Pleasures pass away as soon as they have wearied out the body, and leave it as a bunch of grapes whose juice has been pressed out ; which made one to say, Nulla major volwptas, quam volwptatis fastidium, 1 see no greater pleasure in this world than the contempt of pleasure.
Julian, though an apostate, yet professed that the pleasures of the body were far below a great spirit ; and Tully saith, he is not worthy of the name of man, qui unum diem velit esse in voluptate, that would entirely spend one whole day in pleasures. It is better not to desire pleasures, than to enjoy them. ' I said of laughter, it is mad ; and of mirth, What dost thou ?' Eccles. ii. 2. The interrogation bids a challenge to all the masters of mirth, to produce any one satisfactory fruit which it affordeth, if they could.
Xerxes, being weary of all pleasures, promised rewards to the inventors of new pleasures, which being invented, he nevertheless remained un- satisfied. As a bee flieth from flower to flower and is not satisfied, and as a sick man removes from one bed to another, from one seat to another, from one chamber to another for ease, and finds none ; so men given up to sensual pleasures go from one pleasure to another, but can find no content, no satisfaction in their pleasures : ' The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing,' Eccles. i. 8. There is a curse of unsatisfiableness lies upon the creature. Honours cannot satisfy the ambitious man, nor riches the covetous man, nor pleasures the voluptuous man. Man cannot take off the weariness of one plea- sure by another, for after a few evaporated minutes are spent in plea- sures, the body presently fails the mind, and the mind the desire, and the desire the satisfaction, and all the man.
Pleasures are Junos in the pursuit, and but clouds in the enjoyment. Pleasure is a beautiful harlot sitting in her chariot, whose four wheels are pride, gluttony, lust, and idleness. The two horses are prosperity and abundance, the two drivers are idleness and security, her attendants and followers are guilt, grief, late repentance, if any, and oft death and ruin. Many great men, and many strong men, and many rich men, and many hopeful men, and many young men, have come to their ends by her ; but never any enjoyed full satisfaction and content in her.2
Ah! young men, young men, avoid this harlot, and come not near the door of her house. And as for lawful pleasures, let me only say this,
1 They were much out that held pleasure to be man's sitmmum Ionian.
2 Becanus saith, that the fruit of the tree of knowledge is sweet, but in the end it breeds ckoler ; so do worldly pleasures.
202 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13.
it is your wisdom only to touch them, to taste them, and to use them, as Mithridatea used poison, to fortify yourselves against casual extremities and maladies. When Mr Roger Ascham asked the Lady Jane Grey how she could lose such pastime, her father with the duchess being a-hunting in the park, smilingly answered, All the sport in the park is but a shadow of that pleasure I find in this book, — having a good book in her hand.1
Augustine, before his conversion, could not tell how to live without those pleasures which he delighted much in, but when his nature was changed, and his heart graciously turned to the Lord, Oh ! how sweet, saith he, is it to be without those sweet delights.
Ah! young men, when once you come to experience the goodness and sweetness that is in the Lord, and in his word and ways, you will then sit down and grieve that you have spent more wine in the cup than oil in the lamp.
There are no pleasures so delighting, so satisfying, so ravishing, so engaging, and so abiding as those that spring from union and com- munion with God, as those that flow from a sense of interest in God, and from an humble and holy walking with God.
Evil 3. The third sin of youth is rashness.
They many times know little and fear less, and so are apt rashly to run on, and run out often to their hurt, but more often to their hazard.2 ' Exhort young men to be sober-minded or discreet,' Titus ii. 6. They are apt to be rash, to be Hotspurs. As you may see in Rehoboam's young counsellors, who counselled him to tell the people, 1 Kings xii. 8-11, that groaned under their burdens, that 'his little finger should be thicker than his father's loins, and that he would add to their yoke ; and that whereas his father had chastised them with whips, he would chastise them with scorpions.' This rash counsel proved Rehoboam's ruin ; yea, David himself, though a good man, yet being in his warm blood and young, how sadly was he overtaken with rashness ! 'As the Lord God of Israel liveth,' saith he, 'except thou hadst hastened and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal, by to-morrow light, any that pisseth against the wall,' 1 Sam. xxv. 34, 35. And this he binds with an oath. Because the master was foolishly wilful, the innocent servants must all be woful ; and because Nabal had been nig- gardly of his bread, David would be prodigal of his blood.3
Ah ! how unlike a Christian, yea, how below a man doth David carry it when his blood is up, and he is a captive to rashness and passion ! Rashness will admit of nought for reason, but what unreasonable self shall dictate for reason. As sloth seldom bringeth actions to good birth, so rashness makes them always abortive ere well formed. A rash spirit is an ungodlike spirit ; a rash spirit is a weak spirit, it is an effeminate spirit. ' A man of understanding is of an excellent spirit,' or as the Hebrew will bear, is of a cool spirit, not rash and hot, ready at every turn to put out his soul in wrath, Prov. xvii. 27. Rashness unmans a man, it will put a man upon things below manhood. Ero-
1 Tho memorable scene when Lady Jane was reading Plato, as quaintly told by the old ' Schoolmaster.'— G. 2 Arist. Polit.
3 Diis proximns We est, quem ratio, non ira, movct, He is next to God, whom reason, not anger, moveth. — Seneca. [De Ira, very often. — G.]
1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 20.3
stratus, a hotspur, an obscure base fellow, did in one night by fire destroy the temple of Diana at Ephesus, which was two hundred and twenty years in building, of all Asia, at the cost of so many princes, and beautified with the labours and cunning of so many excellent work- men. The truth is, there would be no end were I to discover the many sad and great evils that are ushered into the world by that one evil, rashness, which usually attends youth, &c. ; and therefore, young men, decline it, and arm yourselves against it, &c.
Evil 4. The fourth sin that ordinarily attends on youth is, Mocking and scoffing at religious men and religious things.