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TH'E
AbYAWTAGES
bP
HUÉITLITY
rSECT.IV.
Let
no man
think
me
a fool
indeed
;
but
if
you
will
think
me so,
then
as
a fool
receive me, and
permit
me to
proceed
foolishly
in
this
confidence
of
boasting
:
Are
my
rivals Israelites
?
So
am I
:
Are
they ministers
of Christ
?
I
speak
as
a
fool,
I
am
more In
labours,
in
sufferings,
in
deaths,
more
abundant
than
all
of
them
can ever
pre-
tend
to.
Boasting of one's self
in
the
judgment of
a
great
apostle
is
so
foolish a
thing,
that when wisdom
itself
requires
him to
practise
it,
he
is
quite ashamed
of
it,
and
almost
expects that
he shall
be
taken
for
a
fool.
It
is
the sentiment
of
a
very
famous
French author,
Mr.
Paschal,
"
that true
philosophy
teaches
men to
be
humble,
to
conceal
self, to
banish
the
word I,
for
the
most
part,
out
of
our
conversation
;
but christianity and
the
gospel have nullified
and destroyed
it."
Yet, alasl
what
would some persons have to
say in
company,
if
you
cut
off
from
their
lips
the beloved theme
of
self?
What
could they
find
to
talk
of,
if
you
debarred them
of
all
the language
of
pride and
envy
;
the
language
of
pride
wherein self
is
perpetually exalted,
and the lan-
guage
of
envy
wherein their neighbours
are lessened
and
reproached
?
IV. The
man who has
a
low opinion of
himself
is
not
so
often affronted
:
he does not
so
easily
take
offence
:
and
when
he
meets with
real
disgrace and
contempt,
he
does not
feel
so
sharp
and painful
a sensation
of
it
as
galls
the
hearts of
the
sons
of
pride.
He
can
bear with
more
ease
that
others should
think
meanly
of
him,
be-
cause
he
first
thinks
meanly
of himself: He
is
much better
tted
to go
through
the
world where
every one must
meet
with
some trials
and
some
reproaches:
He
learns
to
bear the
scandal
of
the
world with a
happy
indiffer-
ence,
because
he
is
not
so
solicitous about their applause
He
does
not
lie
so
much exposed
to
disquieting
passions
by
any inroads made
upon
his
honour and
farne,
because
be
has
a
low esteem
of
himself, and
is
content without
fame
and honour.
But the
proud and
vain
creatures who
are full
of
self,
and
have a
high esteem
of
their
own persons and their
qualifications,
you
can hardly
either speak
to
them
or
of
them, but
you affront
them,
unless
it
be
done
in
a
flattering
and
submissive
manner
:
and
some are
so
humoursome
in
their
pride, that
the
very
manner of
this
submission
must