The Adulterer, the Murderer, the Robber, whe ther in a public or private Character, (condemned by the Laws of the moft favage and barbarous Nations to Infamy and Death) have cut themfelves off from all Pretenfions to Honour by a direct avowed Violation of the primary and fundamental Laws of Reason, Juftice, and Order: Crimes that can admit of no Colouring or Excuse, for which nothing can be pleaded with any Shadow of Reafon or common Sense, but are generally carried off with a high Hand, a hardened Forehead, a loud Laugh, and a libertine Joke. It is really too gentle a Cenfure upon fuch flagitious Offenders only to fay they are not Men of Honour, who have, by those atrocious Crimes, degraded themselves to the lowest Rank of Malefactors. Nor can it be thought unreasonable to affert, that thefe flagrant Crimes degrade Men from all Pretenfions to Honour, when it is demonftrable that the not exerting all the oppofite Virtues in an open, ingenuous, amiable Manner, is a fufficient Difqualification. A Man may be free from every notorious Vice, and yet be an errant Scoundrel. He may be just out of Fear or Policy, frugal and temperate out of Covetoufness, peaceable and harmless from a Milkiness of Blood; he may abftain from Acts of Violence out of Cowardice, from Lewdnefs for Want of Ability and Opportunity; and yet, in the State and Temper of his Heart, be fo far from a Man of Honour, as to deferve all the Infamy due to the most scandalous Vices.

By the bye, I have often wondered that fo polite and accurate a Writer as Mr. Addifon could be guilty of fuch a Miftake, on fo important a Subject, as he puts

puts into the Mouth of young Juba, in the Tragedy of Cato.

"Honour 's the facred Tye, the Law of Kings, "The noble Mind's diftinguishing Perfection,

"That aids and ftrengthens Virtue, where it meets her;

"And imitates her Actions, where she is not."

not.

Where he is not !-Is that poffible? Can true Ho nour, even in Idea, be feparate from Virtue? I think The Matter of an honourable Action is, that it be juft; the Form, that it be performed in a polite, generous, amiable Manner. There is indeed to be found, even in the vileft Criminals, a certain Roughness and Sturdiness of Mind, that very nearly resembles it. The Behaviour of a hardened Malefactor, expiring under the Torture, refufing to confefs his Guilt, or discover his Accomplices, may impofe upon the injudicious Spectators, but furely has no real Title to Honour. The Bully may refemble the Hero in the Appearance of Courage, as Prudes do Vestals in the Appearance of Chastity; but he that can mistake the one for the other, must be very little acquainted with human Nature, and the Ways of the World. True Ho nour is consistent and uniform, as the immutable Laws of Truth and Reafon on which it is founded, and by which it fubfifts. Whoever, therefore, fhall eftablish to himself, as a Point of Honour, any thing that is contrary to his Duty to God and his Country, and the immutable Laws of Truth and Justice; who shall think any thing honourable that is displeasing to his Maker, or injurious to Society; who facrifices any VOL. I. H

Part

Part of his Duty, as a reasonable Creature, to a ridiculous Fashion, a prevailing Error, or an importunate Luft; who thinks himself obliged, by this Principle, to the Practice of fome Virtues, but not of others, is by no means to be counted a Man of Honour.

The Malignity of a base corrupt Heart discovers itself in a numberlefs Variety of peftilent Symptoms, foetid Eruptions, and diforderly Motions, which are neither cognizable in human Courts, nor punishable by human Laws, but are only known to the great Searcher of Hearts, who confiders them as the Root and Spring from whence the most heinous and capital Offences proceed. The Selfish, the Voluptuous, the Covetous, and the Proud, whom no human Laws can restrain or punish, are as criminal in the Sight of the Almighty, and as odious to his boundless Love and fpotless Purity, as thofe notorious Criminals who are daily recruiting Newgate and the Plantations.

Selfishness, or Self-love, in Opposition to public Spirit and the Love of the Community, can only proceed from a Weakness of Understanding, and a Bafenefs of Heart. Nemo fibi foli nafcitur, is an obvious Maxim of Nature and common Senfe; he that cannot fee the Force and Obligation of it, must be a Fool, and he that fees it, and acts disagreeably to it, is a Poltron. Public Spirit is infeparable from great Minds, and is that alone which can qualify Men to fill the highest Stations, and execute the most important Offices with Dignity and Honour. The greatest Princes, without it, degenerate into Brokers and Stockjobbers. If they confider themselves in any other Light than the Fathers of the People, the Guardians of Religion and Liberty, the Protectors of the Oppreffed, and the im

partial

partial and munificent Patrons of real Merit, they know not themselves the Nature of their Office, nor the Defign of their Elevation. Wealth and Power, if not acquired by virtuous and honourable Means, and employed to virtuous and honourable Purposes, are a Difgrace and Curfe to the Owner, and will be a fore Article of Account at the last great Day. Avaricious Princes, rapacious Minifters, and venal Tools, who confider nothing but themselves, and how they may support one another in the Exercise of Oppreffion and Corruption, have fo far forfeited all Pretenfions to Honour, that they seem to have extinguished the common Sentiments of Humanity itself. Think how dif→ honourable and contemptible a Figure the Jewish Nobility made that could force the Prophet Ifaiah to make this fad Complaint. Ifa. i. 23. Thy Princes are rebellious, (thy great Men are rebellious and difobedient to the Laws of God) Companions of Thieves (advising, affifting, and sharing in the Plunder of their Country) Every one loveth Gifts, and followeth after Rewards (regarding nothing but their private Interest, difpofing of no Favours, filling up no Offices without a valuable Confideration, feeing no Merit but in the beft Bidder) They judge not the Fatherlefs, neither doth the Caufe of the Widow come unto them. In short, great Men, who have large Poffeffions, extensive Influence, and are set in high Places, without great Souls, extenfive Generosity, and elevated Views and Designs, in spite of all their illustrious Titles and Badges of Honour, will appear odious and contemptible to Men of Sense and Virtue, even in the lowest Stations of Life. And when the Influence of fuch Examples fhall, as it naturally will, infect the lower Part of the People, H 2

and

and the Herd of Mankind, when public Spirit fhall become the Jeft of Knaves and Fools, that Nation is not far from its Ruin.

The Voluptuous have no better Title to Honour. As their whole Bufinefs and Employment in this World is to indulge every Appetite, to gratify every Demand of Luft or Fancy, without any Regard to the Reafon; the Juftice, and Decency of the Action, they betray a fhameful Corruption of Heart and Weakness of Understanding. The Man of Pleasure, whofe whole Profeffion it is to pass merrily through the World, to murder Time, and cool Reflection; to be ever jovial, ever gay; to deny himfelf nothing that his Eye can fee, or his Heart can wifh, is not only a despicable, 'and dishonourable, but a dangerous, Creature. If he cannot difcover, from the exalted Faculties and Operations of his own Soul, that he is a rational free Agent, he must be very ignorant and filly; and, if he knows it, and confeffes it, and yet lives and acts in Defiance of that Conviction, he must be an irrefolute 'unaccountable wicked Creature. To fee a reafonable, immortal Being, endued with noble Faculties, capable of noble Reflections and generous Refolutions, facrificing his whole Attention to some predominant Vanity, is a Reflection upon common Senfe. Be the Object of his Paffion in its own Nature ever so innocent, the Diverfions of the Field, or the Affembly; if a Pack of Dogs or Cards, Equipage or Show, Wine or Women, cngrofs the whole Man; he departs thereby from his proper Rank in the Scale of Beings, finks below the Dignity of his Species, and fets himfelf upon the Level with the lowest Animal.-But if the Paffion fixes upon forbidden Objects; if it tempts