The sovereign and final happiness of man with the effectual means to obtain itThe soveraign and final happiness of man with the effectual means to obtain it

'Tis recorded as the unparalleled Folly of Nero, ¹that when he was ready to cut his own Throat to avoid the fury of the Multitude, he broke forth into great expressions of Sorrow what an excellent Artist he died. 'Twas not the loss of the Roman Empire that so much troubled him, as that so much skill in Music died with him. He valued himself more as a Fiddler than an Emperor. Thus carnal Men with a folly infinitely more prodigious, when Death is near, are not so much affected with the loss of the Crown of Glory, and the Kingdom of Heaven, as with their leaving the present World and its Vanities. This makes Death intolerably bitter. Till the Love of God inflames and purifies the Heart, the fruition of his Glory is not esteemed nor desired. A Seraphim sent from the Presence of God with a flaming Coal from the Altar, touched the Lips of the Holy Prophet, and his ⟨p. 235⟩Heart was presently melted into a compliance with the Divine Will. But if a Rebel Angel, that burns with another Fire than of Divine Love, were dispatched from Hell, with a Coal from that Altar, where so many Victims are offered to divine Justice as there are damned Souls, and touched obdurate unreformed Sinners, that they might have a lively sense what it is to burn for ever; this were the most congruous and effectual way to reclaim them. Like stubborn Metals they are only made pliant by the Fire.

'Tis recorded as the unparallel'd Folly of Nero, ¹that when he was ready to cut his own Throat to avoid the fury of the Multitude, he broke forth into great expressions of Sorrow what an excellent Artist he died. 'Twas not the loss of the Roman Empire that so much troubled him, as that so much skill in Musick died with him. He valued himself more as a Fidler than an Emperor. Thus carnal Men with a folly infinitely more prodigious, when Death is near, are not so much affected with the loss of the Crown of Glory, and the Kingdom of Heaven, as with their leaving the present World and its Vanities. This makes Death intolerably bitter. Till the Love of God inflames and purifies the Heart, the fruition of his Glory is not esteemed nor desired. A Seraphim sent from the Presence of God with a flaming Coal from the Altar, toucht the Lips of the Holy Prophet, and his ⟨p. 235⟩