132 M. de Pclier on the Pleafures of the Mind 
difpute, who confiders, with what care the great 
Author of our being has provided us with all 
means of happinefs. They evidently contribute 
to it, by adding beauty to the objeds that 
furround us, and by procuring us enjoyments far 
fuperior to thofe of the fenfes. In this view only, 
it would be incumbent upon us to cultivate the 
natural relifh we have for them : but Cicero , in his 
admirable work de Ojjiciis, fhews us a Hill nobler 
ufe, for which they may have been intended. 
After having enumerated the qualities which man 
has in common with other animals, and fome of 
the advantages that diftinguifh him, he proceeds 
to fay, 
- “ Necvero ilia parva vis Naturae elf, 
rationifque, quod unum hoc animal fentit quid fit 
ordo; quid fit, quod deceat; in fadis didifque 
qui modus. Itaque eorum ipforum quae afpedu 
fentiuntur, nullum aliud animal, pulchritudinem, 
venuftatem, convenientiampartium fentit. Quam 
fimilitudinem Natura, ratioque ab oculis ad ani- 
mum transferee, multo etiam magis pulchritudi¬ 
nem, conftantiam, ordinem in confiliis, fa&ifque 
confervandum putat: cavetque, ne quid indecore, 
effasminat eve, faciat; turn in omnibus et opinio- 
nibus et fadis, ne quid libidinofe aut faciat aut 
cogitet. Quibus ex rebus conflatur, et efficitur, 
id quod qua^rimus, Honefium.” 
Cicer. de Officiis. Lib. I. 
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