Falsus honor juvat.
False honour delights many, HOR.

I KNOW of no obstacle to improvement in morals and learning, greater than that which arises from a wish to be admired for audacity in culpable conduct. A young man no sooner leaves his school, than he feels himself transported with his liberty, and knows not how to restrain his joy within the bounds of moderation. He pants for distinction; and, if he sought it by reasonable methods, his ambition would do him honour: but he aims at the character of a man of pleasure and of fashion; and, in pursuit of this, not only neglects the admonitions of reason, but also of common prudence. He runs into expences which his fortune will not bear; and assumes airs of importance, which his situation will by no means justify.

Improvement in learning, in good morals, in discreet behaviour, is the least of his cares. If he can be taken notice of by the illustrious personages who shine at gaming-tables, in stables, on the turf, or at the assembly, he willingly relinquishes all concern with literary and philosophical employments.

Whoever is acquainted with the universities will know, that my remarks are founded on actual observation. It is impossible to walk the streets, or to enter a coffee-house, without meeting young men who ought to be engaged in study; but who ridicule all serious things, and affect the character of libertines. They are usually in the dress of sportsmen; and their language is such as is heard in the camp or at Newmarket. They glory in drunkenness and the coarsest debauchery, and consider the having been the leaders of a riot as an honour far greater than literary excellence can bestow, or than the university can confer by diploma. To
be imposed, as it is called, or punished for irregularity by a dean, a tutor, or a proctor, fills the bosom with conscious pride, and constitutes the delinquent a hero in the ideas of his companions. A degree is nothing in comparison with the honourable distinction of being in danger of rustication for a debauch. To break the windows of a college, to disturb a peaceable student by what is called sporting his door at midnight, to play at cards on Sundays, to read novels or blaspheme in chapel, are often the methods which young men of spirit have adopted to display their fire.

Now the engaging in such feats is considered by many as a proof of sense as well as spirit. But it is in truth a weakness, which renders the young man fearful of incurring the derision of the profligate, and which induces him to sacrifice, for the applause of such persons, the substantial qualifications which would adorn and felicitate every subsequent period of his life.

It must be owned, that it is difficult for a young man to preserve a singularity in the midst of the ridicule of the audacious. There is a false shame which induces him to comply with what his judgment disapproves, through a fear of becoming the laughing-stock of those
whom he might despise. With good principles, and a sincere detestation of vice, he gradually falls into extreme irregularity. His compliance at first is caused by good nature, or by a fear of offending. But he is allured from one step of audacity to another, till at last he arrives at that melancholy state, which glories in every thing of which it ought to be ashamed. He now derides his tutors, his parents, his books, and takes delight in such things only as have a tendency to involve him in vice and extravagance. He lives perhaps long enough to see his folly, but is not able to retract or avoid its consequences. His character is injured, and his opportunities of improvement lost.

It is not to be expected that a young man should be a cynic. His wish to accommodate himself to the manners of those with whom his age and his pursuits lead him to associate, is amiable; but yet something must be done to prevent him from being led, by his good nature, to his ruin.

Suppose him then to pursue a conduct in some respects similar to the following:

Let him avoid all moroseness, and cultivate every pleasing and graceful quality. The pretenders to spirit will then have no advantage over him in the external decorum of appearance and behaviour. In every thing innocent and indifferent he will comply with the wishes of his companions, and give them no offence when he can possibly avoid it. He will be assiduous in cultivating their benevolence, from a conviction that a state of amity is the most conducive to happiness; and also, from a wish to serve them, by useful suggestions, which cannot be done, when the avenues are totally shut against advice by prejudice and aversion.

But at the same time he will possess and display a firmness of mind, which in the end cannot fail of overcoming an ill-grounded audacity. His true spirit will cause their false spirit to evaporate, as the culinary fire is extinguished by the rays of the sun.

I have indeed observed, that the great pretenders to spirit are usually destitute of true courage. They are mean and cowardly; but they wish to compensate the want of real manliness, by that noise and rudeness, which they are weak enough to consider as infallible symptoms of it. The world is too easily deceived by appearances; and many modest spirits, which, in a real exigency, would display real fortitude, are borne down by the insolent airs of mere bravadoes. When a man of solid merit rises up against them, they crouch before him; for, in this instance, as well as in all others, truth is great, and will ultimately prevail.

Real merit, true genius, unaffected courage, are always distinguished by an air of moderation. They make few pretensions; they are content
with being excellent, and leave their gold to find its proper esteem, by its nature, weight, and lustre. The tinsel glitters on the tawdry vestment, and fools admire; but let it be the care of everyone, who aspires at the excellence of a worthy and liberal character, to adorn himself with solid and useful ornaments, which will secure him the esteem of all judicious men, while children and weak persons only are
caught by the lustre of false spangles and embroidery.

Quoted from: Vicesimus Knox: Liberal Education, Or, A Practical Treatise on the Methods of Acquiring Useful and Polite Learning: Or, a Practical Treatise on the Methods of Acquiring Useful and Polite Learning. Vol. II. London: Dilly, 1785.