Imatges de pàgina
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words they do? you aggravate your brethrens faults, and find faults where there are none; and fo do Satan and ungodly men. You have a fecret defire to make them feem contemptible and vile; and fo have Satan and ungodly men. And hereby you feem to juftifie the wicked, and encourage them in their reproaching. They think they may boldly speak fuch lan guage of you all, as they hear you speak of one another. O what pitty is it to hear the profeffed children of the Lord, to use the hell-bred language of his enemies, as if they had gone to school to Satan!

5. Are there not tongues. enough fharpened against us in. the world, but we must wound each other with our own? Is it not enough, if we are the feed of Chrift, that every where the ferpents feed do hate us; and that ail K 5 manner

manner of evil is falfly spoken of us, and that we are made as the fcorn and the off-fcouring of all things, but we must also hate and reproach each other? Have you not load enough from the world? Have you not enemies enough to do the work of enemies, but friends muft do it? And hath not Satan inftruments and tongues enough of his own, but be muft ufe thofe that are Chrifts against himself?

6. If thou hate thy brother, yet fure thou doft not hate thy felf. Why then doft thou hurt and fame thy felf? His hurt is but to be defamed, which is little, if any thing at all (for it is much in himself whether it fhall hurt him.) But thy hurt that doft it, is to provoke God against thee, and incur his wrath, and wound thy foul by the guilt of fin. And if another burt thee, in the heel, wilt thou therefore ftab thy felf to the heart? If

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another be bad, wilt thou become fo by unjuft defaming him? And how doft thou crofs thine own intentions? The ftone that thou cafteft at him,flyes back in thy face. Thou proclaimeft thy own tranfgreffions and fhame, when thou art uncharitably proclaiming his. Is not a backbiter, a reviler, if not a malicious calumniator, a worfe name(which thou tak it to thy felf) then that which thou canst faften on him whom thou dost reproach? 7. Thy uncharitable speeches are a dangerous fign of an unhumbled and unpardoned foul. If thou canft not forgive, thou art not forgiven. Did you know your felves, it would teach you to deal more compaffionately with others. You would have the act of Oblivion as extensive as you could, if you knew what danger you are in your felves. Do you not know as much by your felves as you have

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to reproach your brother with? Do you not then invite both God and man to take you at the worft, and ufe you as you nfe your brother? methinks you fhould rather be defirous of a more tender and indulgent way, as knowing what need your felves have of it.

If you fay, [O but he hath done thus and thus against me ] Let confcience fay what you have done your felves againft God & others. If you fay, He is a Schifmatick, an Hypocrite,or this or that;remember, that malice is blind,& never wants matter of accufation or reproach, & innocency is no defence against it elfe Chrift and his Prophets and Apoftles had been better used by the world. And ask confcience whether more then you can truly fay of him, may not be faid against your felves. If all fuch must be defamed, how infamous will you be? 8. If you will fpeak ill, you must.

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hear ill. You teach men how to use you. Si mihi pergit qua vult dicere, que non vult audiet.

Benedictis fi certaffet,audiffet bene] faith the Comedian. And God ufually in juftice füffereth it fo to be. And as thofe that by violence trample down others, when they feel themselves on the higher ground, do oft live to be trampled on themselves, fo thofe that take their advantages to infult, and defame others, do ufually live to be defamed. For with what meafure you mete, it shall be measured to you again, Matth.7.1,2. Judge not therefore, that ye be not judged.

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O which of these two-former ranks you fhould refer the common names of fcorn that religious perfons have been moft: loaded with among us, you must judge by the particular occafion and perfon. It is not my intenti

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