own houfe, and the hearts of good men, but out of heaven itself, without thorough repentance and reformation.

§4. The cafe ftanding thus; it is matter of juft admiration, how the fin of uncleanness should grow fo epidemical and common as it doth, feeing fuch as live in this filthy courfe, must needs counter-act and oppose their own reafon and intereft together. For they forfake God's way, which gives them as much liberty as can be reasonably defired; and caft themselves into a courfe of life, clogged with all manner of temporal and eternal miferies, of foul and body, honour and eftate.

The plain rule and dictate of common reafon, which I laid down before, being applied to this particular cafe, manifeftly condemns it. For feeing honefty and chastity comprize the true pleasure, profit, and honour of the whole man; are more congruous to human nature, and preservative of it; it ought, therefore, to be preferred in the estimation and choice of all men, to unlawful adulterous pleasures, which (for the reasons above) are inferior in themfelves to chafte, conjugal enjoy. ments; and befides that, are attended and followed with fuck a train of present and future miseries, deftructive to the whole

man.

And yet for all this, to the amazement of all serious obfervers, never was any age more infamous for this fin, than the prefent age is; and that under the clear fhining light of the gofpel,

What the special causes and inducements, to the overflowing and abounding of this fin, are in the prefent age, will be well worth the enquiring and fifting at this time,

§ 5. Inducement 1.

It is highly probable, the influencing examples of great men, have had no small hand in the spreading of this abominable and crying fin, amongst all inferior ranks and orders of

men.

Great mens ill examples, like a bag of poison in the founfain, corrupt and infect multitudes. The vulgar think they are privileged, or, at the least, very much excufed, when they do but follow the precedents and examples of great and eminent perfons.

But this will be found a weak and foolish plea, for uncleannefs, which will never be able to endure the test of your own reafon For the inbred notions of a God, and of a future life of retribution, being fo firmly fealed and engraven upon human nature, they can never be utterly eradicated; your own

reafon will argue from thofe inbred notions in this manner, and how you will be able to refel the argument, and escape conviction and felf-condemnation, quite furmounts my imagination, whatever it do yours. And thus it will dispute, and dilemma you, do what you can.

That God, before whom greater and leffer, honourable and baser finners shall appear in judgment, will be either partial or impartial, in his judgments upon them. There is, or there is not refpect of perfons with him. If there be, (which both his nature and word utterly deny ;) then thofe great and honourable adulterers, or fornicators, whofe examples you fol low, may haply be excused for their eminency and honour's fake, but you, that have no fuch eminency and honour in the world, as they have, must be condemned, though you thought to escape as well as they.

But if there be no partiality, or respect of perfons with God, (as most affuredly there is none), then both greater and leffer, honourable and bafer, adulterers, muft be condemned together, to the fame common and intolerable mifery.

So that to take any (though the leaft) encouragement to fin, from the precedents and examples of great ones, is a most fenfeless and irrational thing, utterly unworthy of one that believes there is a juft and impartial God; and he is worse than a devil, that believes it not: For the devils themselves believe and tremble.

§ 6. Inducement 2.

But others would perfuade us, they are drawn into this fir by a kind of inevitable neceffity; they being neither able to contain, nor marry.

They are not yet arrived to an estate fufficient to maintain a family with reputation: But when they have gotten enough by trade, or by the fall of their paternal eftates, to live in equal reputation with their neighbours; then they defign to alter their courfe of life, and abandon these follies.

But, reader, if this be thy plea for uncleannefs, thou shalt have as fair a trial, for a foul fact, as thine own heart can defire: be still thine own judge; and let thine own reason give a fair anfwer to thefe three pertinent queftions.

Queft. 1. Whether whoredom be as likely and promifing a way to engage God's bleffing upon your trades and employments, as continence or conjugal chastity are? That is to fay plainly, Whether obedience and difobedience to the law of God, be all one, and please him alike? You know, your fuccefs in business it is not in your own hand; it is God

that giveth thee power to get wealth: His bleffing maketh rich. And is fin as likely a way to engage his bleffing, as duty and obedience is? I am confident, your own reafon will never. give it.

Object. If you fay, fuch perfons profper in the world as well as others, for ought you fee.

:

Sol. The contrary is evident in the common observation of mankind By reafon of whoredom, multitudes are brought to a piece of bread. And though God suffer fome unclean perfons to profper in the world; yet chastity with poverty, is infinitely. preferable to fuch accurfed prosperity.

Quest. 2. Whether the course of fin you are now driving and accuftoming yourselves to, will not, in all probability, so infatuate and bewitch you, that when you come into a married eftate, you shall still be under the power of this fin; and, fo ruin the perfon you marry, as well as yourfelf? If the word of God fignify any thing with you, it fignifieth this; That there is a witchcraft in whoredom; and, comparatively speaking, "None that go to her return again, neither take they "hold of the paths of life;" Prov. ii. 18, 19.

Object. If to invalidate this teftimony, you shall say that he, that fpake this, did himself go after strange womem.

Sol. It is true, he did fo. But then withal, you must remember, that he hath warned you by his own fad experience, that you never follow him in thofe his footsteps: Ecclef. vii. 26. "I find (faith he) more bitter than death, the woman whose heart is fnares and nets, and her hands as bands. Whofo "pleaseth God, fhall escape from her; but the finner shall be "taken by her."

: Quest. 3. And, laftly, I demand of your reason, whether it can; or will, allow any place to this plea of neceffity; before you have tried and ufed all God's appointed remedies, which are fufficient to prevent that neceffity you plead?

There are lawful remedies enough, fufficient, with God's bleffing, to keep you from fuch a neceffity to fin; fuch as temperance, and more abftemioufnefs in meats and drinks; avoiding lafcivious books, play-houses, and filthy company; laborious diligence in your lawful callings, and fervent prayer, for mortifying and preventing grace: And if temptations fhall ftir amidst all these preventives; then cafting yourselves upon the directions and fupply of providence, in the honourable eftate of marriage. Never plead neceffity, whilft all thefe preventives might, but have not been used.

§ 7. Inducement 3.

Others plead the abfence of their lawful remedies, and prefence of tempting objects. This is the cafe of our foldiers and feamen. But though this be the most colourable pretence of all the reft, yet your own reason and conscience will, even in this cafe, fo dilemma and non-plus you, that if you will adventure upon the fin, you fhall never have their leave and confent with you: For they have a fpecial and peculiar confideration of you, as perfous more eminently and immediately exposed to the dangers of death than other men. And thus (would you but give them a fair hearing) they will expoftulate and reafon out the matter with you.

Either thou shalt efcape, or not escape, the hazard of this voyage, or battle. If thou fall (as to be fure many will) will this be an honourable, safe, and comfortable close, and winding up of thy life? What, from a whore to thy grave! God forbid. From burning lufts, to everlasting burnings! Better thou hadft never been born.'

Or if thou do escape, and return again to thy family; how canft thou look her in the face, with whom thou hast so bafely broken thy marriage-vow and covenant? Whatever else thou bring home with thee, to be sure thou shalt bring home guilt with thee, a blot never to be wiped away.

Object. If you say, you are not fuch fools to publish your own fhame; you will follow Caefar's advice to the young adulterer, Si non cafte, tamen caute, If I act not chaftly, I will act cautiously.

Sol. Your reafon and confcience will both deride the weaknefs and folly of this pretence: For they both very well know, no man fins fo fecretly, but he fins before two infallible witneffes, viz. God, and his own confcience; and that the laft, and least of these, is more than a thousand witneffes. That God usually detects it in this world, carry it as closely as you will; but to be fure, it fhall be published as upon the housetop, before men and angels in the great day.

$8. Inducement 4.

Another inducement to this fin, (and the laft I fhall mention), is the commonness of it, which abates the shame of it.

What need they trouble themselves fo much, or be fo fhy of that which is practifed by thousands, which is fo frequently acted in every place, and little made of it?

But if either your reason or conscience will admit this plea for good and lawful, the devil hath utterly blinded or infatuated the one or other; as will evidently appear by the follow ing reafons. For,

Reafon 1. If the thing be evil, (as you cannot deny but it is) then, by how much the commoner, by fo much the worse it must needs be. Indeed, if a thing be good, by how much the commoner, fo much the better: but to attribute this effential property of good unto evil, is to confound and destroy the difference between them, and make good and evil both alike. Reafon 2. Ifthe commonnefs of uncleannefs will excufe you, it will more excuse all others that fhall commit this fin after you and fiill by how much more the numbers of adulterers and fornicators are increased, ftill the lefs fcruple men need make to commit it; and fo the whole community shall in a little time be fo infected and defiled, that christian kingdoms fhall quickly become like Sodom, and God provoked to deal with them, as he did by that wretched city.

Reafon 3. If the commonnefs of the fin be an excuse and plea for it, fuppofe the roads fhould be more infested than they are with highwaymen, fo that every month you should fee whole cart-loads of them drawn to Tyburn; would your reafon infer from thence, that because hanging is grown fo common, you need not scruple so much as you were wont to do, to take a purse, or pistol an honest innocent traveller upon the road?

Object. If you fall fay, uncleanness is not fo coftly a fin as robbery is there is a great deal of difference between Tyburn, and a whore-house punishment.

Sol. There is a great difference indeed, even as much as is betwixt Tyburn and hell, or a fmall mulet in the courts of men, and the eternal wrath of a fin-revenging God: fo great will the difference betwixt the punishments of all fins by God, and by men, be found.

Thus you fee, gentlemen, the common pleas for uncleannefs over-ruled by your own reason and confciences.

We live in a plentiful land, abounding with all the comforts of this life, and with thousands of full-fed wantons; of whom the Lord complains this day, as he did of the Jews, whom that flowing land vomited out, Jer. v. 7. "When I had fed them "to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled them"felves by troops in the harlots houses. They were as fed

horfes in the morning; every one neighed after his neigh"bour's wife." How many fuch ftallions are thus neighing in the fat pastures of this good land!

Nor do I wonder at all to fee the growth of Atheism, in a land fwarmed and over-run with fo many thousands of blafphemers, drunkards, and adulterers. It was a grave obfervati