The works of the Rev. William Thom, late minister ... - waughfamily.ca

m them.LETTERS, TRACTS, l!fe,2^^If one of us hath been cheerful over night,at a bottle with a few gentlemen, or officers of thearmy ; or if he hatlf forgot his philofophy for a momefit,and indulged himfelf a little in the way of naturalpleafure, there is firft a whifper, then a loudcry is raifed againft -him 5 he is pointed at on theftreets, the houfe he was cheerful in is examined, thegirl he converfed with is fought for to accufe him,kirk-officers are hounded out tlpon him, fome minifteror elder travels with him to bring him to a confeffion,he is called to compear before fome of theirkirk-feffions ; and it is believed his fin or fcandal, asthey call it, cannot be taken away till he fhall havedone penance in fome of their churches : And I doafllire you, that not long ago fome amongft us efcapedvery narrowly. Now, Sir, confider what a hardlhipit is on a learned man to compear in a pitiful feffion,and confefs that to be a fin which he knows to be noiin Jor to compear publicly in a church, and giveCgns of repentance for what he firmly believes neednot be repented of, and what he is refolved to repeatwhenever he finds himfelf urged by the calls of nature: What an impropriety, nay, what an indignityis it,that a philofopher fhould ftand, as a delinquent,before a congregation of taylors, fhoe-makers, barbers,and fhop-keeTpers, and appear to be juft as mucha natural mart, to have juft the fame paffions, and juftas little philofophy to guide him, as any of them, orany porter or fcavenger who happens to be prefent.Gonfider farther, how grievous it is that he fhould beftanding in a low and difgraceful place, or on theftool itfelf,and nothing but a common minifter revilinghim from above, inftru£ling him about the to ijygfAcuKov,the command of paffion which he hath oftentalked about, admoniftiing him to believe what he hasalways rejedled, and rebuking him for the foulnefsof the fuppofed crime which he is fuppofed to havegfacelefsly committed. If you confider how grievous