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must look upon them as a juft Correction for our former Disorders, and submit with Patience and Humility; faying, with Jofeph's Brethren, We have deferved thefe Things, becaufe we have finned.

We must the rather apply ourselves to this Remedy of Prayer, because through its Power and Strength, all other Means become fuccefsful and effectual.

CHAP. XI.

Reflections relating to the conquering of any Vice.

AFTER having prescribed to you the you Means to obtain any confiderable Virtue, it is neceflary at prefent that I fhould give you fome Directions in order to the conquering of any Vice, and to enable you to furmount thofe Temptations, which appear as fo many Obftacles and Hindrances to your Perfection. It is true, this Life is a perpetual Warfare, where a thousand Occafions offer themselves of contending with Enemies, that want neither Inclination nor Malice to deftroy us; we muft either oppose those Vanities of the World, which conftantly allure us, or refift thofe affaults the Devil makes upon us, or contemn thofe flattering Careffes

of

of the Flesh, whereby it feeks to ruin us. But befides all thefe Temptations, from which no Body is exempt, there is always one more fierce than the reft, which wages a cruel War againft us: It is the Mafter Paffion of our Minds, the Sin which does moft easily befet us: it being certain, that every one has a weak Place, over which he ought particularly to watch. The following Method may be ferviceable towards the conquering any darling Sin.

I. To fear it. The firft Step to be made, is to be apprehenfive of that Sin to which you are moft fubject. It appears to you, it may be, but as a Trifle, a Matter of finall Confequence: Alas! there are many, who made the fame Judgment as you do, and who, giving themfelves little or no Concern to get rid of a Paffion to which they were moft inclined, have thereby been betrayed into many deplorable and dangerous Faults; and their unhappy Fall has proved fometimes irrecoverable. That little Paffion to which you begin to be fubject; that Liberty you indulge of gratifying your Senfes in Hearing, Seeing, and Touching every Thing that pleafes you; that Vanity which already takes poffeffion of your Hearts, and which difpofes you upon all Occafions to prefer yourfelf before others; alas! you ought to fear left thefe Paffions in the Bud fhould in a fmall Time blow and flourish, left little Sins become great ones,

and,

and, in the Iffue, prove the deplorable Source of your Ruin and eternal Deftruction. To prevent fo dismal a State, you must be always upon your Guard, and muft live under a constant Senfe of thofe dreadful Evils, to which the particular Corruption of your Nature exposes you.

II. To refift it. It is not enough to dread the bad Confequences of a governing Paffion, but we must take all Occafions to refift and oppofe it; fo that it may not get the better of us, by making us do whatever it fuggefts to us: For if we do not deny it the Gratification it pretends to, it will quickly get Ground upon us, and fortify itself to fuch a Degree, that the Conqueft will be much more difficult, if we are ever fo happy as to overcome it. How comes it to pafs that Anger, Luxury, and Vanity, Pride or Covetousness, prevail as much upon you now, as they did ten Years ago? Alas! you give no Check to thefe Paffions; you are provoked against a Perfon that shocks you; and inftead of refifting your Anger, and moderating your Paffion, you give Way to it, and fay all the injurious Things you can think of against the Perfon, that offends you. Company, and good Liquor, tempt you to drink to Excefs; inftead of denying your Appetite, and refifting the Offer, you comply with both; so that you immediately perform what the Temptation fuggefts to you;, and after the fame. Manner

Manner you practice in Relation to other Vices. What Wonder therefore if you are always fubject to a Vice which you have never Refolution enough to oppofe!

But there is ftill a greater Inconveniency; which is, that you are not only fubject to the fame Vice continually, which you do not re fift, but that you daily become more fubject to it: The Habit of the Sin grows ftronger, and by frequent repeated Acts it is fo rooted in you, that it becomes almoft impoffible to conquer it. Thus you may fee then how important a Matter it is to refift it.

III. Fly from it. Your Enemies are fo dangerous, that it is always fafer to avoid meeting with them, than to expose yourself to the Hazard of being overcome. I fhould do you no inconfiderable Piece of Service, if I could thoroughly convince you, that a Perfon that expofes himself to the Occafion of Sinning, is half-conquered; and that among those who truft themselves in danger ous Circumftances, very few escape. are fo weak of ourfelves, and Temptations are so strong, and we have fo great a Bias to that which is evil, that if we add to this an Occafion of Sinning, how difficult will be our Retreat?

We

IV. Pray against it. In vain we attempt the Conqueft of any Vice, without Strength from above; and fince by your own Experience you find it a difficult Work, you can

not be too earnest for the Help and Affiftance of God's Grace: particularly when you approach the Altar, and commemorate the Sa crifice of your dear Redeemer, pray that the Virtue of it may extend to the Sin that doth moft eafily befet you, that it may ftrengthen your Refolutions againft it, and fortify you in the Day of Trial. Let the dreadful Confequences of it frequently be the Subject of your Meditations, that your Mind being the roughly impreffed with a great Horror of the Vice you are moft fubject to, you may be lefs liable to commit it for the Time to

come.

V. Examine yourself often. Serious Reflection upon ourselves often repeated, is an admirable Inftrument of Reformation. By this Means, no Vice can make any confiderable Progrefs without being detected. This gives us an Occasion to confider the falfe Steps we have made, and thofe Circumftances that have been the Cause of them, and thofe Remedies which are most proper to apply for the Cure of them.

VI. Perfevere. The Perfeverance I recommend to you, confifts in the conftant Ufe of thofe Means I have offered to you; and not to follow the Example of many, who after a fhort Trial of the Remedies prefcribed, defift from the Ufe of them, and in a Week's Time, no more think of the Directions that have been given than if they had

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