"Let not this weak, unknowing hand,
Presume thy bolts to throw;
And deal damnation round the land,
On each I judge thy foe."
He remembers that judgment belongs to God; and that the Lord taught
us to pray, "Forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass
against us"; and surely none can hurl denunciation upon a fellow-sinner
if from his heart he offers that prayer.

Possibly the ground may be taken that we should forgive our own personal
enemies, but not the enemies of the Lord, against whom the reformer
directs his wrath. But is the arm of the Lord shortened that he cannot
avenge his own wrongs? and who among mortals is so pure or so strong
that he may dare to say, the Lord has need of him for a champion?

It is deemed just that a soldier should suffer severe punishment if he
act without orders, taking upon himself the authority of a commanding
officer. How much more is he worthy of condemnation who puts himself
in place of God, and under pretence of doing him service, presumes to
transgress his explicit commands.

We are prone to fancy that when we are fond of talking about any object
we are fond of the object itself; but this by no means follows of
course. We may delight in talking about philanthropy while our hearts
are burning with hatred, or about temperance while intoxicated with
passion, or about abolitionism while we have no respect for the liberty
of those around us, and no comprehension of that liberty wherewith
Christ makes his children free; and all this because we are working from
the blind impulses of an unregenerate spirit. When the spirit becomes