated it : The 
 oftener he fought, the lefs he feared : By 
 being habituated to danger, he learned, at 
 length, to defpife it. 
 
 An ordinary fwell of the Ocean alarms 
 the youth who has never before been upon 
 it ; but he, whofe fears are now railed, 
 when there is nothing that ought to excite 
 them, becomes foon without any, even 
 when in a fituation, that might juftly dif- 
 rnay him : He is balm, when the ftorm is 
 
 moft
 
 On the Choke of Company. 3 3 
 moft violent ; and difcovers no uneafy ap- 
 prehenfions, while the veflel, in which he 
 fails, is barely not finking. 
 
 You cannot, I am perfuaded, vifit an 
 hofpital furvey the variety of diftrefs 
 therehear the complaints of the fick 
 fee the fores of the wounded, without be- 
 ing yourfelf in pain, and a fliarer of their 
 fufferings. 
 
 The conftant attendants on thefe poor 
 wretches have no fuch concern : With dif- 
 pofitions not lefs humane than yours, they 
 do not feel the emotions, that you would 
 be under, at this fcene of mifery ; their 
 frequent view of. it has reconciled them to 
 it has been the caufe, that their minds 
 are no qtherwife affected by it, than yours 
 is by the objects ordinarily before you. 
 
 From how many other inflances might 
 it be fhewn, that the things, which, at 
 their nrft appearance, ftrike us with the 
 greateft terror, no fooner become familiar, 
 than they ceafe to difcompofe us? Let, 
 therefore, our education have been the 
 carefulleft and wifeft ; let there have been 
 D ufed
 
 34 On the Choice of Company. 
 ufed therein all the means likelieft to fix in 
 us an abhorrence of vice ; we, yet, cannot 
 be frequently among thofe, who allow them- 
 felves in it, and have as few fcruples about 
 the concealment of any crime they are dif- 
 pofed to, as about its commiffion, without 
 beholding it with abundantly lefs uneafinefs 
 than its firfl view occafioned us. 
 
 When it is fo beheld ; when what is ve- 
 ry wrong no more mocks us is no longer 
 highly offenfive to us ; the natural and ne- 
 ceflary progrefs is to a flill farther abate- 
 ment of our averfion from it : And what 
 is of force enough to conquer a ftrong dif- 
 like, may be reafonably concluded well 
 able to e'ffecl: fome degree of approbation a . 
 How far this fhall proceed, will, indeed, 
 depend, in a good meafure, upon our tem- 
 per, upon our conftitutional tendencies, 
 upon our circumftances : but furely we are 
 become bad enough, when it is not the 
 cohfideration of what is amifs in any pra- 
 ctice, that with-holds us from it when 
 we only avoid it, becaufe it is not agreeable 
 
 * Quod cxcmplo fit, id etiam jure fieri putant. 
 
 Cic. Ep. L. IV. Ep. 3.' 
 
 to
 
 On the Choice of Company. 35 
 to our humour ; or, becaufe the Law pu- 
 nifhes it -, or becaufe it interferes with fome 
 other criminal gratification, which better 
 pleafes us. 
 
 I begun this with an extract from a Let- 
 ter of 'Waljingham : I will end it with one 
 from a Letter of Grotius, when Ambafla- 
 dor in France p , to his Brother, concerning 
 his Son, whom he had recommended to 
 that Gentleman's care. 
 
 After having exprelTed his wifhes, that 
 the young man might be formed a com- 
 plete Advocate, he concludes thus <c Above 
 " all things I intreat you to cultivate thofe 
 fc feeds of knowledge, fown by me in 
 " him, which are productive of Piety ; 
 " and to recommend to him, for compa- 
 " nions, a fuch perfons, as are themfelves 
 <e careful to make a proficiency therein." 
 
 GROT. Ep. 426. 
 
 " ' 
 
 lam, &c. 
 
 iM^iifc " //i. . U-v -V t !>j^.'? 
 
 a His concern about the perfons, with whom his Son 
 contracted an intimacy is again exprefied, Let. 429. 
 
 D 2 L E T-
 
 36 On the Choice of Company. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 WHEN I ended my laft, I continued 
 in my chair, thinking of the Ob- 
 jetfions which might be made to what I 
 had written to you. The following then 
 occurred to me. 
 
 That, when we are in pofleffion of truth, 
 from fair examination and full evidence, 
 there can be very little danger of our being 
 induced to quit it, either by repeatedly 
 hearing the weak objections of Any to it, 
 or by remarking them to act as wrongly as 
 they argue That, as in Mathematics the 
 proportion, whick we had once demon- 
 ftrated, would always have our affent, 
 whomfocver we heard cavilling at it, or ri- 
 diculing our judgment concerning it : fo in 
 Morals > when once a due confideration of the 
 
 eflen-
 
 On the Choice of Company. 37 
 eilential and unchangeable differences of 
 things hath rendered us certain of what is 
 right and our duty; we can never be made 
 lefs certain thereof, whatever errors, in 
 judgment or practice, we may daily obferve 
 in our aflbciates, or daily hear them abfurd 
 
 enough to defend That, when we 
 
 not only plainly perceive the practice of 
 Virtue to be moft becoming us to be 
 what the nature and reafon of things 
 require of us ; but adlually feel, likevvife, 
 the fatisfadion which it affords, the folid 
 pleafure which is its infeparable attendant ; 
 there can be no more ground tofappofe, that 
 our having continually before us the follies 
 and vices of any would lead us to depart 
 from what we know to be fitteft, and have 
 experienced to be bed for us, than there can 
 be to believe, that a man in his wits would 
 leave the food, which his judgment ap- 
 proved and his palate relifhed, for another 
 fort, which he faw, indeed, pleafing to his 
 companions, but which he was certain 
 would poifon them. 
 
 How little weight there is in this kind 
 
 of arguing, I think every one might be 
 
 convinced, who would attend to his own 
 
 D 3 Prance,
 
 38 On tie Choke of Company. 
 Practice, who would confider the numerous 
 injlances in which he cannot but condemn 
 it in which he cannot but acknowledge 
 it contrary to what his prefent welfare re- 
 quires it {hould be. 
 
 Let us think the rrioft juftly of our du- 
 ty, and mun, with the greateft care, all 
 who would countenance s in a departure 
 from it; we ftill mall find tbat departure 
 too frequent we mall experience it fo 3 even 
 when it is truly lamented ; and when, to 
 avoid it, is both our wifh and our endea- 
 vour. And if the influence of truth 
 may receive fuch hindrance from our natu- 
 ral depravity ; from this depravity, even 
 when we have kept out of the way of all, 
 who would encourage us to favour it; there, 
 furely, muft be an high degree of probabi- 
 lity, that we {hall be yet lefs mindful of 
 our obligations, when we are not only 
 prompted by our own appetites to violate 
 them, but moved thereto by the counfel 
 and example of thofe, whofe converfation 
 bed pleafes us; and whofe opinions and 
 actions will, therefore, come with a more 
 than ordinary recommendation to us. 
 
 The
 
 On the Choke of Company. 39 
 
 The afTent which we give, upon fufH- 
 cient evidence, to moral truths, could no 
 more be un fettled by ridicule and fophiftry, 
 than that which we give to mathematical 
 truths, did our minds always retain the 
 fame difpofition with refpecl to the one, 
 that they do, as to the other. 
 
 With regard to the latter, we are never 
 willing to be deceived we always ftand 
 alike affected towards them : Our convitfion 
 about them was obtained, at Jirft, upon 
 fuch grounds, as muft always remain 
 our inducements to preferve it : No lult 
 could be gratified, no intereft ferved, by 
 its acYmg lefs forcibly upon us : In its de- 
 fence the credit of our underftanding is 
 greatly concerned. And how vain muft ri- 
 dicule and fophiftry be necefTarily thought, 
 where their only aim is, that we {hould 
 acknowledge a fuperior difcernment in thofe 
 perfons, whofe oppofition increafes our con- 
 tempt of their ignorance, by making a 
 plainer difcovery of it ? 
 
 As for moral truths, They are often dif- 
 
 agreeable to us When we have had the 
 
 D 4 fullcft
 
 /j.o On the Choice of Company. 
 fulleft evidence of them, we want not, oo 
 cafionally, the inclination to overlook it : 
 If, under fome circumftances y we are ready 
 to acknowledge its force -, there are others, 
 when we will not give it any attention. 
 Here fancy and hope interpofe : A govern- 
 ing paffion allows us only a faint view of, or 
 wholly diverts our notice from, whatever 
 (hould be our inducement to reflrain it ; 
 and fuffers us to dwell on nothing, but 
 what will juftify, or excufe, us in giving 
 way to it. Our reluclance to admit, that 
 we have not judged as we ought to have 
 done, is flrangely abated, when we there- 
 by are fet at liberty to #?as we pleafe. 
 
 When the endeavour is to laugh us, or 
 to argue us, out of thofe principles that we, 
 with much Jeff-denial, adhere to; we (hall 
 but feebly oppofe its fuccefs. He has a 
 ftrong party on his fide within our bofoms, 
 who feeks to make us quit opinions, which 
 are fliil controuling our qffeffiions. If we 
 are not fecure from acting contrary to our 
 duty, what cogent proofs foever we have of 
 its being fuch, and what fatisfaclion foever 
 we have had in its difcharge ; we are high- 
 ly concerned to avoid every temptation to 
 
 offend :
 
 On the Choice of Company i 4 1 
 
 offend : and it, undoubtedly, is a very 
 ftrong one, to hear continually what is like- 
 lieft to remove the fear of indulging our 
 appetites ; and continually to fee, that they 
 who apply to us aft as they advife allow 
 themfelves in the liberties, they would have 
 us to take ; and are under none of the 
 checks, which they prompt us to throw 
 off.* 
 
 Though what we did not reliflv and 
 what we thought would fpeedily deftroy 
 us, we might not eat, when our Companions 
 fhewed themfelves fond of it, and prefled 
 us to tafte it ; yet, if we apprehended no 
 immediate danger from their meal if we 
 were eye-witnefTes of its being attended 
 with none if they were continually ex- 
 prefiing their high delight in it, and re- 
 peating their affurances, that all, either our 
 indifference towards, or difrelifh of it, was 
 only from prejudice and prepoffeflion ; we, 
 very probably, ftiould at length yield, and 
 quit both our difguft of their repaft, and 
 
 Monftrata diu veteris trahit orbita culpae. 
 
 Juv. Sat. XIV. 
 
 our
 
 4 2 Oil the Choke of Company. 
 our dread of its confequences. And if 
 
 this might enfue, when we were invited to 
 partake of that, which was lefs agreeable to 
 our palates ; what mould be feared, when 
 our company tempted us to that^ which we 
 could be pleafed with, and were only with- 
 held from by jfuch an apprehenfion oj danger ^ 
 as nothing could fooner remove, than our 
 oblerving thole, with whom we moft con- 
 verfed, to be without it ? 
 
 Reafon is, certainly, always on the fide 
 of duty. Nor is there, perhaps, any man, 
 who, when he ferioufly confiders what is 
 beft for him to do, will not purpofe to do 
 that, which is right, But, fince we can acl: 
 without confideration in the moft important 
 articles, and nothing is lefs likely to be con- 
 iidered, than what we find quite cuftomary 
 with others what we fee them aft with- 
 out remorfe or fcruple ; when we are, day 
 after day, eye-witnefTes of our afTociates 
 allowing themfelves in a wrong practice, 
 periling in it without expreffing the leaft 
 dread of its Confequences > y it is as abfurd 
 to think, that our moral feeling fliould not 
 be injured thereby, as it is to fuppofe, that 
 
 our
 
 On the Choke of Company. 43 
 
 our hands would preferve the fame foftnefs, 
 when they had been for years accuftomed 
 to the oar, which they had when they firft 
 took it up ; or, that hard labour would af- 
 fect us as much when inured to it, as when 
 we entered upon it. 
 
 -I will, for the prefent, take my leave of 
 you with an Italian Proverb, and an Eng- 
 lijh one exactly anfwerable to it 
 
 Dimmi con chi tu vat, fapro quel chefai. 
 Tell me with whom thou goeft, and I'll 
 tell thee what thou doeft. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER
 
 44 On the Choice of Company. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 I Know not what I can add on the pre- 
 fent fubjedt of our correfpondence, that 
 may be of greater fervice to you than the 
 following fhort relation. 1 may not, in- 
 deed, be exact in every particular of it, be- 
 <caufe I was not at all acquainted with the 
 Gentleman^ whom it concerns ; and becaufe 
 many years have patted lince I received an 
 account of him : but as my information 
 came from perfons, on whofe veracity I 
 could depend, and as what they told me 
 much affected me when I heard it, and 
 has, fince, been very often in my thoughts ; 
 I fear that the melancholy defcription, 
 which you will here have of human frail- 
 ty, is but too true in every thing material 
 therein. 
 
 At
 
 On the Choice of Company. 45 
 
 , W- ....... rfi V *'t T 
 
 At the firft appearance of in Town, 
 
 nothing, perhaps, was more the topic of 
 converfation, than his merit. He had read 
 much : What he had read, as it was on 
 the mofl ufeful fubjefts, fo he was tho- 
 roughly matter of it ; gave an exadt account 
 of it, and made very wife reflections upon 
 it. During his long refidence at a diftance 
 from our Metropolis, he had met with few, 
 to whom he was not greatly fuperior, both 
 in capacity and attainments : yet this had 
 not in the leaft difpofed him to dictate, to 
 be politive and afluming, to treat Any with 
 contempt or negledt. 
 
 He was obliging to all, who came near 
 him j talked on the fubjedts which they 
 bed underftood, and which would be like- 
 lieft to induce them to take their full mare 
 of the converfation. 
 
 They, who had fpent every winter near 
 the Court, faw nothing in his behaviour, 
 that (hew'd how far he had lived from // 
 nothing which was lefs fuitable to any civi- 
 lity, that could be learned in it. 
 
 His
 
 46 On the Choice of Company. 
 
 His manners were only lefs courtly, in 
 their fimplicity and purity. He did not, 
 often, directly reprove the libertine difcourfe 
 of his equals ; but would recommend him- 
 felf to none, by expreffing the flighteft ap- 
 probation of fuch difcourfe : He Jhewd it 
 did not pleafe him, though he declined fay- 
 
 in* fo, ' 
 
 lift , .1 t 
 
 He forbore that invective againft the 
 
 manners of the age, which could only ir- 
 ritate; and thought that, at his years, the 
 fitteft cenfure he could pafs on them, would 
 Jje to avoid them. It feemed, indeed, his 
 particular care, that he might not be repre- 
 fented either as a Bigot, or a Cynic j " but 
 yet, as he knew how to defend his prin- 
 ciples, fo he ihew'd himfelf, on every pro- 
 per occafion, neither afraid nor afhamed to 
 engage in their defence. 
 
 His converfation was among perfons of 
 his own Ranky only fo far as Decorum re- 
 quired it fhould be : Their favourite topics 
 ^rere fo little to his tafte, that his leifure 
 hours, where he could have his choice, were 
 patted among thofe, who had the mofl learn- 
 ing and virtue, and, whether diftinguimed, 
 
 or
 
 On the Choice of Company. 47 
 or not, by their anceftors worth, would be 
 fo by their own. 
 
 He had high notions of his duty to his 
 country; but having feen what felf-intereft- 
 ednefs, at length, fhew'd itfelf, where he 
 had heard the ftrongeft profeffions of pa- 
 triotifm ; it made him very cautious with 
 whom he engaged, and utterly averfe from 
 determining of any as friends to the Public, 
 merely becaufe they were oppofers of the 
 Court. 
 
 No one judged more rightly of the hurt 
 that muft enfue, from irreligion fpreading 
 itfelf among the common people ; and, 
 therefore, where his example was moft re-r 
 marked, and could be moft efficacious, he 
 took particular care, that it mould promote 
 a juft reverence of the Deity, 
 
 Thus did A. A. fet out in the world, and 
 thus behaved, for fome years, notwith- 
 ilanding the bad examples he had every 
 where before him, among thole of his own 
 ftation. In one of the accomplishments of 
 a Gentleman (though, furely, one of the 
 very meaneft of them) he was thought to 
 excel ; and many fine fpeeches were made 
 
 him
 
 48 On the Choke of Company. 
 him upon that account. They were but 
 too much regarded by him ; and, gradual- 
 ly, drew him often into the company, that 
 he would have defpifed, had he heard lefs 
 of his own praife in it. The compliments 
 fo repeatedly paid him by the frivolous re- 
 conciled him, at length, to them. As his 
 attachment to them got 'ground, his feri- 
 oufnefs loft it. The Patriot was no more 
 The zeal he had for the morals of his 
 countrymen abated. 
 
 The tragical conclufion of his Story, let 
 thofe tell you, who would not feel that 
 concern at the relation of it, which I mould 
 do : This you certainly may learn from it 
 That, as the conftant dropping of water 
 wears away the hardeft ftone, fo the con- 
 tinual felicitations of the vitious are not to 
 
 be withftood by the firmeft mind All, 
 
 who are in the way of them, will be hurt 
 
 by them Wherefoever they are ufed, 
 
 they will make an impreffion He only 
 
 is fecure from their force, who will not 
 Jiazard its being tried upon him.* 
 
 a Magna pars fanitatis eft hortatores infaniae reliquiflc, 
 & ex ifto ccetu invicem noxio procul abiiffe. 
 
 SEN. Ep. 94. 
 
 In
 
 On the Choice of Company* 49 
 
 In what you have hitherto received from 
 me, I have argued wholly from your own 
 difpojitions, and endeavoured to mew you, 
 from thence, the danger of having bad 
 companions : See now your danger from 
 their difpofitions. And, firft, let thefe 
 perfons be confidered only, in general, as 
 partial to their notions and practices, and 
 eager to defend them. 
 
 Whatever our perfuafion or conduct is, we 
 are ufually favourable to it ; we have our 
 plea for it; very few of us can bear, with 
 any patience, that it fhould be judged irra- 
 tional : The approbation of it is a compli- 
 ment to our underftanding, that we receive 
 with pleafure j and to cenfure it, is fuch a 
 difparagement of us, as doth not fail to 
 difguft us. I will not fay, there are None 
 to be found, that give themfelves little or no 
 concern, who thinks or acts as they do ; bat 
 it is certain, that, ordinarily, we are desirous 
 to be joined in the caufe we efpoufe we 
 are felicitous to vindicate and fpread our 
 opinions, and to have others take the fame 
 courfes with us. Should I allow you to be 
 as intent on this, as any of your acquaint- 
 E ance
 
 50 On the Choice of Company. 
 ance are ; yet, pray, confider what you 
 may expect, when you fland alone, or when 
 a majority is again ft you when each of 
 them relieves the other in an attack upon 
 you when this attack is, day after day, 
 repeated when your numerous opponents 
 join in applauding, or flrengthening, or en- 
 livening their feveral objections to your fen- 
 timents ; and in treating whatever you can 
 urge in your defence, as abfurd, or weak 
 and impertinent when your peace can 
 only be purchafed by your filence when 
 you find, that there is no hope of bringing 
 thofe you delight to be with into your opi- 
 nions, that they confirm each other in op- 
 pofition to you, and that you can only be 
 agreeable to them, by adopting their maxims 
 and conforming to their manners. 
 
 It is next to be confidered, what you 
 may fear from an intimacy with the immo- 
 ral, when they muft look upon themfelves 
 to be reproached by fuch of their acquaint- 
 ance, as will not concur with them in their 
 excefles. They cannot but do this ; becaufe 
 all who feek either to make them alter their 
 manners, or to weaken their influence upon 
 
 others,
 
 On the Choice of Company. 5 1 
 
 others, charge them with what is, really, 
 the higheft reproach to them ; and becaufe 
 they are fenfible, that the arguments like- 
 lieft to be ufed by any one for his not com- 
 plying with them, are grounded on the 
 mifcbief of their conduct, or on its fol- 
 ly. Regard then yourfelf, as in their 
 place. Reflect how you would behave 
 towards the man, whofe opinion of you 
 was That you acted either a very crimi- 
 nal or a very imprudent part : * Reflect, I 
 fay, how you would behave towards the 
 perfon thus judging of you, "if you wifhed 
 to preferve a familiarity with him, but yet 
 was refolved to perfift in your notions and 
 practice. You, certainly, would try every 
 method to remove his diftafte of them : 
 You would colour them as agreeably, as you 
 pombly could : You would fpare no pains 
 to weaken every objection, he could have to 
 them you would, in your turn, attack his 
 maxims and manners ; you would feek to 
 
 &f f . Stiffed! funt qui me- 
 liora quserunt, quique amicorum peccatis otrendi & ea mo- 
 lefte ferre vickntur. Quae res & Dionem Dionyfio, & Sa- 
 mium Philippo, & Ptolemseo Cleomenem invifum fecit at- 
 que perdidit. PLUT. dt Ad. 3* Am. difer. 
 
 E 2 con-
 
 i-2 On the Choice of Company. 
 convince him, upon what flight grounds he 
 preferred them to yours you would apply 
 to every artifice, that could give them the 
 appearance of being lefs defenfible, or that 
 could incline him to overlook what might 
 be urged in their defence. 
 
 And if this might naturally be fuppofed 
 the part you would act towards others j 
 you ought to expect that they, in the fame 
 circumftances, would behave alike towards 
 you. But can you think it prudent to let 
 them try, with what fuccefs they may pro- 
 ceed ? Would not caution be your moft 
 effectual fecurity ? Would it not be the 
 wifeft method of providing for your fafety, 
 to keep out of the way of danger ? * 
 
 You are, further, to look upon thofe, 
 from afibciating with whom I would dif- 
 fuade you, as extremely felicitous to be 
 kept in countenance. The vitious well 
 know, to how many objections their con- 
 
 * E\*<r<r gag* 'rcLT^trn, &V. Pauciora mala contingunt 
 hominibus ab inimicis, quam amicis. Inimjcos enim cum 
 metuant, ab eis cavent : Amicis vero aperti fant, undo pe- 
 riculis expommtur, & infidiis ipforum facile capiuntur. 
 
 DEMONAX apud STOB. 217. 
 
 duct
 
 On the Choice of Company. 5 3 
 
 dud: is liable : They are fenfible, to what 
 efteem good Morals are entitled, what praife 
 they claim, and what they, in the moil cor- 
 rupt times, receive. 
 
 Virtue is fo much for the intereft of 
 mankind, that there can never be a general 
 agreement, to deny all manner of applaufe 
 to the practice of it : Such numbers are 
 made fufferers by a departure from its rules, 
 that there are few crimes, which meet not 
 with an extenfive cenfure. 
 
 You have long fince learn'd it to be the 
 language of Paganifm itfelf, That 
 
 a {t All, who aft contrary to what the rea- 
 " fon of things requires who do what is 
 " hurtful to themfehes or others, muji Jland 
 <c felf-condemned : " and you cannot want to 
 be informed, in what light they are feen 
 by thofe, who do not (hare their guilt. The 
 endeavour, therefore, of fuch men, while 
 they are without any purpofe of amend- 
 
 Nalla major pcena nequitiae eft, quam quod fibi dif- 
 plicet. SEN. <& /r/z, Lib. .JII. 
 
 Unus effedlus eft vitii difplicere iibi. SEN. de Tranquil. 
 Anim. c. 2. 
 
 Se judice nemo nocens abfolvitur. Juv, Sat. XIII. 
 
 E 3 rnent,
 
 5 4 On the Choke of Company. 
 ment, will, unquestionably, be, to make 
 their caufe as fpecious as poflible, by en- 
 gaging Many in its defence j and to filence 
 ceniure, by the danger, that would arife 
 frpm the numbers it would provoke. The 
 motives to this endeavour, when duly re- 
 fleded on, will fully fatisfy us, with what 
 zeal it muft be accompanied ; and it may 
 well, therefore, alarm all, on whom its 
 power is likely to be tried may well in- 
 duce them to confider ferioufly, what they 
 have to fear from it, how much their vir- 
 tue may fuffer by it. 
 
 I will conclude this with a (hort (lory of 
 the Poet Dante, for which Boyle quotes Pe- 
 trarch. Among other vilits made by Dante, 
 after his banifhment from Florence, one was 
 to the then much-famed Can, Prince of 
 Verona. 
 
 Can treated him, at firft, with great ci- 
 vility j but this did not laft : and by the 
 little complaifance at length ihewn the 
 Poet, he plainly perceived that he ceafed 
 to be an acceptable gueft. 
 
 Scholars,
 
 On the Choice of Company. 5 5 
 
 Scholars, it feems, were not Can's fa- 
 vourites he liked thofe much better, who 
 ftudied to divert him; and Ribaldry was 
 by no means the difcourfe, that leafl pleafed 
 him. Sufpecling that this did not raife 
 Dante s opinion of him, he one day took 
 occafion to fingle out the moft obnoxious 
 of the libertine crew, that he entertained ; 
 and, after high praifes given the man, turn- 
 ing to Dante he faid, I 'wonder how it is, 
 that this mad fellow is beloved by us All, 
 as giving us the pleafure which, really, we 
 do not find in your company, wife as you 
 are thought to be. 
 
 Sir, anfwered the Poet, you would not 
 wonder at this, if you confidered, that our 
 love of Any proceeds from their manners 
 being fuitable, and their difpofitions fimilar, 
 to our own. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 4 LET-
 
 56 On the Choice of Company, 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 ''T'^,"> "'* " ^r!'! Jt!i 3!^ . > 
 
 SIR, 
 
 IHave But one thing more to propofe to 
 your Confederation, as a diffuafive from 
 affociating with the vitious ; and it is- 
 The way, in which they, ordinarily, feek 
 to corrupt thofe, with whom they con* 
 verfe. 
 
 The Logic of the immoral contributes 
 but little to increafe their numbers, incorri- 
 parifon of what they effect by raillery and 
 ridicule. This is their Jlrength j they are 
 fenfible of its being fo ; and you may be 
 affured that it will be exerted againft you." 
 There is nothing that cannot be jefted with; 
 
 Ct N on en | m duntaxat, quod 
 apud Phocylidem eft Qui vult efle probus, falli hunc per- 
 faspe necefle eft : fed & derideri oportet faepe, & ignomi- 
 niam ferre, & falfe difta, & fcurriles infeftationes. 
 
 and
 
 On the Choke of Company. 5 7 
 and there is nothing that we, univerfally, 
 bear worfe, than to be made the jeft of 
 Any. 
 
 What reafoning on moral fubjeds may 
 not have its force evaded by a man of wit 
 and humour ; and receive a turn, that (hall 
 induce the lefs confederate to flight it, as 
 weak and inconclufive ? The moft be- 
 coming practice that which is moft our 
 duty, and the importance of which to our 
 prefent welfare is moft evident, a lively 
 fancy eafily places in a ridiculous view, and 
 thereby brings it into an utter negled. 
 
 That reverence of the Deity, which the 
 beft both ancient and modern writers have 
 fo ftrongly recommended which the wor- 
 thieft men in every age have fo carefully 
 exprefTed which any obfervation of na- 
 ture, any attention to our own frame, fails 
 not to inculcate, is yet, by being repre- 
 fented under the garb of Superftition or 
 Fanaticifm, feen among us to fuch difad- 
 vantage, that many, our military Gentle- 
 men efpecially, appear to take a pride in 
 {hewing themfelvcs divefted of it* 
 
 Con-
 
 5 8 On the Choice of Company. 
 
 Conjugal fidelity, though of fuch mo- 
 ment to the peace of families to their in- 
 tereft-*-to the profperity of the common- 
 wealth, that, by the laws of the wifeft 
 and beft regulated States, the fevereft pu- 
 nimment has been inflicted on the violation 
 of it, is, neverthelefs, by the levity, with 
 which fome have treated it, fo much, at 
 prefent, flighted, .that the Adulterer is well 
 received : Women, who would think it the 
 groffeft affront to have their virtue quefti- 
 oned, who affect the character of the ftrict- 
 eft obfervers of Decorum, fhun him not 
 fhew him the utmoft complaifance. What- 
 ever dishonour, in this cafe, falls on any, 
 it accrues wholly to the injured perfon. 
 
 Can you affign a better reafbn, why the 
 intemperate, among the meaner people, 
 have fo prodigioufly increafed their num- 
 bers, than the banter they ufe towards fuch, 
 as they meet with difpofed to fobriety, the 
 mockery, with which they treat it, the 
 fongs and catches, with which they are fo 
 plentifully provided, in derifion of it? 
 
 I cannot give you the very terms of Lord 
 Sfoftesfary, as I have not his Works; but 
 
 I think
 
 On the Choice of Company. 59 
 I think I may be certain there is an obfer- 
 vation in them to this effect That, bad 
 the Enemies to Chriftianity expofed its Jirft 
 Profeffors not to wild Beafts, but to Ridicule ; 
 their endeavours tojlop its progrefs might have 
 had very different fuccefs from what they ex- 
 perienced. . 
 
 Had the wit of man been only concerned 
 in the fpreading that Religion, I believe the 
 conjecture well founded. But this fuccefs 
 could no more have affected the truth of 
 that Religion, than it leffens the worth of a 
 public fpirit, of honefty, of temperance, 
 that fo many have been laughed out of 
 them that the jeft made of them has oc- 
 fioned their being fo rare among us. 
 
 The author of the Beggars Opera gives 
 the true character of his Newgate tribe, 
 when he exhibits them ludicrous on all pre- 
 tences to virtue, and thus hardening each 
 other in their crimes. It was the moft ef- 
 fectual means to keep up their fpirits under 
 their guilt, and may well be judged the 
 likelieft method of bringing others to mare 
 it. 
 
 vi*
 
 60 On the Choke of Company. 
 
 The Duke of Buckingham^ fays a late Wri- 
 ter, had the art of turning perfons or things 
 into ridicule -, beyond any man of the Age. He 
 poffeffed the young King [Charles II] with 
 very ill principles, both as to Religion and Mo- 
 rality, and 'with a 'very mean opinion of his 
 Father , wbofe ftiffnefs was, with him, a fub- 
 j eft of raillery. It is elfewhere obferved, 
 That, to make way for the ruin of the 
 Lord Clarendon, He often aSled and mimicked 
 him in the Kings prefence, walking ftately 
 with a pair of bellows before him, for the 
 purfe, and Colonel Titus carrying a fire-Jhovel 
 on his Boulder, for the mace-, with which fort 
 of banter and farce the King was too much 
 delighted. 
 
 Such are the impreffions, to the difpa- 
 ragement of the beft things, and of the 
 beft men, that may be made by burlefque 
 and buffoonry : They can deftroy the effi- 
 cacy of the wifeft precepts, and the nobleft 
 examples. 
 
 The Monarch here fpoken of may, per- 
 haps, be thought as ill-difpofed, as the worft 
 of his favourites ; and rather humoured, than 
 corrupted, by the fport they made with all 
 
 that
 
 On the Choice of Company. 6 1 
 that is, ordinarily, held ferious. Were 
 this admitted to be true of him Were we 
 to fuppofe his natural depravity not height- 
 ened by any thing faid or done before him, 
 in derifion of virtue or the virtuous : yet 
 the effects of his being accu domed to fuch 
 reprefentations may be looked upon as ex- 
 tremely mifchievousj when we may, fo 
 probably, attribute to them the loofe he 
 gave to his natural depravity the little de- 
 corum he obferved that utter careleffnefs 
 to fave appearances, whence fo much hurt 
 enfued to the morals of his people, and 
 whereby he occafioned fuch diftraction in 
 his affairs, fo weakened his authority, fo 
 entirely loft the affections of the beft of 
 his fubjects ; and whence that he did not 
 experience ftill worfe confequences, majr 
 be afcribed to a concurrence of circum- 
 ftances, in which his prudence had no 
 fhare. 
 
 The weaknefs of an argument may be 
 clearly mewn The arts of the fophifter 
 may be detected, and the fallacy of his rea- 
 foning demonftrated To the moft fubtile 
 objections there may be given fatisfactory 
 
 an-
 
 62 On the Choice of Company. 
 anfwers : But there is no confuting raillery 
 the acuteft Logician would be filenced 
 by a Merry Andrew. 
 
 It is to no manner of purpofe, that we 
 have Reafon on our fide, when the Laugh is 
 againft us : and how eafy is it, by playing 
 with our words by a quibble by the 
 loweft jcft, to excite that Laugh ! 
 
 When the company is difpofed to attack 
 your principles with drollery, no plea for 
 them is attended to ; the more ferious you 
 {hew yourfelf in their defence, the more 
 fcope you give to the mirth of your oppo- 
 nents. 
 
 How well foever we have informed our- 
 felves of the motives to a right conduct, 
 thefe motives are not attended to, as often 
 as we acl: our ordinary practice is founded 
 on the impreffion, that a former confidera- 
 tion of them has made ; which impreffion 
 is very liable to be weakened wants fre- 
 quently to be renewed in the fame way, 
 that it was at firft produced. 
 
 When we continually hear our virtue 
 banter'd as mere prejudice, and our notions 
 
 of
 
 On the Choice of Company. 63 
 
 of honour and decorum treated, as thefole 
 efFefts of our pride being dexteroufly. flat- 
 tered When our piety is frequently fub- 
 jecting us to be derided as childifhly timo- 
 rous, or abfurdly fuperflitious ; we foon 
 know not how to perfuade ourfelves, that 
 we are not more fcrupulous than we need 
 to be ; we begin to queflion, whether, in 
 fettling the extent of our obligations, we 
 have fufficiently confulted the imperfeffions 
 of our nature whether our judgment 'is 
 without its bias from our fears* 
 
 Let ounferioufnefs be exhibited to us in 
 that odd figure, which wit and humour 
 can eafily give it 5 we fhall be infenfibly 
 led to judge of it, according to its appear- 
 ance, as thus overcharged ; and under the 
 difadvantage, in which it is (hewn us : We 
 fhall, firft, feem unconcerned at the greater 
 liberties, that others take, and, by degrees, 
 proceed to take the very fame ourfelves. 
 
 The perfon, whom we mod highly and 
 juftly honoured, if the buffoonry of our 
 companions were conftantly levelled at him, 
 would foon have his worth overlooked by 
 us j and, though we might not be brought 
 
 to
 
 64 On the Choice of Company. 
 to think of him as contemptibly, as they 
 appeared to doj our reverence of him would, 
 certainly, at length abate, and both his ad-r 
 vice and example have much lefs influence 
 upon us. 
 
 Of this you mall have an inftance in my 
 next. 
 
 I will here only add what 'Jamblichm * 
 mentions as pradlifed by Pythagoras, be- 
 fore he admitted any into his School . 
 
 He enquired, " Who were their Intimates" 
 - juftly concluding, that they, who could 
 like bad companions, would not be much 
 profited by his inftructions. 
 
 1 am, &c. 
 
 DeVit.Pyth.c. 17. 
 
 LETTER
 
 Qn the Cfaite of Company. 65 
 
 - ' '.' ': -; ;bi::.7 
 
 -^'^i -' - tv/- .Lyrriif:" 
 
 _, 
 
 * ic> ?4iot IliL-io trod oJ JK>i3i -&iii 
 
 . ' . 
 
 V E T 
 
 S I R, 
 
 WHAT follows win difcharge the 
 promife, which I made you at the 
 condufion of my laft. 
 
 "ii^Hi. : -oiil' .oi hofcmt 
 
 S. was the Oracle of his County: To 
 whatever point he turned his thoughts, he 
 foon made himfelf mailer of it. He ert* 
 tered, indeed, fo early upon bufinefsj that 
 he had little time for books ; but he had 
 read thofe, which beft deferved his .perufal, 
 and his memory was the faithful repoiitory 
 of/their contents. 
 
 The helps, that he had not received from 
 reading, he had abundantly fupplied the 
 want of, by obfervation and convention. 
 
 The compafs of his knowledge was ama- 
 
 tdng. There was fcarce any thing, of 
 
 \ F which
 
 66 On the Choice of Company. 
 which one in his ftation ought to be in- 
 formed, wherein he appeared to be igno- 
 rant. Long experience, great fagacity, a 
 ready appfehenlion, a retentive memory, 
 the refort to him of all forts of people, from 
 whom any thing could be learned, and an 
 intimacy with fome of --the worthieft per- 
 fons of every profeflion; enabled him to 
 fpeak on moft points with fuch juftnefs and 
 copioufnefs, as might induce you to con- 
 clude, upon firft being with him, that the 
 topic, on which his difcourfe turned, was 
 what he Had particularly and principally at- 
 tended to. Though he owned himfelf 
 never to have fo much' as look'd into the 
 writings of Atheifts or Deifts ; yet, from 
 the promifcuous company he had been 
 obliged to keep, and the freedom, with 
 which all fpoke their fentiments t'o him, 
 there was not, perhaps, a material objection 
 to the Chriftian Religion, of which he was 
 not apprifed, and which he had not well 
 confidered. 
 
 Senfible of his ftrength, and ever defirous 
 to ufe it in the beft of caufes in ther fer- 
 viceof that truth, which operates on men's 
 practice, and would, _ if attended to, rectify 
 
 *
 
 On the Choke of Company* 67 
 it throughout ; he did not difcourage the 
 moil free fpeakers : He calmly and willing- 
 ly heard what they could fay againft his 
 faith, while they ufed reafon and argument; 
 but drollery and jeft he failed not, though 
 with great good humour, to reproye, as a 
 fpecies of mifreprefentation as a' fare evi- 
 dence, that truth was not fought as an ar- 
 tifice, to which none would apply, who 
 were not confcious of their weaknefs, who 
 did not defpair of fupporting their notions 
 
 by rational proofs. 
 
 r 
 
 Virtue and true Religion had not, per- 
 haps, an abler Advocate than this Gentle- 
 man ; . but whatever fervice his tongue 
 might do them, his manners, certainly, 
 did them far greater : He convinced you 
 of their excellency^ by' exhibiting to your 
 
 fenfes their effefts he left you no room 
 
 to queftion how amiable they were, when, 
 it was from their influence, upon him, that 
 he fo much engaged your efteem and af- 
 fecYion j he proved undeniably, how much 
 they mould be our care^ by being himfelf 
 an.inftance, how much they contributed to 
 our happmefs. 
 
 F 2 Never,
 
 68 On the Choice of Company. 
 
 Never, certainly, did Piety fit eafier up- 
 on any man Never, perhaps, was any 
 
 man more efteemed by the very -peribns, 
 between whofe practice and his there was 
 the wideft difference. 
 
 The fuperior talents he difcover'd, and 
 his readinefs to employ them for the benefit 
 of All, who applied to him, engaged alike 
 
 their admiration and their love. 
 
 
 
 The obligations, conferred by Him t ob- 
 tained the height of complaifance towards 
 his Son. Invitations were made the Youth 
 from all quarters ; and there was not a 
 young man of any figure near him, who 
 was not introduced to him, and directed 
 to pay him particular civility. They, who 
 fought to attach him clofeft to them by 
 confulting his humour, were never without 
 their arguments for liccnfmg it. " True it 
 rt was, this or that purfuit might not be to 
 <e the tafte of his Father-, but neither did 
 " it fuit his years When he was a Toung 
 <c Man, he, undoubtedly acted, as One ; he 
 cc took the diverfions, allowed himfelf in 
 e< the gratifications, to which Youth in- 
 " clines : No wonder that he mould now 
 
 " cen-
 
 On the Choice of Company. 69 
 
 *' cenfure what he could not relim -that 
 " he fhould condemn the draught, which 
 " his head could not bear, and be indiffe- 
 <c rent to the features, which he could not 
 " diftinguim without his fpe&acles." 
 
 When this kind of language had abated 
 the reverence, due to fo excellent an in- 
 ftruc~tor, the Buffoon interpofed ftill further 
 to weaken his influence j gave an air of af- 
 fectation to his decorum of hypocrify to* 
 his ferioufnefs of timoroufnefs to his pru- 
 dence of avarice to his wife ceconomy - 
 buHefqued the advice, that he might be fup- 
 pofed to give, the arguments with which 
 he was likely to fupport //, and the reproof 
 he would naturally ufe, when he did not 
 fee a difpofition to follow //. 
 
 Soon as the young man had attained the 
 age, at which the Law fuppofes u&fufficient- 
 ly difcreet, he exprefled a moft earned de- 
 fire to have an opportunity of appearingy&- 
 Repeated promifes were made, that if a 
 proper Allowance was fettled on him, and 
 leave given him to chufe a place of abode, 
 there fhould not be the leaft mifmanage- 
 ment ; the income affigned him fhould an- 
 fwer every article of expence. 
 
 F 3 The
 
 70 On 'the Choice of Company. 
 
 The Son's importunity was fcconded by 
 the fond Mother's, and their joint felicita- 
 tions prevailed. The Youth was now ac- 
 ceflible, at all times, to the moft profligate 
 of his acquaintance : And one part of their 
 entertainment, ufually, was, to fet his ex- 
 cellent Father's maxims and manners in 
 the rnoft difadvantageous light. This failed 
 not to bring on a disregard to both fo en- 
 tire a difregard to them, that the whore 
 and the card-table took up all the hours, 
 which the bottle relieved not. 
 
 Thus fell the heir of one of the worthieft 
 of our countrymen ! It was to no purpofe, 
 that fuch an admirable example had been 
 fet him by the perfon, he was moft likely 
 to regard that fuch particular care had 
 been taken* to reafon him into a difcharge 
 of his duty that he had been prefent, 
 when the moft fubtile Advocates for Irre- 
 iigion either were filenced, or induced to 
 acknowledge their principles to be much 
 lefs defenfible, than they had hitherto 
 thought them. None of the impreffions 
 of what had been done for him, or faid to 
 him, of had pafled before him, could hold 
 
 out
 
 On the Choice of Company. 7 1 
 
 out againft Ridicule j it effaced every trace 
 of them, and prepared him to be as bad, as 
 his worft companions could be inclined to 
 make him. How great a neglect of him 
 enfued 1 They who had laugh'd him out 
 of the reverence due to his parent's worth, 
 rendered him foon defpifed by All, whofe 
 efteem could profit or credit him ; and he 
 died in the 70* h year of his confutation, 
 when but in the 25 th of his age. 
 
 jfin 
 
 F4 LET-
 
 72 On the Ckoke of Company* 
 
 C'-ui* 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 :.<Hi 
 
 SIR, 
 
 
 MY laft gave you a melancholy in-^ 
 ftance of the hurt, done by Ridicule 
 to the heir of a moft worthy man, not ma- 
 ny miles from you f What influence 
 it had towards the condemnation of 
 Him, to whom the Epithet of Divine 
 roight, perhaps, be more properly applied, 
 than to any one, who ever lived under 
 the fole guidance of Reafon, has long, you 
 know, been matter of difpute. I will on-r 
 Jy obferve, concerning the Cornic Writer's 
 Ridicule of Socrates 
 
 i, That, when fuch a reprefentation 
 cquld be made of fo Excellent a perfon, 
 it demonftrates, that no degree of worth 
 can fecure Any ferfon from an attempt to 
 is credit's and that they, whofe
 
 On the Choice of Company. 7 3 
 capacities fully enable them to difcern this 
 worth, may be its fpitefulleft enemies, and 
 bend their wits to difparage it - 
 
 2. That, when fuch a reprefentation 
 could be made by a man of good parts, with 
 any confidence of fuccefs, it is, further, an 
 evidence of the probability, that the higheft 
 and moft juft reputation may fuffer from 
 Ridicule, and that it may bring into con* 
 tempt what is entitled to the greateft efteern 
 and honour* * 
 
 3, That if the Athenians were fo well 
 pleafed * with the means, ufed to leflen the 
 character of this Ornament, not only to his 
 country, but his fpecies, as to render the 
 interpofition of a powerful party in the 
 State neceflary, to prevent the Poet's abufe 
 from meeting with all the fuccefs, he pro- 
 mifed hirnfelf in it b j we are fully taught, 
 what may be the pernicious effects of inge- 
 nious drollery- how much it may weaken 
 
 a Ax.*?/** ifogn nfir<>v, &c. Hse nebula; vifas illis acroa- 
 ma fuaviffimum ; & Poetam plaufu tanto profequebantur, 
 quanto nunquam antea. 
 
 v -&LIAN. Var. Hift. Vol. I. p. 102. 
 
 * Alcibiadis fadtio obftitit, quo minus vinceret Arifto- 
 Scholia in jr/>e9, Nubww, apud KUHN, 
 
 tte
 
 74 On the 
 
 the force of any iriftruftion, or of any ex- 
 ample. 
 
 r 
 
 Where violent methods are purfued, in 
 
 order to withdrayv* : uV from any religious 
 fra&iceot opinion ; : they who thus oppofe it 
 mewing thereby, that they look upon it as 
 fomewhat of great importance, teach us to do 
 the famej and often increafe our attachment 
 to it render us more earnerl about if, than 
 wey otherwife, mould have been. But 
 where fachpra&ice or opinion is treated as a 
 matter of jeft where it meets with all .the 
 flight, that fcoffing and laughter can exprefs, 
 we fcarcely know how to preferve our re- 
 gard to it, as a thing of muchconfequencej 
 and from efteeming it of little moment, we 
 eatily proceed to judge it of none at all. 
 
 The force that is offered us, on account 
 of our perfuallon, either occafions fuch an 
 averfion from him, who applies to it, as 
 prevents his having any -influence upon us; 
 or engages us in ib careful an attention to 
 the grounds, upon which we formed our 
 judgment, as fixes us in the refolution not 
 to alter it. But when all pailes under the 
 appearance of good humour when only 
 
 mirth
 
 On the Choice of Company. 7 5 
 
 mirth and pleafantry are exerted againft us, 
 we neither contract that hatred towards thofe, 
 by whom we are thus treated, which will 
 be our fecurity from any bad impreflibns 
 they can make upon us; nor are we excited 
 to any examination of our principles, that 
 can confirm us in them. The freedom 
 which our companions ufe, in fporting with 
 what we have hitherto reverenced, will 
 tempt us to conclude, that its importance 
 is far from being obvious ; nor, indeed, can 
 it fail, unlefs our minds have a more than 
 ordinary firmnefs, to raife at length fome 
 doubt in us, whether we have not been 
 too fanciful or too credulous. And as-n;t 
 
 " The woman , who deliberates, is loft,** 
 we may fear the man will be fo likewife, 
 who fuffers himfelf to queftion, how well 
 founded his ferioufnefs is, merely becaufe 
 his aflbciates are continually deriding it. 
 
 Would you not, induftrioufly, keep out of 
 the way of thofe, who had power to torture 
 you, and whom you knew ready to do it; if 
 you would not be guided by them, but was 
 determined to think and aft, as your own 
 reafon ihould dired ? Believe me, Sir, the 
 
 Scoffer
 
 7 6 On the Choice of Company. 
 Scoffer fhould be as much fhunned by the 
 friend to virtue, as the Inquifitor by the 
 friend to truth. Whoever would attain 
 or prefer ve a juft fenfe of his duty> fhould 
 have as little intercourfe as pofBble with 
 thofe who would difcourage fincerity 
 who would oppofe it, either by the faggot, 
 or the fair, a of Smithfeld. A very un- 
 common refolution is required to be fteady 
 to the principles, from avowing which we 
 mult expecl: to be the Heroes in a farce ; 
 though we need not apprehend that it will 
 make us Victims to the flames. 
 
 What your temper may be, I cannot af- 
 firm; but I really think that, with great 
 numbers, Drollery is not only a fpecies of 
 persecution, but the moft dangerous kind 
 pf if : they would ,as foon be fcourged, as 
 mocked ; be burthened with the crofs, as 
 habited with the purple. You can fcarce- 
 ly be enough aware of the rifk you run 
 from being jefted with, as a Vifionary or a 
 Bigot as one of much whim, or very lit- 
 tle 'penetration, 
 
 * Bartholomew Fair, during which Plays and Farces 
 were formerly, from morning to night, the entertainment 
 of the Populace. 
 
 But
 
 0ibe Choice of Compaq. $? 
 
 But enough of the inducements, that 
 vitious companions would be under to cor- 
 rupt you, and the means they would 
 to do it. - 
 
 The care you mould take, in the choice 
 of your company, will be the fubjedl of but 
 one Letter more from 
 
 >i a T T 3 j 
 
 Tour, &c. 
 .'..A I 3 
 
 no t W> 6) svsd I vl J 
 
 bysiL. ' \ .7 u 
 
 ,. I n ,i3aj 
 
 .21 | ./">Ioqa 
 
 
 . 
 
 .B<: 
 
 . 
 ' 
 . 
 
 ; t cnoi: L E T- 
 
 rr ; . 
 i::-.
 
 7 8 On the Choke of Company. 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 S I R, 
 
 ALL I have to add, on what has 
 lately been the fubject of my cor- 
 refpondence with you, will be contained 
 in this Letter. I will not lengthen it, by 
 apologizing for it. 
 
 Might I fuppofe you fo fortified by a 
 right difpofition, a wife education, good 
 fenfe, and a thorough knowledge of the rea- 
 fonablenefs of the practice enjoined by your 
 Religion, that every attempt to corrupt 
 your morals would mifcarry ; this hurt, 
 however, you would be fure to find from 
 being much in the company of vitious -men, 
 that you would be lefs careful to become 
 
 eminently virtuous you would be lefs 
 
 careful to fulfil your obligations, than you 
 
 other-
 
 Qn the Choice~~&fiCompan^ 79 
 
 etherwife would be. While you faw others 
 fq much worfe than yaurfelf; you woukj 
 not consider, how much better you ought 
 
 to be, than, you at prefent arc While 
 
 their grofs" faults were avoided-, you would 
 notconfider, how much there is m-.yoU, that 
 ought to be amended, ? g w Dr j y&fr# t )n!JY 
 
 We 'meafure what is, in any way, com- 
 mendable, by comparing our mare oiPK 
 with that of our neighbour : -we don't 1 rfe- 
 ard in what degree, a3 to itfelf, we'poffels 
 the Good, but in how greater a degree it f fe 
 poflefled-by us, than by others. 
 
 -lib ' ' ' ' I -V/ 
 
 v r t yAmong a very ignorant people, a r .fch^kr 
 of the loweft form will pals, both in theif 
 and his own judgment, for an adept. 
 
 You wou-ld, I am fure, pronounce :f 
 any Gentleman, who kept mean company, 
 that there was little hope of his ever acting 
 a part, w.hich would greatly credit him : 
 While he.bved to be chiefly with thoic^ 
 who \vouUl own, and- do homage to, his 
 fuperiority -, you wpuld think him by 
 T\$ means .likely to cultivate much, real 
 worth. And were it to be faid, that 
 you (hould make fuch a judgment of him, 
 
 not 

 
 8o On the Choke of Company. 
 not becaufe of any impfeffion he would re* 
 ceivefrom his companions^ but becaufe of the 
 difpofition he fhewed in the choice of them j 
 I {hould- be glad to know, how that man 
 muft be thought affefted towards Religion 
 arid Virtue, who could be willingly pre- 
 fent, where he was fure, that they would 
 be grofsly depreciated. Whoever could 
 bear a difparagement of them, muft have 
 fo little fenfe of their worth, that vfce may 
 juftly conclude him. ill prepared for refift- 
 ing the attempt, to deprive them wholly of 
 their influence upon him. And, therefore, 
 we may as fitly determine, from the dif- 
 pofition evidenced by him, who keeps bad 
 company, what his morals will at length 
 be 3 as we can determine from the turn of 
 mind, difcovered by one who keeps mean 
 company, what his figure in the world is 
 likely to be. 
 
 Thofe among us, whofe capacities qualify 
 them for the mod confiderable attainments 
 who might raife themfelves to an equality 
 with the heroes in literature, of the laft 
 Century, fit down contented with the fu- 
 periority they have over their contempo- 
 raries -* acquiefce in furnifhing a bare fpe- 
 
 cimen
 
 On the Choice of Company. 8r 
 cimen of what they could do, if their genius 
 were roufed, if they were to exert their" 
 abilities. They regard only the advantage 
 they pofTefs over the idle and illiterate, by 
 whom they are furrounded $ and give way 
 to their eafe, when they may take it , and 
 yet appear as confiderable in their times, as 
 the learned men, we moft admirej did in 
 their refpeftive ages. 
 
 How many could I mention, to whom 
 Nature has been moft liberal of her endow- 
 ments, who are barely in the lift of Au- 
 thors, who have only writ enough to (hew 
 how much honour they would have done 
 their country, had their application been 
 called out, and if their names muft have 
 been no better known than thofe of their 
 acquaintance, unlefs their diligence had 
 equalled their capacity. 
 
 What is thus notorioufly true of literary 
 defert, is equally fo of moral : The perfons, 
 to whom we allot a greater mare of it, than 
 has long been found in any in their ftations, 
 how have they their fenfe of right with- 
 held from exerting itfelf, by the few they 
 meet with difpofed to animate them to any 
 G eudea-
 
 82 On the Choice of Company. 
 endeavour towards correcting the general 
 depravity by the connexions they have 
 with fuch numbers, whofe rule is their 
 inclination by that utter difregard to 
 duty, which they fee in moft of thofe, 
 with whom they have an intercourfe. 
 
 Alas ! in the very beft of us, a conviction 
 of what becomes us goes but a little way, in 
 exciting us to pradtife it. Solicitations to 
 be lefs oblervant of it are, from fome or 
 other quarter, perpetually offering them- 
 felves i and are by no means likely to be 
 withflood, if our refolutions are not ftreng- 
 thened by the wife counfels and correfpon- 
 dent examples a of our aflbciates. 
 
 " Behold ! Young man You live in 
 
 " an age, when it is requifite to fortify the 
 " mind by examples of conftancy." 
 
 This Tacitus mentions as the fpeech of 
 the admirable Thrafea to the Quasftor, fent 
 to tell him, he muft die j and by whom 
 
 a Longum iter eft per prxcepta, breve & efficax per ex- 
 empla. Zenonem Cleanthes non exprefliflet, fi eum tan- 
 tummodo audiflet. Vita: ejus imerfuit, fecreta perfpexit ; 
 obfervavit ilium, an ex formula fua viveret. Plato & AH- 
 ftoteles, & omnis in divwfum itura fapientium turba, plus 
 cx moribus quam ex vcrbis Socratis traxit. SBN. Epift. 
 
 he
 
 On the Choice of Company. 83 
 
 he would have it remarked, with what 
 compofure he died. 
 
 Nor is it only when our virtue endangers 
 our life, as was then the cafe, that fuch 
 examples are wanted. Wherever there is 
 a prevailing corruption of manners ; they, 
 who would act throughout the becoming 
 part, muft be animated to it by what they 
 hear from, and fee in, others, by the pat- 
 terns of integrity, which they have before 
 them. 
 
 We are eafily induced to judge fome de- 
 viation from our rule very excufable ; and 
 to allow ourfelves in it ; when our thoughts 
 are not called off from our own a weaknefs 
 
 a Quid eft hoc, Lucili, quod nos alio tendentes alio tra- 
 hit; & eo, unde recedere cupimus, impellit ? Quid col- 
 ludlatur cum animo noftro, nee permittit nobis quicquam 
 femel velle ? Fluftuamus inter varia confilia : nihil libere 
 volumus, nihil abfoiiue, nihil Temper. Stultitia, inquis, 
 eft, cui nihil conftat, nihil diu placet. Sed quomodo, 
 aut quando, nos ab ilia revellemus ? Nemo per fe fatis va- 
 let, ut emergat : oportet manum aliquis porrigat, aliquis 
 educat. SI;N. Ep. 52. 
 
 Nulla res magis animos honefta induit, dubiofque & in 
 pravum inclinantes revocat ad redlum, quam bonorum vi- 
 rorum converfatio. Paulatim enim defcendit ia peftora : 
 & vim praeceptorum obtinet, frequenter audiri, afpici fre- 
 quenter, fcfr. SEN. Ep. 94. 
 
 G 2 and
 
 84 On the Choice of Company. 
 and the general guilt : But while we are 
 converfant with thofe, whofe conduct is as 
 unfuitable, as our own, to that of the mul- 
 titude; we are kept awake to a fenfe of 
 our obligations our fpirits are fupported 
 yvejee! the courage that we beJjoldMve fee 
 what can be done by fuch as fhare our frail 
 nature j and we are afhamed to waver, 
 where they perjevere. 
 
 Arijlotle* confiders Friendship as of three 
 kinds -, One arifing from Virtue, Another 
 from Pleafure, and Another from Intereft ; 
 but juftly determines, that there can be no 
 true friendlhip, which is not founded in 
 Virtue. 
 
 The friendship contracted from pleafure, 
 or profit, regards only the pleafure or pro- 
 fit obtained thereby ; and ceafes, when thefe 
 precarious motives to it fail : but that, to 
 which Virtue gives birth, not having any 
 accidental caufe being without any de- 
 pendence on humour or intereft arifing 
 wholly from intrinfic worth, from what 
 we are in ourfelve?, never fluctuates, ope- 
 rates fteadily and uniformly, remains firm 
 
 3 Ethic. L. VIII. c. 3. 
 
 and
 
 On the Choice of Company. 85 
 and uninterrupted, is lading as our lives. 
 That which is the eflential qualification of 
 a friend^ mould be the chief recommenda- 
 tion in a .companion. If, indeed, 'we have 
 any concern for real worth ; with whom 
 {hould we be more defirous to converfe, 
 than with thofe, who would accompany us, 
 and encourage us, in'the purfuit of it? 
 
 The fame Writer, mentioning the ufe, 
 that Friends are of to us in every part of 
 life, remarks the benefit, which young men 
 find from them to be " That they keep 
 <f them in their Duty. J> 
 
 Had he thought, that any thing could 
 have been urged more in behalf of Friend- 
 mip ; he, undoubtedly, would have ob- 
 ferved it. And when fuch is the language 
 of fo able an Inftrufter, and of one who 
 guided himfelf in his inftructions only by 
 the certain, the prefent advantage, that 
 would attend a conformity to them ; the 
 leflbn we have here for the choice of com- 
 pany muft appear worthy the notice even 
 of thofe, who will have no other Guides, 
 but Reafon and Nature. 
 
 G 3 If
 
 86 On the Choke of Company. 
 If to keep us fteady to our Duty be the 
 
 bed office, that can be done us If they, 
 
 who are our friends, will be thus ferviceable 
 
 to us If the virtuous alone can be our 
 
 friends, our converfation mould be chiefly 
 with the virtuous j all familiarity with the 
 vitious mould be avoided -, we mould con- 
 fider thofe, who would deflroy our virtue, 
 as our enemies our very worft enemies, 
 whilft endeavouring to deprive us of the 
 greateft Blefling, that it is in our power to 
 obtain, 
 
 Jam, SIR, &c. 
 
 ON 

 
 O N 
 
 INTEMPERANCE 
 
 I N 
 
 - 
 
 EATING. 
 
 Pofcis opem nervis, corpufqtie fidele feneftae : 
 Efto ; age. Sed grandes patinae tucetaque crafla, 
 Annuere his Superos vetuere, Jovemque morantur. 
 
 PERS. Sat. II. 
 E/ 
 
 TV]V vxtrov *-retyti. Si quis pauca edat & pauca 
 bibat, nullum ei morbum adfert. HIPP, de Morb. 
 L. IV. Sect. 5.
 
 I 3 M A Jl 
 
 A .a
 
 [89 1 
 
 O N 
 
 Intemperance in Eating. 
 SECT. I. 
 
 HIS refpects the quantity of our 
 food, or the kind of it : If, in ei- 
 ther of thefe, we have no regard 
 
 to the hurt it may do us, we are guilty of 
 
 Intemperance. 
 
 From tranfgrefling in the quantity of our 
 food a fpeedier mifchief enfues, than from 
 doing fo in the quality of it a : and therein 
 we never can tranfgrefs, without being di- 
 rectly admonished of it, by our very confti- 
 tution. Our meal is never too large, but 
 heavinefs comes on the load on our fto- 
 
 a Cibi, licet fint faluberrimi, nimia affumti in quanti- 
 tate, magis fanitatem affligunt, quam intemperati, quando 
 |arciori modo aflumuntur, HOFFM. 
 
 mach
 
 go On Intemperance in Eating. 
 mach is our inftant tormentor ; and every 
 repetition of our fault a caution to us, that 
 we do not any more thus offend. A Cau- 
 tion, alas, how unheeded by us! Crammd 
 like an Englishman, was, I find, a prover- 
 bial expreffion in Era/mm's days * above 
 two hundred years ago. 
 
 An error barely in the kind of our ali- 
 ment gives us, frequently, no prefent alarm ; 
 and, perhaps, but a very flight one, after we 
 have, for fome years, continued in it. In 
 the vigour of youth, fcarce any thing we 
 eat appears to difagree with us : we gratify 
 our palate with whatever pleafes it ; feeling 
 no ill confequence, and therefore fearing 
 none. b The inconveniences, that we don't 
 yet find, we hope we (hall always efcape -, 
 
 a Haud fcio unde natum fit hoc vulgatiflimum apud 
 Gallos proverbiunj, ut, cum hominem vehqmenter cibo 
 diftentum velint intelligi, dicant, Tarn fatur eft, quam An- 
 glus. ERASM. Adag. Chil. z. 
 
 fc It is a fafer conclufion to fay / have found hurt by 
 ibis, therefore Irwill not continue it ; than this Ifndno of- 
 fence of this, therefore I may ufe it . For, Strength of Na-r 
 ture in Youth covers many excefles, which are owing a 
 man till his Age. Difcern the coming on of Years, and 
 venture not to continue the fame things always : for there 
 is no defying Age. BACOM'S Eff. 
 
 or
 
 On Intemperance in Eating. 9 1 
 or we then propofe to ourfelves a reftraint 
 upon our appetite, when we experience the 
 bad effects of indulging it. 
 
 With refpect to the quantity of our food 5 
 that may be no excefs in one man, which 
 may be the mod blameable in another : 
 What would be the height of gluttony in 
 us, if of a weak and tender frame, may 
 be, to perfons of much ftronger conftitu- 
 tions, a quite temperate meal. The fame 
 proportions of food can, likewife, never fuit 
 fuch, as have in them difpofitions to parti- 
 cular difeafes, and fuch, as have no evils of 
 that nature to guard againft : Nor can they, 
 further, fuit thofe, who are employed in 
 hard labour, and thofe, who live wholly at 
 their eafe thofe, who are frequently ftir- 
 ring and in action, and thofe, whofe life is 
 ledentary and inactive. The fame man 
 may, alfo, in the very fame quantity, be 
 free from, or guilty of, Excefs, as he is 
 young or old a healthy or difeafed b as' 
 he accuftoms his body to fatigue, or to re- 
 pofe. 
 
 8 Ciborum quantitas fenibus minor efle debet, quam aljis 
 aetatibus. RIVER. 
 
 ?> Infirmus homo parum aliment! defiderat. HOFFM. 
 
 The
 
 92 On Intemperance in Eating. 
 
 The influence, that pur food has upon 
 our health, its tendency to preferve or to 
 impair our Conftitution, is the meafure of 
 its temperance or excefs. 
 
 It may, indeed, fo happen, that our diet 
 fhall be, generally, very fparing, without 
 allowing us any claim to the virtue of tem- 
 perance 5 as when we are more defirous to 
 fave pur money, than to pleafe our palates, 
 and, therefore, deny ourfelves at our own 
 table, what we eat with greedinefs, when 
 we feed at the charge of others , as, like- 
 wife, when our circumftances not permit- 
 ting us, ordinarily, to indulge our appetite, 
 we yet fet no bounds to it, when we have 
 an opportunity of gratifying it. 
 
 He is the temperate man, whofe health 
 directs his appetite who is beft pleafed 
 with what beft agrees with him who eats, 
 not to gratify his tafte, but to preferve his 
 life a who is the fame at every table, as at 
 
 a Efle oportet, ut vivas; non vivere, ut edas. 
 
 Cic. ad Her. L. IV. 
 
 *\tyt TC /MI dxMtc, &c. Aiebat [Socrates] alios homines 
 vivere ut ederent, fe ideo edere ut viveret. 
 
 DIOG. LAERT. 95. 
 
 Velleius Pafercu/us, fpeaking tf Julius Caefar, fays Qui 
 Temper & fomno & cibo in vitam, non in voluptatem, ute- 
 retur 4 Lib. II. p. 41. 
 
 his
 
 On Intemperance in Eating. 9 3 
 his own who, when he feafts, is not 
 cloy'd ; and fees all the delicacies before 
 him, that luxury can accumulate; yet pre- 
 ferves a due abftinence amidft them. 
 
 The rules of temperance not only oblige 
 us to abftain from what now does, or what 
 we are fure foon will, hurt us : we offend 
 againft them, when we avoid not whatever 
 has a probability of being hurtful to us. 
 They are, further, tranfgreffed by too great 
 nicety about our food by much folicitude 
 and eagernefs to procure what we moft re- 
 lifh by frequently eating to fatiety. 
 
 We have a Letter remaining of an Hea- 
 then, who was one of the mod eminent 
 perfons in an age diftinguidied by the great 
 men it produced, in which he exprefles 
 how uneafy it made him, to be among thofe, 
 who placed no fmall part of their happi- 
 nefs in an elegant table, and who filled 
 themfelves twice a day. a 
 
 In thus defcribing Temperance, let me 
 not be underftood to cenfure* as a failure 
 therein, all regard : to the food, that ben; 
 
 1 PLAT. Epift. 7. 
 
 pleafes
 
 94 On Intemperance in Eating. 
 pleafes us, when it is equally wholefom 
 with other kinds when its' price is neither 
 unfuitable to our circumftances, nor very 
 great when it may be conveniently pro* 
 cured -when we are not anxious about it 
 when we do not frequently feek after it 
 when we are always moderate in its ufe. 
 
 To govern our appetite is necefTary j but, 
 in order to this, there is no neceffity, that 
 we mould always mortifyrt. that we {hould, 
 upon every occafion, confider what is leaft 
 agreeable to us. 
 
 Life is no more to be paffed in a con- 
 ftant felf-denial, than in a round of fen- 
 fual enjoyments. We mould endeavour, 
 that it may not be, at any time, painful to 
 us to deny ourfelves what is improper for 
 us j and, on that as well as other accounts, 
 it is molt fitting that we (hould frequently 
 pradife felf-denial that we {hould often 
 forego what would delight us. a But to do 
 
 a Em/no * ftiKftv, ^fc. Illud exiguum non eft, appetitum 
 poffe inhibere, diim adhuc fruendi adelt copia : minus enim 
 abfentia concupifcuar, qui adfueverunt abftinere pracfend- 
 bus. PLUT. Sympof. 704. 
 
 Tt> <T thl^id T /I 1 
 
 Tira PVTHAG. Aur. Carm. 
 
 this
 
 On Intemperance in Eating. 95 
 this continually, I cannot fuppofe required 
 of us; becaufe it doth not feeni reafonable 
 to think that it mould be our duty wholly 
 to debar ourfelves of that food, which our 
 palate \% formed to relifh, and which we are 
 fure may be ufed, without any prejudice to 
 our virtue, or our health. 
 
 Thus much may fuffice to inform us, 
 when we incur the guilt of eating intem- 
 perately. 
 
 The difTuafives from it, that appear of 
 greater! weight, are thefe : 
 
 It is the grofleft abufe of the gifts of 
 Providence. 
 
 It is the vileft debafement of ourfelves. 
 
 Our bodies owe to it the moft painful 
 difeafes, and, generally, a fpeedy decay. 
 
 It frequently interrupts the ufe of our 
 nobler faculties, and is fure, at length, 
 greatly to enfeeble them. 
 
 The ftraits to which it often reduces u$, 
 occafion our falling into crimes, which 
 would, other wife, have been our utter ab- 
 horrence. 
 
 SECT.
 
 g6 On Intemperance in Eating. 
 
 *%J&^ 
 
 & 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 TO confider, firft, excefs in our food 
 as the groffeft abufe of the gifts of 
 Providence. 
 
 The vaft variety of creatures, with which 
 God has replenifhed the earth the abun- 
 dant provifion, which he has made for many 
 of them the care, which he has taken 
 that each fpecies of them mould be pre- 
 ferved the numerous conveniences they 
 adminifter to us the pleafing change of 
 food they afford us the fuitable food that 
 we find, among their different kinds, to 
 different climates, to our different ways of 
 life, ages, confutations, diftempers > are., 
 certainly, the moft awakening call to the 
 higheft admiration, and the gratefullefl/^% 
 of the Divine wifdom and goodnefs. This 
 fenfe is properly expreffed, by the due ap- 
 plication of what is fo graciouily afforded 
 us by the application of it to thofe pur-. 
 
 pofes
 
 On Intemperance in Eating. 97 
 pofes, for which it was manifeftly intended. 
 But how contrary hereto is his practice, 
 who lives as it were but to eat, and confi- 
 ders the liberality of Providence only as 
 catering for his. Luxury ! What mif- 
 chief this luxury doth us will be prefently 
 confideredj and, in whatfoever degree it 
 hurts us, we to fuch a degree abufe our 
 Maker's bounty, which mufl defign our 
 good which, certainly, is directed to our 
 welfare. Were we, by indulging our ap- 
 petites, only to make ourfelves lefs fit for 
 .r any- of the offices of life, only to become 
 lefs capable of difcharging any of the du- 
 ties of our {ration; it may be made evident, 
 that, in this refpect likewife, our ufe of 
 the Divine beneficence is quite contrary to 
 what it requires. He who has appointed 
 us our bufinefs here who, by our pecu- 
 liar capacities, has fignified to us our pro- 
 per employments, thereby difcovers to us, 
 how far merely to pleafe ourfelves a is al- 
 
 a Vidus cultufque corporis ad valetudinem referantur, 
 & ad vires, non ad voluptatem. Atque etiam fi confide- 
 rare volumus, quse fit in Natura excellentia & dignitas ; 
 intelligemus, quam fit turpe difHuere luxuria, & delicate ac 
 molliter vivere; quamque honeftum, Parce, Continenter, 
 Severe, Sobrie. Cic. deOff. Lib. I. 
 
 H lowed
 
 98 On Intemperance in Eating. 
 lowed us j and that, if we do fo, to the 
 hindrance of a nobler work, it is oppofing 
 his intention ; it is defeating the end of life, 
 by thofe very gifts, which were beftowed to 
 carry us on more chearfully towards it. 
 
 When my palate has a large fcope for its 
 innocent choice when I have at hand 
 what may moft agreeably recruit my 
 ftrength, and what is moft effedual to pre- 
 ferve it ; how great ingratitude and bafe- 
 nefs (hew themfelves in the excefs, which 
 perverts the aim of fo much kindnefa, and 
 makes that to be the caufe of my forgetting 
 with what view I was created, which ought 
 to keep me ever mindful of it ! As the 
 bounty of Heaven is one of the ftrongeft 
 motives to a reafonable life, how guilty are 
 we if we abufe it to the purpofes of a. fen- 
 fual ! a Our crime muft be highly agra- 
 vated, when the more conveniences our 
 Maker has provided for us, we are fo 
 
 * Animus incorruptus, zeternus, relor human! generis, 
 agit, atqne habet cunfta, neque ipfe habetur. Quo magis 
 pravitas eorum admiranda eft, qui, dediti corporis gaudiis, 
 per luxum atque ignaviam sctatem agunt ; ceterum inge- 
 nium, quo neque melius neque amplius aliud in natura 
 mortalium eft, incultu atque focordia torpefcere fmunt. 
 
 SALLUST. Bell. Jugurth. 
 
 much
 
 On Intemperance in Eating. 99 
 
 much the more unmindful of the tafk he 
 has enjoined us when by his granting us 
 what may fatisfy our appetite, we are in- 
 duced wholly to confult it, and make our- 
 felves flaves to it. 
 
 - f IO5 * fci f J\ f l *Ji*3v!C; fc i-'f s : ' 3 ' 'J 'i- 
 
 Let Intemperance ; in our food be next 
 confidered, as the mamefullefl debafemeht 
 of ourfelves. 
 
 Life, as we have been wifely taught to 
 confider it, is more than meat. Man could 
 not be fent into the world but for quite dif- 
 ferent purpofes, than merely to indulge his 
 palate. He has an understanding given 
 him, which he may greatly improve ; many 
 are the perfections, which he is qualified to 
 attain ; much good to his fellow-creatures 
 he has abilities to do : and all this may be 
 truly faid of all mankind ; all of us may 
 improve our reafon, may proceed in virtue, 
 may be ufeful to our fellow- creatures. There 
 are none, therefore, to whom it is not the 
 fouleft reproach, that their belly is their 
 God that they are more felicitous to fa- 
 vour, and thereby to flrengthen, the im- 
 portunity of their appetite, than to weaken 
 and mafter it, by frequent refiftance and re- 
 H a ftraint.
 
 ioo On Intemperance in Eating. 
 ftraint. The reasonable Being is to be 
 always under the influence of Reafon; it is 
 his excellence, his prerogative, to be fo : 
 Whatever is an hindrance to this degrades 
 him, reflects on him difgrace and contempt. 
 And as our reafon and appetite are in a con- 
 ftant oppofition to each other, there is no 
 indulging the latter, without leffening the 
 power of the former: If our appetite is not 
 governed by, it will govern, our reafon, 
 and make its moft prudent fuggeftions, 
 its wifefl counfels, to be unheeded and 
 flighted. 
 
 The fewer the wants of any being are, 
 we muft confider it as fo much the more 
 perfect ; fmce thereby it is lefs dependent, 
 and has lefs of its happinefs without itfelf. 
 When we raife our thoughts to the Beings 
 above us, we cannot but attribute to the 
 higher orders of them, ftill farther removes 
 from our own weaknefs and indigence, 'til 
 we reach God himfelf, and exempt him 
 from wants of every kind. a 
 
 * Edam, u Ay7/eir> Tr tuf*t/uc>ii*.v, &e. Videris, O Anti- 
 pho, felicitatem deliciis & divitiis metiri: ego autem, nul- 
 
 =".'4 r j Know-
 
 On Intemperance in Rating, i o i 
 
 Knowing thus what muft be afcribed 
 to natures, fuperior to ours, we cannot be 
 ignorant, what is our own beft recommend- 
 ation ; by what our nature is raifed 3 where- 
 in its worth is diftinguiihed. 
 
 To be without any wants is the Divine 
 prerogative ; our praife is, that we* add not 
 to the number of thofe, to which .we were 
 appointed -that we have none we can 
 avoid that we have none from our own 
 mifconduct. In this we attain the utmoft 
 degree of perfection within our reach. 
 
 On the other hand, when fancy has mul- 
 tiplied our neceffities when we owe I 
 
 know not how many to ourfelves when 
 
 our eafe is made dependent on delicacies, to 
 which our Maker never fubjected it when 
 the cravings of our Luxury bear no pro- 
 portion to thofe of our natural hunger, 
 what a degenerate race do we become ! 
 
 lis quidem indigere rebus, divinum; pauciffimis vero, illo- 
 rum effe duco, qui quam proximi Superis fint. 
 
 XENOPH. de difl. & fai. Socr. 
 
 Av^oirftiK Av\at o &t&, &c. Liber eft prorfus ab omni 
 egeftate Deus : ex humana virtute, quae minime eget, ea 
 demum abfolutiflima eft & diviniffima. PLUT. 354. 
 
 M. DACIER, in his Note on this pafiage, fays, Cefont 
 trtii lignes teutes for. 
 
 H 3 What
 
 102 On Intemperance in Eating. 
 What do we but fink our rank in the Cre- 
 ation ! a 
 
 He whofe voracioufnefs prevents his be- 
 ing fatisfied, 'til he is loaded to the full of 
 what he is able to bear, who eats to the 
 utmoft extent of what he can eat, is a mere 
 brute, and one of the loweft kind of brutes ; 
 the generality of them obferving a juft mo- 
 deration in their food when duly relieved 
 feeking no more, and forbearing even what 
 is before them. But below any brute is 
 he, who, by indulging himfelf, has con- 
 traded wants, from which nature exempted 
 him; b who mud be made hungry by art, 
 
 8 Miferrimos mortalium judicet, in quantifcunque opi- 
 bus refulgebunt, ventri ac libidini deditos. 
 
 SEN. de Ben. Lib. VII. 
 
 T? (w ),*rpi(**ni&t, &V. Eos qui gulofitates, lafci- 
 
 vias cogitarint, nee ab illis rebus caverint, in afinorum ge- 
 nera, fimiliumque ferarum formam, indui verifimile eft. 
 
 PLAT. Phzd. 81. 
 
 > T^fin yt < funr. & c . Prifcos (^Egyptios) aiunt ita 
 
 luxuriam atque deliciarum ftudium traduxifle, ut co- 
 
 lumnam quoque perhibitum fit Thebis in templo pofitam 
 fuiffe, in qua dirae imprecationes infcriptae fuerint in Mei- 
 nin Regem, qui primus ^Egyptios a tenui, & opum pecu- 
 niaeque non indigente, viftus ratione deduxiflfet. Dicitur 
 etiam Technatis, qui Bocchorera filium habuit, cum expe- 
 ditionem in Arabas faceret, & impedimenta morarentur, 
 
 muft
 
 On Intemperance in Eating. 103 
 
 muft have his food undergo the mod un- 
 wholfom preparations, before he can be 
 inclined to tafte it ; only reliming what is 
 ruinous to his health ; his life fupported by 
 what neceflarily fhortens it. A part this, 
 which, when acted by him, who has rea- 
 fon, reflection, foreiight given him, wauts 
 a name to reprefent it, in the full of its de- 
 formity. With privileges fo far beyond 
 thofe of the creatures below us, how great 
 is our bafenefs, our guilt ; if thofe endow- 
 ments are fo far abufed, that they ferve us 
 but to find out the means of more grofsly 
 corrupting ourfelves ! 
 
 I cannot quit this head, without remark- 
 ing it to be no flight argument of the dif- 
 honour we incur by Gluttony, that nothing 
 is more carefully avoided in all well-bred 
 Company, nothing would be thought by 
 fuch more brutal and rude, than the dif- 
 covery of any marks of our having eat in* 
 
 obvio cibo fuaviter ufus, fuper toro fomnum cepifle pro- 
 fundum, caque re indudlum, Meinin fuifle exfecratum, ac 
 - -exfecrationem earn in columna incifam pofuifle. 
 
 PLUT. dt If. & Oftr. 354. 
 
 H 4 tern-
 
 1 04 On Intemperance in Rating. 
 temperately a of our having exceeded that 
 proportion of food, which is proper for our 
 nourifhment. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 TO conlider, further, excefs in our 
 food as haftening our death, and 
 bringing on us the moft painful difeafes. b 
 
 It is evident, that nothing contributes 
 more to the prefervation of life, than Tem- 
 perance. c 
 
 Keu iu ft TJ i,ucfj.i\'it jutflvfita., &f. Quin hoc etiam 
 tempore teftimonia extant & moderati eorum viftus & la- 
 borum, quos cibi digerendi caufa fufcipiunt. Turpe enim 
 hac etiam tempeftate apud Perfas habetur exfpuere, & fla- 
 tus videri plenos. XENOPH. de Cyri In/lit. Lib. I. 
 
 t> A/>Jtc t\ty>ii vui 6i*.uv) ff<r. Diogenes dicebat, earum 
 domorum in quibus copia alimenti, multos efle mures : 
 fie etiam corpora, quae multum cibi capiant, morbos quo- 
 que multos afcifcere. STOB. 
 
 Impotentia Gulae non inepte generis humani Carnifex 
 nuncupatur. HOFFM. 
 
 c A w- v>/, fer f . Valetudinem excolunt citra fati- 
 etatem cibis vefci, & impigrum efle ad laborem. 
 
 HIPP. deMorb.Vulg. L.VI. 
 
 Ex-
 
 On Intemperance in 'Eating. 1 05 
 Experience proves it to be actually fo -, 
 and the ftrudure of the human body mews 
 that it mufl be fo. 
 
 They who defcribe the Golden Age, or 
 the Age of Innocence, and near a thoufand 
 years of life, reprefent the cuftomary food 
 of it, as the plainefl and moft fimple. 
 
 Whether animal food was at all ufed be- 
 fore the Flood, is queftioned: we certainly 
 find, long after it, that Lot's making a 
 feaft is defcribed by his baking unleavened 
 bread. 
 
 Abraham entertained thofe, whom he 
 confidered of fuch eminence, as that, to 
 ufe the words of Scripture, be ran to meet 
 them from the tent- door , and bowed himfelfto 
 the ground-, Abraham's entertainment, I fay, 
 of perfons thus honoured by him, was only 
 with a calf, with cakes of meal, with but- 
 ter and milk. 
 
 Gideon's hofpitality towards the moil il- 
 luftrious of guefts mewed itfelf in killing a 
 kid of the goats ; and we read that Jeffe 
 looked upon this to be a prefent, which his 
 Prince would not difdain. 
 
 Per,
 
 i o 6 On Intemperance in Eating. 
 
 Perhaps my Reader would rather take a 
 meal with fome of the worthies of Profane 
 Hiftory, than with thofe, whom the Sacred 
 has recorded. 
 
 I will be his Introducer. He (hall be a 
 gueft at an entertainment, which was, cer- 
 tainly, defigned to be a fplendid one ; fince 
 it was made by Achilles for three fuch con- 
 fiderable Perfons, as Phanix, Ajax, and 
 Ulyjjes 5 Perfons, whom he himfelf repre- 
 fents as being, of all the Grecian chiefs, 
 thofe whom he moft honours. 
 
 He will eafily be believed herein ; for 
 this declaration is fcarce fooner out of his 
 mouth, than He and his friends, Patroclus 
 and Automedoriy feverally employ themfelves 
 in making up the fire chopping the meat, 
 
 and putting it into the pot -Or, if Mr. 
 
 Pope be allowed to defcribe their Tafks on 
 this occafion, 
 
 Patroclus o'er the blazing fire 
 
 Heaps in a 1 brazen vafe three chines entire: 
 The brazen vafe Automedon fuftains, 
 Which flejh ofporket^Jheep and goat con- 
 tains ; 
 
 Achilles
 
 On Intemperance in Eating, i o 7 
 Achilles at the genial feaft prefides, 
 The parts transfixes, and with fkili 
 
 divides. 
 Mean while Patroclm fweats the fire to 
 
 raife ; 
 
 The tent is brighten'd with the riling 
 blaze." 
 
 But who is dreffing the fifh and fowls? 
 This feaft, alas! furnifhes neither. The 
 Poet is fo very bad a Caterer, that he pro- 
 vides nothing of that kind for his Heroes on 
 this occafion ; or, on another, even for the 
 luxurious Phteacians. Such Samples thefe 
 of Homers entertainments, as will gain en- 
 tire credit to what is faid of them in Plutarch, 
 " that we muft rife almoft hungry from 
 << them." Symp. Lib. II. Qu. 10. 
 
 Should the blind Bard be confidered as a 
 Stroller keeping low company, and there^ 
 fore, in the Feafts he makes for the Great, 
 likely more to regard the quantity of the 
 food, which he provides for them, than the 
 kind of it : Would you rather be one of 
 Virgil 's Guefls, as he lived in an age, when 
 
 good eating was underftood converfed 
 
 with people of rank -knew what dimes 
 
 they
 
 i o 8 On Intemperance in Rating. 
 they liked, and would therefore not fail to 
 place fuch before them? 
 
 You (hall then be the Gueft of the Roman 
 
 p oe t. Do you chufe beef, or mutton 
 
 would you be helped to Pork, or do you 
 prefer Goat's-flefh ? You have no ftomach 
 for fuch fort of diet. He has nothing elfe 
 for you, unlefs Polyphemus will fpare you a 
 leg or an arm of one of the poor Greeks he 
 is eating; or unlefs you will join the half- 
 drowned Crew, and take a bit of the Stags, 
 which are dreffed as foon as killed ; or un- 
 lefs you are a great lover of bread and ap- 
 ples, and in order to fatisfy your hunger, 
 will, in the language of Afcanius, eat your 
 table. 
 
 Didoy indeed, gives Mneas and his com- 
 panions a mofl fplendid entertainment, as 
 far as numerous attendants conftitute one ; 
 but the Poet mentions nothing, that the 
 Heroes had to eat, except bread ; whatever 
 elfe was got for them he includes in the 
 general term Dapes; which, in other parts 
 of the JEneidy is applied to all the coarfe 
 fare already mentioned. 
 
 As the Luxury of mankind increafed, 
 their lives fhortened: The half of Abra- 
 
 bam's
 
 On Intemperance in Eating. 1 09 
 barn's age became regarded as a ftretch, far 
 beyond the cuftomary period. So in pro- 
 fane hiftory we find, that when the arts of 
 Luxury were unknown in Rome, its feven 
 Kings reigned a longer term, than, after- 
 wards, upon the prevalency of thofe arts, 
 was compleated by its firft twenty Empe- 
 rors. 
 
 Such perfons, indeed, among the ancients 
 whofe precepts and practice moft recom- 
 mended Temperance in diet, were eminent 
 inftances of the benefit accruing from it, in 
 the health preferved, and long life attained, 
 by it. 
 
 a Gorgias lived 107 years. 
 
 b Hippocrates reached, according to fome 
 writers, his io4 th year, according to others 
 his 109 th . 
 
 Pythagoras, of whom it was obferved, 
 that he was never known to eat to fatiety, 
 lived to near i oo years 5 if "Jamblichm may 
 be credited. D. Laertius fays, that accord- 
 
 a See the Note a towards the end of this Seftion. 
 b See p. 87, and the quotations from his piece de Vift. 
 Rat. in the next Se&ion, and the Note c at the beginning 
 
 of s*a. 3. 
 
 ing
 
 1 1 o On Intemperance in Eating* 
 ing to moft writers he was, when he loft 
 his life, in his 9o tb year. Out of his fchool 
 came Empedocles, who lived, as forne fay, 
 to 109; and Xenophilus, who lived to 
 above 105. 
 
 * Zeno lived to 98 : His difciple and fuc- 
 ceflbr Ckanthes to 99. 
 
 b Diogenes y when he died, was about 90. 
 
 c Plato reached his 8 1 st year ; and his fol- 
 lower d Xenocrates his eighty-fourth. 
 
 Lycurgiis y the Lawgiver of the Lace- 
 danwmam, who, when they obeyed his 
 Laws, were not lefs diftinguifhed by their 
 * abftemioufnefs than by their fortitude, 
 
 a See the Note * towards the end of Seft 5. 
 
 b Among other inftances, mentioned by Diog. Laertius, 
 of the wifdom this Sage (hewed in educating the children 
 of Xeniades, one is Er o/* ft, &c. Domi quoque mini- 
 ftrare illos debere docebat, cibo tenui ac vili contentos, ac 
 aqua? potu. P. 330. 
 
 E^s* voxxjt/c, &c. Clamabat faspius, facilem hominum 
 vitam a Diisdatam efle, verum occultari illam a qusrenti- 
 
 bus mellita & his fimilia. P. 337. T >a$-^a, &c. 
 
 Ventrem vitae Chary bdim appellabat. P . 340. 
 
 e SeeSeft. i. 
 
 d See Note f towards the end of Seft. 5. 
 
 e Plutarch fays of their Youth, E<CT* twin*, &c. Ad 
 convivia ficut ad ludum temperantix ventitabant. See like- 
 wife the Note J towards the end of Seft. 5. 
 
 lived
 
 On Intemperance in Eating, in 
 lived to 85 ; and their King a Agefilam took 
 pay of Tacbos at 80 ; afterwards affifled 
 Netfanebos -, and, having eftablifhed him in 
 his Kingdom, died, in his return to Sparta, 
 at 84. 
 
 Cato y the Cenfor, is introduced by Tutty b 
 reprefenting himfelf as, when in his 84 th 
 year, able to affift in the Senate to fpeak 
 in the affembly of the people, and to give 
 his friends and dependents the affiftance, 
 which they might want from him. 
 
 Luciah introduces his Account of long- 
 lived perfons, with the obfervation, that it 
 might be of ufe, as mewing that they, who 
 took the moft care of their Bodies and 
 Minds, lived the longeft, and enjoyed the 
 befl health. 
 
 TUV 
 
 TJI JUUT*. PLUT. Vol. J. 596. He afterwards fays of Age- 
 Ji/aus, that, at his return from AJia, In ocalis fuit civium, 
 ex vitaque & viftu fufpiciendus. - Non coenam variavit, 
 fcfr. 606. His contempt of delicate fare may be further 
 feen, 616. 
 
 * De Seneftute, S. 10. Plutarch fays of him, Tr n 
 
 To 
 
 ^f, text Trpef iff%ut * vgif wytictr 0/u.ttXett 
 
 MTHtt tVt T( rf*l*t*Ci T^l tlirfit f^K
 
 U2 On Intemperance in Eating. 
 
 To come nearer to our own times : the 
 difcovery of a new world has confirmed the 
 obfervations, furnimed by the old ; that in 
 thbfe countries, where the greateft fim- 
 plicity of diet has been ufed, the greateft 
 length of life has been attained. 
 
 Of the ancient Inhabitants of 'Virginia we 
 are told, " That their chief dim was Mai*, 
 and that they drank only water: That their 
 difeafes were few, and chiefly proceeded from 
 exceflive heats or colds." AtL Geog. Vol. V. 
 p.. 71 1. Some of them lived to upwards of 
 200 years." PURCHAS, Vol. V. p. 946. 
 <c The Sobriety of the ancient Inhabitants 
 of Florida lengthen'd their lives in fuch fort, 
 that one of their Kings, fays Morgues^ told 
 me, He was three hundred years old $ and 
 his father, whom he then mewed me alive, 
 was fifty years older than himfelf." PUR- 
 CHAS, Vol. V, p. 961. 
 
 And if we now fearch after particular in- 
 ftances of perfons, reaching to extreme old 
 age j it is certain, that we mufl not refort 
 for them to courts and palaces ; to the 
 dwellings of the great or the wealthy} but 
 
 to
 
 On Intemperance in Eating. 113 
 to the cells of the a Religious, or to cot- 
 tages ; to the habitations of fuch, whofe 
 hunger is their fauce, and to whom a whol- 
 fom meal is a fufficiently delicate one. 
 
 Martha Waterhoufe, of the Townfhip of 
 North Bierley in Torkjhire, died about the 
 year 1711, in the ic>4 th year of her age : 
 Her maiden fitter, Hejler Jager, of the 
 fame place, died in 1713, in the 107"* 
 year of her age. They had both of them 
 relief from the Town (hip of Bier ley nigh 
 fifty years. Abridgment of PhiL Tranf. by 
 JONES, Vol. II. P. 2. p. 115. 
 
 Dr. Harvey, in his Anatomical Account 
 of T. Parr, who died in the 1 53 d year of 
 his age, fays that, if he had not changed 
 his diet and air, he might, perhaps, have 
 lived a good while longer. His diet was 
 
 Sozomen, having mentioned fome particulars of feve- 
 ral religious perfons, who had retired from the world, 
 and then taking notice of the advanced age of Paid the 
 Hermit, who lived an hundred and thirteen years, adds, 
 
 tan A\\tn ft T f>i\to8ty1uv Reliqui, quos fupra memo- 
 
 ravimus, Monachi fere omnes diu fuperftites vixere, Htft. 
 Eccl. L. VI. c. 34. Monachi & Eremitx, qui parce & 
 ficco alimento pafcebantur, fuerunt u: plurimnm longjevi. 
 BACON, Hijl. Vita &f Mortis. 
 
 I Old
 
 1 1 4 On Intemperance in Eating. 
 old cheefe, milk, coarfe bread, fmall beer 
 and whey. 
 
 Dr. T. Robinfon fays of H. Jenkins the 
 fimerman, who lived 169 years, that his 
 diet was coarfe and four. 
 
 Dr. M. Lifter, having mentioned feveral 
 old peribns of Craven in Torkfoire, fays 
 The food of all this mountainous country 
 is exceeding coarfe. Abr. of Phil. Tranf. 
 by Low THORP, Vol. III. p. 307, &c. 
 
 Euckanan a fpeaks of a fifherman in his 
 own time, who married at 100, went out 
 in his little riming boat in the roughed wea- 
 ther at 140, and at laft did not die of any 
 painful diftemper, but merely worn out by 
 age. Rer. Scot. Hift. Lib. I. ad fin. 
 
 a He fays of the Inhabitants of the Orcades In con- 
 vi&u quotidiano multum e vetufta parfimonia adhuc vulgus 
 retinet. Itaque perpetua corporis Sc animi fanitate fere 
 omnes fruuntur. Rari morbis, plerique omnes fenio fol- 
 vuntur : plufque apud eos deliciarum ignorantia, quam 
 apud alios medicorum ars & diligentia, ad falutem tuen- 
 dam prodeft. And a little after, fpeaking of the Inha- 
 bitants of the Shetland I/lands, of one of which the long, 
 lived fifherman was a native, he fays Vidtus ratio Heth- 
 landicis eadem qua; Orcadenfsbus, nifi quod juxta copias 
 domeflicas paulo afperior. 
 
 Plutarch
 
 On Intemperance in Rating. 115 
 
 Plutarch mentions our Countrymen as, 
 in his time, growing old at 120. To ac- 
 count for this, as 'he does, from their Cli- 
 mate, feems lefs rational, than to afcribe 
 it to their way of living, as related by Dio- 
 
 dorus Siculus, who tells us That their 
 
 diet was fimple, and that they were utter 
 ftrangers to the delicate fare of the weal- 
 thy. 
 
 In our feveral aeighbourhoods we all of 
 us fee, that they who leaft confult their 
 appetite, who leaft give way to its wanton- 
 nefs or voracioufnefs, attain, generally, to 
 years far exceeding theirs, who deny them- 
 felves nothing they can relifh, and conve- 
 niently procure. 
 
 Human life, indeed, being expofed to fo 
 many thoufand accidents, its end being 
 haftened by fuch a prodigious diverfity of 
 means, there is no care we can take of our- 
 felves, in any one refpe<5t, that will be our 
 effectual preservative ; but, allowing for ca- 
 fualties and difference in confutations, we 
 every where perceive, that the age of thofe, 
 who negleft the rules of temperance, is 
 
 I 2 Of
 
 ii 6 On Intemperance in Eating. 
 
 of a much fhorter date than theirs, by whom 
 thefe rules are carefully followed. a 
 
 And if we attend to our ftructure, it 
 muft thence be evident that it cannot be 
 otherwife. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 TH E human body may be confidered 
 as compofed of a great variety of 
 tubes, in which their proper fluid is in a 
 perpetual motion. Our health is accord- 
 ing to the condition, in which thefe veflels 
 and this fluid are. 
 
 The ruptured, or too relaxed, or too ri- 
 gid ftate of the one ; and the redundancy 
 or deficiency, the refolved or vifcid, the 
 acefcent or the putrefcent ftate of the other, 
 is a diforder in our frame. Whether our 
 
 n, ^frV. Gorgias interrogatus, 
 quonam ufus genere <vidus in tantam fenedutem progrefTus 
 eflet : Nihil unquam voluptatis gratia fe aut cQmtdiJJTt aut 
 feciiTe dixit. STOB. 548. 
 
 excefs
 
 On Intemperance in Eating. 117 
 
 excefs be in the quantity or quality of ali- 
 ment, we muft fuffer by it, in feme or other 
 of thefe ways. 
 
 By the ftomach being frequently loaded, 
 that fulnels of the veffels enfues, by which 
 the fibres are weakened the circulation 
 becomes languid perfpiration is leflened 
 obftruclions are formed the humours be- 
 come vifcid and foon putrid. 
 
 In the progrefs to this laft (late, different 
 difeafes take place, according to the gene- 
 ral ftrength or weaknefs of the folids, or 
 according to the debility of fome particular 
 organ j according to the conflitution of the 
 air ; according to our reft or motion ; ac- 
 cording to the warmth in which we keep, 
 or the cold, to which we expofe ourfelves, 
 
 e$> 
 
 Excefs may be in the quantity of our 
 food, not only when we eat fo, as to bur- 
 then the ftomach ; but, likewife, when our 
 meals bear not a juft proportion to our la- 
 bour or exercife.' 
 
 a Eft *rgo<T/*>y(r/c f*H, &c. Eft autem & praxognitio 
 antequam aegrotent, & affeftus corporum cognitio, utrum 
 cibi labores, an cibos laborcs fuperent, an moderate inter 
 
 I 3 We
 
 1 1 8 On Intemperance in Eating. 
 
 We are tempted to exceed in the quan- 
 tity of our food, by the feafoning of it, or 
 by the variety of it. 
 
 The ftimulus of fauce ferves but to ex- 
 cite a falfe appetite to make us eat much 
 more than we mould do, if our diet were 
 quite limple. 
 
 The effeft is the fame, when our meal is 
 compofed of feveral kinds of food : their 
 different taftes are fo many inducements to 
 excefs, as they are fo many provocations to 
 eat beyond what will fatisfy our natural 
 wants. a 
 
 fe habeant. Quodcunque enim fuperetur, ex eo morhi 
 continguat ; ex mutua vero inter fe zequabilitate, fanitas 
 adeft. HIPPOCR. de Via. Rat. Lib. III. 
 
 3 Multos morbos multa fercula fecerunt. SEN. Ep. 95. 
 
 Homini cibus utiliflimus fimplex. Acervatio ciborum 
 peftifera, & condimento perniciofior. PLIN. Nat. Hift. 
 L. XI. 
 
 Tria mala eveniunt ob ciborum varietatem ; mmium 
 comeditur, minus coquitur, & minus perfpiratur. SANCT. 
 Seel. 3. 
 
 Plerique flatuunt, viclum fimpliciflimum efle optimum ; 
 &vix aliud magis ad morborum generationem facere, quam 
 varietatem ciborum in una menfa. SENNERT. T. I. 
 
 Ciborum varietas fanitati noxiofiffima eft. RIVER. 
 
 Cibus cenfetur optimus ille qui fimpliciflimus. BOER. 
 Infl. Mcd. 
 
 And
 
 On Intemperance in Eating. 119 
 
 And thus, tho' we were never to touch 
 a dim, which had its relifh from any the 
 leaft unwholfom ingredient; tho' our diet 
 were the plaineft, and nothing came ever 
 before us, that had any other elegance than 
 from the feafon, in which it was brought 
 to our table, or the place in which it ap- 
 peared there ; we yet might greatly hurt 
 ourfelves ; we might be as intemperate, and 
 as fpeedily deftroy ourfelves by our intem- 
 perance, with roaft and boiled meat, as with 
 fricaffees and ragouts. 
 
 The quality of our aliment may be mif- 
 chievous to us, either as univerially preju- 
 dicial to the human conjlitution^ or as un- 
 fuitable to our own ; unfuitable to the 
 weaknefs of our whole frame, or to fome 
 
 Ciborum varietas nimise aviditati apprime lenocinatur, 
 & ad majorem fatietatem invitat ; eamque ob caufam omni 
 fludio ac ratione vitanda eft. HOFFMAN. 
 
 To thefe authorities let me add that of our Countryman 
 SYDENHAM : His advice here is, indeed, to perfons fub- 
 jec^ to the Gout ; but the reafons he affigns for fuch advice 
 may induce us to confider it as of general ufe. Unica 
 ciborum fpecie fingulis paftibus vefcendum arbitror, cum 
 varia ciborum genera fimul ingefta plus ventriculo molcftiae 
 faceflunt, quam unicum, quod omnia ifta quantitate exse- 
 quct. SYD, de Pod. 215. 
 
 I 4 defect
 
 1 2 o On Intemperance in Eating, 
 defect in the formation of a part of it, or 
 to that taint we have in us, from the dif- 
 eafes or vices of our Parents. 
 
 We may be greatly prejudiced by the 
 kind of our food, in many other ways ; and 
 we, ordinarily, are fo, by not regarding 
 what agrees with the climate, in which we 
 are' what with the country we inhabit 
 what with the manner of life we lead. 
 
 From the great heat that fpices occafion, 
 and from the length of time they continue 
 it, we may truly fay, that their copious 
 and daily ufe in food muft be injurious to 
 all conflitutions. 
 
 So for falted meats, the hurt that may be 
 feared from them, when they are our con- 
 ftant meals, is eafily collected, from the 
 irritation they muft caufe, in their pafTage 
 thro' the body from the injury, that muft 
 hence enfue to its finer membranes from 
 the numerous acrid particles, that mufl here- 
 by be lodged in the pores of the fkin, the 
 obstructions which this muft produce, and 
 the large quantity of perfpirable matter 
 which will, therefore, be detained in, and, 
 
 confequently, greatly fouj, the blood 
 
 from
 
 On Intemperance in Eating, 1 2 1 
 
 from the dreadful fymptoms, that attend a 
 high degree of the fcurvy ; the relief. o 
 which by vegetables, by frefh meat, by 
 liquids fitted to remove the effects of a 
 muriatic caufe, plainly mews them to be 
 owing to fuch a caufe. 
 
 Whatever has the haut-gout may be 
 looked upon as confiding of fuch active 
 particles, as cannot but make our frequent 
 
 eating of it very dangerous -as muft 
 
 render it much fitter to be ufcd as Phyfic, 
 than as food. 
 
 From a mixture of meats, each of them 
 wholfom in its kind, a bad chyle may be 
 formed : and the rule in Phyfic is, That an 
 error in the firft digeftion will not be 
 mended in the fecond. 
 
 A delicate conftitution is, fpeedily, either 
 quite deflroyed, or irrecoverably difordered, 
 when the diet is not exactly adapted to 
 
 it is not fuch as lead irritates, as lead 
 
 heats, as is mod eafily concocted, as foon- 
 ed pafles out of the body, and leaves the 
 feweft impurities behind it there. 
 
 The
 
 122 On Intemperance in Eating. 
 
 The vveaknefs, or the wrong formation, 
 of a part of our frame is, generally, a call 
 to the utmoft care about our food ; and as 
 our obferving this may extend our life, 
 even under either of thofe circumftances, 
 as far as we could have hoped it would 
 have been prolonged, if we had been with- 
 out any fuch defect $ fo our failure therein 
 may, in a very fhort time, be fatal to us. 
 
 The moft fimple aliment will, perhaps, 
 be unable to hinder our feeling, in fome 
 degree, the bad confequences of the dif- 
 eafes or irregularities of our parents : but 
 how far they mail affect us, depends, very 
 often, in a great meafure, upon our- 
 felves. 
 
 They may neither much contract the 
 term, nor much interrupt the comfort, of 
 life; if we will make hunger our fauce, 
 and, in every meal we eat, regard the dif- 
 tempers we inherit : but early, alas ! and 
 heavy will our fufferings be, our years few 
 and full of uneafinefs; when, without any 
 fuch regard, our tafte is directed by that of 
 the found and athletic when the felicita- 
 tions
 
 On Intemperance in Eating. 123 
 tions of appetite lead us to forget the rea- 
 fons we have to reftrain it. 
 
 In this climate and country, where, for 
 fo many months in the year, the cuticular 
 difcharges are fo fmall where the air fo 
 often, fo fuddenly, and to fo great a de- 
 gree, varies its equilibrium, and where our 
 veflels, therefore, are as frequently, as fud- 
 denly, and as greatly contracted or expan- 
 ded where fogs fo much abound, and fo 
 much contribute to impair the elafticity of 
 our fibres to hinder the proper both fe- 
 cretions and excretions to deftroy the due 
 texture of the blood, and vitiate our whole 
 habit ; it muft be obvious, what we have 
 to fear, when our aliment hurts us in the 
 fame way with our air when the one 
 heightens the diforder, to which we are 
 cxpofed by the other. 
 
 An inattention to the nutriment fit for 
 us, when we, feldom, ufe any exercife, or, 
 always, very gentle when our life is fe- 
 dentary, either from the bufinefs by which 
 we maintain ourfelves, or from our love of 
 eafe, or from our literary purfuits, is per- 
 haps, as fatal to us, as almofl any inftance 
 
 of
 
 124 On Intemperance in Rating. 
 
 of wrong conduct, with which we can be 
 chargeable. a By high feeding and little or 
 no exercife, we are not only expofed to the 
 moft dangerous difeafes, but we make all 
 difeafes dangerous : we make thofe fo, 
 which would, other wife, be flight and 
 eafily removed we do not only fubject 
 ourfelves to the particular maladies, which 
 have their rife wholly from luxury, but we 
 render ourfelves more liable to thofe, which 
 have no connexion with it. We, then, 
 are among the firft, who are feized with the 
 diftempers, which the conftitution of the 
 air occafions We are moft apt to receive 
 all thofe of the infectious kind We take 
 cold whence we might leaft fear itj and 
 find its immediate confequence, a malig- 
 nant or an inflammatory fever, or fome 
 other difeafe equally to be dreaded. 
 
 A writer in Phyfic of the firft rank afTerts, 
 that our diet is the chief caufe of all our 
 difeafes that other caufes only take effect 
 from the difpofition of our body, and the 
 ftate of its humours. 
 
 Ou 
 
 uyitttnH, *v p. xu iron 
 
 HIPP. Jefia.Rat. L.I. 
 
 There
 
 On Intemperance in Eating. 1 25 
 
 There is, I am perfuaded, much truth in 
 this affertion. For, as in countries, where 
 the inhabitants greatly indulge themfelves% 
 few die of old age ; fo where a ftricl: tempe- 
 rance is obferv'd, few die but of old age. 
 We find, likewife, perfons, as Socrates for 
 inftance b , who, by their regular living, have 
 preferved themfelves from the infection of 
 a difeafe, that has made the cruelleft havock 
 around them. We perceive, alfo, the rer 
 ftorers of health ufually attempting its reco- 
 very by fome or other difcharge, by drain- 
 ing the body in fome way or other. And if 
 evacuation is the cure of our diforders, we 
 may juftly think, that repletion is their moft 
 general caufe c . But if this may admit 
 of a difpute, which, I think, it hardly can 
 
 do ; yet is it on all hands agreed that 
 
 there are feveral diftempers, to which few 
 are fubjeft but for want of felf-denial in 
 
 a Quid referam innumerabiles raorbos, fupplicia Luxu- 
 rije ? Immunes erant ab iftis malis, qui nondum fe deliciis 
 folverant, qui fibi imperabant. SEN. 
 
 b Ei^axr- T M in fufla, d5*r. Adeo parce ac tempe- 
 rate vixit (Socrates) ut cum Athenas peftis fzpenuiriero va- 
 ftaret, folus ipfc nunquam sgrotaverit. Dioc. LAERT. 
 
 n\tiff*oji 1*1*1 >dir*7 -T* Ha.fltA ttn yao7;* r^ at- 
 HJPP. de F/afihf, & Apb. Seft, 2. 22. 
 
 them-
 
 126 On Intemperance in Eating. 
 themfelves, or their anceftors - that mod 
 of thefe diflempers are of the painfulleil 
 fort, and that fome of them are fuch as we 
 for years lament, without the leaft hope of 
 recovery ; and under an abfolute certainty, 
 that the longer they continue upon us j the 
 more grievouily they will diftrefs us ; the 
 acutenefs of our fufFerings from them will 
 be conflantly increafing. 
 
 SECT. V. 
 
 LET me, alfo, confider intemperance 
 in what we eat, as frequently inter- 
 rupting the ufe of our nobler faculties j and 
 fure, at length, greatly to enfeeble them *. 
 How long is it, before we are really ourfelves, 
 after our ftomach has received its full load! b 
 
 Jin ft **Qin*. PLUT. de Efu Cam. 
 
 b Confer fudantes, ruftantes, refertos cpulis, tanquam 
 opimos boves : turn intelliges, qui voluptatem maxime fe- 
 quantur, eos minime confequi, jucunditatemque viflus efle 
 in defidcrio, non in fatietate. Tufc. ><*/!. L. V. 
 
 Under
 
 On Intemperance in Eating. 127 
 
 Under it, our fenfes are dull'd, our memory 
 clouded, heavinefs and ftupidity poffefs us *: 
 Some hours muft pafs, before our vivacity 
 returns, before reafon can again adt with its 
 full vigour. The man is not feen to ad- 
 vantage, his real abilities are not to be dif- 
 cover'd, 'til the effects of his gluttony are 
 remov'd, 'til his conftitution has thrown off 
 the weight that opprefs'd it. 
 
 The hours preceding a plentiful meal, or 
 thofe, which fucceed its entire digeftion, 
 are, we all find, fuch, in which we are fitteft 
 to tranfact our affairs, in which all the acts 
 of the underftanding are beft exerted. 
 
 How fmall a part of his time is, therefore, 
 the luxurious man himfelf ! What between 
 the length of his repafls the fpace during 
 which he is, as it were, ftupified by his ex- 
 cefs in them the many hours of Jleep that 
 he wants to refrefh, and of exerct/e to 
 ftrengthen him j within how fmall a com- 
 pafs is that portion of his life brought, in 
 which his rational powers are fitly diC-' 
 play'd ! 
 
 a Ne mente quidem refte uti poffumus, mu-lto cibo Sc 
 potione completi. Tufc, >u<eft. L. V. 
 
 In
 
 128 On Intemperance in Eating. 
 
 In the vigour of youth, in the full 
 flrength of manhood, an uncontrouled gra- 
 tification of appetite allows only fhort in- 
 tervals of clear apprehenfion, of clofe at- 
 tention, and the free ufe of our judgment : 
 but if, either through an uncommonly firm 
 constitution, or by fpending all thofe hours 
 in exercife, which are not pafTed at our ta- 
 bles or in our beds, we are enabled, not- 
 wirManding fuch gratification, to reach a 
 more advanced age ; what a melancholy 
 fpedacle do we then frequently afford ! our 
 memory, our wit, our fenfe almoft wholly 
 deftroyed their remains fcarce allowing a 
 conjecture to be formed thence, what they 
 have been the ruins of the man hard- 
 ly furnifhing a trace of his former orna- 
 ments. 
 
 Moft of thofe difeafes, which luxury 
 brings upon our bodies are, indeed, a gra- 
 dual impairing of our intellectual faculties : 
 the mind mares the diforder of its compa- 
 nion, ads as that permits, difcovers a greater 
 or lefs capacity, according to the other's 
 more or lefs perfedt ftate. And as the 
 body, when dead, is totally unfit to be acted 
 upon by the foul j fo the nearer it is brought 
 
 to
 
 On Intemperance in Rating. 129 
 
 to death by our gluttony, the more we in- 
 ereafe its unfitnefs to difplay, by how noble 
 a principle it is- actuated what the extent 
 of thofe abilities is, which the bounty of 
 our infinitely good and powerful Creator 
 has afforded us. * 
 
 It only remains that I confider, how ru- 
 inous the excefs I am cenfuring is to our 
 fortune ; and to what a mean dependence, 
 to what vile dimoneft practices, it often 
 reduces us. 
 
 There are few eftates, that can bear the 
 expence, into which what is called an ele- 
 gant table will draw us. It is not only the 
 price of what is fet before us, that we are 
 here to regard, but the wafte that the mi- 
 mjlers to our luxury ocean* on their rapine 
 the example they fet to all, who are con- 
 cerned in our affairs, and the difqualifica- 
 tion, under which we put ourfelves to look 
 into them. 
 
 .' . * 
 
 He who is determined to pleafe his pa- 
 late at any price, infects not only thofe 
 
 t. Bceotos nos Attici craflbs, ftu- 
 pidos, ftolidos maxime ob voracitatem appellaverunt. 
 - flO J P L u T . de Efu Cam . 
 
 K about
 
 130 On Intemperance in Eating. 
 about him with his extravagant turn ; but 
 gives them opportunities of defrauding him, 
 which are feldom neglected. His houfe is 
 the refort of the worft of mankind ; for 
 fuch they always are, whom a well-fpread 
 table aflembles -, and who, by applauding 
 the profufenefs that feeds them, by extol- 
 ling as proofs of a refined underftanding, 
 what are the fureft marks of a weak one, 
 or rather of the total want of one, hurry 
 on the ruin, that was, otherwife, with too 
 much fpeed advancing. 
 
 But fmall is their number, whom it con- 
 cerns to be told, how a large fortune may 
 be reduced : how the making any muft be 
 hindered, is the argument, in which the 
 generality are interefted. This hindrance 
 is the fure, the undeniable confequence of 
 giving way to our appetite. I have alrea- 
 dy obferved, what hurt our very capacity 
 often receives from it to what a degree 
 our intellect is at length impaired by it : I 
 may, further, truly reprefent it as always 
 indifpoiing us to that diligence, to that ap- 
 plication, without which no fcience is to 
 be raafter'd, no art learn'd, no bufmefs well 
 
 con-
 
 On Intemperance in fLating. 131 
 
 Concluded, no valuable accomplimment, of 
 any kind, obtained. 
 
 Let us have our fupport, and feek the 
 increafe of our ftore, from our traffick, otf 
 from our labour ; it is plain, that he who 
 indulges hirnfelf lefs than we do, as he 
 needs lefs to maintain him than we do, fb 
 he can fell, or can work, cheaper, and 
 murl, therefore, make thofe advantages, 
 which we are not to expect ; muft by his 
 leiTer gains be, at length, enriched, while 
 we, with our larger, mall be in a conftant 
 poverty. 
 
 A ftill worfe effect of our luxurious turn 
 I reckon thofe mean and bafe practices, to 
 which it tempts us. When the plain meal, 
 that our fcanty circumftances, after a libe- 
 ral and expenfive education, furnifh, can- 
 not content us ; and we muft either live at 
 another's table, or provide a chargeable en- 
 tertainment at our own ; we defcend to the 
 vileft flattery, the moft fervile complai- 
 fance ; every generous fentiment is extin- 
 guimed in us > we foon become fully con- 
 vinced, that he, who will often eat at ano- 
 ther's coft, muft be fubject to another's hu- 
 K 2 mours,
 
 1 3 2 On 'Intemperance in Eating. 
 
 mours, mull: countenance him in his fol- 
 lies and comply with .him in hi$ vices. 
 
 Let his favour at length exempt us 1 from 
 fo dishonourable an attendance, by furnim- 
 ing us with the means of having plenty at 
 home : Yet what is plenty to the luxu- 
 rious ? His wantonhefs 'increafes with his 
 income ; and, always needy, he is always 
 dependent, . Hence no fenfe of his birth or 
 education, of .honour or confcience, is any 
 check upon him ; he is the m^an drudge, 
 
 t'^Ji'^ 1 -' O fijlVy t r>W 
 
 The appellation of Parafite was atfirft honourable,--- 
 To rv ngc-/la tnpa, fcfr. Parafiti appellatio fuit 'olim &' 
 fanfta & venerabilis. Polemon -tradidit, Jiomec iflud, 
 nunc fordidum & infairte, apudantiquos inveniri fanftum,- 
 &; perinde ac fi dixiflent c-vvScujjr, id eft, ccepulonem, .ATH. 
 t. VI. c. 6. 
 
 ExoXaiJli SStflo^ofr.f oj nafacriloi rslt. Luc. (k Tar. 848.- 
 Et poftea,, "juv 'ctf&w, tSc. AHartun artium prava qua?4am 
 ac villa fiint initia : Parauticae vero origo plane generofa. 
 8-49. 
 
 But when it was found, that, either, the Confront gueft 
 was only fo far welcome, as he was throughout complaifant; 
 or .that they, who loved to eat at another's coft, were always 
 ilifpofed to feed his vanity -would at any time purchafe a 
 meal, by paying the moft fervile homage to themoft worth- 
 lefs Wretch, who would provide them one : A Parafite then 
 ceafed to denote the Friend, who graced your table; and 
 only expreffed the Man, whofe vile flattery gamed him sd- 
 miffion to it. 
 
 the
 
 On Intemperance in Eating. 133 
 
 the abandon'd tool of his feeder, of who- 
 ever will be at the charge of gratifying his 
 palate. . JV7 a ..^ 
 
 So, if our trade be Our Maintenance, as 
 no fair gains can anfwer the.expence, which 
 what is called good eating occaftons, we "are 
 foon led to indirect artifices, to fraudulent 
 dealing, to the moft tricking and knavifh 
 practices. 
 
 In a word, neither our health nor life, 
 neither our credit nor fortune, neither our 
 virtue nor underflanding, have any fecurity 
 but from our temperance. J Th greateft 
 bleffings, which are here enjoyed by' (is, 
 have it for their fource. 
 
 Hence it is that we have thefulleft ufe 
 of our faculties, and the longeft. 
 
 Hence it is, that we fear not to be peor 7 
 and are fure to be independent. 
 
 Hence difeafe and pain are removed from 
 us, *our decay advances infenfibly, and the 
 
 it, &c . Lacedsmoniis & Ro- 
 manis Lex erat, ne cui licitum efTet obfonare quicquid, vel 
 quantum, ipfi liberet : Nam civibus quum in aliis rebus 
 temperantiam praeceperunt, turn non minime in Menfa. 
 
 ^LIAN. Var.Hifl. L. III. 
 
 * netnix hSatrx. x.ot\ (jM^raf hapgcim ' faid of Zto, who 
 died in his 98 th year, *ocr&' xett vynj? ^a.n>.tsret^, cum fine 
 morbo fanufque Temper vixiflet. DIOG. LAERT. 
 
 K 3 ap-
 
 134 On Intemperance in Eating. 
 approaches of death are as gentle, as thofe 
 offleep. 
 
 Hence it is we free ourfelves from all 
 temptations to a bafeor ungenerous action. -j- 
 
 Hence it is that our paffions are calm'd, 
 our hjfts fubdued, the purity of our hearts 
 preferved, and a virtuous conduct through- 
 out made eafy to us. b 
 
 When it is made fo when by the eafe, 
 which we find in the practice of virtue, we 
 Become confirmed therein render it habi- 
 tual to us ; we have then that qualifica- 
 tion fpr happinefs in a future ftate, which, 
 as the beft title to it, affords us the beft 
 grounds to expect it. 
 
 f Xenocrates, cum Legati ab Alexandro quinquaginta 
 
 ei talenta attuliffent abduxif Legates ad cenam in 
 
 Academiam : iis appofuit tantum quod fatis effet, nullo ap- 
 paratu. Cum pofhidie rogarenteum, cui numerari jube- 
 xet : Quid ! vos hefterna, inquit, cenula non intellexiftis 
 mepecunia non indigere ? Tufc. >u<zft.- L. V. 
 
 b Kaxo a^ tputrat, &c. Nihil innafci malum poteft in 
 komine qui fapientias fundamenta jecerit temperantiam & 
 ^ontinentiam. STOS. Serm. 5. 
 
 ON
 
 - 
 
 O N 
 
 INTEMPERANCE 
 
 I N 
 
 DRINKING. 
 
 TO TOO, Ago. 
 
 x *gTt$ j Tr oua/'> wc.71? fTTiItmt ; KA. 
 AH. T J'aJIa? <rSiio-K, x ^tv/tx.aj, x oo|af , 
 cr;i:, 7ro1(^oi> wj-aJis;? o^oogoltca; ; >; 7roiu.va, aro\ 
 avion, 0.1 x1axo^j? T? T>J f*sfi>} yiywjla* ; KA. Na, 
 B7roAt;n-s*. A0H. Ovxa ti; Tvlo ettputnUeu TJ T 
 f| T77 TCTI, ort w- 1 TTK. KA. T j^) J AJ3H. Hxt 
 ^tj TOT aJ]- J1 yiyw/Io iyxf T){. KA. Hxr- AH. 
 Ton/lO- J KA. IloXv^t. 
 
 PLAT, de Leg. L. I.
 

 
 L X 37' J 
 
 O N 
 
 Intemperance in Drinking. 
 SECT, I. 
 
 v j. 4 p'ii listb oJ i-'f Hi- ^jftVwusO 
 
 E arguments againft Drunken- 
 
 T nefs* which the common reafon 
 
 of Mankind fuggefls, are thefe 
 
 The contemptible figure, which it gives 
 us : 
 
 The hindrance it is to any confidence 
 being repofed in us, fo far as our fecrecy is 
 concerned : 
 
 The dangerous advantage, which it af- 
 fords the crafty and the knavifh over us : 
 
 The bad effeds, which it hath on our 
 health :"?* 
 
 - .o'Juso cii mo-fl albvu vht 
 
 The
 
 138 On Intemperance in Drinking, 
 
 The prejudice, which our minds receive 
 from it : 
 
 Its difpofing us to many crimes, and pre- 
 paring us for the greateft. 
 i.. 
 
 The contemptible figure, which Drunk- 
 cnnefs gives us, is no weak argument for 
 avoiding .fe^Q n j 
 
 Every Reader has found the Spartans 
 mentioned, as inculcating Sobriety on their 
 Children, by expofmg to their notice the 
 behaviour of their Slaves in a drunken fit. 
 They thought, that were they to apply 
 wholly to the Reafon of the Youths, it 
 might.be to little purpofe ; as the force of 
 the arguments, wnich they ufed, might not 
 be furBciently apprehended, or. the impref- 
 iion thereof might be foon effaced : but 
 when they made them frequently eye- 
 witneffes of all the madnefs and abfurdi- 
 ties, and at length the perfect fenfeleflhefs, 
 which the immoderate draught occafioned ; 
 the Idea of the-y/fe change would be fo fix'd 
 in the minds of its beholders, as to renter 
 theni utterly averfe from its caufe. 
 
 And
 
 On "Intemperance In Drinking. 139 
 
 And may we not juftly conclude it to be 
 from hence, that the offspring of the per- 
 ions who are accuflomed thus to difguife 
 themfelves, often prove remarkably fober ? 
 They avoid, in their riper years, their pa- 
 rent's crime, from the deteftation of it, 
 which they contracted in their earlier. As 
 to moft other vices, their debafing circum- 
 ftances are not fully known to us, 'til we 
 have attained a maturity of age, nor can 
 be then, 'til they have been duly attended 
 to : but in our very childhood, at our firft 
 beholding the effects of drunkennefs, we are 
 ftruck with aflonimment, that a reafonable 
 Being mould be thus changed mould be 
 induced to make himfelf fuch an objecl: of 
 contempt and fcorn. And, indeed, we 
 muft have the man in the utmoft con- 
 tempt, whom we hear and fee in his pro- 
 grefs to excefs ; at firft, teazing you with 
 his contentioufnefs or impertinence mif- 
 taking your meaning, and hardly knowing 
 his own then, faultering in his fpeech 
 unable to get through an entire fentence 
 his hand trembling his eyes fwimming 
 his legs too feeble to fupport him ; til, at 
 
 length,
 
 1 40 On Intemperance in Drinking. 
 length, you only know the human creature 
 
 by his fhape. 
 
 . 
 
 I cannot but add, that were one of any 
 fenfe to have a juft notion of all the filly 
 things he fays or does, of the wretched 
 appearance, which he makes in a drunken 
 fa, he could not want a more powerful ar- 
 gument againft repeating his crime. 
 
 But as none of us are inclined to think 
 ill of ourfelves, we none of us will know, 
 how Tar our vices expofe us ; we allow them 
 cxcufes, which they meet not with from 
 any but ourfelves. 
 
 This is the cafe of All; it is particularly 
 fo with the drunken ; many of whom their 
 mame would undoubtedly reform, could 
 they be brought to conceive, how much 
 they did to be amamed of. 
 
 Nor is it improbable, that it is this very 
 coniideration,, how much drunkennefs con- 
 tributes to make a man trie contempt of 
 his wife his children his fervants of all 
 his fober beholders, which has been the 
 caufe, that it nas" never been the reigning 
 vice among a people of any refinement of 
 
 manners :
 
 On Intemperance in Drinking, 
 
 manaet3h'*No; it h^&onfy 
 the rode and toage, a^ong thofe of grower 
 umteriiaMings, and lefs delicacy of fenti- 
 ment, /Crimes, as - there are in all men, 
 there- muitirift all tiations- } but the more 
 civilized have perceived Drunkennef^ t$>be 
 fuch an offence againfl common 
 fuch an abandoning one's felf to the- 
 cule and- feoffs of the, meaneft, th 
 whatever elfe they might tranigrefs, 
 would not do it in this particular ; but leave 
 a vice of fuch a nature to the wild and un- 
 cultivated -to the ftupid arid undiftinguifli-* 
 ing part of mankind to thofe, who had no 
 notion of propriety of chara&er, and;de- 
 eency of cor}dut. a How. late this vied 
 became the reproach of our countrymen, 
 We find in Mf Camdens Annals. .Under' 
 the year 15.81, he has this obfervation 
 " The Englijh, who hitherto had,- of all the 
 " northern nations, ihewn themfelves the 
 " Icaft addicted toimmoderate drinking,and 
 
 a Drunkennefs, fays Montaigne, feems to me to beagrofs 
 and brutifli vice. Some vices there are, wherein there is a 
 mixture of knowledge, diligence, valour, prudence, dex- 
 terity and cunning : This is totally corporeal and earthly : 
 
 ._ Other vices difcompofe the underitanding, this to- 
 
 tally overthrows it, and renders the body ftupid. 
 
 " been
 
 142 On Intemperance in Drinking. 
 " been commended for their fobriety, firft 
 <f learn'd, in thefe wars in the Netherlands * 
 " to fwallow a large quantity of intoxi- 
 " eating liquor, and to deftroy their own 
 " health, by drinking that of others." 
 
 Some trace of our antient regard to fobrie- 
 ty, we may feem ftill to retain, in our ufe of 
 the term, Sot! which carries with it as great 
 reproach among us, as O<i/ocige$ did among 
 the Greeks. W^n 
 
 There is a (hort ftory, in Rerefbyi Me- 
 moirs, very proper to be mentioned under 
 this head. 
 
 The Lord Chancellor (Jefferies) had now 
 like to have died of a Fit of the Stone $ 
 which he virtuoufly brought upon himfelf, 
 by a furious Debauch of Wine, at Mr. Al- 
 derman Duncomb's ; where he, the Lord 
 Treafurer, and others drank themfelves into 
 that Height of Frenzy, that, among Friends, 
 it was whifper'd, They had dripped into 
 their Shirts ; and that, had not an Accident 
 prevented them, they had got upon a Sign- 
 poft, to drink the King*s health j which was 
 the fubjeft of much Deriuoji, to fay' no' 
 worfe. 
 
 SECT.
 
 On Intemperance in Drinking, 143 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 jl luo'efli *'.T rsvsn rio'ir:; 
 
 A Second Objection to :Drunkennefs it* 
 that it hinders any confidence being 
 repos'd in usy fo far as our Secrecy is con*- 
 cern'd. 
 
 Who can truft the man, that is not mailer 
 of himfelf? Wine, as it Jefteh sour caution, 
 fo it prompts us to fpeak our thoughts with- 
 out referve' : When it has fufficiently in- 
 flam'd us, all the fuggeftions of prudence 
 pafs for the apprehenfions of Cowardice ; 
 we are regardlefs of confequences ; our fore- 
 fight is gone, and our fear with it. Here then 
 the artful perfon properly introducing the 
 
 m*-, &C. 
 Quicunque autem tranfilierit potus modum, non am- 
 
 plius ille 
 
 Sux ipfius linguae pottns eft aut mentis. 
 Loquitur res vanas, qusc viris fobriis turpes videntur, 
 Nihilquenon audet perpeti, quum inebrietur. 
 Ante qui fuerat fapiens, tune itultus eft. 
 
 THEOGN.
 
 1 44 n Intemperance in Drinking. 
 fubjedt, urging us to enter upon it and, 
 after that, prailing, or blaming, or contra- 
 eliding, or queftioning us, is fooa able to 
 draw from us whatever information he de- 
 fires to obtajji*. .T 
 
 Our difcretion never outlafts our fobriety. 
 Failings which it moft concerns us to con- 
 ceal, and which, when we are ourfelves, we 
 do moft induftrioufly conceal, we ufually 
 publifh, when we have drank to excefsi 
 The man is then dearly feen b , with all the 
 ill nature and bad qualities, from which his 
 behaviour, in his cooler hours, had induced 
 
 , .* .Quejnadmodum mufto dolia ipfa rumpuntur, & omntt 
 quod in imo jacet, in fummam partem vis caloris eje&at : 
 fie vino exsftuante, quicquid in imo jacet abditum efFer-. 
 tur, &prodit in medium. Oruerati mero quemadmodunr 
 non continent cibum vino red undante, ita ne fecretum qui- 
 dem : quod fuum alienumque eft, pariter effundunt. SEX.' 
 
 fir* ft*) (patXwj, tffc. -Ut npn inepte JEfopum ille incre* 
 paverit : Q^id quaeris, ridiculum caput, illas feneftras, per 
 quas in alterius cogitationes alter poteft infpicere ? Vinum 
 enim nos aperit ac oftentat, non finens latere. 
 
 PLUT. Symp. L. II. 
 
 To t> xctfict TO nn$of\<&, ff<r. Quod eft in corde Sobrii, 
 id eft in lingua Ebrii, ut proverbio tertur. 
 
 PLVT. aeGarrulitate, 
 
 b Omne vitium Ebrietas & intendit & detegit. '--Ubi 
 
 pofledit animum nimia vis vini, quicquid mali latebat 
 emergit. . Non facit ebrietas vitia, fed prodit. SEX.
 
 On Intemperance in Drinking. 145 
 
 his moft intimate friends to believe him 
 wholly free. We muft be loft to reflection, 
 to thought, when we can thus far throw 
 off our difguife. And what is it, but our 
 thought and reflection, that can engage our 
 fecrecy in any inftance that can ever be 
 a proper check upon our difcourfe-^-that 
 enables us to diftinguifti what we may 
 fpeak, and on what we ought to be filent ? 
 Do we ceafe to be in a condition to hide 
 the deformities in ourfelves, which we moft 
 wifh to have concealed ? On what point, 
 then, is it likely that we mould be referv'd ? 
 Whofe fecrets can he keep, who fo foully 
 betrays his own ? 
 
 It may, thirdly, be alledged againft 
 Drunkennefs, that it gives the crafty and 
 knavim the moft dangerous advantage over 
 us. 
 
 This vice puts us into the very circum- 
 fiances, in which every one would wifh us 
 to be, who had a view to impofe upon us, 
 to over-reach us, or in any way to gain his 
 ends of us. a When the repeated draught 
 
 * Of Bonofus, that reproach to our country, (for he was 
 origins Britannus} of whom it was faid, Non uf itivat natus 
 
 i,
 
 146 On Intemperance in Drinking* 
 
 has disordered us, it is then, that only by 
 complying with our humour, and joining, 
 to appearance, in our madnefs, we may be 
 deluded into meafures the moft prejudicial 
 to us, into fuch as are our own and our fa- 
 milies utter undoing. a It is then that our 
 purfe is wholly at the mercy of our com- 
 pany y we fpend we give we lend we 
 lofe. What unhappy marriages have been 
 then concluded ! What ruinous conveyances 
 have been then made ! How fecure foever 
 we may apprehend ourfelves from impofi- 
 tions of fo very pernicious a nature ; yet 
 more or fewer we muft have to fear from 
 drunkennefs, as the opportunities, which it 
 .gives, will conftantly be watch'dby all, who 
 have any defign upon us : And if we arc 
 known frequently to diforder ourfelves, all 
 
 eft, fed ut blbaty the Hiflorian obferves Si quando legati 
 Barbarorum undecunque gentium veniffent, ipfis propina- 
 bat, ut eos incbriaret, atqae ab his per vinum cunfta cog- 
 nofceret. Ipfe quantumlibet bibiflet, Temper fecurus & 
 iobrius. VOPISC. 
 
 * Tune avidi matronam oculi licentur, graves produnt 
 nurito : tune animi fecreta proferuntur. Alii teftamenta 
 fua nuncupant : alij mortifera loquuntur, rediturafque per 
 jugulum voces non continent, quam multisitainteremptis. 
 PL IN. Lib. XIV. 
 
 in
 
 On Intemperance in Drinking. 147 
 
 hi our neighbourhood, or among our ac- 
 quaintance, who are of any ferioufnefs 
 and decency, will be fure to avoid us, and 
 leave us wholly to thofe, who find their ac- 
 count in aflbciating with us * who, while 
 they can make us their property 3 will be> 
 as often as we pleafe, our companions. 
 
 A fourth argument agalnfl Drunkeh- 
 riefs is its bad effects upon oiir health." Eve- 
 ry a&of it is a fever for a time : and whence" 
 have we more reafon to apprehend one of a 
 longer continuance, and of the worft con- 
 
 a Quamvis calorem aliqualem <vinum in tranfitu imper- 
 tiat, certiffimum eft tamen fermenta corporis ab eo fubju- 
 gari, & avocari fpiritus naturales atque fugari : unde eft, 
 fi bene eonjicio, quod Bibaces Podagra, Paraly.% Hydro- 
 pe, aliifque morbis frigidis perimuntur. Adde quod jugis 
 & immodica virii ingurgitatit) corpus> ad inftar corporum 
 fceminarum, emollit laxatque. SYDEN. 
 
 Omnis generis liquida fpirituofacopiofius fuhlta partibus 
 fulphureis inflammabilibus non modo inteftinam, calidam, 
 & expanfivam in fonguine commotionem efficiunt, fed Ss 
 fyftolen cordis & omnium impellentium vaforum augendo 
 lluidorum progrelTum per univerfum corpus accelerant. .- 
 Auftiori fie fadto fanguinis circiilo, & increfcente zeftu, hu- 
 mida & fubtilior fanguinis portio, quse fecuncium naturam 
 triplo major quam folidi efie debet, plus jufto confumitur; 
 nutritio hinc perditur, partes elangue^cunt, & fanguis in* 
 ttmperatus, imo ad coagulum valde pronus, evadit. 
 
 HOFFMAN, 
 
 L 2 fequence ?
 
 148 On Intemperance in Drinking. 
 fequence ? Our blood thus fired, none can be 
 fure, when the diforder raifed in it will be 
 quieted, whether its inflammatory ftate will 
 admit of a remedy : In feveral thoufands 
 it has been found incapable of any ; and 
 what has fo frequently happened to other 'S t 
 may juftly be confidered as likely to befal 
 us. By the fame abfurd reliance on a good 
 conftitution, thro' which they were deceived, 
 we may be fo like wife. 
 
 But fuppofmg the mere fever fit wearing 
 off with the drunken one ; how fatal would 
 it prove to be then feized with a diflemper 
 of the infectious kind, that was at all malig- 
 nant ! This has often been the cafe ; and 
 when it has been fo, the applications of the 
 moil fkilful have been intirely vain. 
 
 Let our intemperance have nothing in- 
 ftantly to dread j for how fhort a fpace can 
 it- be in fuch fecurity ? The young de- 
 bauchee foon experiences the iffue of his 
 mifcondudt-- foon finds his food difrelimed, 
 his ftomach weakened, his ftrength de- 
 cayed, his body wailed. In the flower of his 
 youth, he often feels all the infirmities of 
 extreme old age -, and when not yet in the 
 
 middle
 
 On Intemperance m Drinking. 149 
 
 middle of human life, is got to the .end of 
 his own. 
 
 If we have attained to manhood, to our 
 full vigour, before we run into the excefs, 
 from which I am difTuading ; we may, in- 
 deed, poffibly be many years in breaking a 
 good conftitution : but then, if a fudden 
 ftroke difpatch us not j if we are not cut off 
 without the leaft leifure given us to implore 
 the mercy of heaven ; to how much un- 
 eafinefs are we, generally, referred what 
 a variety of painful diftempers threaten us ! 
 All of them there is very little probability 
 we ihould efcape ; and under which foever 
 of them we may labour, we mall experience 
 its cure hopelefs, and its feverity the fad- 
 deft lefibn, how dear the purchafe was c*f 
 our former mirth. 
 
 There are, I grant, inftances, where a 
 long-continued Intemperance has not pre- 
 vented the attainment of a very advanced 
 age, free from diforders of every kind. 
 But then it is to be confidered how rare 
 thefe inftances are -, that it is not, perhaps, 
 one in a thoufand, who efcapes thus -, that 
 of thofe, who do thus efcape, the far 
 L 3 greater
 
 150 On Intemperance in Drinking. 
 
 greater part awe their prefervation to hard 
 working, or to an exercife as fatiguing, as 
 any of the more laborious employments. 
 $o that if either our frame be not of an 
 unufual firmnefs, or we do not labour far 
 our bread, and will not for our health -, we 
 cannot be of their number, who have fp 
 much as a chance, that they will not 
 fhorten their lives by their excefs. And 
 when we have this chance, we are to re- 
 member, how very little we. can promife 
 ourfelves from it. We are liable to all the 
 difeafes, which, in the ordinary courfe 
 of things, are connected with Intempe- 
 rance -, and we are liable to all thofe, from 
 which even Sobriety exempts not j but in 
 this latter cafe, we have, by no means, 
 the fame to hope with the fober, who are 
 eafily recovered of what proves mortal tp 
 the intemperate. 
 
 SECT, 

 
 On Intemperance in Drinking. 151 
 
 S EC T. III. 
 
 ' I ^O confider, fifthly* the unhappy e- 
 JL fe<ft of Drunkennefs upon our 
 minds. 
 
 Every time we offend in it, we are 
 firft Madmen, and then Idiots : we firft 
 fay, and do, a thoufand the mod ridiculous 
 and extravagant things, and then appear 
 quite void of fenfe. By annexing thefe 
 conftant inconveniences to drinking immo- 
 derately, it feems the delign of a wife Pro- 
 vidence to teach us, what we may fear from 
 a habit of it to give us a foretafte of the 
 miferies, which it will at length bring upon 
 us, not for a few hours alone, but for the 
 whole remainder of our lives. What num- 
 bers have, by hard drinking, fallen into an 
 incurable diftradlion ! And who was ever 
 for many years a fot, without deftroying 
 the quicknefs of his apprehenfion, and the 
 ftrength of his memory? What mere dri- 
 L 4 vellers
 
 152 On Intemperance in Drinking. 
 
 yellers have fome of the beft capacities be- 
 come, after a long courfe of excefs ! 
 
 As we drink to raife our fpirits, but, by 
 thus railing, we weaken them j fo what- 
 ever frefh vigour our parts may feem to de*- 
 rive from our wine, it is a vigour which 
 waftes them 5 which, by being often thus 
 called out, deftroys its fource, our natural 
 fancy and underftanding. J Tis like a man's 
 fpending upon his principal : he may, for a 
 feafon, make a figure much fuperior to bis, 
 who fupports himfelf upon the intereft of 
 his fortune 5 but is fure to be undone, when 
 the other is unhurt. 
 
 We meet with, as I have already ob- 
 ferved, inftances, where an extraordinary 
 happinefs of conftitution has prevented its 
 entire ruin, even from a courfe of drunk- 
 ennefs of many years continuance : but I 
 much queftion, whether there are any in- 
 ftances, that fuch a courfe has not been re- 
 markably prejudicial to a good capacity, 
 From all the obfervations, which we can 
 make on the human frame, it may be fair- 
 ly fuppofed, that there are no fuch in- 
 that it is not reafonable to think; 
 
 we
 
 On Intemperance m Drinking. 153 
 we can be, for many years inflaming our 
 brains, without injuring them be conti- 
 nually difordering the moft delicate parts of 
 our machine, without impairing them. A 
 lively imagination, a quick appreheniion, a 
 retentive memory, depend upon parts in 
 our ftructure, which are much more eafily 
 hurt, than fuch, whofe found ftate is neC- 
 ceffary for the prefervation of mere life : 
 and therefore we perceive thofe feveral fa- 
 culties often entirely loft, long before the 
 body drops. The Man is very frequently 
 feen to furvive himfelf to continue a living 
 creature, after he has, forfome years, ceafed 
 to be a rational one. And to this deplora- 
 ble ftate nothing is more likely to bring us, 
 than a habit of Drunkennefs; as there is no 
 vice, that more immediately affects thofe 
 organs, by the help of which we appre- 
 hend, reafon, remember, and perform the 
 like acts. 
 
 What, Jixthly, ought to raife in us the 
 utmoft abhorrence of Drunkennefs is, the 
 confideration of the many crimes, to which 
 it difpofes us. He, through whofe veins 
 the inflaming potion has fpread itfelf, muft 
 
 be
 
 154 On Ititemperance in Drinking. 
 
 be under a greater temptation to lewdnefs, 
 than you can think him in any other cir- 
 cumftances : and from the little reafoning, 
 of which he is then capable, as to the dif- 
 ference of the two crime% would hefitate 
 no more at Adultery than Fornication. 
 
 Thus, alfo, for immoderate anger, con- 
 tention, fcurrility and abufe, afts of vio- 
 lence, and the moft injurious treatment of 
 others; they are all offences, into which 
 Ehrmkennefs is moft apt to betray us ; fo 
 apt to do it, that you will fcarcely find a 
 company drinking to excefs, without many 
 provoking fpeeches and actions palling in it 
 without more or lefs ftrife, before it 
 feparates. a We even perceive the moft 
 gentle and peaceable, the moft humane and 
 civilized, when they are fober, no fooner 
 intoxicated, than they put off all thofe 
 commendable qualities, and aflame, as it 
 were, a new nature a nature as different 
 from their former, as the moft untradable 
 arid fierceft of the brute kind are, from the 
 
 a Cre'orae ut inter vinolentos rixae, raro conviciis, fxpius. 
 csede & vulneribus tranfiguntur. TACIT, de Mtr. &c. 
 Germ, c. 22. 
 
 moft
 
 On Intemperance in Drinking. 155 
 
 moft accompliOied and amiable of our 
 own. * 
 
 To fome vices drunkennefs dlfpofes us^ 
 and, 
 
 Laftly, lays us open to more, arid cer- 
 tainly to the greateft. It lays us, indeed, 
 open to mofl vices by the power, which it 
 gives all forts of temptations over us j and by 
 putting us into a condition, in which the 
 rafh and pernicious fuggejiions of others have 
 an efpecial influence upon us in which, a 
 profligate companion is enabled to direct us, 
 almoft as he pleafes. 
 
 It gives all forts of temptations power 
 over us, by difqualifying us for confidera*- 
 tion ; and by extinguifhing in us all regard 
 to the motives of prudence and caution. 
 
 a Obftantem malis conatibus verecundiam Ebrietas re- 
 
 movet. Tune libidinofus ne cubkulum quidem ex- 
 
 peftat, fed cupiditatibus fuis, quantum petierint, fine di- 
 
 latione permittit tune petulans non linguam, non ma- 
 
 num continet. Crefcit infolenti Superbia, Crudelitas fasvo, 
 
 Malignitas livido. Fere vinolentiam Crudelitas fe- 
 
 quitur ; violatur enim exafperaturque fanitas mentis. 
 Quemadmodum difficiles faciunt oculos diutini morbi, 
 etiam ad minimam radii folis ofFenfionem ; ita ebritate$ 
 continue efFerant aniraos. SEN. Ep. 83,
 
 156 On Intemperance in Drinking. 
 
 It makes us ready to follow the rafhejl 
 counfels of our companions ; becaufe, not 
 .allowing us to reafon upon them, and in- 
 capacitating us for the government of our- 
 felves, it, of courfe, leaves us to the 
 guidance of thofe, with whom we are mofl 
 pleafed of thofe, who give into our ex- 
 celTes. 
 
 It, certainly, lays us open to the greateft 
 crimes ; becaufe,, when we are throughly 
 heated by the fpirituous draught, we then 
 like what is daring and extravagant a we 
 are then turned to bold and defperate under- 
 takings j and that, which is moil licentious., 
 carries then with it the appearance of an at- 
 tempt, fuiting a courageous and undaunted 
 mind. Hence rapes, murthers, acts of the 
 utmoft inhumanity and barbarity have been 
 their affis j who, when fober, would have 
 
 * Nox, & Amor, Vinumque nihil moderabile fuadent : 
 Ilia pudorevacat ; Liber Amorque metu. 
 
 OVID. 
 
 Ne quis modici tranfiliat munera Liberi, 
 Centaurea monet cum Lapithis rixa fuper mero 
 Debellata ; monet Sithoniis non levis Evius : 
 Cum fas atque nefas exiguo fine libidinum 
 Difcernunt avidi HOR. Lib. I. OJ. 18. 
 
 detefted
 
 On Intemperance in Drinking, 157 
 
 detefled themfelves, if fuch crimes could 
 have entered their thoughts. 
 
 It may, perhaps, be of ufe to obferve 
 here, what cenfure has been pafled on 
 drunkennefs by thofe, who had only the 
 light of reafon for their guide. 
 
 It was the faying of one of the wifer 
 Heathen, That a wife man would drink 
 wine, but would be fure never to be made 
 drunk by it. a Another of them con- 
 demns wine, as betraying even the prudent 
 into imprudence. 6 The advice of a third 
 is, Avoid drinking company : if you acci- 
 dentally come into it, leave it before you 
 ceafe to be fober ; for, when that happens, 
 the mind is like a chariot, whofe driver is 
 thrown off: As it is then fure to be hurried 
 away at random, fo are we, when our rea- 
 fon is gone, fure to be drawn into much 
 
 tt /* 
 
 ZEN. apud LAERT. 439. 
 
 STHEN. apud ATHEN. Lib. X. 
 -- Ou^ ycc^ ctvuyii 
 
 0; T*l^!) 
 
 guilt-
 
 * 3 8 On Intemperance in Drinking* 
 
 guilt. a We have one calling Drunken-' 
 nefs thtjludy of madnefs* ; another, a vo- 
 luntary madnefs. c He who was afked, 
 how a perfon might be brought to a diflike 
 of wine ? anfwered, By beholding the in- 
 decencies of the drunken. A 
 
 ISOCRAT. adNicoc. 
 
 b nt$ayo<*c XEys TV p&w pctviKS hvcu nf.\tTw SrOB. 165. 
 
 < Nihil aliud eft Ebrietas quam voluntariainfania. SEN. 
 
 d Aa^<7K . egamjStij, fcfr. DIOG. LAERT. 66. 
 
 I have, in the former Traft, taken notice of the coar/e 
 
 Fare, which Homer provides for his Heroes : It may not be 
 
 amifs to remark here, from Atben<fus<, what leffons of fo- 
 
 briety he furnifhes what his care is to difluade from 
 
 drinking to excefs. This, indeed, may appear deferving 
 
 to be more particularly infifted upon^ fmce from the praifes 
 
 which he gives wine he was thought not to have been ipa- 
 
 ring in the ufe of it. 
 
 The boaft thai JEneas, htated by liquor, had made of 
 liis willingnefs to fight with Achilles, was urged to engage 
 him in a combat, which would have been fatal tojiim, but 
 that 
 
 The King cf Ocean to the fight defcends, 
 Thro' all the whittling darts his courfe he bends ; 
 Swift interpos'd between the warriors flies, 
 Ani calls thick darkn-efs o'er Achilles' eyes. 
 
 ILIAD, Book XX. 
 
 In the Third Book of the Odyffcy y the difcord of the 
 Greeks, at a Council called to deliberate about their re- 
 turn, the Poet afcribes to their drunkennefs. 
 
 Sour with debauch a reeling tribe they came, 
 
 The
 
 On Intemperance in Drinling. 159 
 
 The difcountenance, which Drunkennefs 
 received among the Romans, will be here- 
 after taken notice of. 
 
 With ireful taunts each other they oppofe, 
 'Til in loud tumult all the Greeks arofe. 
 Now difPrent counfels ev'ry breaft divide, 
 Each burns with rancour to the adverfe fide. 
 
 In Book the Ninth of the ODYSS. 
 lented as having his fight deftroyed, when he was drunk, 
 by a few of thof , whofe joint force was not, with refpecl 
 to his, that of a Child. 
 
 ----------- He greedy grafp'd the heavy bowl, 
 
 Thrice drained, and pour'd the deluge on his foul. 
 
 ----------- Then nodding with the fumes of wine 
 
 Dropt his huge head, and fndring lay fupine, 
 
 Then forth the vengeful inftrument I bring ; 
 Urg'd by fome pre'fent God, they fwift let fall 
 The pointed torment on the vifual ball. 
 
 In Book the Tenth, The felf-denial of 
 ferved him from the vile transformation, to which thela- 
 Semperance of hio companions fubjeded them. 
 
 Soon in the lufcious feafl themfelves they loft, 
 And drank oblivion of their native coaft. 
 Inftant her circling wand the Goddefs waves, 
 To Hogs transforms them, and the Styreceives. 
 
 In the fame Book the tragical end of Elpenor Is thus de- 
 foribed : 
 
 -------- -------- A vulgar Soul, 
 
 Born but to banquet, and to drain the bowl. 
 
 Among
 
 160 On Intemperance in Drinking. 
 
 Among the Greeks, by a Law of Solon> " 
 if a chief Magistrate made himfelf drunk,- 
 he was to be put to death. By a Law of 
 Pittacusy* a double punifhment was in- 
 flicted upon iuch who, when drunk, had 
 committed any other crime. They were 
 
 He, hot and carelefs, on a turret's height 
 With deep repair'd the long debauch of night : 
 The fudden tumult ftirr'd him where he lay, 
 And down he haften'd, but forgot his way ; 
 Full headlong from the roof the fleeper fell, 
 And fnapp'd the fpinal joint, and wak'd in Hell. 
 
 The drunkennefs of Eurytioa r one of the Centaurs, is 
 fatal to him, and to the whole race. On. B. XXL 
 
 The great Eurytion when this frenzy ftung, 
 Piritbius 1 roofs with frantic riot rung : 
 His nofe they ihorten'd, and his ears they flit, 
 And fent him fobeF'd home* with better wit. 
 Hence with long war the double race was curs'd, 
 Fatal to All, but to th' Aggreflbr firft. 
 
 y who had reproached UlyJ/es as made infolenfc 
 by wine, dies himfelf with the intoxicating bowl in his 
 hands. OD. Book XXII. 
 
 High in his hands he reared the golden bowl. 
 
 Ev'n then to drain it lengthen'd out his breath ; 
 
 Chang'd to the deep, the bitter draught of death. 
 
 Full thro' his throat Ulyjfes' weapon part, 
 
 And pierc'd the neck. He falls, and breathes his laftv 
 * DIOG. LAERT, 35. 
 6 DIOG. LAERT. 48.
 
 On Intemperance in Drinking. 161 
 
 thofe, by whofe Laws he, who drank any 
 greater quantity of wine than was really 
 neceflary for his health, fuffer'd death. 
 
 Thus much as to their fentiments ori 
 drinking to excefs, who had only the light 
 of Nature to {hew them its guilt. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 LE T me, in the next place, fuggeft 
 fuch cautions, as ought to be obferved 
 by him, whofe deftre it is to avoid Drunk- 
 ennefs. 
 
 Carefully fhun the company, that is ad- 
 dicted to it. 
 
 Do not fit long among thofe, who are in 
 the progrefs towards excefs. 
 
 If you have often loft the command of 
 yourfelf, when a certain quantity of liquor 
 has been exceeded, you mould be fure to 
 keep yourfelf always much within that 
 Quantity. 
 
 M Make
 
 162 On Intemperance in Drinking. 
 
 Make not ftrong liquor neceflary to your 
 refreshment. 
 
 Never apply to it for eafe, under cares 
 and troubles of any kind. 
 
 Know always how to employ yourfelf 
 ufefully, or innocently to amufe yourfelf, 
 that your time may never be a burden upon 
 
 you. i^r 
 
 In the firfl place, Do not afTociate with 
 thofe, who are addicted to Drunkennefs. 
 This I lay down as a rule, from which it 
 is fcarce poffible to depart, and keep our 
 fobriety. No man, not the fteadieA and 
 wifeil of men, is proof againft a bad ex- 
 ample continually before him. By fre- 
 quently feeing what is wrong, we, firft, lofe 
 our abhorrence of it, and, then, are eafily 
 prevailed with to do it. Where we like 
 our company, we are infenfibly led into 
 their manners. It is natural" to think we 
 mould endeavour to make ourfelves agree- 
 able to the perfons, with whom we much 
 converfe; and you can never make your- 
 felf more agreeable to. any, at leaft as a 
 companion, than when you countenance 
 their conduct by imitating it. He who 
 
 aflb-
 
 On Intemperance in Drinking. 163 
 
 afTociates with the Intemperate, and yet re- 
 fufes to join in their excefles, will foon find, 
 that he is look'd upon as condemning their 
 practice ; and, therefore, that he has no 
 way of continuing them his friends, but by 
 going into the fame irrregularity, in which 
 they allow themfelves. If his chearfulnefs, 
 his facetioufnefs, or wit, endear him to 
 them, and render them unwilling to quit 
 an intercourfe with one fo qualified to amufe 
 them ; all their arts will be tried to corrupt 
 his fobriety : Where he lies mofl open to 
 temptation will be carefully watch'd ; and 
 no method left unattempted, that can ap- 
 pear likely to make him regardlefs of his 
 duty. But who can reckon himfelf fafe, 
 when fo much pains will be ufed to en- 
 fnare him ? Whofe virtue is fecure, amidft 
 the earneft endeavours of his conftant com- 
 panions to undermine it ? 
 
 Another caution which I have laid down 
 is, Never fit long among thofe, who are in 
 the progrefs towards excefs. The expedi- 
 ency of this advice will be acknowledged, 
 if we confider how difficult it is to be long 
 upon our guard how apt we are to forget 
 M 2 our-
 
 164 On Intemperance in Drinking. 
 
 ourfelves, and then to be betrayed into the 
 guilt, againft which we had moil firmly 
 refblved. 
 
 In the eagernefs of our own difcourfe, or 
 in our attention to that of others, or in the 
 pleafure we receive from the good humour 
 of our companions, or in the (hare we take 
 of their mirth, we may very naturally be 
 fuppofed unobferving, how much we have 
 drank how near we are got to the utmoft 
 bounds of fobriety : Thefe, under the cir- 
 cumftances I have mentioned, may eafily 
 be panned by us, without the leaft fufpi- 
 cion of it before we are under any appre- 
 henlion of our danger. 
 
 As in difputes, one unadvifed expreffion 
 brings on another, and after a few argu- 
 ments both fides grow warm, from warmth 
 advance to anger, are by anger fpurr'd on 
 to abufe, and thence, often, go to thofe ex- 
 tremities, to which they would have thought 
 themfelves incapable of proceeding : fo is 
 it when we fit long, where what gives the 
 moft frequent occafion to difputes is before 
 us where the intoxicating draught is cir- 
 culating ; one invites us to more our fpi- 
 
 rits
 
 On Intemperance in Drinking. 165 
 
 rits rife ourwarinefs declines fromchear- 
 fulnefs we pafs to noify mirth our mirth 
 ftops not long mort of folly our folly hur- 
 ries us to a madnefs, that we never could 
 have imagined likely to have been our re- 
 proach. 
 
 If you have often loft the command of 
 yourfelf, where a certain quantity of liquor 
 hath been exceeded ; you mould be fure 
 never to approach that quantity you 
 fhould confine yourfelf to what is much 
 fhort of it. Where we find that a re- 
 liance upon our warinefs, upon the fteadi- 
 nefs and fi rmnefs of our general refolutions, 
 has deceived us, we mould truft them no 
 more j we mould confide no more in thofe 
 precautions, which have already proved an 
 inefficient check upon us. When I can- 
 not reiift a temptation, I have nothing left 
 for my fecurity but to fly it. If I know 
 that I am apt to yield, when I am tempted ; 
 the part I have then to a<5l is, to take care 
 that I may not be tempted. Thus only I 
 fhew myfelf in earneft ; hereby alone I 
 evidence, that my duty is really my care, 
 
 M 3 We
 
 1 66 On Intemperance in Drinking. 
 
 We have experienced, that we cannot 
 withdraw from the company we like, ex- 
 actly at fuch a point of time we have ex- 
 perienced, that we fometimes do not per- 
 ceive, when we have got to the utmoft 
 bounds of temperance we have unhappi- 
 ly experienced, that when it has been known 
 to us, how fmall an addition of liquor 
 would diforder us, we then have fo far loft 
 the power over burfelves, as not to be able 
 to refrain from what we thus fully knew 
 Would be prejudicial to us. In thefe eir- 
 cumftances, no way remains of fecuring our 
 fobriety, if we will refort to any place 
 where it is at all hazarded, but either having 
 our ftint at once before us, or confining our- 
 felves to that certain number of meafured 
 draughts, from whence we are fure we can 
 have nothing to fear. And he, who will 
 not fc take this methodhe who will reft irt 
 a general intention of fobriety, when he 
 has feen how often that intention has been 
 in vain, how often he has mifcarried, not- 
 withftandmg it ; can never be confidered as 
 truly concerned for his pail failings, as hav- 
 ing ferioufly refolved not to repeat them. 
 iSo. far as I omit any .due precaution againft 
 
 a crime,
 
 On Intemperance in Drinking. 167 
 
 a crime, into which I know myfelf apt to 
 be drawn, fo far J may juftly he regarded 
 as indifferent towards it ; and fo far all -my 
 declarations, of being forfy for and deter- 
 mined to leave it, muft be confidered as 
 infincere. 
 
 SECT. V. 
 
 NEVER make any quantity of ftrong 
 liquor neceffary to your refremment. 
 What occafions this to be a fit caution is, 
 That if the quantity we cannot be without 
 is,' in the beginning, a very moderate one, 
 it will, probably, foon increafe, and be- 
 come, at length, fo great as muft give us 
 the worft to fear. The reafon, why it is 
 thus likely to be increafed, is, that a fmall 
 draught, by the habitual ufe of it, will ceafe 
 to raife our fpirits -, and therefore, when the 
 defign of our drinking is in order to raife 
 them, we fhall at length feek to do it by 
 M 4 a much
 
 1 6 8 On Intemperance m Drinking. 
 
 a much larger quantity of liquor, than wha| 
 was wanted for that purpofe at firft. 
 
 It feems to be, further, proper advice on 
 this fubject, That we mould never apply 
 to ftrong liquor for eafe, under cares, or 
 troubles, of any kind. From fears, from 
 difappointments, and a variety of uneali- 
 nefTes, none are exempt. The inconfide- 
 rate are impatient for a fpeedy relief; which 
 as the fpirituous draught affords, they are 
 tempted to feek it from thence. 
 
 But how very imprudent they muft be, 
 who would by fuch means quiet their 
 minds, is moft evident. For, is any real 
 ground of trouble removed, by not attend- 
 ing to it by diverting our thoughts from 
 it ? In many cafes, the evil we would re- 
 medy by not thinking upon it is, by that 
 very courfe, made much -more diftreffing, 
 than it otherwife would have been ; nay, 
 fometimes, quite remedilefs. In all cafes, 
 the lefs heated our brain is, and the greater 
 calmnefs we preferve, the fitter we are to 
 help ourfelves ; the fitter we are to encoun- 
 tqr difficulties, to prevent our being in- 
 
 volve4
 
 On Intemperance in Drinking. 169 
 
 yolved in them ; or, if that cannot be, tq 
 extricate ourfelves fpeecUly from them. 
 
 The eafe, which liquor gives, is but that 
 of a dream : when we awake, we are again 
 ourfelves ; we are in the fame fituation as 
 before, or, perhaps, in a worfe. What 
 then is to be the next ftep ? Soon as the 
 ftupifying effects of one draught are gone 
 off, another muft be taken ; the fare con- 
 fequence of which is, that fuch a habit of 
 drinking will be contracted, as we fhall 
 vainly endeavour to conquer, though the 
 original inducement to it mould no longer 
 fubfift. - To guard againft this, as it is of 
 the utmoft importance to all of us, fb the 
 only certain way is, by (lopping in the ve- 
 ry firft inflance -, by never feeking, either 
 under care or pain, relief from what we 
 drink, but from thofe helps, which reafon 
 and religion furnim ; the only ones, indeed, 
 to which we can wifely refort in any ftraits; 
 and which are often found capable of ex- 
 tricating us, when our condition feems the 
 moft defperate. 
 
 A prudent man fhould never defert him-* 
 felf. Where his own efforts avail him not, 
 
 the
 
 i 70 On Intemperance in Drinking. 
 
 the care of an over- ruling Providence may 
 intefpofe, and deliver him. But to borrow 
 fupport againfr, our troubles from liquor, is 
 an entire defertion of ourfelves ; it is giving 
 up our flate, as an undone one it is aban- 
 doning our own difcretion, and relinquim- 
 ing all hopes of the DEITY'S affiftance. 
 
 "Jjox, j. .-/ib w<;> 'to ';"afc> .soil & 
 
 Laftly, Know always, how you may ufe- 
 
 fully employ, or innocently amufe, your- 
 felf. When Time is a burden upon us, 
 when we are at a lofs how to pafs it, our 
 chearfulnefs of coutfe abates, our fpirits 
 flag, we are reftlefs and uneafy : Here then 
 we are in the fitteft difpofitioh, and .under 
 the ftrongeft inducements, to refort to what 
 we know will enliven us, and make our 
 hours glide away infenfibly.. Belides, 
 when we cannot tell what to do with our- 
 felves, it is natural we mould feek for thofe, 
 who are as idle as ourfelves; and when fuch 
 company meet, it is eafy to fee what will 
 keep them together; that drinking muft 
 be their entertainment, lince they are fo ill 
 qualified for any other. 
 
 f * T . t ". _ .'..,. L f , . , ,, *" -, .(.. o.fv.i'./V; A 
 
 Idlenefs has' been hot unfitly term'd, the 
 Parent of" all vices : but none it more fre- 
 
 Sllf i 
 
 quently-
 
 On Intemperance in Drinking. 171 
 
 quently produces than Drunkennefs ; as no 
 vice can make a greater wafte of our time, 
 the chief thing about which the idle are fo- 
 licitous. On the other hand, he who 
 can profitably bufy, or innocently divert, 
 himfelf, has a fure refort in all humours 
 he has his fpirits feldom deprefTed -, or, 
 when they are fo, he can, without any ha- 
 zard, recruit them he is fo far from feek- 
 ing a correfpondence with fuch, as are al- 
 ways in a readinefs to engage in fchemes of 
 intemperance and riot, that he muns them ; 
 his amufements, quite different from theirs, 
 occafion him to be feldom with them, and 
 fecure him from being corrupted by them. 
 
 This we may lay down as a moft certain 
 truth, That our virtue is never fefe, but 
 when we have proper diver/ions. Unbent 
 we fometimes mufl be; and when we know 
 not how to be fo in an innocent way, we 
 foon mall be in a guilty. But if we can 
 find full entertainment in what is free from 
 all reproach, in what neither has any thing 
 criminal in it, nor can lead us into what is 
 criminal; then, indeed, and only then, can 
 we be thought in little danger, and not 
 likely to yidd to the bad examples fur- 
 rounding us. SECT,
 
 2 Qn Intemperance in Drinking, 
 
 B 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 
 U T let me confider what the Intem- 
 perate fay in their excufe. 
 
 That any fhould frequently put them- 
 felves into a condition, in which they are 
 incapable of taking the leaft care of them- 
 felves in which they are quite ftupid and 
 helplefs in which, whatever danger threa- 
 tens them, they can contribute nothing to- 
 wards its removal in which they may be 
 drawn into the moft mocking crimes in 
 which all they hold dear is at the mercy of 
 their companions ; the excefs, I fay, which 
 caufes us to be in fuch a fituation, none 
 feem difpofed to defend : but what leads to 
 k, you find numbers thus vindicating, or 
 excufmg. 
 
 They muft converfe They muft have 
 their hours of chearfulnefs and mirth 
 When they are diforder'd, it happens be- 
 fore*
 
 On Intemperance in Drinking. 173 
 
 fore they- are aware of it A fmall quanti- 
 ty of liquor has this unhappy effect upon 
 them If they will keep up their intereftj 
 it muft be by complying with the intem- 
 perate humour of their neighbours Their 
 way of life, their bulinefs, obliges them 
 to drink with fuch numbers, that it is 
 fcarcely poffible they fhould not be fome- 
 times guilty of excefs. 
 
 To all which it may be faid, That, bad 
 as the world is, we may every where, if 
 we feek after them, find thofe, whofe com- 
 pany will rather confirm us in our fobriety, 
 than enda-nger it. Whatever our rank, fta- 
 tion, profeflion or employment may be, 
 fuitable companions for us there are ; with 
 whom we may be perfectly fafe, and free 
 from every temptation to excefs. If thefe 
 are not in all refpects to our minds, we 
 muft bear with tbem 9 as we do with our 
 condition in this world ; which every pru- 
 dent perfon makes the beft of; fince, Jet 
 what will be the change in it, ftill it will 
 be liable to fome objection, and never, en- 
 tirely, as he would wifli it. In both cafes 
 We are to confider, not how we {hall rid
 
 1 74 On Intemperance in Drinking. 
 
 durfelves of all inconveniences, but where 
 are likely to be the feweft : and we mould 
 judge that fit of acquaintance, as well as 
 that flat e of life, the moft eligible, in which 
 we have the lead to fear, from which 
 our cafe and innocence are likely to meet 
 with the feweft interruptions. 
 
 But mirth, you fay, mufl fometimes be con- 
 fulted. Let it be fo. I would no more dif- 
 fuade you from it, than I would from feri- 
 oufnefs. Each mould have its feafon, and 
 its meafure : and as it would be thought by 
 all very proper advice, with refpecl: to fe- 
 rioufnefs, " Let it not proceed to melan-* 
 " choly, to morofenefs, or to cenfonouf- 
 <( nefs;" it is equally fit advice, with re- 
 gard to mirth, " Let wifdom accompany 
 " it: Let it not tranfport you to riot or in- 
 " temperance : Do not think you can' be 
 " called merry, when you are ceafmg to 
 " be reafonable." 
 
 Good humour, chcarfulnefs, facetiouf- 
 ncfs, which are the proper ingredients of 
 mirth, do not want to be called out by the 
 repeated draught : it will rather damp 
 them, from the apprehenfion of the difor- 
 
 der
 
 On Intemperance in Drinking. 175 
 der it may foon produce. Whenever we 
 depart from, or endanger, our innocence, 
 we are laying a foundation for unealinefs 
 and grief ; nor can we, in fuch circum- 
 ftances, be merry, if we are not void of all 
 thought and reflection: and this is, undoubt- 
 edly, the moil melancholy fa.u*ti.c>n, in which 
 we can be conceived, except when we are 
 undergoing the punifliment of our folly. 
 The joy, the elevation of fpirits proper to 
 be fought after by us, is that alone, which 
 can never be a fubjedt of remorfe, or which 
 never will embitter more of our hours than 
 it relieves. And when this may be obtain'd 
 in fuch a variety of ways, we muft be loft 
 to all common prudence, if we will apply 
 to none of them ; if we can only find mirth 
 in a departure frvrnfobriety. 
 
 You are, it feems, overtaken, before you 
 are aware of it. This may be an allowable 
 excufe for three or four times, in a man's 
 life ; oftener, I think, it cannot be. What 
 you are fenfible may ealily happen, and 
 muft be extremely prejudicial to you, when 
 it does happen, you fhould be always aware 
 of. No one's virtue is any farther his praife, 
 
 than
 
 On Intemperance in Drinking. 
 
 than from the care he takes to prelerve it. 
 If he is at no trouble and pains ori that ac- 
 count, his innocence has nothing in it, that 
 can entitle him to a reward. If you are 
 truly concerned for a fault, you will ne- 
 ceflarily keep out of the. way of repeating 
 it ; and the more frequent your repetitions 
 of it have been, fo much the greater cau- 
 tion you will ufe for the future. 
 
 Many ive bear excufing their drunkennefs* 
 by the fmall quantity which occafions it. A 
 more trifling excufe for it could not be 
 made. For if you know ho<w fmall a quan- 
 tity of liquor will have that unhappy effeclv 
 you mould forbear that quantity. It is as 
 much your duty to do fo, as it is his duty 
 to forbear a greater quantity, who fuffers 
 the fame from it, which you do from a 
 fefTer. When you know that it is a crime 
 to be drunk, and know likewif what will 
 make you fo ; the more or lefs, which will 
 do this,- is nothing to the purpofe alters 1 
 not your guilt. If you will not refrain from 
 two or three draughts, when you are fure 
 that drunkennefs will be the confequence of 
 them ; it cannot be thought, that any mere 
 
 regard
 
 E " '* ' ~ * 
 
 0;z Intemperance in Drinking. i 7 7 
 
 Regard to fobriety keeps you from drinking 
 the largeft quantity whatfoever. Had fucri 
 a .regard an influence upon you, it would 
 have an equal one j it would keep you from 
 every ftep, by which your fobriety could 
 
 fuffer. 
 
 rrr S7Ji v: i j c;f:j ,%,-.-,. 
 
 As tofupporting an inter eft, promoting a 
 trade, advantageoufly bar gaming for ourfehesj 
 by drinking more than is convenient for us; 
 they are, f6r the moft part, only the poor 
 evafioris of the infmcere, of thofe who are 1 
 willing to lay thebla'me of their mifcondud? 
 ori.any thing, rather than on what alone 
 deferves it rather fhah on therr bad incli- 
 nations. 
 
 Civility and courtefy, kind offices, adff 
 of charity and liberality will both raife us 
 more friends, and keep thofe we have 
 firmer to us, than any quantities of liquor; 
 which we can either diflribute or drink : 
 and as for mens trade or their bargains, let 
 them always act fairly let them', whether 
 they buy or fell, {hew that they abhor all 
 tricking and impofitioh all little arrd meanr 
 artifices j and I'll flake my life, they ihall 
 never have reafon to objedl, that/ if they 
 N
 
 1 7 8 On Intemperance m Drinking. 
 
 will a/ways preferve fa&xfobriety, they muft 
 lefien their gains. 
 
 But were it true, that, if we will refolve 
 never to hazard intoxicating ourfelves, we 
 mull lofe our friends, and forego our pre- 
 fent advantage ; they are inconveniences, 
 which, in fuch a cafe, we mould chearfully 
 fubmit to. Some pains muft be taken, 
 fome difficulties muft be here encountered; 
 if we will have any reafonable ground to 
 exped: happinefs in a future ftate. Of this 
 even common fenfe muft fatisfy us. 
 
 Credulous as we are, I think it im- 
 poffible, that any man In his wits would 
 believe me, if I were to tell him, That he 
 might mifs no opportunity of bettering his 
 fortune that he might remove any evil he 
 had to fear, by whatfoever method he 
 thought proper that he might throughout 
 follow his inclinations, and gratify his ap- 
 petites ; and yet reft aftured, that his death 
 would be but the paflage to great and end- 
 lefs joys. I know not, to whom fuch an 
 afiertion would not appear extremely ab- 
 furd : notwkhftanding which, we, cer- 
 tainly, do not aft, as if there were any ab- 
 
 furdity
 
 On Intemperance in Drinking. 179 
 
 furdity in it, when we make what is en*, 
 dently our duty give way to our con- 
 venience ; and rather confider, how profi- 
 table this or that practice is, than how 
 right. That, therefore, Sobriety, added 
 to other parts of a virtuous conduct, may 
 entitle us to the fo much hoped for reward,we 
 muftbe fober, under all forts of difcourage- 
 ments. It rarely, indeed, happens, that 
 we meet with any -, but to refift. the great- 
 eft muft be our refolution, if we will re- 
 commend ourfelves to the Governor of 
 the Univerfe if we will hope for his 
 favour. 
 
 
 SECT. VII. 
 
 THUS much with regard to drunkert- 
 nefs, fo far as it is committed by in- 
 toxicating ourfelves by drinking, 'til our 
 reafon is gone : but as there is yet another 
 way, in which we may offend in it, viz. 
 by drinking more than is proper for our 
 N 2 jefrefh-
 
 i So On Intemperance in Drinking. 
 
 refrefhmerit ; I muft on this, likewife be- 
 ftow a few obfervations a . 
 
 When we drink more than fuffices to 
 recruit our fpirits, our paffions are heigh- 
 tened^ and we ceafe to be under the influ- 
 ence of that calm temper, which is "our 
 only fafe counfellor. The next advance 
 beyond refreshment is to that mirth, which 
 both draws many unguarded fpeeches from 
 us, and carries us to many indifcreet actions 
 - which wailes our time, not barely while 
 we are in the act of drinking, but as it 
 unfettles our heads, and indifpofes us to at* 
 tention, to buiinefs, to a clofe application 
 in any way. Soon as our fpirits are raifed 
 beyond their juft pitch, we are for fchemes 
 pf diverfion and pleafure ; we are unfit for 
 ferious affairs, and therefore cannot enter- 
 tain a thought of being employed in 
 them. 
 
 Bv fides, ; as according to the rife of our 
 fpirits, their fall will, afterward, be ; it is 
 mofl probable, that when we find them 
 thus funk, we mall again refort to what 
 
 ?, &c. Semper malum eft vinum, quod 
 muhum eft. PHILBM. Frag. 
 
 we
 
 On Intemperance in Drinking. 1.8 1 
 
 we have experienced the remedy pf fuch a 
 complaint ; and thereby be betrayed, if not 
 into the excefles, which deprive us of our 
 reafon, yet into fuch a habit of drinking, 
 as occafions the lofs of many precious hours 
 : impairs our health is a great mifappli- 
 cation of our fortune, and a moft ruinous 
 example to our obfervers. But, indeed, 
 whence is it to be feared, that we fliall be- 
 come downright fots that we (hall con- 
 tract a habit of drinking to the moft di- 
 guifing excefs ; whence, I fay, is this to be 
 feared, if not from accuftoming ourfelves 
 to the frequent draughts, which neither 
 our thirft -nor fatigue nor conftitution 
 requires : by frequently unng them, our 
 inclination to them is ftrengthened -> a 'til at 
 length we cannot prevail upon ourfelves to 
 leave our cup, while we are in a condition 
 to lift it. 
 
 Thefe are objections, in which all are 
 concern'd, whofe refrefhment, from what 
 they drink, is not their rule in it ; but to 
 men of moderate fortunes, or who are to 
 
 a Haec neceffitas vitium comitatur, ut bibendi confue- 
 tudo augeat aviditatem. PLIN. 1. 14. 
 
 N 7 mak
 
 1 8 2 0# intemperance in Drinking. 
 
 make their fortunes, other arguments are to 
 be ufed : thefe perfons are to confider, that 
 even the leffer degree of intemperance," now 
 cenfured, is generally their utter undoing, 
 thro' that neglect of their affairs, which is 
 its neceffary confequence. When we mind 
 not ourownbufinefs, whom can we think 
 likely to mind it for us ? Very few, certain- 
 ly, will be met with, difpofedandafi/etodo 
 it ; and not to be both, is much the fame, 
 as to be neither. While we are paffing our 
 time with our chearful companions, we are 
 not only lofing the advantages, which care 
 and induflry, either in infpecting our affairs, 
 or purfuing our employment, would have 
 afforded us ; but we are actually confuming 
 our fortune we are habituating ourfelves 
 to a moft expenfive idlenefs' we are con- 
 tracting a difmclination to fatigue and con- 
 finement, even when we muft become fenii- 
 bleof their neceffity, when our affairs muft 
 run into theutmofbconfufion without them. 
 And we, in fact, perceive that, as foon as 
 the fcholar, or trader, or artificer, or 
 whoever it is, that has the whole of his main- 
 tenance to gain, or has not much to ipend, 
 addicts himfelf pnly to this lower degree of 
 
 intern^
 
 On Intemperance in Drinking. 183 
 
 intemperance accuftoms himfelf to fit 
 long at his wine, and to exceed that quantity 
 of it which his relief demands, he becomes 
 worthlefs in a double fenfe, as deferving no- 
 thing, and, if a care greater than his own 
 fave him not, as having nothing. 
 
 Add to all this, that the very fame difea- 
 fes, which may be apprehended from often 
 -intoxicating ourfelves, are the ufual attend- 
 ants not only of frequently drinking to the full 
 of what we can conveniently bear, but even 
 of doing it in a large quantity. The only 
 difference is, that fuch difeafes come more 
 fpeedily on us from the former, than the 
 latter caufe; and, perhaps, deftroy us fboner. 
 But how defireable it is to be long ftrug- 
 gling with any of the diftempers, which our 
 exceffes occafion, they can beft determine, 
 who labour under them. 
 
 The inconveniences which attend our 
 more freely ufing the leaft hurtful of any 
 fpirituous liquors have fo evidently ap- 
 pear'd have fhewn themfelves fo many 
 and fo great, as even to call for a remedy 
 from the law itfelf j which, therefore, pu- 
 pimes bpth thofe, who loiter away their 
 JN" 4 time
 
 284 On Intemperance in Drinking, 
 
 time at their .cups, and thofe, who fuffer 
 it to be done in their houfes. 
 
 A great part of the world, a much greater 
 than all the parts added together, in which 
 the Chriftian religion is profeffed, are for- 
 bidden all manner of liquors, which can caufe 
 drunkennefs , they are not allowed thefmallejl 
 quantity of them ; and it would be an offence, 
 which would receive the moft rigorous 
 chailifement, if they were known to ufe any, 
 their Lawgiver has, in this particular, been 
 thought to have acted according to the rules 
 of good policy ; and the Governors of thofe 
 countries, in which this law is in force,have, 
 from its firft reception amongft them, found 
 it of fuch benefit, as to allow no relaxation of 
 jt. I do not mention fuch a practice as any 
 jule for us : Difference of climates makes 
 quite different ways of living neceffary : I 
 only mention it as a leiTon to us, that, if fo 
 great a part of mankind fubmit to a total 
 abftinence from wine andjlrang drink, we 
 ftiould ufe them fparingly, with caution and 
 moderation ; which is, certainly, neceffary 
 to our welfare, whatever may be the effect 
 of entirely forbearing them on theirs.
 
 On Intemperance in Drinking. 185 
 
 In the moft admired of all the weftern 
 Governments, a ftri<5t fobriety was required 
 of their women, a under the very fevereft 
 penalties : the punimmefit of a departure 
 from it was nothing lefs than capital : and 
 the cuftom of faluting women, we are told b , 
 was introduced in order to difcover whether 
 any fpirituous liquor had been drank by 
 them. 
 
 In this commonwealth the men were pro- 
 hibited to drink wine 'til they had attained 
 thirty years % 
 
 The whole body of foldiery, among this 
 people, had no other draught to enable them 
 
 * Si vinum bibit, fi. cum alieno yirq probri quid fecit, 
 condemnatur. CATO apud A. Gel. 1. 10. 
 
 b Non licebat id (vinum) feminis Romx bibere. Cato 
 
 fcripfit ideo propinquos feminis ofculum dare, ut fcirent 
 an temetum olerent. PL IN. 1. 14. To the fame purpofe, 
 'Atbeiueus cites Polybius, 1. 10. 
 
 c Haifa. Pft>n*aioif UTS OXITI)J, &c. Apud Romanes nee f&- 
 tnuli nee ingenuas mulieres vinum bibunt, atque adeo nee 
 adolefcentes ingenui ante trigefimum annum. AT HEN. 
 1. 10. 429. 
 
 jElian fays that men of Rank did not drink wine *til 
 ^heir 3 5th year. L. 2. 
 
 to
 
 1 8 6 On Intemperance in Drinking. 
 
 to bear the greateft fatigue to raife their 
 courage, and animate them to encounter 
 the moft terrifying difficulties and dangers, 
 but water {harpen'd with vinegar a . And 
 what was the confequence of fuch ftricT: fo- 
 briety, obferv'd by both fexes ? What was 
 the confequence of being born of parents fo 
 exactly temperate, and of being train'd up 
 in a habit of the utmoft abftemioufnefs 
 What, I fay, followed upon this, but the 
 attainment of fuch a firmnefs of body and 
 mind of fuch an indifference to all the 
 emafculating pleafures of fuch vigour and 
 fearlefnefs, that the people, thus born and 
 educated, foon made all oppofition fall be- 
 fore them, experienc'd no enemy a match 
 for them were conquerors, wherever they 
 carried their arms. 
 
 By thefe remarks on the temperance of 
 the antient Romans, I am not for recalling 
 
 * Adrianus cibis caftrenfibus in propatulo utebatur, hoe 
 eft, Lardo, Cafeo, Pcfca. SPARTIAN. 
 
 Plutarch fays of Cato the elder, vhy nrmv swi rr.< 
 rfTa ? , &c. Potabat in expeditionibus aquam, extra quam, 
 fi immenfo seftu fitiret, turn potabat acetum, aut fatifcenti- 
 bus viribus poftremo loco parum vini fumebat. PLUT. in 
 Cat. maj. 
 
 Caffius tota vita aquam bibit. SEN. 
 
 cuftoms
 
 On Intemperance in Drinking. 187 
 
 cuftoms fo quite the reverfe of thofe, in 
 which we were brought up j but fome 
 change in our manners I could heartily wifh 
 they might effect : and if not induce us to 
 the fame fobriety, which was praclifed by 
 thefe heathens, yet to a much greater than 
 is pra&ifed by the generality of Chriftians. 
 
 ON
 
 cl air so 
 
 7 CT.V fi 
 
 wo n: o 
 
 ".^ 

 
 ON 
 
 PLEASURE. 
 
 Accipite veterem orationem ArchitasTarentini, magiu 
 in primis, & praclari viri : quae mihi tradita eft, cum 
 cflem adolefcens Tarenti cum Q^Maximo. Nullam ca- 
 pitaliorem peftem, quam Corporis voluptatem honrfnibus 
 dicebat a natura datam : cujus voluptatis avidae libidines, 
 temere, & effrenate ad potiundum incitarentur. Hinc 
 patris proditiones, hinc rerum publicarum everfiones, 
 hinc cum hoftibus clandeftina colloquia nafci: nullum 
 
 * denique fcelus, nullum malum facinus effe, ad quod fufci- 
 piendum non libido voluptatis impelleret : ftupra vero, 
 & adulteria, & omne tale flagitium, nullis aliis illecebris 
 excitari, nifi voluptads. Cumque homini five natura, 
 five quis Deus nihil mente przeftabilius dediflet; huic 
 divino muneri ac dono nihil efle tarn inimicum, quam 
 voluptatem. TuL.de Seneft.
 
 
 . 
 
 ,2 ;! U 8 A 3
 
 3 
 
 O N 
 
 PLEASURE. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 To the Honourable 
 
 HILE you are conftantly engaged 
 W in the purfuit of knowledge, or in 
 
 making what you have acquired of 
 ufe to your fellow-creatures while inform- 
 ation is your amufement, and to become wiier 
 is as much your aim, in all the company you 
 keep, as in all the books you read j May I 
 not juftly think it matter of aftonimment to 
 you, that fuch numbers of your fpecies mould 
 be quite unmindful of all rational improve- 
 ment folely intent on fchemes of mirth 
 and diverfion paffing their lives in a round 
 of fpotting and trifling. 
 
 ft
 
 On Pleafurt. 
 
 If every age has its madnefs, and one is di- 
 ftkiguimed by its warlike humour, a fecond 
 by its Enthufiafm, a third by its party and 
 political rage ; the diffraction of the prefent 
 may truly be pronounced, its turn to plea- 
 fure, fo fadly p offering thofe of each fex 
 and of all ages thofe of every profeffion 
 arid employment the feveral ranks and or* 
 ders of men \ that they, who are Grangers to 
 the fudden changes in human difpofitions, 
 are apt to th'ink, that all ferioufnefs and ap- 
 plication all the valuable attainments, 
 which are the reward only of our pains, 
 muft, inevitably,, be foon loft among us. 
 
 * ni * ' i ' '!/* 
 I am not out of hopes, that what thus 
 
 threatens, in the opinion of fome, our fpeedy 
 ruin, and has its very great miichief denied 
 by none, who give it the leafl attention, 
 will one day receive as remarkable an oppo-> 
 fition from your-/f, as it now does a dif-" 
 couragement froniyour example. 
 
 Let, in the- rn&an time, 'a fincere well- 
 wimer to his countrymen interpofe his mean 
 endeavours to fei^e them offer to their 7 
 confederation fome, perhaps, not wholly con- 
 temptible, arguments againil the purfuit, to 
 
 which
 
 On Pleafure. 193 
 
 which they are fo blameably attached 
 fhew them pleafure in that true light, in 
 which they are unwilling to fee it teach 
 them, not that it fhould be'always declined, 
 but that they mould never be enflaved to 
 it reprefent the dangers, to which it ex- 
 pofes them, yet point out how far it may be 
 enjoy 'd with innocence and fafety. 
 
 Every man feems to be fo far free, as he 
 can difpofe of himfelf as he can main- 
 tain a due fubordination in the parts of his 
 frame, ufe the deliberation proper to ac- 
 quaint him with what is mofl for his ad*- 
 vantage, and, according to therefult thereof, 
 proceed to action. I confider each hin- 
 drance to the knowledge of our true happi- 
 nefs, or to its purfuit, as, according to its de- 
 gree, an abridgment of our liberty ; and I 
 think that he may be truly ftiled a Have to 
 pleafure, who follows it, wherefoever di- 
 rected to it by appetite, paflion, or fancy. 
 When we Men to their fuggeftions in the 
 choice of Good, we allow them an autho- 
 rity, that our Creator never intended they 
 mould have ; and when their directions in 
 that choice are actually complied with, a 
 O lawlefs
 
 194 
 
 lawlefs fway enfues the ufe of our noble? 
 faculties becomes obftru&ed our ability to 
 deliberate, as we ought, on our condud, 
 gradually fails, and to alter it, at length, 
 wholly ceafes. 
 
 Our fenfual and rational parts are almoft 
 in continual oppofition : we add to the 
 power of the former, by a thoughtlefs, idle, 
 voluptuous life ; and to that of the latter 
 by reflection, induftry, continence. 
 
 As you cannot give way to appetite, but 
 you increafe its reftlefsnefs, you multiply 
 its demands, and become lefs able to refill: 
 them ; fo the very fame holds true of every 
 principle that oppofes reafon : if capable to 
 influence you in one inftance, it will more 
 eafily do it in a fecontl, gaining ground, 'til 
 its dominion over you becomes abfolute. 
 
 When the queftion concerns our angry 
 paffions, all are redy to acknowledge the 
 danger of not reftrainin-g them, the terri- 
 ble fubje6tion to which fuch remifTnefs ex- 
 pofes us. Thefe falling more under the 
 general notice, from the apparency of the 
 diforder, and extent of the mifchief which 
 they occafion, a better judgment is ordi- 
 narily
 
 OnPkafurt 
 
 na'rily made of them, than . of AfTeaioni lets 
 tumultuous, lefs dangerous to our aflbci- 
 ateS : but there can be no reafon imaginable 
 why Anger, if lefs carefully watched and 
 refifted, mould exercife, at length, the moft 
 unhappy tyranny over us, "wriich will not 
 hold as to any paffion or luft whatsoever; 
 And as with refpect to violent Tofentment, 
 we are ready tp gratify it, whatever it cofts 
 u$; fo let what will be the pafljon or luft 
 that governs -us, no prude wial oaftfuteffft 
 tions are a counterp<&ife for it. -> n s 
 
 Witri regard to PleafuFe; ; tn ; r l fed} ^ 
 ourreafoning upon it liesrmce^ -sp -always 
 look upon the enjoyment of:j| ^ft^^ 
 a6t, as a compliance with our Jilfing in tjbj^ 
 or that inftance : the repetition of that in- 
 dulgence is not feen under a deflehdence on 
 any former, or Under the ka^ eonrtaxicra 
 with any &tir*-. ijial-fech : a 'pOFfotl 
 mould engage us feems to be wholly from 
 pur choice j and this choice is thought to 
 be as free, at the fecond time of our mald^g 
 it as at the firft, and at the twentieth, as^at 
 the fecond. Iticlination is never beheld as 
 poffible to become conftraint is, I mean, 
 never regarded as capable of being indulged^ 
 O 2 'til
 
 196 On Pleafure. 
 
 'til it cannot be refifted. * No man ever 
 took, the road of Pleafure, but he appre- 
 hended that he could eafily leave it : had 
 he confidered his whole life likely to be 
 pafled in its windings, the preference of the 
 ways of Virtue would have been indif- 
 putable. 
 
 But as fenfual purfuits could not engage 
 fomany, if Ibmething very delightful were 
 riot expected in them ; it will be proper to 
 fhew> how unlikely they are to anfwer fuch 
 an expectation what there is to difcourage 
 us from attaching ourfelves to them. 
 
 Confider fenfual pleafure under the high- 
 eft poffible advantages, it will yet be found 
 liable to thefe objections. I 
 
 rill aOfifiJiOi. tafl} iO 
 
 . !?/>/?,. That its Enjoyment is fleeting, 
 expires fqon, extends not beyond a few 
 Elements :. b Our fpirits fink inftantly un- 
 
 \ 
 
 a . Yoluptatibu? fe immergunt, quibus in confuetudinem 
 acdji^is carere non poffunt : & ob hoc miferrimi funt, quod 
 eaperveniuntj -utillis qute fupervacahea fuerant, fafta fint 
 tficeffariar; Serviu^t itaque voluptatibus fuis, non fruun T 
 tar : & i^ab fua, quod malorum ultirnum eft, ,amant. 
 
 SEN. Ep-59- ' 
 
 O^oXoy.viSsr'aL'To*, tsc. Fatentuf ultro (Epicure!) volup- 
 tatem corporis exiguam efTq atque momentaneam. PLUT. 
 
 lil- der
 
 On Pleafure. 197 
 
 der it, if in a higher degree ; nor are they 
 long without being deprefled, when it lefs 
 powerfully affe&s them. A review here 
 affords me no comfort : I have here nothing 
 delightful to expedt from Reflexion. The 
 gratifications, in which I have allowed my- 
 felf, have made me neither wifer nor bet- 
 ter. The fruit was relifh'd while upon my 
 tongue, but when paffed thence I fcarcely 
 retain the idea of its flavour.* 
 
 How tranfitory our pleafures are, we 
 cannot but acknowledge, when we confi- 
 der, how many we, in different parts of 
 our lives, eagerly purfue, and then wholly 
 decline. 
 
 That, which is the high entertainment of 
 our Infancy, doth not afford us the leaft, 
 when this ftate is paffed : What then de- 
 lights us much in our Youth, is quite tafte- 
 lefs to us, as we approach Manhood ; and 
 our engagements at this period give way to 
 fome others, as we advance in age. 
 
 Nor do our pleafures thus pafs only with 
 our years, but, really, thofe which beft fuit 
 
 Ot<Jf TOJ EXWMT^UMOK, &c. Iftis, _qui attoniti corpo- 
 reas miranturmagnjque faciunt voluptates, his finitis, hoi* 
 jemanet deleftatio. PLUT. 
 
 O : our
 
 198 On Pleafure. 
 
 our time of life, and on the purfuit of 
 which we are moft intent! mufl be inter- 
 rupted in order to be enjoyed. 
 
 We can no more long bear pleafure, than 
 we can long endure fatigue ; or, rather, 
 . what we call pleafure, after fome continu- 
 ance, becomes fatigue. jfn sfam - 
 
 We want relief in our diverfions, as well 
 as in our moft ferious employments. 
 
 When Socrates had obferyed, " of how 
 ^ unaccountable a nature that thing is, 
 " which men call Pleafure, fmce, though 
 J *|. it may appear to be contrary to Pain, as 
 *v never being with it in the fame Perfon, 
 " yet they fo clofely follow each other, 
 5<l 'that they may feem linked, as it were, 
 44 together :" He then adds " \iMJbp had 
 " attended to this, he would, I think, have 
 "" given us a fable, in which the Divinity, 
 " willing to reconcile thefe two enemies, 
 " but yet unable to doit, had, neverthe- 
 " lefs, fo connected them in their extre- 
 (* mities, that where the one eomes, the 
 .** other {hall be fure to fucceed it." * 
 
 &c. Ubique voluptati moeror ad- 
 haeret, alterumqueextemploimbutumeft alteroj ut necefle 
 
 From
 
 On Pleafure. 199 
 
 From the excefs of Joy, how ufual is the 
 tranfition to that of Dejection ! Laughter, 
 as well as J*rief, calls for tears to eafe us 
 under it ; md it may be even more dan- 
 gerous to my life to be immoderately de- 
 lighted, than to be feverely afflidted. * 
 
 Our pleafures then foon pafs ; and, fe- 
 condfyy their repetition certainly cloys. 
 
 As the eafmefs of poflure and agreeable- 
 nefs of place wear off by a very mort con- 
 tinuance in either ; it is the fame with any 
 fenfual gratifications which we can purfue, 
 and with every enjoyment of that kind, to 
 which we can apply. b What fo delights 
 pur palate, that we mould relim it, if it 
 were our conflant food ? What juice has 
 
 fit, alterum fi eligas, alterum extemplo quoque contingat 
 tibi. MAXIM. TYR. 
 
 * TBJ irow ? wo/At /xoAXcr, tsV. MagiS perfert (corpus) 
 dolores quam voluptates : praeditumque adverfus illos ro- 
 bore ac virrbus, in his imbecillum eft. Pfcur. 
 
 b Guftatus, qui eit fenfus ex omnibus maxime volupta- 
 rius, quique dulcitudine praeter ceteros fenfus commove- 
 tur, quam cito id, quod valde dulce eft, afpernatur & re- 
 fpuit? Quis potione uti, aut cibo dulci, diutius poteft? 
 Omnibus in rebus voluptatibus maximis faftidi" 
 urn finitimum eft. Cic. de Orat* 
 
 O 4 Nature
 
 2 oo On P leaf ure. 
 
 Nature furnimed, that, after being a fre- 
 quent, continues to be a pleafing, draught ? 
 Sounds, how artfully foever blended or fuo 
 cefllve, tire at length the ear ; and odours, 
 at firft the moft grateful, foon either ceafe 
 to recreate us, or become offenfive to us. 
 The fmeft profpedt gives no entertainment 
 to the eye that has been long accuftomed 
 to it. The pile, that ftrikes with admira- 
 tion each cafual beholder, affords its royal 
 inhabitant no comfort, but what the pea- 
 fant has in his cottage. 
 
 That love of variety and change, to which 
 none of our kind are ftrangers, might be 
 alefTon tons, where our expectations are ill 
 grounded, where they muft neceflarily be 
 difappointed ; a for if no man ever yet lived, 
 
 a Circumfpice tot millia hominum inquieta ; qui, ut 
 aliquid peftiferi confequantur, per mala nituntur in ma- 
 lum, petuntque mox fugienda, aut etiam faftidienda : Cui 
 enim affecuto fatis fuit, quod optanti nimium videbatur ? 
 
 SEN. Ep. ii 8. 
 
 Gvhv f^iui Tri^if^a.SE, &c. Nihil horum eft, cui fines fuos 
 affignarit Deus aut limites, non Divitiae, non Voluptas, &c. 
 
 fed infinita eft eorum poffeflio, ut qui ea fequuntur 
 
 maxima, voti fi fiant compotes, fitiant maxime ; minus 
 enim eft quicquid confecuti font, eo quod expedlant. 
 
 MAX. TYR. Diff. 7. 
 
 who
 
 On Pleafure. 201 
 
 who could fay of any of the pleafures of 
 fenfe On this I repofe myfelf* it quite 
 anfwers my hopes from it my wimes rove 
 not beyond it : if none could ever affirm 
 this, it is mo'fl evident, that we in vain 
 fearch after permanent delight from any 
 of the objects, with which we are now con- 
 verfant that the only difference between 
 the fatisfa&ions we purfue, and thofe we 
 quit, is, that we are already tired of the 
 one, and mall foon be of the other. b 
 
 Hear the language of him, who had tried 
 the extent of every fenfual pleafure, and 
 muft have found the uncloying, had any 
 fuch exifted. " I faid in my heart, Go to 
 " . now, I will prove thee with mirth. I 
 " gave myfelf to wine, I made me great 
 " works, I builded me houfes, I planted 
 " me vineyards, I made me gardens, I 
 " planted trees in them of all kinds of 
 *' fruit. I made me pools of water, I 
 
 * Les Plaifirs ne font point afiez folides pour fouffrir 
 qu'on les approfondifie ; il ne faut que les effleurer. Us 
 refemblent a ces terres marecageufes fur lefquelles on eft 
 oblige de courir legerement, fans y arrefter jamais le pied. 
 FONT. Dial, des Morts 100. 
 
 b Que les hommes font a plaindre ! Leur condition na- 
 turelle leur fournit peu de chofes agreables, et leur raifon 
 leur apprerid a en gouter encore moins. Jb. p. 13. 
 
 " amafied
 
 2O2 On Pleafure. 
 
 << amafTed gold and filver, I had pofTeffions* 
 44 above all that were in Jerufakm before 
 "me. I tried what love, what mufic, 
 " what all the delights of the fons of men 
 ** could effect : Whatfoevernrineeyes.de- 
 " fired I kept not from them, I with-held 
 " not my heart from any ioy. Then I 
 " looked on all my works, on all my pur- 
 " fuits, and behold ! all was vanity andvex- 
 '* ation of {pint." a 
 
 Tully mentions Xerxes te having propofed 
 a reward to the man, who could make 
 known to him fome new pleafure. b The 
 Monarch cf the Eaft, it feems, met with 
 nothing within the bounds of his mighty 
 Empire, that could fix his inclinations. The 
 moft voluptuous people on earth had dif- 
 covered no delight, that their Sovereign could 
 acknowledge other wife than fuperficial. 
 Happy ! had it been a lefibn to their Prince, 
 
 * See Ecclef. ii. 
 
 * Tufc. Quaeft. L. V. Plutarch, in his Sympofiacs, L. I. 
 mentions this as done by an Adrian King, but doth not 
 name him. La-.npridius fays of Heliogabalm, Nee erat ei ulla 
 vita nife exqulrere nwas vo/up fates : and afterwards Prc- 
 penebat his quaji thetnata, ut jura nova dapibus condiendis in- 
 <veirent : cujits placuijjet itwentum, ei dabat maximum pre- 
 mium. 
 
 or
 
 On Pkafure. 203 
 
 of could it be one to u, where our good 
 fhould be fought what purfuits were like- 
 ly to bring us bleffings certain to improve, 
 as well as endure. 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 Atfhird disadvantage enfuing to us from 
 our attachment to the delights,which 
 appetite and fancy purvey, is, that it in- 
 difpofes us for ufeful inquiries, * for every 
 endeavour worthy of our nature, and fuit- 
 ing the relations, in which we are placed. b 
 The difappointment, which the Perfiaii 
 Emperor met with in all hisfchemesof the 
 voluptuous kind,- did not put him on ap- 
 plying to thofe of a different one. Expe- 
 rience fhew'd him his folly, but could not 
 
 c. Impedimenta eft vo- 
 luptas, quo minus fapias ; eoque magis, quo .major eft, at 
 Veneris. ARISTOT. Ethic. Lib. VII. 
 
 Impedit confilium voluptas, rationi inimica; ac mentis, 
 utdicam, prseftringit oculos. Cic. de Scneft. 
 
 b E tut ETfiKn^v Koyuv, Wf . Ex Epicuri decretis non di- 
 cam quis tyrannicida, quis eximiam rebus agendis laudcm 
 meritus, quis Legumlator exftitic - - fed, quifnam fa- 
 pi^ntumiftorumpropter patriamnavigavit fumptus fecit? 
 
 Ptur. adv. Colot. 
 
 teach
 
 204 
 
 teach him wifdom It could not, when it 
 had convinced him of the vanity of his 
 purfuits, induce him to relinquim them. 
 
 We find a Solomon, indeed, difcovering 
 his error, acknowledging that he had erred, 
 and bearing teftimony to religion and vir- 
 tue as alone productive of true happinefs ; 
 but where are we to look for another among 
 the votaries to fenfuality, thus affected, 
 thus changed ? 
 
 As fome have' obferved of Courts, that 
 fuch, who live in them, are always uneafy 
 there, yet always unwilling to retreat ; the 
 very fame holds true of the licentious pra- 
 ctice, which they too generally countenance : 
 fully convinced of its vanity and folly, we 
 continue to our lafr, moments attached 
 to it averfe from altering the conduct, 
 which we cannot but difapprove. Our fa- 
 culties are, indeed, fo conflituted, that our 
 capacity for many enjoyments extends not 
 beyond fuch a period in our being : if we 
 will not quit them, they will us will de- 
 part, whatever our eagernefs may be for 
 their continuance. But let us not deceive 
 ourfelves : when they are gone as to their 
 
 fenfe,
 
 On Pleafure, 205 
 
 fenfe, they are not as to their power. He 
 who fays to his youth, Eat, drink, and be 
 merry who thinks of nothing elfe at that 
 feafon, will hanker after delicacies, when 
 he has neither teeth to chew, nor palate to 
 diftinguim them ~, will want the cup, which 
 he cannot lift ; and feek for mirth, when he 
 will thereby become the object of it. The 
 habit operates, when none of the induce- 
 ments for our contracting it remain j and 
 when the days of pleafure are paft, thofe 
 of wifdom and virtue are not the nearer. 
 Our difpofitions do not decay with our 
 ftrength. The prudence, which mould at- 
 tend grey hairs, doth not necefTarily come 
 to us with them. The young rake is a 
 lafcivious obfcene wretch, when he owes his 
 warmth to his flannel ; delights in the filthy 
 tale, when his hearers are almoft poilbned 
 by the breath, with which he utters it ; and 
 when leaft able to offend in ad, he does it 
 mdefire..: niwfe . 
 
 That the humour for righting or racing, 
 or whatever inclination governed us in-this 
 world, accompanies us to the other, is not 
 
 an
 
 206 On Pkafure. 
 
 an en tire fiction of the Poet, 3 but, afiured- 
 ly, has thus much truth in it, that what- 
 ever humour we indulge, it accompanies us 
 to the clofe of life. There is a time, when 
 our manners are pliant, when the counfels 
 of tlie fober operate upon us as fuccefsfully, 
 as the inlinuations of the corrupt ; but when 
 thai time is paffed, our cuftoms are, daily, 
 Working themfelves into our conftitution y 
 and want not many years to become fcarce 
 diftinguiihable from it. God, I am per- 
 fuaded, has formed us all with fuch appre- 
 henfions of what is right, as, if a proper 
 care were taken to preferve and improve 
 them, would have the happieft influence 
 upon our practice; but when the feafon for 
 extending this care to them has been neg- 
 lected, they arc in moft of us greatly im- 
 paired, and in fome appear almoil wholly 
 
 loft. 
 
 
 
 Let the under/landing remain uninform- 
 ed, 'til half the age of man is paft, and what 
 
 gratia cnrrum 
 
 ArmorumquQ fuit vivis, qua; cura nitcntcs 
 Pafcere cquos, cadem fequitur tellure repoftos. 
 
 L. VI. 
 
 improve-
 
 On Pieajure. 207 
 
 improvement is the bed then likely to make ? 
 how irkfom would it feem to be put upon 
 any? It is with our will the very fame; 
 turned for half or three parts of our life to 
 floth and wantonnefs, to riot and excefs, 
 any correction of it, any alteration to the 
 purfuits becoming us, may feem quite hope- 
 lefs. While we are devoting ourfelves to 
 pleafure, we are weakening every principle, 
 whereby virtue can engage us, we are ex- 
 tinguiming within us all fenfe of true defert 
 fubduing confcience diverting ourfelves 
 of mame corrupting our natural notions of 
 good and evil ; and fo indifpofing ourfelves 
 for confideration, that our conflant en- 
 deavour will be to decline it. Thus when 
 pur follies are a burden to us, their cor- 
 rection feems a greater ; and we try what 
 cafe may be found by varying, rather than 
 feek any from quitting, them. 
 
 Fourthly, The larger our ihare is of out- 
 ward enjoyments, and the dearer they are to 
 jus ; fo much the more afflicting our concern 
 will be to leave this Scene of them ib 
 much the greater terror and torment mall 
 
 we
 
 2o8 On Pleafure. 
 
 we receive from the apprehenfion, how foon 
 we may be obliged to do it. 
 
 Let the man of pleafure colour it the moft 
 agreeably, place it in the faireft point of 
 view, this objection will remain in its full 
 flrength againft him : " You are not mafter 
 " of the continuance of the good, of which 
 " you boaft ; and can you avoid thinking of 
 " its removal, or bear the thoughts thereof, 
 " with any calmnefs and compofure ?" But 
 what kind of happinefs is that, which we 
 are in hourly fears of loling, and which, 
 when loft, is gone for ever ? 
 
 If I am here only for a few days, the 
 part I ought to aft is, certainly, that of 
 a traveller on his journey, making ufe, in- 
 deed, of fuch conveniences, as the road affords 
 him, but frill regarding himfelf as upon his 
 road never fo incumbring himfelf that he 
 mail be unwilling to advance, when he 
 kndws he muft do it never fo diverting 
 himfelf at any refting place, that it mail be 
 painful.to him to depart thence. 
 
 When we are accuftomed to derive all 
 our comforts from fenfe, we come to want 
 the very idea of any other : this momentary 
 
 part
 
 On Pleafure. 209 
 
 part of our exigence is the full extent we 
 give to our joys; and we have the mor- 
 tifying reflection continually before us, 
 that their conclusion is nearer every hour 
 we are here, and may poffibly take place 
 the very next. Thus each acceflion of de- 
 light will really be but a new fource of af- 
 fliction, become an additional motive for 
 complaint of the fhort fpace allowed for its 
 'enjoyment. 
 
 The mind of man is fo difpofed to loolt 
 f$f ward, fo fitted to extend its views, that, 
 3#ijluC)h as it is e.Qiitra&ed by fenfuality, it 
 cannot be fixed, thereby to the jnftant 
 moment: We e^n never; like the beafts, 
 be fo far engrofTed by the fatisfadlion before 
 us, but the thoughts will occur, how often 
 may we hope to repeat it how many dif- 
 tant hours is it likely to relieve how 
 much of our duration can it advantage ? 
 and the fcanty continuance which our moffc 
 fanguine hopes can affign it, muft, there- 
 fore, be in fome degree its abatement 
 muft be an ingredient in our draught fure 
 to embitter the many pleafing ones which 
 compound it. And what a wife part are 
 . We then a&ing, when we are taking the 
 P brutes
 
 2io On Pleafure. 
 
 brutes portion for ours, and cannot have all 
 the benefits even of that ! cannot remove 
 the inconveniences of reafon, when we fore- 
 go its comforts ! 
 
 Thefc are fome of the many difadvan- 
 tages infeparable from, pleafure, and from 
 the expectation of which none of its vota- 
 ries are exempt. We cannot attach our- 
 felves to any of the delights, which appe<- 
 tite or fancy provides, but we mall be fure 
 to find them quickly parTmg when re- 
 peated, cloying indifpofing us for worthy 
 purfuits rendering us averfe from quitting 
 the world, and uneafy as often as it occurs 
 to our thoughts, how foon our fummons 
 may be to depart. 
 
 SECT,
 
 On Pleafure. 
 
 ^ SECT. III. 
 
 BU T what, you'll fay, muft all then 
 commence Philofophers ? Muft eve- 
 ry gay amufement be banifh'd the world ? 
 Muft thofe of each fex and of all ages have 
 their looks ever in form, and their man- 
 ners under the regulation of the fevereft 
 wifHom ? Has nature given us propensities 
 only to be refitted ? Have we ears to di- 
 ftinguim harmony, and are we never 
 to delight them with it ? Is the food, 
 which our palate beft relifhes, to be there- 
 fore denied it ? Can odours recreate our 
 brain, beauty pleafe our eye, and the de- 
 fign of their ftruture be, that we mould 
 exclude all agreeable fenfation from either ? 
 Are not natural inclinations nature's com- 
 mands ; are they not its declarations whence 
 we may obtain our good, and its injundtiohs 
 to feek it thence ? Is any thing more evi- 
 P 2 dent,
 
 212 On Pleafure. 
 
 dent, than that ferious applications cannot 
 long be fuftained that we muft fmk under 
 their weight that they foon ftupify or dif- 
 tract us ? The exercife of our intellectual 
 part is the fatigue of our corporeal, and 
 cannot be carried on, but by allowing us in- 
 tervals of relaxation and mirth. Deny us 
 pleafure, and you unfit us for bufmefs ; and 
 deftroy the man, while you thus feek to 
 perfect him, 
 
 A full anfwer might, I mould think, be 
 given to whatever is here alledged, by en<- 
 larging on the following obfervations. 
 
 1 . Pleafure is only fo far cenfured, as 
 it cofts us more than it is worth as it 
 brings on a degree of uneaiinefs, for which 
 it doth not compenfate. 
 
 2. It is granted, that we are licenfed to 
 take all that pleafure, which there is no rea- 
 fon for our declining. So much true P/ea- 
 
 Jure t .or fo much Pleafure, as is not counter- 
 balanced by any inconveniences attending 
 it, is fo much happinefs accruing to him 
 who takes it, and a part of that general 
 good, which our Creatpr defign'd us. 
 
 3- As
 
 On Pleafure, 213 
 
 3. As the inclinations, with which Man- 
 kind were originally formed, were, cer- 
 tainly, very different from thofe,whichGuilt 
 has fince propagated ; many Reftraints muft, 
 therefore, be necefiary, which would not 
 have been fo, had our primitive Rectitude 
 been preferved. > 
 
 4. Bad education, bad example, increafe 
 greatly our natural depravity, before we 
 come to reafon at all upon it ; and give the 
 appearance of good to many things, which 
 would be feen in a quite different light, un- 
 der a different education and intercourfe. 
 
 Thefe particulars let it fuffice barely to 
 mention ; ftnce, as it is here admitted, that 
 when there is no Reafon for our declining 
 any pleafure, there is one for our taking it, 
 I am more efpecially concerned to mew, 
 when there is a Reafon,why pleafure fhould 
 be declined what thofe limits are, which 
 ought to be prefcribed to our pleafures, and 
 which when any, in themfelves the moft 
 innocent, pafs, they neceffarily become im- 
 moral and culpable. A minute difcuffion 
 of this point is not here propofed : fuch ob- 
 P 3 fervations
 
 214 
 
 fervations only will be made upon it, as ap r 
 pear to be of more general ufe, and of 
 greateft importance. 
 
 Wfyat I would, firft, confider as render- 
 ing any pleafure blameable is, 
 When it raifes our Pafiions. 
 
 As our greateft danger is from them, 
 their regulation claims oar conftant atten- 
 tion and care. Human Laws confider them 
 in their effects, but the Divine Law in. 
 their aim and intention. To render me ob- 
 noxious to men, it is neceflary that my im- 
 pure luft be gratified, or an attempt be 
 made to gratify it ; that rny anger operate 
 by violence, my covetoufnefs by knavery : 
 but my duty is violated, when my heart is 
 impure, when my rage extends not beyond 
 my looks and my wiihes, when I invade 
 my neighbour's property but in defire. The 
 man is guilty the moment his arfeclions be- 
 come fo, the inftant that any difhonefl: 
 thought finds him approving and indulging 
 it. 
 
 The enquiry, therefore, what is a nV 
 arnufement, mould always be preceded by 
 
 the
 
 On Pleafure* 215 
 
 tbe confideration of what is our difpofition* 
 For, it is npt greater madnefs to fuppofe, 
 that equal quantities of food or liquor may 
 be taken by all with equal temperance, 
 than to afTert;, that the fame pleafure may 
 be ufe4 by all with the fame innocence. 
 As, in the former cafe, what barely fatisfies 
 the ftomach of one, would be a load in- 
 fupportable to that of another ; and' the 
 draught, that intoxicates me, may fcarcely 
 refrefh my companion : fo in the latter, an 
 amufement perfectly warrantable to this fort 
 ofconftitution, will to a different become the 
 moft criminal. What liberties are allow- 
 able to the calm, that muft not be thought 
 of by the choleric ! How fecurely may the 
 cold and phlegmatic roam, where he, who 
 has greater warmth and fenfibility, mould 
 not approach ! What fafety attends the 
 contemner of gain, where the moft fatal 
 fnares await the avaritious ! Some left go- 
 iicrnable paffion is to be found in them, whofe 
 refolution is fteadieft, and virtue firmer! : 
 upon that a conftant guard muft be kept ; 
 by any relaxation, any indulgence, it may 
 be able to gain that ftrength, which we 
 {hall afterwards fruitlessly oppole. When 
 P 4 all
 
 2 1 6 On Pleafure. 
 
 all is quiet and compofed within us, the 
 difcharge of our duty puts us to little trou- 
 ble; the performance thereof is not the hea- 
 vy tafk, that fo many are willing to repre- 
 fent it : but to reftore order and peace is a 
 work very different from preferving them, 
 and is often with the utmoft^difficulty effect- 
 ed. It is with the natural body, as with the 
 politic ; rebellion in the members is much 
 eafier prevented than quell'd ; confufion 
 once enter'd, none can forefee to what 
 lengths it may proceed, or of how wide a 
 ruin it may be productive. 
 
 What, likewife, renders any pleafure cul- 
 pable is its making a large, or an unfeafona- 
 ble, demand upon our Time. 
 
 No one is to live to himfelf, and much 
 lefs to confine his care to but one, and that 
 the worft, part of himfelf. Man's proper 
 employment is to cultivate right difpofiti- 
 ons in hisownbreaft, and to benefit his fpe- 
 cies to perfect himfelf, and to be of as 
 much ufe in the world, as his faculties and 
 opportunities will permit. The fatisfacti- 
 ons of fenfe are never to be purfued for their 
 fake : their enjoyment is none of our 
 
 end
 
 On Pleafure. 217 
 
 end a , is not the purpofe, for which God 
 created us ; amufe, refrefh us it may, but 
 when it buiies, when it chiefly engages us, we 
 act directly contrary to the defign,for which 
 we were formed ; making that our care, 
 which was only intended to be our relief. 
 
 Some, deftitute of the neceflaries, others, 
 of the conveniences of life, are called tola- 
 hour, to commerce, to literary application, 
 in order to obtain them ; and any remiflhefs 
 of thefe perfons, in their refpeclive employ- 
 ments oj" profeffions, any purfuit inconfiftent 
 with a due regard to their maintenance, 
 meets ever with the harmeft cenfure, is uni- 
 verfally branded, as a failure in common pru- 
 dence and difcretion : JBut what is this ani- 
 mal life, in comparifon with that to which 
 we are raifed by following the dictates of 
 reafon and confcience ?How defpicable may 
 the, man continue, when all the affluence, 
 to which his wifhes afpire, is. obtained ? 
 
 Voluptatem beftiis concedamus, aliud aliquid hominis 
 iummum bonum reperiendum eft. - TUL. de fin. 
 
 Voluptas humilis res & pufilla eft, & in nullo habejida 
 pretio, communis cum mutis animantibus, ad quam mini- 
 ina & contemptiffima advolat. SEN. Ep". 123. 
 
 Cat*
 
 QuPkafurs. 
 
 Can it then be fb indifcreet a part, to fol-* 
 low f>leafure, when we mould mind our for-. 
 tune ? do all fo clearly fee the blame of 
 this ? And may we doubt how guilty that 
 attachment to it is, which lays wafte our 
 underftanding which entails on us igno- 
 rance and error which renders us even 
 more ufelefs than the beings, whom inftincl: 
 alone directs ? All capacity for improve-. 
 ment is evidently a call to it. The neglect 
 of our powers is their abufe ; and the flight 
 of them is that of their Giver. Whatever 
 talents we have received, we are to account 
 for : And it is not from revelation alone 
 that we learn this : fro moral truth com- 
 mands more ftrongly our afTent, than that 
 the qualifications beftowed upon us, are af- 
 forded us,in order to our cultivating them 
 to our obtaining from them the advantages, 
 they can yield us ; and that foregoing iuch 
 advantages, we become obnoxious to him, 
 who defigned us them, as we milapply his 
 gift, and knowingly oppofe his will. For, 
 the fureft token we can have, that any per- 
 factions ought to be purfued, i,s, that they 
 
 may 

 
 On Pkafure, 219 
 
 may be attained : our ability to acquire thena 
 ;is the voice of God within us to endeavour 
 after them. And would we but afk our- 
 felves the queftion, Did the Creator raife us 
 above the herd, and doth he allow us to 
 have no aims nobler than thofeoftheherd 
 to make its engagements the whole of ours ? 
 We could not poffibly miftake in the an- 
 fwer. All, who have reafon given them, 
 know that they may and ought to improve 
 it, ought to cultivate it at fome feafons, and 
 ever to conform to it. 
 
 Greater privileges call us but to more im- 
 portant cares. You are not placed above 
 your fellow-creatures, you have not the lei- 
 lure, which they want, that you may be more 
 idle and worthlefs, may devote more of 
 your time to vanity and folly, but that you 
 may become more eminent in the per- 
 fections you acquire, and the good you do. 
 He> who has all his hours at command, is to 
 confider himfelf as favoured with thofe op- 
 portunities to increafe in wifdom and vir- 
 tue, which are vouch fafed to few ; if no 
 goodefTedt follows j if having them,heonly 
 
 mifapplies
 
 22O On Pleafure, 
 
 inifappli^s them ; his guilt is, according to 
 what his advantage might have been. 
 
 The difpenfations of heaven are not fa 
 unequal, as that fome are appointed to the 
 heavieft toil for their fupport, and others 
 left to the free, unconftrained enjoyment of 
 whatever gratifications their fancy fuggefts. 
 The distinction between us is not that of 
 much bufmefs and none at all ; it is not, 
 that I may live as I can, and you as you 
 pleafe j a different employment conftitutes 
 it. The mechanic has his part afiigned him, 
 the fcholar his, the wealthy and powerful 
 theirs , each has his talk to perform, his ta- 
 lent to improve, has barely fo much time 
 for his pleafure, as is necefTary for recruiting 
 himfelf as is confiftent with habitual fe- 
 rioufnefs, and may rather qualify than inter- 
 rupt it. 
 
 We are furnimed with numerous argu- 
 ments, why the graver occupations mould 
 be remitted why the humour for gaiety 
 and mirth mould be allowed its place ; and 
 no man in his right mind ever taught the 
 
 contrary.
 
 On Pleafure. 22 1 
 
 contrary \ Let the delights of fenfe .have 
 their feafon, but let them ftand confined to 
 it ; the fame abfurdity follows the exceft 
 on either fide, our never ufing, andtmr never 
 quitting them. 
 
 Be not over wife, is an excellent Rule ; 
 but it is a rule full as good, and much 
 more wanted, Thztjome wifdom mould be 
 fought That drefs and diverfion t mould 
 not take up all our hours That more time 
 mould not be fpent in adorning our perfons> 
 than in improving our minds That the 
 beautified Sepulchre mould not be our ex- 
 aft refemblance, much mew and ornament 
 without, and within nothing but (tench and 
 rottennefs That barely to pafs our time 
 fliould not be all the account we make of 
 
 ) xar' A**^. &c. Ludere, ut res ferias 
 gerere poffis, Anacharfidis fententia jeqmHm eft. Quoniam 
 enim ludus requieti & ceflatipni fimilis eft, quoniamque la- 
 borem continenter ferre minime pofTumus, ceflatione & re- 
 
 quiete opus eft, Sed beata vita eaeft quae ex virtute de- 
 
 gitur, quae eadem profe&o feria eft, non in ludo pofiu. 
 ARISTOT. Eth. 1. 10. 
 
 Mihi liber non efle vide.tur, quinon aliquandonlhilagic. 
 TUL. de Orat. 1. z. 

 
 222 On Pleafurz. 
 
 it, but that fome profit mould be confultetiy 
 as well as fome delight a . 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 AGAIN, no pleafure can be innocent, 
 from which our health is a fufferer. 
 You are no more to ihorten your days, than 
 with one Jlroke to end them > and we are fili- 
 cides but in a different way, if wantonnefs 
 and luxury be our gradual deftrudtion, or 
 defpair our inriant. It is felf-murder, to 
 take from our continuance here any part of 
 that term, to which the due care of ourfelves 
 would have extended it ; and our life, pro- 
 bably, falls a more criminal facrifice to our 
 Yoluptuoufnefs, than to our impatience. 
 
 &c. Obferva quid natura tun, 
 qua es animal, expofcat ; & hoc, quicquid eft, concede tibi, 
 riiii natufa tua, qua es animal rationale, deterius inde fe ha> 
 M. ANTON, de rebus fuis, 1. 10. fecY. 2. 
 
 When 1
 
 On Plea/ufe. 
 
 When we throw off the load, which 
 providence has thought fit to lay upon us, 
 we fail greatly in a proper deference to it's 
 wifdom, in a due fiibmiffion to its will ; 
 but then we have to plead, fufFerings too 
 grievous to be fuftained a difirefs too 
 mighty 'to be contended with ; a plea, 
 which can by no means juflify us ; yet 
 how preferable to any? that he can alledge., 
 who, in the midft of all things that can 
 give a relifh to his being, negleds the pre* 
 fervatipn of it who abufes the conveniences 
 of life to its wafte, and turns its very com- 
 forts to its ruin ? Or, could we fuppofe our 
 pleafures difordering our constitution, after a 
 manner not likely to contribute to its de- 
 cay, they would not even then be exempted 
 from guilt : To preferve your felf fhould not 
 folely be your concern, but to maintain 
 your moft perfect ftate : Every part anfl 
 every power of your frame claims your 
 regard ; and it is great ingratitude towards 
 him, who gave us our faculties, when we 
 in any wife obftrudt their free ufe. The 
 proper thankfulnefs to God for our life is to 
 be expreffed by our care about it; t>oth by 
 keeping it, 'til he pleafes to require it; and by 
 
 fo
 
 224 On Pleafure. 
 
 Ib preferving it, that It may be fit for all 
 
 thofe purpofes, to which he has appointed it. 
 
 Further, the Pleafure is, undoubtedly, 
 criminal, which is not adapted to our for- 
 tune which either impairs it, or hinders 
 an application of it to what has the princi- 
 pal claim upon it. 
 
 If actions, otherwife the moil commen- 
 dable, lofe their merit, when they dif- 
 qualify us for continuing them if gene- 
 fofity changes its name, when it fuits not 
 our cifcumftances ; and even alms are cul- 
 pable, when by beftowing them we come 
 to want them if the very beft ufes, to 
 which we can put our wealth, are not fo to 
 draw off, as to dry the ftream \ we can by 
 ho means fuppofe, that our amufements are 
 hot to be limited, as by other confiderations, 
 fo by this in particular the Expence which 
 they create : We cannot imagine, that the 
 feftraints mould not lie upon our wanton- 
 nefs, which lie upon our beneficence. 
 
 r. 1. tj'i'x'Q v, ' " 
 
 BeourpofTefiionsthe largeft, it is but a very 
 fmall part of them that we have to difpofe 
 of as we think fit, on what conduces folcly 
 to our mirth and diverfion. Great af- 
 fluence,
 
 On Pleafure. 225 
 
 fluence, whatever we may account it, is re- 
 ally but a greater truft j the means com- 
 mitted to us of a more extenfi ve provifion 
 for the neceffities of our fellow- creatures j 
 and when our maintenance -- our conveni- 
 ence an appearance fuitable to our rank 
 have been confulted, all that remains is the 
 claim of others, of our family, our friends; 
 our neighbours, of thofe who are moft in 
 need of us, and whom we are moft obliged 
 to affift, 
 
 In the figure we make, in our attend- 
 ants, table, habit, there may be a very cul- 
 pable parfimony ; but in the expence which 
 has nothing but felf-gratificatioii in view, 
 our thrift can never tranfgrefs : Here our 
 abftinence is the moft generous and com- 
 mendable, as it at once qualifies us to re- 
 lieve the wants of others, and leflens our 
 own as it fets us above the world, at the 
 time that it enables us to be a bleffing 
 to it: 
 
 There is not a nobler quality to diftin- 
 guilli us, than that of an indifference to 
 ourielves a readinefs to forego our own 
 liking for the eafe and advantage of ou 
 
 fellow-
 
 226 On Pleafure. 
 
 fellow-creatures. And it is but juflice, in- 
 deed, that the conveniences of many fhould 
 prelcribe to thofe of one : Whatever his 
 fortune may be, as he owes all the fervice 
 he has from it to the concurrence of num- 
 bers, he ought to make it of benefit to 
 them, and by no means conclude, that 
 what they are not to take from him, they 
 are not to 
 
 Nor fhould it be unremarked, that the 
 gratifications, befl fuited to Nature, are of 
 all the cheapeft : She, like a wife parent, 
 has not made thofe things needful to the 
 well-being of any of us, which are preju- 
 dicial to the interefts of the reft. We 
 have a large field for enjoyment, at little or 
 no charge,, and may very allowably exceed 
 the bounds of this ; but we fhould always 
 remember, that the verge of right is the 
 entrance upon wrong that the indulgence, 
 which goes to the full extent of a lawful 
 expence, approaches too near a criminal 
 one, to be wholly clear from it. 
 
 Again, Care fhould be taken that our 
 pleafures be in Character. 
 
 The
 
 On Pleafure. 227 
 
 ( ,The Jiation of fome, the profeffion of 
 others, and an advanced age in all, require 
 that we fhould decline many pleafures al- 
 lowable to thofe of an inferior rankof a: 
 different profeffion of much younger 
 years. 
 
 Do your Decifions conflitute the Law 
 does your Honour balance the plebeian's 
 Oath ? how very fitting is it, that you fhould 
 never be feen eager on trifles intent OK 
 boyifh fports unbent to the lowed amufe- 
 ments of the populace ---- 'felicitous after 
 gratifications, which may mew> that neither 
 your fagacity is greater, nor your fcruples 1 
 fewer than what are found in the very 
 meaneft of the community ! a 
 
 Am I fet apart to recommend a reafon- 
 able and ufeful life to reprefent the world 
 as a fcene of vanity and folly, and propofe 
 
 * Ut pulcritudocorporisapta compofitione membrorum 
 raoyet oculos, & deleftat hoc ipfo, quod inter fe omnes 
 partes cum quodam lepore confentiunt : fie hoc Decorum, 
 quod elucet in vita, inovet approbationem eorum quibuf- 
 cum vivitur, ordine, & conftaatia, & moderatione dido- 
 rum omnium atque faftorum. - Pertinet ad omnem 
 honeftatem hoc, quod dico, Decorum. 
 
 TUL. de Off. Lib. I. 
 
 2 the 

 
 228 On Pleafure. 
 
 the things above as only proper to engage 
 our affections ? how ungraceful a figure do 
 L then make, when I join in all the com- 
 mon amufements when the world feems 
 to delight me- full as much as my hearers, 
 and the only difference between us is, that 
 their words and actions correfpond, and 
 mine are utterly inconfiftent ! 
 
 Have you attained the years, which ex- 
 tinguiih the relim of many enjoyments 
 which bid you expect the fpeedy conclu- 
 fion of the few remaining, and ought to 
 inflrucl: you in the emptinefs of all thofe 
 of the fenfualkind? We expect you mould 
 leave them to fuch, who can tafte them bet- 
 ter, and who know them lefs. The 
 mafTy veflment ill becomes you, when you 
 fink under its weight : the gay Aflembly, 
 when your dim eyes cannot diftinguifh the 
 perfons compofmg it: Your feet fcarcely 
 fupport you ; attend not, therefore, where 
 the con left is, whofe motions are the grace- 
 fullcfl : Fly the reprefentation defigned t9 
 raife the mirth of the fpeftaf ors, when you 
 can only remind them of their coffins. 
 
 LaJlly,
 
 On Pleafure. 229 
 
 Every pleafure fhould be aygid- 
 <d, that is an offence to the fcrupulous, or a 
 fnare to the indifcreet. I ought to have 
 nothing more at .heart than my .brother's 
 innocence, except my own ; and when, 
 there are fo many ways of entertaining 
 ourfelves, which admit of no mifconflruc* 
 tion, why ihould I chufe fuch, as afford 
 occafion for any ? 
 
 To be able greatly to benefit our fellow- 
 creatures is the happinefs of few, but not 
 to hurt them is in the pow^r of all ; and 
 when we cannot do the world much good, 
 we muft be very unthinking indeed, if we 
 endeavour not to do it the leafl poffible 
 mifchief. 
 
 How this aftion will appear, to what in- 
 terpretation it is liable, ought to be our 
 confideration in whatever we engage. We 
 are here fo much interested in each other's 
 morals, that, if we looked not beyond our 
 prefent Being, it fhould never be a point 
 indifferent to us, what notions our conduft 
 may propagate, and for what corruptions 
 it may be made the plea : But profefllng 
 the doctrine of Cbrift as our rule, we can 
 0.3
 
 230 On Pleafure. 
 
 in, nothing more directly oppofe it, than 
 in taking thofe liberties, by which the 
 virtue of any is endangered. Which of 
 our pleafures have this pernicious ten- 
 dency, it will be more proper for my 
 readers to recoiled:, than for me to de- 
 fcribe. To thofe who are in earned I have 
 faid enough -, to the infmcere more would 
 be fruitlefs. What has been faid deferves, I 
 think, fome coniideration, and that it may 
 have a ferious one, is the mofl earned wifh 
 of, 
 
 Pear SIR, 
 
 Tour, &c. 
 
 ON
 
 O N 
 
 PUBLIC WORSHIP. 
 
 &C. IfTonne 
 
 vides quod illae civitates ac gentes maxime Deos <Jolunt, 
 quae vetuftiffimae fapientiffimaeque funt ? ^Etatum quoque 
 ilia piiiTima, quae prudentiffima etiam eft. 
 
 XENOpH.de dift. & faft. Socr. L. I. 
 
 Haud fcio, an pietate erga Deos fublata, fides etiam, & 
 focietas human! generis, & una excellentiffima virtus jufti- 
 tia tollatur. Cic.de Nat. Deor. Lib. I. 
 
 Virum bonum concedas necefle eft fummae pietatis erga 
 Deos efle. SEN. Ep. 76.

 
 O N 
 
 PUBLIC WORSHIP. 
 
 S I R, 
 
 T was with much concern, that I 
 lately heard what an alteration 
 your gay companions had made in 
 
 you, and what your negled: now was of all 
 
 public worfhip. 
 
 This neglect is, really, fo Indecent, 
 Is fo very Imprudent, 
 
 Is fo Contrary to the maxims of the 'wifefl 
 Heathen, 
 
 Is fo exprefllve of direct Atbeifm, 
 
 Is fo extenfively and greatly mifchievous ; 
 that, I mould think, if you duly confidered 
 it, you could not fuffer it to be any longer 
 your reproach. 
 
 I. I may
 
 234 On Pullk Worjhip. 
 
 I. I may well be allow'd to call it In- 
 decent, 
 
 As it is by no means confident with good 
 manners -, 
 
 As it is an open breach of the Laws of 
 your Country ; 
 
 As it is an avowed contempt of the Re- 
 ligion of your Country. 
 
 I. According to the Rules of good man- 
 ners, we mould comply with the cuftomary 
 pradice, in whatever it is justifiable. 
 
 Singularity is mere Perverfenefs, or foolim 
 Affectation, where it is not founded on what 
 is fitting and right. Every man of fenfe is 
 willing to att with his neighbour, where- 
 ever it is not of importance to mew, that he 
 thinks for himfelf. Famion mould always 
 dtrecl: us, where it is not contrary to Rea- 
 fon. 
 
 In all cafes, in which Duty doth not re- 
 quire us to oppofe common Ufage, it mould 
 be as much a rule to us for dur conduct, as 
 for bur language. And if you may not be- 
 lieve, that, to attend the public worfhip, is 
 
 the
 
 On Public Worfhip. 235 
 
 the performance of a duty ; you, furely, can- 
 not judge any duty to be violated by your 
 attending it : You cannot judge it to be 
 blameable to act herein with the generality; 
 and, therefore, you, in civility, ought to 
 do it. 
 
 According to good manners, we fliould, 
 likewife, exprefs a proper deference to that, 
 which appears to be the fenfe of the Com- 
 munity. 
 
 In things, with which, from our profef- 
 iion or trade, we cannot but be fuppofed 
 better acquainted, than they are, whofe ap- 
 plication has been of a different kind, we 
 have jufl ground to treat a popular opinion, 
 as no rule for ours : but, when in matters 
 of common life, in points, to which the dif- 
 cernment of every man may fitly be thought 
 to extend, we mew an utter difregard to 
 the well-advifed determinations of our fel- 
 Jow-citizens, there is plainly an offence a- 
 gainft that Decorum, which a liberal edu- 
 cation directs us to obferve *. 
 
 * Adhibenda eft quaedam reverentia adverfus homines, & 
 pptimi cujufque 8c reliquorum. Tuu de Off. L. I. 
 
 We
 
 2 3 6 On Public Worfiip. 
 
 We very fitly, indeed, endeavour to be 
 tyifer and better than others - t but it is, by 
 no means, Wifdom> to behave, as if we were 
 
 the only wife as if we confidered the 
 
 eftablifhed regulations of a ftate, to be checks, 
 proper enough for others, but not at all ne- 
 ceflary to be fubmitted to by us. Err we 
 often do, as to the proportion of difcern- 
 ment we afljgn ourfelves, but their {hare of 
 difcernment the Generality may, in many 
 points^ juftly claim ; and can in none be 
 more unfitly oppoled, than in thofe which 
 refpe<ft public order and peace. Not to join 
 in the meafures agreed on by them for thefe 
 purpofes, may juftly expofe us to the re. 
 proach of but ill underftanding what is de- 
 cent, or not at all confulting it. 
 
 Further, we mould, in good manners, 
 carefully avoid whatever would give offence 
 to thofe, among whom we are converfant*. 
 It is this care, which diftinguifhes the civi- 
 lifed, from the favage, the well-educated, 
 from the undifciplined and uninformed part 
 
 a Juftitue partes fimt, non violare homin.es ;> Vere-cun- 
 dis, aon offenders : in quo maxime pcrfpicitur vis Decori. 
 
 TUL. deOff. L. I. 
 
 Of 

 
 On Public Worjhip. 237 
 
 of our fpecies. The more this care appears, 
 fo much the more humanity, the better 
 breeding, the more politenefs we always 
 afcribe to the perfon, in whom we fee it. 
 
 He, who negle&s to join with the reft of 
 his Diftrict in a homage of the Deity, may 
 well be fuppofed to regard them as people, 
 who do but ill know how to employ their 
 leifure, and whofe Devof ion doth little cre- 
 dit to their Capacity. 
 
 A cenfure, which how it muft be taken 
 by the difcerning part of thofe who fall un- 
 der it, you cannot be at a lofs to determine. 
 
 And, is it unworthy your onfideration, 
 that, by fuch an avowed contempt of all 
 public wormip, you give the greateft offence 
 to thofe, whom no one, who has a proper 
 fenfe of Decorum, would willingly offend ? 
 You, hereby, chiefly offend the ferious, the 
 well difpofed thofe, who are moft averfe 
 from difgufting any thofe, who have at 
 heart the caufe of Virtue, who, as they are 
 felicitous for the general Good, cannot but 
 be much grieved when they fee that irre/i- 
 gion countenanced, the fpreading of which 
 will necefTarily obftruft it. 
 
 2. How
 
 238 On Public 
 
 2. How unbecoming it is, to perfift in an 
 open breach of the Laws of our Country, 
 cannot be queftioned by him, who will not 
 call in quellion the expediency of having 
 any Laws. 
 
 If I will make convenience the Rule of 
 my obedience to the Law, another may as 
 juftly take the fame Rule for his : and thus, 
 while each pays fubjection only in the way 
 he likes, univerfal diforder muft be the ne- 
 ceiTary confequence. 
 
 The pkin language of our Statutes is^~ 
 All per Jons, inhabiting within the King's 
 Dominions, {hall, having no lawful excufe, 
 endeavour to refort to their Parim-church, or 
 tofome ufual place where Common- prayer 
 
 mall be ufed, every Sunday, &c. * All 
 
 perfons mall, on every Lord's day, apply 
 themfelves to the obfervation of the fame, 
 by exercifmg themfelves in Piety and true 
 Religion, publicly an.d privately, &c. b 
 
 3. Your abfence from all public woiihip 
 I cannot, likewife, but iiyle Indecent, as it 
 is an avowed contempt of the Religion of 
 
 * i ELIZ. Ch. 2. Seft. 4. 
 
 a 9 CHAR L . II. Ch. 7. Sqft.^ ' 
 
 your
 
 On Public Worjhip. 239 
 
 your Country. This, whatever your pri- 
 vate opinion may be of it, claims from you 
 an outward refpect j fmce nothing is held 
 more facred by, nothing is dearer to, All, 
 who are in earneft in the Profeffion of it ; 
 which may well induce you to forbear fo 
 rude an attack upon it, as is made by that 
 part of your conduct, to which I am now 
 objecting. 
 
 If an endeavour to introduce a fyftem of 
 Faith and Morals, more perfective of hu- 
 man nature, and more productive of happi- 
 nefs to mankind, than that, which is at pre- 
 fent eflablifhed among us, was your motive 
 to fuch an infult on what is thus eftablifh- 
 ed, I could not defire that Confcience mould 
 give place to Civility it would not be 
 right to expect you mould mew anycom- 
 plaifance towards opinions, which your very 
 defire of the welfare of thofe who received 
 them prompted you to extirpate. 
 
 But when you feek to pull down, with- 
 out the leaft thought of rebuilding when 
 you are active in removing the reftraints, 
 that our Depravity is under, without a view 
 of fubftituting any in their ftead when 
 
 you
 
 240 On Public Worjhty. 
 
 you alike difcountenance Communion with 
 the National Church and with every other; 
 what fofter Epithet can I give this way o 
 acting, than that of Indecent ? And how 
 properly may I recommend to your Confi- 
 deration, That, 
 
 Want of ~Detcncy h 'want of Senfe 1 
 
 POPE. 
 
 II. Imprudence is what I have next 
 charged you with* 
 
 A degree of it there is, in every departure" 
 from good manners in all actions out of 
 character in whatever is improperly done 
 by us, and mews us to be lefs attentive to 
 what the fociety , in which we live, mayjuftly 
 expect from us. But our Imprudence is great 
 in thofe omuTions, which can fcarcely be 
 other wife than the fource of much incon- 
 "jcnicnce anduneafinefs to us. And, I believe, 
 it will be difficult to name what is the caufe 
 of more to the head of a family, than the 
 irreligion of its members. The bad prin- 
 ciples of the hufband, the father, the ma- 
 fler, where his capacity is not extremely 
 low, too eafily infmuate themfelves into his 
 
 wife,
 
 On Public Woffoip. 2 4 
 
 wife, children, fervants j and there cannot 
 be a plainer difcovery of his principles, than 
 his practice ; nor of his having very bad 
 principles, than fuch a practice, as makes it 
 evident that he is indifferent, how far he 
 contributes to efface, in thofe, who obferve 
 him, all reverence of a Deity. 
 
 . I know you will fay, that you are not 
 unwilling your family mould go to Church, 
 and that you even frequently order them 
 to do it. But which will weigh mofl with 
 them, your orders or your example ? Can 
 they fuppofe you to think it of any mo- 
 ment, that mankind mould be influenced 
 by the fear of God ; when they fee you ut- 
 terly negligent of what alone will preferve 
 in them the fear of him ? Will they fee a 
 reafon for their joining in the public wor- 
 fhip, which is not one for your doing it ? 
 
 Your Children may obey your orders^ 
 whilft they dare not do otherwife j but they 
 will be fure not to forget your unfuitable 
 example : and when moved by it to flight 
 all the reftraints of Religion, they will, 
 probably, when they ceafe to be under 
 your controul, go all thofe lengths of guilt, 
 to which their inclinations lead them. 
 
 K ' Npr
 
 242 On Pttblic fForfhip. 
 
 : /;.- ,vi: 
 
 Nor is it to be believed* that the pattern 
 you fet your Servants will we-igh lefs with 
 them, than your giving them leave, or even 
 enjoining them, riot r to foMow it: You may 
 juftly fear, that they will rather mind what 
 you do, than what you Jay that from the 
 irreligion, to which your pWa# leads them, 
 they will not be with -held by your In- 
 junftlons that they will adopt principles 
 fuitable to that difregard of the Deity which 
 you exprefs -, and be induced, by thofe 
 principles, to confult their pleafure of pro- 
 lit in fuch ways, as cannot but be very pre- 
 judicial t*"' 
 
 The Parent and Msifter, who have much 
 ferioufnefs, have not always an equal dif- 
 cretion ; and the depravity of fome under 
 their care may be fuch, as the beft both 
 advice and example cannot correct. It is 
 not, therefore, to be imagined, but that 
 great regularity) in the heads of a family, 
 may fometimes fail in influencing thofe un- 
 der their government : But I am perfuaded, 
 that as you will often fee the uniform piety 
 of the One producing the happieft effects 
 on the Other, fo it will rarely be found, 
 
 that
 
 On Public Worfoip. 243 
 
 that a neglect of the duties of Religion in 
 the former, is not the caufe of great hurt 
 to the Morals of the latter, and of fuch 
 hurt as deeply affects the prefent intereft of 
 the perfons who occafion'd it. 
 
 There is nothing more abfurd than to 
 think, that a Son or a Servant will go juft 
 thofe lengths of irreligion, which you would 
 connive at in him. When he is advanced 
 as far as your practice will lead him, be af- 
 fured that he will not flop there, but pro- 
 ceed to all thofe crimes, which fuit his de- 
 praved affections, and from which he is 
 not with-held by fenfe of Shame, or dread 
 of the Law. 
 
 As the extenfive and great mifcblef, which 
 may enfue from your conduct cannot be 
 {hewn, but it muft, at the fame time, evi- 
 dence the Imprudence of it ; I mail here in- 
 fift no longer on this point, but refer the 
 additional proofs of it to what will be/aid 
 on the other. 
 
 III. That in a neglect of all common 
 worfhip you act contrary to the maxims of 
 the wifeft Heathen, may be made appear 
 
 R 2 From
 
 244 On Public Worjhip. 
 
 From the eftablifhments of their Law- 
 givers 
 
 From the accounts we have of their pra- 
 ctice 
 
 From the fentiments, which their writ- 
 ings exprefs'. 
 
 Did you ever read of the Commonwealth 
 that was founded without any provifion for 
 public worfhip ? What hiftory mentions a 
 civilifed people, which had not their tem- 
 ples, their altars, their places where the 
 Deity was publicly adored ? 
 
 Many whimlical things have been enact- 
 ed by the feveral Lawgivers ; but I know not 
 of Any, who have fuppofed that a Society 
 could be kept in order, unlefs the members 
 of it joined in fome folemn rites, which 
 might contribute to preferve in them a re- 
 verence of the Deity. 
 
 When Lycurgus was alked, Why he en- 
 joined oblations of little price ? his Anfwer 
 was That None might fail in paying their 
 acknowledgments to the Gods. * 
 
 V, &c. De hoftiis ad ilium qui per- 
 ccsitabatur, quid tarn exiguas & viles praeicrjpfiflet, Ne 
 unquajn, iquit, Deum intermittamus colere. PLUT. 
 
 In
 
 On Public Worjhip, 245 
 
 In Plato 's tenth Book of Laws, the af- 
 fertion of the Exiftence of a Deity, and of 
 his regard to what is right, having been 
 confidered as a proper Introduction to all 
 Laws, it follows That, from the Eaft to 
 the Weft, or throughout the extent of the 
 Earth, All men, Barbarians as well as Greeks, 
 are feen and heard proftrating themfelves, 
 and fupplicating the Deity, 1 
 
 The Athenians are reprefented, as, in the 
 moft flouriihing ftate of their Common- 
 wealth, taking particular care that the reli- 
 gious rites of their Anceftors mould be con- 
 formed to. b 
 
 As fully fays in one place c That All 
 men think the Gods they have received 
 
 .cu o-fAi)t"!S wgoj Jttr^a; wfluv, it^- 
 a.it.a. x.cu ir^ooTtvrrta'u^ axaoxle? TE xat ogditlts EXAiwy TS 
 
 vailun, &C. PLAT, de Leg. Lib. X. 
 b Ta vrti TK<; *?, &c . Quod ad Deos immortales atti-) 
 net (hinc enim ordiri mihi jure videor) non inaequaliter, 
 non perturbate vel ipfos colebant, vel eoram fefta celebra- 
 bant : - Illud accurate obfervabant, ne a patribus ac- 
 ceptura quicquam abrogarent. ISOCR. Or. Areopag. 
 
 c OMNES religione moventur : & Decs patrios, quos a 
 Majoribus acceperunt, colendos fibi dillgenter -- arbitran- 
 tur. TUL. in VER. 
 
 Si conferre volumus noftra cum externis, ceteris rebus 
 aut pares, aut etiam inferiores reperiemur ; religione, id eft, 
 
 R 3 from
 
 246 On Public Worfiip. 
 
 from their Anceftors fhould be diligently 
 worshipped : fo he elfewhere remarks, that 
 though the 'Romans might be, in fome par- 
 ticulars, excelled by other nations, they 
 were riot equalled by any, in a regard to the 
 duties of Religion- 
 
 Aiid Pliny a confiders it as an ancient 
 ufige among them, well and wifely ejlablified, 
 to begin all their Undertakings with Prayers 
 for their fuccefs. b 
 
 The mofr, ancient of the Heathen Writers 
 prefaces his account of the firrV battle lie 
 defcribes, with a relation of the folernn fa- 
 crifice, at which the Chiefs of \foe"G'reeks 
 attended to implore the bkfTing of Heaven 
 
 i)C7i_. K)O ?-n* yifiuil ($ 
 
 cultu Deorum, multo fuperiores. TUL. de Nat. Deor. 
 Lib. II. 
 
 The following obfer>-vatlon IK ell -defer<ues to ie here infcried : 
 Omnia poft Reiigioivem porrenda fcmper noftra civitas duxit, 
 ctiam in quibus fummae majeftatis confpici decus voluit. 
 Quapropter non dubitaveruht fccris imperia fervire : ita fe 
 hutn-atidrtim rerum velut curam gerere exiilimantia, fi di- 
 vinae pb'Centias bcne atque conilanter fuiffent famulata. 
 
 VA L.MAX. Lib. I. 
 
 a Bcne ac fapici.ter majores inftituerunt rerum agen- 
 darum initium a precationibus capere. PL IN. Paneg. 
 
 b Pri/co Inftituto rebus divinis opera datur, cum aliquid 
 commendaadum eft, Precatione ; cum expofeendum,Voto ; 
 Cumlolvendam, Gratulatiopc j &c. VAL. MAX. L. I. 
 
 on
 
 On Public Wwjhip. 247 
 
 on their Arms:, and, throughout the Iliad, 
 Prayer is inculcated, as reqiiifite to precede 
 all our undertakings. 
 
 It was, as Plutarch informs us, the daily 
 practice of Alexander the Great, when his 
 leifure admitted of it, the firft thing he did, 
 to facrifice to the Gods. 
 
 .-i./VJ' -i.i ,.-1 Ofil 
 
 The fame Writer obferves of Julius Ca- 
 far, that, when it was told him that Pom- 
 pey's forces were coming out of their 1 
 trenches to give him battle, he order'd his 
 fcliiers to ftop> and firft made {application 
 to the Gods, then ranged his troops in or- 
 der of battle. 
 
 A like remark I find in this Hiflorian, 
 concerning Diorisjirjl offering up prayer to 
 the Gods, and then advancing with his 
 troops againft the Enemy. 
 
 'Tatty, a reafoning on the propriety of 
 having Temples in Cities, quotes Pythago- 
 ras, as having afTerted, that our minds are 
 never in a morer pious frame, than when 
 we are employed in the rites of Religion. 
 
 a Illud bene diftum eft a Pythagora, dodliffimo viro, 
 Turn maxime & pietatem & religionem verfari in animis, 
 cu-m rebys divinis operanv daremus. DeLeg. L. II. 
 
 R 4 When
 
 24** On Public Worjbip. 
 
 When Socrates was accufed of not wor- 
 fhipptng thofe Gods, which were worihip- 
 ped by his fellow-citizens, he doth not feek 
 to juftify himfelf by alledging any worfhip 
 paid by him in private, but he abfolutely 
 denies the fact, a and exprefsly declares, that 
 lie did facrifice on the public Altars, upon 
 the feveral Feftivals. 
 
 *They who have the leaft degree of Rea- 
 fon, fays P/afo, invoke the Deity, what- 
 ever they undertake, whether it be an af- 
 fair of greater or lefs weight. 
 
 * Talo fjt.iv KftJlov avi/.oc,u, &c. Hoc primum admirer, 
 qua ratione Melitus accufator dicat, quos civitas Deos pu- 
 tat, me non putare. Nam in cornnmnibus quidem facris, 
 publicifque altaribus facrificantem me & alii qui fuerunt 
 obvii viderunt, & ipfe Melitus, fi voluit, videre potuit. 
 XENOPH. Apol. pro SOCR. 
 
 The fame writer elfewhere fays, HTE yag llvha, topta, Sec. 
 Sicut enim Pythius de immolationibus refpondet, quod refte 
 agat fi quis confuetudine civitatis utatur, fie etiam Socra- 
 tes & ipfe faciebat, casterofque admonebat : eos vero qui 
 aliter agebant, curiofos & vanos arbitrabatur. 
 
 XEN. de dift. & fad. Soc. L. I. 
 
 '">' Hcevlsj otrot *eu *<vr @pa.x, v > & c - Omnes ii qui vel tan, 
 tillum mentis habent, quum aliquid five magnuln five par- 
 vum aggrediuntur, femper folent Deum invocare. 
 
 The
 
 On Public Worjhif. 249 
 
 The Rule we have in Ifocrates is, * Wor- 
 iliip the Deity, as at other times, fo parti- 
 cularly with your fellow-citizens : You thus 
 will be feen,at once, facrifking to the Gods,, 
 and obeying the Laws. 
 
 b It is the part of a wife man, according 
 to Tully, to fupport the appointments of 
 his Anceftors, by retaining their religious 
 rites. 
 
 I will worfhip the Gods, {ays the Phi- 
 lofopher in Stobtzus, diligently, and accord- 
 ing to the ufage of my country. 
 
 It becomes men to obferve the religious 
 rites of their Country, is the affertion of 
 ftpiftetus -, and Celfus tells you, That All 
 follow the religious rites of their Country; 
 which it feems fit they mould do, as what 
 is ratified by common confent ought to be 
 obferved. c 
 
 v, &c. Venerare numen cum alias fem- 
 per, turn maxima qnum facra publica fiunt. Sic enim ap- 
 parebit, te iimul Sc Diis immolare, & legibus obtempera- 
 re. ISOCR. Orat. ad Demon. 
 
 b Mil jorum inftituia tueri facris Cceremoniifque retinen- 
 dis, fapientis eft. De Divinat. Lib. II. 
 
 ORIG. cont. Celf. 
 
 IV. Your
 
 250 On Public Worjhip. 
 
 IV. Your practice, in the particular 
 wherein I could wifh it reformed, I have 
 further confider'd as expreffive of direct 
 Atheifm. 
 
 jf>* :.;.>: ,_..'_> '" .' . 
 
 For, what conduction can poffibly be 
 given to a conftant neglect of the public 
 worhip of God, but that the perfon, who 
 doth thus neglect it, thinks that there is no 
 need of fuch worfhip ? And to deny the 
 Deity worlhip is, in effect, to deny his ex- 
 
 iftencc. 
 
 \z bos^fi^rLb t im/k.\ n i -iwiqolol. 
 On this ground it is, .that Epicurus and 
 
 his followers have always been charged with 
 Atheifm. They allowed that certain 
 Deities exifted ; but as they aflerted that 
 thefe Deities were wholly taken up with 
 the enjoyments, which their abode, at a vaft 
 diftance from us; furnifhed that they were 
 entirely regardlefs of all human affairs, quite 
 unconcerned whether Man ferved them or 
 not ; it has been truly remarked, that the 
 Epicureans in words admitted the being of 
 a God, but in effed: denied it. a 
 
 * Epicurus ex animis hominum extraxit radicitus reli- 
 gionem, cum Diis imaiortalibas & opem & gratiam fuftu- 
 lit : cum enim optimam & praftantiiTimam naturam Dei 
 
 On
 
 On Public Wor/hip. 251 
 
 On this ground it likewife is, That Ari- 
 
 Jlotle fays, a They who doubt, whether we 
 
 ought to worfhip the Gods, want puaifh- 
 
 ment ; as they who doubt, whether the 
 
 fnow is white, want fenfe. 
 
 It, certainly, is the fame thing to man- 
 kind, whether there be, or be not, a God, 
 if the fuppofed God concerns not himfelf 
 at all with their affairs leaves them at li- 
 berty to atas they pleafe is indifferent to 
 any homage, which they may be aiTiduoiis, 
 or negligent, in paying him. 
 
 The plain meaning of my never wor- 
 fhipping God cannot but appear to be 
 that I judge I have nothing to hope or fear, 
 whether I do, or do not, worfhip him; and 
 fuch a notion is, by the beft both ancient 
 and modern Writers, branded as an Athe- 
 ifticalone. 
 
 dicat efle, negat idem efle in Deo gratiam. - Atetiam 
 liber eft Epicuri, de SanSitate. Ludimur ab homine non 
 tarn faceto, quam ad fcribendi licentiam libero. Quse enim 
 poteft eKefand.'tas, fi Dii humananon curant? - Re 
 tollit, Oratione relinquit Deos. Tut. de Nat. 
 
 T/*a, j tf, 
 
 . Topic. L. I. 
 
 When
 
 252 On Public IVorJhip. 
 
 When it is the eftabliflied opinion, that 
 every one, who believes there is a God, will 
 give fome public teftimony of that belief 
 be feen affociating with fome of the com- 
 munity, to which he belongs, in the wor- 
 fhip of God j. a judgment will be made of 
 me according to that opinion, and I mail 
 be fure to pafs for a man of no Religion, if 
 my having any doth not appear from thofe 
 ads, which are the proper evidences of it. 
 
 That the negledl of public worship doth 
 juftly bring on us the charge of Atheifm, 
 may feem unqueftionable to him, who finds 
 that the ableft writers on Natural Religion 
 confider public worfhip as a part of the Re- 
 ligion of Nature. 
 
 Our Countryman Cumber tan ^whofe trea- 
 tifeoa thisfubjeft defcrves, perhaps, as high 
 commendations as can properly be.beftowed 
 on any effort of human wit, thus exprefles 
 himfelf. 
 
 * " As in the creation and fupport of this 
 Syftem, which we inhabit, God willed that 
 
 * Quoniam in cratione & confervatione hujus, quodin- 
 colimus, Syiiematis, tot voluit effe fuarum perfe&ipnum in- 
 dicia j homineft[ue ea voluit effe conditione, ut, fi Intel- 
 there
 
 On Public Worjhlp. 253 
 
 there mould be fo many evidences of his 
 perfections, andfo framed men, that if they 
 would exert the force of their underftand- 
 ing, they could not but obferve thofe evi-* 
 dences, he willed that they mould know 
 and acknowledge what he is : And as he 
 willed men to be rational, that is, to be con- 
 fident with themfelves, and not to run in^ 
 to contradictions, he wills that their words 
 and actions mould be confonant to their 
 thoughts of his perfections; that is, he wills 
 them to worihip and honour him." 
 
 Elfewhere he fpeaks more particularly 
 
 to the point in hand : "The neceffity of 
 
 the divine Dominion, in order to the com- 
 
 le&us fai vires exererent, non poffint non ea obfervare, vo- 
 luit eos fcire qualis eft, & agnofcere. Quoniam autem 
 vokit homines efle rationales, id eft, fibi conftantes, & om- 
 nem contradi&ionemaverfari, vult ipforum di6la ac fa&a 
 animorum cogitatis de illius perfedlionibus confentire; hoc 
 eft, v>ilt ipfos eum colere & honorare. De LegeNat. C. v. 
 Seft. 21. 
 
 a Cognita, ex his naturalibus, atqiue adeo aeternis, Dei 
 perfedlionibus, hac neceffitate Dominii Divini, in ordine 
 ad commune, quod fiwnmum eft, Bonum ; cognofcitur Lex 
 .naturalis illud ei tribuens, fecundum ea qu<e antehac ex- 
 plicuimus. Manifeftum eft enim rationem reflam divinara 
 (qua? Lex quaedam eft ei naturalis) ab aeterno illud fibi ia 
 hunc finem afliimturaTTleflej & rationem redam humanam, 
 
 mon
 
 254 On Public Worjbip. 
 mon, which is the greateft, Good, being 
 difcover'd from the natural, and therefore 
 eternal, perfections of God $ the natural 
 Law giving him that Dominion, as we have 
 already explained it, islikewife difcover'd. 
 For it is manifeft, that the right reafon of 
 the Deity, which is to him a fort of natu- 
 ral Law, would from Eternity affume the 
 exercife of this Dominion, in order to the 
 end affigned ; and that the right reafon of 
 Man, as foon as it exifts and perceives this, 
 would neceflarily approve thereof; fince it 
 cannot, whilft it is right, diffent from the 
 reafon of God. But a Law being given to 
 acknowledge the Divine Dominion, Laws 
 are given commanding, with refped to God, 
 the greateft love, trufl, hope, gratitude, hu- 
 mility, fear and obedience, and whatever 
 elfe is exprefied in invoking him, giving him 
 
 cum primum exiftit & hoe percipit, neceflario concenfuram 
 efle ; quippe, quamdiu redla eft, a ratione divina nequit 
 diflentire. Data autem Lege de agnofcendo hoc Dominio 
 Divino, dantnr Leges imperantes fummumtrga ilium amo- 
 Fem, fiduciam, fpern, gratitudincm, humilitatem, timorem 
 & obedientiam, & fi quid r.iv.plius eft quoc cxprimitur in 
 invocatione Divini nominis, & a&ione gratiarum, &; aufcul- 
 tatione vcrbi Divini, & in devovendo res, Icca, tempera 
 & perfonas, illius folius honQri, Cap. ix. Sed. 2.- 
 
 thanks.
 
 On Public Worjhip. 255 
 
 thanks, hearing his word; -and consecrating 
 things, places, times, andpcrfons, to the ho- 
 nour of him? and of him only. 
 
 There ought to be, fays the very judi- 
 cious writer of the Religion of Nature deU+ 
 neated, a a public wormip of the Deity. For 
 a man may be coniidered as a member of a 
 Society, and as fuch he ought to wormip 
 God (if he has opportunity of doing it ; if 
 there are proper prayers \&& publicly, which 
 he may refort to, and his health, &c. per- 
 mit). Or, ihefociety may be confidered as 
 one body, that has common interefts and 
 concerns, and as fuch is obliged to wormip 
 the Deity, and offer one common pray- 
 er. Befide, there are many, who know 
 not of themfelves how to pray ; perhaps 
 cannot fo much as read. Thcfe too muft 
 be taken as they are, and confequently fbme 
 time and place appointed, where they may- 
 have fuitable prayers read to them, and be 
 guided in their devotions. 
 
 And, further, toward the keeping man- 
 kind in order, it is necejjary there mould 
 be fome religion profefTed, and even efta- 
 
 * ReL ofA'at. delineated, p. 124. 
 
 blifhed 3
 
 256 On Public Wor/hip. 
 
 blifhed ; which cannot be without fome 
 public worfhip. And were it not for that 
 fenfe of virtue, which is principally prefer- 
 ved (fo far as it is preferved) by national 
 forms and habits of religion, men would 
 foon lofe it all t run wild, prey upon one 
 another, and do what elfe the worft of fa- 
 vages do. 
 
 * It is a part of Natural Religion, fays 
 Puffendorf, to worfhip God, not only in 
 private, but, likewife, openly and publicly. 
 
 - Public worship both tefrifies our own 
 Piety, an^ excites that of others. 
 
 b How can we conceive, as ~Barbeyrac ex- 
 preffes himfelf, that there is true Piety in 
 the heart, unlefs it (hew itfelf by fome out- 
 ward acls of Religion ? Men are fo made, 
 
 a Propofitiones pra&icag Religionis naturalis verfantur 
 parthn circa internum, partim circa externum Cultum Dei. 
 
 - Extcrnus Dei cultus in hifce potiffimum confifttt, ut 
 iiomo Dep gratias agat pro tot bonis ab eo acceptis -- 
 ut homoDeum non folum fecreto, fed & palam & publicc in 
 confpeclu Jiominum colat. -- Publicus cultus non lolnm dc 
 noftra devotione teftatur, fed & alios exemplo incitat. 
 
 ' PUFF END. de Of,c. Horn. 13 CV-v, L. I. c. 4. 
 
 b See Barbeyrafs Note on Sea. 3. Chap. iv. Book II. 
 of Pujftndorfs Law of Nature and. Nations t 
 
 that
 
 On Public Worjhip. 257 
 
 that- they do not think, that they fhew a 
 iufHcient refpect one to another, if they do 
 not give fome proofs of it by their fpeechy 
 
 or fome fignificant action. We muft 
 
 grant, that an oqtward worfhip is abfolute- 
 ly necefTary. 
 
 Iri Burlamaqufs Principles of the Law of 
 Nature we have the following palTage : 
 
 A truly religious man will think it his 
 duty, and find it his pleafure, to confirm 
 hirrifelf in fentiments of piety, and excite 
 them in others. Hence is derived outward 
 worship; as well private as public. For, 
 whether we confider this worfhip, as the 
 chief and almoft only means of exciting, 
 cherimihg, and' perfecting in the heart fen- 
 timents of Religion ; or whether we con- 
 
 ' * ! Uri hbhime religieux fe fera un devoir & un plaifir de 
 fortifier en lui les fentiments. de piete, & de les exciter chez! 
 les autres. De-la derive le Cultc exterieur, tant particuli- 
 er que public. Car, foit que 1'on envifage ce culte comme 
 etant-le premier & prefque le feul rr.oyen d'exciter, d'ehtre- 
 tenir, & de per feclkmner. dans le cceur les fentiments de 
 Religion & de Piete ; foit* qu'on le confidere comme un 
 hpnimage que les hommes, " reunis par des Societes parti-" 
 ciilieres ou publiqaes, rendent a Dieu en commun ; foit 
 *>ue 1'on joigne ces deux vucs ; la Raifon nous en fait un 
 BEVOIR d'une NECESSITE' INDISPENSABLE. 
 
 Bu R L A M A (^ frinctpes Ju Droit Nature!, C. l"v. p. 2 . 
 
 S fidcr
 
 258 On Public Worjhip* 
 
 fider it as an homage, which men united in 
 Society, in common, pay the Deity ; or 
 whether we take thefe two views of it in 
 conjunction, Reafon makes it a DUTY of 
 
 INDISPENSABLE NECESSITY. 
 
 * It is natural for men, according to Wil- 
 kifts, who are joined together in Civil So- 
 cieties, to join lik'ewife in Religious Wor- 
 hip. And, in order to this, it is necelTary 
 that there fli6uld be public places, and fo- 
 lemn times, fet apart for fuch Affemblies : 
 Which hath accordingly been the pradice 
 of All civilized Nations. And in the man- 
 ner of performing their public Worfhip, it 
 was ftill required to be done, with all ima- 
 ginable fubmiffion and reverence. This the 
 Stoic commends, and cites Ariftotle for it ; 
 " Men are never more concerned to be 
 " humble and modeft, than when they 
 " have to do about God. We Ihould en- 
 " ter the Temples with an humble and 
 " compofed demeanour. When we ap- 
 " proach to facrifice, it fliould be with all 
 <* imaginable expreffions of reverence and 
 " modefty, in our countenance and car- 
 " riage." 
 
 a Principle cf Natural Rdigicn, \>yH'ilkins t B.I. Ch. 12. 
 
 If
 
 H--iiV r ' i 
 On Public Worfoip. 259 
 
 ta *,If you will be pleafed to lay together 
 what is here quoted from the beft Writers 
 on Natural Religion, and what was before 
 related concerning the Practice and Senti- 
 ments of the moft eminent jperfons in the 
 Heathen World ; the negleft of all public 
 worihip muft, I mould think, appear to 
 you not harfhly cenfured, when coriiider'd 
 as an evidence of abfolute Atheifm. 
 
 V. I have now only to add, That the 
 great and extenfive mifchief, which may 
 proceed from your abfenting yourfelf from 
 the public worfhip, well merits your moft 
 ferious consideration. 
 
 A very little knowledge of mankind may 
 fuffice for our fulleft conviction what terri- 
 ble diforder mufl enfue, were we, generally, 
 without any apprehenlions of a Superin- 
 tending Providence. 
 
 *. In, a writer, by no means fit to be placed among thofe 
 above cited, and only taken notice of here, as he was 
 moft unlikely to have made public worihip a part of Na- 
 tural Religion, could he have found any tolerable 'plea for 
 denying it to be fo, we jneet with this obfervation -- 
 
 " It is the voice of Nature, that God ihould be pub- 
 * l licly worfhipped." Chf*ftianitj as old as the 
 
 S z It
 
 (260 On Public Worfiip. 
 
 It is highly honourable to Religion, that 
 the Atheiftical writers endeavour to account 
 for its introduction, by fuppofing it to be a 
 political meafure, to reftrain man's propen- 
 fity to mifchief to keep him innocent, 
 when he might think his guilt could never 
 come under the cognifance of any of his 
 fpecies. How many crimes are there, on 
 which human Laws do 'not at all animad- 
 vert ! How many of the crimes, for which 
 they appoint a punifhment, never receive it, 
 either from the timoroufnefs, or indolence, 
 or corruption of thofe, who mould fee it in- 
 flicted! Offenders, high in rank, defy juftice 
 the wealth' of others protects them from 
 ir the very pooreft often efcape it, by the 
 fecrecy with which they act ; and, uling 
 more cunning than their Betters, they tranf- 
 grefs with equal impunity. 
 
 Let the fevereft Laws be enacted and 
 duly executed, what numbers mall we find 
 defpinngthem! How unheeded is the Exe- 
 cutioner by a bold neceflitous villain ! In 
 what mape can death fcare us, when in- 
 flamed with rage when intent on revenge ? 
 Civil regulations extending thus but to a 
 
 part
 
 On Public Worfoip. 261 
 
 part of our duty, and fo feebly enforcing 
 the difcharge even of that part of it, So- 
 ciety muft neceflarily want fome further 
 fupport. I fliould add, with refped: to hu- 
 man Laws, that as they take notice only of 
 the outward act, they leave us at liberty to 
 allow in ourfelves thofe inclinations, which, 
 if we do not endeavour to fupprefs, we mall 
 at length be but ill able to refift. The 
 robber, the murderer, the adulterer, do not 
 at once throw off the reftraints of con- 
 fcience : they gradually fall ; and, by long 
 offending in defire, proceed to do it in 
 
 a. 
 
 How far the defects of human Laws are 
 fupplied by the belief of a God, is obvious 
 
 It induces us to forbear treating any 
 
 other perfon, as we would not have him 
 to treat us~Jt takes away all hope of fe- 
 cret guilt It allures us, that, whatever 
 our rank or fortune may be, our crimes 
 (hall not 'fail to receive the punimment they 
 deferve It prevents not only the birth, 
 but even the conception, of fin ; and fe- 
 cures regularity in our actions, by preferr- 
 ing it in our inclinations. 
 
 S 3 Thefe
 
 262 On Public Worjhip. 
 
 Thefe are the proper effe&s of a firm 
 perfuafion, that we are under the govern- 
 ment of an all-knowing and all-powerful, 
 a perfe&ly wife and juft God. Nor doth 
 there feem to be any way fo likely to fix 
 this perfuafion on the mind of man, and to 
 make it general, as that of a public wor- 
 fhip as the members of the community 
 aflembling to pay their joint homage to this 
 infinitely perfect Being. 
 
 Care for the neceffities of life is apt to 
 operate fo flrongly on one part of our fpe- 
 cies, and the purfuit of pleafure fo much 
 engages the other, that were we feverally 
 left to our choice, whether we would pay 
 any acknowledgment to our Creator, it is 
 greatly to be feared, that an entire forget- 
 fulnefs of him would be widely fpread. 
 
 Times and places, fet apart for his fervice, 
 are the only calls that many know to a re- 
 membrance of his exiftence : They would 
 never think of him, if they were never re- 
 quired to join in his worfhip ; and it is the 
 weekly repetition of this a<5t, which alone 
 Keeps up in them a fenfe of him, as fure 
 
 to
 
 On Public Worjhip. 263 
 
 to reward every virtuous man, and punifli 
 every wicked. 
 
 When we are accuftomed, from our 
 childhood, to meet our neighbours one day 
 in feven, in order that we may in common 
 beg of our Creator to preferve and blefs us, 
 to deliver us from fin and all other evil, 
 to make us happj^ here and continue us 
 fo ever ; it is not to be fuppofed, but that 
 we mall more frequently think of a God, 
 than we mould do, were no fuch religious 
 afTemblies held j and that we {hall be un- 
 der a greater fear of acting wrong, than 
 would otherwife influence us. 
 
 I do not fay, that by flich outward ho- 
 mage, the moft punctually paid, any of 
 us are likely to be made as good, as we 
 ought to be. 
 
 We have fad experience to the contrary. 
 But this, I think, may truly be faid of it, 
 That it is fome check to the progrefs of 
 Vice, and that our Morals would become 
 much worfe, were this homage wholly 
 neglected. It is a fact, which comes un- 
 der every one's obfervation, that where the 
 lower people abfent themfelves from all 
 S 4 public
 
 264 On Public Worjhip. 
 
 public worfhip, they contract a favagenefs 
 and brutality of manners, and are too apt 
 to go the greateft lengths of guilt. 
 
 When a feventh part of our time is fet 
 apart for that employment, which will 
 make us more confederate which teaches 
 us to al as reafonable creatures, great ad- 
 vantages may well be expected from it ; 
 and, certainly, as great hurt muft enfue, 
 when, for fo large a portion of their time, 
 the generality encounter all the tempta- 
 tions, to which abfolute idlenefs can expofe 
 them, 
 
 If, as they think that they have no con- 
 cern with matters of Religion on their days 
 of Labour ; they judge the fame of the day 
 on which they are exempted from it,- and 
 pafs this day without any Act, which can 
 make a ferious imprefiion upon them ; it is 
 yery probable that they will, ordinarily, 
 run into great irregularities upon it into 
 irregularities, which, exhaufting their own 
 fmall flock of money, will flrongly entice 
 them to fuch violence or fraud, as may af- 
 fprd them the fupply they want. 
 
 The
 
 On Public Worfhip. 26* 
 j j. ' . jt 
 
 The leifure of the wealthy too frequent- 
 ly engages them in ruinous pleafures, not- 
 withftanding the many innocent ways , of 
 amufing themfelves, which the advantages 
 of their education and fortune afford : But 
 to what licentioufnefs muft we, then, think 
 the poor will proceed, when they are to 
 have a whole day, in every week, for mere 
 diyerfions, and are too apt to relifh thofe 
 moft, which are moft dangerous to their 
 Virtue. ? 
 
 Set afide all confideratioris of Religion- 
 Are not Churches the only morality-fchools 
 of confiderable numbers, the only places 
 where they hear any thing of their obliga- 
 tions to avoid what may be mifchievous to 
 themfelves or others ? And when thofe ob- 
 ligations are not thoroughly underflood, or 
 when they are very feldom reflected upon, 
 or when the motives enforcing a conformi- 
 ty to them are not fumciently known -, can 
 the confequence but be, a mifconducl: more 
 or lefs hurtful, as our difpofitions are bet- 
 ter or worfe, as we are under ftronger or 
 weaker temptations to offend ?
 
 266 On Public Worfhip. 
 < J r 
 
 It may be, as you do not deiire, that the 
 example you fet in abfenting yourfelf from 
 all public worfhip, mould be follow'd, fo 
 
 you do not fuppofe that it will be,. You 
 
 will, perhaps, tell me, that you are but 
 one, and that there is little to be feared 
 from the omiffions of one private perfon. 
 
 But furely, Sir, the pra&ice of a 
 
 whole Nation is no more than the practice 
 of many particulars ; and whofefoever plea 
 it is -What fignifies my behaviour ; I am 
 but one ? he ought to be reminded, that 
 every man may excufe himfelf in the fame 
 manner \ and thus, what each allows on- 
 ly in himfelf, may become the general 
 guilt. 
 
 In thofe parts of duty, which arife not 
 from our refpective {rates and circum- 
 frances, but from confiderations equally ap- 
 plicable to perfons of all conditions, we 
 mould never fuppofe that our failure will 
 be confined to ourfelves ; we mould regard 
 it as influencing others to a like failure, and 
 this as capable of very widely extending it- 
 felf. 
 
 My
 
 ' QnPuUicWorlhip. 267 
 
 .'^V.-yUX* : \\' J ' * ' 
 
 My example, in any departure from du- 
 ty,- is an ad vied to my neighbour to do the 
 lame thing ; and it is advice, which may fo 
 far appear more weighty than what my 
 tongue can give him, becaufe there is fel-^ 
 dom reafon to think, that a man's actions 
 belie his heart, but often the greateft to 
 think fo of his profeflions. 
 
 If our wrong behaviour, being publicly 
 known, doth not all the mifchief, which 
 might juftly be feared from it ; or if, from 
 the mean opinion entertained of us, it doth 
 very little hurt ; this will be but a poor de- 
 fence of it. We are, certainly, render 'd cri- 
 minal by thofe actions, the natural confe- 
 quences of which are mifchievous ; though 
 it mould fo happen, that the evil, which 
 they have a tendency to produce, did not 
 enfue. 
 
 I am got to a length, for which I would 
 apologize, were it on a lefs important fub- 
 jeO. 
 
 I am 'Cure, that I have offered you fome 
 things well deferving your confideration, as 
 I have furnifhed you with fo many extracts, 
 
 from
 
 268 On Public Wor/hip. 
 
 from the befl both antient and modern 
 Writers ; and if they can but engage your 
 attention, they will, I fhould hope, con- 
 tribute not a little towards producing that 
 change in your conduct, fo much wifhed 
 far by 
 
 Tour, &c. 
 
 A LET-
 
 LETTER 
 
 T O A 
 
 YOUNG NOBLEMAN, 
 
 Soon after his leaving SCHOOL. 
 
 Majorum Gloria pofteris lumen eft, neque bona nequt ma- 
 la in occulto patitur. SALLUST* 
 
 Juftitiaeque tenax, faftis diftifque mereris ? 
 AgnofcoPaocEREM.
 
 
 
 a a T T 
 
 
 .c{ C:L: .j
 
 /!.'.:all 
 
 
 ca 
 
 T O A 
 
 YOUNG NOBLEMAN. 
 
 T 
 
 SIR, 
 
 H E obligations I have to your fa- 
 mily cannot but make me folici- 
 tous for the Welfare of every 
 member of it, and for that of yourfelf in 
 particular, on whom its Honours are to de- 
 fcend. 
 
 Such inftru&ions and fuch examples, as 
 it has been your happinefs to find, muft, 
 neceflarily, raife great expectations of you, 
 and will not allow you any praife for a 
 common degree of merit. You will not 
 be thought to have worth, if you have not 
 
 a di-
 
 2 7 2 A Letter to a 
 
 a diftinguifhed worth, and what may iuifc 
 the concurrence of fo many extraordinary 
 advantages. 
 
 " 
 
 Ifi low life, our good or bad qualities are 
 known to few to thofe only who are re- 
 lated to us, who converfe with, or live 
 near, us. In your ftation, you are expofed 
 to the notice of a Kingdom. The excel- 
 lences- or defedls of a Youth of Quality 
 make a part of polite converfation are a 
 topic agreeable to all who have been libe- 
 rally educated ; to all who are not amongft 
 ttie meaneft of the people. 
 
 Should I, in any company, begiri a cha- 
 racter of my friend with the hard name, 
 
 whom I hope you left well at they 
 
 would naturally afk me, What relation he 
 bore to the Emperor's Minuter ? When I 
 anfwer'd, That I had never heard of his 
 bearing any ; that all I knew of him was/: 
 his being the fon of a German Merchant, 
 fentinto this Kingdom, for education ; I, 
 probably, mould be thought impertinent,- 
 for introducing fuch a fubjecl: -, and I, cer-^ 
 tainly, mould foon be obliged to drop ity 
 .,/ u/: or
 
 Young Nobleman. 273 
 
 or be wholly difregarded, were I unwife 
 enough to continue it. 
 
 But if, upon a proper occafion, I men- 
 tioned, that I had known the Honourable 
 
 from his infancy, and that I had 
 
 made fuch obfervations on his capacity, his 
 application, his attainments, and his ge- 
 neral conduct, as induced me to conclude, 
 he would one day be an eminent ornament, 
 and a very great bleffing, to his Country, 
 I mould have an hundred queftions afked 
 me about him my narrative would appear 
 of confequence to all who heard it, and 
 would not fail to engage their attention. 
 
 I have, I mufl own, often wonder'd, that 
 the confideration of the numbers, who are 
 continually remarking the behaviour of the 
 perfons of Rank among us, has had fo lit- 
 tle influence upon them has not produced 
 a quite different effect from what, alas ! we 
 every where fadly experience. 
 
 Negligere quid de fe quifque fentiat, non 
 folum arrogantis eft, fed etiam omnino diffb- 
 luti. I need not tell you where the remark 
 is : It has, indeed, fo much obvious truth, 
 that it wants no fupport from authority. 
 T Every
 
 274 ^ Letter to & 
 
 Every generous principle muft be extinft 
 in him, who knows that it is faid of him, 
 or that it juftly may be faid of him How 
 different is this young man ftom his noble 
 Father ! The latter took every courfe that 
 could engage the public efleem : the for- 
 mer is as induftrious to forfeit it. The Sire 
 was a pattern of Religion, Virtue, and every 
 commendable quality : his descendant is an 
 impious, ignorant, profligate wretch ; raifed 
 above others, but to have his folly more 
 public - high in his rank, only to extend 
 his infamy. 
 
 A thirft after fame may have its incon- 
 veniences, but which are by no means equal 
 to thofe that attend a contempt of it. Our 
 earneftnefs in its purfuit may poffibly flack- 
 en our purfuit of true defert ; but indiffe- 
 rent we cannot be to Reputation, without 
 being fo to Virtue. 
 
 In thefe remarks you, Sir, are no farther 
 concern'd, than as you muft, fometimes, 
 converfe with the perfons to whom they 
 may be applied, and your deteftation of 
 whom one cannot do too much to increafe. 
 Bad examples may juftly raife our fea/s even 
 
 for
 
 Toung Nobleman. 
 
 for him, who has been the moft wifely edu- 
 cated, and is the fnoft happily difpofed : 
 No caution againft them is fuperfluous : In 
 the place, in which you are at prefent, you 
 will meet with them in all fhapes. 
 
 Under whatever difad vantages I offer 
 you my advice, I am thus far qualified for 
 giving it, that I have experienced fame of the 
 dangers which will be your trial, and had 
 fufficient opportunity of obferving others* 
 The obfervations I have made, that are 1 at 
 all likely to be of fervice to you, either 
 from their own weight, or the hints they 
 may afford for your improving upon them, 
 I cannot conceal from you. What comes 
 from him who wiflies you fo well, and fo 
 much efteems you, will be fufficiently re- 
 commended by its motives ; and may, there- 
 fore, poffibly be read with a partiality in its 
 favour, that fhall make it of more ufe than 
 it could be of from any intrinfic worth. 
 
 But, without farther preface or apology, 
 let me proceed to the points that I think 
 defending your more particular coniidera* 
 tion ; and begin with what, certainly, mouldy 
 above all other things, beconfider'd RE- 
 
 T 2 *X-
 
 276 A Letter to a 
 
 i, i G ION. It is, indeed, what every man 
 fays he has more or lefs confider'd ; and by 
 this, every man acknowledges its import- 
 ance : yet, when we enquire into the con- 
 fideratiori that has been given it, we can 
 hardly perfuade ourfelves, that a point of 
 the leaft confequence could be fo treated. 
 To our examination .here we ufually fit 
 down refohed, how. far our convittion mall 
 extend. 
 
 In the purfuit of natural or mathemati- 
 cal knowledge we engage, difpofed to take 
 things as we find them to let our aflent 
 be directed by the evidence we meet with : 
 but the doctrines of Religion each infpects, 
 not in order to inform himfelf what he 
 ought to believe and praclife; but to recon- 
 cile them with his prefent faith and way of 
 life with the paffions he favours with 
 the habits he has contracted. 
 
 And that this is, really, the cafe, is evi- 
 dent, from the little alteration there is in the 
 manners of any, when they know as much 
 of Religion as they ever intend to know. 
 You fee them the fame perfons as formerly ; 
 they are only furnifhed with arguments, or 
 
 excufes,
 
 Young Nobleman. 277 
 
 excufes, they had not before thought of; or 
 with objections to any rules of life differing 
 from thofe by which they guide them- 
 felves 5 which objections they often judge 
 the only defence their own practice flands 
 in need of. 
 
 I am fure, Sir, that to one of your un- 
 derftanding the abfurdity of fuch a way of 
 proceeding can want no proof ; and that 
 your bare attention to it is your fufficient 
 guard againft it. 
 
 Religion is either wholly founded on the 
 fears or fancies of mankind, or it is, of all 
 matters, the moft ferious, the weightieft, 
 the moft worthy of our regard. There is 
 no mean. Is it a dream, and no more ? 
 Let the human race abandon, then, all pre- 
 tences to Reafon. ' What we call fuch is 
 but the more exquifi te fenfeof upright, un- 
 clad, two-legged Brutes ; and that is the 
 beft you can fay of us. We then are Brutes, 
 and fo much more wretched than other 
 Brutes, as deftined to themiferies they feel 
 not, and deprived of the happinefs they en- 
 joy ; by our forefight anticipating our cala- 
 mities, by our reflection recalling them. 
 Our Being is without an aimj we can have 
 T 3 no
 
 278 A Letter to a 
 
 no purpofe, no defign, but what we our* 
 felves muft fooncr or later defpife. We are 
 formed, either to drudge for a life, that, 
 upon fuch a condition, is not worth our 
 preferving 5 or to run a circle of enjoy-* 
 m'ents, the cenfure of all which is, that we 
 cannot long be pleafed with any one of them. 
 Difintereftednefs, Generofity, Public Spi- 
 rit, are idle, empty founds -, terms, which 
 imply no more, than that we mould neg- 
 lect our own happinefs to promote that of 
 others. 
 
 What TuHy has obferved on the con- 
 nexion there is between Religion, and the 
 Virtues which are the chief fupport of So- 
 ciety, is, I am perfuaded, well known to 
 
 ' ' . .UOIU <(iubo}>CC -v-'&l .1: 
 
 eivA. proper regard to fbcial duties wholly 
 (depends on the influence that Religion has 
 upon us. Deftroy, in mankind, all hopes 
 gnd fears, refpeclingany future ftate ; you 
 inflantly kt them loofe to all the methods 
 likely to promote their immediate conve- 
 nience.;. They, who think they have only 
 the pefsi)t hour to truft to, will not be 
 ,wathrl>eld, by any refined confiderations, 
 f n/}} 3 v from 
 
 Oft T
 
 Young Nobleman. 279 
 
 from doing what appears to them certain 
 to make it pafs with greater fatisfaction. 
 
 Now, methinks, a calm and impartial en- 
 quirer could never determine that to be a 
 viiionary fcheme, the full perfuafion of the 
 truth of which approves our exiftence a wife 
 defign gives order and regularity to our 
 life places an end in our view, confefled- 
 ly the nobleft that can engage it- raifes 
 our nature exempts us from a fervitude to 
 bur paffions, equally debafing and torment- 
 ing us affords us the trueft enjoyment of 
 ourfelves puts us on the due improvement 
 of our faculties -corrects our felfimnefs 
 calls us to be of ufe to our fellow-creatures, 
 to become public blefllngs infpires us with 
 true courage, with fentiments of real ho- 
 nour and generofity inclines us to be fuch, 
 in every relation, as fuits the peace and pro- 
 fperity of Society derives an uniformity 
 to our whole conduct, - and makes fatisfa- 
 ction its infeparable attendant directs us 
 to a courfe of action pleafmg when it em- 
 ploys us, and equally pleafing when we ei- 
 ther look back upon it, or attend to the 
 expectations we entertain from it. 
 
 T 4 &
 
 2 So A Letter to a 
 
 
 
 If the fource of fo many and fuch vaft ad- 
 vantages can be fuppofed a dream of the 
 fuperftitious, or an invention of the crafty, 
 we may take our leave of certainty ; we 
 may fuppofe every thing, within and with- 
 out us, confpiring to deceive us. 
 
 That there mould be difficulties in any 
 fcheme ojf Religion which can be offer'd 
 us, is no more than what a thorough ac- 
 quaintance with our limited capacities would 
 induce us to expect, were we flrangers to 
 the feveral religions that prevailed in the 
 world, and propofed, upon enquiry into 
 their refpective merits, to embrace that 
 which came beft recommended to our be- 
 lief. 
 
 But all objections of difficulties muft be 
 highly abfurd in either of thefe cafes 
 
 Jy, :. ;When the creed you oppofe, on account 
 of its difficulties, is attended with fewer 
 than that which you would advance in its- 
 {lead.; or. . .5^*, 
 
 When the whole of the practical doctrines 
 of a Religion are fuch, as, undeniably, con- 
 tribute to the happinefs of mankind, in 
 ft what-
 
 Young Nobleman. 281 
 
 whatever ftate, or under whatfoever rela- 
 tions, you can coniider them. 
 
 To reject a Religion thus circumftanced, 
 for fome points in its fcheme lefs level to 
 our appreheniion, appears to me, I confefs, 
 quite as unreafonable, as it would be to ab- 
 ftain from our food, till we could be fatis- 
 fied about the origin, infertion, and action 
 of the mufcles that enable us to fwallowit. 
 
 I would, in no cafe, have you reft upon 
 mere authority ; yet as authority will have 
 its weight, allow me fo take notice, that 
 Men of the greateft penetration, the acuteft 
 reafoning, and the moft folid judgment, 
 have been on the fide of ChrifKanity have 
 exprefled the firmeft perfuafion of its truth. 
 
 I cannot forgive myfelf, for having fo 
 long overlook'd Lord Bacon s Philofophical 
 Works. It was but lately I began to read 
 them -, and one part of them I laid down, 
 when I took my pen to write this. The 
 more I know of that extraordinary Man, 
 the more I admire him - y and cannot but 
 think his underftanding as much of a fize 
 beyond that of the reft of mankind, as Vir- 
 ril makes the ftature of Mufaus, with re- 
 
 fpecl:
 
 282 A Letter to a 
 
 fpeft to that of the multitude furrounding 
 him 
 
 Medium nam plurima turba 
 
 Hunc babet^ atque bumeris extantem fufpicit altis. 
 
 Mu. L. vi. 667,8. 
 
 or as Homer reprefents Dianas height, a- 
 mong the Nymphs fporting with her 
 
 Heurctui y^'frig yt xdgn I%H rjJe /xerwTra. OD. L. VI. 107. 
 
 Throughout his writings there runs a vein 
 of piety : you can hardly open them, but 
 you find fome or other teftimony of the full 
 conviction entertained by him, that Chrifti- 
 anity had an efpecial claim to our regard. 
 He, who fo clearly faw the defecls in every 
 fcience faw from whence they proceeded., 
 and had fuch amazing fagacity, as to dif- 
 cover how they might be remedied, and to 
 point out thofe very methods, the purfuit 
 of which has been the remedy of many of 
 
 them He, who could difcern thus much, 
 
 left it to the Witlings of the following age, 
 to difcover any weaknefs in the foundation 
 of Religion. 
 
 To him and Sir Ifaac Newton I might 
 add many others, of eminent both natural 
 and acquired endowments, the moft un- 
 fufpedted favourers of the Chriftian Reli- 
 gion ;
 
 Young Nobkman. 283 
 
 gion ; but thefe two, as they may be con- 
 fider'd {landing at the head of mankind, 
 would really be difhonoured, were we to 
 feek for any weight, from mere authority, 
 to the opinions they had jointly patronifed, 
 to the opinions they had maintained, after 
 the ilridlefl enquiry what ground there was 
 for them. 
 
 That the grounds of Chriftianity were 
 thus enquired into by them, is certain : for 
 the One appears, by the quotations from 
 the Bible interfperfed throughout his works, 
 to have read it with an uncommon care ; 
 and it is well known, that the Other made 
 // his chief iludy, in the latter part of his 
 life. 
 
 It may, indeed, appear very idle, to 
 produce authorities on one fide, when there 
 are none who deferve the name of fuch on 
 the other. Whatever elfe may have ren- 
 dered the Writers in favour of Infidelity 
 remarkable, they, certainly, have not been 
 fo for their fagacity, or fcience for any 
 fuperior either natural, or acquired, Endow- 
 ments. And I cannot but think, that he 
 who takes up his pen, in order to deprive 
 the world of the advantages which would 
 
 accrue
 
 284 A Letter to a 
 
 accrue to it were the Chriftian Religion 
 generally received, mews fo wrong a head 
 in the very defign of his work, as would 
 leave no room for doubt, how little credit 
 he could gain by the conduct of it. 
 
 Is there a juft foundation for our afTent 
 to the Chriftian doctrine ? Nothing fhould 
 then be more carefully confidered by us, or 
 have a more immediate and extenfive in- 
 fluence upon our practice. 
 
 Shall I be told, that if this were a right 
 confequence, there is a Profeflion, in which 
 quite different perfons would be found, than 
 we at prefent meet with ? 
 
 I have too many failings myfelf, to be 
 willing to cenfure others - y and too much 
 love for truth, to attempt an excufe for 
 what admits of none. But let me fay, that 
 confequences are not the lefs true, for their 
 truth being difregarded. Luciaris defcrip- 
 tion of the Philosophers of his age is more 
 odious, than can belong to any fet of men 
 in our time : and as it was never thought, 
 that the precepts of Philofophy ought to 
 be flighted, becaufe they who inculcated, 
 disgraced them j nither can it be any re- 
 
 fleftion
 
 Young Nobleman, 285 
 
 flection on nobler rules, that they are re- 
 commended by perfons who do not ob- 
 ferve them. 
 
 Of this I am as certain as I can be of any 
 thing, That our practice is no infallible tell 
 of our principles ; and that we may 
 do Religion no injury by our fpecula- 
 tions, when we do it a great deal by our 
 manners. I mould be very unwilling to re- 
 ly on the ftrength of my own virtue in fo 
 many inftances, that it exceedingly morti- 
 fies me to reflect on their number : yet, in 
 which foever of them I offended, it would 
 not be for want of conviction, how excel- 
 lent a precept, or precepts, I had tranf- 
 grefled it would not be becaufe I did not 
 think, that a life throughout agreeable to 
 the commands of the Religion I profefs, 
 ought to be conftantly my care. 
 
 How frequently we act contrary to the 
 obligations, which we readily admit our- 
 felves to be under, can fcarcely be other- 
 wife than matter of every one's notice ; and 
 if none of us infer from thofepurfuits, which 
 tend to deftroy our health, or our under- 
 ftanding, or our reputation, that he, who 
 engages in them, is perfuaded that Difeafe, or 
 
 Infamy,
 
 286 A Letter to a 
 
 Infamy, or a fecond Childhood, dcferves his 
 choice -, neither fhould it be taken for grant-* 
 ed, that be is not inwardly convinced of the 
 worth of Religion, who appears, at fome 
 times, very different from what a due re- 
 gard thereto ought to make him. 
 ; j-jicjurinq 
 
 Inconfiftency is, thro' the whole compafs 
 of our acling, fo much our reproach, that 
 it would be great injustice towards us, to 
 charge each defect in our morals, upon cor- 
 rupt and bad principles. For a proof of the 
 injuftice of fuch a charge, I am confident, 
 none need look beyond themfelves. Each 
 will find the complaint of Medea in the 
 Poet, very proper to be made his own 
 I fee and approve of what is right, at the 
 fame time that I do what is wrong. 
 
 Don't think, that I would juftify the 
 faults of any, and much lefs theirs, who, 
 profefling themfelves fet apart to promote 
 the Interefls of Religion and Virtue, and 
 having a large revenue afilgned them, both 
 that they may be more at leifure for fo noble 
 a work, and that their pains in it may be 
 properly recompenfed, arc, certainly, ex- 
 tremely blameable, not only when they 
 countenance the immoral and irreligious ; 
 
 but
 
 Young Nobleman. 287 
 
 but even, when they take no care to reform 
 them. 
 
 All I aim at, is, That the caufe may not 
 fuffer by its Advocates. That you may be 
 jufl to //, whatever you may diflike in them 
 That their failures may have the allowance, 
 to which the frailty of human nature is en- 
 titled That you may not, by their man- 
 ners, when worft, be prejudiced againft their 
 Doffrine $ as you would not cenfure Philo- 
 fophy, for the faults of Philofophers. 
 
 The prevalency of any practice cannot 
 make it to be either fafe, or prudent ; and 
 I would fain have your's and mine fuch, as 
 may alike credit our religion, and under-* 
 {landing' : without the great reproach of 
 both, we cannot profefs to believe that rule 
 of life, to be from God, which, yet, we 
 model to our paffions and interefls. 
 
 Whether fuch a particular is my duty, 
 ought to be the firft confideration \ and when 
 it is found fo, common fenfe fuggefts the 
 next How it may be performed. 
 
 But I muft not proceed. A letter of two 
 iheets 1 How can I expect, that you (hould 
 
 give
 
 288 A Letter i &c. 
 
 give it the reading ? If you can perfuade 
 yourfelf to do it, from the conviction of 
 the fincere affection towards you, that has 
 drawn me into this length; I promife you, 
 never again to make fuch a demand on your 
 
 pat'ence. Jwill never again give youfo 
 
 troublefome a proof of my friendfhip. I 
 have here begun a fubjeeT:, which I am very 
 defirous to profecute; and every letter, you 
 may hereafter receive from me upon it, 
 whatever other recommendation it may 
 want, (hall, certainly, not be without 'that 
 of bievity. 
 
 AP-
 
 [ 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 :Tjr;: ,~I t . . p 
 
 1NCE the Letters on the choice of 
 
 company were written, the Conti- 
 S^to* nuation of .Lord Clarendons Hifto- 
 ry has been publifh'd : and, as it in fome 
 parts more diftinctly and ftrongly repre- 
 fents the hurt accruing from bad company, 
 than any piece of that kind which, I think, 
 I ever met with ; I have been hereby indu- 
 ced to make the following extracts from it. 
 
 They are of three kinds 
 
 The firft kind mews what King Charles 
 the Second was, in his own nature. 
 
 The fecond defcribes his Companions. 
 
 The third reprefents what an unhappy in - 
 fluence fuch Companions had upon him 
 how bad, how horribly bad, a man they 
 made him. 
 
 But as Lord Clarendon did not live to fee 
 the height of wickednefs, to which this 
 
 ij ' u M - onarch
 
 290 
 
 Monarch proceeded, and has expreffed him- 
 felf as favourably, as with any regard to 
 truth he could do, of what he did fee -, I 
 have added to his account fome few parti- 
 culars from other writers. 
 
 I. At Cologne, he, with a marvellous 
 contentednefs, prefcribed fo many hours in 
 
 the day to his retirement in his Clofet 
 
 and, in the whole, fpent his time very 
 well. Hi/I, of "Rebel. B.xiv. 
 
 That his Majefty had the firm R<ffli(- 
 tion to contain himfelf when married wjth^ 
 in the ftri&eft bounds of Virtue and Cpn- 
 fcichce, there want not many Arguments, 
 as well from the excellent temper andjujlice 
 of his own nature, as from the profemons 
 he had made, with fome folemnity, to pfcr- 
 fons who were believed to have much cre- 
 dit* and who had not failed to. do their du- 
 ty in putting him. in mind of the, infinite 
 
 obligations he had to God Almighty 
 
 of 'which his Majefty was pioufly fenfible. 
 Contm.ofCLAR.Life, Vol.11, p. 318. 
 
 His princely bread always entertained 
 the moil tender affections ; nor was ever 
 any man's nature more remote from 
 
 thoughts
 
 Appendix. 291 
 
 thoughts of roughnefs and hardhearted- 
 nefs. Ibid. 321. 
 
 He (the Chancellor) put the King in 
 mind of what he heard his Majefty him- 
 felf fay, upon the like excefs which a 
 neighbour King had -lately ufed, in making 
 his Miflrefs to live in the Court, and in the 
 Prefence of the Queen : That his Majefty 
 had then faid, " that it was fuch a piece 
 *' of ill-nature, that he could never be 
 V guilty of; and if ever he Ihould be guilty 
 " of having a Miftrefs after he had a Wife, 
 " which he hoped he never fiould be, me 
 '*> fliould never come where his Wife was : 
 " He would never add that to the vexation, 
 " of which flie would have enough without 
 it." Ib. 326. 
 
 .The King replied, that if it mould pleafe 
 God ever to give him a Wife and Children, 
 he would make choice of fuch people to be 
 about Both, in all places of near truft, who 
 in .their Natures and Manners, and, if it 
 were poffible, in their very Humours, were 
 fuch as he wifhed his Wife and Children 
 fhouldbe : for he did believe, that MOST 
 YOUNG PEOPLE (and, it may be, ELDER) 
 were, upon the matter, FORM'D by thofe 
 U 2 whom
 
 292 Appendix. 
 
 whom they SAW CONTINUALLY, and 
 could not but OBSERVE. Ib. 336. 
 
 He was the beft-natur'd Mafter in the 
 world. Vol. III. p. 86. 
 
 He had an excellent nature and under- 
 ftanding. Vol. II. 86. 
 
 Lord Clarendon obferves, that impious 
 difcourfe was not (at firft) grateful to him 
 (the King) and therefore warily and acci- 
 dentally ufed by thofe who had pleafant 
 wit, and in whofe company he took too 
 much delight. Vol. II. 318. 
 
 II. Take, next, the defcription of the 
 King's companions. 
 
 He fpent much of his time with confi- 
 dent young men, who abhorred all difcourfe 
 that was ferious, and, in the liberty they 
 affumed in drollery and raillery, preferved 
 no reverence towards God or Man, but 
 laugh 'd at all fober men, and even at Reli- 
 gion itfelf. CLAR. Contln. Vol. II. p. 85. 
 
 There was all poffible pains taken by 
 that company which were admitted to the 
 King's hours of pleafure, to divert and cor- 
 rupt all thofe impreflions and principles, 
 
 which
 
 Appendix. 293 
 
 which his own confcience and reverent 
 efteem of Providence did fuggefl to him, 
 turning all difcourfe and mention of Reli- 
 gion into Ridicule. Ib. 318.. 
 
 The nightly meetings had of late made 
 him (the Chancellor) more the fubjeft of 
 the difcourfe ; and iince the time of the 
 new Secretary they had taken more liberty 
 to talk of what was done in Council, than 
 they had done formerly : And the Duke of 
 Buckingham pleafed himfelf and all the 
 company in acting all the perfons who fpake 
 there in their looks and motions, in which 
 piece of Mimickry he had an efpecial fa- 
 culty -, and in this exercife the Chancellor 
 had a full part. In the height of mirth, if 
 the King faid " he would go fuch a journey, 
 " or do fuch a trivial thing to-morrow," 
 fomebody would lay a wager he would not 
 do it ; and when he aik'd why, it was an- 
 fwered, " that the Chancellor would not 
 " let him:" And then another would pro- 
 teft, " that he thought there was no ground 
 " for that Imputation ; however, he could 
 " not deny that it was generally believed 
 " abroad, that his Majefty was entirely and 
 U 3 " in*-
 
 294 
 
 " implicitly governed by the Chancellor." 
 
 Ib. 467, 
 
 What was preached in the Pulpit was 
 commented upon and derided in the Cham- 
 ber, and Preachers acted, and Sermons vi- 
 lified as labour'd Difcourfes, which the 
 Preachers made only to mew their own 
 parts and wit, without any other defign 
 than to be commended and preferred. Ib. 
 
 475' rfj ;, t iA : vh;*r 
 
 No forrow was equal, at leaft none fo 
 remarkable, as the King's was for the Earl 
 of Falmsutb. They who knew his Majefty 
 beft, and had feen how unfhaken he had 
 ftood in other very terrible affaults, were 
 amazed at the flood of Tears he med for 
 the lofs of this young Favourite, in whom 
 few other men had ever obferved any Vir- 
 tue or Quality, which they did not wim 
 their beft friends without. Ib. 512. 
 
 His Majefty had been heard during that 
 time [of the fire of London in i666j to 
 fpeak with great piety and devotion of the 
 difpleafure that God was provoked to : And 
 no doubt the deep fenfe of it did raife ma- 
 ny good thoughts and purpofes in his Royal 
 
 breaft,
 
 Appendix. 295 
 
 breaft. But he was narrowly watched and 
 looked into, that fuch melancholk thoughts 
 might not long poffefs him, the confequence 
 and effed: whereof was like to be more 
 grievous than that, of the Fire itfelf - y of 
 which, that loofe company that was too 
 much cherimed, even before it was extin- 
 guifhed, difcourfed, as of an argument for 
 Mirth and Wit to defcribe the wildnefs of 
 the ponfufion all people were in ; in which 
 the Scripture itfelf was ufed with equal li- 
 berty, when they could apply it to their 
 profane purpofes. And Mr. May prefumed 
 to affure the King, " that this was the 
 " greateft Blefling that God had ever cont 
 " ferred upon him, his Reftoration only ex- 
 << cepted : For the Walls and Gates being 
 " now burn'd and thrown down of that re- 
 " bellious City, which was always an Ene- 
 " my to the Crown, his Majefty would 
 " never fuffer them to repair and build 
 " them up again, to be a Bit in his mouth 
 " and a Bridle upon his neck ; but would 
 " keep all open, that his Troops might en- 
 " ter upon them whenever bethought ne- 
 ceiTary for his fervice, there being no 
 U 4 " other
 
 2C)6 Appendix. 
 
 " other way to govern that rude multitude 
 
 " but by Force. Ib. 675. 
 
 III. It is now to be (hewn What an un- 
 happy influence the Companions thus de- 
 fcrib'd had on the King how bad, how 
 horribly bad, a man they made him. 
 
 The King, every day, took lefs care of 
 his affairs, and affecied thofe pleafures moft, 
 which made him averfe from the other. 
 Cont. of CLAR. 85. 
 
 The King was far from obferving the 
 Rules he had prefcrib'd to himfelf before 
 he came from beyond the Seas, and was fo 
 totally unbent from his bufinefs, and ad- 
 dicted to pleafures, that the People gene- 
 rally began to take notice of it. //. 88. 
 
 By liberties, which at firft only raifed 
 laughter, they (the King's Companions) by 
 degrees got the hardinefs to cenfure both 
 the Perfons, Counfels, and Actions of thofe 
 who were neareil his Majefty's truft, with 
 the higheft malice and prefumption ; and 
 too often fufpended, or totally difappointed, 
 fome refolutions, which had been taken 
 upon very mature deliberation $ and which 
 
 ought
 
 Appendix. 297 
 
 ought to have been purfued : but this pre- 
 fumption had not yet come to this length, 
 Ib. 324. 
 
 The Chancellor told the King, Lord 
 Arlington and he were fpeaking of his Ma- 
 jefty, and, as they did frequently, were be- 
 wailing the unhappy life he lived, both with 
 refpect to himfelf, who, by the excefs of 
 Pleafures which he indulged to himfelf, 
 was, indeed, without the true delight and 
 relifh of any ; and in refpecl: to his Govern- 
 ment, which he totally neglected, and of 
 which the Kingdom was fo fenfible, that it 
 could not be long before he felt the ill effects 
 
 of it. It was too evident and vifible, that 
 
 he had already loft very much of the affec- 
 tion and reverence the Nation had for him. 
 Ib. Vol. III. 68 r. 
 
 Thofe ve'ry men (who in private did the 
 Chancellor the worft offices) would often 
 profefs to him (the Chancellor) that they 
 were fo much afflicted at the King's courfe 
 of life, that they even defpaired that he 
 would be able to mafter thofe difficulties 
 which would (till prefs, him. Ib. 680. 
 
 The
 
 298 Appendix. 
 
 TheiBuke of Buckingham reported 
 all the licence and debauchery of the Court 
 in the moil lively colours, being himfelf a 
 frequent eye and ear witnefs of it. Ib. 701 . 
 
 The Houfe of Commons appeared 
 
 .every day more out of humour, and ex- 
 prefled lefs reverence towards the Court. 
 And fome expreffions were frequently ufed, 
 which feerned to glance at the licence and 
 diforders of that place. Ib. jog. 
 
 He (Earl of Southampton) faw irregulari- 
 ties and exceffes to abound (in the Court) 
 and to overflow 'all the Banks which mould 
 reftrain them. Ib. 788. 
 
 The people opened their mouths wide a- 
 gainft the licence of the Court. Ib. 788. 
 
 The Earl of Eriftol told the King, that 
 the Chancellor governed him, and managed 
 aHhis affairs, whilft himfelf fpent his time 
 ,or4)i ib-^leafures and debauchery. Ib. 396. 
 
 The Duke of Buckingham fays of this 
 Prince That his unneceflary wars were 
 made chiefly to comply with thofe perfons 
 whofedifTatisfaclionwouldhaveprovedmore 
 uneafy to one of his humour, than all that 
 diftant noife of Cannon, which he would 
 
 often
 
 Appendix. 299 
 
 often liilen to with a great deal of {(ranquil- 
 
 In his pleafures he was rather abandoned 
 than luxurious ; and, like our female Liber- 
 tines, apter to be debauched for the fatif- 
 faction of others, than to feek with choice, 
 
 where moil to pleafe himfelf. He facri- 
 
 ficed all things to his Miftreffes. 
 
 According to Bifhop Burnet: This Prince 
 delivered himfelf up to a moft enormous 
 courfe of vice, without any fort of reftraint, 
 even from the confideration of the neareft 
 relations : the moft ftudied extravagances 
 that way feemed, to the very laft, to be 
 much delighted in, and purfued by him. 
 
 When he faw young men of quality, who 
 had fome thing more than ordinary in them, 
 he drew them about him, and fet himfeif , 
 to corrupt them both in Religion and W*$- 
 rality ; in which he proved fo unhappily 
 fuccefsful, that he left England much chan- 
 ged at his death, from what he found it at 
 his restoration. 
 
 The following extracts will prove, to 
 what an utter difregard to Honour, Truth, 
 
 Juilice,
 
 3 oo Appendix. 
 
 Juftice,4n Lord Clarendons cafe, the ini- 
 quitous companions of Charles the Second 
 infenfibly led him. 
 
 I. The King told him, (the Chancellor) 
 he had not any thing to object again him, 
 but muft always acknowledge, that he had 
 always ferved him honeftly and faithfully ; 
 and that he did believe, that never King 
 had a BETTER Servant. Vol. III. 228. 
 
 The Duke put his Majefly in mind of 
 MANY difcourfes his Majefty had formerly 
 held with him of the Chancellor's honefty 
 and discretion, conjuring him to love and 
 efteem him accordingly, when his High- 
 nefs had not fo good an opinion of him. 
 Ibid. 834. 
 
 When fome afked his Majefty, whether 
 their vi filing the Chancellor would offend 
 hisMfcjeilyj he anfwered, No. 7^.836. 
 
 When the Lords and Commons had 
 thank'd the King for turning out the Chan- 
 cellor, he faid to his Brother and many of 
 the Lords That he had now all he de- 
 fined, and that there (hould be no more 
 done to the Chancellor. Jb. 843. 
 
 The 

 
 Appendix. 301 
 
 The King gave to VERY MANY Perfons 
 of honour as great a teflimony of the Chan- 
 cellor's Integrity, and the fervices he had 
 done him, as could be given. 852. 
 
 II. Let it now be feen, what the infi- 
 nuations of bad men and women, continu- 
 ally with their Prince, could effecT: with re- 
 gard to his treatment of this, even by -his 
 own public acknowledgment, fo well de- 
 fexving a Minifter. 
 
 It appeared every day, that they were 
 bell look'd on, who forbore going to the 
 Chancellor ; and that they who did go to 
 him, found themfelves upon much difad- 
 vantage. Vol. III. 836. 
 
 The King expreffed great difpleafure to- 
 wards the Chancellor, and declared That 
 he had mifbehaved, That he had given him 
 very ill advice, &c. 838. 
 
 The King infmuated in his Speech to the 
 Parliament That what had been formerly 
 done amJfs, had been by the advice of the 
 Perfon (the Chancellor) whom he had re- 
 moved from his counfels. 840. 
 
 The King declared himfelf much of- 
 fended, that the proportion in the Houfe 
 
 of
 
 2 o 2 Appendix. 
 
 of Commons for returning him thanks (for 
 having removed the Chancellor) had not 
 fucceeded, 'and COMMANDED his own Ser- 
 vants to prefs and renew the motion. 841. 
 
 When it had fucceeded in the Houfe 
 of Commons, but the Lords declined 
 
 to concur in it The King fent to 
 
 the Archbifhop of Canterbury, that he 
 ihould in his Majefly's name command all 
 the Bimops Bench to concur in it. 842. 
 
 The Duke ailed the King, Whether the 
 Chancellor had ever given him counfel to 
 govern by an Army, or any thing like it ? 
 The, King anfwered, That he had never 
 given him fuch counfel in his life; but, on 
 the contrary, his fault was That he had 
 always injijled too much upon the LAW. 
 Whereupon his Royal Highnefs afk'd him" 
 Whether he would give him leave to Jay 
 fo to others ?. His Majefty replied, With all 
 his heart. The Duke told this to his Se- 
 cretary Mr. Wren and others, and wimed, 
 them to pubtijb it. When the King expoftu- 
 lated with the Duke for Mr. Wrens having 
 pubtt/hed it, the Duke declared, that Mr. 
 Wren had purfued his ordered, his Mai eft v 
 having not only faid all that was reported, 
 
 but
 
 Appendix. 303 
 
 but having given him leave to divulge, it. 
 To which the King made no other anfwer, 
 but that ;he fhould be hereafter more care- 
 fal pf what he faid torfyjnv : 847, 8.: ?i 
 
 They who had, at firft, wrought upon 
 the King, only by perfuading him, thnt the 
 removing the Chancellor from hie office 
 was the only way to preferve him, now im- 
 portuned the King to prbfecutc with all 
 his power. - This prevailed fo far, that 
 they refumdd their former" courage, and 
 prefled that he might be accufed by the 
 Houfe of Commons of High-Treafon. 852. 
 
 The General (Monk) made it his bufmefs 
 to folicit and difpofe the Members of both 
 Houfes no longer to adhere to the Chan- 
 cellor, fmce the King was refoJved to RUIN 
 him, and would look upon all who were 
 his Friends, as Enemies to his Majefty. 
 Notwithftanding which, the major Part, 
 by much, of the Houfe of Peers continued 
 firm againft his commitment : With which 
 the King was fo offended, that there were 
 fecret confutations of fending a guard of 
 Soldiers to take the Chancellor out of his 
 houfe, and fend him to the Tower. 857. 
 
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