which accompany this state, and to the reputation of riches, the
regard and respect they usually procure. Neither is restraint by
any means peculiar to one course of life; but our very nature,
exclusive of conscience and our condition, lays us under an absolute
necessity of it. We cannot gain any end whatever without being
confined to the proper means, which is often the most painful and
uneasy confinement. And in numberless instances a present appetite
cannot be gratified without such apparent and immediate ruin and
misery that the most dissolute man in the world chooses to forego
the pleasure rather than endure the pain.

Is the meaning, then, to indulge those regards to our fellow-
creatures, and submit to those restraints which upon the whole are
attended with more satisfaction than uneasiness, and get over only
those which bring more uneasiness and inconvenience than
satisfaction? "Doubtless this was our meaning." You have changed
sides then. Keep to this; be consistent with yourselves, and you
and the men of virtue are IN GENERAL perfectly agreed. But let us
take care and avoid mistakes. Let it not be taken for granted that
the temper of envy, rage, resentment, yields greater delight than
meekness, forgiveness, compassion, and good-will; especially when it
is acknowledged that rage, envy, resentment, are in themselves mere
misery; and that satisfaction arising from the indulgence of them is
little more than relief from that misery; whereas the temper of
compassion and benevolence is itself delightful; and the indulgence
of it, by doing good, affords new positive delight and enjoyment.
Let it not be taken for granted that the satisfaction arising from
the reputation of riches and power, however obtained, and from the
respect paid to them, is greater than the satisfaction arising from
the reputation of justice, honesty, charity, and the esteem which is