… of the frontier between right and wrong in polite conversation ( Thoughts 53) 11 – and reiterates the importance of ‘association,’ i.e. sociability: ‘ The Christian virtues derive their highest lustre from association: they have such a spirit of society that they are weak and imperfect when solitary, their radiance are … Further Reading Clark, Peter, British Clubs and Societies, 1580-1800: The Origins of an Associational World (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000). Cohen, Michèle, '' Gender and Method’ in Eighteenth-Century English …