THAT all have sinned is a position MED. inculcated in Scripture, and is con- I. firmed by daily observation. However the thoughtless and irreligious may deny its principle, or lower its signification, the penitent and the prisoner can have no such excuse. Their sins stand in record against them. The

B

MED. hand-writing is nailed upon their cross,

I.

and no sophistry of man can wrench it thence.

When this acknowledgement has been made, the heart that meditates on this tender subject, melts over its melancholy consequences. It sees a

train of disasters linked close to one another, and ending in a gulph from which it turns away with horror. The sight of sin, at all times frighful, becomes more hideous as it enters the grave, and we are tempted to exclaim, "Who shall deliver me from the body "of this death!"

Before I enter more deeply into this meditation, let me reflect that, there is much deception both in those who do not see, and those who will not understand, this great scriptural truth. Próbably every one of us in the gay season of youth, before actual sin had made original corruption visible, if such a season may be conceived, may have doubted the extent of the observation.

We all remember when early benevo- MED. lence of temper made all things smile I. around us, when the transgression of a day was only the transgression of a day, and the evening forgot the morning's fault. We remember, too, that we judged as gently of the errors of others, as of our own. We had not then perhaps offended of malicious wickedness ; and as we felt no permanent evil in our own breasts, we suspected none in the breasts of others. Happy, if I could rest here in the eventful history of man's life! But this prospect presents a deceitful calm; for under this fair appearance there is deeply planted a root of bitterness. The passions, which were not checked, became unruly. The affections, which were misplaced, produced strife. The infant-vice increased to giant-strength, and told the mournful tale that, all had sinned.

There are two proofs on which I may rest the truth of the position :

MED. externally, the world; internally, ourI: selves. 1. John, the beloved disciple

and a more humane gentle heart was was not to be found, even in the college of disciples-has pronounced that, "the whole world lieth in wicked66 ness *. And St. Paul says that, "Both Jews, and Gentiles, are all "under sint." These holy men were acute observers of the human heart, and were commissioned by divine grace, to detect, and correct its wanderings. Even the wicked can perceive wickedness in others; how much more those who weigh the actions of men in the balance of the sanctuary! I would not depress the human character below its original level, or be desirous of exaggerating its guilt. But indeed the most superficial eye cannot glance over the world, in the extensive meaning of the word, without per

1 John v. 19.

+ Rom. iii. 9.

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ceiving a variegated scenery of ini- MED. quity; and, in consequence, experiencing the feelings of Jeremiah, "Mine eye, mine eye, runneth down with And when we contem

"water *.

plate the situation of convicted sinners, and observe the mournful inhabitants of prisons, collected from almost every quarter, and contaminated with almost every degree of crime, what heart is not sensible of sorrow, and rent at the prospect of such accumulated misery:

II. We may proceed one step further, in the contemplation, which constitutes the second proof of the position, that all have sinned, and reflect that, even those whose sympathy has led them to commiserate the prisoner or the penitent, participate in offences, though perhaps less obtrusive, in many instances no less fatal and destructive. In the former proof, the argument was external; in the present, it penetrates our business and our bosoms. "Who can

*Lam. i. 16,