464, THE PRAYING CHRISTIAN for which he was sent into the world. His ambition is of a higher order, it has a loftier aim. The praise of man cannot satisfy a spirit which feels itself made for immortality. He feels that if he had no sin but vanity, the consciousness of that alone, would be sufficient to set him on his guard, to quicken him in prayer, to caution, him in conduct. He does not fear vanity as he fears any other indi- vidual vice,; as a single enemy, against which Jie is to be on the watch, but as that vice which, if indulged, would poison all his virtues. - Among the sins of the inner man, he knows that " this kind goeth not out but by prayer." - When he hears it said of any popular, and especially of any religious, cha- racter, " He is a good man, but he is vain ;" he says within himself, he is vain, and, therefore, I fear he is not a good man. How many right qualities does vanity rob of their value, how many right actions of their reward !
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