Page:Thoughts on civil liberty, on licentiousness and faction.djvu/32

 lead the Passions and Desires themselves to coincide with the Appointments of public Law. The infant Mind is pregnant with a Variety of Passions: But it is in the Power of those who are intrusted with the Education of Youth, in a considerable Degree, to determine the Bent of the nascent Passions; to fix them on salutary Objects, or let them loose to such as are pernicious or destructive.

Here, then, lie the first Foundations of civil Liberty: In forming the Habits of the youthful Heart, to a Coincidence with the general Welfare: In checking every rising Appetite that is contrary to This, and in forwarding every Passion that may promote the Happiness of the Community: In implanting and improving Benevolence, Self-Controul, Humility, Integrity, and Truth; in preventing or suppressing the contrary Habits of Selfishness, Intemperance, Pride, Dishonesty, and Falsehood: In teaching the young Mind to delight, as far as is possible, in