favor rather than silver and gold." Prov. xxii:1.

A good name involves all that can render man exalted and amiable, or
life desirable. The good opinion of mankind has, in all ages, been
considered as a blessing of the first magnitude, and has, in various
ways, been sought for by all. There is no man so dishonest, but what
labors to impress upon others the conviction of his honesty; no man so
deceptive, but what wishes to be considered sincere; nor cowardly, but
desires to be reputed brave; and no man is so abandonedly vicious, but
what desires to be considered virtuous by his fellow creatures. All
choose a good name in preference to a bad one. This being a fact the
appearance of virtue is kept up where the reality is wanting, and the
shadow is often mistaken for the substance.

There are many, that are, at heart, insincere and false, who pass in
society generally for persons of sincerity, candor and virtue, while
their real principles are known only in their own families and among
their confidential friends. They desire a good name and outwardly
maintain it, while they in reality but little deserve it. In order to
know what a man really is, we must be acquainted, not only with his
public, but his private character. In his own family, every man
appears what he really is. There the heart, word and action art in
unison. They embrace each other. In public, they too often separate;
and the word, or action, speaks what its divorced companion, the heart
does not feel.

Such not only literally choose, but often bear a good name. But this
is not the choice suggested by the text. All men, even the most
vicious, in some sense or other, choose a good name. But the passage
under consideration has a higher, a nobler aim, than a mere choice