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BERM.
XXXIII
.]
THE
UNIVERSAL
RULE
ON
EQUITY.
,
47
like
case.
And surely
my
unavoidable
mistake.
will
not
be imputed
to me as
a crime,
where
I
have
honestly fol-
lowed the rule
my
Saviour
has given
me,
and acted
therein
according
to the best
capacity
of
my
judgment.
VI.
It
is
a
rule
as much fitted to
awaken
us
to
sincere
repentance upon the trangression of
it,
as
it
is
to
direct
us
to
our
present
duty.
This rule abides
in the
bosom
of
a
christian,
it
dwells
so
near
hire,
that
it
is,
as
it
were,
mingled with
conscience
itself;
and
by
this means it be-
comes
not
only a
safe
guide,
but
a
sharp reprover
too
:
It
soon puts
us
in
mind where
either inclination
or prac-
tice warps toward injustice and deceit.
Have
we
never
felt
our
conscience stinging
us
with
a bitter
reflection
de-
rived from
this
rule,
when we
have
neglected
in
any
in-
stance
to fulfil
our
duty
to
our
neighbour
?
I
am
sure
if
we
kept it
much in
view, we
could
neither practice
in
justice
with ease
of
mind,
nor
dwell
long
under
this
guilt,
without
some
inward
reproaches
:
If
the
precept
had
not
power enough
to
restrain
us
from
present
sin,
yet it
would
spur
us
o.n
to serious
and speedy
repentance.
[Here
the sermon
may be
divided,
if
it
be
too long
to be
read
in
a family
at once.]
VII.
It
is
a most
extensive rule,
with
regard
to all
the
stations,
ranks and characters of mankind
:
for
it
is
per-
fectly suited to them
all
:
And
I
think
it may
be
said,
that
it
is
equally
useful
to
the rich and
to
the poor, to
the
buyer
and
the seller, to the
prince
and to the peasant,
to
the
master and
the
servant: They
all come
under the
single
rule of duty and
justice
:
This should govern them
in all
their conduct.
Be
your
condition,
O-
christians,
what
it
will in
the world,
do
but
put
yourselves into
the
circumstances of
one
another,
in
your
own
thoughts,
fora
moment, and ask
what
is
reasonable
to
be
done
to
your
selves
?
And
your consciences
will
return
a
speedy
and
easy
answer what you should do to others.
Let
the
tenant
say,
"
If
I
were
-a
landlord, what
should
I
think
reasonable
that
my
tenant
should
pay
me
?"
And the
landlord should
ask himself,
"
Were I
a
tenant,
what
should
I
claim
of
my
landlord
?"
I
would have
the
master enquire,
What
should I expect,
if
I
were
aser-
vant,
at
the hand
of
my
master:"
And
teethe servant
say,
"
What,
if
I
were a
master, should
I
expect
from the
hands
of
one
that
served
me
?"
Parents
should ask them-