252 A particular flddr f to Young Perfons. S £ n ra, tive againft reproachful and injurious fpeeches IX. of all kinds, will be humanity and good na- ture, cheriíhed by our utmoft attention and confiant care, efpecially, by the gofpel mo- tives heightened into the glorious virtue of chriflian charity, which is the end of the commandment, the greateft height of goodnefs we can arrive to in imitation of the divine be- nevolence, and the moil: perfect bond of reli- gious and happy fociety. Charity fufereth long and is kind, it envied) not, vaunteth notitfelf; behaveth not unfeemly, rejoiced) not in iniquity, but in the truth, it is not eafily provoked, it hopeth, believeth, and endured) all things. But it is to be obferved, that next to nature itfelf, or the fprings of action originally planted in our minds, habits have the greateft power in di- recting our courfe of action. How hardly are evil cuftoms unlearned ? How eafy and de- lightful do things become by being habitual, which otherwife were indifferent or even dif- ficult, nay, difagreeable. I have therefore on this occafion mentioned the various kinds of evil fpeaking and the contrary, which are as much under the influence of habits, at leaft in force inftançes, as any thing in the whole compafs of human action ; I have mentioned them, I fay, fo particularly, that young people, who are the molt flexible, and
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=