74G THE NATURE and causes of

people, from whom they have generally drawn their earliest,as well as their most numerous proselytes. The austeresystem of morality has, accordingly, been adopted by thosesects almost constantly, or with very few exceptions; for therehave been some. It was the system by which they couldbest recommend themselves to that order of people to whomthey first proposed their plan of reformation upon what hadbeen before established. Many of them, perhaps the greaterpart of them, have even endeavoured to gain credit by refin-ing upon this austere system, and by carrying it to some de-gree of follj r and extravagance; and this excessive rigour hasfrequently recommended them more than any thing else tothe respect and veneration of the common people.

A man of rank and fortune is by his station the distinguishedmember of a great society, who attend to every part of hisconduct, and who thereby oblige him to attend to every partof it himself. His authority and consideration depend verymuch upon the respect which this society bears to him. Hedare not do any thing which would disgrace or discredit himin it, and he is obliged to a very strict observation of thatspecies of morals, whether liberal or austere, which the ge-neral consent of this society prescribes to persons of his rankand fortune. A man of low condition, on the contrary, is farfrom being a distinguished member of any great society.While he remains in a country village, his conduct may beattended to, and he may be obliged to attend to it himself.In this situation, and in this situation only, he may have whatis called a character to lose. But as soon as he comes into agreat city, he is sunk in obscurity and darkness. His conduct isobserved and attended to by nobody, and he is therefore verylikely to neglect himself, and to abandon himself to everysort of low profligacy and vice. He never emerges so effec-tually from this obscurity, his conduct never excites so muchthe attention of any respectable society, as by his becomingthe member of a small religious sect. He from that momentacquires a degree of consideration which he never had before.All his brother sectaries are, for the credit of the sect, inte-rested to observe his conduct, and if he gives occasion to anyscandal, if he deviates very much from those austere moralswhich they almost always require of one another, to punishhim by what is always a very severe punishment, even whereno evil effects attend it, expulsion or excommunication fromthe sect. In little religious sects, accordingly, the morals ot