with David-" Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."*

With such a temper I hope it is, that you, who are come here to worship God this day, are disposed to listen to the word of the Gospel, and will seek improvement from the portion of Scripture, which I have chosen for my text, which, unless I am much mistaken, will be found very applicable to many among us; yea, I think I may add without offence, to all; for, in some degree, we are every one of us too prone to transgress in this respect.

Judge not, that ye be not judged." It is hardly necessary to observe, that these words do not apply to magistrates, whose office and duty it is to distinguish between good and evil, to examine and weigh evidence, to pronounce sentence of punishment on the wicked, and to see that the righteous are properly rewarded. This, as must be plain to every common understanding, cannot be the meaning of them; but we are to regard them as passing censure on those rash and hasty decisions, which men too frequently make on the conduct and motives of their neighbours, and which are often the cause of much discord and mischief in the

* Ps. cxxxix. 23, 24.

world. To make this clear, it will be proper to mention a few instances of that rash judgment, which our Lord here condemns.

1st. I would observe, we are apt to judge wrongly of men's conduct towards ourselves, Depraved as the world is, and vicious as the conduct of many is, yet there is a certain degree of character which we all wish to maintain; for we are so linked together in society, and so mutually dependent upon one another, that if we lose that jewel, we cannot avoid feeling degraded in the opinions of men, and that being the case, we shall frequently have reason to fear that our worldly circumstances will also suffer by it. Yet, even with such consequences in view, is there any topic of conversation more common than that, which runs on the faults and follies of our neighbours? And when it comes to our ears, that any thing which we have said or done has been considered worthy of blame, how readily have we taken offence; and if the person, who spoke to our discredit, hap pened to be among the number of those, whom we esteemed our friends, how disposed have we been to attribute to him the worst of motives, and determined either to resent the injury, or to withdraw from him all further acquaintance. Yet a little experience will convince every prudent man, that his judgment concerning such reports is often rash and in

considerate. What he ascribes to no better motive than that of malice may be the effect of the most pure and disinterested benevolence, for there can be no want of charity in lamenting the follies and indiscretions of a friend, whether they be supposed or real. Besides, it most commonly happens, that a relation at second hand differs in many particulars from what it was at first, so that we never ought to come to a decision respecting the purpose of it, till we have seen the relater, and heard from his own mouth the reasons, which induced him to speak after such a manner. But, should we find, after all our deliberation and care not to judge rashly, that we have really some ground for complaint, what should we do? Our Saviour shall give the answer, and his words, I hope, will carry with them suffici ent authority to enforce obedience: "If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother."* We may judge wrongly of him, if we suppose he will not listen to us, when we plead our own cause, and be more ready, when kindly argued with, to acknowledge his transgression, than he was to commit it. Perhaps, when an explanation takes place, it will be found that we ourselves are much to blame, and that we

have the greatest reason to thank our friend for his report, since it leads us (it must do so if we are humble Christians) to examine our hearts, and carefully to avoid in future all that conversation or practice, which is in any way disgraceful to our holy profession.

2nd. We form rash judgment respecting the conduct of mankind towards others. The va rious transactions relating to exchange and commerce, and the promises and contracts which are made between different parties, are continually before our eyes; but, if we have no particular concern in them, we perceive but a very small part of them, and, in very few instances, do we come to know all the circumstances of any negociation, which is carried on between man and man. Yet, scanty as our knowledge of these matters is, we frequently judge, as if we knew every thing relating to them, and presume to speak freely, not only of those parts, which are before the eye of the public, but also ascribe such motives to the actors, as no worthy or honest character would for a moment entertain. We say, "there is selfishness, knavery, hypocrisy, at the bottom of the transaction, and that time and circumstances will bring all to light. So it has done in many instances, and so it will again." Undoubtedly it will; but till it does,

our business is to suspend our judgment, lest we should condemn the innocent, and incur the displeasure of him who seeth all hearts, and who will render unto every man according to the strictest rules of justice. We may easily call to mind, if we will only take a little pains to consider the matter, the numerous mistakes we have already made, and be convinced, that we have often imputed blame where none was deserved. Let us therefore hope for the best, and even in cases, which afford strong ground of suspicion, let us suppose that the conduct of the suspected may be vindicated, though we cannot so much as guess at the manner in which his innocence will be made to appear. 3rd. We form rash judgment respecting the conduct of men towards God. Hence arise the most serious differences between Churchmen and Dissenters, between this and that sect, and between men and men of the same denomination. While, with but a very scanty knowledge of our own hearts, we confess that we are far from perfection, we vainly expect others to be without fault, and when men discover in any religious professor something which they disapprove of, then the cry is"This is the way of them, they are all a set of hypocrites; there is no sound principle of religion in their hearts, no veneration for, nor