SUMATRA. lyi: 
&f out archka^rure* Our manners likewlfe are Hcde calculated 
to excite their approval and imitation. Not to infift on the It- 
centioiifnefs that has at times been imputed to our communities; the 
pleafures of the table ; emulation in wine ; boifterous mirth ; ju veutic 
frolics, and puerile amufements, which do not pafs without ferious, 
perhaps contemptuous, animadverfion — fetting thefe aiide, it appears 
to me, that even our beft models are but ill adapted for the imitation of 
a rudCj incurious, and unambitious people. Their fenfes, not their 
^afon, fliouid be a€ted on, to roufe them from their lethargy; cheir 
imaginations muft be warmed; a fpirit of enthufiafm muft pervade 
and animate them, before' they will exchange the pleafures of indolence 
for thofe of induftry. The phiiofbphical influence that prevails, and 
charaifterifcs the prefent age, in the weftcrn world, is unfavorable to 
the producing thefe effects. A modern man of fenfe and manners, de- 
Ipifes, or endeavours to defpife, ceremony, parade, attendance, fuper- 
fluous and fp lend id ornaments in his drefs or furniture : preferring eafe 
and convenience, to cumbrous pomp, the perfon firft in rank is no longer 
dillinguifhed by his apparel, his equipage, or his number of fervants^ 
from thofe inferior to him ; and tliough polTeflang reaJ power, is diverted 
of aimoft every external jnark of it, Even our religious worlhip par- 
takes of the fame fimplicity. It is far from my intention to condemsi 
or depreciate thefe manners, confidered in a general fcale of eftimation. 
Probably, in proportion as the prejudices of fenfe are diffipatcd by the 
light of reafon, we advance towards the highelt degree of perfedtioa 
our natures arc capable of. PofTibly perfcdion may confift in a certain 
medium which we have already got beyond; but certainly all this re- 
finement is utterly incomprchenfible to an uncivilized mind, which can- 
not difcriminate the ideas of humility and meanncfs. We appear to 
the Suma trans to have degenerated from the more fplcndid virtues of 
our prcdeceffors* Even the richncfs of their laced fuits, and the gravity 
of their perukes, attraded a degree of admiration ; and I have heard 
the difufe of the large hoops worn by the ladies, patlietically lamcntctK 
The quick, and to them inexplicable, revolutions of our faihions^ are 
fubjfd,of much aflonilhment^ and they naturally conclude^ that ihol* 
.uj' . ^ X modes 
