Abernathy - Houston-Packer Collection BX9178.A33 S4 1748 v.3

confidered under the Notion of Xifdom. 9 ring into this, I fay, it is fufficient to my SE x m. prefent purpofe, that juftice, judgment, and I. equity, are the wifdom which Solomon in- culcateth. Another virtue, which he recommendeth under the fame charafter, is chaftity. This he very often infifteth upon, particularly in the 2d, the 5th, and 7th chapters, proving at large the fimplicity and thoughtlefnefs of the adulterer, who, with the infenfibility of a beaft, is caught in the toil, and ftupidly falls into the fnare which is laid for him. The men who abandon themfelves to the purfuit of difhonourable and irregular plea - fures, fondly imagine there is a great deal of art and contrivance in their management; they are the men, in their own conceit, of deep intrigue, and refined underftanding, valuing themfelves upon the, little artifices, whereby they feduce the unhappy partners of their crimes, and impofe upon thofe whom they injure. But all this, in the judg- ment of Solomon, is extreme folly ; and the fenfelefs wretch, deprived of all reafon, is only hafting to his ruin, as an ox goeth to the laughter, or, as a fool to the correaion of the flocks. The intemperate will not, perhaps, pretend to the character of wife ; ' they

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