Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Sermon
faculties are exercised as they ought to be ,. they enli g hten our understanding—warm our hearts with every virtue—and free us from the painful sensations attached to indolence and luxury . The enjoyments of a benevolent heart , animated by reli g ion , are unspeakably delightful—and the only ones it becomes us to wish for—and to endeavour to obtain : —all other leasures are insiidand vain as the
p p , imagination that creates them . Most men judge of themselves more from the opinion you seem to have of them , than from a real knowledge of their own worth—from hence springs that quantity of pretended wise men and women who , at the bar of impartial reason , would sink to the class of fools .
Know thyself : —It is not an easy matter . Men born in affluence have seldom a friend , candid , honest , or sensible enough to tell them their defects . It is only at the school of adversity that they can acquire a true estimate of their characters . Tell that man , who betrays in every action an invincible ignorance of the means of being happy , and longs only for those things that are noxious to his health , reputationand peace of mindthat his conduct is inconsistent with
, , reason , he will not understand you . — -Tell that young woman , so studious of her dress—who courts the smiles of the man she despises , that the time she spends at her toilette , and in the company of coxcombs , would be better employed in reading , reflecting , and improvin g her understanding ; her leering look will reply , she does not believe vou . Their manner of life is not a fault of their natural dispositionbut
, the inevitable consequence of your behaviour to them . They are much more respectable than you are;—for , had you not intended to profit by their indiscretions , you would not have cherished their follies , nor , by a feigned respect , induced them to think themselves wise .
" What , then , would you really have us believe that we are all absolutely and necessarily the dupes of our passions ? " Not so ;—but I would tejl you , that you may acquire ill habits easily , but will find it difficult to get rid of them . " All is vanity , " saith the Preacher—How ! is ALL vanity ? Where then is our hope ? No , certainly : when we lead a godllifeand endeavouras far as our
y , , frail nature will permit , to trace the paths of reli g ion and virtue , all is NOT vanity . —Yet the Preacher was right ; for he meant it of the fond pursuits of the world , in which we too often flatter and support each other .- This is a great evil under the sun . The flatterer is as great an enemy to virtue as the indiscreet moralist . —Though their ends be absolutely different ,. they produce the
same effect .- —Reli gion suffers equally by the villany of the formerand the imprudent zeal of the latter . Women born for loving you , will always adopt the form you like the best . —If you are a man of sense , they will be rational beingstheir morals are as much in your power , as yours are in that of tbe legislation—from being the mere children of error . and fancy , you may raise them to the dignity of human nature;—but before you think of reforming them , it is highly necessary to gain the command
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Sermon
faculties are exercised as they ought to be ,. they enli g hten our understanding—warm our hearts with every virtue—and free us from the painful sensations attached to indolence and luxury . The enjoyments of a benevolent heart , animated by reli g ion , are unspeakably delightful—and the only ones it becomes us to wish for—and to endeavour to obtain : —all other leasures are insiidand vain as the
p p , imagination that creates them . Most men judge of themselves more from the opinion you seem to have of them , than from a real knowledge of their own worth—from hence springs that quantity of pretended wise men and women who , at the bar of impartial reason , would sink to the class of fools .
Know thyself : —It is not an easy matter . Men born in affluence have seldom a friend , candid , honest , or sensible enough to tell them their defects . It is only at the school of adversity that they can acquire a true estimate of their characters . Tell that man , who betrays in every action an invincible ignorance of the means of being happy , and longs only for those things that are noxious to his health , reputationand peace of mindthat his conduct is inconsistent with
, , reason , he will not understand you . — -Tell that young woman , so studious of her dress—who courts the smiles of the man she despises , that the time she spends at her toilette , and in the company of coxcombs , would be better employed in reading , reflecting , and improvin g her understanding ; her leering look will reply , she does not believe vou . Their manner of life is not a fault of their natural dispositionbut
, the inevitable consequence of your behaviour to them . They are much more respectable than you are;—for , had you not intended to profit by their indiscretions , you would not have cherished their follies , nor , by a feigned respect , induced them to think themselves wise .
" What , then , would you really have us believe that we are all absolutely and necessarily the dupes of our passions ? " Not so ;—but I would tejl you , that you may acquire ill habits easily , but will find it difficult to get rid of them . " All is vanity , " saith the Preacher—How ! is ALL vanity ? Where then is our hope ? No , certainly : when we lead a godllifeand endeavouras far as our
y , , frail nature will permit , to trace the paths of reli g ion and virtue , all is NOT vanity . —Yet the Preacher was right ; for he meant it of the fond pursuits of the world , in which we too often flatter and support each other .- This is a great evil under the sun . The flatterer is as great an enemy to virtue as the indiscreet moralist . —Though their ends be absolutely different ,. they produce the
same effect .- —Reli gion suffers equally by the villany of the formerand the imprudent zeal of the latter . Women born for loving you , will always adopt the form you like the best . —If you are a man of sense , they will be rational beingstheir morals are as much in your power , as yours are in that of tbe legislation—from being the mere children of error . and fancy , you may raise them to the dignity of human nature;—but before you think of reforming them , it is highly necessary to gain the command