I I 0 The Harmony Q{ the Divine Attributes ~ Curfe to creep on the Earth, he cleaves to defiling and dcbafing Obj"1s, and is only quaChap. 4· lined for fenfi,~t SatisfaS:ions. The Soul is incarnated, and it 01apes a Happinefs to it .....rv·>u felf, in the EnJoyment of thofe things which arc delicious ro rhe Senfes. The Shadow of Felicity is p_urfucd with equa! ardour, as that which is real and fubftanri al. The [u;reme Part of Man, the Underll~ndmg, is employed to fcrve the lower faculties, Reafon is ufed to mak~ him more ingenious and luxm;ous in Senfuality : So much more brutifb than the Brutes is he become, when belides that part which is fo by irs natural condition, the mofl: noble parr is made fo by unnatural Ch?ice and Corruption. From hence the A pofl:l~ gives a1.1 uni~crfal C?:mtffer o.f M~n in the1r corrupt Stare, ~it.)· 3· That they are foolifh and difobedtent , decewed, Ji!rvmg 1wers Lujls 11nd Pleafures. ~I'his purfuit of fe~fual Pleafure is the Service of a Slave, whrch hath no other Law of Ius Lire but the Wrll of his Mafter. The Servitude is divers, but all are Slaves; the Chains are not the fame, fame are more glittering, but not lcis weighty, and every one is deprived of true Liberry. But the Bo.Hlage is fa pl~afing, that corrupte? Man pr~fers it befo_re fpintual and real Freedom. Senfua! Lulls blmd the Underftandmg, and bmd the Wrll fo, that he is unable, bccaufe tmwrllmg, to refrue himfelf. He is deluded with the falfc Appearance of ~~:fot\;r;~~:dfii·~~~~~~~u~~a~i~0 R~~~~ :~:~~~~f~toa~~Ae~~r~e~a~~n; ~~~P:O~m;~;d, \~l~e~ ~~~~ Brzdle IS m Ins Nlouth, and he IS under tts tmpenous Check at pleafure. Or a Galleyflave were free, becaufe the Veffel \vherein he rows with fo much roil, roams over rhe vaft Ocean. And whereas there are tlt'O Confidc rations which arc proper to convince Man that the full and unconfin'd Enjoyment of Worldly Things cannot make him happy, bccaufe they arc woundm_g ro the Confc1cnce, and u~fattsfymg to th~ Affefl:tons ; yet thefe ar~ ineffeCt ual to take h1m off from an eager purfll1~ of them. I w1ll pa rt~cularly confider th1s, to fhew how unable Man, in his lapjed Co~ditton, is _to difentangle llimfelf from miferablc Vanities. and confcqucntly to recover Ius loft Holmefs. ' · Senjuat Pleafures are wounding to the Confciencc; There is a fecret acknowledgili~~~l~~~~{ci~:e11,~eB~~~h0~~;~~?~ri~· i~~~;:~g~~t~:';: f~~:~!e~\~e ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~1~ Sinner by the Fou!nefs of his AEbons, and its Teftimony brings fuch Terror, as makes Sin very unplcafant. The Poet tells us, That of all the Torments of Hell, the moll cruel, and that which exceeds the reft, is, i"loc1e dieque f uum geftare in peflore teffem. And how ran the Sinner delight freely in that which vexes and frets the moll vital and tender part ? He cannot enJOY his ~harming Lults \\' tthout Guilt , nor embrace them without the refttc1ancy of a contradtCling Principle within him. As the fear of Poyfon will imbittcr the fweetcft Cup, fo the purell Pleafures are allayed with affiiCl:- i~~ ~;~;~~~e~~~~'s tt~~tl~~\~~~;se~~~~r:~~ ~;~fcfe~~~! ~f1~~~~t;~yc0~e~fe ~~\ro\~~nA~~ petites wtthout regret. I will inftance in the princ1pal. '. He ufes many Pleas and Pretexts to juftify or extenuate the evil, and, if poffiblc, to fatisfy Carnality and Confcience too. Selflove , which is the eloquent Advocate of Scnfc, puts a va?tJijb upon_Sin, ro ta k~ off from its horrid Appearance; a_nd endeavours not oaly to colour the ObjeEl:, but to corrupt the Eye by a c\ifguifing 1inaure, that the Sight of things may not be according to T rHth, but the pejire. Thus the He~then~ allowed Intemperance, Unclc~nnefs, and other Infa~ous Vtces, as Inn~cent Grauficattons of Nature. Now if the l)nnciplcs in Man are po1foned, fo that Evt! is efiecmed good, he rhcn li\'CS in the quiet PraCt ice of Sin without refleCtion or rcmorfe. 1~here is no Sting remains to _awal<en him out of Security. E~t ~f he. cannot fo far b~·1be Confci· ence, as to make tt filent, or favourable to that wh1ch dcllghrs the Senfe, 1fhe cannot efcape its internal Condemnation, the next method is by a fi:rong diverfion to leifen the Trouble . 2. When the carnal Mind fees nothing within but what torments, and finds an intolle· rabic Pain in convcrfing with it felf, it run~ abroad, and ufes ~11 the Arrs~f Obliv10n. to lofe the remembrance of its true State. As Cam, to drown thC\'O!Ceof ConfCiencc, fell a building Cities? an.d !:J~tut, to difpel his Melancholy, _call 'd for Mufie!:. The Bufinefs and Plea~ fures of tlus L1fe are dangerous AmuferlJents to dtvert the Soul,_ by the Reprefent::t;o_nof what is profitable _or pleafant, fl·o_m conlidering the mor~tt 99alitiCS of Good and ~v1l. Tl_1us Confciencc, hke an intcrmittmg Pulje, c_ea{~s for a whdc. Miferablc <:;onfolanon! wh1ch d~th not remove, but conceal the_ E-!!tl till it be pall remedy. But tf Con_fcicnc~,_ norwrthfianding all thefe Evafions, llill purfues a Sinner, anrl, at times, fomet!Hng drilud>S lu•
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