MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 



695 



engage less of the attention of their parents, and thus 

 accidentally escape that injudicious kindness which 

 renders them intractable and disobedient. A fashion- 

 able mother cannot submit to the drudgery of nursing 

 her child ; and a fashionable father would give himself 

 very little trouble about his instruction, were it not to 

 support the eclat of a name, and to inherit the family 

 fortune and honours. We believe indeed, that were 

 it not for such considerations as these, there would be 

 few children among the lovers of pleasure to make any 

 demands on parental affection. 



Juvenal gives a horrible account of the practices 

 which were adopted in his time, to avoid the incum- 

 brance of a family. His unvarying malignity to the 

 fair sex might render his testimony suspected, were it 

 not borne out by other evidence. 



Sed jacet aurato vil ulla puerpera lecto : 

 Tantum arm hujiu, taninm medieamina posnint, 

 ({tut stenlci Tacit, atque homines in venire necandot 

 Cond ucit. 



Hut the powerful feeling of parental affection is 

 weakened or destroyed, not only by the prevalence of 

 luxury, <r the love of pleasure; it might also be endan- 

 gered by the necessitous circumstances of the parents, 

 were there not counteracting considerations to induce 

 the rudest and most wretched tribes to rear and pro- 

 tect their children. Among savage nations, children 

 would be in danger of being neglected, as the love of 

 ease might get the better of parental affection. But 

 this is counteracted by the consideration, that the 

 strength of their family or their tribe is to be advanced 

 the children whom they rear. And that this con- 

 - more powerful, in many instances, than 

 i, appears from this, that among savage 



none but healthy and well-formed children 

 1 arrive at maturity : from which we may naturally 

 r that the weakly and deformed are either exposed, 

 or allowed to perish through neglect. 



Love is an affection decidedly benevolent, as it leads 

 us directly to desire the happiness of the person whom 

 we love. Love cannot exist but between persons of diffe- 

 rent sexes ; it is therefore evident that the sexual pas- 

 sion is a strong element in its composition. We, in- 

 deed, extend the meaning of the term ; and when we 

 feel any strong partiality for a person, arising either 

 from gratitude or from the perception of amiable qua- 

 lities, we are said to love him : and we believe, in fact, 

 that there cannot be love even between the sexes tin. 

 less it be founded on some real or supposed mental ex- 

 cellence. Where love really exists, the desire of enjoy, 

 ment is always accompanied with esteem of the person 

 beloved : without this it is mere brutal appetite. 



Beauty is, perhaps, the principal attraction ; it is of- 

 ten the only one that seems to be recognised. But if 

 we proceed to analyse this magical quality, we shall 

 find that it owes its influence chiefly to the idea that 

 the face i an index of the mind ; and that the perfec- 

 tion of beauty i* always supposed to imply the perfec- 

 tion of amiableness in character and disposition. Every 

 heroine of romance is always a paragon of beauty ; and 

 no writer has yet had sufficient confidence in his own 

 powers, to attempt to interest his readers in behalf of 

 an ugly woman. All this proceeds on the idea that 

 beauty is generally accompanied with some amiable or 

 exalted mental qualifications. 



If thin M a prejudice, it is at least one that has some 

 foundation in nature : for it cannot be denied that ug- 

 liness is generally accompanied with some qualities not 



particularly amiable. We do not, however, pretend to Moral 

 affirm that this consequence is the necessary result of Philosophy. 

 the mal-conformation of the countenance or person. It "V 1 

 may be easily accounted for on other principles. The 

 ugly person may be chagrined by the unkindness of 

 nature. She may feel indignant to see incense paid to 

 beautiful insipidity ; whilst she, with an inferior face, 

 but with vastly superior qualifications, may be scarcely 

 able to command common politeness. Thus, the ne- 

 glect with which an ugly woman is too generally treat- 

 ed, may sour her temper, and diminish her benevo- 

 lence : and after she has been driven by the injustice 

 of the world to put herself in a posture of self-defence, 

 or defiance, she is accused of being naturally peevish, 

 envious, and malignant. 



We can see no reason why she should be naturally 

 more deficient in amiable qualities than her fairer ri- 

 vals ; and were she treated with the same respect, we 

 have no doubt that she would shew the same amiable- 

 ness of disposition. And, certainly, a plain-looking 

 woman, perfectly amiable, and unenvious, would pre- 

 sent a phenomenon of excellence, which, from its rari- 

 ty, may justly be deemed more dazzling than the most 

 splendid beauty, . 



But besides the beauty of external features and 

 form, love is kindled by an indefinite number of quali- 

 ties which have taken hold on the imagination of the 

 lover, and which he regards as the sure signs of every 

 desirable excellence. These qualities are extremely 

 various, according to the particular views, habits, and 

 feelings of individuals, into which we do not, at pre- 

 sent, mean to enter ; and the only object which we 

 have had in view in this discussion respecting the ori. 

 gin of love, is to shew that, in the proper acceptation 

 of the word, it cannot exist but with the perception, 

 or supposed existence, of some good mental qualities 

 in the object beloved. The mere animal passion may 

 exist, and be gratified, without this perception or de- 

 sire of excellence. But rational beings alone arc sus- 

 ceptible of love, in the proper acceptation of the term ; 

 and mental qualifications, real or supposed, are always 

 essential ingredients in its composition. 



In this view, the affection, or the passion, of love, 

 (as it is called when it becomes so powerful as to en- 

 gross the feelings,) is deserving of the attention of the 

 gravest philosopher, as presenting a most powerful sti- 

 mulus to action, and inciting to the attainment of many 

 qualities which occupy a prominent place in the cha- 

 racter of man. It becomes highly interesting to con- 

 sider the moral influence of this powerful universal 

 principle on human manners : and the wisest will be 

 found to confess that it has infinitely more effect than 

 some more rational considerations in humanizing the 

 mir.d of man, and in training him to many useful en- 

 dowments. 



We have endeavoured to shew that mental qualifi- ,\f ora ( e( -. 

 cations constitute the charm of love. The lover, there- f cc t s of 

 fore, will naturally seek to be distinguished by the love. 

 qualities which he may think most likely to recom- 

 mend him to his mistress. And as it is evident that 

 n stand in need of protection, (being greatly in- 

 ferior to men in bodily strength, and, at certain ^ pe- 

 riods, totally incapable of defending themselves from 

 surrounding dangers, or even of earning subsistence;) 

 the highest recommendation of man in a rude state oi' 

 society will be personal bravery, or strength. In a 

 more polished state, he will seek to be distinguished by 

 tenderness, generosity, or sympathy ; and in a state of 



