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of Christ, and are daily by it crucified to the world; but live to God in that life which outlives the fading fatisfactions of it.

CHAP. XII.

§. 1. The character of a proud man: a glutton upon himself is proud of his pedigree. §. 2. He is infolent and quarrelfome, but cowardly, yet cruel. §. 3. An ill child, fubject, and Servant. §. 4. Unhofpitable. §. 5. No friend to any. §. 6. Dangerous and mischievous in power. §. 7. Of all things, pride bad in mi$. nifters. §. 8. They claim prerogative above others. §. 9. And call themselves the clergy: their lordlinefs and avarice. §. 10. Death Swallows all. §. 11. The way to escape these

evils.

§. I. To conclude this great head of pride, let us briefly fee, upon the whole matter, what is the character of a proud man in himself, and in divers relations and capacities. A proud, man then is a kind of glutton upon himself; for he is never fatisfied with loving and admiring himself; whilft nothing else, with him, is worthy either of love or care: if good enough to be the fervant of his will, it is as much as. he can find in his heart to allow as if he had been only made for himself, or rather that he had made himself. For as he defpifes man н 6.1.

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because he cannot abide an equal, fo he does not love God, because he would not have a fuperior: he cannot bear to owe his being to another, left he fhould thereby acknowledge one above himfelf. He is one that is mighty big with the honour of his ancestors, but not of the virtue that brought them to it; much lefs will he trouble himself to imitate them. He can tell you of his pedigree, his antiquity, what eftate, what matches; but forgets that they are gone, and that he must die too.

II. But how troublefome a companion is a proud man! Ever pofitive and controuling; and if you yield not, infolent and quarrelfome: yet at the upfhot of the matter, cowardly: but if ftrongeft, cruel. He has no bowels for adverfity, as if it were below him to be fenfible: he feels no more of other men's miseries, than if he was not a man, or it was a fin to be fenfible. For not feeling himself interested, he looks no further; he will not difquiet his thoughts with other men's infelicities; it fhall content him to believe they are juft: and he had rather churlifhly upbraid them as the caufe, than be ready to commiferate or relieve them. So that compaffion and charity are with him as useless, as humility and meeknefs are hateful.

§. III. A proud man makes an ill child, fervant, and subject; he contemns his parents, mafter, and prince; he will not be subject. He thinks himself too wife, or too old, to be directed; as if it were a flavifh thing to obey; and that none were free, that may not do what they please; which turns duty out of doors, andrades authority. On the other hand,

if he be an husband, or father, or master, there is fcarcely any enduring: he is fo infufferably curious and tefty, that it is an affliction to live with him; for hardly can any hand carry it even enough to please him. Some peccadillo about his clothes, his diet, his lodging, or attendance, quite diforders him: but efpecially if he fancies any want of the state and refpect he looks for. Thus pride destroys the nature of relations on the one fide, it learns to contemn duty; and on the other fide, it turns love into fear, and makes the wife a fervant, and the children and fervants flaves.

§. IV. But the proud man makes an ill neighbour too; for he is an enemy to hofpitality; he defpifes to receive kindnefs, because he would not thew any, nor be thought to need it. Befides, it looks too equal and familiar for his haughty humour. Emulation and detraction are his element: for he is jealous of attributing any praise to others, where juft; left that should cloud and leffen him, to whom it never could be due: he is the man that fears, what he fhould wish, to wit, That others fhould do well. But that is not all; he maliciously mifcalls their acts of virtue, which his corruptions will not let him imitate, that they may get no credit by them. If he wants any occafion of doing mifchief, he can make one: either they ufe him ill; or have fome defign upon him; the other day they paid him not the cap and knee; the diftance and refpect he thinks his quality, parts, or merits do require. A fmall thing ferves a proud man to pick a quarrel; of all

creatures the most jealous, fullen, spiteful and revengeful: he can no more forgive an injury, than forbear to do one.

. V. Nor is this all: a proud man can never be a friend to any body. For besides that his ambition may always be bribed by honour and preferment to betray that relation, he is unconverfable; he must not be catechised and counfelled, much lefs reproved or contradicted: no, he is too covetous of himself to spare another man a share, and much too high, ftiff, and touchy he will not away with those freedoms that a real friendship requires. To fay true, he contemns the character; it is much too familiar and humble for him: his mighty foul would know nothing befides himself and vaffals to stock the world. He values other men as we do cattle, for their fervice only; and, if he could, would use them fo; but as it happens, the number and force are unequal.

§. VI. But a proud man in power is very mifchievous; for his pride is the more dangerous by his greatness, fince from ambition in private men, it becomes tyranny in him: it would reign alone; ray, live fo, rather than have competitors: Aut Cafar, aut nullus. Reafon must not check it, nor rules of law limit it; and either it can do no wrong, or it is fedition to complain of the wrong that it does. The men of this temper would have nothing thought amifs they do; at leaft, they count it dangerous to allow it to be fo, though fo it be; for that would imply they had erred, which it is always matter of ftate to deny no, they

will rather chufe to perifh obftinately, than by acknowledging, yield away the reputation of better judging to inferiors, though it were their prudence to do fo. And indeed, it is all the fatisfaction that proud great men make to the world for the miferies they often bring upon it, that, first or laft, upon a divifion, they leave their real intereft to follow fome one excess of humour, and are almoft ever deftroyed by it. This is the end pride gives proud men, and the ruin it brings upon them, after it has punished others by them.

§. VII. But above all things, pride is intolerable in men pretending to religion; and, of them, in minifters; for they are names of the greatest contradiction. I fpeak without refpect, or anger, to perfons or parties; for, I only touch upon the bad of all. What fhall pride do with religion, that rebukes it? Or ambition with minifters, whofe very office is humility? And yet there are but too many of them, that, befides an equal guilt with others in the fleshly pride of the world, are even proud of that name and office, which ought always to remind them of felf-denial. Yea, they use it as the beggars do the name of God and Chrift, only to get by it: placing to their own account the advantages of that reverend profeffion, and thereby making their function but a political handle to raise themfelves to the great preferments of the world. But, O then! how can fuch be his ministers, that faid, My kingdom is not of this world? * John xviii. 36.

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