Sixth Coi1unaitdment. Sixtbly, and Lafily; Contempla.te t~e hu~c Uglincfs and Deformity of .tbi~ Sin in orbcrs. hoW it makes Men bruuili,m then Souls, and deformed hkewJfe ID tbelr Count;nance. It inflames the Faco; fires the Eyes, and makes aMan look like a fu· ry, deafens the Ears, fro ths the Mouth, makes the He~r~ beat and pant, _rbe T?ngue ftammer, the Voice harfh and rough, the Speech precipitate, and ofienumes ndicu. lous 1 briefiy, it puts the whole Man iotq a preternatural Fever, and transforms the Body into a Monfter, and the Mao intq a Devil. • . . And what! Shall! give Way to Pallion, fo.uncomely a Pallion, that will make me fcorned when 1 would feem mofi terrible; certainly, were there no other Thing ·whereof to accufe this immoderate Anger it \Yere enough to tender it odious; , but when it not only dcftroys wha! I was, but.feeks the Ruin and Deftru~ion of other~. it concerns me to (lop it in its fir!\ Rife and Ebullltions; left the Boiling$ of my Blood proceed fo far as to attempt the fheMing of tbe .Blood of others. And fo much for this Sixth Commandment. The Seventh Co1nmandmeni:~ jtuou (bait uot commit ~tiulttfN IN opening the former Commandment we have feen wloat Care God takes fa; the Security and Indemnity ofevery Man's Perfon. This Command which I pave now read un~o you. ex[end~th fart~er, and. providesf~r his Security, as he " ts confid~red myfttcally·mMamage·Unwn, whiCh ofTwam maketh One Fief!~> The one defen~s him from the Violenceofbloody Rage and Revenge, the other from the Violations of impure Lufts. . . I judge it not convenient to . he too Circuq~ftantial in fhewing you what is prohi- ~ited .under this Precept. I know that feme, efpecially the Popifb Cafuills, in their Treatifes of Moral Divinity, fuch asS•ncbcs, Diana, &c. have fpokoo of thefe Things fo minutely, and with fuch a filthy Accurarene!S, that they ftuprate the very. Eyes and Fancies of their .Readers; rather: reach Vice than condemn ir; and in.. llrua .the Ignorant to Sin skilfully, rather than,convince the Guilty to bring them t~ Repentance. Some Wickedne£fes there arc, which it is far better not to reprove than to name; it. is more expedient to leave thofe who are guilty of them,. to be .!allied by their natural Light and Confcience, tha• by exagitating luch Crimes teach others not fo much to abhor as to praaice them. And let this be my Apology if I pafs over this Subjea with more than my accullomed Brevi1y. ·Firjl, Thatwhkh is here literally and expreily forbidden is that deteftab!e and loa1bfome Sin of Adultery, which, properly taken, is a Sin committed between Per· JOns, the one: or both of tbern , Maqied \lOto another. However, even in the higheR: Circumllances, it is a mofi: heinous Sin, but on tbe Married ·Perfon's Side moft inexcufcable and intolerable, Gen. 39· g. It is called a great Wickednefs againft God on tbe Unmarried Man"s Parr. And Levit. 20. tO. De;tt. 22. 22. The Temporal Pua nifhment aligned unto it is no lefs than Death: The fame Punifhment that belong' cl to Murther, and greater tha!l was infHaed for Theft. And if Humane Laws were as fevcre in the Punifhment of the Sin as Divine, the Fear of it might poffibly be of greater Influence, to deter Men from fuch Filthinefs, than either Shame or the De· nunciarion of Eternal PanHbments. Yea, we read in Hiftory that our' Progenitors the Englifh Saxons, * even while they remained Pagans and Idolaters, fo bared tbi;" sputi' S_in, that they made ir, yea, and fimple Fornicationalfo, punHhable with Death and Chroo. ~ fevc:rel y. infiiCled it upon thofe that were found guilty; which Cuftom continued P"&· :28;. among them after 1hey were converted to Chrillianiry until the Year of Chrift 75" when the An~chriftian See of Rome, the Mother of Whoredoms, abrogated rhi; Law, as r:oo ugorou5 for Cbrifiians. 1\nd Job callc:th it an beinoru Cri111e; Jtd, an B b b lniguity
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