66 men as a commendable feeling, and an useful incentive to laudable conduct. Our Lord says, "Let your light so shine before men, "that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." St. Paul speaks of public commendation as a motive and a recompense for well-doing:"Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? "Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same." He dwells largely upon the danger of giving offence to others by conduct which though not sinful in itself, might be liable to misconstruction; and he exhorts "to provide for honest things, not only in "the sight of the Lord, but in the sight of "menf." To the Philippians he enjoins attention, not only to things "true," and "just," and “pure,” but also to such as are "honest, 66 66 66 lovely, and of good report;" and he adds, "if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." It were easy to multiply quotations to the same effect. The value of a good name, the credit and honour that usually attend praiseworthy actions, the shame and disgrace of the conduct that renders men generally odious and abhorred and even the posthumous reputa d Matt. v. 16. e Rom. xiii. 3. 66 66 tion which awaits the righteous, are occasionally urged as motives which ought to have an influence upon our lives and actions, subordinate only to that "fear of God" which is "the beginning of wisdom," and of which only it can be said, that "the praise of it en"dureth for ever." When we are commanded also to "honour all men," "in honour preferring one another," to " speak not evil one of another," and to be "courteous" in our general deportment; it is evidently supposed that we ourselves entertain a just sense of the value of such tokens of esteem from others, and of the injury we sustain in their being withholden from us. When we are taught, moreover, that among the punishments of the wicked in a future state, it will be one aggravation of their misery that they shall "awake to shame and everlasting con 66 tempti," a direct appeal is made to those powerful feelings of our nature, by which the moral Governor of the universe clearly intended that we should be restrained from evil and stimulated to good. Whatever admonitions, then, we meet with in holy writ tending to diminish the force of this sentiment within us, we are doubtless to understand as designed only to qualify and h Psalm cxi. 10. i Dan. xii. 2. restrict its operation, not to extirpate it from our affections. For as the fear of human ignominy and punishment may oftentimes operate with great effect to deter men from iniquity, though without the fear of God it can never be depended upon as a sure preventive of evil; so the encouragement arising from human approbation, however insufficient when not under the all-controlling principle of love and reverence for the Almighty, may nevertheless come powerfully in aid of that principle, and greatly strengthen the incitement to goodness. Nor can we doubt that these are to be regarded as jointly conducive to the attainment of Christian perfection, when we find it recorded as the eulogy even of our Lord himself, that as he "increased in "wisdom and stature," he increased also "in "favour with God and man." Having thus guarded against misapprehension in our view of this side of the question, let us proceed to the more necessary cautions to be observed on the opposite side; lest we become liable to the censure passed upon those who loved the praise of men more "than the praise of God." To act upon some clear and well-defined principles as to the limitation of that honour or praise we are allowed to receive or to seek from men, is among the most indispensable requisites for preserving "a conscience void of offence." True it is, that the best men living cannot be altogether insensible to the value of reputation. To attempt to destroy this feeling would be to counteract one of the most powerful springs of human conduct, and might oftentimes operate as a fatal obstruction to the best enterprises that can be taken in hand. In many cases the success of these must, under Providence, mainly depend upon the estimation in which the persons are held by whom they are to be carried on. Supported by the weight and sanction of public opinion, they will be enabled to do much greater good, and to do it much more effectually. Labouring under the disadvantage of ill repute, the very same purpose and the very same measures may be viewed with an evil eye, and the most strenuous efforts rendered abortive. But what principle, what inclination is there, however innocent or commendable in itself, which may not become instrumental to evil? The love of praise and honour among men, which should lead to conduct deserving of their commendation, ceases to operate to that effect, when not con John v. trolled by the higher and nobler desire of becoming acceptable in the sight of God. There is a morbid love of fame which prompts to the study of men's opinions, humours, and inclinations, nay, even of their follies and their vices, for the sole purpose of obtaining popularity. And this passes current among many, as an admirable proof of that knowledge of the world, which is too often considered as the only science worth cultivating, the most valuable of all acquisitions. To attain this, men have been taught systematically to practise the basest arts of flattery and dissimulation, to suppress (if they have any) their own religious principles or virtuous feelings, to minister to the corrupt passions and interests of others, and to exhibit a general pliancy of character, adapting itself to every person and to every circumstance which may forward the purpose they have in view. 66 Surely it may well be said that such friendship of the world is enmity with "God'." Its pernicious influence upon religion and morals is manifest. It is the very reverse of what the Gospel inculcates. Instead of "love without dissimulation "," it 1 James iv. 4. m Rom. xii. 9. |