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Show C s6 ) rious ProfpeCl of receiving that ravilhing A]1- probation from the great ] udge at lafi, " "Vall '' done, good and faithful Servant, enter thou " into the Joy of thy Lord." Were it poffible you could monopolize all the Riches, Honours, and Pleafures of the \Vorld, which no one ever did, or will do, you could not poilibly enjoy them above fifty or fixty Years at the moll: For, after that Age, the Decline of Life, and Death come on ; and where are then your Riches, Honours, and Pleafures I But it is a great Chance whether you ever attain the Share you propofe to yourfelf of the TriRes of this World, or whether they be not fnatched from you, or you from them, when you leafi think of it. So that, to fell your Happinefs, not for the Enjoyment, but for the mere ExpcClation of the Riches, Hono~rs, or Plcafures of this World, is quitting a folid, a real, an everlafiing Po!leffion, for th~ bare Hope of what is vain, deceitful, and perifhing, when attained. It is, in , lhort, to fell your Soul, not for the Pofleffion of .a Vanity, but for the Hope of a Vanity. A Degree of Folly one would not imagine a rational Creature capable of, did we not fee too many fatal Examples of it in the World. I, therefore, here folemnly call to Witnefs your own Confcience, and the areat God of . Heaven and Earth, and Jefus Chrifr the Saviour of the World, and the J udgc, before whofe awful Tribunal you and I mull one D•y appear, that I have, m the Smcenty and Honefiy of my Heart, latd before you fully, earneflly, and frequently, your whole Duty, with the Encouragements you have to obferve it, and the ·rerrors denounced by Heaven againfi you, if you tranfgrcfs ( 57 ) tranfgrefs it. And I charge you before God and his holy Angels, that you take care not to trifle with the many awful "Varnings you have had from me; nor think of deceiving yourfelf by venturing fo much as to come near the Brink of Vice, from the foolilh and prefumptuous Hope, that it will be in your own Power to flop in your Carreer, whenever you pleaJe; and that you will go jufi fo far, and no farther; left you find to yuur fad Experience, what thouf.mds have found be 'ore you, That it is as cafy for the Ethiopian to change his Colour, or the Leopard his Spots, as for one, who has once accuflomed himfelf to do evil, to learn to do well; and that they, who dare the Patience of Heaven, and negleCl the Time given them to repent, !hall have their Day of Grace lhortened, and be deprived of the Opportunities they abufe. Vtce in its native and genuine Shape is a Monfier ·of fuch a frightful Appearance, as, to be abhorred by an innocent Mind, needs only to be feen : But the bewitching Difguifes it puts on, are innumerable, and, alas ! to the greatefi Part of Mankind irrefiftible. The grand Art and Secret, therefore, of Virtue is, " 1"o venture upon no ACtion, of whofe Innocence one is " not abfolutely certain, and to avoid the leaft " APPEARANCE of Evil." Do not therefore fo much as come near a wicked Perfon ; don't fo much as allow the Thought ,9f a wicked ACtion to pafs through your Mind; fly from whatever is in the leaft fufpicious; efcape to the Wilds of .Afi'ica, rather than mix with infeClious Company: fuftcr yourfelf to be thrown down a Precipice, to be plunged into the Sea, or into a fiery Furnace, rather than to be drawn into Guilt. |