in the estimate of deluded mortals, that, in their false balance, a feather outweighs a kingdom, and a never-dying soul is of less value than the bread that perisheth. An infatuation of so gross and of so perilous a nature, can arise only from some dreadful evil latent in the innermost recesses of the mind. This evil is _sin_, which hath depraved the soul’s noblest faculties, and given it a corrupt bias, by which it is disinclined to that which is good, and precipitated to that which is evil. Otherwise, men would never act with such fatal inconsistency, as they appear universally to do, when the objects proposed to their choice are the temporary pleasures of sin on the one hand, and the unsearchable riches of Christ on the other. Were not something dreadfully amiss within, the human mind would not be so totally blind to its own favorite principle, self-interest, as to admit its weight, when worldly acquisitions are in view, and yet forget it, when even a vast eternity is at stake. What, but the utmost carnality and depravation of heart, can make men fly in their Maker’s face, or rush upon the thick bosses of his buckler, by trampling under foot, what it is their duty and happiness to observe and reverence! And what, but the very foolishness of folly, can prompt them to prefer the slavery of the devil to the liberty of the sons of God! Or what, but the most vitiated taste, can make them relish the foulest dregs of sensuality, and discover no thirst for those rivers of pleasure, that flow deep and pure at God’s right hand!