PHILOSOPHY, MENTAL. 



odious, painful, shameful, worthy of 

 blame, punishment, 8cc. So that the 

 painful and displeasing- associations pre- 

 viously annexed to those words in their 

 minds, are, by means of that confi- 

 dence which they place in their parents 

 and instructors, transferred to the virtues 

 and vices respectively. And the mutual 

 intercourses of life have the same effect 

 in a less degree, with respect to adults 

 and those children who receive little or 

 no instruction from others directly. Vir- 

 tue is in general approved and set off 

 with all the encomiums and honourable 

 appellations which any other thing ad- 

 mits of; and vice loaded with censure 

 and reproaches of all kinds, in all good 

 conversation and books. And this hap- 

 pens oftener than the contrary, even in 

 bad ones. So that, as far as men are in- 

 fluenced in their judgments by those of 

 others, the balance is on the whole on the 

 side of virtue. 



94. Secondly, there are many imme- 

 diate good consequences which attend 

 upon virtue, and many ill consequences 

 upon vice, and this during- the whole pro- 

 gress of our lives. Sensuality and intem- 

 perance subject men to diseases and pain, 

 to shame and anxiety : temperance is at- 

 tended with ease of body, freedom of 

 spirits, the capacity of being- pleased with 

 the objects of pleasure, the good opinion 

 of others, the perfection of the senses 

 and of the mental and corporeal facul- 

 ties, &c. Anger, malice, and envy, bring 

 returns of anger, malice, and envy from 

 others, with injuries, reproaches, fears 

 and perpetual disquietudes ; and in like 

 manner good-will, generosity, compas- 

 sion, are rewarded with suitable returns, 

 with the pleasures of sociality and friend- 

 ship, and with high encomiums. And 

 when a person, by the previous love of 

 man, is qualified to worship God in any 

 measure as he ought, this affords the sin- 

 cerest joy and comfort; while, on the 

 contrary, the neglect of God, or practical 

 atheism, murmuring against the course 

 of providence, fool-hardy impiety, &c. 

 are evidently attended with great anxiety, 

 gloominess and distraction, as long as any 

 traces of morality or religion are left 

 upon the mind. Now these pleasures 

 and pains are often recurring in various 

 combinations, and being variously trans- 

 ferred upon each other, from the great 

 affinity between the several virtues and 

 their rewards, and the vices and their pu- 

 uishments, will at least produce a general 

 mixed pleasing consciousness, when we 

 reflect upon our own virtuous affections 



or actions ; a sense of guilt and anxiety, 

 when we reflect upon the contrary ; and 

 also raise in us the love and esteem of vir- 

 tue, and the hatred of vice in others. 



95. Thirdly, the many benefits which 

 we receive immediately from the piety, 

 benevolence, or temperance of others, or 

 which have some obvious connection 

 with them, and the mischiefs resulting 

 from their vices, lead us to love or hate 

 the persons themselves by association, 

 and then to love and hate the virtues and 

 vices themselves, and this without regard 

 to our own interest, and whether we 

 view them in ourselves or others. The 

 love and esteem of virtue in others is 

 much increased by the pleasing con- 

 sciousness wiiich our own practice of it 

 affords to the mind : and in like manner 

 the pleasure of this consciousness is 

 much increased by our love of virtue in 

 others. 



96. Fourthly, the great suitableness of 

 all the virtues to each other, and to the 

 virtue, order, and perfection of the 

 world, impress a very lovely character 

 upon virtue ; the contrary, self-contradic- 

 tion, deformity, and mischievous tenden- 

 cy of vice, render it odious, and the object 

 of abhorrence to all who reflect on the 

 subject. The terms which are employed 

 to denote the pleasures of the imagina- 

 tion are employed in connection with 

 virtue ; and all the associated feelings at- 

 tached to the terms are consequently 

 associated with virtue, adding greatly, 

 therefore, to the pleasures derived from 

 the contemplation of an act of sublime 

 virtue. 



97. Fifthly, the hopes and fears of a 

 future life are themselves pleasures and 

 pains of a higher nature. When a suffi- 

 cient foundation has been laid by a prac- 

 tical belief of religion, by thoughts of 

 death, by the loss of friends, by cor- 

 poreal pain, by worldly disappointments 

 and afflictions, for the formation of 

 strong associations of the pleasures of 

 their hopes with duty, and the pains of 

 these fears with sin, the repetition of 

 these associations will at last make duty 

 itself a pleasure, and convert sin into a 

 pain, and give lustre and deformity to all 

 their respective appellations. And these 

 associations will gradually become so 

 strong, that the express recollection of 

 the hopes and fears of another world will 

 vanish from the view of the mind. 



98. Sixthly, all meditations upon G< 

 and all the expressions of the feelings 

 our minds towards Him, by degrees trar 

 fer all the perfection, greatness, and 





