The Morning exercise [at] Cri[ppleg]ate, or, Several cases of conscience practically resolved

The wiser Heathen, felt by the very dictate of Reason, that humane nature was not either as it should be, or as they, could have wished it, what meaneth else that [Greek or Hebrew],¹ or [Greek or Hebrew] that hanging, & flagging of the souls wings, that drooping of her noblest faculties & that fatal unwieldiness, and untractableness of the will to virtue, which the Platonists so much complain of? and what meaneth that [Greek or Hebrew], that reluctancy to the divine life, and that impetuous hurry and propension wherewith they felt themselves driven head-long towards folly, and sensuality?

The wiser Heathen, felt by the very dictate of Reason, that humane nature was not either as it should be, or as they, could have wisht it, what me•neth else that 〈non-Latin alphabet〉,¹ or 〈non-Latin alphabet〉 that hanging, & flagging of the souls wings, that drooping of her noblest faculties & that fatal unwieldiness, and untractableness of the will to vertue, which the Platonists so much complain of? and what meaneth that 〈non-Latin alphabet〉, that reluctancy to the divine life, and that impetuous hurry and propension wherewith they felt themselves driven head-long towards folly, and sensuality?

1. 1Plut, in [Greek or Hebrew].Plut, in 〈non-Latin alphabet〉.

This flesh in man, this corrupt and depraved nature, is perpetually fly-blown with evil lustings. This body of death, like a rotten carcass, is constantly breeding vermin, as a filthy quag-mire, a noisome Mephitis or Camarina, sends out stench and unsavouriness. This Region of the lesser World (like Africa in the greater) swarms with monsters, it is the valley of the shadow of death, a habitation for dragons, and a Court for Owls, where dwells the Cormorant and the Bittern, the Raven the Screech-owl, and the Satire, if I may allude to that of the Prophet,