never appears so truly great, as when he boldly encounters persecution and obloquy in the cause of religion and virtue. Let it therefore be accounted a small matter to be judged of man's judgment; in all things approving ourselves the faithful servants of our God and Redeemer, by honour and dishonour, by good report and evil report, encouraged and supported by the gracious promise of our Lord, "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you, falsely, for my sake; for great is your reward in heaven;" and looking forward to the happy time, when they, who amidst all the vicissitudes of this life, have steadfastly and honourably adhered to the cause of truth and virtue, shall be rewarded with "an eternal weight of glory."

213

SERMON XVI.

ON CENSORIOUSNESS.

MATT. VII. 1.

Judge not, that ye be not judged.

THE Scriptures inform us, and experience proves, that wisdom's ways are ways of pleasantness, and that all her paths are peace. A conscience void of offence, a blameless conduct, and a wise and virtuous use and improvement of talents and opportunities, are admitted by all, who have duly considered the subject of human happiness, to be the only sources of inward peace and content, and the best security against external annoyance. Hence, if man is a free agent, if he is so constituted as to be at liberty to choose and to pursue this or that course of life, his happiness must, in a great measure, depend upon himself; in a great measure, I say, but not entirely; for, whatever his conduct be, some part of his happiness must necessarily depend upon others, whose behaviour towards him cannot be

matter of entire indifference to him, but, must affect him with some degree of either pleasure or pain. Though an innocent and virtuous life is the best security against external injury, it is not a complete one. No man can properly be said to be altogether independent with respect to happiness. We are all, as it were, one family; in which it is in the power of almost any one member to disturb the peace, or embitter the comforts of any other member. The most prosperous, and apparently happy situation in which a man can be placed, it is at least possible for the meanest individual to render in some degree uneasy and uncomfortable.

Such is the lot of humanity; or, rather, such is the order established by Providence for the trial and improvement of our virtue.

In no respect does the comfort of one man depend on the will of another, more than in that which relates to the approbation or censure which we are always so ready to bestow on each other's principles, character, and conduct. Human government may protect us from violence and assault, and human laws may afford us redress, when we are unjustly or fraudulently dealt with; but no human contrivance can give us complete security against, or redress of injuries done to our reputation and character, though these affect us as sensibly as, or perhaps more so than, any other species of injury whatsoever.

To deliver us from all the evils under which we labour in consequence of our fall and degeneracy, was the merciful design of our Saviour in coming

into the world

to free us from this one in par

ticular, seems to have engaged no small share of The feature, by which all his

his attention.

doctrines and instructions are

more peculiarly towards God, a forbearance and

distinguished, is, next to piety spirit of benevolence, mutual charity; and were all who profess his religion carefully to cultivate this spirit, and to govern themselves by it, it is hardly conceivable how much their present comfort would be increased. Abstracting all consideration of futurity, those numerous evils and miseries which take their rise from the undue prevalence of the selfish and malignant passions, would disappear; and peace, and love, and harmony would succeed in their place.

Censoriousness and rash judgment are plainly inconsistent with this evangelical spirit of mutual love and charity, and are declared to be so both by our Saviour and his apostles, who accordingly give us many awful and impressive warnings against a practice so subversive of the Christian character, and so injurious to human happiness and peace.

In prosecuting this subject, I propose, from our Saviour's words in the text.

First, To inquire into the nature of censoriousness: Secondly, To point out briefly the sources from which it most commonly takes its rise and,

Thirdly, To lay before you some motives and arguments to dissuade from this vice; and, particularly, the argument of our Saviour in the text: "Judge not, that ye be not judged."

First, I am to inquire into the nature of censoriousness: "Judge not," saith our Lord; that is, judge not harshly, or uncharitably of your neighbour. We are so constituted, that it is impossible for us not to form some judgment or other of the conduct and character of every person with whom we are acquainted every action of a free agent excites in us a sentiment of blame or approbation. But, though this happens necessarily from the very frame and constitution of our nature, yet the sentiment itself, I mean, whether it shall be favourable or not to the person of whom we judge, is a thing more in our own power, than, at first sight, we might be apt to suppose. It is true, indeed, that an action indubitably good, does immediately, and even necessarily, command our approbation; and, that an action indubitably bad, does as immediately and necessarily excite in us a sentiment of blame or dislike: but in human life there are so many actions of a mixed and doubtful nature, so many apparently good, that proceed from improper motives, and so many apparently bad that are done with no ill design, that it becomes extremely difficult to determine, to which class they ought to be respectively assigned: and the conclusions we come to, in such cases, will very much, if not entirely, depend upon our own temper and disposition. If we are animated by a spirit of candour, that is, of Christian charity, we shall always put the best construction on our neighbour's conduct, that it will bear; for "charity thinketh no evil, but hopeth all things;" but a contrary spirit