People Of Substance May Sin Without Being

They That Examine Into The Nature Of Man, Abstract From Art And Education, May Observe, That What Renders Him A Sociable Animal, Consists Not In His Desire Of Company, Good-nature, Pity, Affability, And Other Graces Of A Fair Outside; But That His Vilest And Most Hateful Qualities Are The Most Necessary Accomplishments To Fit Him For The Largest, And, According To The World, The Happiest And Most Flourishing Societies.

No Habit Or Quality Is More Easily Acquired Than Hypocrisy, Nor Any Thing Sooner Learned Than To Deny The Sentiments Of Our Hearts And The Principle We Act From: But The Seeds Of Every Passion Are Innate To Us, And Nobody Comes Into The World Without Them.

We Seldom Call Anybody Lazy, But Such As We Reckon Inferior To Us, And Of Whom We Expect Some Service.

It Is Visible Then That It Was Not Any Heathen Religion Or Other Idolatrous Superstition, That First Put Man Upon Crossing His Appetites And Subduing His Dearest Inclinations, But The Skilful Management Of Wary Politicians; And The Nearer We Search Into Human Nature, The More We Shall Be Convinced, That The Moral Virtues Are The Political Offspring Which Flattery Begot Upon Pride.

This Laudable Quality Is Commonly Known By The Name Of Manners And Good-breeding, And Consists In A Fashionable Habit, Acquir'd By Precept And Example, Of Flattering The Pride And Selfishness Of Others, And Concealing Our Own With Judgment And Dexterity.