Many being reproved, answer, Alas! You must bear with me in this my fault; as if every man were allowed his own fault. There is a private Sodom within us; we are loth to part with that. Men say of their sins as Jacob said of sons, "Go, all but Benjamin." Other vices we will not so much stick for, but, "Oh, that Ishmael might live!" There is still some worm in the root of the tree that will spoil the fruit. We extenuate it; is it not a little one? But a little hair makes a great blot on the paper.