_Virtute Deum_, by the Help of the Gods. By Degrees it was applied not
only to Brutes, _Est in juveneis, est in equis patrum Virtus_,
but likewise to Things inanimate and was made Use of to express the
Power, and peculiar Qualities of Vegetables and Minerals of all Sorts,
as it continues to be to this Day. The Virtue of the Loadstone, the
Virtue of Opium, &c. It is highly probable, that the Word _Moral_,
either in _Greek_ or _Latin_, never was thought of before the
Signification of the Word _Virtue_ had been extended so far beyond its
Original; and then in speaking of the Virtues of our Species, the
Addition of that Epithet became necessary, to denote the Relation they
had to our Manners, and distinguish them from the Properties and
Efficacy of Plants, Stones, &c. which were likewise call'd _Virtues_.
If I am wrong, I shall be glad to see a better Account, how this
Adjective and Substantive came to be join'd together. In the mean
Time, I am very sure, that this is Nothing strain'd or forc'd in my
Supposition. That the Words, in Tract of Time, are be come of greater
Importance, I don't deny. The Words _Clown_ and _Villain_ have opprobrious
Meanings annex'd to them, that were never implied in _Colonus_ and
_Villanus_, from which they were undoubtedly derived. _Moral_, for ought I
know, may now signify _Virtue_, in the same Manner and for the same
Reason, that _Panic_ signifies _Fear_.
That this Conjecture or Opinion of mine, should be detracting from the
Dignity of _Moral Virtue_, or have a Tendency to bring it into
Disrepute, I can not see.
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