And as
love and wisdom exist and subsist in use, it is by use we are affected;
and use consists in a faithful, sincere, and diligent discharge of the
duties of our calling. The love of use, and a consequent application to
it, preserve the powers of the mind, and prevent their dispersion; so
that the mind is guarded against wandering and dissipation, and the
imbibing of false lusts, which with their enchanting delusions flow in
from the body and the world through the senses, whereby the truths of
religion and morality, with all that is good in either, become the sport
of every wind; but the application of the mind to use binds and unites
those truths, and disposes the mind to become a form receptible of the
wisdom thence derived; and in this case it extirpates the idle sports
and pastimes of falsity and vanity, banishing them from its centre
towards the circumference. But you will hear more on this subject from
the wise ones of our society, when I will send to you in the afternoon."
So saying, the prince arose, and the new guests along with him, and
bidding them farewell, he charged the conducting angel to lead them back
to their private apartments, and there to show them every token of
civility and respect, and also to invite some courteous and agreeable
company to entertain them with conversation respecting the various joys
of this society.
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