10. " His fidelity in addressing the different classes
of his hearers was correspondent to that spirit of dis-
cernment and wisdom with which he was so eminently
favoured. On the one handy he never attempted slightly
to heal the hurt of his, people : and, on the other, he was
solicitous never to make sad the heart of the righteous,
whom God had not made sad. Wherever he discovered
iiilplety in the conduct, or hypocrisy in the heart, he



LIFE OF REV. 3. FLETCHER. 63

immediately levelled against it the keenest arrows of
convictiorn. He warned the wicked of his way, and fre^
quently endeavoured to draw him from it by alarming
his heart with salutary fears ; Selecting and applying
.upon these occasions those passages of Holy Writ which
are ]>ee\ilieLT\y profitable for reproof and correction.
And whenever it became necessary, he marshalled
against the careless sinner the moat terrible denuncia-
tions of the Almighty's wrath. In the performance of
this part of his duty, he paid but little regard to the out-
ward circumstances of the offending party. Whether
the enemies of God appeared in the splendour of riches,
or in the meanness of poverty ; whether they were dis-
tinguished by their erudition, or despicable by their
ignorance, he met them with equal firmness in the cause
of trut^.
