$ known. His imagination, in this cafe too, anticipates the contempt and derifion from which nothing faves him but the ignorance of thofe he lives with. He ftill feels that he is the natural object of thefe fentiments, and ftill trembles at the thought of what he would fuffer if they were ever actually exerted against him. But if what he had been guilty of was not merely one of thofe improprieties which are the objects of fimple disapprobation, but one of thofe enormous crimes which excite deteftation and refentment, he could never think of it, as long as he had any fenfibility left, without feeling all the agony of horror and remorfe; and though he could be affured that no man was ever to know it, and could even bring himself to believe that there was no God to revenge it, he would still feel enough of both these fentiments to embitter the whole of his life: He would still regard himself as the natural object of the hatred and indignation of all his fellow-creatures; and if his heart was not grown callous by the habit of crimes, he could not think without terror d and aftonishment even of the manner, int which mankind would look upon him, of what would be the expreffion of their count tenance and of their eyes, if the dreadful truth t fhould ever come to be known. Thefe natu-la ral pangs of an affrighted confcience are the dæmons, the avenging furies which in this life haunt the guilty, which allow them neither quiet nor repofe, which often drive them to despair and distraction, from which no affu3143 " rance Chap. Duty. 1. Shinsh of DUT: Yo bat betaqi197 rance of fecrecy can protect them, from which no principles of irreligion can entirely deliver them, and from which nothing can free them but the vilest and most abject of all states, compleat infenfibility to honour and infamy, to vice and virtue. Men of the moft deteftable characters, who, in the execution of the moft dreadful crimes, had taken their meafures fo coolly as to avoid even the fufpicion of guilt, have fometimes been driven by the horror of their fituation, to difcover of their own accord, what no human fagacity could' ever have investigated. By acknowledging their guilt, by fubmitting themselves to the refentment of their offended citizens, and by thus fatiating that vengeance of which they were fenfible that they were become the proper objects, they hoped by their death to reconcile themselves, at least in their own imagination, to the natural fentiments of mankind, to be able to confider themselves as lefs worthy of hatred and refentment, to attone in fome meafure for their crimes, and, if poffible, to die in peace and with the forgivenefs of all their fellow-creatures. Compared to what they felt before the difcovery, even the thought of this, it feems, was happiness. 94 97 99 Yeon bordi. stil vidt i digit gaat 09, X In what manner our own judgments refer to what ought to be the judgments of others and of the origin of general rules. A ༔, Great part, perhaps the greatest part of human happiness and mifery arifes from the view of our paft conduct, and from the degree of approbation or disapprobation which we feel from the confideration of it. But in whatever manner it may affect us, our fentiments of this kind have always fome fecret reference either to what are, or to what upon a certain condition would be, or to what we imagine ought to be the fentiments of others. We examine it as we imagine an impartial fpectator would examine it. If upon placing ourselves in his fituation we thoroughly enter into all the paffions and motives which influenced it, we approve of it by fympathy with the approbation of this fuppofed equitable judge. If otherwife, we enter into his difaprobation and condemn it. Was it poffible that a human creature could grow up to manhood in fome folitary place without any communication with his own fpecies, he could no more think of his own character, of the propriety or demerit of his own fentiments and conduct, of the beauty or deformity of his own mind, than of the beauty or deformity of his own face. All these are are objects which he cannot eafly fee, which naturally he does not look at; and with regard to which he is provided with no mirror which can prefent them to his view. Bring him into fociety, and he is immediately provided with the mirror which he wanted before. It is placed in the countenance and behaviour of thofe he lives with, which always mark when they enter into, and when they disapprove of his fentiments; and it is here that he first views the propriety and impropriety of his own paffions, the beauty and deformity of his own mind. To a man who from his birth was a ftranger to fociety, the objects of his paffions, the external bodies which either pleafed or hurt him, would occupy his whole attention. The paffions themfelves, the defires or averfions, the joys or forrows, which thofe objects excited, though of all things the most immediately prefent to him, could fcarce ever be the objects of his thoughts. The idea of them could never intereft him fo much as to call upon his attentive confideration. The confideration of his joy could in him excite no new joy, nor that of his forrow any new forrow, though the confideration of the causes of those paffions might often excite both. Bring him into fociety, and all his own paffions will immediately become the causes of new paffions. He will observe that mankind approve of fome of them, and are disgusted by others. He will be elevated in the one cafe, and caft down in the other; his defires and averfions, his joys and forrows 0 4 forrows will now often become the causes of Y TUCH toe new defires and new averfions, new joys and new forrows: they will now therefore interest him deeply, and often call upon his most ratione eda`noqu bolovers attentive eto to Bubnoɔ Our first ideas of perfonal beauty and deformity, are drawn from the fhape, and hape, and appearance of others, not from our own. We foon become fenfible, however, that others exercife the fame criticifm upon us. We are pleased when they approve of our figure, and are difobliged when they feem to be disgusted, We become anxious to know how far our appearance deferves either their blame or approbation. We our own perfons limb examine by limb, and by placing ourselves before a looking-glafs, or by fome fuch expedient, endeavour, as much as poffible, to view our felves at the distance and with the eyes of other people. If after this examination we are fatisfied with our own appearance, we can more eafily support the moft difadvantageous judgments of others: if, on the contrary, we are fenfible that we are the natural objects of diftafte, every appearance of their difapprobation mortifies us beyond all measure. A man who is tolerably handsome, will allow you to laugh at any little irregularity in his perfon; but all fuch jokes are commonly infupportable to one who is really deformed. It is evident, however, that we are anxious about our own beauty and deformity, only upon account of its effect upon upon others. If we had no connec |