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against the day of wrath; and though (it may be) he is now cloathed with purple and fine linen, and fares sumptuously every day; though he may at present live in all the gaiety and splendour, the pomp and luxury, of a great fortune, yet there will come a time (and, for aught he knows, it may not be many moments off) when he shall be stript of all his pleasures and enjoyments, and want even a drop of water to cool his tongue :-surely, such considerations as these must strike the sinner with horror and amazement, and like Belshazzar when he saw the handwriting upon the wall, make him tremble, even in the midst of his greatest mirth and jollity.

Can a man with such impressions on his mind (and these, or something like these will be sure to haunt the sinner) be said to be happy? Are the stings of conscience, the terrors of an almighty Judge, and the dreadful expectations of God's vengeance, consistent with a state of satisfaction ?-Alas! the libertine may flatter himself, and think to deceive others, by putting on an air of

gaiety and pleasantness; but, it is certain, his mind can never be long at rest, while he carries about him a faithful monitor, that will be continually upbraiding him for his folly and madness; representing to him the dangers to which he is exposed, and crossing him, as it were in his way, while he is in ful pursuit of his unlawful pleasures. And though he may perhaps be able 'sometimes to silence the voice of this troublesome companion, by mere dint of noise and extravagance; yet when his passions abate (for they cannot always be upon the stretch) and the man grows cool, he will find the upbraidings of his conscience return upon him with the greater violence. The shame and anguish, the horror and confusion, that he will then feel, will infinitely overbalance all the satisfactions he can meet with in the enjoyment of his sinful pleasures.

I own, indeed, this is not the case of every sinner. A man, by a long course of wickedness, may arrive at such an hardened state, as to be incapable of any virtuous impressions; his soul may

be seared, as it were, with an hot iron, and be fallen into such a deep and fatal lethargy, as nothing perhaps shall be able to awaken it, till it comes to feel the very torments of the damned. But no one, I believe, will think this to be a state of happiness.

The truth is, if we consider a wicked man with respect to this world only, abstractedly from what will be his portion hereafter, we shall find that there are many and great evils to which he is exposed, beside the torments of a guilty conscience. Are not pains and aches, rottenness, and diseases, the natural effects of lust and intemperance? poverty and broken fortunes, the certain consequence of pride and prodigality? Does not passion, and anger, and revenge, frequently expose men to mischievous, and many times, fatal quarrels and contentions? Does not robbery, theft, and murder, bring upon others a shameful and untimely end? how many evils are there in the world, that are the immediate effects of men's vices! From whence come wars and fightings among you; says St. James; iv. 1.

Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? and from the same fatal source are derived many of those other evils and calamities which some men labour under. If we trace them to their original, we shall find them to be the natural fruits of lusts and passions; to have proceeded from covetous and ambitious desires, and the gratification of unruly appetites, Indeed, how can it be otherwise, if we consider, that the curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked; and that evil pursueth sinners. Prov. iii. 33. xiii. 21. How can any thing but misery attend him who has provoked the anger of an Almighty God?

Let us now consider, what is the lot and portion of good men in this world; and whether the practice of virtue and righteousness is not the most likely way to promote present as well as future happiness, and to make our pilgrimage here on earth a state of tolerable ease and comfort.

Solomon had as much experience of the pleasures of the world as ever man had, and tried as many ways to make

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himself happy as his heart could devise; having kept nothing from his eyes, that they desired, nor withheld his heart from any joy; Eccles. ii. 10. and yet when he came to cast up the account, he found this to be the sum of it, that all was vanity and vexation of spirit. Accordingly, when he is instructing his son in the ways of true happiness, he advises him to get wisdom and understanding. For, wisdom, says he, is the principal thing: therefore get wisdom; and with all thy getting get understanding. And as an encouragement to do so, he tells him, that happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding: For, the merchandize of it is better than the merchandize of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies, and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. Prov. iii. 13, &c. This wisdom and understanding, which he recom

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