"The hand of the Lord hath done this"--it is He who hath wrought
all the salvations and deliverances we have received. For what
end! To see and know and understand together, that he hath done
and wrought all this for the good of the whole flock. Therefore I
beseech you--but I think I need not,--have a care of the whole flock!
Love the sheep, love the lambs; love all, tender all, cherish and
countenance all, in all things that are good. And if the poorest
Christian, the most mistaken Christian, shall desire to live
peaceably and quietly under you,--I say if any shall desire but to
live a life of godliness and honesty, let him be protected.
* * * * *
And indeed this hath been the way God dealt with us all along, to
keep things from our eyes all along, so that we have seen nothing in
all his dispensations long beforehand;--which is also a witness, in
some measure, to our integrity.