ye

the degrees of it. "I was a hungered and ye gave "me meat-thirfty, and ye gave me drink-naked, " and ye clothed me—I was fick, and vifited me "-in prifon and ye came unto me." Not that we are to imagine from thence, as if any other good or evil action fhould then be overlooked by the eye of the All-feeing Judge, but barely to intimate to us, that a charitable and benevolent difpofition is fo principal and ruling a part of a man's character, as to be a confiderable teft, by itself, of the whole frame and temper of his mind, with which all other virtues and vices respectively rife and fall, and will almost neceffarily be connected-Tell me therefore of a compaffionate man, you represent to me a man of a thousand other good qualities-on whom I can depend-whom I may fafely truft with my wife-my children, my fortune and reputation-'Tis for this, as the Apostle argues from the fame principle"that he will not commit adultery-that he will not "kill-that he will not fteal-that he will not bear "falfe witnefs." That is, the forrows which are ftirred up in men's hearts by fuch trefpaffes, are fo tenderly felt by a compaffionate man, that it is not in his power or his nature to commit them.

So that well might he conclude, that charity, by which he means the love to your neighbour, was the end of the commandment, and that whofoever fulfilled it, had fulfilled the law.

Now to God, &c. Amen.

SERMON IV.

Self-Knowledge.

2 SAMUEL XII. 7. 1ft part.

And Nathan faid unto David, Thou art the man.

THERE is no hiftorical paffage in fcripture which gives a more remarkable inftance of the deceitfulness of the heart of man to itself, and of how little we truly know of ourselves, than this; wherein David is convicted out of his own mouth, and is led by the prophet to condemn and pronounce a fevere judgment upon another, for an act of injuftice, which he had paffed over in himself, and poffibly reconciled to his own confcience. To know one's felf, one would think, could be no very difficult leffon :-for who, you'll fay, can well be truly ignorant of himfelf and the true difpofition of his own heart? If a man thinks at all, he cannot be a ftranger to what paffes there he must be conscious of his own thoughts and defires, he must remember his past purfuits, and the true fprings and motives which in general have directed the actions of his life: he may hang out false colours and deceive the world, but how can a man deceive himself? That a man can

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is evident, because he daily does fo.-Scripture tells us, and gives us many historical proofs of it, befides this to which the text refers" That the heart of "man is treacherous to itself, and deceitful above all "things;" and experience and every hour's commerce with the world confirms the truth of this feeming paradox, "That though man is the only. "creature endowed with reflection, and confequent"ly qualified to know the most of himself,-yet fo "it happens, that he generally knows the leaft.

"and, with all the power which God has given him "of turning his eyes inward upon himself, and tak

ing notice of the chain of his own thoughts and "defires—yet, in fact, is generally fo inattentive, "but always fo partial an observer of what paffes, "that he is as much, nay often, a much greater ftranger to his own difpofition and true character, "than all the world befides."

By what means he is brought under fo manifest a delufion, and how he suffers himself to be so grossly impofed upon in a point in which he is capable of knowing fo much better than others, is not hard to give an account of; nor need we seek farther for it, than amongst the caufes which are every day perverting his reason, and misleading him. We are deceived in judging of ourselves, juft as we are in judging of other things, when our paffions and inelinations are called in as counfellors; and we suffer ourselves to fee and reason just so far and no farther than they give us leave. How hard do we find it to pafs an equitable and found judgment in a matter where our intereft is deeply concerned !. -and even

where there is the remoteft confideration of self, connected with the point before us, what a strange bias does it hang upon our minds, and how difficult is it to difengage our judgments entirely from it! with what reluctance are we brought to think evil of a friend whom we have long loved and esteemed? and though there happens to be ftrong appearances against him how apt are we to overlook or put favourable conftructions upon them, and even fometimes, when our zeal and friendship tranfport us, to affign the beft and kindeft motives for the worst and most unjuftifiable parts of his conduct!

We are ftill worse cafuifts, and the deceit is proportionably stronger with a man, when he is going to judge of himself that deareft of all parties,so closely connected with him-so much and fo long beloved of whom he has fo early conceived the highest opinion and efteem, and with whofe merit he has all along, no doubt, found fo much reafon to be contented. It is not an eafy matter to be fevere, where there is fuch an impulfe to be kind, or to efface at once all the tender impreffions in favour of fo old a friend, which disabled us from thinking of him as he is, and feeing him in the light, may be, in which every one, elfe fees him.

So that however eafy this knowldge of one's felf may appear at firft fight, it is otherwife when we come to examine; fince not only in practice, but even in fpeculation and theory, we find it one of the hardest and most painful leffons. Some of the earliest inftructors of mankind, no doubt, found it fo too; and for that reason, soon saw the neceffity of laying

fuch a stress upon this great precept of felf-knowledge, which, for its excellent wisdom and usefulnefs, many of them fuppofed to be a divine direction; that it came down from Heaven, and comprehended the whole circle both of the knowledge and the duty of man. And indeed their zeal might eafily be allowed in fo high an encomium upon the attainment of a virtue, the want of which so often baffled their inftructions, and rendered their endeavours of reforming the heart vain and ufelefs. For who could think of a reformation of the faults within him, who knew not where they lay, or could fet about correcting, till he had firft come to a sense of the defects which required it?

But this was a point always much eafier recom. mended by public inftructors, than fhown how to be put in practice: and therefore others, who equally fought the reformation of mankind, obferving, that this direct road which led to it was guarded on all' fides by felf-love, and conefquently very difficult to open accefs, foon found out that a different and more artful courfe was requifite: as they had not ftrength to remove this flattering paffion which stood in their way, and blocked up all the paffages to the heart, they endeavoured by ftratagem to get beyond it, and by a skilful addrefs, if poffible, to deceive it. This gave rife to the early manner of conveying their inftructions in parables, fables, and fuch fort of indirect applications, which, though they could not conquer this principle of felf-love, yet often laid it afleep, or at least over-reached it for a few moments, till a juft judgment could be procured.