he Vices of Man, I will have Nothing to do with it; since it
is impossible to serve God and Mammon, my Choice shall be soon made: No
temper I Pleasure can be worth running the Risque of being eternally
miserable; and, let who will labour to aggrandise the Nation, I will
aim at higher Ends, and take Care of my own Soul.

The Moment such a Thought enters into a Man's Head, all the Poison is
taken away from the Book, and every Bee has lost his Sting.

Those who should in Reality prefer Spirituals to Temporals, and be seen
to take more Pains to attain an everlasting Felicity, than they did for
the Enjoyment of the fading Pleasures and transient Glorie of this
Life, would not grudge to make some Abatements in the Ease, the
Conveniencies, and the Comforts of it, or even to part with some of
their Possessions upon Earth, to make sure of their Inheritance in the
Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever Liking they might have to the curious
Embellishments and elegant Inventions of the Voluptuous, they would
refuse to purchase them at the Hazard of Damnation. In Judging of
themselves they would not be such easy Casuists, nor think it
sufficient not to act contrary to the Laws of the Land, unless they
likewise obey'd the Precepts of _Christ_. No Book would be plainer or
more intelligible to them than the Gospel; and without consulting
either Fathers or Councils, they would be satisfied, that mortifying
the Flesh never could signify to indulge every Appetite, not prohibited
by an Earthly Legislator.

What Skill, pray, would it require in Controversy, to be convinced,
that to yield to all the Allurements, to comply with every Mode and
Fashion, and partake of all the Vanities of the World, was the very
Reverse of Renouncing it, if Words had any Signification at all? Here
lies the Difficulty; and here is the true Cause of the Quarrel, and all
the Spite and Invectives against _The Fable of the Bees_ and its
Author. My Adversaries will not be stinted, or abate an Ace of the
wordly Enjoyments they can purchase, because the whole Earth was made
for Man; Libertines say the same of Women, and with equal Justice; yet
relying on this pitiful Reason, they will eat and drink as deliciously
as they can: No Pleasure is denied them, forsooth, that is used with
Moderation; and in Cloaths, Houses, Furniture, Equipages and
Attendance, they may live in perfect Conformity with the most vain and
luxurious of the fashionable People; only with this Difference, that