and even the underſtanding itſelf, if not the conſcience too, until they become abſolute and imperious maſters of the whole mind, is a curious ſpeculation. The cunning with which they hide themſelves from others, and from the man himſelf too; the patience with which they wait for opportunities; the torments they voluntarily ſuffer for a time, to ſecure a full enjoyment at length; the inventions, the diſcoveries, the contrivances they ſuggeſt to the underſtanding, ſometimes in the dulleſt dunces in the world, if they could be deſcribed in writing, would paſs for great genius.
We are not enough acquainted with the phyſical or metaphyſical effects they may have on our bodies or minds, to be able to explain the particular reaſon why every inſtance of indulgence ſtrengthens and confirms the ſubſequent emotions of deſire. The cauſe has been hitherto too deep, remote, and ſubtle, for the ſearch of corporeal or intellectual microſcopes; but the fact is too decided to deceive or eſcape our obſervation. Men ſhould endeavour at a balance of affections and appetites, under the monarchy of reaſon and conſcience, within, as well as at a balance of power without. If they ſurrender the guidance, tor any courſe of time, to any one paſſion, they may depend upon finding it, in the end, an uſurping, domineering, cruel tyrant. They were intended by nature to live together in ſociety, and in this way to reſtrain one another, and in general are very good kind of creatures; but they know each other's imbecility ſo well, that they ought never to lead one another into temptation. The paſſion that is long indulged, and continually gratified, becomes mad; it is a ſpe-
