the greatest Proof they can give of their Courage is to run away, because their Passions naturally incline them to stay; that those, in a word, who wish to maintain their Virtue, must shun the Vicious: and where the Affairs of Life unavoidably expose them to the Company of such, let them by a constant discountenancing Deportment, shew their Disapprobation of every unbecoming Word or Action; whereby they will check, and often prevent, any Attacks on their Innocence. But farther, to enforce the Virtue of Innocence, let Parents shew their Children the Obligations they are under of preserving it; that besides the Insult offered to their Creator who made them rational Beings, and thereby distinguished them from the Brutes, their departing from it is an Injustice to themselves, an Injustice to their Parents, and to all those who have laboured to correct the natural Corruption of their Hearts, by instilling into them every virtuous Principle. A fourth Cause of Injustice is Avarice: which implies an inordinate Love of Gain. Avarice puts on a thousand Shapes, and is to be found in Men of every Rank and every Age; but it is most apparent in the Rich and the Old: which is an Aggravation of the Vice; because the one have more than enough already, and the other have not long to enjoy the Fruits of it, even should they live to reap them. But what is most alarming in the Avaritious is, the extreme Danger of going beyond the Bounds of Justice; and what _Dryden_[5] says of Wits and Madmen may, by the easiest Change,[6] be apply’d without Impropriety to the Covetous and the Dishonest. How many Schemes are formed, how many Devices used to raise a Fortune, or to add Hoard to Hoard? One circumvents another in Trade; and with more than savage Cruelty, abuses the Power he has by keeping those under that might otherwise flourish; and had rather see another starve, than himself be deprived of what he does not want. A second burns with a Thirst of Gaming, and values himself for his superior Parts, if he can trick another out of his Money at Play; regardless of the dreadful Consequences attending the Loss; and regardless of the Injustice of the Acquisition. How do they possess their Minds who have raised their Fortune on another’s Ruin? Do they ever reflect on the Misery of their wretched Companion; or do they view the Distress of his Wife, his Children, and his suffering Creditors? Surely if the Gamester did this, even he who wins, and wins by a fair Bet, and equal Lay, must tremble at Riches thus acquired: but if to this be added the Traps, the Snares, and other Artifices to draw in weak or unwary Men to their Ruin, what must we think of such Wretches? We may both pity and condemn the Ruined, but we must abhor those who caused it, however great their false Triumph may be. A third takes the Advantage of Distress or Weakness, and lends his Money, not with Kindness, but with a sordid View: these are the Men who grasp at