neighbour's ill conduct is so necessarily thrown in our way as that we cannot avoid observing it. It may be not only lawful, but our duty to speak ill of our neighbour, when our opinion is asked concerning him by those who have a right to ask it; or when we are called on injustice or in charity towards others to warn them against his arts or his example. But it is a plain transgression of the Apostle's counsel when we covet and seek out for ourselves the office of judge; when we inquire into those faults and follies, which no ways concern us; or, when having, on whatever grounds, conceived an unfavourable opinion of our neighbour, we blazon that opinion abroad in all companies, and under circumstances where no consequence can follow but mischief to him; and to ourselves, the gratification of foolish vanity or fiendish malice.

So far, then, as we have yet seen, it may be said, that we are forbidden to judge, in the same way and under the same limitations as we are forbidden to kill. A private man may kill where it is necessary for his own defence, or the defence of his innocent friend; a ruler or prince may kill, and may find it his duty to kill, when he is called on to do so by the laws of God, or of the nation wherein he bears authority. And, in like manner, a judge is, by the nature and name of his office, called on to pass censure on such actions as come before him in that capacity; and a

private person must do so, when his own situation, or that of his friends, requires it of him; but all rash judgement, all prejudice or malicious judgement is forbidden; no less than all rash, all malicious, and all unnecessary shedding of the blood of our fellow-creatures.

But there is yet another rule, which we should observe, to make our judgement lawful or blameless. Our judgement of our neighbours should not be positive. We should ever recollect that, in spite of all appearances, we may be mistaken; and, recollecting this, we should always lean to the favourable side. "It may be," we should always think with ourselves," it may be, he hath not done or said it;"-" it may be, he hath not meant it;"-" it may be, he was deceived; "—" it may be, he hath repented;"-" it may be, if we deal gently with him, he may yet repent and be saved." And if we really desire our neighbour's salvation, if we really love him as ourselves, or are really desirous of doing to him as we would be done by, we shall be well enough inclined, in almost every case, to hope and believe such things concerning him; and not only to speak of him, but to feel towards him charitably.

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And to this habit of, so far as possible, suspending our unfavourable judgement of other men, nothing can so much contribute as the constant recollection of that aweful time, when the great Judge of heaven and earth shall return in might

and majesty to take account of the souls which His blood hath purchased. It would, even in this world, be accounted an act of great presumption and injustice to prejudge the case, and take for granted the guilt of any man whose trial for life and death was shortly to come on before the regular and lawful magistrate. And this presumption and injustice would appear still greater, if we ourselves were likewise to take our trial at the same time, and were actually in fear of the same condemnation which we were so ready to call down on the head of our neighbour. How much more should this consideration weigh with us, who, together with that neighbour, are shortly to stand before the judgement seat of Christ, the searcher of hearts, the Master and Lord of all, who hath the keys of death and of hell; and to whom men may be well content to resign all censure of their neighbours, seeing that God the Father Himself judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgement unto the Son! Surely, with these expectations, we shall do well to profit by the counsel of the Apostle,-to "judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come ;" and by the warning of that blessed Lord Himself, that "with what judgement we judge, we shall ourselves be judged."

And, further, we may be the more easily inclined to suspend in this manner our opi

nions; when we compare the great darkness and uncertainty of the best judgement which is in our power to form, with that clearness of truth and certainty with which the Judge of heaven and earth shall one day determine on the conduct and character of every man. Our judgements are built on appearances only, in themselves often deceitful; our judgements are liable to be warped, even against our will and without our knowledge, by many, very many circumstances of human passion and infirmity, by our likings or dislikes, by the state of our bodily health, by the bias of our education, by our rank in life, by the good or bad humour in which we happen to be at the time. We cannot but be ignorant of the state of our neighbour's soul, of the motives on which he has acted, of the opportunities of grace which have been offered or denied to him, of how far we ourselves might have been able to withstand the like temptation with that under which he has fallen. But none of our infirmities, none of our difficulties, can beset the sentence of that Almighty Wisdom, which "will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the heart;"—in that Day, when there "is nothing hid which shall not be known;" and "when that which was whispered in the ear shall be proclaimed publicly to men and angels." And, sensible as we must be of our

present darkness, and looking forwards as we do, to a light so great and glorious, is it too much to wait a little while without judging, seeing that we shall be shortly enabled to determine exactly whatever now perplexes us? Or shall we not, instead of finding fault with our brethren, be diligent in so ruling our own hearts, our words and actions, as that we may be conscious of nothing of which we shall blush to give account, in the great assembly of good men made perfect, and in the presence of that God whom none but the pure. in heart can bear to look upon? Or can we avoid considering, which is the last lesson which I would desire to impress on your minds from these words of St. Paul, of how little conse

quence is the judgement or opinion of men, to those who are hastening, as we all are, to that last great trial of our lives and characters, when both shall be pronounced either blessed or cursed, by an all-seeing, all-wise, all-mighty Sovereign?

Is it not strange that men, calling themselves Christians, should be distressed at every turn by fears of what the world will say,-by anxiety to be well thought of among their neighbours; that they should be so careful to hide their sins and follies from mankind; and yet never recollect that the Day must come when all those sins and follies, the recollection of which, even now, makes their cheeks burn with shame, will be