296 HELPLESSNESS OF MAN. He feeds his pride with this pernicious aliment. The contrary opinion is so closely connected, indeed is so intimately blended, with the subject of the pre- ceding chapter, that we shall have the less occasion to extend our present ob- servations to any length. We hear much, and we hear falsely, of the dignity of human nature. Prayer, founded on the true principles of Scrip. ture, alone teaches us wherein our true dignity consists. The dignityof a fallen creature is a perfect anomaly. True dignity, contrary to the common opinion, that it is an inherent excellence, is actually a sense of the want of it ; it con- sists not in our valuing ourselves, but in a continual feeling of our dependence upon God, and an unceasing aim at con- formity to his image. Nothing but a humbling sense of the sinfulness of our nature, of our practised offences, of our utter helplessness, and constant dependence, can bring us to fervent and persevering prayer. How
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