Since the very Inftitution of their Office prefuppofes the Depravity of Mankind. Was human Nature agitated by no irregular or vicious Inclinations, the Barrier of Laws would be as needlefs in çivil Societies, as the vaft Banks of Holland are needlefs in our upland Counties. But this, You will fay, is a digreffive Obfervation. Your Question requires a pofitive Answer. And it is easy to answer, That the Painting is beyond the Life. If my Author has been too free with the dark, my Friend has been too lavish of the glittering Colours. Those famous Men might aim, perhaps, at the Excellency You defcribe. Not one of them came up to the Mark.-Or, fuppofe they did, this would not invalidate my Tenet. Ther. This not invalidate your Tenet! Then Demonftration carries no Conviction. Afp. Pray, who is your greatest Favourite, among all the renowned Perfons of Antiquity? Ther. Socrates.-He ftands at the Head of the Clafs; and was, indifputably, the wifeft and the beft of the Heathen World. Afp. I think fo too. Be pleased, however, to recollect the Story of the Phyfiognomist; who pretended to discover the Difpofition of the Mind, by the Caft of the Countenance. The Profeffor of this occult Science undertook, You know, to exercife his Skill upon Socrates; and pronounced Him, after an Examination of his Features, lafcivious, paffionate, and morofe.-This Judgment, fo extravagantly wide of the Truth, was bringing a Storm of Ridicule and Refentment upon the poor Fortuneteller. When the ingenuous Philofopher interpofed, and owned the Description to be exactly true. That H 3 fuch fuch was his natural Temper; and if his Converfation was of a different Turn, it was owing to the Aids of Philofophy.-So that, even in your moft finished Character, there was no innate Dignity. All was adventitious. Ther. If Corruption was derived unto all Men from their Forefather Adam; methinks, all fhould be equally corrupt. But this is contrary to known Fact. Some We fee naturally loving and lovely; gentle in their Manners; and subject to no inordinate Appetites. Afp. Some Perfons may be of more gentle, or, if You pleafe, of lefs diffolute Manners, than the Generality of other People. Thanks to a better Tem perature Though I love and admire the Character of Socrates, yet I cannot approve the whole of his Conduct. One. Thing which gives me particular Offence is, the habitual Practice of Swearing, which occurs in all his Conferences with his Pupils. Ma Toy Aia, Nn A, or fome fuch Appeal to the DEITY is ufed, not only in every Difcourse, but almoft in every Page; and that upon the moft unneceffary Occafions.-I have often wondered, that fo polite a Writer as Xenophon, fhould admit this flagrant Impropriety into his Dialogues. Which, befides its irreligious Air, is fomewhat like the Crambe repetita; and recurs, and recurs, and recurs, till it is really tirefome. But much more I wonder, that his excellent Mafter, fhould fuffer the Sanction of an Oath, to become fo trivial; and make the Honour of his Jupiter, fo cheap. This proves the deplorable Blindness of human Reafon; which could mistake fo notorious a Profanation of the Divine Name, for a genteel Embellishment of SpeechIt fhews Us, likewise, our extreme Need of that revealed Law, which, among other refined Precepts, unknown to the Religion of Nature, enjoins; Above all Things, fwear not- -And Thou shalt not take the Name of the LORD thy GOD in vain. perature of their Conftitution, or a more watchful Care in their Education.-Politenefs may mimick Charity, or fine Breeding may perfonate Humility. One vile Affection may check another, or a Senfe of Decency may hold Curb upon all.-But fhew me the unregenerate Man, who is subject to no inordinate Appetites. When the very best unregenerate Man, that ever lived, acknowledges concerning Himfelf; Sin, original Corruption, wrought in me all Manner of Concupifcence *. And even the Stoic Philofopher cannot but confefs, Omnia in Omnibus Vitia funt †. Ther. Have We not often obferved heroic Courage, and a Generofity of Spirit, where the Education has been none of the ftricteft? To what can we ascribe these laudable Qualities, but to the innate Virtue and Noblenefs of the Temper, working without any auxiliary Succours? Afp. Virtue, Theron, is a complete Affemblage, not fome disjointed Shreds, of laudable Qualities. Those You mention, if not accompanied with the whole Circle of amiable Accomplishments, are no more to be called Virtue; than two or three scattered Fragments of an Edifice, are to be honoured with the Appellation of an House.-How often are thofe very Perfons, with all their Fortitude, Slaves to ignoble Pleasures, or in Bondage to the baseft Lufts. A most infallible Indication, that they have no uniform Generofity, nor any real Courage.-Defire of Fame, may prompt to many fuch Acts, as dazzle the fuperficial Eye: which yet are far, very far from genuine Virtue. Ther. Do You then attribute the Grecian Politeness and the high Roman Spirit, with all the gallant * Rom. vii. 8. Actions H 4 Actions of their Heroes and their Generals, to a Defire of Fame? Afp. There is Reason to suspect, that they derived their Origin from fome improper Motive. And no Motive was more artfully inftilled, or more affiduoufly cherished, than the Spirit of Ambition.-View their Crowns, their Statues, their triumphal Solemnities-Read their Orators, their Hiftorians, their Poets-The former were the School, the latter were the Mafters, to inculcate this grand Lesson. Let Us confider the Romans a little more attentively; and not amidst the Dregs of their Community, but in their very beft Ages; when their Republic fubfifted, and their Scipios flourished. Many great and fhining Deeds were undoubtedly performed. But did they spring from a reverential Regard to the Supreme BEING; from Obedience to his Will, or Zeal for his Honour? If this Principle fhould be thought too refined, did they proceed from a Love to their Fellow-creatures? In cafe, neither of these Motives * actuated their Conduct, it can never be placed to the Account of Virtue.-Had Benevolence been their leading Principle, why fuch Inhumanity to Carthage? Why muft that opulent City be laid in Ashes, and her * A Zeal for the Honour of GOD, and a Concern for the Good of our Fellow-creatures, are the true Sources of Virtue, 1 Cor. x. 24, 31. When our Actions flow not from these Principles, Reafon will put a Query upon them, and Revelation will expunge them from the Lift of Virtues. They may be fpecious in themfelves; they may be coftly to the Performer; they may even be serviceable to Others. But can no more deferve the Title of Virtue, than the Activity of our Sun-fire Officers, in extinguishing the Flames on fome infured Houfe, can merit the Name of Charity, her numerous Citizens be put to the Sword? Were they Enemies to Mankind, or a Nuisance in the World? You well know, that they were only too industrious, and too powerful. By which Means, they would be in a Condition, to eclipse the Magnificence of the Roman Name, and difpute the Prize of Sovereignty with the Roman State. For this Crime-a Crime in Ambition's Eye, abfolutely inexcufable-even Cato's upright Soul, fhall doom them to utter Destruction; and Scipio's gentle Hand, fhall execute the horrid Decree. Is this Virtue? Does Virtue ravage Countries, from the mere Wantonness of Pride, or Luft of Preeminence? Does Virtue destroy Millions of Lives, only to aggrandize a particular People, or extend the Dominion of fome favourite Empire? If this were Virtue, Brutus thought too honourably of her Character, when he termed Her an empty Name.-I am fure, my Theron has jufter Notions of Things. He need not be informed, that true Virtue, far from perfonating the rapacious Harpy, Others, as a Father to all. who is both its Pattern and its doing Good. acts as a Father to And, like HIM, Author, goes about Ther. The most elegant Cane, if plunged into yonder Bafon, while the Waters are curled by the Breeze, will appear both crooked and coarfe. I cannot but think, the Accufers of human Nature examine her State with a prejudiced Understanding. Which has the fame perverfe Effect upon their Judgment, as those ruffled Waves have upon the Sight. -Or else, they contemplate her Condition with a melancholy Mind; which, like a jaundiced Eye, gives 4 every |