Moreover, he is like an apple hanging upon its parent stem. The exterior is fair, and promises a rich maturity—but there is a worm preying silently within: ere long it drops to the earth, perforated and rotten at the core[1]. Whence, then, arises human pride?—The third query is, 'Where is man?' I reply, in a state of multifarious war, for he has to contend against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Your fourth demand was, 'With whom is he associated?' With seven troublesome companions, which continually beset and torment him. These are, hunger, thirst, heat, cold, weariness, infirmity, and death. Arm, therefore, the soul against the devil, the world, and the flesh, whose wars are divers seductive temptations. Various preparations are needful for an effectual resistance. The flesh tempts us with voluptuousness; the world, by the gratifications of vanity—and the devil, by the suggestions of pride. If, then, the flesh
- ↑ "An evil soul, producing holy witness,
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek;
A goodly apple rotten at the heart."
Shakspeare, Merch. of Venice, Act I. Sc. 3.
