cams_benton_b028_f003_020_002

(2) [centered]

No man willingly inculpates him-
-self – Every one reluctates [reluctant] to ackn. [acknowledge]
a crime. Till repetitions of sin &
iterations of proof have subdued
shame & calloused the soul
no one openly confesses his
own degradation.

This instinctive desire of in-
-nocence & virtue wh. [which] God im-
-planted in the soul, as a preventive
of mischief & a barrier vs [versus] sin
– becomes, like others, in a state of sin,
the occasion of new forms of trans-
-gression & further acts of evil.