2o8 An Expojition upon tbe what others fay, nor what others do, but look to thine own Affairs, and guide rhem with Difcretion: Tbou haft Work enough at Home, within thine own Heart and io thine own Houfc; and if thou art careful to manage that well thou wilt fcarce have either Time or Inclination to receive or divulge Bad Reports of others: And rherefore the Apo!lle joins ldlenefs, Pragmaticalnefs, and Tatting, together · 1 Tim. 5· q. They !tarn to be ldlt, wandering about fromHoufe to Houfe; and no; only Idle, bMt Tatkrs alfu, and B11jiebudics, [peaking Tbingr whicb tbey ought not. They are Idle, :and yet Bufiebodies; very iOlely bufie; who, becaufe they care not ro employ their Hands, fet their Tongues on work, and fulfer them to walk through rhe World, abufing and lathing every one they meet. ATrue Defcription of a Company of Giddy Flies, in our Times, that are always roving from Houfe ro Houfe, and skipping about, now to this Man's Ear, and by and by to that, and buzzing Reports of what lll they have heard or obferved of othero. Thirdly, Take another Rule: If thou wouldcft not be guilty of Slander, he f,... quent in refleEling upon thine own Mifcarriages, or rby Pronenefs to fall into the lame or greater Faults; when thou heareft or knoweft of any Foul and Scandalous Sin commirted by another look backwards upon thine own Life and Aa ions. Canft thou find no Blots in thy Copy 1 Is the whole Ccurfe of thy Life fair written upon thy Confcience? If not, how canfl thou with any Shame and Modelly upbraid thy Brother "ith his Mifcaniagcs, when thou thy felf ball been guilty of the like, or greater~ Or why, 0 Hypocrite, bebo!tlrfl thou the Mote that i1 in thy BroTher'l Eye, and feeft not the Beam that i1 in thine own? Metbiriks our Shame f Jt our own Sins fhould be a Covering to our Brother's; and wher, we our felves are gu il ty, we !hould not be fo malicious nor foolilh as to reproach our felv.,. by reproach· ing him; otherwife, to ecllpfe and darken his Good Name, is but a\ when the Moon eclipfeth the Sun, her own Darknefs and Obfcurity is made the more remarkc able by it. • Or if God by his Re!lraining Grace barb kept thee from thofe Wickednelf.:s into which he bath fuffer'd others to fall, yet then look inward , view and fearch thine own Heart, ranfack over thy Corrupted Nature. and there thou lhalt find thofe, yea, and far greater Abominations than thofe, like Beds of Twilled Serpents, knot, ring and crawling within thee; fay with thy felf; How can I rtproacb him who bath h•t copied forth mine own Nature ? How can I expofe his lnfJmy "ho hatlr but done what I have much ado to keep my felf from doing? Poffibly rbe fame Temptation might have prevailed over me too had God let ir loofe upon me. I owe my Prefervation not to any difference that Was between us, but unly to rh~ Free and Arbitrary Graoe of God; by this it is that I !land, and !hall I reproach bim for falling, who !hould alfo my felf have fallen were I not ftrongly upheld by another? Thus, I fay, by refte£\ing on our felves we !hall be wirhheld from being injurious in<>ur Cenfures, and in our Reports, of others; we !'hall bar~ly divulge their real Mifcarriages, much lefsaccufe and flander them with falfeand forged ones. This is the Apofile's Rule, Gal. 6. J. Brethren, if a il1an be overtaken in aFault, )OIA which are Spiritual rejlorej11ch an one in the Spirit of Meeknifs, conjidering thy j clf, left thou alfo be tempted. Fourthly, If you would not be guilty of Slander, liften not unto thofe who are Slanderersand Detra£\ers; lend not your Ears to thofe who go about with Tales and Whifpers whofe Idle Bufinefs it is to tells Newsofrhis Man and t'other: For ifthcfe Kind of 'Flies can blow in your EarG, the Worms will certainly creep out at your Mouths· for all Dili:ourfe is kept up by exchange 1 and if he bring thee one Story, thou wilt think it Incivility not to repay him with another for it: And fo they chat over the whole Neighbourhood, accufe this Man, and condemn another, and 1ilfpea a third and fpeak Evil of all. I wifb that the moft of our Converh: w<re not ta· ken up'rbis \Vay in recounting Stories of what pafs'd between fuch and fuch, when all is to no oth~r End but to bnng an Evil Repott upon them. Now if any fuch Backbiters haunt thee who make it their Trad~ to run up and down with Tales and News give them no Councenance, lifien not to their DetraEt:ions, but rather (barply rebuk~ them and (ilence tbeJr Slanderous Tongues; and this will either drive thcSlan· der from th~m, or the Sland~ rc:r from thee: Prov. 25. 2 ). Tbe Norrb Wind drivetb • way Rain, fo doth an Angry Counrenanu a Backhiring Tong Mt. fijr h!y If you would nor he Slanderers of others, be not Self-lovCJS; for Self· love alw~ys caufeth Envy, and Envy Denatlion. An Enviou$ Man cannot eo· durc
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=