What, I fay, followed upon this, but the attainment of fuch a firmnefs of body and mind-of fuch an indifference to all the emasculating pleafures-of fuch vigour and fearieties, that the people, thus born and educated, foon made all opposition fall before them, experienced no enemy a match for them were conquerors, wherever they carried their arms.

By these remarks on the temperance of the antient Romans, I am not for recalling customs fo quite the reverfe of thofe, in which we were brought up; but fome change in our manners I could heartily w they might effect: and if not induce us to the fame fobriety, which was practifed by thefe heathens, yet to a much greater than is practifed by the generality et Chriftians. Dean Bolton.

$142. On Pleafure.

SECT. I.

To the Honourable

While you are conftantly engaged in the parfait of knowledge, or in making what have acquired of ufe to your fellow. Creatures while information is your amufement, and to become wifer is as much your an, in all the company you keep, as in the books you read; may I not justly tick it matter of aftonishment to you, that fach numbers of your fpecies fhould be quite unmindful of all rational improverent-folely intent on fchemes of mirth ard divertion-paffing their lives in a round porting and trifiing.

If every age has its madness, and one is dinguished by its warlike humour, a fecond by its enthufialm, a third by its party and political rage; the diftraction of the prefent may truly be pronounced, its turn to pleafure, fo fadly poffefling thofe of each lex and of all ages-thofe of every profeffon and employment-the feveral ranks and orders of men; that they, who are frangers to the fudden changes in human difponitions, are apt to think, that all feriCuines and application-all the valuable attainments, which are the reward only of oar pains, muft, inevitably, be foon loft anong us.

I am not out of hopes, that what thus threatens, in the opiniono fome, our speedy rain, and has its very great mifchief denied by none, who give it the leaft attention, one day receive as remarkable an oppeation from your pen, as it now does a difcouragement from your example..

Let, in the mean time, a fincere wellwifher to his countrymen interpofe his mean endeavours to serve them-offer to their confideration fome, perhaps not wholly contemptible, arguments against the purfuit, to which they are fo blameably attached-fhew them pleasure in that true light in which they are unwilling to fee it-teach them, not that it fhould be always declined, but that they fhould never be enflaved to it reprefent the dangers, to which it expofes them, yet point out how far it may be enjoyed with innocence and fafety.

Every man feems to be fo far free, as he can difpofe of himfelf-as he can maintain a due fubordination in the parts of his frame, ufe the deliberation proper to acquaint him with what is most for his advan tage, and, according to the refult thereof, proceed to action. I confider each hindrance to the knowledge of our true happinefs, or to its puriuit, as, according to its degree, an abridgment of our liberty; and, I think that he may be truly stiled a slave to pleifure, who follows it, wherefoever directed to it by appetite, paffion, or fancy. When we liften to their fuggeftions in the choice of good, we allow them an authority, that our Creator never intended they should have; and when their directions in that choice are actually complied with, a lawlefs fway enfues-the ufe of our nobler faculties becomes obftructed-our ability to deliberate, as we ought, on our conduct, gradually fails, and to alter it, at length wholly ceafes.

Our fenfual and rational parts are almost 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, industry, continence.

As you cannot give way to appetite, but you increafe its reftlefinefs, you multiply its demands, and become lefs able to reift 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 fecond, gaining ground, 't.il its dominion over you becomes abfolute.

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When the question concerns our angry paffions, all are ready to acknowled danger of not reftraining them, the terrible fubjection to which fuch remiffefs exposes us. Thefe falling more under the general notice, from the apparency of the diforder, and extent of the mischief which they occation, a better judgment is ordinarily made of them, than of aff. aions lefs tumultuous, leís dangerous to our alloci

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ates: but there can be no reason imaginable why anger, if lefs carefully watched and refiited, should exercife, at length, the moft unhappy tyranny over us, which will not hold as to any paffion or luft whatsoever. And as with respect to violent refentment, we are ready to gratify it, whatever it cofls us: fo let what will be the paffion or luft that governs us, no prudential confiderations are a counterpoife for it.

With regard to pleasure. the fallacy of our reafoning upon it lies here; we always look upon the enjoyment of it as a fingle act, as a compliance with our liking in this or that inftance: the repetition of that indulgence is not feen under a dependence on any former, or under the leaft connexion with any future. That fuch a purfuit fhould engage us feems to be wholly from our choice; and this choice is thought to be as free, at the fecond time of our making it as at the firft, and at the twentieth, as at the fecond. Inclination is never beheld as poffible to become constraint-is, I mean, never regarded as capable of being indulged, 'till it cannot be refifted. No man ever took the road of pleafure, but he apprehended that he could easily leave it: had he confidered his whole life likely to be paffed in its windings, the preference of the ways of virtue would have been indifputable.

But as fenfual purfuits could not engage fo many, if fomething very delightful were not 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 higheft poffible advantages, it will yet be found liable to thefe objections.

First, That its enjoyment is fleeting, expires foon, extends not beyond a few moments: Our fpirits fink inftantly under it, if in a higher degree: nor are they long without being depreffed, when it lefs powerfully affects them. A review here affords me no comfort: I have here nothing delightful to expect from Reflection. The gratifications, in which I have allowed myself, have made me neither wifer nor better. The fruit was relished while upon my tongue, but when paffed thence I fcarce. ly retain the idea of its flavour.

How tranfitory our pleafures are, we cannot but acknowledge, when we confider, 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 delights us much in our youth, is quite taftelefs 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, those which best fuit our time of life, and on the pursuit of which we are most intent, must be interrupted in order to be enjoyed.

We can no more long bear pleafure, than we can long endure fatigue; or, rather, what we call pleasure, after fome continuance, becomes fatigue.

We want relief in our diverfions, as well as in our moft ferious employments.

When Socrates had obferved, " of how "unaccountable a nature that thing is, "which men call Pleasure, fince, though "it may appear to be contrary to Pain, as "never being with it in the fame perfon, "yet they fo clofely follow each other, "that they may feem linked, as it were, "together." He then adds-" If ƃop "had attended to this, he would, I think, «have given us a fable, in which the Divi"nity, willing to reconcile thefe two ene"mies, but yet unable to do it, had, never"thelefs, fo connected them in their extre "mities, that where the one comes, the "other fhall be fure to fucceed it.”

From the excefs of joy, how ufual is the tranfition to that of dejection! Laughter, as well as grief, calls for tears to eafe us under it; and it may be even more dangerous to my life to be immoderately delighted, than to be feverely afflicted.

Our pleafures then foon pafs; and, fe condly, their repetition certainly cloys.

As the eafinefs of posture and agreeablenefs of place wear off by a very short continuance 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. What fo delights our palate, that we should relish it, if it were our conftant food? What juice has nature furnished, that, after being a fre quent, continues to be a pleafing, draught? Sounds, how artfully fo ever blended or fucceffive, tire at length the ear; and odours, at firft the most grateful, foon either ceafe to recreate us, or become offenfive to us. The fineft profpect gives no entertainment to the eye that has been long accustomed to it. The pile, that ftrikes with admiration each cafual beholder, affords its royal

inhabitant

inhabitant no comfort, but what the peafant has in his cottage.

That love of variety and change, to which Roze of our kind are firangers, might be a lefon to us, where our expectations are il grounded, where they must neceffarily be disappointed; for if no man ever yet lived, who could fay of any of the pleasures of fenfe On this I repofe myfelf-it quite anfwers my hopes from it-my wishes rove not beyond it: if none could ever affirm this, it is most evident, that we in vain fearch after permanent delight from any of the objects, with which we are now converiant that the only difference between the fatisfactions we purfue, and those we quit, is, that we are already tired of the one, and thall foon be of the other. Hear the language of him, who had tried the extent of every fenfual pleafure, and A have found the uncloying, had any fach exited: "I faid in my heart, Go to "now, I will prove thee with mirth. I gave myself 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 amaffed gold and filver, I had poffeffions, above all that were in Jerufalem before "me. I tried what love, what music, "what all the delights of the fons of men "could effect: whatfoever mine eyes de" fired I kept not from them, I with-held "not my heart from any joy. Then I "looked on all my works, on all my purfaits, and behold! all was vanity and " vexation of fpirit."

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Tully mentions Xerxes as having propofed a reward to the man, who could make known to him fome new pleasure. The monarch of the Eaft, it feems, met with nothing within the bounds of his mighty empire that could fix his inclinations. The molt voluptuous people on earth had difcovered no delight, that their fovereign could acknowledge otherwife than fuperficial. Happy! had it been a leffon to their prince, or could it be one to us, where our good fhould be fought-what purfuits were likely to bring us bleffings certain to improve, as well as endure.

$143. On Pleasure.

SECT. II.

A third difadvantage enfuing to us from cur attachment to the delights, which appetite and fancy purvey, is, that it indifpoles us for ufeful inquiries, for every

endeavour worthy of our nature, and suiting the relations in which we are placed.

The disappointment, which the Perfian Emperor met with in all his fchemes of the voluptuous kind, did not put him on applying to thofe of a different one. Experience fhewed him his folly, but could not teach him wifdom-It could not, when it had convinced him of the vanity of his purfuits, induce him to relinquish them.

We find a Solomon, indeed, difcovering his error, acknowledging that he had erred, and bearing teftimony to religion and virtue as alone productive of true happiness; 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 practice, which they too generally countenance: fully convinced of its vanity and folly, we continue to our laft moments attached to it

averfe from altering the conduct, which we cannot but difapprove. Our faculties are, indeed, fo conftituted, 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 depart, whatever our eagernefs may be for their continuance. But let us not deceive ourselves: when they are gone as to their fenfe, they are not as to their power. He who says 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 distinguish 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 inducements for our contracting it remain; and when the days of pleafure are paft, those of wifdom and virtue are not the nearer. Our difpofitions do not decay with our strength. The prudence, which fhould attend grey hairs, doth not neceffarily 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 poifoned by the breath, with which he utters it; and when leaft able to offend in act, he does it in defire.

That the humour for fighting or racing, or whatever inclination governed us in this world, accompanies us to the other, is not an entire fiction of the poet, but, affuredly,

has thus much truth in it, that whatever humour we indulge, it accompanies us to the clofe of life. There is a time, when our manners are pliant, when the counfels of the fober operate upon us as fucceísfully, as the infinuations of the corrupt; but when that time is paffed, our customs are, daily, working themselves into our conftitution, and want not many years to become fcarce diftinguishable from it. God, I am perfuaded, has formed us all with fuch apprehenfions of what is right, as, if a proper care were taken to preferve and improve them, would have the happiest influence upon our practice; but when the feafon for extending this care to them has been neglected, they are in moft of us greatly impaired, and in fome appear almost wholly loft.

Let the understanding remain uninformed, 'till half the age of man is past, and what improvement is the best then likely to make? how irkfome 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 hopeiefs. While we are devoting ourfelves to pleafure, we are weakening every principle whereby virtue can engage us, we are extinguishing within us all fente of true defert-fubduing confcience-divefting our felves of thame-corrupting our natural notions of good and evil; and fo indifpofing ourfelves for confideration, that our conftant endeavour will be to decline it. Thus when our follies are a burden to us, their correction feems a genter; and we try what eafe may be found by varying, rather than feek any from quitting, them.

Fourthly, The larger our thare is of outward enjoyments, and the dearer they are to us; fo much the more afflicting our concern will be to leave this fene of them-fo much the greater terror and torment shall we receive from the apprehenfion, how foon we may be obliged to do it.

Let the man of pleasure colour it the moft agreeably, place it in the faireft point of view, this objection will remain in its full ftrength against 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 compo"fure?" But what kind of happiness is that, which we are in hourly fears of lofing, and which, when loft, is gone for ever?

If I am here only for a few days, the part I ought to act is, certainly, that of a traveller on his journey, making ufe, indeed, of fuch conveniencies, as the road affords him, but ftill regarding himself as upon his road-never fo incumbring himfelf that he fhall be unwilling to advance, when he knows he must do it-never fo diverting himself at any refting place, that it fhall 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 of our existence is the full extent we give to our joys; and we have the mortifying reflection continually before us, that their conclufion is nearer every hour we are here, and may poffibly take place the very next. Thus each acceffion of delight will really be but a new fource of affliction, become an additional motive for complaint of the short space allowed for its enjoyment.

The mind of man is fo difpofed to look forward, fo fitted to extend its views, that, as much as it is contracted by fenfuality, it cannot be fixed thereby to the infant moment: We can never, like the beats, be fo far engroffed by the fatisfaction before us, but the thoughts will occur, how often may we hope to repeat it-how many distant hours it is likely to relieve-how much of our duration can it advantage? and the fcanty continuance which our most fanguine hopes can affign it, muft, therefore, be in fome degree its abatement-must be an ingredient in our draught fure to embitter the many pleafing ones which compound it. And what a wife part are we then acting, when we are taking the brutes portion for ours, and cannot have all the benefits even of that! cannot remove the inconveniences of reafon, when we forego its comforts!

Thefe are fome of the many difadvantages infeparable from pleasure, and from the expectation of which none of its votaries are exempt. We cannot attach ourfelves to any of the delights, which appetite or fancy provides, but we shall be sure to find them quickly paffing-when repeated, 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.

But what, you'll fay, must all then commence philofophers? Muft every gay amulement be banished the world? Muft thofe of each tex and of all ages have their looks ever in form, and their manners under the regulation of the fevereft wifdom? Has nature given us propenfities only to be reated? Have we ears to diftinguish harmony, and are we never to delight them with it? Is the food which our palate best relihes, to be therefore denied it? Can odours recreate our brain, beauty please our eye, and the defign of their ftructure be, that we should exclude all agreeable fenfation from either? Are not natural inclinations nature's commands? are they not its declarations whence we may obtain our good, and its injunctions to feek it thence? Is any thing more evident, than that serious applications cannot long be fuftained-that we mutt fink under their weight-that they foon tupify or distract us? The exercife of our intellectual part is the fatigue of our corporeal, and cannot be carried on, but by owing us intervals of relaxation ad mirth. Deny us pleafure, and you fit us for bufineis; and deftroy the man, while you thus feek to perfect him.

A full anfwer might, I should think, be given to whatever is here alledged, by enlarging on the following obfervations.

1. Pleasure is only fo far cenfured, as it cods us more than it is worth-as it brings on a degree of uneafinefs, for which it doth not compenfate.

2. It is granted, that we are licenfed to nike all that pleafure, which there is no reafon for our declining. So much true pratare, or fo much pleafure, as is not counterbalanced by any inconveniencies attending it, is fo much happiness accruing him who takes it, and a part of that general good, which our Creator defigned

light, under a different education and intercourse.

Thefe particulars let it fuffice barely to mention; fince, it is here admitted, that when there is no reafon for our declining any pleasure, there is one for our taking it, I am more efpecially concerned to fhew, when there is a reason, why pleasure should be declined-what thofe limits are, which ought to be prefcribed to our pleasures, and which when any, in themselves the most innocent, pafs, they neceffarily become immoral and culpable. A minute difcuffion of this point is not here propofed: fuch obfervations only will be made upon it, as appear to be of more general ufe, and of greatest importance.

What I would, firft, confider as rendering any pleasure blameable is,

When it raifes our Paffions.

As our greatest danger is from them, their regulation claims our constant attenHuman larus confider them tion and care.

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in their effects, but the divine law in their aim and intention. To render me obnoxious to men, it is neceflary that my impure luft be gratified, or an attempt made to gratify it; that my 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 wishes, when I invade my neighbour's property but in defire. The man is guilty the moment his affections become fo, the inftant that any dif honeft thought finds him approving and indulging it.

The enquiry, therefore, what is a fit amufement, fhould always be preceded by the confideration of what is our difpofition. For, it is not greater madnefs to fuppofe, that equal quantities of food or liquor may be taken by all with equal temperance, than to affert, that the fame pleature may be ufed by all with the fame innocence. As, in the former cafe, what barely fatisfies the ftomach of one, would be a load infupportable to that of another; and the draught, that intoxicates me, may fcarcely refresh my companion: fo in the latter, an amufement perfectly warrantable to this sort of constitution, will to a different become the moft criminal. What liberties are allowable 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 fen ibility, should not approach! What fafety attends the contemner of gain, where the most fatal

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