SERM. any of these, as Truth and Affiftance to XVII. fome; to fome provident Care also and

good Example; and Love, Obedience, and Fidelity to others; the vicious Man has Plenty of Temptations to neglect and fruftrate. Instead of thefe he loads them with Contempt, Scandal, Difgraces, and Injuries. Confequently, he not only miffes the good Offices which they would otherwise owe and pay him; but in return. meets with thofe Contraries which proceed from Perfons wrong'd and alienated, as Jealoufies, Heart-burnings, Hatred, and Revenge.

This therefore is the wretched Bargain fuch a Man makes: To indulge an affected Paffion or flothful Ease, otherwise ruinous to himself, he poisons that Fountain from whence he fhould derive most of the Sweets of Life, and the true Relish for all the reft. I need not go into Particulars, and represent the State of fuch a one, as Neighbour or Relation, a Child or Parent, a Husband or Wife. Every body observes it, and too many feel it. 'Tis true, that diffolute People pretend to find a Remedy for this. Evil, and fubftitute a

Friendship with fome of their own Way,in SERM, the room of that which they have de- XVII. ftroy'd at Home. at Home. And to this Herd they are ftill flying from their domeftick Uneafinefs. But alas! that Remedy does but palliate, and at Bottom haftens their Destruction. That Friendship is as false and ruinous as its Foundation; and makes a short and poor Amends for that which they have forfeited, and which was built upon Nature and Justice, and mutual Advantage. The fad Confequences of the Lofs of this are perpetually watching for them at all Turns; meet with them almoft every Day, and fill them with the bitter Sense of their Follies: Whereas the Amusements of their vicious Fellowship only delude fome Hours, uncertainly, and bear no Proportion to the Comforts that each Day, much less that the Courfe of a whole Life, calls for.

Thus we have made good the third Charge againft Intemperance, that it is apt to deprive Men of all Peace and Freedom, all Heart and Guft, for the ordinary Enjoyments whether of Body or Mind; in as much as it embroils them with those, who

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SERM. who fhould be moft dear to them, and to XVII. whom they should be most dear; makes those Friends to be Enemies, that are in comparably the best qualified to contribute to their daily Happiness, and no lefs qua+ lified again to create them daily Vexation and Mifery.

The fourth and last Reason I have al ledged, arifing from our temporal Inte+ reft, for Abftinence from fleshly Lufts, is, that they are deftructive of publick Soci ety also, and of thofe great Ends of Property, Quiet, and common Safety, for which it was inftituted. And this is a Reason of the greatest Dignity, though in many Places and Times of the smallest Force. But though a Man put off all Generosity, and retain not the leaft Concern for any but himself, ftill he will have Cause to fhun and discountenance what threatens national Tranquillity, left he himself and his own Affairs should not escape, when every body elfe is fuffering. Now Corruption of Manners has been ever the most common Forerunner, and effectual Inftrument of the Subverfion of Nations and Governments, as all Hiftories

witnefs,

witness. And Reafon fhews how it is SERM. done; and warns us to apprehend the XVII. fame Effects from the fame Caufe. Lewdnefs and Intemperance, and indulging to unprofitable Idlenefs, are a great Part of that Corruption, and the principal Incentives of the reft. Civil Establishments are founded in Justice, and fupported by the fame. When therefore the Spirit to maintain, and to yield to that, is loft from among Men, how fhould those Establishments stand, or the Security and Happinefs which depend upon them? But the Compliance with vicious Paffions is still leading us out of the Way of Juftice, and weakens more and more the Influence it naturally has upon our Minds, till at length all the Characters of it are quite fullied and obliterated. And befides that general Depravation from Vice, whereby the Regards to Right and Wrong are extinguished, it introduces univerfally the Temptation of Neceffities, not to be fatisfied by just and lawful Acquifitions. These Neceffities are the conftant Fruits of Sloth and Thoughtleffness, and riotous Expence. And let no Man truft to the honest Dispofition

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SERM. fition he is confcious of: For the Exam

XVII. ples are infinite of generous Nature's being

triumph'd over by the Streights they have run into, and brought down to the meaneft and baleft Actions. And when we are in this Pofture, there can be no Want of Managers or Tools, according to their feveral Capacities, for affaulting or betraying the Governors of the Nation, or the Government itself. Their Extravagance and Neceffities have been too hard for their private Callings or Fortunes, and stand ready for all Opportunities of preying upon the Publick. Neither is the Greatness of an Estate any Security from this Temptation and Guilt: Men of the largest Re venues are by these Follies betrayed into a Condition, which, though not truly, yet to them and their Minds is neceffitous and of which they are at least as impatient as others of real Want. And their engaging against the common Good is the most fatal of all; fince they have, join'd in one, the Credit of Wealth, and the Defperation of Poverty. Let no Man therefore venture himself to the Conduct of a vicious Habit, of what Temper or

Quality