Of Temperance. 147 To confider this fubje t a little more parti- SERM. cuearly ; in the firfl place, it is plain, that fo- VI briety, or temperance, does not require the `"'V`"J rooting out, or an obftinate refufal to fatisfy or comply with the original appetites of na- ture. Such an attempt, in itfelf an apparent abfurdity, fo far from having any virtue in it, would be a rebellion againft the law of our creation, and an endeavour to deftroy the work of God. The correfpondent relation between appetites and obje fts is as much a part of the divine conftitution, and as clearly fhows the ufetobe made of thofe objeEts,as any other relations of things in the frame of nature fhew the wifdom of God and the purpofes they were made for. It is evident like wife, that the firft motions of natural appetite toward its proper objeEts are not criminal. Who can fay it is a fin for a man to hunger or thiift, that is, to defire the objects which thefe appetites determine him to ? and if thefe be what St. James means by the conceptions of lúfl, in the place already referred to, they certainly are not finful, though they may be the inlets and occafions of fin or temptations. I fay, they are not finful, for they are the neceffary refult of our conftitution, and they prevent all deliberation and confent of the mind, with - L 2 out
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=