m the first, and utter depravation comes
in time. I have seen a tree growing prostrate on the ground, when many
of its roots had been torn up from the soil; but it grew very poorly;
and the growth it made was owing to the hold which the remainder of its
roots still had on the soil. The branch that is cut off from the tree
may retain a portion of its sap, and show some signs of languishing life
for weeks; but it dies at length. And so with the branches cut off from
the spiritual vine; they gradually wither and decay. The iron taken
white hot from the furnace, does not get cool at once; but it gradually
comes down to the temperature of the atmosphere with which it is
surrounded. The prodigal did not get through his share of his father's
property in a day, but he found himself perishing of hunger at length. A
man does not die the moment he ceases to eat, but he _will_ die if he
_persists_ in his abstinence. A man may live in an unhealthy district,
and breathe unwholesome air for some time, without apparent injury; but
disease will show itself in the end. It is not uncharitableness that
makes us speak thus, but charity itself. It is desirable, that both
believers and unbelievers should know the truth on this important
subject. Infidelity is the enemy of all virtue, and consequently of all
happiness; and it is necessary that this should be generally and
thoroughly known, and that the old-fashioned prejudice against it should
be allowed to keep its ground, and remain as strong as ever. And
Christians must show their charity towards unbelievers, not by abating
men's horror of infidelity, but by endeavoring to deliver them from its
deadly power.

7. And here comes another lesson. Do not suppose that unbelievers are
irreclaimable. There is always good ground to hope for the conversion of
those unbelievers who retain a respect for virtue, if they are properly
treated; and even those who are sunk in vice should not be abandoned in
despair. Several of those who have returned to Christ during the last
ten years, were men who had gone far in various forms of wickedness. And
many of those converts from infidelity of whom we read in old religious
books, were persons of immoral character. And though habits of vice are
not easily broken off, yet the miseries they entail on men may rouse
them to more vigorous efforts for their deliverance. And it sometimes
happens that those who are poor in promise, are rich in performance. You
remember t