in Pain and Torture I know very well that whatsoever pleases is a Pleasure and that every Man is sensible of so much in sensual Enjoyments nor am I for the destroying the Appetites but for regulating them This is that which I assert and shall endeavour to evince That the Pleasures of Sensuality are few poor and despicable in comparison of those which are to be enjoyed in the practice of Vertue which is something more than what I promised before and consequently That 't is an absolute cheat put upon us when these are made an Argument for Debauchery This will appear if we take in the first place a general View of the Pleasures of Sensuality and make as we pass along particular References In every sinful Enjoyment there are Three things to be consider'd 1. The Expectation 2. The Fruition 3. The End Each of which are pretended to have its peculiar Pleasures and therefore deserve our particular Examination I began with the First of these Expectation And here I need not use many words for every Man must be sensible to how great a height the Hopes of vain Man is rais'd by the Delusion of the Devil and his own Fancy The approaching Enjoyment is represented through a magnifying Glass and seems great and glorious The Bubble of Fancy struts and looks big and we expect mighty matters Could I but possess such an Estate or enjoy so charming a fair One c. Voluptuousness hath certainly two Faces she turns the Young Face and smiles upon those that expect her but looks Old and Wither'd upon those that have enjoyed her Each Circumstance of approaching Good is thought a Bliss which yet vanishes in the Embrace so that if the Votary to Sin had so much Wit he would stop at Expectation and go no further He might then indeed continue enamour'd with the Child of his own Fancy and worship the Idol of his own making without Remorse or Repentance when it is too late But his Unhappiness is That the same Expectation which deludes him urges him on to destroy it self and so to put an end to his Hopes and Fears together by a nearer Advance which we call Fruition and comes next to be considered § 6. Secondly Expectation then being confess'd by all to be only an imaginary Good swell'd out with Hopes and Fears 't is Fruition alone that must crown the Sensualist and make him happy But even Fruition it self is experimentally prov'd to be so vain and empty and next to nothing to have so little of real Satisfaction and so much of Cheat in it that after a Man sits down and calmly considers what he hath done 't is a great Question whether he will not repent of his Credulity rail at the Delusion and preferr even Expectation it self to it For he shall then find that he hath imbraced a Cloud and fished all night for Pleasure but caught nothing but Shame and Sorrow that he hath been notoriously cheated and having sown the Wind he hath reaped the East Wind that he hath pursued a Phantom and having hunted after Vanity hath at last overtook Vexation of Spirit For the Pleasures of Sensual Fruition are indeed but Shadows of those of Vertue and want their Invigorations and Comforts They are as short of these as the Image of the Sun represented in a Mirrour is of the Light Heat and Influence of that glorious Luminary That this may sensibly appear I will endeavour to wash off the Paint from the Faces of these Counterfeits and examine the matter of Fact and compare the Pleasures of the Fruition of Vice and Vertue together Instances will have here their Use bring the Matter nearer the Eye and illustrate it And to this purpose I will use St. John's Analysis of Sensuality in his tripartite Division into that 1. of the Lust of the Flesh 2. that of the Eye and 3. that of the Pride of Life 1 Joh. 2. 16. § 7. And in reference to the First of these Consider seriously with your self and then tell me if you can wherein consists the true Pleasure of those Vices which we call Gluttony and Drunkenness that Pleasure I mean that is peculiar to these Excesses besides and above what is found in the limited Use of Meat and Drink Is it in the stuffing up of the Body or the vitiating of the Palate in the distempering of the Taste or the disordering of the Stomach Is it found among the Ruines of the Understanding or the Laxation of the Members Surely no Man can take any true Pleasure in playing the Fool or Mad-man or in turning Beast beyond the Example of Nebuchadnezzar I never yet knew any Man that delighted in making Experiments upon himself to procure a voluntary Epilepsie or Syncope Men are not usually so fond of the Image of Death and yet this and no other is the Drunkard's Fruition which is yet so unaccountable that the poor deluded seems to be under a kind of Fascination to doat on that which must end in Loathing if not in Sickness and Death Sure I am there can be no Fruition in either but the momentary Touch of the Meats and Drinks upon the Nerves of the Tongue and yet even this is not peculiar to Excess but is rather an Attendant of Sobriety The Sober person hath generally the quicker Palate and most Delight though with a Dinner of Herbs and Small-beer and if any Man enjoys himself and his Friend 't is only He. § 8. And then for unlawful Lusts the other Species of Carnality I may put the same Question with as great and perhaps greater Advantage Where are the Pleasures peculiar to the Fruition of unlawful Love Or what doth the Adulterer enjoy above and besides what is to be found in loving and lawful Marriage If there be any such Pleasures sure I am they must be imaginary and next to nothing And that you may make a true Estimate of these and such like inferiour Enjoyments I must let you know once for all that we descend therein much below our immortal part and equal our selves to the Beasts that perish Nay more this way the silly Ass may out-rival the Man and the impure Goat be more happy than he that you will find them much below your Expectation if not meer Cheats the Mistress of Debauchees the Shame of Wise men and the Pursuit of Fools too commonly a Sin and always a Shame and the Sign and Cause of our Mortality For the Propagation of our Like both shews us approaching Death and hastens it and we diminish our own Lives to give Life to others But be it what it will I have nothing to say against it in respect of Morality when it is regular I mean when the Matrimonial Vow hath sanctified it and the Transmission of our Nature hath made it necessary the strictest Cato will then allow it the modest and chast St. Paul command it and the Spiritual part consent to it This for the lawful Use of it for which Nature
Indeed there is a rude notion of Justice among the Vulgar but it is only pleaded when they think they are injur'd and exerted when they are like to be Gainers by it But as for Truth a piece of Justice we owe to all Men there is little or no regard to it especially in dealings but Men swear lye and dissemble and will maintain that there is a necessity so to do Hence it is that Oaths which were of old Sacred are now of no Validity yea and the common use of Speech in bargains is to no purpose Lying is become so clamorous that it hath took away our Senses and we had as good be deaf and dumb as hear and talk among Men And then for Charity that God-like Vertue the highest notion of it is quite lost amongst us and we never give but when natural compassion wrings it out of our hands Mean while Ambition is restless and rages so in the World that it overturns whole Kingdoms and buries thousands in their Ruines and Pride that reigns among all Sects and in all shapes will not suffer us to know our selves or be quiet with others And besides these there is such a deluge of inhumane Vices for so I call those that are unworthy of Man and below the Beast broken in upon us from Hell that no Pen is able to describe no Vertue oppose for Man is become the greatest Enemy to himself and cruelly wounds his own Being so that the Love of our selves can serve no longer as a rule to measure our Love to others by and the Apostle's assertion No man ever yet hated his own Flesh seems not to hold in our times In a word we are sunk below Heathenism while Turks and Infidels upbraid us Impiety hath over-run the World and our blessed Lord's Prophecy is too much verified Matt. 24. 10 11 c. 'T is time then that those days should be shortned that any Flesh should be saved and that he should hasten his coming for he shall hardly find his Faith upon the Earth § 2. And yet after all it must be confess'd that this general Apostasie of the greatest part of Mankind cannot be laid to the charge of God or to any defect in revealed Religion He hath fenced and cultivated his Vineyard though it brings forth wild Grapes and hath us'd all means possible to save us but one and that is such an irresistible Grace upon all Men which some have fansied to be bestowed upon those that are effectually called such I mean as would carry us to Heaven by force and save us whether we will or no. His Precepts are holy and just and require of us nothing but what is reasonable to be exacted and feasible to be done besides his Commands are certainly our Interest as well as Duty they are such as would settle Peace and Prosperity amongst Men restore the golden Age and make every Man happy with his Neighbour and happy in himself they enjoin nothing but Love Peace Meekness Long-suffering and Courtesie amongst all men and would necessarily banish Hatred Malice and revenge and all the inimical Vices from humane Society And to render him happier yet by Sobriety and Temperance they would settle Health in his Body and Peace and Contentment in his Soul All this the Christian Religion doth upon great and precious Promises both of this Life and of that which is to come and upon Threats proportionable to its Promises by which Means and by the powerful Ministery of those appointed to this Service God hath secured to himself in all Ages some Witnesses of the inherent Power and Energy of Piety which like so many stars adorn and enlighten our dark Times § 3. It may now be justly enquir'd into why so amiable and reasonable a Religion so profitable to every Man and suited to his true Interest should not have the same Influence upon all and captivate every understanding Why the same cause should not have the same effect and the same Means prove successful to every one that uses it especially seeing there is no fatal sentence to the contrary nor do any labour under eternal Fetters which binds their Hands from receiving what is offer'd to them One would think that the same advantageous Pardon should be embrac'd by every rational Creature and the same Word prove alike not the savour of Life to some and of of Death to others And certainly the fault must be in our selves only and in the indisposition of the Patient which may produce contrary Effects For thus the same Heat melts down Wax and hardens Clay Nor is this Indisposition generally in our Reason and Understanding but in our Affections We all know the Will of God and our own Interests well enough and accordingly we should resolve upon a new Life and perform our Resolutions but alas Man is not usually Master of himself and of his own Intentions The Government that God hath settled in us is sore shatter'd if not quite dissolv'd His Vice-Roy Reason is under confinement and the Senses seduced from their duty the Appetites like dissolute Janisaries in an Interregnum domineer and carry all before them and the Passions like the Mobb pretend to settle the State and make such a Noise that the soft Messages of Peace though from God cannot be heard for First Man is usually brought under bondage to the Earthly part and the higher Faculties captivated by the lower he is carnal and sold under Sin and so cannot do what he would The Fall of Adam has weakned his spiritual Powers and brought them down so that they stand upon even ground with the lower Appetites and Custom and a slavish yielding up our native Freedom have made us absolute Slaves to our sensual Part. And hence it is that though we are convinc'd of the Necessity and Benefit of Vertue before and of Repentance after we have offended and promise and perhaps sincerely intend to act accordingly yet after all we fail in our Performances and break our Resolutions The next Temptation bears all our Vows and Faith away with it we have disabled our selves and being under a kind of Confinement can promise much but perform nothing And then Secondly Sensuality being got into the Throne fortifies it self there with specious declarations of the lawfulness of its Title and possesses the poor deluded with the mighty hopes of its Profits Pleasures and Advantages It represents the Comforts of Eat Drink and be Merry to the utmost advantage It crys up the Felicity of sinful Freedom and is always inculcating the Severities and Chains of Vertue It represents Religion sowre and austere and draws her picture like Magdalene always weeping By these her false Representations and the Echo's of the Appetite poor Reason cannot be heard Hence it is that we first entertain and by conversation begin to love and then doat on and at last espouse our Vices not to be separated as long as the Body and Soul hold together Thus we are fallen since we came
Its Regimen was settled by our Creator in the beginning and first origination of Mankind and therefore not difficult to him who institutes his Life according to the Order of Nature For indeed all manner of Intemperance is a violence and rape upon our Nature and we find that till she is conquer'd by long and customary Force she both abhors and resists it Thus for instance Gluttony presses her down and Drunkenness strives to stifle and drown her whilst she poor Wretch struggles with all her force throws up the unconcocted load the same way it was imposed upon her and in resentment of this Violence pines her self sometimes several Days afterwards This I say is the true state of virgin and undebauch'd Nature And therefore Self-Government is her Guardian nor can it be difficult originally but natural and consequently easie But then 2. As it cannot be denyed but that this among many other things is now grown difficult to us so it must be confess'd That this Difficulty is the Effect of long and customary Habits of Licentiousness nor can it be wonder'd that a Man habituated to a sinful Course of Life and used to be carried about by his unruly Passions should find some uneasiness in the first entrance of a regular and staid Conversation no more than that an untam'd Horse should at first time regret the Bridle or the young Bullock the Yoke that is laid upon his unaccustom'd Neck All Changes from one extream to another prove troublesome and in every Alteration of Life we may observe the like The beginnings of things must be difficult especially to a prejudic'd Nature and he that is accustomed to Extravagance must resent a Restraint The Neophite cannot but expect some trouble in the Government of his Passions and perverse Nature and the young Practitioner will be weary of his New Work but he that has us'd himself to it finds the Sweet of it and he that is exercised therein shall find its Delights 3. And then for those affrightful Names of Mortification c. they were at first given with respect to the Removal of inveterate Habits and the trouble it puts an old Sinner to As for the things themselves they are not simply necessary to the Duties I commend nor indeed to Christian Religion no more than Physick is to our Mortal Bodies Not simply necessary but only by way of Consequence and by reason of those Diseases of the Mind which we have contracted When Piety begins to decay through the Weakness of the Powers of the Soul and the Prevalency of the Appetite then the Spiritual Pill becomes necessary and if it be unpleasant to the Taste or makes us sick in its Operation we may thank our Diseased Minds for it Corrupt humours cannot be evacuated without Pain nor can the dumb and deaf Spirit much less that which is raging mad be cast out without sore Convulsions of Mind and a renting of the Heart even to a seeming Death But all this is but accidental to Religion which in it self is an easie Yoke and a light Burthen a sweet and delightsome Imploy and requires none of these Severities For to a Man that hath been train'd up in Subjection to the Heavenly part and hath liv'd so till he hath become capable of sensing the Pleasures of the Divine Life there is no need of Mortifying of Lusts and Appetites these have been regulated long ago ab initio bred up in Obedience and taught Submission from his Birth I shall only add two things more upon this Head and could wish that they might be as seriously consider'd as they must be confess'd The First is That the strictest Precepts of Christianity such as Self-denial and taking up the Cross the severest Doctrine of the severest Religion hath its peculiar Pleasures and comforts and that in proportion to its Hardships Secondly That Vice is the greatest Slavery and brings greater Mortifications and Hardships upon the Body yea and upon the Appetites themselves than the most restraining Vertue and consequently that Men usually take more pains and suffer more to go to Hell than is required in order to Heaven and a Blessed Eternity § 22. As for the Miseries that the Beginning of this Discourse seems to entail upon Piety whether they are ab extrà or ab intrà I answer briefly 1. That God is not severe or cruel to any Man much less to his Servants He is good unto every Man and his tender Mercies are over all his Works He is slow to Anger of great kindess and repenteth him of the evil 2. That he punishes them or suffers them to be afflicted arises out of other Causes as First To prevent Sin and the Doating upon this World by letting them see their own Frailty and the World's Deceitfulness To take down Temptations and abate the Lusts of the Flesh c. Secondly To punish Sin in this World that their Souls may be sav'd in the World to come Thirdly To bring them to Repentance and recover their Spiritual Health As a careful Physician a severe School-Master and a loving Father who chasteneth every Son whom he loveth and scourgeth every Son whom he receiveth And thus Afflictions are real Blessings and the End changeth the Means into tokens of Love and Mercy Fourthly To make them Instances of the Divine Goodness Thus Job stands a Monument not so much of Humane Integrity as of God's Justice and Mercy his Justice in punishing his Creature which for all his Integrity had some time or other deserv'd as much as this and God may justly withdraw the Blessings of Health and Riches from Job which he had given him and his Mercy in returning them double to him Besides he is an ancient Example of the Power of Divine Grace as also of Humane Imbecillity And the same or the like Account may be given of the Apostles and the First Christians who remain Evidences of the great Love of God to Mankind who spared neither his Son to procure us a better Covenant or his Servants Blood to seal to the Truth of it And therefore 3. As to those * Vid. Matt. 10. 17. 24. 9. Luk. 21. 12. Joh. 15. 20. 1 Thess 3. 3 4. 2 Tim. 1. 8. 3. 12. Texts where our Lord warn'd his Disciples of Sufferings or those of his Disciples to the Primitive Christians of the Afflictions and Persecutions which they must expect They are not universarily applicatory for their Case was extraordinary and they were fitted with Divine Gifts accordingly And those Texts do more particularly point out those calamitous Times and cannot be applied to those times in which the Church had peace and rest from her Labours Their work was in the heat of the Day and God that call'd them to such a mighty Work first enabled them and then crown'd them for it but as for us we labour in the cool nor can we expect any Opposition but that of our carnal Lusts and Appetites Piety is commanded and Vertue is encouraged
rich above what Care Labour or the Philosopher's Stone can do For when God for Reasons best known to himself denies him Abundance Autarchy teaches him to supply that defect by a willing Submission to Providence and a full Contentment with his small Portion as that which God sees to be best for him For he only knows what Measures are fit for us and where to place the Two as well as the Five and Ten Talents Some Vessels are not fit to be filled with strong Liquors lest they burst and every Man cannot bear the Temptation of Riches God designs the Salvation of all Men in the first place and to that great end proportions the Means thereunto These and such like Considerations make him sit down fully satisfied with his share and thus at least he is Rich and having nothing doth yet possess all things And here I must tell you my Dorotheus that it is not a great Estate that always makes a Man Rich for there may be great Poverty amidst great Abundance It was a sore Evil which Solomon saw and lamented long agoe A man to whom God hath given Riches Wealth and Honour so that he wanteth nothing for his Soul of all that he desireth and yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof but a stranger eateth it Eccles 6. 2. And what is he better for that which he hath or rather seemeth to have who either not uses it or abuses it Or wherein consists the Happiness of that Man whose Riches are given him out of Judgment not Love and to be snares of the Devil not helps to Charity An Estate may be acquired I't is true by Fraud or Violence but then it proves a continual Worm to the Conscience a Plague to the Mind and a Consumption to the Body When a Father must run the danger of Damnation to convey an Estate with a Curse down to his Son and capacitate him to run the same Hazard will you call such a Man Rich and Happy No certainly he is Poor Miserable and a Wretch whose mistaken Love to his Son hath induced him to sell his own Soul to buy him an Estate and made himself miserable in the other World to procure his Child a Shadom of Happiness in this Whereas he that can conquor his Desires and subdue his Passions that is contented with his honest Lot is rich towards God and communicative towards his Fellow-Creatures That Man I say is richer than Croesus the Lydian King or Crassus the wealthy Roman Subject 2. The Second is that of sanctifying our Riches and making it serviceable to our Eternal Concerns A strange Property sure to convert Poison into Food to heal the unwholsome Waters and of the Snares of the Devil to make a Jacob's Ladder And yet this is true For our Lord tells us that this Mammon of unrighteousness may be so rectified and distributed that it may and will procure us Everlasting Habitations And Autarchy alone which forbids us to imprison it in our Chests or consume it on our Lusts but use it for our honest Necessities doth teach us this mighty Work Thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Cable-rope is untwisted to that fineness that it will perforate the Eye of a Needle according to Theophylact's Sense of the Word or else the Eye of the Needle is so expanded and enlarged to that dimension that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Camel may easily pass through it Vid. Annot. in Matt. 19. 24. § 8. The Third outward Advantage and Gift of Autarchy is A Good Name Reverence and Esteem with Men. And this is evident by the Respect and Veneration which is given by the worst as well as by the best of Mankind to Vertue wheresoever it is found Thus a sober Person shall be rever'd by the most profligate and the temperate admir'd though envied by the most debauch'd The chast Virgins who keep their Innocence against many Temptations shall at last be honoured as the Vestals were of old their very Company shall chill and quench the fiery Emotions of Voluptuousness for Vertue bears a Majestick Grace with it whilst Vice sneaks into dark Corners it carries a secret Awe with it and checks the Attempts of Sensuality 'T is true there want not some that from the Seat of the Scornful can scoff at Vertue and ridicule Piety the peculiar Talent and Character of the last and worst of Times but then take notice it is not when in its own Shape but when misrepresented They give it disgraceful Names and dress it up in a monstrous Shape and then rally upon it Thus Temperance is traduc'd under the notion of Covetousness and Piety is first term'd Hypocrisie and then expos'd as such The patient Man is said to be a Coward and the provident a poor narrow-soul'd Fellow The chast is called coy and Proud and the pious and devout is term'd superstitious and popishly affected Thus Vice claps a Sambineto upon Vertue before she is to be executed and like her Primitive Votaries she must be deform'd in the Skins of wild Beasts before even the Dogs will fasten upon her But otherwise it stands a universal Rule that Goodness commands the Respects of all and her God-like Majesty shines even to the dazling of her Enemies for so did her great Master's Divinity overthrow those that came to seize him and the invisible Rays of his Godhead dart them down backwards that came to bind him Every one applauds Vertue though few follow her And all men call her Blessed though she has few that will imitate her The greatest Debauchee will commend her to be Guardianess of his Children after his Decease and while he lives condemn that in them which he practises in himself This he doth while he lives and when he dies his Relations if of Ability build him a Monument and a Pillar and record upon it all the good Works that he did but none of his Vices Hence are those lying Epitaphs and pompous Commemorations with which the Tombs of some are adorn'd whose Names yet stink worse than their Carcasses and the Canonization of some Saints to Heaven whose Souls are I fear long since consign'd to Hell This is Demonstration sufficient to convince us that nothing can consecrate our Ashes and give us a kind of Immortality here but Vertue § 9. On the other side there is nothing more dishonourable than Impiety or unman-like than Sin For instance How shameful a thing is it to see a Creature dedicated to the Service of God study nothing but the Satisfaction of his Belly For a Man made for noble Thoughts and Contemplations to sink below the Beasts and become a driveling Sot and covetous of that which his Nature cannot bear To see the glorious Image of God and Man both defac'd his Beauty clean gone as well as his Reason and himself a Companion to the Dog in his vomit and to the Sow in her wallowing in the mire To see a rational Being without Sense and a Man without Understanding even