AND SMOKING l7LAX. 39 must have hot remedies. It was the just con1mendation of the church of Ephesus, " that it could not bear them which are evil, Rev. ii. 2. We should so bear with others, as to discover at the same time a dislike of evil. Our Saviour Christ would not forbear sharp reproof, where he saw dangerous infirmities in his most beloved disciples. It bringeth men under a curse " to do the work of the Lord negligently,'' even where it is a work of just severity. Those whom we suffer to be betrayed by their worst enemies, their sins, will have just cause to curse us another day. It is hard to preserve just bounds of mercy and severity, without a spirit above our own; which we ought to desire to be led by in all things. That " wisdom which dwelleth with prudence,' ' will guide us in these particulars, without which virtue is not virtue, truth not truth. The rule and the case must be laid together : for if there be not a narrow insight, seeming likeness in conditions will breed errors in our opinions of them. Those fiery, tempestuous, and destructive spirits in Popery, who seek to promote their
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