Upon due Consideration of what has been said, it will be easy to imagine how and why, soon after Fortitude had been honoured with the Name of Virtue, all the other Branches of Conquest over our selves were dignify'd with the same Title. We may see in it likewise the Reason of what I have always so strenuously insisted upon, _viz._ That no Practice, no Action or good Quality, how useful or beneficial soever they may be in them selves, can ever deserve the Name of Virtue, strictly speaking, where there is not a palpable Self-denial to be seen. In Tract of Time, the Sense of the Word _Virtus_ received still a grated Latitude; and it signify'd Worth, Strength, Authority, and Goodness of all Kinds: _Plautus_ makes use of it, for Assistance. _Virtute Deûm_, by the Help of the Gods. By Degrees it was applied not only to Brutes, _Est in juveneis, est in equis patrum Virtus_, but likewise to Things inanimate and was made Use of to express the Power, and peculiar Qualities of Vegetables and Minerals of all Sorts, as it continues to be to this Day. The Virtue of the Loadstone, the Virtue of Opium, &c. It is highly probable, that the Word _Moral_, either in _Greek_ or _Latin_, never was thought of before the Signification of the Word _Virtue_ had been extended so far beyond its Original; and then in speaking of the Virtues of our Species, the Addition of that Epithet became necessary, to denote the Relation they had to our Manners, and distinguish them from the Properties and Efficacy of Plants, Stones, &c. which were likewise call'd _Virtues_. If I am wrong, I shall be glad to see a better Account, how this Adjective and Substantive came to be join'd together. In the mean Time, I am very sure, that this is Nothing strain'd or forc'd in my Supposition. That the Words, in Tract of Time, are be come of greater Importance, I don't deny. The Words _Clown_ and _Villain_ have opprobrious Meanings annex'd to them, that were never implied in _Colonus_ and _Villanus_, from which they were undoubtedly derived. _Moral_, for ought I know, may now signify _Virtue_, in the same Manner and for the same Reason, that _Panic_ signifies _Fear_.