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THE PRETENCES
OF
THE POOR,
tsECT. V.
servitude,
because
thy livery
is
finer,
or has
more lace
upon
it
than the coat of
thy
neighbour
?
Ask thyself
again, dost thou
never set
up
for a
chief
talker
in
company, and doth
thy
heart
never presume
that
thou art wiser than
those above
thee, without
any
just
reason
for
it? Canst thou bear
to
be
commanded
by
others,
and
contradicted
by
others,
and reproved by
others,
without
an
inward
rising
ferment
of wrath,
and
without
returning
a
word
of
rash
provocation
?
Art thou
never inclined
to
rage and
passion
when
thy ears
take
in
a
reproach
?
Canst thou bear
an
injury with
such
hum-
ble
silence, and
forgive thy
enemy
as a
christian
ought
to
do
?
Art
thou not
as
ready
to
give or to
take
offence
as
any
of
the rich and
great?
And
is
it
thy
humility
that
inclines thee
to
take
offence
or
to give
it
?
Where there
is
little
forbearance and little
care to please
in
our con-
duct
surely
there
is
some
pride at heart.
Upon the
whole
I
suspect there
are more
quarrels and
contentions among
the poorest
and meanest
of the
people
than
among
the
rich
and high -born
:
And
the wise
man
says;
"l'rov.
xiii.
10.
It
is
only from
pride cometh
con-
tention." The
polite
education of the great teaches
them
to
imitate humility and
good
humour,
and
by
this
means
many a quarrel
is
prevented
;
whereas the poor
who
have
been unbred and
untaught
betray their pride
often, and
often rush into clamorous
contentions.
Let
me ask
thee yet further,
art
thou not too
fond
of
some pre
-
eminence and honour even
on a
dunghill
?
Dost
thou
never despise
in
thy
heart, and
disdain those who
seem to be inferior
to
thee
in
any
respect
?
And yet
at
other
times, art thou
not too
much ashamed of the
rank
of
life
where God bath placed thee
?
Dost thou never
abstain
from any
duties of religion,
or
duties of common
life,
merely
because thou canst not make
so
good
a
fi-
gure
among
men
as
others
do,
and
as thou
desirest
?
Enquire of
thyself again, is
thy
behaviour among thy
equals modest and meek, and
always courteous and
obliging?
Dost
thou never
refuse
any
offices
of
friendly
assistance
to thy inferiors or
thy
equals,
from a
principle
of
pride
working within thee
?
Dost thou never
disdain
to be
taught
by
them,
even
in
some
things
which thou
dost
not well know
?
There
is
no
creature humble
who
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