that treats a Criminal according to the Rigour of the Law, which made holy Job, tho' his Sufferings were fo great, that he feem'd utterly abandon'd by God, express his Condition by only faying that the Hand of the Lord had touch'd him, because the very feverest Sufferings in this World are but, as it were, fome gentle Touches of the Hand of God; whereas he makes the Reprobate in Hell feel the whole Weight of his terrible Hand, giving his Wrath its full Scope, and pouring forth his Indignation upon them like an impetuous Torrent. So that we may confider Hell-fire as a dreadful Inftrument of Execution in the Hands of an incensed and implacable God, revenging himself with it according to the full Impetuofity and Violence of its Nature.

But the fecond Reafon of the exceffive Torment it causes, is the Nature or Quality of the Subject upon which it acts. For, in the firft Place, there is nothing in the Damn'd that can any way refift or weaken its Activity And Therefore the Word of God compares them to dry Wood, Stubble, or Straw; becaufe Fire meets with little or no Refiftance in Things of this Nature; as is evident from Experience. Now 'tis certain, that the lefs the Refiftance is of the Subject, to which Fire is applied, the greater is the Impetuofity and Violence, with

which it acts upon it: And confequently where there is no Refiftance at all, it acts upon it with its full Force.

But the Incorruptableness of the Damn'd is another frightful Circumftance, which may help to give us fome Idea of the exceffive Violence of their Torments. For in this World, all Manner of Pain is limited by the Mortality and Weakness of our Bodies; because whenever any Pain exceeds a certain Degree or Measure of Violence, beyond what Nature can bear, it utterly destroys us. But in Hell, Things are not fo; because the most exceffive Torments can neither destroy nor alter the Subject upon which Hell-fire acts. And therefore as the Pains of the Damn'd will be without End, because the Subject will never be destroy'd, fo will they also be without Diminution or Abatement, because the Incorruptableness of their State renders them incapable of Change. So that after Millions of Millions of Years pafs'd in those fiery Dungeons, and Furnaces of unquenchable Flames, the Damn'd will have as quick and feeling aSenfe of the Fire, as they had the very first Moment. In a word, all their Torments, tho' violent beyond Expreffion or Imagination, will continue in their full Degree of Violence as long as Hell-fire fhall laft; which will be for all Eternity; ever burning without

confuming,

confuming, ever tormenting without altering or deftroying any Part of the miferable Fuel upon which it acts.

I need not add any more, but leave every one to reflect, whether, confidering the continual Uncertainty of human Life, we act not like Madmen if we continue for any Time in a State, from which if Death carries us to the other World, we are fure to pass to the dreadful Torments I have defcribed. Let us befeech Almighty God to preferve us from this Blindness, and give us Grace to live so, that a happy Eternity may be our Reward.

The Fifteenth ENTERTAINMent.

Of the Pain of Lofs.

Their Worm dieth not, and their Fire is not quenched. Mark ix. 43.

B

Y the Worm, which dieth not, is meant the everlasting Sting and Gnawing of Confcience, and the Anguifh and Despair of a damn'd Soul, caufed by the unhappy State into which fhe is fallen. ter Understanding whereof, we

For the betmust confi

der

der that a Man's Soul is created to be happy, And fince all Creatures have a natural Tendency to the End for which they are created, it follows that a general Inclination to Happiness is fo imbibed in the Nature of the Soul, whatever State fhe be in, that it is infeparable from it. In effect, the principal, View Men have in all the Hurry and Bufinefs of Life, is no other than to make themfelves as happy as they can. And whether Honour, Intereft, or Pleasure be the immediate Object of their Purfuits, Happiness is the principal and ultimate End they

drive at.

This Inclination therefore, being infeparable from the very Nature and Effence of Man's Soul, not only follows her to the other World, but by her being then difengaged from the Incumbrance of Flesh and Blood, becomes far more violent and craving: And by Confequence, if a Soul at her Separation from the Body finds herfelf utterly deprived of the Happiness after which the thirfts, the fame Inclination, which, if gratified in the Poffeffion of an infinite Good, would have render'd her infinitely happy, renders her infinitely milerable in the Lofs of it, and becomes a perpetual Food of the Worm, which dieth not; I mean, of that terrible Part of her Punishment, which Divines call the Pain

of

of Lofs, and which I intend to explain in this Entertainment.

Tho' the Picture I have hitherto drawn of Hell be very frightful, it reprefents but one half and the milder Part of the Punishment of a damn'd Soul; fince Divines generally agree, that the Pain of Lofs is far more grievous than that of Sense. This Pain confifts principally in the violent Impreffions of Grief made upon the Soul for the Lofs of Heaven, and the unhappy State into which fhe is fallen. Now whoever has at any time been under any great Oppreffion and Load of Grief, will at least be fenfible, that the Pain of the Mind is a very grievous Torment, and fuffices alone to render a Perfon unhappy, tho' the Body be perfectly at eafe. So that there is this great Difference between the Sufferings of the Mind, and those of the Body, that tho' the Body be never fq much afflicted, a chearful and eafy Mind gives it Relief. But a Heart opprefs'd with Grief feels the whole Weight of its Afflic tion, which, even in this World, where the Objects that excite it are ufually inconfiderable in themselves, becomes notwithstanding many times fo heavy and infupportable, that many have laid violent Hands on themselves to be deliver'd from it.

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