Cri. — The Epicureans themfelves allowed, that plea- fure, which procures a greater pain, or hinders a greater pleafure, mould be regarded as a pain •, and, that pain, which procures a greater pleafure, or prevents a greater pain, is to be accounted a pleafure. In order, therefore, to make a true eftimate of pleafure, the great fpring of action, and that from whence the conduct of life takes its bias, we ought to compute intellectual pleafures and future plea- fures, as well as prefent and fenfible: We ought to make allowance in the valuation of each particular pleafure, for all the pains and evils, for all the difguft, remorfe, and ftiame that attend it: We ought to regard both kind and quantity, the fincerity, the intenfenefs,' and the duration of pleafures. Let a free-thinker but bethink himfelf, how little of human pleafure confifts in actual fenfation, and how much in profpedt.! let him then compare the prof- peel: of a virtuous believer with that of an unbelieving- rake.
Euph.- — And all thefe points duly confidered, will not Socrates feem to have had reafcn of his fide, when he thought ignorance made rakes, and particularly their being ignorant of what he calls the (Science of more; • reatf Peifius, Sat. 5.
94 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II.]
er and fmaller, equality and comparifon, that is to fay, of the art of computing?
Lys. — All this difcourfe feems notional. For real abili- ties of every kind, it is well known we have the brighteft men of the age among us. But all thofe, who know the world, do calculate, that what you call a good chriftian, who hath neither a large confcience nor unprejudiced mind, mull be unfit for the affairs of it. Thus you fee, while you compute yourfelves out of pleafure, others compute you out of bufinefs. What then are you good for, with all your computation?
Euph. — I have all imaginable refpe£t for the abilities of free-thinkers. My only fear was, their parts might be too lively for fuch flow talents as forecaft and computation, the gifts of ordinary men.
XIX. Cri. — I cannot make the fame compliment that Euphranor does. For though I {hall not pretend to char- acterize the whole feci:, yet thus much I may truly affirm v That thofe, who have fallen in my way, have been moftly raw men of pleafure, old fharpers in bufinefs, or a third fort of lazy fciolifts, who are neither men of bufinefs, nor men of fpeculation, but fet up for judges, or critics, in all kinds, without having made a progrefs in any. Thefe, among men of the world, pafs for profound theorifts, and, among fpeculative men, would feem to know the world: a conceited race, equally ufelefs to the affairs and ftudies of mankind! Such as thefe, for the mod part, feem to be fe£taries of the Minute Philofophy. I will not deny that, now and then, you may meet a man of eafy manners, that, without thofe faults and affectations, is carried into the party by the mere ftream of education, fafhion, or compa- ny; all which do, in this age, prejudice men againft reli- gion, even thofe who mechanically rail at prejudice. I rcuft not forget, that the Minute Philofophers have alfo a flrong party among the beaux and fine ladies •, and, as af- fectations out of character are often the ftrongeft, there is [Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 95 nothing (o dogmatical and inconvincible as one of tliefe fine things, when it fets up for free-thinking. But, be thefe profeffbrs of the feci: never fo dogmatical, their au- thority mull needs be fmall with men of fenfe. Who would choofe, for his guide, in the fearch of truth, one whole thoughts and time are taken up with drefs, vifits, and diverfions? Or whofe education hath been behind a counter, or in an office? Or whole fpeculations have been employed on the forms of bufinefs, who is only well read in the ways and commerce of mankind, in ftock-jobbing, purloining, fupplanting, bribing! Or would any man in his fenfes give a fig for meditations and difcoveries, made over a bottle? And yet it is certain, that inftead of thought, books, and ftudy, moft free-thinkers are the profelytes of a drinking club. Their principles are often fettled, and decifions on the deepeft points made, when they are not fit to make a bargain.
Lys. — You forget our writers, Crito. They make a world of profelytes.
Cri. — So would worfe writers in fuch a caufe. Alas! how few read! and of thefe, how few are able to judge! how many wiffi your notions true! How many had rather be diverted than inftru&ed! how many are convinced by a title! I may allow your reafons to be effectual, without allowing them to be good. Arguments, in themfelves of fmall weight, have great efFe£t, when they are recommend- ed by a miftaken intereft, when they are pleaded for by paflion, when they are countenanced by the humor of the age: and, above all, with fome fort of men, when they are againft law, government, and eftablifhed opinions: things which, as a wife or good man would not depart fnem with- out clear evidence, a weak or a bad man, will afreet to dis- parage on the flighteft grounds.
Lys. — And yet the arguments of our Philofophers alarm.
Cri. — The force of their reafoning is not what alarms: 96 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. EL] their contempt of laws and government is alarming: their application to the young and ignorant is dangerous.
Euph. — But without difputing or difparaging their tal- ent at ratiocination, it feems very poflible their fuccefs might not be owing to that alone. May it not, in fome meafure, be afcribed to the defects of others, as well as to their own perfections? My friend, Eucrate, ufed to fay, that the church would thrive and flourifli beyond all oppo- fition, if fome certain perfons minded piety more than politics, pra£Ucs than polemics, fundamentals than con- ie&aries, fubftance than circumflance, things than notions, and notions than words.
Lys. — Whatever may be the caufe, the effe&s are too plain to be denied. And when a confidering man obferves that our notions do, in this moft learned and knowing age, fpread and multiply, in oppolition to eftablifhed laws, and every day gain ground againft a body fo numerous, fo learned, fo well fupported, protected, encouraged, for the fervice and defence of religion: I fay, when a man ob- ferves and considers all this, he will be apt to afcribe it to the force of truth, and the merits of our caufe; which, had it been fupported with the revenues and eftablifhments of the church and univerlities, you may guefs what a figure it would make, by the figure that i'c makes without them.
Euph. — It is much to be pitied, that the learned profef- fors of your feci: do not' meet with the encouragement they deferve.
Lys.— -All in due time. People begin to open their eyes. It is not impoffible t'hofe revenues that, in ignorant times, were applied to a wrong ufe, may, in a more enlight- ened age, be applied to a better.
Cri. — But why profefTors and encouragement for what needs no teaching? An acquaintance of mine has a moft ingenious footman, that can neither write nor read, who learned your whole fyftem in half an hour: He knows when and how to nod, fhake his head, frrule, and give a [Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 97 hint, as well as the ableft fceptic, and is, in fa£t, a very Minute Philofopher.
Lys.— Pardon me, it takes time to unlearn religious pre- judices, and requires a ftrong head.
Cri. — I do not know how it might have been, once up- on a time. But in the prefent laudable education, I know feveral, who have been imbued with no religious notions at all; and others, who have had them fo very flight, that they rubbed off without the leaft pains.
XX. Panope> young and beautiful, under the care of her aunt, an admirer of the Minute Philofophy, was kept from learning the principles of religion, that fhe might not be accuftomed to believe without a reafon, nor aflent to what me did not comprehend. Panope was not, indeed, prejudiced with religious notions, but got a notion of intri- guing, and a notion of play, which ruined her reputation by fourteen, and her fortune by four and twenty. I have often reflected on the different fate of two brothers in my neighborhood. Ckon, the elder, being defigned an accom- plifhed gentleman, was fent to town, had the firfl part of his education in a great fchool: What religion he learned there, was foon unlearned in a certain celebrated fociety, which, till we have a better, may pafs for a nurfery of Mi- nute Philosophers. Cleon dreffed well, could cheat at cards, had a nice palate, underftood the myftery of the die, was a mighty man in the Minute Philofophy. And hav- ing mined a few years, in thefe accomplifhments, he died before thirty, childlefs and rotten, expreffmg the utmofl indignation that he could not outlive that old dog, his father \ who, having a great notion of polite manners, and knowledge of the v/orld, had purchafed them to his favorite fon, with much exoenfe, but had been more frugal in the education of Charephony the younger fon; who was brought up at a country-fchool, and entered a commoner in the univerfity, where he qualified himfelf for a parfon- N 98 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IL] age in his father's gift, which he is now poflefled of, to- gether with the eftate of the family, and a numerous off» fpring..
Lys. — A pack of unpolifhed cubs, I warrant.
Cri. — Lefs polifhed, perhaps, but more found, more honeft, and likely to be more ufeful, than many who pafs for fine gentlemen. Crates^ a worthy juftice of the peace, in this county, having had a fon mifcarry at London^ by the converfation of a Minute Philofopher, ufed to fay, with a great air of complaint, if a man fpoils my corn, or hurts my cattle, I have a remedy againft him; but if he fpoils my children, I have none.
Lys. — I warrant you, he was for penal methods: He would have had a law to perfecute tender confciences.
Cri. — The tender confcience of a Minute Philofopher! He, who tutored the fon of Crates, foon after did juftice on himfelf. For he taught Lycidas, a modeft young man, the principles of his feci:. Lycidas, in return, debauched his daughter, an only child: Upon which, Chanmdes, (that was the Minute Philofopher's name) hanged himfelf. Old Bubalion > in the city, is carking, and ftarving, and cheating, that his fon may drink and game, keep miftrefT- es, hounds, and horfes, and die in a jail. Bubalion ^ never- thelefs, thinks himfelf wife, and paffeth for one that minds the main chance. He is a Minute Philofopher, which learning he acquired behind the counter, from the works of Prodicus and Tryphon. This fame Bubalion was one night at fupper, talking againft the immortality of the foul, with two or three grave citizens, one of whom, the next day, declared himfelf bankrupt, with five thoufand pound of Bubalion 's in his hands j and the night following, he re- ceived a note from a fervant, who had, during his lecture, waited at table, demanding the fum of fifty guineas to be laid under a (lone, and concluding with molt terrible threats and imprecations.
Lys. — Not to repeat what hath been already demon- [Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 99 ftrated, that the public is, at bottom, no fufferer by fuch accidents, which, in truth, are inconvenient only to private perfons, who, in their turn, too, may reap the benefit of them: I fay, not to repeat all that hath been demonstra- ted on that head, I (hall only afk you, whether there would not be rakes and rogues, although we did not make them? Believe me, the world always was, and always will be the fame, as long as men are men.
Cri. — I deny that the world is always the fame. Hu- man nature, to ukAlciphrcn's comparifon, is like land, better or worfe, as it is improved, and according to the feeds or principles fown in it. Though no body held your tenets, I grant there might be bad men by the force of corrupt appetites, and irregular paflions. But where men, to the force of appetite and paflion, add that of opinion, and are wicked from principle, there will be more men wicked, and thofe more incurably and outrageoufly fo. The er- ror of a lively rake lies in his paflions, and may be reform- ed: But the dry rogue, who fets up for judgment, is in- corrigible. It is an obfervation of Ariflotles> that there are two forts of debauchees, the akrates and the ako/aJIos> of which the one is fo againft his judgment, the other with it: And that there may be hopes of the former, but none of the latter. And, in facl:, I have always obferved, that a rake, who was a Minute Philofopher, when grown old, becomes a (harper in bufinefs.
Lys.— I could name you feveral fuch, who have grown mod noted patriots.
Cri. — Patriots! fuch patriots as Catiline and Marc Antony.
Lys.— And what then? Thofe famous Romans were brave, though unfuccefsful. They wanted neither fenfe nor courage; and if their fchemes had taken effecl, the brifker part of their countrymen had been much the better for them.
too MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II.]
XXI. The wheels of government go on, though wound Up by different hands: if not in the fame form, yet in fome other, perhaps a better. There is an endlefs varie- ty in things: weak men, indeed, are prejudiced towards rates and fy ft ems in life and government; and think if thefe are gone, all is gone: But a man of a great foul, and free fpirit, delights in the noble experiment of blowing up fyftems, and diflolving governments, to mould them anew, upon other principles, and in another fhape. Take my word for it, there is a piailic nature in things, that feeks its own end. Pull a ftate to pieces, jumble, confound, and make together the particles of human fociety, and then let them ftand a while, and you fhall foon fee them fettle, of themfelves, in fome convenient order, where heavy heads are lowed, and men of genius uppermoft.
Euph. — Lyficles fpeaks his mind freely.
Lys. — Where was the advantage of free-thinking, if it were not attended with free-fpeaking, or of free-fpeaking, if it did not produce free-a£ting? we are for thorough, independent, original freedom. Inward freedom, with- out outward, is good for nothing, but to fet a man's judg- ment at variance with his practice.
Cri.— — This free way of Lyficles may feem new to you: it is not fo to me. As the Minute Philofophers lay it down for a maxim, that there is nothing facred, of any kind, nothing but what may be made a jeft of, exploded, and changed, like the fafhion of their clothes: fo nothing is more frequent, than for them to utter their fchemes and principles, not only in felecl: companies, but even in public. In a certain part of the world, where ingenious men are wont to retail their fpeculations, I remember to have feen a Valetudinarian) in a long wig and a cloke, fitting at the upper end of a table, with half a dozen difciples about him. After he had talked upon religion, in a manner, and with an air, that would make one think atheifm eftab- lifhed by law, and religion only tolerated; he entered upon [-Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. iot civil government; and obferved to his audience, that the natural world was in a perpetual circulation. Animals, faid he, which draw their fuftenance from the earth, mix with that fame earth, and, in their turn, become food for vegetables, which again nourifh the animal kind: The va- pors that afcend from this globe, defcend back upon it in fhowers: The elements alternately prey upon each other: That which one part of nature iofeth, another gains; the fum total remaining always the fame, being neither bigger nor leiTer, better nor worfe, for all thefe interline changes. Even fo, faid this learned profeflbr, the revolutions in the civil world, are no detriment to human kind: one part whereof rifes as the other falls, and wins by another's lofs. A man, therefore, who thinks deeply, and hath an eye on the whole fyltem, is no more a bigot to government than to religion. He knows how to fuit himfelf to occafions, and make the beft of every event: For the reft, he looks on all tranflations of power and property from one hand to another, with a philofophic indifference. Our lecturer concluded his difcourfe with a molt ingenious analyfis of all political and moral virtues, into their firft principles and caufes, fhewing them to be mere fafhions, tricks of ftate, and illusions on the vulgar.
Lys. — We have been often told of the good effects of religion and learning, churches and univerfities: But I dare affirm, than a dozen or two ingenious men, of our feci:, have done more towards advancing real knowledge, by extemporaneous le£tures, in the compafs of a few years, than ail the ecclefiaftics put together, for as many centuries.
Euph. — And the nation, no doubt, thrives accord- ingly. But, it feems, Crito, you have heard them dif- courfe.
Cri. — Upon hearing this, and other lectures of the fame tendency, methought it was needlefs to eftablim profefTors for the Minute Philofophy in either univerfity, K52 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II.]
while there are fo many fpontaneous lecturers in every corner of the ftreets, ready to open men's eyes, and rub off their prejudices about religion, loyalty, and public fpirit.
Lys.— If wiftiing was to any purpofe, I could wifh for a telefcope, that might draw into my view things future in time, as well as diftant in place. Oh! that I could but look into the next age, and behold what it is that we are preparing to be, the glorious harveft of our prin- ciples; the fpreading of which hath produced a vifible tendency in the nation towards fomething great and new.
Cri. — One thing, I dare fay, you would expect to fee, be the changes and agitations of the public what they will, that is, every free-thinker upon his legs. You are all fons of nature, who cheerfully follow the fortunes of the common mafs.
Lys. — And it muft be owned we have a maxim, that each fpould take care of one.
Cri. — Alas, Lyjicles, you wrong your own character. You would fain pafs upon the world, and upon yourfelves, for interefted, cunning men: But can any thing be more difmterefted, than to facrifice all regards to the abftracl:- ed fpeculation of truth? Or can any thing be more void of all cunning, than to publifh your difcoveries to the world, teach others to play the whole game, and arm mankind againft yourfelves.
XXII. If a man may venture to fugged fo mean a thought, as the love of their country, to fouls fired with the love of truth, and the love of liberty, and grafping the whole extent of nature, I would humbly propofe it to you, gentlemen, to obferve the caution praftifed by all other difcoverers, projectors, and makers of experi- ments, who never hazard all on the firft trial. Would it not be prudent to try the fuccefs of your principles, on a fmall model, in fome remote corner? For inftance, fet [Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 103 up a colony of atheifts in Alonomotapa, and fee how it profpers, before you proceed any further at home: Half a dozen fhipload of Minute Philofophers might eafily be fpared upon fo good a defign. In the mean time, you, gentlemen, who have found out, that there is nothing to be hoped or feared in another life; that confcience is a bugbear; that the bands of government, and the cement of human fociety, are rotten things, to be diflblved, and crumbled into nothing, by the argumentation of every Minute Philofopher; be fo good as to keep thefe fublime difcoveries to yourfelves: Suffer us, our wives, our chil- dren, our fervants, and our neighbors, to continue in the belief, and way of thinking, eftablifhed by the laws of our country. In good earneft, I wifti you would go try your experiments among the Hottentots or Turks, Lys. — The Hottentots we think well of, believing them to be an unprejudiced people *, but it is to be feared their diet and cultoms wpuld not agree with our philofophers. As for the Turks, they are bigots, who have a notion of God, and a refpedl for Jefus Chrift. I queftion whether it might be fafe to venture among them.
Cri. — Make your experiment then in fome other part of Chfijiendom.
Ly s. — We hold all other chriftian nations to be much under the power of prejudice: even our neighbors, the Dutch, are too much prejudiced in favor of their religion, by law eftabliflied, for a prudent man to attempt innova- tions under their government. Upon the whole, it feems we can execute our fchemes no where, with fo much fe- curity, and fuch profpeel: of fuccefs, as at home. Not to fay, that we have already made a good progrefs. Oh! that we could but once fee a parliament of true, fbnch, libortine free-thinkers!
Cri. — God forbid! I mould be forry to have fuch men for my fervants, not to fay, for my mailers.
Lys.— In that we differ.
io4 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER [Dial. II.]
XXIII. But you will agree with me, that the right way to come at this was, to begin with extirpating the prejudices of particular perfons. We have carried on this work, for many years, with much art and induftry, and, at firft, with fecrecy, working like moles under ground, concealing our progrefs from the public, and our ultimate views from many, even of our own profe- lytes, blowing the coals between polemical divines, lay- ing hold on, and improving every incident, which the pailions or folly of churchmen afforded, to the advantage of our feci:. As our principles obtained, we flill pro- ceeded to further inferences'; and, as our numbers mul- tiplied, we gradually difclofed ourfelves and our opinions. Where we are now, I need not fay. We have flubbed, and weeded, and cleared human nature to that degree, that, in a little time, leaving it alone without any labor- ing or teaching, you fhall fee natural and juft ideas fprout forth of themfelves.
Cri. — But I have heard a man, who had lived long, and obferved much, remark, that the worft and moll: unwholfome weed, was* this fame Minute Philofophy. We have had, faid he, divers epidemical diftempers in the ftate, but this hath produced, of all others, the moft deftru£Hve plague. Enthufiafm had its day, its effects were violent, and foon over: this infects more quietly, but fpreads widely. The former bred a fever in the ftate; this breads a confumption, and final decay. A rebellion, or an invafion, alarms, and puts the public upon its de- fence; but a corruption of principles, works its ruin more flowly perhaps, but more furely. This may be il- luftrated by a fable, I fomewhere met with in the writings of a Sivifs philofopher, fetting forth the original of bran- dy and gunpowder. The government of the north being once upon a time vacant, the prince of the power of the air convened a council in hell; wherein, upon competi- tion between two demons of rank, it was determined they [Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 105 (hould both make trial of their abilities, and he ihould iucceed, who did moft mifchief. One made his appear- ance in the (hape of gunpowder, the other in that of bran- dy: The former was a declared enemy, and roared with a terrible noife, which made folks afraid, and put them on their guard: the other pafled as a friend and phyfician through the world, difguifed himfelf with fweets, and perfumes, and drugs, made his way into the ladies' cabi- nets, and the apothecaries' fhops, and, under the notion of helping digeftion, comforting the fpirits, and cheering the heart, produced direcl: contrary effects; and, having infenfibly thrown great numbers of human kind into a fatal decay, was found to people hell and the grave fo fail:, as to merit the government, which he dill pofTefies.
XXIV. L.Ys.-~Thofe who pleafe may amufe them- felves with fables and allegories. This is plain Englifo — Liberty is a good thing, and we are the iupport of liberty.
Cri.— To me it feems, that liberty and virtue were made for each other. If any man wifii to en Have his country, nothing is a fitter preparative than vice; and nothing leads to vice fo furely as irreligion. For my part, I cannot comprehend, or find out, after having coniidered it in all lights, how this crying down religion, mould be the effect of honeft views towards a juft and legal liberty. Some feem to prcpofe an indulgence in vice: others may have in profpecl: the advantages which needy and ambi- tious men are ufed to make in the ruin of a ftate: One may indulge a pert petulant fpirit: Another hopes to be eiteemcd among libertines, when he wants wit to pleafe, or abilities to be ufeful. But, be men's views what they will, let us examine what good your principles have done: Who has been the better for the inftru&ions of thefe Mi- nute Philofophers? Let us compare what we are in refpe6t of learning, loyalty, honefly, wealth, power, and public fpirit, with what we have been. Free-thinking, (as it is O io6 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II.]
called) hath wonderfully grown of late years. Let us fee what hath grown up with it, or what effects it hath produ- ced. To make a catalogue of ills is difagreeable: And the only bleffing it can pretend to, is luxury: That fame bleffing, which revenged the world upon old Rome: That fame luxury, whichmakes a nation, like a difeafed pamper- ed body, look full and fat, with one foot in the grave.
Lys. — You miftake the matter. There are no people who think and argue better about the public good of a itate, than our feci:; who have alfo invented many things tending to that end, which we cannot, as yet, conveniently put in practice.
Cri. — But one point there is, from which it mufl be owned, the public hath already received fome advantage, which is the effecl: of your principles, flowing from them, and fpreading as they do: I mean that old Roman practice of felf-murder, which at once puts an end to all diftrefs, ridding the world and themfelves of the miferable.
Lys.— You were pleafed before to make reflexions on this cuftom, and laugh at the irrefolution of our free-think- ers; but I can aver, for matter of fa£t, that they have often recommended it by their example, as well as argu- ments; and that it is folely owing to them, that a prac- tice, fo ufeful and magnanimous, hath been taken out of the hands of lunatics, and reftored to that credit among men of fenfe, which it anciently had. In whatever light you may consider it, this is, in fa£t, a folid benefit. But the beft effecl of our principles is, that light and truth fo vifibly fpread abroad in the world. From how many pre- judices, errors, perplexities, and contradictions, have we freed the minds of our fellow-fubjecls? how many hard words, and intricate abfurd notions, had pofTefled the minds of men, before our Philofophers appeared in the world? but now, even women and children have right and found notions of things. "What fay you to this, Crito?
Cri. — I fay, with refpecl to thefe great advantages of [Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 107 deftroying men and notions, that I queftion, whether the public gains as much by the latter, as it lofethby the for- mer. For my own part, I had rather my wife and children all believed what they had no notion of, and daily pronoun- ced words without a meaning, than that any one of them fhould cut his throat, or- leap out of a window. Errors and nonfenfe, as fuch, are of fmall concern in the eye of the public, which confidereth not the metaphyfical truth of notions, fo much as the tendency they have to produce good or evil. Truth itfelf is valued by the public, as it hath an influence, and is felt in the courfe of life. You may confute a whole fhelf of fchoolmen, and difcover ma- ny fpeculative truths, without any great merit towards your country. But, if I am not miftaken, the Minute Philofophers are not the men to whom we are mod be- holden for difcoveries of that kind. This, I fay, mult be allowed; fuppofing, what I by no means grant, your notions to be true. For, to fay plainly what I think, the tendency of your opinions is fo bad, that no good man can endure them, and your arguments for them fo weak, that no wife man will admit them.
Lys. — Has it not been proved as clear as the meridian fun, that the politer fort of men lead much happier lives, and fwim in plcafures, fmce the fpreading of our princi- ples? But, not to repeat or infill further on what has been fo amply deduced, I ihall only add, that the advan- tages flowing from them, extend to the tendered age, and the fofter fex. Our principles deliver children from ter- rors by night, and the ladies from fplenetic hours by day.
Cri. — Inftead of thofe old fafhioned things, prayers and the bible, the grateful amufements of drams, dice, and billet-doux have fucceeded. The fair fex have now no- thing to do but drefs and paint, drink and game, adorn and divert themfelves, and enter into all the fweet fociety of life. But I thought, Lyftcles, the argument from pleafure had been exhaufted: however, fmce you have not done io8 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dufc II]