SECTION III. 35 a signal of a proud spirit. Where the eyes and the lips have learned these disdainful and imperious airs, it is exceeding hard to unlearn them. A peacock may almost as soon be untaught to spread his gay feathers, or the seas and the winds untaught to swell and roar, as a man full .of self to put off his insolence, to bland upon a level with his fellows, and to treat those about him with affability and candour, who are in anyrespect inferior to him. Watch, O my soul, against the first secret motions of vanity : when thy inward thoughts begin to swell and thy heart to exalt itself, watch against every haughty air, against the high look and the scornful tone ; watch and subdue the earliest workings of pride; for if they gain but a little indulgence and strength, all the powers of thy reason will not be able to subdue them, and will create thee longand heavy toil to gain the victory after many sore vexations of spirit, nor wilt thou ever become a humble crea- ture without the abundant aids of divine grace. II. If we have low thoughts of ourselveswe shall be thank-. ful for every design of kindness which our neighbours express towards us, nor shall we scorn the good offices of the meanest, though perhaps we can receive little or no advantage by them. God the glorious and the sublime, who inhabits dimity and dwells above the praises of his highest angels, looks down upon the heart of every humble worshipper hereon earth, and receives our little worthless services witha smile of approbation : If there be a willing mind the gift is accepted according to what the giver is able to offer; 2 Cor. viii. 12. nor are the two mites of a widow neglected or disdained in the treasury of our God ; Luke xxi. 2. Remember, Omy heart, the divine example, and be an imitator of the blessed God in this respect, who made thee to wear his own image. But mark how the haughty man who is full of self receives the offers of kindness from his inferior: He scarce vrouchsafes to cast an eye upon them, unless it be in scorn : Thus he upbraids his neighbour with his poverty : He treats his hum- ble civilities withcontemptand despises all his good-will : Merit and modesty blush and sink down before him, and die under his frowns. O vile idea of a haughty scorner, who puts modesty to the blush and lets merit die. III. The humble man who has low thoughts of himself is beloved of men as well as of God, and gains the favour of all around him. He remembers that it is Of one bloodGod has made all nations, and he is moulded of the samedust with his fellows, and he thinks rather of those essentials of humannaturewherein lie lies upon a level with the meanest son of Adam, than of those accidental differences of wit or wealth, which have raised him above some of his fellows. He knows that others have a right to some degrees o"f love and esteem as well as himself, they have some pretence to understanding and merit as well as he. c 2
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