Gallantry is not less compatible with wisdom and prudence, than with nature and generosity; and
when under proper regulations, contributes more than any other invention, to the entertainment
and improvement of the youth of both sexes.m Among every species of animals, nature has
founded on the love between the sexes their sweetest and best enjoyment. But the satisfaction of
the bodily appetite is not alone sufficient to gratify the mind; and even among brute-creatures,
we find, that their play and dalliance, and other expressions of fondness, form the greatest part of
the entertainment. In rational beings, we must certainly admit the mind for a considerable share.
Were we to rob the feast of all its garniture° of reason, discourse, sympathy, friendship, and
gaiety, what remains would scarcely be worth acceptance, in the judgment of the truly elegant
and luxurious.
I.
XIV.41