Page:A Treatise concerning the Use and Abuse of the Marriage Bed.djvu/324

 to name, and would Blush to do it it another time.

Luxury is not only a Sin in its own Nature, but it is a strong Motive to other Sins; 'tis the Devil at the Elbow, prompting and exciting, and we ought to avoid the Cause as we would obey the Scripture, which says, Flee youthful Lusts; the Reason is given in the very same Verse, for they War against the Soul; they raise a Tumult in the Man, they arm his Vices against his Reason, and procure him Enemies, even from within, that are too hard for him; in short, they raise the Devil, which he cannot lay.

is an undeniable Maxim, that a luxurious Appetite in eating and drinking raises an ungoverned Appetite in other Pleasures; Nature obeys its own Laws: Great takings in must have great goings out; gross feeding, and strong rich taking in of Diet, must have Evacuations in proportion; if there is an Acrimony in the Blood, there is a physical Application necessary in its Course; great Digestures must have strong Emeticks; there must be Evacuations of one Sort or other.

a vitiated Appetite of one kind is the Effect of a vitiated gorging the Appetite on the other; and the gross feeding occasions gross Desires; on the other hand, to restrain and limit the Appetite in eating and drinking, is the only Way to get a compleat Victory over our own Corruption.

A mortified Mind therefore, a Soul resolv'd not to be overcome, or be drawn aside of its own Lusts, and enticed, but resolved to mortify the Flesh, with its Affections and Lusts, would restrain it self voluntarily, and subdue all the Oc-