A treatise of the passions and faculties of the soul of man With the…A treatise of the passions and faculties of the soule of man With the…

So that if the […] it self be by inherent pollution depraved and evil, it cannot but desire every thing that bears proportion & conformity to its own distempers. And this I take to be the main reason, why men of corrupt and irregular desires, oftentimes fasten Delight on those Objects which they know to be Evil, and are quite averse from those which yet they assent unto as Good.

So that if the 〈…〉 it selfe bee by inherent pollution depraved and evill, it cannot but desire every thing that beares proportion & conformity to its own distempers. And this I take to be the maine reason, why men of corrupt and irregular desires, oftentimes fasten Delight on those Objects which they know to be Evill, and are quite averse from those which yet they assent unto as Good.

To which I may add another, namely, the Resolution of a Corrupt Will to yield unto it self all Present Satisfaction, and not to suffer it self to be swayed with the Preoccupation of a Future Estate: Insomuch that the small content which mans Nature receiveth from the Actual fru•ion of some instant-conceited Good, prevails more to draw on Appetite, then the fearful Expectation of ensuing Misery, can to debtor from it. And the present irksomeness of Pious Duties, have ⟨p. 522⟩more power to divert the corrupt Mind from them; then the Fore-conceit of Eternal bliss can have to allure the Mind unto a Delight in them. Hence then it appears, what I understand by that first condition, wherewith Reason is to propose any End or Means to the Will, that it may be desired; namely, Sub Ratione Boni, under the Condition of Good, not always True and Moral; but sometimes as it is so apprehended by a depraved Understanding, Sub conceptu Convenientia: as it bears Conformity to the present Crooked Estate of mans Will: a Depraved Understanding I say, and not always properly and precisely a Darkened Understanding; Depraved by Neglect and Inconsiderableness; not darkened by Ignorance and Blindness. For there may be an Irregular Will with a Judgement rightly informed by Truth. Otherwise there could not be any offence of Presumption and Knowledge. We are therefore to consider that there is in a Well-stayed Reason, a double Act in the directing of the Will. The one respecteth the Nature and Quality of the Object: the other, more peculiarly the Circumstance of Time: the one is properly Knowledge; the other Circumspection, arising out of Meditation, and more close pressing of the Object, which is known as Good to the Will, against Insinuations of Sensitive Desires, which aim only a the Fruition of pleasure present. First, the Understanding proposeth to the Will Felicity, as an Absolute and Eternal Good, which cannot but be desired. Next, it proposeth means for the attaining