Self-denial is another, and a very important, duty. But this, it should seem, precludes, in the very nature of it, the idea of pleasure, because it is a thwarting our own inclinations. We must however include this also among the ways that are ways of pleasantness. That the gratifying of a corrupt inclination is pleasant to flesh and blood, we cannot deny : but that the mortifying of it is abundantly more pleasant, we do not hesi- tate to affirm. Suppose a person tempted to yield to the solicitations of lust, or to gratify a no less keen appetite for revenge ; would not a victory over his evil passions alford him more pleasure than a compliance with them ? would not the mortifying of an unchaste desire be attended with a pleasure more pure and refined than could be attained by tlie indul- gence of it ? And, granting that the overcoming of evil with evil would be pleasant, (for revenge, they say, is sweet,) would not the " overcoming it with good" afford him incomparably sublimer happiness^? Let us illustrate each of these positions by an example. Joseph, we know, resisted the importunity of his mistress : but were his sensations less pleasing when he had got out of the reach of temptation, than they would have been if he had consented to her wishes ? David, when enraged at the ingratitude and insolence of Nabal, went to avenge himself by his destruction : but when stopped and pacified by Abigail, did he regret the loss of any satisfaction which he would have felt in executing his cruel designs? No: he blessed her, and blessed God for her; and found infinitely more de- light in the exercise of a forgiving spirit than the completest revenge could ever have afforded him''. We maintain it then,
^ Rom. xii. 21. c i Sam. xxv. 31 — 33.