Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1836-10-05
RELIGIOUS m1scE11AuY

CHALMERS sermons, deserve 10 Oe written
on the door post of every counting roon-to
be made the freAtspiece Of every ledger-to
be carried in the wallet Of every itnerant
buyer and seler--to be engraved on the
mantle-piece Of every yeonfan-in short to
be constantly before the eyes ofevery man
who has dealing with his fellow men, until
the rules of justice-the requirements of
Gods moral law be better understood and
pracuced. Fox temporal felicity and eternal
salvation, there is nothing like finding and
keeping before the eye the line Of demarka-
ton which God has drawn between right
and wrong.
The Guilt OF Dishonesty not to lie est1r1aat.
ed by the Cain OF 1t.
"He that is faithful in thai 1rh1ch is least,
as faithful also in nEsch; and he that is
unjust in the least, is unjust also iH
mluch."-Luke xvE 10.
The great principle of the text is, that he
who has sinned though to small amount in
respect Of the fruit Of his transgresslon-
provided he has done so, by passing over
forbidden limit which was distinctly known
to him, has in the act Of doing 50, incurred
full condemnation In respec, Of the principle
Of his transgression. In one word, that the
gain of it may be small, while the guilt of it
may be great; that the latter ought not to be
measured by the former; but that he who is
unfaithtGl in the least, shall he dealt with in
| respect TO the offence be has given to God,
in The same way as if be had been unfaith-
! full in much.
The first reason, which we would assign
in vindicatlon Of this is, that by small act
Of I'M justice, the line which separates the
right from the wrong is just as efiectually
broken over as by great act Of injustice
There is tendency in gross and coporeal
man to rate the crlminalily OF injustice by
the amount Of its appropriations--to reduce
it TO computation OF weight and measure
to count the man who has gained double
sum by his dishonesty, t. lie douoly more
dishonest than his nelghbor-to make it an
| affair Of product rather than Of principle;-
and thus to weigh the morality of charac-
ter in the same arithmeticel balance with
number or with magnitude. Now, this is
not the rule Of calculation on which our
| Savior has proceeded in the text. He speaks
10 the man who is only hall ali inch within
the limit of forbidden ground, in the very
same terms by which he addresses the man
who has made the tarthest and the la rgest
incursions upon II. 1t is true, that he is
only little way upon the wrong side Of
the line Of demarkation. But why is he
upon it at all? 1t was III the act OF cross
ing that line, and not in the act OF going
EDWARDS after he had crossed tit was
then that the contest between right and
wrong was entered upon, and then ii was
decided. That was the instant Of time at
which principle struck her surrender. The
great pull which the man had to make, was
| in The act Of overlapping the fence OF sepa-
ration, and after that was done, justice had
no other barrier by which to obstruct his
progress over the whole extent of the field
which she had interdicied. There might
be barriers OF different description. There
might be still revolving OF humanity a.
gainst the suferings that would be inflicted
by an act of larger fraud or Depreciation
There might be dread of exposure, ii the
! dishonesty should SO swell, in point Of a
mount, as TO become more notlceable.-
There might, after the absolute limit be-
tween justice and injustice is broken, be an
other limit against the extending OF mans
encroachments, in terror OF discovery,
or in a sense OflntereSt, or even sn the re-
, lentings of kindly or compunclious feel
ing towards him who is the victim Of in-
lOStICe. Du( tHtS 10 uOt (n6 IIiIlIl VIII
which the question of a mans truth, or
mans honesty, has to do. These have al
ready been given up. He may only be
little way within the margin OF the unlaw-
full territory, but still he is upon it; and the
God who Eads him there will reckon with
him, and deal with him accordingly. Other
principles and other considerations, may
restrain his progress to the very heart Of
the territory, but justice is not one of them.
This he deliberately flung away from him,
at that moment when he passed the line OF
decentralization; and, though in the neigh
borhood of that line, he NAV hover all his
days at the petty work of clicking and Pur-
Joining such fragments as he meets with,
though he may never venture himself to
place gilmore daring or distinguished afro
city, God sees of him, that in respect OF the
principle Of justice. at east, there Is an utter
infringement. And thus il is that the Saw
say ~ - Ene1v yvhaf was In faa1n and Svl,a.