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THE
POWERS
AND
CONTESTS OP
PLPAR AND
SPIRIT. 313
starts aside
from duty,
at
every
appearing
difficulty
:
The
man
of
faith
gives
in
to fears and. doubts, to
perpetual
unbelievings,
and suspicions
thoughts, with
regardto
the
promises
of God,
and
all
the encouragements of
the
gospel.
And to
put
this
matter
beyond all dispute,
experience
teaches
us,
that
.the very same persons
who
had been
fretful, peevish, sothful, sullen, or excessively
timorous,
under
the influences
of
these several distempers
of
body
;
when, by
the means
of
medicine they have been
restored
to health, they have
returned
again to the
cheer-
ful
practices
of
those
single
and
social virtues, which so
long
lay
cramped, confined,
and buried under
the
diseases
of
the
flesh.
Now
if
the occasion
of
these several
sorts
of
sins;
both
of
omission and commission, did
not
chiefly
arise
from the
flesh,
why
should the same christian
so
remark-
ably find his
whole
temper
and
his
conduct
altered
for
the
worse
by
the
diseases
of
his
body,
and restored again
by
the recovery
of
his
health
?
3.
Consider
how
different
are the
sins
of
youth and
old
age
;
how
contrary
are
their
several
temptations
The
youth delights
in
gay
company,
public
vanities,
sensual amusements,
luxury,
and
profuseness;"
he
con-
temns
money,
and
despises
his
ease,
to pursue
with
labour
the gratifications
of
fancy and wanton
appetite
;
and
hereby
he
neglects all
the
duties
of
retirement,
and
se-
rious thoughtfulness.
The
old
man
loves his ease
above
all
things,
except
his money
;
he neglects
and despises
the pleasures
of
the
flesh,
and gay diversions;
but
he
daily
hoards
np
his
gold
for
fear
of
want;'
and
in
count
-
ing over
his
treasure
he wastes
the
latter
hours
of
his
life,
which he
should spend in a
preparation
for death
at
hand.
The
youth
fears nothing,
and rushes
on
to
guilt head-
long
;
the
old man
is
frighted
at
every thing, and shrinks
back from the most necessary duties.
Whence
are
all
these differences
of
sin
?
The natural
philosopher
will give
happy hints
toward the
solvingof
this
question
with
ease
and :truth
:
I-Ie
knows
that
one
is
oc-
casioned
by
the
florid
blood,
and juices, and active
powers of
young human
nature
;
these
hurry the
soul
on
to
pursue
every fleshly
delight.
The other
is
owing to