XIX. The second objection is, that judicial ministers would lose a great part of the respect and homage which is now paid them, it being certain, that civilities of this sort, are not so much the result of the reverence due to the character of a Judge, as the effect of the imagined dependance on his favour. It is established upon the credit of good authors, that Epicurus did not, as it is vulgarly thought, deny the existence of the deities, but only their influence or power to do good or harm; but this was sufficient, to cause the tenet to be held as atheistical in practice; for he who denies the power of the Gods, denies them adoration also. Men do not sow obsequies, but with the expectation of reaping a harvest of benefits, and dependance is the only stimulus or first mover to worship; therefore, when men come to consider the tribunal as the mere organ of the law, where every thing depends upon the intention of the legislature, and nothing upon the inclination of the Judge, the applications to the ministers of justice, would be very few and very slight. XX. This objection would have great weight with those Judges, who desire to be regarded and addressed as deities: but do you, my Son, contemplate yourself as placed on the bench, and not on the altar; and remember, that you are not an idol destined to receive worship and offerings, but an oracle ordained to articulate truths. This is the manner in which you should explain yourself, and undeceive the world; assure the great of your respect, and your friends of your esteem; but intimate both to one and the other, that neither esteem nor respect can gain admittance into the cabinet of justice, because the fear of God, who is the door-keeper of the conscience, requires that they should remain in the antichamber. XXI. But there may still rest with Judges a discretionary power of shewing courtesies, if not in points that concern the substantial parts of the cause, in the mode of administering justice; I mean, if not in the essence of the sentence, in the brevity of dispatch. This is an error, which I have observed some of our Judges to have fallen into; and I call it an error, because with regard to myself, I have no doubt of its being one. It is an obligation upon us, to give the quickest dispatch possible to causes: and we do not shew favour to him, whose business is done with all possible speed; but to him we do not dispatch with the same expedition, we do injustice. The preference given to people in priority of dispatch, is partiality; and the minister who is the author of it, ought to make good the damages occasioned by the delay to him who was next in turn; in this matter, attention should be had to the nature of the cause, to the time the suit was commenced, and to the injury that would attend procrastination in the decision of it.