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Untitled Article
evil . Sensuality is a gulf of bottomless perdition , where every thing noble , respectable , and excellent is lost . A carnal ixiiiut is the grave of reason , virtue , devotion , honour , happinessy
and hope . ^ If reason and conscience be buried in the abyss of sensual indulgence , they may not revive : if they be oncedead ^ and their death sealed by determined profligacy and impenitence , they are dead for ever j the sacred sentiments of virtue will live no more in the breast- the fiame of divine love will
animate the soul no more . The heart is contracted or dilated according to its objects j great ones make no impression on little minds ; nothing great or good can reasonably be expected from the giddy or the gay ; even they scarcelv wish others , nearly related to them , to b 6
like them , or they never apply to such characters as themselves in business of importance . The love of pleasure certainly renders the mind callous to serious and good impressions j besides ^ the pleasures of sin are short , yet destructive to the welfare both of the body and of the souK It is not indeed pleasing to contemplate the miseries of sin , but it is better thaa to be par-, takers in them ; it is better to stand oa the rock of ages , and to observe placidly the storms below , than to plunge in the downward current of licentious p leasure and unprofitable vanity . .
They who are governed by the love of pleasure violate God ' s commandments , neglect their known duty , disqualify them-, selves for it , pursue what they know to be unlawful , or $ vea what is lawful in an unlawful degree or manner , or by wrong means , inquire not whether they are offending , omit the proper business of life , and are indolent or idle in seeking a niainte ^
nance , or in promoting the good of mankind . Thus all censure magistrates who pursue pleasure rather than justice , and parents who spend their earnings in self-indulgence rather than in providing food , clothing , and instruction for their families . If any alledge that they are not obliged to follow any kind qf business , as an excuse , for the intemperate pursuit of pleasure ^
they should be taught that it is their duty to acquire knowledge for the sake at least of serving by their advice those who ar $ obliged to work , and who thus perform for them services which they are unable or unwilling to perform for themselves .
Whim indeed ignorance , distress , and vice , remain in the world , none who have it in their power to remove or lessen these evils can ever want employment . They who are thus employed arc happy , but they who are lovers of pleasure rather tban lovers of God arc never satisfied with their condition .
Indulgence in pleasure requires large means , and if the largest be not wasted by the continually increasing-desire of \ eajoyrnentj , it may become the voluptuary " to consider that th §
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S 4 r Cappe r s Discourses ..
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1806, page 94, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1721/page/38/
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