guished by imports. Where there is no Law, fays the Apostle, there is no Tranfgreffion; and therefore unavoidable Ignorance seems to be rather a Misfortune than a Crime; and though it be dumb, and cannot fpeak in its own Defence, yet its very Silence will be a ftronger Plea in the Presence of the Almighty, than all the laboured Excuses which the Wit of knowing Sinners has invented. In all Cafes where Men may be faid to offend through Ignorance, they must be equally infenfible of the Crimes they commit, and the Ignorance they labour under; and therefore equally incapable of repenting particularly of their Sins, and of their Ignorance. For when Men venture boldly upon Actions, being.conscious to themselves that they know not whether they are going right or wrong, their Sin is Prefumption, and not Ignorance; and should they chance to blunder into the right Way, it is much to be doubted, whether the Happiness of their Mistake will excuse the Rashness of their Attempts. Such Repentance therefore as this must be numbered, not with our fecret Faults, but with fuch Sins, as being acted with Consciousness and Confent, carry in them an avowed Con→ tempt of the Majefty and Authority of God:

For if a Man thinks Virtue and Vice fo indifferent, that he may venture to chufe blindfold which to follow, there wants no better Evidence, that his Heart is not rightwith God, who can with fo much Coolness and Temper affront his Honour.

yet

But though the Ignorance itself be prefumptuous, and is fuch as, being conscious. to, we must certainly be accountable for; the Mistakes, the Follies, the Sins it leads us to, may be unknown to us, both at the Time of our offending, and of our repenting : And whatever Aggravation they receive from the obftinate Ignorance they proceed from ;> how much foever the Heinoufnefs of them may deserve to be diftinguished in our Sorrow and Contrition; yet, fince the Mind cannot reach the Knowledge of them, they can only be lamented under the general Character of fecret Sins. Nor is this the only Cafe in which our Sins partake of the Malice of the Will, and yet escape the Notice of the Understanding: For,

Thirdly, Nothing fhews more the Corruption of the Will, or Difinclination of the Heart to Virtue, than confirmed Cuftoms and Habits of finning; and yet in this Perfection of Vice we lofe the very Senfc and Feeling

Of

Feeling of Sin. Habits grow from often repeated Actions; and, though at first they require diftinct Acts of the Will to give them Being, yet at last we grow fo perfect, fo ready at the Work, as not to want the Authority and Confent of the Mind: As Servants, who, by being often told their Masters Work, at last fall into the Road of their Bufinefs without being called on, and yet act as much under the Direction of their Masters Will, as when they were under their daily or hourly Instruction. And fo it is in Habits: The Mind, which is the governing Principle, lies by, and the Work goes on without being attended to. many Instances give me leave only to mention one, which shall be that of common Swearers, and Blafphemers of the Holy Name: A Vice in itself fo prodigious, that no Aggravation can heighten it, no Excufe can leffen it! And yet those who are most guilty of this Sin are least fenfible of it: It is fo familiar to them, that they are not confcious when they offend: Blafpheming is their Idiom, a Turn in their way of speaking, and Oaths the mere Expletives of their Language. And when every fober Heart trembles to hear what they utter, they only are unconcerned, as only being E 3 ignorant

ignorant of the accurfed Malice with which they defy the living God. For all these Things God will call Sinners into Judgment; in his Book they are noted down: But yet when Sinners call themselves to Judgment, they only can tell that they have grievously offended; the Measure of their Iniquity they know not, nor the many Aggravations of it; And therefore the utmost that the fincereft Penitent can do, is to lament the Offences of his Heart and Tongue, which he is not able to remember, and to pray to God that he likewise will be pleased to blot out the Remembrance of his Iniquities.

Fourthly, The Apostle has advised us not to be Partakers of other Men's Sins; which shews, that when others fin, being led to it by our Influence, Example, or Encouragement, we share with them in the Guilt of their Iniquity. How far our Influence spreads, to what Instances, and what Degrees of Vice, how many we feduced by our Example, or hardened by our Encouragement, is more than we can tell, and yet not more than we fhall anfwer for. Thofe who are thus entered in our Service, and fin under our Conduct, are but our Factors: They trade for us, as well as for themselves; and whatever their

Earnings

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Earnings are, we fhall receive our due Proportion out of the Wages of their Sin. This is a Guilt which steals upon us without being perceived; it grows whilft we fleep, and is loading our Account even when our Bodies are in the Poffeffion of the Grave. The higher our Station, and the greater our Authority, the more Reason have we to fear being involved in this kind of Guilt; because in proportion to our Authority will the Infection of our Example fpread; and, as our Power is great, our Encouragement will be the more effectual; and some perhaps there may be, who shall appear not only for their own Sins, but for the Wickedness of the Age they lived in. But then, on the other fide, (pardon me a fmall Digreffion) Power, and Honour, and Riches, are great Means of Salvation in the Hands of a wife Man, who knows how to use them to the Glory of God, and the Good of Mankind. To him shall be added the Virtue and Religion which grow up under his Influence and Protection: And how transporting will the Surprize be to fuch happy Souls, when they shall find the Improvement of this and future Ages in religious Holiness placed to their Account at the great Day, as being the genuine OffSpring

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