SER M. be the only Glory of the Honourable: and the IV. Temperance, and Moderation, that have been ufed in the Pursuit and Enjoyment of Pleasure, will then be the only Happiness of fuch as have had the Pleasures of this World at their Command.

The Sum of what hath been faid, is this. The Fashion of this World paffeth away. But the Fashion of Another World, which passeth not away, fucceeds to it. And therefore, let Us ufe this World, as not abufing it; and let our Hearts, and our Treasure, be in that other future, never ending, State; in which we are all infinitely concerned.

of

Of the Love of PLEASURE.

SERMON V.

Preached before the KING, March 10, 1727-8.

2 TIMOTHY iii. 4.

Lovers of Pleafures more than Lovers of God.

I

V.

N an Age of Gaiety and Luxury, which, s ER M. if we had a mind to diftinguish it from other Ages, we might juftly call the Age of Pleafure; and in a Country, where the Tafte and Pursuit of Pleasure have been carried to as high a Pitch of Elegance and Extravagance, as Invention and Wealth can well ftretch them; and in an Assembly, in which many of Those prefent have all the Advantages which Power and Riches can put into their Hands for the full Enjoyment of Pleasure: it cannot be improper; Nay, it must be agreeable to the peculiar End of Preaching; to spend fome Time in leading Men to juft and reasonable Thoughts upon a Subject

G 3

SER M. Subject in which their Happiness, even in their V. own Opinion, is fo deeply concerned.

to rob

Let not what I have now propofed give you any Fears that I am fo abfurd, as to attempt you of fo great and darling a Good, as Pleafure; or to perfuade you into fuch a State of Infenfibility, or Pain, as neither Human Nature can admit of, nor Reafon; or GOD, require. My Defign is quite the Contrary. I am going to be an Advocate for Pleafure; and to fhew you, as well as I can, how you may enjoy it more effectually, by enjoying it more fincere, and lefs mixed with Unhappiness, as well as for a longer Duration, even in this Life, than you can poffibly hope to do in any other Method. This is all the Mortifi cation you fhall hear of, from Me, in this Seafon (fo called) of Mortification: A Mortification! which will, I am confident, mortify and kill only the Pains, and Uneafineffes of Life; but enliven and prolong the Pleasures of it; and fuch an One, as is perfectly agreeable to the Chriftian Religion itself, which came from Heaven not to diffolve any of the Laws of Nature, or to destroy the natural Connexion of any one thing to another; but to add the Motives of the World to come, to thofe Dictates of Reason, which are still left as the unalterable Rule of our Conduct, in fuch Cafes,

as

as this now before Us.

And, in answering S ER M.

the End I have proposed, I shall

I. Shew what I mean by the Pleasures I am going to speak of: And,

II. Make fome Obfervations, chiefly upon the Two different, or contrary, Methods of pursuing thefe Pleafures. And from these you will easily judge,

III. On which Side the Advantage manifestly lyes, in the Point of Pleasure itself.

I. Under the first of thefe, I will not be fo unfair as to mean One Thing, whilst, I know, Thofe, who are most concerned, mean Another. The Word Pleafure, is now, by long Custom in common Difcourfe, come to be appropriated to the Gratifications of our Senfes, properly so called. And when we speak of a Man of Pleasure, we are always understood to mean, One who is, in a peculiar Manner, a Follower of the Pleasures of Senfe. The Covetous Man has, without doubt, his Pleafures, adapted to his own Narrowness of Soul, and inordinate Appetite after Mony; even that Abundance of it which is quite useless to Himfelf. The Ambitious has likewife Pleasures, in the Elevation of Himself above Others, and in the flattering Hope of a ftill greater Heighth, G 4

abstracted

V.

SER M. abstracted from other Gratifications. The

V.

Man of Virtue, that is, of true Honour, has Pleasures, infinitely fuperior to both, immediately and directly refulting from the inward Rectitude of his Mind. But Thefe are not the Pleafures we mean when we use the Word by itself, in Difcourfe: but the Idea which always goes along with it, is That of the Pleafures, or Gratifications, of Senfe, properly fo called. And it is with regard to These peculiarly that I now fpeak. After I have faid this, the

II. Next Step is to offer, as I propofed, fuch Obfervations upon this Subject as will lead us to that true Judgment upon the Whole, without which all Boafts of Pleasure are but vain Words; and by which alone we can justly pretend to fettle any Title to that Good, which, with fo much Paffion, we are seeking after. And this, I think, cannot be done better than by confidering the Circumftances, and Confequences, of the different Conduct of Men, in their Purfuit, and Enjoyment, of this Good: neither aggravating the Unhappineffes of One Sort; nor exalting, more than is undeniably juft, the Happineffes of the Other.

1. In the first Place, with regard to Thofe who have entered, without Reason or Mode

I

ration,