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120

A

HOPEFUL YOUTH

tSERM.

VSL.

ture

there

is

of

amiable and hateful qualities amongst

the

children

of

men.

There

is

beauty and comeliness; there

is

vigour and vivacity; there

is

good

-

humour

and

come

passion

;

there

is

wit

and

judgment, and

industry,

even

amongst

those

that

are profligate and

abandoned

to

many

vices.

There

is

sobriety, and

love,

and honesty, and

justice,

and decency amongst

men

that

know

not God,

and

believe

not the

gospel

of

our Lord Jesus. There

are

very

few

of

the

sons

or daughters

of

Adam,

but

are

possessed

of

something

good

and agreeable,

either

by

nature

or

acquirement;

therefore,

when

there

is

a

ne-

cessary occasion to

mention

.the vices

of

any man,

I

should

not

speak

evil

of

him in

the

gross,

nor heap re-

proaches

on him

by

wholesale.

It

is

very

disingenuous

to talk scandal

in

superlatives,

as

though every man

who

was

a .sinner,

was

a

perfect

villain,

the very

worst

of

men, all

over hateful and abominable.

How sharply should our

own

thoughts

reprove

us,

when

we give

our pride

and malice

a loose, to

ravage

over

all

the

character of our

neighbours, and deny all

that

is

good concerning

them, because they have

some-

thing

in

them

that

is

criminal and worthy

of

blame

!

Thus our

judgment

is

abused

by

our

passions

;

and

sometimes

this

folly

reigns

in

us

to

such

a degree,

that

we

can

hardly

allow

a

man to

be

wise

or

ingenuous, to

have

a

grain

of

good sense,

or

good-humour,

that

is

not

of

our

profession,

or

our

party,

in

matters

of

church

or.

state.

Let

us

look back upon

our conduct,

and blush to

think

that

we

should indulge such prejudices, such

a

sin-

ful

partiality.

2d

Remark.

A

man

that

has

not true

grace,

nor

.ho

-'

liness,

may

be

the

just

object

of

our love;

for

we find

several instances and several degrees

of

love were

paid

by Christ, the wisest

and

best

of

men, to

a

youth

of

a

covetous and carnal

temper;

one

who

preferred earth

to

heaven, and

valued

his

present

possessions above

those

eternal treasures that Christ

had promised

him.

I

confess,'

under

the Old

Testament,

in

the cxxxix

Psalm,

ver.

2I,

22.

David appeals

to

God,

do

not I

hate

them

that

hate thee

?

and adds,

I

hate

them

with

a

perfect hatred. But

this need

not

be

construed

to

sig-

nify

any malice

in his

heart

against

them as a

private

per-

son; but

his

design to fight

against

them,

and suppress