--With no spirit for parochial work, it must be said that he
published very forcible and devout sermons, and set before his people and
the English world a pious standard of life, by which, however, he did not
choose to measure his own: he preached, but did not practise. In a letter
to Mr. Foley, he says: "I have made a good campaign in the field of the
literati: ... two volumes of sermons which I shall print very soon will
bring me a considerable sum.... 'Tis but a crown for sixteen sermons--dog
cheap; but I am in quest of honor, not money."
These discourses abound in excellent instruction and in pithy expressions;
but it is painful to see how often his pointed rebukes are undesignedly
aimed at his own conduct. In one of them he says: "When such a man tells
you that a thing goes against his conscience, always believe he means
exactly the same thing as when he tells you it goes against his stomach--a
present want of appetite being generally the true cause of both." In his
discourse on _The Forgiveness of Injuries_, we have the following striking
sentiment: "The brave only know how to forgive: it is the most refined and
generous pitch of virtue human nature can arrive at.
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