321, RUIN AND RECOVERY, &C. tined affront to their Maker ; they have no regard to God as their Lord and Ruler, they are perpetually guilty not only of wilful neglects of God, but of vile impieties and blasphemies against him, as well as false or malicious, cruel or bloody practices against their fellow creatures. -2. There are many others that have much less degrees of vice or impiety than the first sort, and seem to be led into 'sin, not from Such impious principles as the former, and practise it no farther than the common gratifications of sense and appetite, ease and indulgence strongly allure them : They have several natural virtues, as temperance and good- humour, and compassion, they do some good and but little mis- chief in the world, so that if man were to be their judge, he would not know whether to pronounce them good or bad, or perhaps rather would justify them. -3. There are a few whose lives for the most part are filled up with outward practices of virtue with regard to themselves and their neighbours, as well as religion towards God, and there seems to be sincere love in their hearts towards God their Maker as far as man can see ; there are all the signs of true piety in them, though it is,granted there is nò man innocent, not one of all mankind perfectly right- eous, who doth good, and sinneth not. These three distinct cha- racters plainly appear to every observer, viz. the very good,. the very bad, and the indifferent, which we cannot certainly deter, mine whether they be good or bad. IX. The same common observation will also inform us, that there are no such actual distinctions in the providence and conduct of God as a Governor, made amongst mankind, by the comforts or sorrows which are allotted to them here in this world, as do in any measure answer to or correspond with these three distinct moralcharacters of men according to their visible virtues or their vices*. Sometimes -it falls out in the course of provi- dence, that the best men, and those that have least of sin in them, are made very unhappy even tilldeath, bymany calamities or oppressions : And the worst of men abound in the comforts and pleasures of the present state, with very few uneasinesses: And we find among the middle sort of men, some a thousand times more unhappy than others. We sometimes see, that men are rendered more miserable in this life, even by their virtue, which will not suffer them to practise iniquity, in order to procure their pleasureor peace. The strictness of their piety exposes them to many persecutions from the wicked world. In short, in this world, all things cone so, much, alike to all, that thé-love or C Though I mention three charactersof seen here, I do not suppose there are three d,fferent 6''''es of taco low, or will be hereafter, for all the indifferent are really good or bad, they do really love God, or they do not love him. But this life is a state of such diguise and dankness, thatwe mortals cannot judge who are inwardly good, and who are inwardly bad, among those who obtain the middleor.minci character ; and therefore I call them indifferent.,
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