If my reader now adverts to the particulars which have been stated, he will be compelled to draw conclusions not a little humbling to the lofty pretensions of a Fashionable life. In few states of society, under its present imperfection, is happiness very high: and it might not perhaps be easy to assign the particular condition which embraces it in the greatest proportion. But surely after the discoveries which this discussion has made, we run no risk in affirming, that a life of Fashion is _not_ that condition. The lot of mankind would be wretched indeed, if those were _the happiest of the species_, who, without exemption from the pains of sense, are excluded from the pleasures of Reflection: and who, as the price of enjoyments derived from the _one_, become subject to the chastisement inflicted by _both_. CHAP. VIII. DEFECT OF THE SYSTEM—PLANS OF REFORM—CONCLUSION. A SYSTEM which does so little for the happiness of its members, as that which has been unfolded in the course of this work, must have some radical defect; and it is worthy of consideration, whether some steps should not be speedily taken, in order to discover the nature of that defect, and to provide a competent remedy for it. I am perfectly aware, that it would be most decorous, to let such a measure of enquiry originate in the community to which it primarily relates; and if I thought there was any chance of the affair being taken up by the body, I should satisfy myself with having intimated the necessity of such a procedure, and leave the people of Fashion to reform themselves. But I will honestly confess, that I see not at present any prospect of such an event. It has not, so far as I can understand, been hinted, in those assemblies which legislate for the body, that the system of Fashion requires any revision: nor can I discover, among the projected arrangements for future seasons, any thing like a committee of reform. There is, on the contrary, every reason to believe, that designs of a very different nature occupy the minds of those who influence the community. I very much mistake, if it is not their intention, to carry the system more extensively into effect; to make still further conquests upon the puny domains of Wisdom and Virtue; and to evince, by new modes of dissipation and new excuses for adopting them, the endless perfectibility of Folly and Vice. Under such circumstances, it will scarcely be imputed to me as a trespass upon their privileges, if I venture to perform that office for them, which they are never likely to do for themselves.