Of Temperance. SERM. they are really guilty. The true teft to which VI . they fhould bring their tempers and difpofi- ` v 'tions, is, their pra&ice. Temperance forbids exceffes of fenfuality, debaucheries and riotous living, fuch as the apoftle fpeaks of*, when he defcribes the way and the will of the Gentiles, by walking in lafeivioufnefs, lufis, excels of wine, revellings, 4anquetings. Thefe things need not be particularly mentioned, every one knows what are the extremes of the lulls of uncleannefs, luxury, gluttony and drunkennefs, againft which the fcripture fo of- ten warns chriftians, and affures them, that for the fake of filch things the wrath of God cometh on the children of d fobedience ; particu- larly, it forbids fuch an immoderate ufe of fenfual enjoymenas, and fuch an habitual in- dulgence of fenfual defires to weaken the powers of the mind, and indifpofe them for their proper funEtions. That this is the effeéi of luxury and intemperance daily experience (hews; the depriving men of the ufe of their reafon, by tranfporting them into madnefs, or finking them into a brutifh ftupidity, is a grofs inftánce, molt reproachful to human nature; And yet to fuch a height of wickednefs are folne arrived, as to make a mock of that fcan- Pet, iv. 3. loa,
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