260 The Evil andVnreafonablenefs Vol, j And many times Riches tempt Men to Luxury and Intemperance, and all manner ofExcefs. Rich Men have a mightyTemptation to allow themfelves all manner of unlawful Pleafures; becaufe he who bath a great Eftate, is furnilh'd with that to which hardly any thing can be denied. And this is not inconfi- ftent with a covetous Humour ; for there are, many times, Men who ate cove- tous in getting, for no other End and Reafon, but that they may fpend it upon their Lefts. As Covetoufnefs fometimes' ftarves other Vices, fo fòmetimes it ferves them, and is made fiabordinate to a Man's Ambition, or Luft, or fore other reigningVice. There is no fuch abfolute Inconhftency between Riches and Virtue, but that it is poffible that a Man that is very Rich, may be very Good. But yet if we confult Experience, I doubt it willbe found a true Obfer- vation, that there are but very few rich Men, who are not infupportable, either for their Vanity, or their Vices ; fo that our Saviour had reafon for that fevere Quellion, How hard is it for a rich Man to enter into the Kingdom of' God? And well might he upon this Account pronounce the Poor, (the poor in Eftate, at well as the poor in Spirit) bleffed, as we find he does, Luke 6. 2o. Bleffed be ye poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God. They offner enter there than the Rich. Thirdly, Covetoufnefs is likewife evil and unreafonable, becaufe it is an endlefs and infatiahle Delire. A covetous Mind may propofe to it felf force certain Bounds and Limits, and a Man may think that when he is arrived to fuch an Eftate, and hath raifed his Fortune to fuch a pitch, that he will then fit down contented and fatisfied, and will feekafter nomore. But he deceives himfelf in this Matter ; for when he hath attained to that which he propofed to him- fell, he will be never the nearer being fatisfied. So Solomon tells us, Ecclef- 5. r o. He that loved) Silver, [hall not be fatisfied with Silver nor he that'loveth abundance with Increafe ; for no degree of Wealth car s<.tìahe a covetous Mind. Fie may think fo before, hand, that if he had fo much it would be enough ; but when he'hath attain'd it, he will be flill reaching after more ; for Covetoufnefs ' is a Difeafeof the Mind, and an unnatural Third, which is enflamed by that which Ihould quench it, Every Deere that is natural, is fatisfied and at reft, when it bath once obtained the thing it defired. of a Man be hungry, he is fatisfi- d when he hath eaten ;or if he be thirfry,the Thirft is allay'd and quench'd when he hath drank to fuch a Proportion as Nature doth require ; and if he eat and drink beyond this rneafure, Nature is oppreft, and it is a burthen to him. But Co- vetoufnefs is not the thirft of Nature, but of a difeafed Mind. It is theThirft of a Fever, or of aDropfy; the more a Man drinks, the more he delires, and the more he is inflam'd. In like manner, the more the covetous Man increafethhis Eftate; the more his Defrres are enlarged and extended, andhe finds continual- ly new Occafìonsand newNeceflìties ; and every Day as he grows richer, he dif- covers new wants; and a new Poverty to be provided againfl, which he did not think of before, comes into his mind : Et minis hæc optat, qui non habet; and he that is without thefe Things, covets them lets than he that bath them. So far is a Covetous Man's attaining to Riches from giving him Satisfaftion, that he who bath fcarce any thingat all, is many times much nearer to Contentment, thanhe that bath got fo much ; nay, fo unreafonable is this Appetite, asto de- fire more, even when the Man knows not how tobeftow what he bath already. This Solomon obferved long lince, (for the Vices and Humoursof Men are much the fame in all Ages) Ecclef. q. 8. There is one alone, and there is not a fecond; yea, he bath neither Child nor Brother ; yet there is no end of all his labour, neither is his Eyefatisfied withRiches, neitherfaith he, for whom do I labour, and bereave my Soul ofGood ? This is alfo vanity, yea it is a fore travel. And indeed what can be greater Vanity and Folly, than to be at certain pains and labour all the days of a Man's Life, and yet to be uncertain all the while; for whom it is that he drudged), and taketh all thefe pains. And if this be the Nature of this Vice, the more it gets, {till to covet the more; then nothing can be more Unreafonable, than to think to gratifie this Appetite,
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