Part 5

Man (it is notorious) is a reflecting being; and, do what he will, he _must_ reflect. He may choose an _habitual_ career of sense; but still he must have, whether he seek or shun them, moments of _Reflection_. This is I admit, extremely inconvenient; but then it is without a remedy. My business, however, is, neither to impugn, nor to vindicate the existence of such a principle; but to show its bearings upon the sort of life which people of Fashion must necessarily lead. Not to enter into particulars, what can constitute a heavier affliction, than for a man of Fashion (or, which is the same thing, a man of the world) to be obliged to think over again the events of his licentious career? To be persecuted with recollecting the property he has squandered, the wine he has drunk, the seduction he has practised, and the duels he has fought? These things were well enough at the time; they had their humour and their reputation, and they were not without their pleasure: but then they were designed to be _acted_, and not _reflected_ upon. The woman of Fashion is under the same law, and is therefore exposed to the same mental torments. She, too, must trace back (though she would give the world to be excused) the steps she has trodden in the enchanting walks of dissipation. She must live over again every portion of a life which, though too fascinating to be declined, is yet too shocking to be thought of. Her memory, also, must be haunted with frightful scenes, which remind her, at the expence of how much health, and property, and time, and virtue, she has sustained the figure which made her so talked of, and the gaieties which rendered her so happy. Now these are real afflictions; and that _Reflection_ from which they result is, not without reason, felt and acknowledged as the scourge of their existence, by the ingenuous part, at least, of the Fashionable World.

Many expedients have indeed been suggested for laying this busy principle asleep, and many plans struck out for rendering its pangs supportable; but hitherto without success. For though it has been proposed to laugh it away, dance it away, drink it away, or travel it away; yet not one of these projects has answered the end: and Fashionable casuists are as far as ever from finding out a remedy of sufficient potency, to cure, or even abate, in any material degree, the pains of Reflection.

And here I cannot but remark, how grievously the seat of this disease (for such it is considered) has been mistaken by those who have so lightly undertaken to prescribe for its removal. They have manifestly considered it as a disorder of the _nerves_; and hence all the remedies which they have recommended, are calculated to promote, either by change of scene, or by some other mechanical impulse, a brisker circulation of the animal spirits. The ill success with which each has been attended, sufficiently proclaims the fallacy upon which they all are founded. If Reflection had been only a nervous disturbance, if it had arisen out of any disarrangement of the _animal_ economy, some, at least, of the Fashionable nostrums would have dispersed the complaint: whereas it is notorious, that, under every regimen which has been tried, while the stronger symptoms have disappeared, the disorder has remained in the system; and neither Bath, nor Weymouth, nor Tunbridge, nor Town, has ever effected a cure.

The plain truth is, (whatever may be insinuated to the contrary by these _Médecins à-la-mode_,) that the disease is altogether _moral_; and, consequently, the seat of it is not in the nerves, but in the _Conscience_. There is, in fact, nothing new in the complaint: it is inseparably connected with a Fashionable career; and has been more or less the scourge of all, in every age, who have declined the duties which they owe “to God and their inferiors.” I take it to have been a malady of the very same description which afflicted Herod in his communication with the Baptist, and which made Felix tremble under the reasoning of Paul. It is not a little remarkable, that both these men of Fashion (for such no doubt they were) fell into the error which has been condemned, in the treatment of their disease; and each, there is reason to believe, carried it with him to his grave.

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.

I scruple not then to affirm, that INCONSISTENCY is the radical fault of the Fashionable system. This truth is demonstrated by every thing that has been said upon their polity and laws, their religion and morals, their plans of education, and their institutes of life. Under every view which has been taken of this people, they have exhibited appearances truly paradoxical; and been found involved, from the beginning to the end of their career, in the most palpable and extraordinary contradictions. The fact indeed is, as their history has shown, that the principles upon which they act, are essentially at variance with each other; and the effect which these principles have upon their conduct and their feelings, is only such as might be expected, from an everlasting struggle for mastery among them. The hand of this people is given to Self-denial, but their heart to Sensuality; and the manner in which they are obliged to equivocate with both, will not allow them the complete enjoyment of either. The libertinism they practise shows them nothing but _this_ world, the piety they profess hides every thing from them but the world to _come_: thus alternately impelled and restrained, deluded and undeceived, they follow what they love, and condemn what they follow: neither blind enough to be wholly led, nor discerning enough to see their path;—with too much religion to let them be happy here, and too little to make them so hereafter.

Now I see but two ways by which this INCONSISTENCY can be removed; and as I wish to make my work of some use to the people of whom it treats, I shall briefly propose them in their order.

1. The _first_ plan of _melioration_ which I would submit to the Fashionable World, is that of _renouncing the Christian religion_. In recommending this step, I proceed upon a supposition, that the government and laws and manners which now prevail, must _at all events_ be retained: and upon such a supposition, I contend, that _renouncing the Christian religion_ is a measure of indispensable necessity. For surely if duels must be fought, what can be so preposterous as to swear allegiance to a law which says—“_Thou shalt not kill_?” If injuries must _not_ be forgiven, where is the propriety of employing a prayer in which the petitioner declares, that he does forgive them? If the passions are to be _gratified_, what end is answered by doing homage to those Scriptures which so peremptorily declare, that they must be _mortified_? In a word, if swearing, prevarication, and sensuality; if a neglect of “the duties to God and inferiors,” be necessary, or even allowable, parts of a Fashionable character; where is the policy, the virtue, or even the decency, of connecting it with a religion which stamps these several qualities with the deepest guilt, and threatens them with the severest retribution? If a religion of _some_ sort be absolutely necessary, let such an one be chosen as may possess a correspondence with the other parts of the system: let it be a religion in which pride, and resentment, and lust, may have their necessary scope; a religion, in short, in which the God of this world may be the idol, and the men of this world the worshippers. Such an arrangement will go a great way towards establishing _consistency_: it will dissolve a union by which both parties are sufferers; and liberate at once the people of Fashion from a profession which involves them in contradiction, and Christianity from a connexion which covers her with disgrace.

2. If, on the contrary, it should be thought material (as I trust it will) _to retain Christianity at all events_, the plan of reform must be exactly _inverted_; and the sacrifices taken from those laws, and maxims, and habits, which interfere with the spirit and the injunctions of that holy religion. It is altogether out of the character of Christianity to act a subservient or an accommodating part. Her nature, her office, and her object, are all decidedly adverse to that base alliance into which it has been attempted to degrade her. Pure and spotless as her native skies, she delights in holiness; because God, from whose bosom she came, is holy. Girt with power, and designed for dominion, she claims the heart as her throne, and all the affections as the ministers of her will: nor does she consider her object accomplished until she has cast down every lofty imagination, extinguished every rebellious lust, and brought into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. It is obvious, therefore, that if she is to be retained at all, it must be upon her _own_ terms; and those terms will manifestly require an utter renunciation of every measure which, under the former plan, it was proposed to retain. Duels must _now_ no longer be fought, nor injuries resentfully pursued, nor licentious passions deliberately gratified. Swearing must be banished from the lips, prevarication from the thoughts, sensuality from the heart; and that law be expunged, which dispenses with “the duties to God and inferiors,” in order to make way for that immutable statute which enjoins them.

It must not be dissembled, that, in the progress of such a reform, certain inconveniences will be unavoidably encountered; but these will be speedily and effectually compensated by an influx of real and permanent advantages. The pangs which accompanied the “death unto sin,” will soon be forgotten in the pleasures which result from a “life unto righteousness;” and the peace and hope which abound in the way, will efface the recollection of those agonistic efforts by which it was entered.

In the mean time, all things will be done with decency and order. The whole economy of life and conduct will be scrupulously consulted; and such arrangements introduced, as will make the several parts and details correspond and harmonize with each other. Duty and recreation will have their proper characters, and times, and places, and limits. Every thing, in short, will be preserved in the system, which can facilitate intercourse without impairing virtue; and nothing be struck out but what administers to vanity, duplicity, and vice.

Whether changes of such magnitude as those which I have described, will ever take place upon an extensive scale, I cannot pretend to conjecture; but certain I am, that, if ever they should, not only the Fashionable World, but society at large, will be very much the better for them. Greatly as I wish the “Reformation of Manners,” and “the Suppression of Vice,” I see insuperable obstacles to each of these events, while rank, and station, and wealth, throw their mighty influence into the opposite scale. Then—_and not till then_—will Christianity receive the homage she deserves, and produce the blessings she has promised—when “the makers of our manners” shall submit to her authority; and the PEOPLE of FASHION become the PEOPLE of GOD.

* * * * *

THE END.

_Lately published by the same Author_,

THE CHRISTIAN MONITOR for the LAST DAYS; or a Caution to the professedly Religious, against the Corruptions of the latter Times, in Doctrine, Discipline, and Morals. Second Edition, corrected.—8vo. 6_s._

ALSO,

THE HISTORY of the ORIGIN and FIRST TEN YEARS of the BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. 2 Vols. Extra Boards. Demy, 1_l._ 4_s._ Royal, 1_l._ 15_s._

This Work contains an Authentic Account of the Origin of the Institution, and of the several Societies in connection with it: together with a Chronological View of the Controversy concerning it, and other Matters of an interesting Nature, not before made Public.

_The following are some of the Testimonies borne to the Work_.

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_See also British Review_, _No. XV_.

Sold by the same Booksellers; of whom may be had the other Works of the Author.

* * * * *

* * * * *

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FOOTNOTES.

{5} For the geographical solecism of “a western _latitude_,” the author has only to plead, that the people of whom he treats, acknowledge no points of the compass but those of _east_ and _west_; and that the term _longitude_ has scarcely any place in their language.

{10} This _somehow_ and _somewhere_ existence of people of Fashion might lead a stranger to suppose, that they have no permanent dwelling-place. He must, however, be told, that, while they are thus migrating from place to place, without comfort, and without respect, many of them are actually turning their backs upon the conveniences of a family mansion, and the consequence of a dependent tenantry. This disposition to emigration in persons of distinction, has been so admirably noticed in a late elegant and interesting work, that I cannot refuse myself the pleasure of transcribing the passage.

“That there exists at present amongst us a lamentable want of rural philosophy, or of that wisdom which teaches a man at once to enjoy and to improve a life of retirement, is, I think, a point too obvious to be contested. Whence is it else, that the ancient mansions of our nobility and gentry, notwithstanding all the attractions of rural beauty, and every elegance of accommodation, can no longer retain their owners, who, _at the approach of winter_, _pour into the metropolis_, _and even in the summer months wander to the sea-coast or to some other place of Fashionable resort_? This unsettled humour, in the midst of such advantages, plainly argues much inward disorder, and points out the need as well as the excellency of that discipline which can inspire a pure taste of nature, furnish occupation in the peaceful labours of husbandry, and, what is nobler still, open the sources of moral and intellectual enjoyment.”—_Preface to Rural Philosophy_, _by_ ELY BATES, Esq. p. 9.

{12} His Majesty’s Birth-Day.

{29} Vide Paley’s Mor. Philos. vol. i. p. 1.

{42} For an account of this transaction, see the trial of Captain Macnamara for the murder of Colonel Montgomery; in which it will appear, that though the Captain admitted _the fact_, yet the jury acquitted him of the _crime_. Such complaisance on the part of juries is particularly favourable to this summary mode of terminating differences. Fatal duels are now become almost as common as highway robberies, and make almost as little impression upon the public mind. The _murdered_ is carried to his grave, and the _murderer_ received back into society, with the same honour, as if the one had done his duty in sacrificing his life, and the other had only done _his_ in taking it away.

{53} “In the worst moments of his pain he cried out, that he sincerely hoped, _the agonies he then endured might expiate the sins he had committed_.” * * * * “I wish with all my soul (says the writer of the Memoir) that the unthinking votaries of dissipation and infidelity could all have been present at the death-bed of this poor man; could have heard his expressions of contrition for his past misconduct, and of _reliance upon the mercy of his Creator_.”—_Vide Memoir of the late Lord Camelford_, _by the Rev. —_, &c.

{57} Vide the titles of certain country-dances, the Pantomime of Don Juan, and the ballets at the Opera House, on the vigils of the Sabbath.

{66} The Bishop of Durham animadverts (with just severity) upon “_the great neglect of church in the Sunday afternoons_, _when the duties of religion are deserted for the fashions or friendship if the world_.” Vide Charge for 1801.

{104} If the reader should have a difficulty in discovering the full import of this remark, he is requested to consider that the peculiar _term_ appropriated to _swearing_ is capable of becoming either a verb, a substantive, a participial adjective, or an adverb: and he will find that it is used under all these forms by people of Fashion.

{116} How much the Fashionable World are indebted to the legislature for refusing to accede to Lord Belgrave (now Earl Grosvenor’s) motion against Sunday newspapers, in 1799, may be learnt (among other things) from the following advertisement which appeared in the Morning Post for October 26, 1805:

“The British Neptune, or Naval, Military, and _Fashionable_ Sunday Advertiser, _will always contain real critiques upon Theatrical Performances_.”

Such entertaining publications as these, issued and hawked about on the Lord’s Day, are a concession to the Fashionable infirmities of the age, for which those who are wearied of their Bibles, cannot be sufficiently thankful.

If any of my readers wish to see this subject seriously discussed, he will find something to his purpose in the 6th chapter of “The Christian Monitor for the last Days.”

N.B. While this note was passing through the press, a Sunday _Evening_ Paper was announced for publication: and, as if it were not sufficient to break the laws, without at the same time libelling them, this “Sunday Evening Gazette,” which is to employ compositors, pressmen, venders, hawkers, &c. on the Lord’s Day, is to be called—The Constitution!!!

{119} A distinguished Prelate, who gained the ear of the Fashionable World to a degree beyond all former example, has adverted to this “rage for amusement” with such apostolical earnestness, at the close of a lecture delivered to perhaps the greatest number of Fashionable people that ever assembled for a similar purpose within the walls of a church, that I shall avail myself of the passage, as well to confirm my statement as to embellish my pages.

“When I consider that the time of the year is now approaching, in which the gaieties and amusements of this vast metropolis are generally engaged in with incredible alacrity and ardour, and multitudes are pouring in from every part of the kingdom to take their share in them; and when I recollect further, that at this very period in the last year, a degree of extravagance and wildness of pleasure took place, which gave pain to every serious mind, and was almost unexampled in any former times, I am not, I confess, without some apprehensions that the same scenes of levity and dissipation may again recur; and that some of those who now hear me (of the younger part more especially) may be drawn too far into this Fashionable vortex, and lose, in that giddy tumult of diversion, all remembrance of what has passed in this sacred place.” _Bp Porteus on St. Matthew, Vol. II. Lect._ 18, p. 161.