Eighteenth Century Collection Online Demo

The theory of moral sentiments: By Adam Smith, ...

A gentleman who should promise a highway-man five pounds and not perform would incur some blame. If the sum pro|mised, however, was very great, it might be more doubtful, what was proper to be done. If it was such, for example, that the payment of it would entirely ruin the family of the promiser, if it was so great as to be sufficient for promoting the most useful pur|poses, it would appear in some measure cri|minal, at least extremely improper, to throw it, for the sake of a punctilio, into such worth|less hands. The man who should beggar himself, or who should throw away a hun|dred thousand pounds, tho' he could af|ford that vast sum, for the sake of observ|ing such a parole with a thief, would appear to the common sense of mankind absurd and extravagant in the highest degree. Such pro|fusion would seem inconsistent with his duty, with what he owed both to himself and others, and what, therefore, regard to a pro|mise extorted in this manner, could by no means authorize. To fix, however, by any precise rule, what degree of regard ought to be paid to it, or what might be the greatest sum which could be due from it, is evident|ly impossible. This would vary according to
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Title
The theory of moral sentiments: By Adam Smith, ...
Author
Smith, Adam, 1723-1790.
Canvas
Page 531
Publication
London :: printed for A. Millar; and A. Kincaid and J. Bell, in Edinburgh,
1759.

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"The theory of moral sentiments: By Adam Smith, ..." In the digital collection Eighteenth Century Collection Online Demo. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eccodemo/k111361.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 24, 2025.
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