others. There is no harm in this feeling; there is nothing in the Gospel which forbids one man to endeavour to make himself more perfect than another; - but a good principle takes a wrong direction; you must excel by improving your own good qualities, not by denying the good qualities of others. You must excel by curing your own faults, not by magnifying the faults of your neighbours. This is the excellence which Christ teaches, which God rewards, and which will bring forth the glorious fruits of everlasting life!

The habit of evil speaking, like all other bad habits, increases upon you. You become at last notorious for it; and in this way you defeat your own object, and can do no injury to your neighbour, because nobody believes what you say. You become a common calumniator, an enemy to human quiet and to human fame, the foe of the human race, the engine of malice, and the advocate of Satan!

It is not necessary to be always praising. The Gospel requires nothing false, nothing foolish, nothing childish; but good principles and feelings require that you should remember there are two sides to human character, and that you should not always be dwelling only on the worst:- why should you dwell always on the worst? there is as much talent and ingenuity in ascribing good motives to human actions as bad motives, they are often as true; it is much more uncommon to do so, much more difficult to do so, much more holy to do so.

Evil words spoken in the absence of the parties are seldom forgotten or forgiven; but I earnestly beg you to remember, when you are speaking of your neighbours, that they are, in country situations like ours, likely to be your neighbours for the rest of their lives, for many of us live and die in the same spot, close to each other, and in the daily habit of seeing and meeting each other. How important, then, that we should see each other

with joy, and meet each other with peace; - how dreadful are evil passions pent up in a narrow place! - What can fancy paint, or mind suffer, worse than this? There are two opposite sorts of characters in the world, exemplifying in a very pointed manner the service of God and Mammon: I mean the man who is in the daily habit of speaking good of his neighbours, and the man who is in the daily habit of speaking evil. The servant of Mammon no sooner hears any piece of defamation, than he spreads it with joyful activity from neighbour to neighbour, and from house to house. If it was uncertain before, it becomes certain from his relation. If it was black, it becomes more black; if it was bad, it becomes worse. Reports that would have died away, he continues in life; circumstances of which he knows the explanation, he does not explain; faults which admit of excuse, he can find no excuse for; evidence on the contrary side he takes care not to remember. You may trace him scattering poison in his path, spreading unhappiness wherever he goes, doing the work of Satan, and labouring in the great cause of the father of lies. But what does the good Christian do?- he 'delights in the preservation of character, and thinks that the reputation of a good man is the best and most splendid possession of the public. He feels the deepest and most sincere concern, when he hears any bad action imputed to a fellow creature; and he could hardly be more in earnest if the object were to vindicate himself. Is this true (he says to himself)? perhaps it is propagated by an enemy;-perhaps it is a mistake. I will wait till I hear the opposite side, till I balance the evidence, till passion and prejudice are softened, and till I have had time to reflect. And if it is true, are there not many excuses? Is not the unhappy person young? Is not he new to guilt? has he not been misled? could I have done better in his situation? should I not have done worse? So reasons, so feels, so acts, the disciple

of Christ. These are the signs of a man destined to everlasting life- these are the blessed fruits of the Spirit!

But do not imagine I have any wish to screen guilty people from blame, for blame is the natural check to guilt; but I wish to promote justice in talking of others, and in condemning them and there are a few plain rules I can give you, which you must all admit to be just; and do not despise them because they are easy and common. They may be easy to understand, and I mean they should be; but if they were very easy to practise, they would be commonly practised, and then there would be much less evil speaking in the world than there really is. My rules are such as these: ---Before you make up your mind to believe the evil things spoken of your neighbour, wait to hear what can be said by himself or by his friends in his defence. There is no more sacred rule of Christian justice than this. Never forget there are two sides to every question, -two opposite set of passions, -two ways of viewing the same object, and that the greatest possible cruelty is committed by not bearing this in mind. Experience in the world shows that there is no assertion so positive which does not sometimes turn out to be untrue; no evidence so clear which is not often contradicted by opposite evidence; no probabilities so convincing that are not occasionally found contrary to the truth and if this be true of other things, it is supereminently true where character is concerned; for the strongest passions often conspire to destroy character, and upon that subject more than upon any other, is the testimony of mankind to be suspected. Consider also, if there is some foundation for evil report, if it is not magnified; and if you are sure that the fault is committed, wait before you make up your opinion of the guilty person till you know the extent and degree to which the fault is committed. Consider what excuse

you can make for the guilty person; give those excuses their due weight and their lawful authority. Is the guilty person young, unprotected, unadvised, goaded by want, deserted by parents, exposed to great and formidable temptation? Think of all this say it, urge it. Let the angel of God, that looks down upon the ways of men, behold you walking in the paths of charity, breathing the spirit of the gospel, speaking no evil, shielding your fellow-creatures from the arrows of slander, doing something in this short period of human existence to deserve immortal life and to benefit by the cross of Christ. Don't be the first to shun the guilty person; don't run away from a backsliding person as you would do from a plague; do not drive him from bad things to worse; do not let him think himself, for some slight fault, a mere outcast upon earth. Watch for signs of repentance, encourage them; lead on an heart-broken man to better things; bring him to the house of God. Let him hear the voice of prayer, and listen to the cry of supplication, and behold the servants of God, praying under the covenant of Christ. This is better, my brethren, and more pleasing to our blessed Redeemer, than the accursed bitterness of the tongue and all the works of slander and malice. All men will bless you if you are mild of speech and avoid evil speaking. Every man will feel himself safe with you. Whatever secret injuries are done to characters, nobody will imagine you to be the author of those injuries. You will live without enemies, your days will slide on in harmony and peace,—and, after this life, you will be raised to that heaven for which you have prepared yourself by godliness and Christian rule.

263

SERMON IX.

ON AVOIDING SELF-DECEPTION.

GALATIANS, vi. 7, 8.

Be not deceived, God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption: but he that soweth to the spirit, shall of the spirit reap life everlasting.

WE have here an instance of the plain manner of teaching used in the Holy Scriptures. St. Paul is desirous of showing the certainty, that holiness in this life will be followed by happiness in the next, and of exposing the folly of those persons, who think that they may spend their lives in sin, and yet go to heaven when they die. He says to them, in words which cannot be misunderstood, "Be not deceived: God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." It is well known how much the future crop of the husbandman depends on his improvement of the seed-time. If he should let this season pass by without sowing good seed in the earth; if, instead of sowing good seed, he should sow only weeds and thistles, the consequence must be, that when his, wiser and more industrious neighbours shall be gathering their fruits into their barns, he will be reaping only shame, vexation, and poverty. Thus it is with our souls. This life is the seed-time for eternity. If this opportunity be once lost, it can never be recovered. If it be turned to a bad use, there will be no preventing the consequence. What a man sows here, he will most certainly reap hereafter.