-sents to himself the glory and happiness which the angelic order enjoys, through the purity and excellence of its nature, he will find somewhat, in this representation, infinitely more powerful to engage his affections, than all the flesh and the world can tempt them with. If, on the other, he sensibly considers, not only what it is to be a beast, but what it is to fall from a rational to a brutal nature, and, for the sin of such a fall, to be degraded, even below the rank of a brute, to the disgraceful nature, and the dreadful condition of a devil, he will derive, from this consideration, wherewithal to alarm his shame, his fear, and every other sense, that is most impatient of pain and misery, to such a pitch, as will put it past the power of any other object or consideration to make a deep impression on them.

The second state, in relation to the present subject, in which a too numerous class of men may be found, is of those, who make a uniform, though more or less speedy, progress, through vice or irreligion, to the nature of brutes.

These are the men in whom human nature is inverted; in whom the brute, which ought to serve and be directed, usurps a tyranny over the angel, whose right it is to direct, restrain, and govern; that is, in whom sense, appetite, and passion, bear the sway, while reason and conscience act only an under part, when they are suffered to act at all, and serve for no other purpose, but to countenance the folly, or scheme the wickedness, of their lives. Were not instances of this sort so common as they are, we should be more shocked with them, than with the sight of a man driven by a horse, or whipped and disciplined by a dog, and obliged to run on his errands, whenever he pleases to bark his will. This image sets the thing in a most contemptible, and, I own, in a ridiculous light; but in what other light can it be justly set?

When we are asked, What man is? we answer, He is a rational animal. If this is admitted as a right definition, will it not exclude from the class of men all those creatures, howsoever distinguished by an outward human figure, over whom reason hath so little authority, that either no ends, or ends quite contrary to those of their being, are pursued during the far greater part of their lives, and in whom mere sensual affections, gross appetites, and lawless passions, pre

scribe at random so wild and wicked a behaviour, as nothing but infamy.and misery can attend? Is he a rational creature, or a man, who never acts by reason? Or rather, is he not a brute, who, after his hunger is satisfied, eats till he surfeits; after his thirst is quenched, and his spirits cheered, drinks on till he can neither think, speak, nor stand; who, after the natural ends of commerce with the other sex are answered, follows his filthy desire, till all the powers, both of mind and body, are enfeebled to an utter unfitness for every of fice, nay, every pleasure, of life; who, after rising to a station high enough to make his head giddy, and too heavy for his shoulders to bear, in pursuit of his ambition, schemes or fights on for a degree of power, which he does not even propose either to use or enjoy? Who, after he hath scraped together more wealth than is sufficient for many expensive men, is still a beggar, as appears by the miserable penury in which he lives, and by the infinite anxiety wherewith he distracts and tortures himself in the pursuit of more? Or who, being possessed of more than he can possibly use, puts it to the hazard of a die, whether he shall have twice as much, or nothing? If such creatures, instead of obtaining the least shadow of ease, peace, or contentment, only plunge themselves in sickness, in confusion, in distress, in remorse, in death; shall we not rank ourselves with them, if we pronounce them men, and reasonable creatures? For my part, I think it a scandal to human nature, and highly detrimental to civil and religious society, that such brutes, merely on the strength of walking erect on two legs, and wearing a human face, should be suffered still to pass for men. What better is the spaniel, that frowns and flatters for a bit; the ape, that by his ridiculous grimaces, confounds things sacred and profane; the fox, that supports himself by fraud and deceit; the goat, that lives only on his lust; and the wolf or tiger, that oppresses and tears all he can lay his teeth on, for disguising himself in a human figure? Were all men such as these, Solomon might have truly said, as well in respect to the life, as the death of man, that he hath no preeminence above a beast.' When the heart,' or understanding, 'of a beast was given to Nebuchadnezzar,' he was driven from the society of men; and, though still retaining the shape of a man, was forced to herd and mess on grass with his peers

in brutality. Were God pleased, in like manner, to manifest the present set of brutes, that pass for men, so as that they might see,' as Solomon expresses it, that they themselves are beasts,' what honour would it not do to human nature! And what happiness would it not bring to the real men, who might, in that case, have leave to govern themselves, and manage their affairs, by the rules of right reason, and pure religion! On the other hand, what a detestable, what a miserable herd must these brutes, thus expelled from human society, constitute, if their abominable qualities could suffer them to live together! But till this be done, which we are sure will one day happen, as it is the just privilege, so it will be the wisdom, of every reasonable creature, to look on such monsters of their own making with contempt and detestation; for, surely, of all living creatures, they best deserve it, devils only excepted. Other brutes are where it hath pleased God to put them, and act up to the nature he hath given them; but these brutes have chosen to degrade themselves from a higher order of beings, and from pretensions to an order still more exalted and dignified; and, instead of answering either the intentions of their Maker, or the expectations of men, pursue a course of life directly contrary to both; and are become, in the mouths of rash and ignorant persons, a reproach to the works of God, and an objection to the wisdom and justice of his providence.

Of those, who thus fall from the dignity of human nature into a state of brutality, there are few or none that do it all at once. They descend to this sink of folly and vice by certain steps, so imperceptible to themselves, that they often rise in vanity, as they sink in dignity, till they become capable of even 'glorifying their shame.' It requires some length of time, and force of habit, to make so great a change in nature, as that which compels a rational soul to give up all its glorious prospects, and to sink into a lower order of beings.

The original taint of human nature is that which gives the first occasion to this fall. It is owing to this, that the appetites, the affections, the passions, that is, the brutal part of most men, comes earlier to its strength than the rational or angelic. If there happens to be any defect, or wrong bias, in the education of a man, as for instance, if he passes.

any considerable share of his youth under the unhappy influence of unsound principles, or bad examples, his brutal part, having been suffered to correspond too freely and too closely with sensual allurements, soon overpowers the rational, and gives him either a worldly or voluptuous turn of thinking. In this disposition of mind, he now and then ventures on vicious practices, intemperance, lying, lewdness; and still, as conscience and shame give way, proceeds with greater boldness to more frequent and grosser acts of the kind. If his reason, roused by the immediate mischiefs of vice, or some fears of futurity, now and then remonstrates against such practices, it is easily overborne by the violence of appetite and passion in such a one, whose heart goes before his head, and hath already got the start and mastery within him. But these checks of reason, conscience, or shame, which never wrought on him with any considerable strength, giving him pain, and vice pleasure, the spiritual part of his nature grows still weaker, and the brutal stronger, till the habit of sin rivets all his vices in the very soul of him, and renders them inveterate.

In the mean time, if the influence of conscience, or regard to character, continue to give him some uneasiness, he never once considers either as an instrument of reformation, but as a clog to his pursuits; and therefore, instead of setting himself to consult with either, he only seeks a remedy against both. To cure himself of his conscience, he looks out for loose principles, and quickly finds, that all religion is priestcraft and imposition; for, as hath been already observed, his brutish heart goes foremost in all things, and forces his head to follow. By this management his very reason is debauched, and the angel within him falling, is no less brutalized than the grosser half of his composition. Regard to his character, which in him is nothing more than regard to his schemes of pleasure and interest, which cannot proceed without some character, gives him a good deal more trouble than his conscience; for whereas his conscience lies altogether at the mercy of his own discretion, his character depends as much on the opinions and tongues of others. His only relief, in this case, is to be drawn from deceit and artifice, wherewith he takes care to stock bimself, as fast as he can, according to the utmost extent of that

understanding God hath given him for higher and better purposes. Here also the angel is enslaved to the brute, and he is rational only in order to be wicked. If pleasure is his turn, dressing, drinking, wenching, swallow up all his time and fortune, and lead him such a dance, through a sink of filth and pollution, as is too gross for the taste of a swine. If avarice or ambition lays hold on him, he puts himself under the tuition of the old serpent, and, by a mixture of deceit, which is no way akin to right reason, or true wisdom, and of cruelty, which hath no tincture of bravery, he does more mischief among mankind in one year, than all the wild beasts of the world during twenty.

In the last stage of a mind, thus wholly abandoned to brutality, no beast can think or act with less regard to reason, with less sense of conscience, or shame, or pity, than such a monster. He falls from so great a height, who falls from the nature of a man to that of a beast, that he cannot stop even at brutality, but is hurried still downward, till he can hardly be distinguished from his tempter; so that, from being only a little lower than the angels,' he is now but a very little higher than the devils.

It is now time to turn our eyes from a set of wretches, who do not only shock us with the sight of reason in ruins, as is the case when we see a madman or a fool, but, what is infinitely worse, with the mind of a brute and a devil in the mask of a man, to the refreshing view of a human creature rising, through the improvement of his angelic nature, towards a higher order of beings, till that which was sown in corruption, is raised in incorruption; till that which was sown in dishonour, is raised in glory; till that which was sown in weakness, is raised in power.' These are the men, who, in respect to the great change whereof the nature of man is capable, are found in the third state, namely, of such as make a more or less speedy progress, through piety and virtue, to the nature of angels.

We are told by our blessed Saviour, that, ‘ in the resurrection we shall be as the angels of God in heaven;' that is, holy, happy, and crowned with unspeakable glory. But, if we do not resemble them in goodness here, in this state of trial and preparation, we cannot hope to rise hereafter to a participation of their dignity. The angels always behold