l¡< ! ?;r'It 2300 Self-government efntial to Wifdom. S E R M. nefs of them do not entirely deftroy the re- IX. lifh of life, and render us unfit for purfuing 4""`"") the main bufinefs of it. The defire of off - fpring is a natural one and lawful, but it was heightened by paffion in Rachel to a great extreme, when fhe Paid, give me chil- dren, or I die. Befides thefe paí ions which have a foun- dation in nature, and the excefs only is faulty, which the mind ought to reftrain by calm and ferious confideration, there are others raifed on occafions merely fantaflical; cuftom, habit, and other caufes, beget falfe opinions, which reprefent things under the appearance of good, and Ramp a great im- portance upon them, which have really no relation to the neceffities and the ends of our being, as the objects of the original delires have ; fuch as gay apparel, equipage, titles, which have the inviting idea of magnificence and grandeur annexed to them. But if we calmly confider the human nature, we will fee they have no connection with the main concerns of it ; and yet thefe fantaftical things are known to be the occafion of very violent and difturbing pallions, which a wife man ought to reftrain ; and it evidently belongeth to a juft government of himfelf. Feat
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