_That SELF-DENIAL is not the ESSENCE of VIRTUE_.
It is commonly asserted, that without _Self-Denial_ there is no
Virtue, and that the greater the _Self-Denial_ the greater the
Virtue.
If it were said, that he who cannot deny himself in any Thing
he inclines to, tho' he knows it will be to his Hurt, has not the
Virtue of _Resolution_ or _Fortitude_, it would be intelligible
enough; but as it stands it seems obscure or erroneous.
Let us consider some of the Virtues singly.
If a Man has no inclination to _wrong_ People in his Dealings,
if he feels no Temptation to it, and therefore never does it; can it
be said that he is not a just Man? If he is a just Man, has he not
the Virtue of Justice?
If to a certain Man, idle Diversions have nothing in them that
is tempting, and therefore he never relaxes his Application to
Business for their Sake; is he not an Industrious Man? Or has he not
the Virtue of Industry?
I might in like manner instance in all the rest of the Virtues:
But to make the Thing short, As it is certain, that the more we
strive against the Temptation to any Vice, and practise the contrary
Virtue, the weaker will that Temptation be, and the stronger will be
that Habit; 'till at length the Temptation has no Force, or entirely
vanishes: Does it follow from thence, that in our Endeavours to
overcome Vice, we grow continually less and less Virtuous; till at
length we have no Virtue at all?
If Self-Denial be the Essence of Virtue, then it follows, that
the Man who is naturally temperate, just, &c.
Pages:
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221