PHILOSOPHY, MORAL. 
ration, we are no losers even with respect 
to sensible pleasures themselves; for by 
tliese means our senses and bodily powers 
are preserved in their best state, and 
as long as is consistent with the neces- 
sary decay of the body ; and this modera- 
tion, and its beneficial consequences, di- 
rectly tend to inspire the mind with perpe- 
tual serenity, cheerfulness, and good-will, 
and with gratitude to the giver of all good. 
— In the common intercourse of life, asso- 
ciated circumstances add greatly to the 
pleasures of sensation ; thus the pleasure 
of receiving a thing from a friend, or shar- 
ing it witli a friend, sociality and mirth at 
the time of enjoyment, &c. greatly en- 
hance the gratifications of taste. Much 
more then will the pure and exalted plea- 
sures of piety and benevolence increase 
these pleasures. 
29. We are, then, great gainers on the 
whole by religious moderation as to sensible 
pleasures ; still more so as to tlie sensible pains 
and sufferings which the intemperate bring 
on themselves. These are of the most ex- 
quisite kind, and often of long duration, 
especially when they give intervals of re- 
spite. They impair the bodily and mental 
powers, so as to render most other enjoy- 
ments insipid and imperfect ; they dispose 
to peevishness, passion, and murmuring 
against Providence, and are attended with 
the pangs of a guilty mind. — On the whole, 
the proper method of avoiding the sensible 
pains, whether the result of excess, or such as 
occur in the daily discharge of the duties of 
life, and of obtaining the sensible pleasures 
in their best and most lasting state,is not to 
aim at either directly, but in every thing to 
be guided by the dictates of benevolence, 
piety, and the moral sense. It is evident 
that luxury, self-indulgence, and an indo- 
lent aversion to perform the duties of a man’s 
station, not only bring on gross bodily dis- 
eases, but previously to this, often produce 
such a degree of anxiety and fearfulness in 
minute affairs, as to make persons inflict 
upon themselves greater torments than the 
most cruel tyrants could inflict. — There are 
cases, however, in which persons are obliged, 
from a sense of duty, from benevolence, 
from adlierence to true religion, &c. to 
forego pleasure, and to endure pain ; and 
this, where there is no probability of a re- 
compense in this life. Here the hopes of 
futurity lend their aid ; and the present 
pleasure which these affbrd, is in sqme cases 
so great,, as to overpower, and almost to 
annihilate the opposite pains. 
Rules respecting sensible Pleasures, 
30. “ The only rule with respect to out 
diet,” says Dr. Priestley, in his Institutes, 
“ is to prefer those kinds, and that quan- 
tity, of food, which most conduce to the 
health and vigour of onr bodies. What- 
ever in eating or drinking is inconsistent 
with, and obstructs this end, is wrong, and 
should carefully be avoided ; and every 
man’s own experience, assisted with a little 
information from others, will be sufficient to 
inform him what is nearly the best for him- 
self in both these respects ; so that no per- 
son is likely to injure himself through mere 
mistake,” 
31. It is sufficiently obvious, that it is 
the benevolent affections which give the 
chief value and highest interest to the sen- 
sible pleasures arising from the intercourse 
of the sexes ; and it also appears that these 
pleasures were designed by the great Au- 
thor of onr frame, to be one chief means of 
transferring our affection and concern from 
ourselves to others. If, therefore, this 
great source of benevolence be corrupted 
or perverted, the social affections depend- 
ing on it will also be perverted, and dege- 
nerate into selfishness or malevolence. 
These considerations of themselves point 
to marriage as the only justifiable mode of 
indulging the sexual passion. — Unrestrained 
promiscuous intercourse would produce the 
greatest evils public and private : by being 
unrestrained, it would destroy the health, 
and prevent the propagation of the speeies; 
by being promiscuous, it would be ineffec- 
tual to promote the tender and benevolent 
charities either between the individuals 
themselves, or towards their offspring, and 
would produce endless contentions among 
mankind. Now, though scarcely any known 
nation has allowed of such entire licen- 
tiousness, yet the evils arising from any great 
degree of it, are so abundantly obvious and 
important, that they have almost universally 
led to some such regulation of sexual in- 
tercourse as that of marriage, and prove 
its necessity for the well-being of society. — ■ 
Further, (to use the words of Paley, whose 
excellent remarks on this subject we shall 
freely employ, as suits our purpose), the 
public use of marriage institutions, also, 
consists in their promoting the production 
of the greatest number of healthy children, 
their better education, and the making of 
due provision for their settlementinlife ; and, 
in their promoting the private comfort of 
individuals, and particularly of the female 
sex. It may be true, all are not interested 
