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before me; for a Man to say, I have always done so, you startle me a little, 'tis true, I did not examine into the thing, but I never made any hesitation about it; 'tis a Custom, and, I believe, every Body does it as well as we; and therefore I cannot think 'tis a Crime; you must preach it down in general; when it comes to be chang'd by other People, I'll think of it, but, I believe, every Body does so, as well as I.
These are really dangerous, as well as unjust Arguings, and the more so, because they are too true, and too real. But what is then to be done? Must Custom, founded upon the most scandalous Mistake, take Place? It was, in its very original, an Encroachment upon Nature, upon Modesty, and upon Temperance, and shall we plead its Antiquity, which is so far from an Excuse, that it is an addition to its Crime; this is as if a convicted Highwaymen should plead for Mercy, because he had been forty Years in the Trade, an old Offender, and long practis'd in the Crime.
If the Custom is wicked; if it is, in its original, a Treason against Virtue, and an Encroachment upon Nature, will any Man plead for the Practice, because their Ancestors were guilty of it before them.
There is indeed a happy Article in this Argument, (viz.) that there is not one Word of Excuse for it; but this foolish Plea of its being a Custom; all other Arguments are against it; 'tis evidently a Pollution in Nature, a Scandal to its Purity, to its Virtue, to its Moderation, and to all that can be called Prudent and Wise.
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