346 Fundamental Principles of 



in the affairs of men ? To them, honours, distinctions, 

 praise, and even property itself, all those objects of 

 laudable ambition which so powerfully excite the activ- 

 ity of men in civil society, and contribute so essen- 

 tially to happiness, by filling the mind with pleasing 

 prospects of future enjoyments, are but empty names ; 

 or, rather, they are subjects of never-ceasing regret and 

 discontent. 



That gloom must indeed be dreadful which over- 

 spreads the mind, when hope, that bright luminary of the 

 soul, which enlightens and cheers it, and excites and 

 calls forth into action all its best faculties, has dis- 

 appeared ! 



There are many, it is true, who, from their indolence 

 or extravagance, or other vicious habits, fall into poverty 

 and distress, and become a burden on the public, who 

 are so vile and degenerate as not to feel the wretched- 



O 



ness of their situation. But these are miserable objects, 

 which the truly benevolent will regard with an eye of 

 peculiar compassion. They must be very unhappy, for 

 they are very vicious ; and nothing should be omitted 

 that can tend to reclaim them ; but nothing will tend 

 so powerfully to reform them as kind usage from the 

 hands of persons they must learn to love and to respect 

 at the same time. 



If I am too prolix upon this head, I am sorry for it. 

 It is a strong conviction of the great importance of the 

 subject which carries me away, and makes me perhaps 

 tiresome where I would wish most to avoid it. The 

 care of the poor, however, I must consider as a matter 

 of very serious importance. It appears to me to be one of 

 the most sacred duties imposed upon men in a state 

 of civil society, one of those duties imposed immedi- 



