Page:Sermons preached in the African Protestant Episcopal Church of St. Thomas', Philadelphia.djvu/89

Rh 1. We should recollect how apt we are to be mistaken in our judgment of the general character of a person even after a patient observation, much more so upon a slight and single circumstance. Joseph was reared under the same roof with his brothers; they, therefore, had a fair opportunity to investigate his character; yet, see how grossly mistaken they were respecting it. Because he related to them his remarkable dream, that "the sun, moon, and stars, made obeisance to him" they regarded him as an ambitious youth, who desired to exalt himself over them. To arrive at a correct decision at all times with regard to the character of our neighbor, requires more knowledge than God has granted to man. Are we fully acquainted with the constitutional make of any individual? Do we know his peculiar turn of thinking? Can we dive down into the depth of his soul, and see the first moving spring of action, and pronounce