It may be so; and the reason, as in the case of the more selfish
affections, is, That the habitation of our idol, whatever be our
worship, is rarely thought homely. But convince us that our country
is scarce worth contending for, and, as lovely as its Goddess Liberty
may appear to enamoured eyes, the generality of her votaries will, I
doubt, be something slack in her defence.
But, after all, an illustration must not be questioned at this rate. It
is enough, that your Lordship sees I am not for discarding Principles,
under the opprobrious name of Prejudices. The tender minds of youth
are to be treated with indulgence. If they put forth too fast, and too
luxuriantly, let the ordinary methods of culture be applied to them.
A little dressing and pruning, at fit seasons, may do more good, than
_transplanting_: a fatal experiment, in many cases; which, in checking
the immoderate vigour of its growth, kills the tree, or, at best,
brings on a languishing and dwarfish imbecillity.
If, indeed, by Prejudices you mean _vicious principles_, properly so
called; that is, vicious in themselves, as well as in the degree:
these, it is certain, must be rooted up; and the sooner, the better:
but then there is no need of crossing the seas for the benefit of such
an operation.
For the proper cure of such prejudices, as I take it, is to be made by
the application of those truths that are common to all climes; not by
the partial manners or opinions which arise out of them in this or that
more polished society.
But your Lordship, I observed, as though you had taken up this charge
of Prejudices purely to introduce the satire on _Old England_, was
content to drop it, as soon as it had served your turn. You exchanged
it, however, for _another_ of more importance, THE LOW, SORDID, AND
IMMORAL HABITS; which strike into the lives and manners of our youth,
and are, as you conceive, epidemical and incurable in this Island.
It may be true, that too much of the complaint is well-founded. The
taste of our provincial gentry may be something coarse; and their
houses, none of the best schools of civility and politeness: so that
low and even immoral habits may be, and, I doubt, too often are, the
fruit of an ordinary domestic education. But then what remedy does your
Lordship prescribe for the removal of them? Why, you send them abroad
with all their imperfections upon their heads; to get rid of their bad
habits, as they can, and to pick up better, as they will: or, do you
perhaps imagine that the ill qualities, they take out with them, will
drop off, of themselves? and that the good ones they stand in need of,
like new leaves in the spring, will immediately put forth and take
their places?