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those praises into flattery and lies; for, as the women of Israel applauded David, so this sordid self-interest will, like the animosity which Saulconceived on this occasion, change the current of our souls into the most bitter of enmities.

To judge of our neighbours, therefore, we should be divested of all prejudices, void of any sinister attachments, free from all passion or resentment, in short, from all manner of interests: we should be cautious and temperate in the censure we pass on their conduct, less we should happen to do them injustice; for we can only judge by appearances, which are often equivocal and fallacious: actions may have the appearance. of evil, which in themselves are innocent and laudable. We cannot discern the heart, or its intentions; but yet these internal springs are necessary to be known, before we can be capable of forming an accurate judgment concerning the conduct of others; it is the intention that determines the moral nature of the action. The human heart is impenetrable, except to him who made it, and the moral nature of actions varies so much according to the different motives which gave them birth, that in all cases our judgment concerning them ought to be given with caution and. tempered with candour.

How illiberal, how malevolent is the practice, of entertaining ourselves or others at the expense of our neighbour's good name! To see this in a true light, let us recollect what we felt, what were our sensations, when any attempt was made on our own character, or any treacherous wound given to our reputation. Such, and so painful, we may conclude, will be the feelings of another under the same circumstances; and our conscience will tell us, that we ought not to be guilty of that behaviour to others, which we would re

sent, when offered to ourselves. Reputation is a species of property, always highly valued by its owner; it is one of the last things a liberal mind would submit to lose, and which ought to be held in superior estimation to life itself; and, next to a good conscience, is the best support, where other treasures are wanting. But if we rob, or defraud him of this treasure, this pearl, which no price can purchase, we do him an injury greater than we can either estimate or repair. It may be impossible to make an estimate of the injury, as we cannot with certainty know what benefit he might have received, if no disadvantageous impression had been given of him; and it is seldom in our power to make reparation by any after attempts to clear up his character; for the vindication of an injured character never extends so far, or spreads so wide, is never so quickly propagated, nor so well received, as the reproach.

How much more humane and generous is it, to stand up in defence of our neighbour's fame; to rescue his character when attacked, and to heal it when wounded; to do justice to his merits, and to extenuate his failings; to produce his good qualities into light, and to throw a veil over his misconduct? In some circumstances, to mention the good, or barely to conceal the evil we know of our neighbour, may be as expressive of benevolence, and as kind an act of charity, as to relieve him in his greatest necessities: and, in this particular, whatever may be our station of life, we have it in our power to be charitable. Charity in other instances may be an impracticable duty; but this alms the most indigent may bestow, and the most avaricious need not grudge.

A good word is an easy and cheap donation that costs us nothing. Happy would it be for mankind, were they to reflect with severity on

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their own misconduct, and with tenderness on that of their neighbour; were they to consider their own defects with the rigour of justice, those of others with the softenings of humanity; "were they less watchful to spy out the least mote in another's eye, whilst they are inattentive to the beam in their own. A perfect character is no where to be found: the most accomplished of human beings have their failings, the best their faults, the most prudent their indiscretions. Let us then with a careful and impartial eye look into ourselves, and we shall there see enough to make us less forward to censure and calumniate. He who knows and has well considered his own weakness, will be severe on none but himself; and severity then becomes just and laudable, when our own misdeeds are the subjects of it.

To conclude, let it be observed, that words are not of so slight a value as some may apprehend. All sin issues from the heart, and whether it appears in language or in action, the guilt may be the same. "If any one bridleth not his tongue, that man's religion is vain."+ By our words we shall be justified, and by our words condemned; and the vice of detraction is always enumerated among those sins, for which we must give a severe account at the day of judgment. If we then desire a favourable sentence from our heavenly Judge, let us in our words and conversa tion shew that lenity to others, which we shall all stand in need of on that great and awful day; and then we may hope that our lenity to others will plead for compassion to ourselves; and that God will be as merciful to our failings, as we have been tender to those of our brethren. Amen.

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SERMON XXVI.

FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.

That the Profession of Religion will not save us without Zeal and Perseverance.

Verily, verily, I say to you, if you ask the Father any thing in my name, he will give it you. John xvi.

WHEN I open the sacred volume, and consider the doctrines, the precepts, the examples of holiness, the promises and threatenings, the rewards and punishments, together with the assurances of succour to the faithful disciples of Christ, which it contains, I am prompted to say, such a religion as this book unfolds, must purify the hearts of all who profess it, and exhibit on earth a resemblance of heaven. But when I look around me, and behold, instead of sincerity and ardour of devotion, so much indifference and hypocrisy ; instead of sincerity and decency, so much libertinism and intemperance; instead of equity and justice, so much fraud, violence, and oppression; instead of mildness and charity, so much malevolence and rancour; I am apt to exclaim with the Psalmist, "O God, thou hast made us a re

proach to our neighbours, a scoff and derision to them that are round about us. Thou hast made us a bye word among the Gentiles, a shaking of the head among the people."* In this state of distressing perplexity, with regard to the probable and the actual effects of the profession of our religion, the annals of the Christian Church are presented to my view. They exhibit the primitive followers of our blessed Lord, displaying the living image of that purity and rectitude which are delineated in his gospel, resisting the strongest temptations, overcoming the most for midable difficulties, vanquishing Satan and his kingdom, and propagating their religion, no less by their irreproachable lives, than by the irresistible arguments of its divine origin, which they produced.

But this is, my brethren, only to change the object of surprise; for if Christianity had such an happy influence on the lives of its first professors, why is it so ineffectual in our own? I shall content myself with the following short answer to it, which will account sufficiently for the different appearances I have just now stated. As the most efficacious medicines will not care those who neglect the prescription; as a treasure buried in the earth can be of no service to its possessor; as the richest crop can supply no nourishment, if it be not reaped and applied to use; so the most sublime and solacing doctrines, the most just and salutary precepts, will not secure our everlasting happiness, if we neither attend with reverence to instruction, nor study it with assiduity, nor apply it with constancy to practice. But" ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to

* Psalm xliii. 14, 15..

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