in this state of things we must easily discern to which side the final victory will belong. Let us endeavour to do our duty, and God will be with us. Let us sincerely study to overcome evil with good, and we shall overcome it. Our feeble powers shall be aided by divine might, and our imperfect services crowned with divine rewards. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.* Isaiah, xl. 31. SERMON LXXXIII. ON A LIFE OF DISSIPATION AND PLEASURE. Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.-PROVERBS, xiv. 13. PAINS and sorrows occur so frequently in human life, that it is not surprising that the multitude of men should eagerly court scenes of pleasure and joy. It is natural to seek relief from our cares, by whatever promises to substitute hours of gladness in the place of anxiety and trouble. But we have much reason to beware, lest a rash or unwary pursuit of pleasure defeat its end, lest the attempt to carry pleasure too far, tend, in the issue, to sink as into misery. There is a way, says the wise man in the verse preceding the Text, which seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death. There is a certain course of life which a man may have chosen to adopt, as leading to gladness and enjoyment; but which he shall find at last to be destructive of his happiness; for all is not real gladness, which has the appearance of being such. There is a laughter, in the midst of which the heart is sorrowful; and a mirth the end whereof is heaviness. From serious admonitions of this kind given in Scripture, it would be very unjust to infer, that religion is an enemy to all mirth and gaiety. It circumscribes our enjoyments, indeed, within the bounds of temperance; but as far as this sacred limit permits, it gives free scope to all the gratifications of life. It even heightens their relish to a virtuous man. It enlivens his cheerfulness, and allows him to enjoy with satisfaction all that prosperity affords him. The text is applicable only to that set of men to whom temperance is no restraint; who propose to themselves the unlimited enjoyment of amusement and pleasure in all their forms, as the sole object and business of life. Such persons, too frequently to be met with in the age wherein we live, have utterly mistaken the nature and condition of man. From the participation of pleasure, as I just now observed, he is far from being excluded. But let him remember, that a mediocrity only of enjoyment is allowed him, for his portion on earth. He is placed in a world, where, whatever his rank or station be, a certain part is allotted him to act; there are duties which are required of him; there are serious cares which must employ his mind, how to perform properly the various offices of life, and to fill up the place which belongs to him in society. He who, laying aside all thoughts and cares of this kind, finding himself in the possession of easy or affluent fortune, and in the bloom of life, says within himself, "What "have I to do, but to seek out every pleasure and amusement "which the world can afford me? Let others toil in the com 66 mon walks of life, who have to make their fortunes by sober "and dull application. But to me labour is superfluous, the "world is open. Wherever amusements invites, or pleasure "calls, there I go. By passing my days and nights in what"ever can entertain my fancy or gratify my senses, life shall, "to me, be rendered delightful."-He, I say, who thinks thus, vainly endeavours to counteract the intention of nature, and the decree of Providence. He attempts to render his state on earth, what it was never designed to be. He might as well expect that the physical laws of nature should be altered on his account; and that, instead of being confined to walk like ordinary men on the ground, he should obtain the privilege of treading on the air, as expect to enjoy a state of perpetual pleasure, by devoting himself to pleasure wholly, and setting aside all the serious cares and duties of life. Troubles, he may be well assured, are prepared for him, and await him. Where he expected satisfaction, he shall meet with disappointment; and in him shall be verified the saying in the Text, that even in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the end of that mirth is heaviness.— But lest, to persons of this description, such general reasoning, from the established constitution of Providence, may not be satisfactory, I proceed to show them how clearly it is confirmed by facts. For this purpose let us observe, In the first place the obvious consequences of a life of pleasure and dissipation, to health, fortune, and character. Το each of these, it is an enemy, precisely according to the degree to which it is carried.- -Character is soon affected by it. As the man of dissipation often makes his appearance in public, his course is marked, and his character is quickly decided, by general opinion, according to the line which he is observed to pursue. By frivolity and levity, he dwindles into insignificance. By vicious excesses, or criminal pleasures, he incurs disappro bation or contempt. The fair prospects which his friends had once entertained of him die away, in proportion as his idleness or extravagance grows; and the only hope which remains is, that some fortunate incident may occur to check his career, and reclaim him to a better mind. In the mean time, the respectable and the grave smile at his follies, and avoid his company.In the midst of some fashionable assemblies he may shine; by some of his fellows he may be admired; but in the world he is of no significance or consequence, any more than the little animals that sport around him.—Health, the most valuable of all temporal blessings, is known to be preserved by temperance and a regular life. But, by the men of dissipation, it is readily sacrificed at the shrine of pleasure. To years of health and soundness, they are often so foolish as to prefer a few hours of sensual gratification. Supposing that no extravagant excesses, or vicious pleasures, cut short their health and life, yet what constitution can stand the irregular hours, the disorderly living, the careless indulgence, into which the love of pleasure draws those who devote themselves to it? Hence the shattered and debilitated body, and the premature old age. The native vigour and sprightliness of youth, is melted down by effeminacy and sensuality. The spirits are weakened and enervated, if not sunk and lost for ever.- -The state of their fortune may, for a while, enable them to indulge their pleasures, and to maintain the figure they wish to keep up in the world; but let fortune be ever so affluent, in the possession of such persons, it is in the high road to decay. For to them, attention to business or to the management of their affairs, becomes a burden, which they studiously shun. Prudent economy is disdained, as a mean attention, belonging only to vulgar and narrow minds. Their habits of licentiousness require unlimited indulgence. The demands of passion must be immediately supplied, whatever the consequences be. Hence, delivering themselves up to those who can furnish supply for their expense, or who pretend to take charge of their affairs, they become the prey of the crafty, who fatten on their spoil; till at last, in the midst of thoughtless extravagance, and of general waste and profusion, they see nothing remaining to them, but the ruins of a broken fortune. Such are some of the miseries attending habits of dissipation, and the intemperate love of pleasure. We see them daily exemplified in the world, throughout all the stages of this character, from the frivolous and the giddy, up to the rake and the profligate; in some stages, only impairing health and fortune; in others, entirely overthrowing them; in their beginnings, casting a shade on the characters of men; in their completion, exposing them to disgrace and misery.Even abstracting from those ultimate consequences in which irregular pleasures termi nate the gratification which, in the mean time, they bestow, is dearly paid for. A temporary satisfaction, it is admitted, they afford. They raise the spirits to a degree of elevation above their usual tone, but in that forced elevation they can never long remain; and in proportion to the elevation to which they were raised, is the degree of depression to which they subside. Experience has shown, that no sensual pleasure, except what is regulated by temperance, can be lasting. Every pleasure that is carried beyond it, is no more than a momentary explosion; a transient gush; a forrent that comes down impetuously, sparkling and foaming in its course, but that soon runs out, and leaves a muddy and polluted channel. Who knows not the langour and dejection that foilow every excessive indulgence of pleasure, or a long continuation of amusement of any kind? From whom do you hear such frequent complaints of low spirits, as from those who spend most of their time in the circles of dissipation and gaiety, or in the revelry of the world? To what wretched and pernicious resources are they obliged to fly, in order to recruit their spirits, and restore some life to their deadened sensations? What melancholy spectacles do they at length exhibit of a worn out frame, and an exhausted mind? So well-founded is the assertion in the Text, that there is a mirth, the end of which is heaviness. LET US consider, in the second place, the ruin which a life of pleasure and dissipation brings upon the moral state and character of men, as well as on their external condition. This de serves the more attention, as the pursuit of pleasure sometimes sets out at the beginning with a fair and innocent appearance. It promises to bestow satisfactions unknown to a duller race of mortals; and, at the same time, to allow virtue and honour to remain. With a great part of mankind, especially with those who are most likely to run the race of pleasure, such as are well born, and have been regularly educated, some attachment to good principles at first is found. They cannot as yet bear the reproach of any thing that is dishonourable or base. Regard to their word, generosity of sentiment, attachment to their friends, and compassion for the unhappy, prevail for a while in their hearts. But, alas! as the love of pleasure gains ground, with what insidious steps does it advance towards the abolition of all virtuous principles? It has been ever found, that without the assistance of reflection, and of serious thought, virtue cannot long subsist in the human mind. But to reflection and serious thoughts the men of dissipation are strangers. Absorbed, as they are, in the whirlpool of fashionable life, and hurried along by a rapid succession of amusements, reflection is lost, and good impressions gradually decay. Nothing is regarded but present enjoyment, and plans of improving on that emjoyment, in future. As |
