brought to shore so expoâ—â—d to poverty and miseries that conâ—â—dering the matter well we may â—nclude and say that through Self-â—â—ve many chast Wedlocks are disturbâ—d many Poysons mingled producâ—â—g wicked effects that many Halâ—ers are put about the Necks of Self-â—â—vers many Swords drawn and â—any sad Tragedies begun in the night â—hat are ended at high-noon-day upon a Scaffold Oh how happy are thoâ— Souls which through the grace oâ— God are exempt and free from thâ— Vice of Self-lave which produceth sucâ— mischiefs and disasters in the world Let us therefore follow and use aâ— our endeavour to put in practice thâ— Wise Counsel of Solomon in thâ— Book of Ecclesiasticus Chap. 21. â— 2. As from the Face of a Serpent â—â— from sin fly from Self-love becausâ— as a Serpent comes slily upon us anâ— stingeth the Body so all sin anâ— consequently Self-love steals upon anâ— hurts the Soul SECT 4. The beginning and continuance of this pernicious Disease Saint Paul in his Epistle to the Romans giveth a true account of thiâ— old inveterate malady of our Souls saying Rom. 5. v. 12. Sicut per â—num hominem peccatum in hunc mundum intravit et per peccatum mors â—ta in omnes homines mors pertranâ—it in quo omnes peccaverunt As â—â— the Doctor of the Gentiles would â—ave said That sin which proceeds â—â—om Self-love as we have before â—emonstrated entred into this world â—rom the beginning and from the â—reation of the same by that sin of â—elf-love death passed unto all men â—n which they have all sinned for eâ—en in the Law of Nature sin was in â—he World from old and death did â—eign until Moses even on them that â—ad not actually sinn ed which is â—s much as to say that from Adam â—n the time of the Law of Nature â—here was sin in the world and â—hough in a manner they knew it not â—et this Spiritual Disease we speak of â—eigned even then as likewise in the â—ime of Moses when the Commandâ—ents or Law of God taught the conâ—rary to wit that God was displeasâ—d therewith and therefore men â—ught to avoid the same But by reason that all mankind were maculate with original sin they had no strengâ—â— of themselves-nor grace to be frâ—â— from Self-love So that thereupon sin did reign â—ver men and also death and damnaâ—tion by reason of Self-love Infant that did never actually offend beinâ— conceived and born in original sin were nevertheless lyable to death anâ— subject to all Spiritual Diseases anâ— to all the Maladies and Corruptions oâ— the Soul having their Nature defileâ— and destitute of Original Justice being averted from God by means of Adams transgression Christ only excepted who was conceived by thâ— Holy Ghost without the Seed of Man and his blessed Mother the Virgiâ— Mary who was preserved from contracting the guilt of original sin by special grace and the extraordinary perfection of God as many godly men judge but as for all the rest â—â— mankind they were born in a weak and sickly condition of Soul by reason of that sin ever since men were â—â—eated having been holden and torâ—ented by all sorts of Spiritual Diâ—â—empers even the most dangerous â—ost pestilent most violent and â—â—ntinual insomuch that by the â—â—me they were all subject to Satan â—â—d lyable to eternal sorrows they â—ere all made the Children of wrath â—e slaves of sin and every way most â—â—serable Yea these infectious â—â—seases came to such a height upon â—â—e whole race of mankind that â—â—e few only excepted they were â— swept away and perished in the â—â—neral Floud as is to be seen in â—enesis Chap. 7. v. 1 2. c. These most violent fits of sin and â—â—traordinary punishments for the â—â—me were not so soon passed over â—t many great pains and labours folâ—â—wed upon men and that for the â—ace of four hundred years together â—â—der the slavery of King Pharaoh â— the Land of Egypt after which â—â—ing delivered and freed from that cruel bondage they were soon afteâ— visited and afflicted with other grievous calamities and miseries for the space of more than Threescore Yeaâ— together to wit in the Babyloniâ— Captivity where the Royal Propheâ—â— David by the Spirit of Prophecy describes them lamenting and be moaning themselves Psalm 136. â— 1. Super flumina Babylonis illiâ— sedimus flevimus c. Vpoâ— the Rivers of Babylon there it wâ— that we sale and bewailed the aâ—flicted estate of Sion They could noâ— refrain to mourn remembring thâ— great calamities which for their siâ— God had brought even upon his owâ— Sanctuary How many other Feaverâ— sometimes continual sometimes intermitting how many heats of burning torments and pain how manâ— cold fits of desolation and want have men at several times been subject unto and made to undergo upoâ— this account Have we not heard â—â— those surprizes of sudden destructioâ— which came upon the people of Sodom â—nd Gomorrah and all the adjacent â—ountries when they were wholly â—onsumed by Fire as it is described â—en 19 v. 24. Do we not read also â—ow in the time of Elias the Prophet â—â—d at his Prayers Fire came down â—om Heaven and consumed those unâ—â—dly wretches that were sent to apâ—â—ehend him 4 Reg. 1. v. 10. How â—any cold and comfortless long fits of â—mine Pestilence and Mortality â—ere others exercised and plagued â—ith for their sinnes the Heavens â—ing so shut that it rained not for â—any years together and the earth â— parched with drought that it yieldâ—â— no water and people forced thereâ—â— in a languishing and perishing â—â—ndition to wander up and down â—â—king water to drink and finding â—e as we read Hierem. 14. 1 2 3. â— and in many other places of holy â—ipture In the sacred Gospel of Saint John â—hap 5. v. 5. we read of a man that had been diseased in body thâ— space of Thirty Eight Years in Hierusalem and had for a long time waâ—â—ed the stirring of the water there bâ— which an Angel from Heaven curâ— those which first came into the watâ—â— after the stirring of whatsoever â—â—sease they had This poor man hâ—â— lain there expecting his cure eigâ—â— and thirty years together being â—â— reason of his great weakness continâ—ally prevented by some other boâ—â— that stepped into the water befoâ—â— him and therefore deserved at lengâ—â— to be pittied by our Lord Jesus Chriâ—â— and cured by his Almighty Word aâ— Command But alass How muâ—â— more was the whole universal woâ—â— all mankind to be mourned for aâ— compassionated which had lain lâ—guishing not only the space of Thiâ— Eight Years but ever since the Crâ—â—tion of Adam that is by the accoâ—â—â— of some more than Five Thousâ—â—â— Six Hundred and Twenty Years â—â—ing all that time infected and contiâ—â—â—ly vexed with the feavor of original â—â— which lay upon all and every one â—â—d with a Thousand other actual diâ—â—empers maladies and diseases of the â—â—ul which held and afflicted parâ—â—cular persons some in one kind â—â—me
to which Saint Paul reckons Idolatry Witchcraft Hatred Murther Envying c. among the Works and Sins of the Flesh no less than Adultery and Fornication So that in this sense every Voluptuous Man as the Drunkard and Glutton and every one that takes pleasure in sin may be said to be a Carnal or Sensual Man and that Carnal Concupiscence reigns in him and according to Plutarch and such Authors he is put into the Rank of Sensual and Voluptuous Persons not who haunts Brothel-houses or defiles his Neighbours Wife but he that is sluggish in weighty Matters that neglects the good of the Common-wealth when his place requires him to attend it that omits to perform the Officâ— of a good Parent or good Friend when there is just occasion to shew himself such But we take Carnal Concupiscences here in the strictest sense as signifying that particular sort of Concupiscence or Fleshly Lust which tends unto and is exercised in the unlawful Conjunction of Man and Woman to wit in Adultery Fornication Incest c. or in some other Actions of Affinity and like Nature with these This is of all kinds of Voluptuous and Carnal Concupiscence the most Unclean the most Filthy the most Vile and most Pernicious being stiled even by the very Heathen Philosophers and others a Furious and Raging Passion which corrupts â—he Senses of Men and like a Burnâ—ng Flame wastes and consumes more or less all Mankind Hippocrates according to the Relation of Peter de la Primauday Master of the French Academy asâ—erts that Carnal Copulation hath a â—ery great Affinity and participates â—ot a little in Nature with the Disease called Epilepsie or in the Common English Expression the Falling-Sickness and according to the same Author together with divers other Physicians there is nothing held more certain in Physick than that the immoderate use of Venerous Pleasure spoiles the Natural Beauty defiles the Body causing it to Stink and Corrupt dries up the Natural Moisture overmuch which is the Foundation of Life makes the Face Pale Wan and to look Yellow weakens the Limbs and Joynts ingendreth the Sciatica Gouts Collick Griefs and Pains of the Stomach Passions Lipothymical as Swoonings Faintings Giddiness of the Head Dimness of the Sight and that which is worst of all the Leprosie of the Pox it shortens Life and impairs both the Mind Understanding and Memory very much finally according to the Prophet Osee Chap. 4. v. 11. it takes away the Heart from God and from all Good Fornicatio Vinum Ebrietas auferunt cor What can be more said to make a Vice odious to all that regard God or themselves or that desire to enjoy Health of Soul or Body How detestable therefore ought it to be unto us How should we hate and abhor all Adulteries Fornications Incests and all other Violations of Chastity which ought not to be so much as named amongst Christians according to that Commandment of the Apostle Ephes 5. v. 3. Fornicatio autem omnis immunditia c. But Fornication and all Vncleanness let it not be once named among you as becometh Saints knowing that no Whore-monger nor Vnclean Person hath any Inberitance in the Kingdom of God What Curses are there threatned by God against this foul Sin Search the Scripture and it will tell you Under the Law of Moses it was Death Deut. 22. 21. The Prophets proclaim all manner of Judgments against it witness that alone of the Prophet Hieremy speaking in the Person of God against those high-handed sinners who assembled themselves by Troops in Harlots Houses and were like Fed-Horses every one after his Neighbours Wife Shall I not visit for such things as these saith he and shall not my Soul be avenged on such a People as this Jer. 5. 7 8 9. Doubtless he will be avenged and so the Apostle assures us saying Heb. 13. 4. Honorabile connubium in omnibus c. Marriage is Honourable with all and the Bed that is Vndefiled But Whoremongers and Adulterers God will Judge God himself will be their Judge first or last let them look to it if they escape Temporal Punishment he hath the Flames of an Eternal Fire ready for them which they shall never escape It was this Sin that brought Fire and Brimstone from Heaven upon the Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah Gen. 19. 13. It was this Sin that brought a Plague upon the People of Israel in the Wilderness whereby Twenty four thousand of them and more were in an instant as it were swept away 1 Cor. 10. 8. and the Wrath of God was so incensed against them that had it not been for the Holy Zeal and Prayer of Phineas the Son of Aaron the High Priest he had destroyed them utterly as we may read Numb 25. How hurtful and dangerous a thing then is it to suffer these Carnal and Fleshly Appetites to reign in us considering how vehemently they draw us to the Practice of those things which bring Destruction upon Body and Soul From this vile sin it comes that Men abuse themselves so much beneath the Dignity of their Sex as to submit both their Bodies and Souls to the unconstant will and lawless desires of a dishonest Woman which we see by too frequent and sad Experience in many Persons who forgetting at once both Conscience and Honour are so bewitched with the inveiglements of some lewd Women their Whore or Concubine that if she commands or desires it they are ready to hazard all that they can hazard Life Liberty Reputation c. to give her content yea so far are they oft-times transported with this damnable wicked blind desperate passion that in fine they make themselves an Example to a whole Kingdom or Country upon an open Scaffold and yet this is called Love These lewd and wicked people cover their vile and unlawful affections with the holy name of Love which where it is rightly such is always grounded upon Vertue and is the Cement not of lustful and wanton amorousness but of loyal and honest-amity and friendship The love of Carnal Concupiscence is not true love but lust an unlawful passion or affection grounded upon the apprehension of some pleasing but false good which will in the end be found a most real and pernicious evil from which God deliver us Sect. 2. Carnal Concupiscence infecteth the whole World By what hath been said above you will have learnt in a general way how that Carnal Concupiscence when 't is immoderately and unlawfully yielded unto causeth much harm and many Diseases both of Body and Soul to Mankind Our endeavour is next to be by declaring some particularities to make this truth further to appear namely that the World at present is and hath ever been from time to time through all Ages generally infected corrupted and poyson'd as it were with this contagious Vice According to the Seraphical Doctor S. Bonaventure in the first beginnings of the World this disease prevailed so much upon men and caused so great
ignorant with what exorbitancy this Vice did both reign and rage for many years together of late times the very lowest and meanest sort of People Coblers Brewers and other Mechanicks taking the liberty to dispise even the Highest Powers and most Sacred Dignities of the Nation having the King and all his Nobility in Scorn the Laws in Contempt and utterly rejecting whatsoever Commands His most Sacred Majesty thought fit to give for the good and security of His Kingdom and not only so but seizing at length upon His Sacred Person and by Injustice and Violence not to be parallelled in any History or Example save that of the Saviour of the World Pronouncing and Executing the Sentence of Death upon him as a Criminal who was most Innocent in the view of the World and using the same hard measure to many of his Chiefest and most Loyal Subjects Sect. 2. Contempts between Man and Wife The Extent and Dominion of this raging Vice being so large as it is and holding in subjection in a manner all Mankind tainted therewith no Place no Condition or Quality of Persons free it will not I hope seem inexpedient to take a short view of those several sorts of People wherein it principally resides and hath its most quotidian and constant effects These are first the State of Marriage or the Contempts which happen between Men and their Wives The second is of the Contempts that happen between Children and their Parents The third of that which happens between Servants and Masters The fourth of those between the Poor and the Rich and lastly those which fall out between the Wicked and the Just These or most of these several Contempts the Holy Scripture mention and first that which happens in the Married Estate In the Book of Esther you will find how the Queen Vasthi having by the seven Chief Eunuchs and Officers of the Kingdom received a special Command from the King Assuerus her Husband to appear before him Crowned and in her Royal Attire she would not obey his Command though she were both his Subject and Wife but refused to come contemning at once both his Royal Command and Loving Request But what came of her Contempt Verily that which Justice required The King being highly incensed at her undutifulness and to give an exemplary Caution or Warning to all other Women not to despise their Husbands nor to have their Persons and Commands in Contempt put her away from being any longer his Queen or Wife and chose another in her stead namely Queen Esther of the Race of the Jews See Esther Chap. 1. v. 21 22 2. 17. Sect. 3. Contempts between Children and Parents The Holy Scripture also taketh notice of the great Contempts which Children sometimes much contrary to their Duty shew towards their Parents giving also a great and strict charge to have all such Contempts speedily and severely punished for the example and terror of others There is a remarkable passage to this purpose in the Book of Deuteronomy Chap. 21. v. 18. where we read thus Si genuerit homo filium contumacem protervum c. If a Man beget a Son that is Stubborn and Rebellious not obeying the Voice of his Father nor the Voice of his Mother and being chastized by them will not regard it his Father and Mother shall lay hold on him and bring him out to the Ancients of the City and to the place of Judgment and shall say this our Son is Stubborn and Rebellious and dispiseth to hear our Counsels and all the Men of that City shall Stone him with Stones that he die So shall you put away evil from you and all Israel shall hear and fear This was the Law against a Son that despised and contemned his Parents he was to be Stoned to Death by all the People every Mans Hand was to be against him and chiefly those of his wronged and grieved Parents Alas what would it be if this Law were now to be reviv'd or put in execution I tremble to think how many Parents it would leave Childless amongst Christians How many Children are there now-a-days to be seen that have their Parents in scorn How many are there that will be ashamed to acknowledge their Father and Mother yea how many are there that not only despise and contemn their Parents and are so far from honouring and loving them as they ought that they fear not to curse them with Heart and Tongue and to wish evil to them to wish they were dead as being weary of them and greedily looking to have what they leave Sect. 4. Contempt between Servants and Masters But what shall we say of Servants that contemn their Masters and Mistrisses upon pretence that they are miserable and hard to them or too harsh and severe shall they upon this account be allowed to contemn their Persons or to neglect their affairs or to refuse to do what they are Commanded Shall we give Servants leave to have their Masters in scorn and derision for these Reasons or to murmur complain and speak evil of them when they are reprov'd or corrected for their faults By no means But on the contrary We must cause them to know what their Duty what Christianity requires of them the sum whereof is thus set down by Saint Paul Ephes 6. 5. 6. 7. Servi obedite dominis carnalibus cum timore c. Servants saith he be obedient to them that are your Masters according to the Flesh with fear and trembling in singleness of heart as unto Christ with good will doing service as unto our Lord and not to Men c. and by Saint Peter 1 Pet. 2. 18. who requires Servants to be subject to their Masters with all fear and that not only to the good and gentle sed etiam dyscolis but even to the froward and ungentle So that there is no excuse no plea for the Servants contemning his Master or making light of his Person Authority Words and they that will do otherwise wo unto them I say wo unto them for so that Wise Master King Solomon hath pronounced long since Viâ—o qui corripientem dura cervice contemnit repentinus ei superveniet interitus c. The Man that despiseth to hear reproof especially having for his offence deserv'd to hear it a sudden destruction shall overtake him health shall be far from him Sect. 5. Contempts between the Poor and Rich. Others are to be found that have the Poor too much in Contempt and attribute all their necessities to negligence and carelessness on the Poors part but very unjustly the poor for a great part of them being innocent of that charge and to their power diligent and careful But it is crime enough to be poor If you be poor you are sure enough to be slighted and contemned be your innocency and your case what it will for though as the Wise Man saith Ecclus 10. 23. it be not expedient to despise the Poor Man that hath understanding it is