34·6 Of the Importance and Difficulty peo2le, who perhaps !hall know but little when we have done. It is this laborious exer..:i[e that does fon1etitnes~ ten1pt a Mi– nifter to envy the condition of thofe who gain their livingby the fweat of their brows, without the toil and difl:raction of their fpirits. Preaching is an exercife that n1any are ambitious of, and none more than thofe that are leafl: qualified for it; and, it is pro- ,bable, the ddire of this liberty is no fmall temptation to fon1e of our giddy people to go over to tha~ fea or party' where all ranks, and both fcxes, are allowed the fa– tisfaction to hear then1fclves talk in pub– lick. But it is not fo eafy a matter~ to per– forn1 this tafk aright; to fiand in the pre– ft·nce of 'God, and to fpeak to his people ·in his nan1e, with that plainncfs and fitn- · plicity, that ferioufnefs and gravity, that zeal and concern, which the bufinefs re– quires: to accon1modate ourfelves ·to the ·capacity of the cotnmon people, without .difgufting our more knowing hearers by the infipid flatnefs of our difcourfe; to ex– cite and awaken dr,owfy fo·uls, without ter– rifying and difl:urbing more tender confci– enccs: to bear hon1e the conviCtions of fin, without the appearance of fome- perfonal refleCtion;
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