..r ESSAY L or the body, or bóth! Can this be a desirable state for any wise or angelic being, who knows what happiness is, to be joined to such a body as ours, to be united to such a disorderly machine of flesh and blood, with all its uneasy and unruly ferments? These which I now mentioned are indwelling mischiefs, which tease and defile the soul : But there is another train of inbred miseries which affect this sensible nature of ours, this animal frame, with huge agonies and distresses. What wise spirit would willingly put on suchflesh and blood as ours is, with all the springs of malady and pain, anguish and disease in it What ! To be in danger continually of the racking disquietudes of gout and stone, and all the distempers I cited from Milton's poem! What ! To have nature worn out by slow and long aches and infirmities, and lie lingering' for many years on the borders of death before we can find a grave ! And besides all these inbred evils, to be ever exposed to those innuìneráble grievances which come from abroad ! What ! 'Po be ever subject to the common dangers, to the numberless casualities and injuries of nature, to the infinite bruises of the flesh, and mischiefs which attend and afflict this mortal life, and to bear the endless inconveniences of the changingseasons, frost and storms, and sultry sun-beams in this elementary world, and which more than half of mankind are exposed to, even with little or no relief ! What ! To be sub- jectto the frequent insults of injustice, to the fraudsof the crafty, the violence of the great, and the reproaches and oppressions of evil neighbours, to endure the private bickerings and domestic quarrels of families, the feuds and resentments, and teasing vexations of kindred; with tormenting jealousies and uneasi- nesses among nearest friends!-To be ever disturbed with the hurry, buzz, and confusion of real and pretended men of busi- ness, and to lie open to the follies, weaknesses, and imperti- nences of those we must daily converse with! Add to this the terrors and tears of infancy,, the ridiculous humours, the silly 'vexations, and the real sorrows of childhood, with all the snares and mischiefs that attend our youth, the laborious and uneasy toils of acquiring any knowledge, and fulfilling the necessary employments of life in our young and vigorous years, and the rubbing through long successions and cares, both personal and public, with all the private teasing uneasinesses which arise from family and domestic concerns in a manly state. Go on with these trains of wretchedness, the grievous occurrences and disasters, the intemperance and succeeding in- dispositions to which at all ages are we continually liablethe risks and hazard, we must sometimes run, both of health, and ease and safety, in procuring the necessaries of life, the constant decays of manly vigour, amidst the infirmities and the aches of old age, the pangs of dissolving nature, and the agonies of c c 3 .
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