stances, as we
have already noticed. Men cannot be reformed by force, nor by
declaiming what a low, mean, unworthy, degraded part of the human race
they are.

There is too much pride in our world. We ought to bear in mind that
death will soon lay our heads equally low in the dust, and "the worms
shall cover us!" O the folly of human pretensions to greatness! Let us
not mind high things, but condescend to men of low estate. By
preachers and people of all denominations obeying the exhortations of
our text, mankind would, in a great measure, be restrained from crime,
and certainly from being openly intemperate. If then, we sincerely
desire to reform them, and to hold a powerful check upon their
conduct, and prove ourselves the benefactors of our race, let us begin
the work, by adhering most scrupulously to our text, which exhorts us
to be of the same mind one towards another, to mind not high things,
but to condescend to men of low estate.

It is the duty of preachers, in particular, to be meek and lowly in
spirit--to be humble and watch over the moral maladies of mankind--to
break down the arrogant distinctions, which the fashions and riches of
the world have set up--to esteem men purely for their moral and
intellectual worth, independent of the gifts of fortune, and to visit
those, who are given to intemperance, and, by gentle persuasive
measures, endeavor to lead them to habits of sobriety. And when this
is effected, treat them according to that respect, which their virtues
merit. God is kind to the evil and to the unthankful, and ought we to
be unkind to them? Heaven forbid.

We have now set before you, what we conceive to be the _principal
cause_ leading to _intemperance, dishonesty, and crime_. True, there
may be some exceptions to this, but we are conscious, that it is the
conduct of those very men, who are declaiming against _intemperance
and crime_, that first drives their fellow creatures into those
deplorable haunts of vice. They do this _indirectly_, and perhaps
_innocently_. They do it by giving too much reputation and influence
to the wealthy class of the community, by paying too much homage and
respect to gold, and by withholding, from the virtuous poor, that
respect which their conduct merits. We cannot set this truth before
you in a more forcible light, than by relating, from memory, an
anecdote of Dr. Franklin, with which we will conclude. The rich
merchants and professional men in Philadelphia propos