and to observe some of the Divine commands with great scrupulousness; while they violate others equally important, without any concern, or the least apparent consciousness of guilt.
That to do our duty in part is better than entirely to disregard it, cannot be denied; and he that avoids some crimes, from the fear of displeasing God, is doubtless far more innocent than he that has thrown off all restraint, has forgotten the distinctions of good and evil, and complies with every temptation. But it is a very dangerous mistake, to conceive that any man, by obeying one law, acquires the liberty of breaking another; or that all sins, equally odious to God, or hurtful to men, are not, with equal care, to be avoided.
We may frequently observe, that men, who would abhor the thought of violating the property of another, by direct methods of oppression or rapine; men, on all common occasions, not only just, but kind and compassionate, willing to relieve the necessitous, and active in the protection of the injured; will, nevertheless, invade the characters of others with defamation and calumny, and destroy a reputation without remorse.
If every day did not convince us how little either good or bad men are consistent with themselves, it might be wondered, how men, who own their obligations to the practice of some duties, can overlook in themselves the omission of others equally important, and enjoined by the same authority; and that those who avoid theft, because they are forbidden to steal, do not equally abstain from calumny, since they are no less forbidden to "bear false witness against their neighbour;" a prohibition, of which I shall endeavour to explain the nature, and enforce the necessity, by showing,
First: What are the different senses, in which a man may be said to "bear false witness against his neighbour."
Secondly: The enormity of the sin of "bearing false witness."
