Ch. i. Of moral Restraiiit. 261 



of all those productions, which contribute to hu- 

 man gratification, would be much greater in pro- 

 portion than the diminution of thefts; and the 

 loss of general happiness on the one side would 

 be beyond comparison greater than the gain of 

 happiness on the other. When we contemplate 

 the constant and severe toils of the greatest part 

 of mankind, it is impossible not to be forcibly im- 

 pressed with the reflection, that the sources of 

 human happiness would be most cruelly diminish- 

 ed, if the prospect of a good meal, a warm house, 

 and a comfortable fireside in the evening, were 

 not incitements sufficiently vivid, to give interest 

 and cheerfulness to the labours and privations of 

 the day. 



After the desire of food, the most powerful and 

 general of our desires is the passion between the 

 sexes, taken in an enlarged sense. Of the hap- 

 piness spread over human life by this passion very 

 few are unconscious. Virtuous love, exalted by 

 friendship, seems to be that sort of mixture of 

 sensual and intellectual enjoyment, particularly 

 suited to the nature of man, and most power- 

 fully calculated to awaken the sympathies of the 

 soul, and produce the most exquisite gratifica- 

 tions. Perhaps there is scarcely a man, who has 

 once experienced the genuine delight of virtuous 

 love, however great his intellectual pleasures may 

 have been, who does not look back to that period 

 as the sunny spot in his whole life, where his 

 imagination loves most to bask, which he recollects 



