Condition. But, alas! he fails of his Defires and Expectations in all thefe Things. Such is the Contrivance of Things, that it is impoffible that a vicious Man fhould live happily, or fatisfy his own Mind, let his Circumstances be never fo profperous. Instead of folid manly Food, he only feeds upon Husks, which neither gratify a human Palate, nor afford him good Nourishment. 'The Mind of Man is of that Nature, that it can never be adequately filled, and contented with any outward Good, and leaft of all with those Goods which are enjoyed in a vicious unreasonable Manner. Solomon, who made more Experiments of this kind than any Man perhaps upon Earth, yet found at laft to his Coft, that all thofe kinds of Satisfactions were but mere Vanity and Vexation of Spirit. All the Pleasures which the Sinner can receive from the most careful Gratification of his fenfual Appetites, are but of the very fame kind with those that his Hogs are capable of as well as he; only with this Difference, that their Enjoyments are more affecting and lefs allayed with Bitterness than his are. And can that be the Happiness of a Man, which the most stupid Creature in the World has as great a Share of as he himself?

But befides, fo far are our vicious Gratifications from being Pleasures properly fo called, that one may with Truth enough affirm, that, take them altogether, they have

far

far more of Uneasiness and Trouble in them than of Delight and Satisfaction. All forts of Sinners, all who are under the Power and Dominion of their Lufts do know and feel this The Covetous, the Proud, the Envious, the Glutton, the Drunkard, the Whoremonger, the Ambitious, the Revengeful; all these can teftify out of their own fad Experience, that when they have fumm'd up the Matter, the Contentment they receive from the Gratification of these feveral Paffions or Appetites doth no ways countervail the Pains and Reftlefsnefs, the Difturbances and Difappointments, and the manifold evil Confequences both as to their Bodies and Souls, and good Names, and Eftates, which they fuffer upon the Account of them.

5. But to come to the laft Circumstance of the Prodigal's Condition, which the Parable mentions: As coarfe and as unagreeable Fare as the Husks were, yet he would have been glad to have fatisfied his Hunger even with thefe; but thus much was denied him. The Text tells us, he would fain have filled his Belly with the Husks which the Swine did eat, but no Man gave them unto him. Oh! wretched unhappy Man! he who before pamper'd himself with all forts of Delicacies, even to furfeiting, would now be glad of any fort of Food in the World, even of Husks, if he could get them. But fo cruel is the Mafter he ferves, that he VOL. VI.

F

will

Lake 12..

19, 20.

will not fuffer him to fill his Belly even with thefe.

Now in this alfo we have a lively Reprefentation of the State and Condition of the fpiritual Prodigal: Juft thus doth the Devil treat all thofe who abandon God and Virtue, to ferve him and their own Lufts. The best Wages they have, is only a little fenfual Pleasure, or a little empty Honour and Greatnefs, which are but Husks in Comparison of the noble Entertainments of Religion and a good Confcience. But even these they cannot have their Fill of; for, alas! they are obnoxious to a thousand Contingencies, which do either rob us of them, or put a Period to all the Delight and Comfort we should receive by them. They are in a very little Time either taken from the Man, or the Man from them. How can he be faid to have his Fill of Wealth, who is either always craving and drudging for more, or anxioufly fearful to lose what he hath? And who, notwithstanding the Fulnefs of his Barns, and the Largeness of his Poffeffions, and when he should say to himfelf, Soul, eat and drink and be merry, for thou haft Goods laid up for many Years, fhall hear one of these two Voices, Thou Fool, this Night Shall thy Goods be taken from thee, or, which is worse, Thou Fool, this Night fhall thy Soul be taken from thee, and then whofe will all thefe Things be? And is there any greater Hopes for the Ambi

tious, that they fhall have their Fill of what their Souls moft defire? Alas! no. As eafily may they make the Wind to blow always in one Quarter, or keep the Sea from its conftant Ebbings and Flowings, as they can fecure to themselves the uncertain Favour of great Men, or the more uncertain Breath of the People. And as for bodily Pleasures, what do the most delicious of them fignify, when the Appetites to them are decayed and perifhed? as certainly they will be, when the Vigour and Brisknefs of a Man's Conftitution wears off, and the Powers of Nature grow feeble and languid; which Old Age will undoubtedly bring to pass, but moft frequently Riots and Debauches do the Business before that comes. But befides all this that I have faid, how is it poffible for a Sinner to have his Fill of any of thefe Things? Or what Comfort, what Satisfaction can any of them afford him under a multitude of other unfortunate afflicting Circumftances, which he is unavoidably expofed to? Can he say, I will refresh myself with Play, or Wine, or Mufick, when he lies languifhing on a fick Bed? Or will his Heaps of Treasure charm the Gout, or Stone, or Cholick, that they fhall put him to no Pain? Or can he take any Satisfaction from the Cringes of the People, or the Compliments of his Friends, when his Mind is ruffled with a great many fecret and almoft heart-breaking DisappointF 2

ments?

ments? Or laftly, can all these Things together yield any Balm for the healing an ulcerated Confcience, which in the midst of the greatest Affluence, the most luxurious Entertainments, the moft pleafing Flatteries and Applaufes, makes the vicious Man to tremble and look pale with the bitter Reflections of his Life past, and the dismal Prospect he has of what is to come? Alas! in none of these Cafes can he purchase any Quiet or Repofe to his own Mind from the Poffeffion of any of these Things, which the World calls great and happy. He is not at all the better for them, because he is out of the Capacity of enjoying them: he feels no Relish or Gufto in them. And indeed in thefe Circumstances it is all one whether he hath them or be without them. But fuppofing he was in a Condition at all Times as long as he lives uninterruptedly to fill and fatisfy his Appetites with thefe Things, without the Disturbance of Sickness, of Afflictions, of Difappointments, and, which is worft of all, of a guilty Confcience, (which yet in the Nature of Things is impoffible) yet this Mifery will ftill attend him, he cannot enjoy these Things always. The Time is coming on apace when he must part with all thefe, his Friends, and Comforters; the Shadows of the Evening will in a little Time be ftretched out upon him, and he must go into the Regions of Death; and then he must bid an everlasting Farewel

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