lye you will he likes it not his heart rises against it Psal. 119. 163. I hate and abhor lying two words for failing to shew his great hatred of this sin Be it with him or against him the upright man will speak the truth Whereas an hypocrite as he is nothing else but a Lye so he can swallow them as fast as occasion serves Poor man thou wouldst not speak it if the man that stands by thee saw into thy heart and how darest thou speak it when the holy and true God sees into thy heart and can choke thee with thy dissembling words 3. An upright man hates all Equivocations and mental Reservations That is he speaks his words in a sense that he would have them construed in and keeps no part of a sentence in his mind to contradict what he pronounced with his mouth especially with an intent to injure another Such was that jugling trick we read of Cydias that being betrusted by Archetimus with a sum of mony afterwards flatly denies it There being no witness to prove the truth Cydias is summon'd to his Oath before the Altar and a great Assembly he quilts the mony in his staffe and going to take his Oath gives Archetimus his staffe to hold the while and then confidently swears he had given him back his money But this deceit lasted not long for Archetimus seeing his perjury in a rage throws down his staffe it breaks and the fraud is found And such is the usual issue of such Equivocations The upright man hath no skill at this he knows if the plain truth will not bear him out these cunning shifts never can My brethren it beseems not the plain-heartedness of a Christian to speak like the Delphian Oracle to be understood in two contrary sentences The Romans themselves would not so much as hear those Embassadors that were painted saying how shall we believe them whose very face and looks do lie An upright man if he do not speak all his heart yet will speak according to his heart He loves not to walk with a dark lanthorn much less to deal with false lights but plain genuine are his expressions without and fair and candid is his heart within 4. An upright man greatly hates promise breaking whether it be to God or men A great note of integrity in Jephthah Judg. 11. 35. I have opened my mouth to the Lord and I cannot go back It was a rash vow but conscience of the obligation brake all other considerations which in his case might have been many and he chose rather to have his very heart broken than his word It is enough for a subtile Polititian to have Distinctions and Evasions ready to help himself out of the straightest bonds the upright man delights not after vows to make inquiry Well advised every man should be before he binds himself in any thing to the Lord but when his soul is fast let him be very well advised how he releases himself for there is nothing doth more prostitute the Conscience and utterly undo men than being fast and loose with God in sacred vows and promises The same abhorrence hath the upright man of breaking his word with men and thereupon his word is as good as his bond If he bids so much for a commodity he seldom shrinks but gives it if he bargain to his prejudice yet he changes not the scarceness of the thing the rising of the market cannot prevail with him to rescind his punctual agreement whether he gain or lose he will not lose his honesty nor his reputation O what a Golden age would return unto us if men were but plain in their dealing and punctual in their performances and unworthy is it for a man a Christian man to be so vile that no body can believe him nor trust him How will that Atilius Regulus rise up in judgment and condemn this generation who being prisoner at Carthage and assur'd of his own death if he fail'd in his negotiation was set at liberty to effect a peace at Rome upon the single security of his own word to return if he fail'd to procure it but such was his publick spirit that he effectually disswaded his Countrymen from a peace assuring them of a certain conquest and such the integrity of his spirit that after this he fairly return'd and accepted of a cruel death rather than infringe his word Ten thousand pities such heroick acts should be lost for want of a right principle and ten thousand shames that Christians should break their word for a groat while Pagans will not do it for their lives SECT XIV SEcondly An upright man is sincere in his Deeds or Actions Isa. 33. 15. He walketh righteously as well as speaketh uprightly As his words are a true Commentary upon his heart so his actions are a true Exposition upon his words Whatsoever Office or Relation he stands in he adorns it with integrity The upright Judge when he puts on his Robes puts off his worldly relations The upright Justice of the Peace disdaining to be drawn by favour or driven by fear besides his duty The upright Counsellour will not plead when his Tongue is confuted by his Conscience The upright Juror without all by respects esteems the least grain of Evidence more weighty than a Talent of Ophirs Gold The upright Atturney when he perceives the cause to be a drop blown up by malice into a bubble sounds a retreat to his Client though he lose thereby The upright Physician will rather go with an empty purse than torture either the body or purse of his Patient without cause The upright Tradesman will be upright in his words upright in his weights and upright in his wares and upright in his rates And the upright Minister will put on his Thummim that is uprightness a word derived from that in my Text as well as Urim and rather lose the love of ten by his plain dealing than the soul of one by dissimulation and unfaithfulness Thus uprightness like a silver thread is drawn through the whole course of the sincere Christian and he that is upright is upright every where And that I may set out this holy course by its most proper Opposites 1. An upright man is a great enemy to Craftiness or Subtlety Though he studies to be Wise yet he delights not in Cunning. Craft is wisdom degenerated it is wisdom devested of honesty A tang of this was in that practise of Rebecca Gen. 37. 35. to procure the blessing for Jacob by a wile But it cost him many a sweating day and many a frosty night Guile and guilt go hand in hand Job 15. 5. Thy mouth utters thy iniquity and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty Carnal policy was never friend to inward piety though it sometimes wears Lambs wool without yet it is alwayes lin'd within with the Foxes furre But the true and holy God disappoints the devices of the crafty and drives the counsels of the froward
can approach him when he executes judgements here or passes final sentance hereafter when all hypocrites shall be in a fright when their cobweb-coverings shall fall off and they must stand naked like so many cheats on a pillory before God Angels and Men who then shall stand with comfort and confidence Mark verse 15. He that walketh righteously his feet walk uprightly and speaketh uprightly carries an upright tongue despises the gain of oppressions keeps an upright heart in him that shakes his hands from holdding bribes both his hands are upright too that stops his ears from hearing of bloud his ears are tipt with integrity and shuts his eyes from seeing evil he looks with an upright eye Thus you see he is upright all over Let him deal with friends or enemies with godly or ungodly with wise or foolish you may trust him for he stands in awe of his God and of Himself He hath not one heart for his Religion and another for his bargains and calling but studies the Scripture and drives his life into it as near as he can This is to obey Gods voice Indeed And from this perfection flows an excellent evenness of conversation so that Queen Elizabeths motto well becomes his life Semper eadem Still the same 2. This Uprightness shines in the Plainness of his life There are few Criticisms in the life of an upright man He 's plain and that 's his prayer Psal. 27. 11. Lord lead me in a plain path that 's my desire He hath no quirks or tricks of legerdemain If he cannot stand by plain dealing he 'l fall by it when he trades and bargains though he be discreet and careful yet he is plain When he reproves a fault or advises he is sober wise and affectionate but still he is plain his discourse and Sermons though elaborate yet still plain Among his very enemies though he be cautious and considerate yet there he is plain also Lead me in a plain path because of mine enemies He is like Him that wisht his body were made of Chrystal that his sincerity might be transparent Such was that Martyr whom the persecutors requir'd to discover his companion whom they were prosecuting promising to him his own life for the discovery and so either by denying his knowledge of the place of his friends abode or by betraying it he might have saved his own life after a little pause breaks out into these words Mentiri non possum prodere nolo I cannot lye and I will not betray him and so laid down his life to save one of the Brethren Here was an upright man that would not tell a lye to save a life that had rather dye than lye He will be plain though he suffer for it But how generally is this plainness banisht out of the world every man almost walking in a vain shew disguizing their intentions looking one way and rowing another that the Tropicks are not more distant than most mens intentions are from their Actions And so I come to the Object about which this uprightness of life is conversant SECT XIII II. THe Object of an Upright life follows which is 1. Words 2. Deeds or Actions 1. The Upright man is sincere in his words Ps. 15. 2. He walketh uprightly and speaketh the truth in his heart His heart is inditing a good matter and thereof his tongue is the pen of a ready writer And indeed that is the genuine use of words to be the interpreters of the heart and mind And therefore that is a black brand set on our Neighbour Nation that they use not to sing as they prick nor to read as they write nor to speak as they think which if true would render their society more intollerable than the brutes themselves The upright man perhaps cannot speak elegantly but he can speak truly he cannot flourish his letters but he can write a plain Secretary and his words you may believe more than others oathes If you would see a fuller view of him as who would not delight in such asight these Foyles will set him off 1. An upright man is a greater hater of Flattery He cannot abide to be either active or passive in it He rather desires to know the worst of himself than to hear the best for that open rebuke is better than secret love and he knows that unjust praises are more dangerous than unjust slanders And then for others if he might get all the Town by it he cannot give flattering Titles to any man or extol any thing in any body for his own ends How fair an opportunity had Micaiah to have gain'd his liberty and the favour of two potent Kings if he could have sooth'd Ahab in his vanity but prison or no prison he could not flatter How easily might Paul have come off before Foelix with a smooth oration if he had learn'd to have courted him and his Drusilla with a Panegyrick of praise but he rather chose to speak of Temperance Righteousness and Judgment to come so to save them rather than sooth them in their sins 'T is true he loses many an one by this plain dealing whom he might have kept by his flattery but these are better lost than kept Job 32. 22. I know not saith Elihu to give flattering titles in so doing my Maker would soon take me away These acts are below a man much more below a Christian and generally there is unsoundness in the heart or baseness in the ends of those that use them It s true a man may without any breach in his uprightness give another his due praises when there is just occasion so to do but to exceed bounds herein and that out of any base design of procuring the like again or for worldly profit is very far from true sincerity A false heart and a flattering tongue usually go together Prov. 26. 23. Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a potsheard cover'd over with silver dross No man so likely to have a tongue and a tongue as he that hath an heart and an heart 2. An upright man is a great hater of Lying A sin that is directly contrary to the nature of sincerity I may not inlarge upon the kinds or aggravations of this sin whole Sermons yea Volumes are little enough to overthrow it it is so common and so dangerous If a lye will save their credit few will lose it if a lye will gain any thing few will sit down by loss if a lye will shelter one from anothers anger thousands will venture the displeasure of the Eternal God before that of a silly worm and chuse to have their Head broken that their Helmet may be spared O the woful havock of mens Consciences by this sin now an upright man abhors a lye he knows that the God of truth desires truth in the inward parts and hath in him a particular Antipathy to this sin Dress it in what clothes you will call it a jesting lye an officious lye what
and Uprightness and therefore as long as there is a drop of goodness or a dram of uprightness in God the penitent sinner shall never lack a guide And to this refers that promise Isa. 30. 21. Of a voice behind you saying this is the way walk ye in it when ye turn to the right hand or to the left alluding as some think to a Schoolmaster prompting his Scholar over the shoulder how he should pronounce his words when he poor child is puzzled and knows not what to say even so will God lead his upright ones in the way that he shall chuse when they are in the dark and you shall find that Scripture true Prov. 13. 6. Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way But wickedness overthroweth the sinner Resolve then in such cases after you have us'd the means of illumination as Jehoshaphat in another O Lord I know not what to do but mine eyes are unto thee I perceive the blindness of my eyes but thou seest the uprightness of my heart I would do thy will if I knew it teach me thy way and I will walk in thy truth consider my weakness and neither leave me in perplexing doubts nor suffer me to erre from thy will And be sure God will not forsake thee for it is plain that many an honest heart is preserved in the way of truth when many of great but unsanctified parts have fallen into damning errors With the upright man he is us'd to shew himself upright SECT VII VII GOds uprightness will yet appear In clearing his integrity Sincerity hath the sweetest visage but bad men put on it often the foulest vizard and many a dear Saint wears the note of an hypocrite to his grave Though you see that no man is so far from hypocrisie as this man no sin he hates more yet this character is usually fastned on our plain-hearted man It is the subtlety of Satan to charge the Saints with those sins whereof he is sure they can hardly clear themselves till the day of judgment And those are commonly these two 1. Covetousness 2. Hypocrisie Both which for the nature of them lye so within that it is almost impossible to refell his charge Hence the Apostle is driven in the former to make his appeal to God 1 Thes. 2. 5. For neither at any time us'd we flattering words as ye know for this you can clear us nor a cloak of Covetousness God is witness herein God only can purge us And the like the latter Rom. 1. 9. For the Lord is my witness whom I serve with my spirit c. And the upright Lord will clear up these mens integrity first or last Holy David lay under many heavy charges and that for a long time How long will ye turn my glory into shame Naught he was not fit to live in his own native Country he hatch'd treason against Saul and undermin'd his Government and Religion he had none but at length his Righteousness did shine as the noon-day Saul himself was convincâ—…d of his integrity and acquitted him though thereby he condemn'd himself So upright Job past for a notorious hypocrite among his enemies for he was accounted no other by his friends but the Lord brought out his Justice as a Lamp that burneth And what is more common in the World than to brand every one for an hypocrite that is but serious in his Religion If any man do humbly and conscientiously indeavour to live according to his Covenant in Baptism do set himself against the world the flesh and the devil and deny the pomps and vanities wherein the generality of men do wallow presently his envious and carnal neighbours when they can tax him with nothing condemn him for an hypocrite his outside is smooth but inwardly he is an arrand hypocrite but his upright God that knows his heart will clear him sooner or later at furthest at that great day of setting things at right The Lord Jesus will come with his thousands of Saints Jude vers 15. to convince the ungodly world of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him See here you implacable wretches this is the man this the woman whom you condemn'd for hypocrites they were praying for you while you were cursing them I knew their uprightness and will now declare it Thus shall it be done to those I delight to honour and you must go with a curse into eternal torments Rejoyce in the Lord therefore O ye Righteous and be glad all ye of upright heart Be not dismay'd at mens rebukes these Reproaches do but adde to your Crown And God permits them to make you search your hearts the more Though these be poor commodities yet you may make a trade of them and live the better for them They charge you with the Foxes pranks and you have the Foxes Nature They charge you with one fault and thereby you find out another they write Hypocrite and you subscribe Formal Dead Secure and chief of Sinners And know for your comfort that your names shall have a Resurrection as well as your bodies and you shall shine in glory when your enemies shall only shine in flames And even in this world your God doth justifie you in their Consciences the most of them could wish their souls in your souls stead for all their talk at least when pale death stares them in the face then O let me dye the death of the Righteous and let my latter end be like his It is not oft that an hypocrite goes undiscovered to his grave nor very oft that an upright man dies without the testimony of the Centurion even from men Certainly this man was a dear child of God SECT VIII VIII THe Lord shews himself an upright God to the upright man In Stablishing him to the end its elementary fire that goes out the Coelestial ever burns Prov. 10. 29. The way of the Lord is strength to the upright He only is the persevering man The fixed Stars appear but small the blazing Star looks far greater but the former abide from age to age and the latter being but exhalations compounded of corruptible matter are spent and consumed to nothing they had perhaps more eyes fixed on them than on the others but they waste away Even so an hypocrite may make a greater blaze in his profession may be more admired and talk't of in the world but the real Saint is fixed he abides no tempest can shake him he is built on a Rock and abideth for ever The way of the Lord is strength to the uprighs Every prayer strengthens him every Sermon strengthens him yea every temptation like the wind to a well-rooted tree causeth his roots to spread and stand the stronger moved he may be but not removed fall he may but not fall away and yet an upright tree you know falls not so soon as that which leans An upright man never makes a right Apostate Psal. 25. 21. Let integrity and
to come shall fare the better for your integrity Abraham he hardly injoyed one foot of that land which fell to him for his true-heartedness but his posterity had it all And many an upright man lives and dyes but with an ordinary estate for he dare not do wrong to grow rich but the Lord remembers his posterity and his seed shall be mighty in the earth the generation of the upright shall be blessed Hold on therefore in your integrity you are in the way of preferment Prov. 21. 21. He that followeth after righteousness findeth life righteousness and honour he finds more than he lookt for 'T is true the vilest men may be exalted and the posterity of evil men may be both great and good but they have no such promise for it as you have They may have fairer houses finer fare costlier clothing but they have a curse with it and a sad reckoning to come O therefore for your healths sake for your estate sake for your posterities sake but above all for your souls sake for an upright Gods sake study integrity be true-hearted sincere-hearted and whole-hearted men for God SECT X. X. GOd will shew himself upright to his upright ones in Crowning their integrity 1. With Internal Peace Melchizedek was first the King of Righteousness and then King of Salem King of Peace and where Christ hath ingraven Sincerity which is the true Righteousness then follows Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost There 's no Rest but in Religion nor any sound Peace but in Piety Others may have Quiet of Conscience but the upright man hath the Testimony of his Conscience that is quite another thing Theirs is but a truce a dayes sickness will break it The hypocrite hath a Conscience Pacified but what 's this without a Conscience Puri fied It is Righteousness and Peace that only will kiss each other The quieâ—… of most mens Consciences is from theiâ—… Blindness not from their Goodness thus the beasts are well because they know nâ—… better fear no worse Thus millions lyâ—… still and dye like Lambs If these had morâ—… knowledge they would have less quiet They are like the malefactor in a dungeon that sees not his misery or as the bird busie at the chaff when the Net 's unseen One thundering threat set on by the spirit of bondage will spoil all their mirth There can be no true peace where sin is suffered in quiet It were well for such as you to be frighted Cries were your best Musick and Tears the best Nectar you could drink you must be let blood or dye such is your disease that you must be lanc'd or lost But now when true grace comes in after that spiritual conflict that breaks the heart of sin the Conscience hath a sweet peace or at least ground for it The Law charges the Devil charges Conscience in Christs blood that discharges He that makes Conscience of sin hath his Conscience quit from sin Now I can eat and sleep and go in the dark my Conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost though the earth be removed and the Mountains carried into the midst of the sea yet here 's tranquility In the world ye shall have Tribulation but in me saith Christ ye shall have peace and this is the fruit of uprightness Isa. 32. 17. And the work of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever While Francis Spira kept on in his upright way he had a heaven of peace but after his sinful compliance he had not one day or hour of quiet in his soul. And it is recorded that Cicero when dying and reflecting on his warping and temporizing he cried out O me miserum O me nunquam felicem c. Sincerity and Serenity live and dye together And 2. With Eternal Glory There he payes home the upright man for all When his God leads him into the Land of Uprightness Psal. 143. 10. there he shall meet with all Gods hidden ones of whom the world was not worthy Ah poor hypocrite he knows not what to do when he dyes each step he takes is towards Hell the longer he lives the nearer his destruction Job 27. 8. For what is the hope of the hypocrite though he hath gain'd wealth repute c. when God hath taken away his soul Their very hope which is all the comfort that 's left them will flee away and leave them in the bryars But then the upright man shall be some body Here he is a Prince unknown there he enters his kingdom Here he is under a cloud there the righteous shall shine as the Sun for ever and ever As he that hath an Estate in Reversion though he live poor a while yet the Estate will fall An inheritance uncorruptible and undefiled that fadeth not away and this as sure as God is in Heaven and thy name in the Bible Genes 17. 1. Walk before me and be perfect I will be thy exceeding great reward Who can desire more than him that is Alt It will be merry when the upright God and the upright Man do meet Art thou he that receiv'd my dear Son and resign'd thy heart so freely to him Art thou he that gave inward universal and constant obedience to my will Art thou he that stuck to me in such and such times and tryals Art thou he that walked righteously and spake the truth in thy heart Come up hither Angels put on his Crown sing an Authem ye sons of the morning at my upright servants coming home Come enter thou into the joy of the Lord. Here live and love and rejoyce for ever Psal. 140. 13. Surely the righteous shall give thanks to thy name the upright shall dwell in thy presence Now many a poor upright heart hath hardly a house to cover his head scarce a bed to rest on here he must not dwell and there he must not dwell but there is but one life between him and a glorious Palace whereof the spangled firmament is but the floor He hath an house pav'd with Rubies and fill'd with Saints and Angels like so many Suns and there he shall dwell and sing among them world without end Into that Corporation all upright men may come and their greatest enemies will never follow them Seeming Saints will be in the Church none but Sincere Saints must come into Heaven Mat. 5. 8. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Rejoyce therefore in the Lord O ye Righteous and shout for joy all ye that are upright in heart O what a shout will there be in Heaven when all this blessed Tribe meet together and have Christ among them and then you shall see how the righteous Lord loveth righteousness and his countenance doth behold the upright Then shall you be paid for every drop of blood for every drop of tears for every step for every thought that you have laid out for his Name And thus you have the second
long he may certainly while any of his base ends draw him on Indeed when sharp troubles come for Religion then generally such are weary of it and utterly deny that which they never delighted in Canst thou now say in the midst of thy multiplied duties that thou hadst rather do them than not do them Dost thou only use prayer or chuse prayer Dost thou only avoid sin or abhor sin That is something or else that Pharisee Luke 18. shall be justified as soon as thou Object 3. Quiet of Conscience My own heart condemns me not that is most privy to my own estate and would be surely most faithful to me in this weighty case nay it is more against an hypocrite than any other sinner Answ. Remember that a Conscience pacified is not alwayes a sign of a Conscience purified If Conscience be not blinded it will see if it be not bribed it will speak if it be not brawny it will feel but if it have been curb'd and silenc'd and sinn'd against it may let you alone even as God doth and never bark till it bite and make its teeth to meet There are that deceive others until at length they be deceiv'd themselves that have deceived their own hearts so long till a deceived heart hath turned them aside that they cannot deliver their souls nor say is there not a lye in my right hand Isa. 44. 20. And yet if one should refer it to thee Dost thou think in thy very Conscience that thou art an upright Saint and a sincere servant of Jesus Christ Dost thou not know that by thy self which is inconsistent with integrity of heart what is that which makes thee tremble at death in a fright at thunder in pain at a searching Sermon afraid at the reading or hearing of any sisting marks or signs And then for bearing a great hatred to hypocrites that 's nothing for one proud man may hate another for standing in his light and rotten hearts are usually most suspicious and censorious of others Thy best evidence would be to loath thy self and thy only cure to be pricked at the heart SECT II. II. Use. THe second Improvement of this Point is for Reprehension 1. Of those that Disturst an upright God 2. Of those that Distast an upright Man 1. That Distrust an upright God No greater trouble to an upright man than to be suspected and distrusted to have his word question'd and his wayes misconstrued Good and upright is the Lord and he cannot indure to be called in question They that know him will take his word for more than this world is worth Psal. 9. 10. They that know thy Name will put their trust in thee But alas how few are these if we run over those very particulars wherein he shews himself upright you shall find much distrust in the world yea in the very best If we be in Danger how sew can quiet themselves in Gods promise of succour If we have fallen into Temptation how long ere we can heartily believe our pardon sealed in the blood of Christ when we begin to Pray which of us believes that as sure as we ask we shall receive how difficult to relye upon the grace of God for perseverance or on the promise of God for all good things in this life and for a Crown of glory in another O the wretched distrust of mans heart whence else do men run to unworthy means to attain their desires every day and lean no more on him or on his word than on a weak staff that we dare not trust you can trust a man when he hath money in his hand you should trust God when he gives money in the Promise The World should know we serve a God whom we dare trust The promise is ever as good as the thing promised He is no flincher with whom you deal To distrust him is to devest him and that of his dearest Attribute his Truth When we distrust God we make him man when we trust in man we make him God How many experiments have you read nay how many experiments have you had of his uprightness to you and must they all stand for nothing What man can come out and say I was under such a promise but I never had the benefit of it I trusted Jacobs God in vain And must you be the first instances of his unfaithfulness God forbid To instance what disquieting thoughts have we sometimes about provision for our Children they 'l be left succourless and quite forsaken and unworthy courses are sometimes taken to prevent it and yet we know they will fall Wards to God and that the Generation of the upright shall be blessed And because here perhaps you may reply that herein you do not so much question Gods uprightness as your own therefore see in another Instance what perplexities are Gods servants in for his Church when it is rent with schisms eclips'd with errors oppress'd with troubles And yet he hath undertaken to rule the world for his Churches good and that the Gates of Hell stronger than armes on earth shall never prevail against her O silence then and charm down your unbelief and credit this word To the upright man he will shew himself upright 2. This Reproves those that Distast an upright man He that is unlike God cannot but dislike both him and his likeness Wonder of wickedness that ever any reasonable creature should hate his Makers picture dislike the men that are after Gods own heart and the better the man the worse to hate him It was so in the beginning is now and will be world without end 1 Sam. 29. 6. Surely sayes Achish to David as the Lord liveth thou hast been upright nevertheless the Lord favours thee not Let a man be never so honest charitable unblameable yet if he discover his integrity by reproving sin by a strict watch over his words by a peaceable demurring at a thing he is unsatisfied in there 's some of you though you never saw him were never disoblig'd by him yet out of an inveteracy against God it can be nothing else you dislike and declaim against him If this man have an hundred excellent qualities and but one defect or fault all his good qualities are buried and he goes with you under the notion of his single sin But on the other hand let a man be never so ignorant unclean swearer drunkard Atheistical yet divers of you can imbrace him delight in his company or at least he shall live quietly by you and if he do not personally affront you no Magistrate shall ever be inform'd of him that he might reform him And to see your equity if this man have an hundred ill conditions and but some one good quality as perhaps of an obliging carriage all his faults are silenced and he obtains a favourable character from this single vertue which shews clearly that your spite is at the good man as he is good or else you would cry