Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Refutation
every order of society ? the private corruptions of an obscure individual are confined and narrowed in effect , while the infamy of the great triumphs over shame and defies our censure . " " But this by no means establishes your reasoning , or convinces me of its propriety . All men consider and know vice as hurtful and de- rogatory in the practice' the wayfaring manthough a fool , shall not
, , err therein . ' The internal monitor of the heart awards sentence upon every criminal pursuit , and avers the rich man ' s vice as well as the poor man ' s foll y . " " In the presence of an Eternal Being , " replies the Colo ' nel , " there can be no respect of the commission , nor no apology for the act , the guilty alone will suffer ; and , if so , your general idea must be uncharitableand your inference groundless . Butmy
, , dear friend j you cannot justify their amours or approve their ex-r travagancies . " "No , but you regard them too severely ; you judge , my dear Colonel , By your own heart rather than by the world ; that is your proper criterion . Men are to be considered generally , not respectively , ¦ ' all are wanting in the balance ; ' for , if the rich and noble be
extravagant , the poor are thoughtless ; if women engage them singly , the libertinism of an inferior is much more dangerous and painful ; the one frequently finds an object among those already estranged by p leasure and hardened by principle , while the intrigues of the other too often . involves a poor and extensive family in all the miseries of a single prostitution . With respect to their profusion ( I will call it liberality ) , rather think it commendable than censurable foll The
I a expence a y . industrious mechanic ' there finds a market for his exertions , and a reward for all his labours . ' Call it profusion , call it what you will , if an evil it is tempered with good , as it maintains the poor and feed s the hungry ; let us conclude then , that the rich rather exist as a _ beacon than serve as an ' example ; for , should they , be wanting in justice , deficient in reliioncareless of virtueor neglectful of principleit will
g , , , never justify our malice , approve our immoralities , or blot out from the records of eternity the apostacy of-our own hearts . Do not imag ine that I have been endeavouring to clear the guilty , but to acquit them from a censure and an opinion , which accumulates without justice , and adds stigma to defect without reason . "
A Sermon
A SERMON
Attributed ( with strong marks of internal evidence ) to the Rev . LAURENCS STERNE ; butnot to be . found in any Collection of his Works .
ECCLES . CHAP . VII . VER .. 23 . I said , I will be wise ; but it WAS far from me .
AND how , indeed , should it be otherwise;—when a man promises what it is not within the . reach of his power to attain?—Where is the man who can vie with Solomon in knowledge , experience and discretion ? ' Yet , how many say , " 1 will be wise , " and
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Refutation
every order of society ? the private corruptions of an obscure individual are confined and narrowed in effect , while the infamy of the great triumphs over shame and defies our censure . " " But this by no means establishes your reasoning , or convinces me of its propriety . All men consider and know vice as hurtful and de- rogatory in the practice' the wayfaring manthough a fool , shall not
, , err therein . ' The internal monitor of the heart awards sentence upon every criminal pursuit , and avers the rich man ' s vice as well as the poor man ' s foll y . " " In the presence of an Eternal Being , " replies the Colo ' nel , " there can be no respect of the commission , nor no apology for the act , the guilty alone will suffer ; and , if so , your general idea must be uncharitableand your inference groundless . Butmy
, , dear friend j you cannot justify their amours or approve their ex-r travagancies . " "No , but you regard them too severely ; you judge , my dear Colonel , By your own heart rather than by the world ; that is your proper criterion . Men are to be considered generally , not respectively , ¦ ' all are wanting in the balance ; ' for , if the rich and noble be
extravagant , the poor are thoughtless ; if women engage them singly , the libertinism of an inferior is much more dangerous and painful ; the one frequently finds an object among those already estranged by p leasure and hardened by principle , while the intrigues of the other too often . involves a poor and extensive family in all the miseries of a single prostitution . With respect to their profusion ( I will call it liberality ) , rather think it commendable than censurable foll The
I a expence a y . industrious mechanic ' there finds a market for his exertions , and a reward for all his labours . ' Call it profusion , call it what you will , if an evil it is tempered with good , as it maintains the poor and feed s the hungry ; let us conclude then , that the rich rather exist as a _ beacon than serve as an ' example ; for , should they , be wanting in justice , deficient in reliioncareless of virtueor neglectful of principleit will
g , , , never justify our malice , approve our immoralities , or blot out from the records of eternity the apostacy of-our own hearts . Do not imag ine that I have been endeavouring to clear the guilty , but to acquit them from a censure and an opinion , which accumulates without justice , and adds stigma to defect without reason . "
A Sermon
A SERMON
Attributed ( with strong marks of internal evidence ) to the Rev . LAURENCS STERNE ; butnot to be . found in any Collection of his Works .
ECCLES . CHAP . VII . VER .. 23 . I said , I will be wise ; but it WAS far from me .
AND how , indeed , should it be otherwise;—when a man promises what it is not within the . reach of his power to attain?—Where is the man who can vie with Solomon in knowledge , experience and discretion ? ' Yet , how many say , " 1 will be wise , " and