462 CHRISTIAN M6RALITY, VIZ. DERM. xxI whereas a man who is much engaged in crafty designs, will now and then be tempted to intrench upon truth, and come nearer the brink of lying, to carry on and cover all his secret pùrposes. Methinks I could pity rathtr than envy the high sta- tion ofcourtiers. How often they are constrained to put on disguise, to colour or to conceal their real designs ! How near they walk to the borders of falsehood, and tread hourly upon the very edge of a lie ! David, the Man after God's own heart, while he kept his father"s sheep, was more secure from this temptation ; but when he became a courtier and a king, he was often exposed, and therefore he begs earnestly, that God would remove from him the way oflying, Psalm cxix. 29.. He had felt the mischievous influence of this snare, and dreaded the pernicious power of it. To be ever practising the poli- tician at home or abroad, is a constant snare to sincerity ; and to live as a spy in a foreign court, may be a post of service to our own nation; but it is exceedingly danger- Qus to virtue and truth. IV. Have a care of indulging any violent passion, for that will tempt the tongue to fly oút into extravagance of expression, and out-run the settled judgment of the mind. Whether it be grief or impatience, or anger and resent- ment, it will engage the soul to form ideas far above and beyond, the truthof things, and oftenarm the tongue with unruly expressions, even beyond the sentiments of the heart: Strife and contention, and noisyquarrels, are very dangerous enemies to truth. And upon this account; above all things, I wouldwarn young christians to avoid the excessive zeal of a party- spirit in the lesser differences . of religion. There has been often a great deal of darkness, and fire, of rage, and deceit and falsehood in such sort of quarrels as these. Men of natural warmth, animated by an honest zeal for God and religion,: taking it into their head, that every doctrine besides their own is damnable heresy, and all forms ofworship different from their own, are supersti- tious or schismatical, and abominable in the sight of God; they have, under the influence of these principles, kindled their passions-to a flame : and to secure the re- putation of their own party, or vindicate all their princi- ples and practices, they have made shameful inroads
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