258 The Evil and Vnreafonablenefs voi. I. dull and flupid kind of Men are affe&ed a little for the prefentwith the liveli- nefs of the Romance, and the Poetical Veinof the Preacher ; but thefe Things pafs away like a Tale that is told, but have no tatting Effef upon them. So ef- fe&ually dothCovetonfnefs, and the Love of thisprefent World, obftru& all thofe Paffages, through which the Conlìderation of Religion and Heavenly Things fhould enter into our Minds. Secondly, As Coveìoufnefs hinders Men from Religion, and takes them off from a due Care of their Souls ; fo it many times tempts and engageth Men to do many things contrary to Religion, and inconfiftent with it : It is the Na- tural Sourceand Fountain of a great many Evils, and the Parent of moll of the worft of Vices. He that will engage deep in theWorld, mule ufe much more guard and caution than molt Men do, to do it without Sin. How many Temp- tations is the Covetous Man expofed to in the getting, and in the fecnring, and in the fpending and enjoying of agreat Eftate? It is no eafie Task to 'reckon them up, and much more difficult to efcape or refill them, and yet each of thefe Temptations bring him into the danger of a great many Sins. For, I. In the getting ofan Elate, he is expofed to all thofe Vices which may Teem to be ferviceable to this Defign. Nothing bath been the Caufe of more and greater Sins in the World, than Covetoufnefs, and malting baffe to be Rich. It is Solomon's Obfervation, Prov. 28. 20. He that maketh hafte to be Rich, frail not be Innocent. He does not fay he cannot be Innocent, but he fpe.i?zs as if there were all theProbability in the World that he will nor r uc c to be fo; but being in fo much hafte, will almoll unavoidably fail into a great many Overfights and Faults. And the Heathen Poet makes the very fame Obfervati- on in more Words. ladeferbfeelerum caufe, nec plura venena Mifcuit, aut ferro graffaturfepiies ullem. Humane mentís vitium, quamfeva Cupido ImmodiciCenfits : nano dives quifieri nult, Ft cit.'; voltfieri 5 Sed que ReverentiaLegum, Quis Metes ant Pudor ell unquamproperantis avari ? " This, lays he, is the Caufe of molt Sins : Nor is there any Vice of which " the Mind ofMan is capable, that hathbeenguilty of more Murders and Poy- " fonirgs,'than a furious Delire of immoderate Wealth; for he that roil] be " Rich, will make bade to be fo : And what Reverence of Laws, what Fear or " Shame was ever Peen in any Man that was in halle to be Rich ? And this is the Senfe of what the Apoftle fays concerning this Vice of Cavetonfnefs, this peremptory Refolution of being Rich, a Tim. 6. 9, ro. They that wiII be Rich, fall into Temptation, and a Snare, and into many foolifh and hurtful Lulls, which drown Men in De(lru/iion and Perdition. For the love of Money is the root of all Evil. If this Vice of Covetoufnefs once reign in us, if we have once fix'd our End, and letup this Refolution with. our (elves, that we will be Rich, we (hall then make every thing ftoop and fubmit to this Defign. A Covetous Manwill make his Principles and his Confcience tobend to his Refo- lution of being Rich, and to bow to that Intereft. The eager Defire of Rich- es makes Men to purfue them in indiref and uncharitable ways, by Falfhood and Perjury, by Undermining and Over - reaching, by Diffembling and Flatte- ry, by corrupting and imbafingofCommodities, by falle Weights and Mea- fures, by taking Fees with bothHands, bymaking ufe of their Power and Wit to opprefs and defraud their Brother, by impofing upon his Ignorance and Sim- plicity, or by making a Prey ofhis Poverty and Neceflity. Covetoufnefs many times makes Men cruel and unjull ; nay, it makes them guilty of the worlt forrof Cruelty and Oppreffion. For (as one Pays well) the Covetous Man oppreffeth his Neighbour, not for any good to himfelf; for he does -tr.l
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