tainly, when our Faith is once foared to his Knowledge, our Practice must follow that Knowledge, with Obedience to his Commands, and Adherence to enjoin'd Duty. Nor let the Words of Duty and Obedience fcare us; for we have our Saviour's own Affurance to encourage us, That bis Yoke is eafy, and his Burthen light.

In fhort, when we are once come to believe the Existence of a God; we cannot but worship him, or know we Sin in not doing it; and after this, Morality will be a great Part of our Religion. All our Tafk is to live fo uprightly, as not to incur the Reproach of our own Confcience; to love our Neighbours, to do Juftice betwixt Man and Man, by the fame Measure and Proportion as we defire it should be returned to ourfelyes. These are the Injunctions which will fecure our Happiness hereafter, and can be no Bar to our prefent Enjoyments. We may be devout, and not precife; religious and not auftere; may keep up to all the Offices and Commands of Obedience impofed, yet not be reftrained from any Pleafures innocent or reafonable. So that Religion is only a Curb to Tempers of Impiety, a Reftriction on Prophanenefs, a Bar to Libertinifm, and a

Strong

ftrong Check to Injuftice and Immorality: But where our Inclinations and our Pleafures are bounded by Reafon, Honour, and Morality, Religion is a choice Companion and Comforter, a Guide and Counsellor, a Spur to, and a Seafoner of our Recreations, the Life of Society, and Relief of our Solitude.

DETRACTION.

our own.

DETRACTION and Calumny are certainly the meaneft and most ungenerous Vices a Man can be guilty of; they make us vilely prey on the Reputation of another, without the leaft real Addition to I must confefs I fhould always fufpect that Man to have a very flender Pretence to Merit, who would labour to impose this Belief upon me, by declaiming at the Imperfections of another. They are Frailties which carry a great Spice of Envy with them, without any noble Mixture of Emulation. If I must look into the Failings of a third Perfon, I, ought to make them Leffons of Inftructions to myfelf; to refine upon his Deficiencies, not declaim on them. I remember a very good Reprimand to Cenfure, in a Play of Shakespear's; Give every Man accord ing to his Deferts, fays he, and who fhall efcape whipping: Let us examine whether we do not, in fome Respect, deserve the

Lash,

Lash, before we bind up the Scourge for our Neighbour.

Slander, fays Theophraftus, is a fecret Propensity of Mind; to think ill of all Men, and afterwards to utter fuch Sentiments in fcandalous Expreffion. It has been an Infirmity that has flourish'd in all Times; and the Old World, as well as the New, produced Advocates for Defamation. There is a little Spleen inherent in human Nature; when it is not corrected and altered by Religion or Philofophy, feeds itfelf on gleaning up Imperfections; which is very liberal of difgorging itfelf to the Difadvantage of others, but very fparing and unwilling to allow them the real Merit of their good Actions.

There is a Luft in Man, no Charm can tame, Of loudly publishing his Neighbour's Shame: On Eagles Wings immortal Scandals fly, While virtuous Actions are but born, and die;

fays Juvenal. As I have already on a different Subject, in this Treatife, taken notice that Jealoufy of another's Virtue is a tacit Confeffion of our own want of Merit, fo I may with Reafon fay the fame of Detraction. We should never liften to the injurious Reports, if we were not doubtful

doubtful our own Characters ftood in Need of being defended from a Plea of Error in that of our Neighbour; and were confcious our Reputation must stand on the Bottom of Frailties, with which others are overtaken. Aliquando bonus dormitat Homerus, has been an Excufe for too many Errors in Poefy. The great Homer, was fometimes afleep, and why fhould we be denied the Privilege of Nodding? These Sort of Arguments, I fay, found our Exemption from precedented Error; instead of which we should owe our Characters only to our Merit, and not vifible Defaults in others. It is an honeft and worthy Maxim of Menander's.

Οσις δὲ διαβολίαις πειθείαι ταχύ,
Ἦτοι πονηρὸς αυτός ἐστι τὸς τρόπος,
Η πανάκασι παιδαρία γνώμην ἔχει.

He that lends an eafy and credulous Ear to Calumny, is either a Man of very ill Morals, or has no more Senfe and Understanding than a Child. We take fo many Notions from Prejudice and Prepoffeffions, that the Faults we are too fond of declaiming againft, are generally founded on Suggeftions of Partiality; yet we give our Tongues as great a Loofe in running them down, as if they

were