The vanity of this mortal life, or, Of man, considered only in his present…

The life of man, in the case now supposed, may be truly styled vain, •ither way. And we shall say somewhat to each; but to the former more briefly.

The life of man, in the case now supposed, may be truly stiled vain, •ither way. And we shall say somewhat to each; but to the former more briefly.

1. It were vain, i. e. little other than a show, a mere shadow, a semblance of Being. We must indeed, in the present case, even abstract him from himself, and consider him only as a mortal dying thing; and as to that of him which is so, what a contemptible nothing is he! There is an appearance of somewhat; but search a little, and enquire into it, and it vanishes into a mere nothing▪ is found a lye, a piece of falsehood, as if he did but feign a being, and were not. And so we may suppose the Psalmist speaking, upon the view of his own, and ⟨p. 17⟩the common case of man, how fast all were hastening out of life; and laying down the being which they rather seemed to have assumed and borrowed, than to possess and own: Lord, why hast thou made Man such a fictitious thing? given him such a mock-being? Why hast thou brought forth into the light of this world such a sort of Creatures, that rather seem to be, than are? That have so little of solid and substantial being? and so little deserve to be taken for realities? that only serve to cheat one another into an opinion of their true existence, and presently vanish and confess their falsehood? What hovering shadows, what uncertain Entities are they? In a moment they are and are not. I know not when to say I have seen a man. It seems as if there were some such things before my eyes; I persuade my self that I see them move and walk to and fro, that I talk and converse with them; But instantly my own sense is ready to give my sense the lye: They are on the sudden dwindled ⟨p. 18⟩