iv . P REFACE. mind; nobienef.~ of foul 1 and generofity of fpi1·it: a.s if they ' intended to perfuade th.ernfelves and Others, tb1t pride is a g9od principle ; and do not know, that , pt1de and felfifhnefs are the bane of mankind, _produc- ' tive of all wickeJnefs, and mud); of rhe mifery to be found in this ~nd in the mher world; and is indeed that, wherein the depravity of human ~ature :prope'rly con{i (t ·. . , · · . L[pright Adam's.nature faintly adu,mbrated the di– v1ne, in a m?der:ned~~jf dleem, an adequate felf-lqv,e,. and delightful rdlexion on his own bo,rrowcd excellen:– cy, regulated by a jufl eHeem of, and fupreme love to his adot~ed Creator: whence a pe-,cefnl fereni'ty of mind; a lov~ng, compaffionate and benevolent difpoliti– on ,of foul, a depth of thought, and brighu~efs of hnagi– nation, delightfully employed in the rapturous contem– plation of his beloved' 1:-I:Iaker's infinite perfections ; thug bearing the divine imCige, and refembling Gon that made him. But no fooner did he difobey the divine probatory conm1and, than the fcales were cafi, his mo- · derated felf~eneem degenerat~d into p-ride,his a'dequate · felr love fh1·unk into ·rr.ere Jelfifhnefs, and his delight· ful r flecrions on his own excellency varie4 into tht:· tickling pl('afures of vanity and conceit : he loft viel\P' of theAuthor ofhis being,and henceforth,inftead ofde-' .lighting in him, firfi dreaded, and then defpifed h_im .. '".fhe rnodefr, and therefore hitherto anonymous au– thoi· of the following difcoul'fes, Mr Thom ,zs 'Bjfon, having handled this fubjeCl:, in preaching to t1is own ob– fcure parochial congregation of Ettrick, in the fheriff- ., dom of Selkirk, had a particular view tc·) their benefit,_ . jn printing and p-ubliihing i:bem; and therefore the ·, fiile and method is plain and £mple, 'and the firn e<,li- , tion printed on coarfe paper; but the fubjeu is fo comprehenfive a~d importa-nt, fo well' manageJ, and the book has been fo well received, that it now ap– p~ars in the world moFe 'embellifhc:d, as well as betteu correCted tha~l ·.formerly. ) ' . Let
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