The Wilmingtonian, and Delaware register., 1824-08-12
SERIOUS REEhECT1ONS.
CHARITY.

".t friend should bear friends intirnitcs."
There is no virtue, in which men arc more
deficient, than i'll the exercise Of that spirit
of charity, which bcareth all things, and
hopcth all things" Though we oushtncver
to countenance error, yet ought we to view
and reprovc with tenderness the faults of o.
theirs. The pride of our own hearts, which
is ever leading us astray, inpels Us to detect
and expose the errors of our neighbors, and
thus triumph in our fancicd superiority. We
place our own characters as a model, and
every difference or deficiency receives our
condemnation. Unmindful of the endless di-
ycrsity of characters; the peculiar consttu-
ton of different minds, and the variety OF
motives which govern human actions, we
mark ont one path Of thought and action for
the wholc-tn attempt as absurd and inn
practicable, as to prescribe one orbit tor all
the planets that glitter in the armament.
Charity does not require us to excuse the
vices or overlook the errors of Il friend. One
Of the best proofs of friendship, is that at-
fcctionate censorship which watches over
the actions of another, marks his errors and
sedulously labors for their correction. 1t
instructs us to bear, with aHcctionate sym
pathv, those eXccntricitics of character, those
| fluctuations Of temper, and those little eX-
ccsscs, either of gaiety or depression, to
which all are subject. We should advise a
friend with caution and humility, and re-
prove him with that mcckncss which would
result from 4 conviction that we ourselves
are falliblc, and that VIC frequently require
to day the admonitions, which we so freely
impaired yesterday. Anothcrimportant du-
| ty is to guard and defend the reputation OF a
frcnd.-Thc world are prying and captiois,
and the shafts of calumny fly too thIckly to
miss even the most spotless character e
need not point out the numerous occasions
which present themselves to silence the ca
luminous hint, and rectify the equivocal re-
aarl. AS the depository of his sentiments,
and the confident Of his secrets, we ought
ever to guard the character OF a friend and
without cxcusing or palliating his errors,
we may often throw the mantle OF protection
over his foiblcs.
The sun shines in his full brightness, but
the very moment before he passes under a
cloud who knows what day, what an hour
may bring forth : He who builds upon the
present, builds upon the narrow compass OF
a point and where the foundation is SO mar
row, the supcrstructure cannot be high and
strong too.
Is man confident Of his present health
and strength why, an ,nwholesomc blast
of air n cold, or !; surfcit took by chance,
may shake in pieces his hardy fabric--and'
in spite Of all his youth and vigor, send him,
in the very flower of his years, Pinng and
dropping to his long home. Nay, he cannot
with any assurance, so much as step out OF
doors, but, unless God commissions ms pro
tectng angel to bear him up in his hands,
he may dash his foot against stone ana faii'
and in that fall breathe his last
Is a man confident of his estate, wealth,
and power ?-why, let him read OF those
strange unexpected dissolutions Of the great