The Advantages that may be derived from this Effect of CUSTOM.
If we consider attentively this Pro|perty of human Nature, it may instruct us in very fine Moralities. In the first Place, I would have no Man discou|raged with that Kind of Life, or Series of Action, in which the Choice of o|thers, or his own Necessities, may have engaged him. It may perhaps be very disagreeable to him at first; but Use and Application will certainly render it not only less painful, but pleasing and satisfactory.
In the second Place, I would recom|mend to every one that admirable Pre|cept which Pythagoras is said to have given his Disciples, and which that Philosopher must have drawn from the Observation I have enlarged upon;
In the third Place, this Observation may teach the most sensual and irreli|gious Man, to overlook those Hardships and Difficulties which are apt to dis|courage him from the Prosecution of a virtuous Life.
To enforce this Consideration, we may farther observe, that the Practice of Religion will not only be attended with that Pleasure which naturally ac|companies those Actions to which we are habituated, but with those super|numerary Page 124 Joys of Heart, that rise from the Consciousness of such a Pleasure, from the Satisfaction of acting up to the Dictates of Reason, and from the Prospect of an happy Immortality.
In the fourth Place, we may learn from this Observation which we have made on the Mind of Man, to take par|ticular Care, when we are once settled in a regular Course of Life, how we too frequently indulge our selves in any the most indecent Diversions and Entertainments, since the Mind may insensibly fall off from the Relish of virtuous Actions, and, by degrees, ex|change that Pleasure which it takes in the Performance of its Duty, for De|lights of a much more inferior and un|profitable Nature.
The last Use which I shall make of this remarkable Property in human Na|ture, of being delighted with those Actions to which it is accustomed, is to shew how absolutely necessary it is for us to gain Habits of Virtue in this Life, if we would enjoy the Pleasures of the next. The State of Bliss we call Hea|ven, will not be capable of affecting those Minds which are not thus qua|lified for it; we must, in this World, gain a Relish of Truth and Virtue, if Page 125 we would be able to taste that Know|ledge and Perfection, which are to make us happy in the next. The Seeds of those Spiritual Joys and Raptures, which are to rise up and flourish in the Soul to all Eternity, must be planted in her during this her present State of Proba|tion: In short, Heaven is not to be looked upon only as the Reward, but as the natural Effect of a religious Life. On the other Hand, those evil Spirits, who, by long Custom, have contracted in the Body Habits of Lust and Sensua|lity, Malice and Revenge, an Aversion to every Thing that is good, just, or laudable, are naturally seasoned and prepared for Pain and Misery. Their Torments have already taken Root in them; they cannot be happy when divested of the Body, unless we may suppose that Providence will, in a Man|ner, create them a-new, and work a Miracle in the Rectification of their Fa|culties. They may, indeed, taste a Kind of malignant Pleasure in those Actions to which they are accustomed, whilst in this Life, but when they are removed from all those Objects which are here apt to gratify them, they will naturally become their own Tormen|tors, and cherish in themselves those Page 126 painful Habits of Mind which are cal|led in Scripture Phrase, The Worm that never dies.
