Nomb. 70. Saturday, November 17, 1750. » Argentta proles, Aura iettrior, fulvo fretiojior ten. Otid. Succeeding times a silver age behold, Excelling brass, but more excell'd by gold. Dryden. HE S I O D, in his celebrated distribution of mankind, divides them into three orders of intellect. "The first place," fays he, " belongs "to him that can by his own powers discern what "is .right and sit, and penetrate to the remoter mo"tives of action. The second is claimed by him "that is willing to hear instruction, and can perceive "right and wrong when they are shewn him by "another; but he that has neither acuteness nor "docility, who can neither find the way by himself, "nor will be led by others, is a wretch without use "or value." If we survey the moral world, it will be found, that the fame division may be made of men, with regard to their virtue. There are some whofe prin~ ciples are so firmly fixed, whofe conviction is so con* standy present to their minds, and who have raised in themselves such ardent wishes for the approbation of God, and the happiness with which he has promised to reward obedience and perseverance, that they rise above all other cares and considerations, and unisormly examine every action and desire, by com comparing it with the divine commands. There are others in a kind of equipoise between good and ill; who are moved on the one part by riches or pleasure, by the gratifications of passion and the delights of sense; and, on the other, by laws of which they own the obligation, and rewards of which they believe the reality, and whom a very small addition of weight turns either way. The third class consists of beings immersed in pleasure, or abandoned to passion, without any desire of higher good, or any effort to extend their thoughts beyond immediate and grofs satisfactions. The second class is so much the most numerous, that it may be considered as comprising the whole body of mankind. Thofe of the last axe not very many, and thofe of the first are very sew; and neither the one nor the other sall much under the consideration of the moralist, whofe precepts are intended chiefly for thofe who are endeavouring to go forward up the steeps of virtue, not for thofe who have already reached the summit, or thofe who are resolved to stay for ever in their present situation. To a man not versed in the living world, but accustomed to judge only by speculative reason, it is scarcely credible that any one should be in this state of indisference, or stand undetermined and unengaged, ready to follow the first call to either side. It seems certain, that either a man must believe that virtue will make him happy, and resolve therefore to be virtuous, or think that he may be happy without virtue, and theresore cast off all care care but for his present interest. It seems impossible that conviction should be on one side, and practice on the other; and that he who has seen the right way, should voluntarily shut his eyes, that he may quit it with more tranquillity. Yet all these absurdities are every hour to be found; the wisest and best men deviate from known and acknowledged duties, by inadvertency or surprise; and most are good no longer than while temptation is away, than while their passions are without excitements, and their opinions are free from the counteraction of any other motive. Among the sentiments which almost every man changes as he advances into years, is the expectation of unisormity of character. He that without acquaintance with the power of desire, the cogency of distress, the complications of affairs, or the force of partial influence, has silled his mind with the excellence of virtue, and having never tried his resolution in any encounters with hope or sear, believes it able to stand firm whatever shall oppofe it, will be always clamorous against the smallest failure, ready to exact the utmost punctualities of rights and to consider every man that fails in any part of his duty, as without conscience and without merit; unworthy of trust or love, of pity or regard; as an enemy whom all should join to drive out of society, as a pest which all should avoid, or as a weed which all should trample. It is not but by experience, that we are taught the possibility of retaining some virtues, and rejecting others, or of being good or bad to a particular degree. grcc. For it is very easy to the solitary reasoner td prove that the same arguments by which the mirid is fortified against one crime are of equal force against all, and the consequence very naturally follows, that he whom they fail to move on any occasion, haa either never considered them, or has by some sallacy taught himsels" to evade their validity; and that* therefore, when a man is known to be guilty of one crime, no sarther evidence is needful of his depravity and corruption. Yet'.such is the state of all mortal virtue, that it is always uncertain and variable, sometimes extending to the whole compass of duty, and sometimes shrinking into a narrow space, and fortifying only a sew avenues of the heart, while all the rest is lest open to the incursions of appetite, or given Up to the dominion of wickedness. Nothing therefore is more unjust than to judge of man by too short an acquaintance, and too flight inspection; for it often happens, that in the loose, and thoughtless, and dissipated, there is a secret radical worth, which may shoot out by proper cultivation; that the spark of heaven, though dimmed and obstructed, is yet nor extinguished, but may by the breath of counsel and exhortation be kindled into flame. To im igine that every one who is not completely g;od is irrecoverably abandoned, is to suppofe that all are capable of the same degrees of excelled e; it is indeed to exact, from all, that persection which none ever can attain. And since the purest virtue is consistent with some vice, and the vircue of the greatest number with almost an equal proporproportion of contrary qualities, let none too hastily conclude, that all goodness is lost, though it may for a time be clouded and overwhelmed; for most minds are the slaves of external circumstances, and consorm to any hand that undertakes to mould them,, roll down any torrent of custom in which they happen to be caught, or bend to any importunity that bears hard against them. It may be particularly observed of women, that they are for the most part good or bad, as they fall among thofe who practise vice or virtue; a ;d that neither education nor reason gives them much security against the influence of example. Whether it be that they have less courage to stand against oppofition, or that their desire of admiration makes them facrifice their principles to the poor' pleasure of 'worthless praise, it is certain, whatever be the cause, that semale goodness seldom keeps its ground against laughter, flattery, or fashion. For this reason, every one should consider himself as entrusted, not only with his own conduct, but with that of others; and as accountable, not only for the duties which he neglects, or the crimes that he commits, but for that negligence and irregularity which he may encourage or inculcate. Every man, in whatever station, has, or endeavours to have, his followers, admirers, and imitators, and hai theresore the influence of his example to watch with care; he ought to avoid not only crimes but the appearance of crimes, and not only to practise virtue, but to applaud, countenance, and support it. For it is possible that for want of attention we may teach others |