Adoration too profound in the Presence of that Great God who searcheth the very heart and reins And how can it be expected that People who thus bear themselves on high should make any good improvements in Religion Or that they should perfect Holiness in the fear of God who despise even the outward Beauty of it How can it be expected that they should receive the Influences of Grace who shut their Bosoms as it were against them That they should be trusted with a Divine Treasure who carry themselves as if they were rich enough and had need of nothing Or that they should be bless'd with the Dew of Heaven who are insolently supine as if they had the Fortune of Gideon's Fleece to be full of Water whilst the neighbouring Ground was dry So proud People count others in comparison and yet those humble Hearts that are a thirst for God and cry unto him like the parched Land are more receptive of Distillations from above and much the more fruitful by them God heareth their Cries and as a return of their Prayers refresheth them with increments of his Grace and Goodness so that they proceed from Strength to Strength from Vertue to Vertue from one degree of Grace unto another 2. SECONDLY As an humble Mind prompts Men to be diligent and devout at their Prayers so it inclines them to communicate often at the Altar which is another means of Holiness Because this Sacrament was of our blessed Saviour's own appointment and that too a little before he humbled himself even to the Death of the Cross because he was pleas'd to institute it for a standing Memorial of his great Love to Mankind in dying for all And because he said pointing to the Cup Do this as oft as ye shall drink it in remembrance of me The Christian Church hath in all times held this Solemnity in the greatest Esteem and Veneration as being a Christian Ordinance in the strictest Sense and after a more peculiar manner and such was the Humility of Christians in the ancient Times especially that for fear they should not celebrate it often enough they did it daily And certainly were our Humility as deep as theirs our Obedience and Zeal as to this would bear an equal proportion as none would think themselves to be above Ordinances or without need of Ordinances so as to slight this so very few would hardly once omit it being such a Sacred and Solemn part of Christ's Religion especially considering how mightily the use of it promotes our Progress and Perfection in Vertue Here we renew our Baptismal Vows Here we repeat all acts of Mortification and Repentance Here we exercise our Faith and Hope with the greatest vigour Here we enliven and extend our Charity to all Mankind Here we are taken up with the Contemplation and Adorations of God Here we exert all those Spiritual Graces which God gives us upon our devout Prayers So that were this Ordinance religiously and constantly used according to the Original design and purpose of our Saviour nothing could conduce more to our present and future Happiness than this blessed Mystery so perfective it is of all manner of Vertue The lowly in Heart cannot but think themselves obliged to be frequent Attendants at the Lord's-Table what neglects what contempt soever Men of unsubdued Spirits may be guilty of People of an humble and truly Christian Disposition make a Conscience of this their Duty and are afraid of violating such an express such a plain Command especial of living in the habitual and scandalous violation of it They consider the infinite Love of the Lord Jesus who gave himself for them how equal it is to express here their Thankfulness to him how pleasant as well as frail the Duty is and what infinite difference there is between This Cup and that which our blessed Saviour drank of for us in his Agony and upon the Cross They think of those Blessings which reward the Piety of every devout Soul and are sensible of their want of them They impatiently desire the Pardon of all their Sins and that Supply of Grace wherewith the Holy Spirit refresheth the Hearts of all Worthy Communicants And when the Solemnity is transacted their daily care is to order their whole Conversation so that they may not have received the Grace of God in vain These are genuine Fruits of Humility and they all shew how effectually this single Vertue serves to carry on the great Ends and Purposes of Christianity 3. THE Third thing I mentioned as a means of Holiness is Instruction For how sincere so ever our Hearts may be our Understandings are subject to so many Mistakes and Errors that good Guides are very necessary to inform us tho' some think they do not need them at all This is no other than Pride of Heart nor do any stand in such great need of skilful and honest Guides as those who think they are able enough to guide themselves Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit There is more hope of a fool than of him saith Solomon Prov. 26. 12. Such a Man hearkeneth to himself and being in the hands of such a weak and flattering Tutor no good Proficiency can be expected from him He will ever be crooked because he grows leaning every minute on the left-side 'T is hardly possible ever to set such an unlucky piece of a Man right without such a Miracle as in our Saviour's time cured the Blind and the Lame His Knowledge and Perfection are so great in his own Eyes that the pretending to rectifie Faults is interpreted either as Ignorance that is inexcusable because he is known no better or as Malice and ill Nature for endeavouring to fix a dark part there which he thought splendid which way so ever it be taken the proud Man thinks himself disgraced he is therefore affronted because he is above Reproof or Advice And thus the means of making him better and wiser are quite frustrated Therefore for our Progress and Perfection in a Christian course it is a most necessary Rule which St. Paul gives us all to go by Let none think of himself more highly than he ought to think but think soberly An humble Mind is tractable and docil for the very Notion of Humility includes a mean and slender Opinion of One's own self and considering those Commands that in honour we should preferr one another Rom. 12. 10. and esteem each other better than our selves Phil. 1. 3. Nothing can be more agreeable to a Spirit of true Humility than to hearken to those whose Place and Office it is by God's appointment to direct and inform us especially when the Holy Scripture is their Rule and to submit to all those means of Proficiency for which the Scriptures themselves were written whether it be Doctrine or Reproof or Correction or Instruction in Righteousness that the good Man may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good Works Let the righteous smite me it shall be a
in truth most proper and fit for Criminals The only thing worth our esteem is Vertue or that gracious disposition of Soul whereby the righteous is indeed more excellent than his neighbour Prov. 12. 26. Those Moral Habits which are apt to cleanse us from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit have an intrinsick Dignity in them For they are noble Perfections of our Nature and such resemblances of the Divine Being as are in the sight of God himself of great price 1 Pet. 3. 4. But yet even these excellent Endowments are arguments for our Humility because they are not the Productions of Nature but the Fruits and Effects of the Holy Spirit 's Operation It is by his free and gracious Energy that we are made the Children of Grace and are transformed in the renewing of our Minds Without Christ's assistance by the Holy Spirit we can do nothing John 15. 5. It is he that worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good pleasure Phil. 2. 13. Upon this account our Spiritual Graces are reasons for our Thankfulness but not for our Pride because we stand indebted to the mere Goodness and Bounty of God for them Who maketh thee to differ from another saith the Apostle or what hast thou that thou didst not receive Now if thou didst receive it why dost thou glory as though thou hadst not received it 1 Cor. 4. 7. Debtors are not wont to be proud of the Obligations and Bonds they are forced to lie under Poverty carrieth such shame with it as serves to debase Men when hardly any thing else will And though God giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not Jam. 1. 5. yet the Sense of our necessitous and miserable condition by Nature and of our dependance upon God for the mending of our Fortunes is a very powerful Motive to humble all of us especially before that infinite Being to whose Bounty and Goodness we owe all that we have and all that we are THE ancient Moralists among the Heathen thought it a Fundamental Principle of all Vertue for a Man to know and understand himself rightly I am sure it is the Principle and Source of this Vertue Humility For there is very little if any thing in us or about us but what teacheth us to despise our selves And it is for want of due and just reflection that People are great in their own Eyes I know that in me that is in my flesh there dwelleth no good thing saith St. Paul in the Person of an unregenerate Man Rom. 7. 18. There is indeed a vile Body a sinful Soul a corrupt Mind a vain Imagination There is a weak mortal necessitous Nature There is foolishness and wretchedness in great variety There is enough and abundance of such things for him to boast of if it be worth his boasting such glorying would be in One's shame And as for those blessed Principles of Vertue which by the sweet and kindly insinuations of Christ's Spirit the Soul of every regenerate Person is endow'd with they are so many borrowed Talents for which the holiest Man living stands beholding to our great Creditor the Lord of all And tho' we ought to rejoyce that God is pleas'd to communicate his Riches to us yet considering that they are precarious Loans for the obtaining whereof our chief business was to beg and receive with all Humility we have as little reason to be proud of them as a servile Steward hath of a Trust for which he must give a strict Account IF the things I have mention'd serve to keep us from all Assumings the Consideration of those outward Matters which the Scripture calls the things and the fashion of the world must needs help to take down our Minds the more still For tho' the Children of this World are wont to mind these things most and are apt to be elated most of all by them yet there is hardly a plainer Argument than this is of the great Weakness of humane Nature and of the Folly it is subject to that Men are so swollen in their Minds because their temporal Fortunes are bulky because they are Richer and Greater than others I mean as some count Riches and Greatness who speak the Dialect of the World and consider not what it is to be Rich and Great indeed Alas these external Matters are of a very mean trifling and contemptible Nature phantasm and colour only like the Feathers of the Athenian Bird which help to give it face but do not make it better or weightier than a Bird of a plainer Plume Besides riches saith Solomon certainly make themselves wings they flee away as an Eagle towards heaven Prov. 23. 5. And this they do by the just Judgment of God in Heaven because Men set their Eyes on that which is not and set others at nought for that which is but vanity When they forget God and themselves after this manner it is a very Righteous thing for the Judge of all the Earth to humble them by making the Nest that was set on high empty and by leaving it to the mercy of the Fire or of the Extortioner which in effect is the same thing Thirdly tho' these external Fortunes stay with us and we with them yet 't is most unreasonable for our Hearts to be lifted up by the enjoyment of them because they are far from being an argument of God's Love to any No man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them saith Solomon Eccl. 9. 1. That is none can certainly tell by his present worldy Condition whether he be in God's Favour or no. For saith Solomon verse 2. All things come alike to all there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked to the good and to the clean and to the unclean to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not as is the good so is the sinner and he that sweareth as he that feareth an oath Which words yield us thus much That since this wretched World is not a place for us to receive our Rewards generally Men share alike and without discrimination in the Fortunes of the World The Divine Providence scatters them promiscuously and with an indifferent Hand which plainly shews that in God's Account they are such very inconsiderable things that it is no matter how or upon whom they are thrown away But Fourthly if any thing may be concluded from the affluence of these poor temporal Enjoyments it is rather a sad argument of the great Danger the Men of this World are in than a signification of God's Love to them For all Mankind being God's Creatures and having for that reason some sort of Title and Right to his Providence God is pleased to distribute the Glories and Felicities here below as he sends his Rain and Sun-shine upon the evil as well as upon the good Nay because evil Men can have no share of the Felicities of a future state God doth usually give them a more liberal allowance of
it One's choice too few if any of Adam's Race would stoop to this were their Lots at their own disposal and yet this was the Condition which the most blessed Son of God designedly took upon himself Eight Days after his Nativity he submitted to Circumcision which was an argument of Mens Hereditary Pollutions as well as the Seal of God's Covenant with the Jews And by humbling himself to the bloody stroke of the Knife he shew'd that tho' he was perfectly Innocent yet he took on him the guilt of our Sins as well as the shame I had almost said the scandal of the extreamest Poverty St. Luke tells us that he was subject to his Parents Luke 2. 5. And the Tradition is very Ancient that as he grew up he wrought together with his reputed Father in his Manual Occupation tho' he could have fed his Mother and him by Miracles but he did no Miracle till he was thirty Years old and then those Works were for the Confirmation of his Doctrines and to prove his Divine Authority And after Joseph's death which it 's thought was a considerable time before he began to Preach 't is believ'd that he us'd the Trade alone for his own and his Mother's support making Yokes and Ploughs says Justin Martyr for which reason he was afterwards call'd not only the Carpenter's Son but the Carpenter Mark 6. 3. As he was first reveal'd to Shepherds so his Retinue afterwards consisted of Fishermen and such like humble People whose Meanness the better fitted them to be Examples of what he said in his Sermon on the Mount Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of God Matth. 5. 3. Indeed the Labours of his Hands ceas'd as soon as he enter'd on his Ministerial Office Then he liv'd by the Hands of others which manner of living tho' it was grounded upon an eternal Principle of Justice because the work-man is worthy of his meat as he said himself Matth. 10. 10. yet in him it was an expression of great Humility because he took all Ministrations to him as things precarious even from the hands of those who confess'd him to be the Son of God the Lord of all And at the same time when his Necessities requir'd him to make use of Money that he might for ever disgrace all inordinate love of it he thought that vile Person the properest to carry the Bag who was a Thief and a Traitor His whole Life was a constant state of Poverty having not of his own where to lay his Head after it was lifted up out of the Manger nor was that poor resting place his own neither His patient bearing Aspersions and Reproach the usual consequents of a needy Condition was a further argument still of the great Humility of his Heart High Stomachs are apt to be stimulated to that degree by one sharp treatment that sometimes nothing can allay but a glut of Revenge life it self falls a sacrifice for it and a little detraction is too often made the Price of Blood When the Lord Jesus was revil'd he did not at all revile again 1 Pet. 2. 23. but endur'd before-hand Crucifixion in his Name A Glutton and a Wine-bibber a Friend of Publicans and Sinners a Samaritan a Daemoniack an Instrument of Beelzebub a Perverter of the Nation These and the like Calumnies were Prefatory to that spightful Libel on the Cross This is the King of the Jews and yet he bore all these Reproaches with the same Humility and Evenness of Mind wherewith he bore the solemn pompous Mockery of the Reed and Purple Robe formalities intended not to inaugurate but to mortifie him 'T is true these tho' very great Indignities did neither wound his Flesh nor hurt his Skin and so in that respect were more tolerable than the Buffettings the Scourgings the Coronary Thorns which were a part of the Epilogue This was such a strange Form for the Son of God to take upon him that Pilate himself tho' he knew nothing of his Divinity shew'd him to the People as an amazing Spectacle Behold the Man said he John 19. 5. His submitting to such shameful Scourgings and Dilacerations exceeded his stooping down to the Bason of Water to wash his Disciples Feet before he was apprehended And yet that was an act of Humility which our Saviour himself intended as an Eminent Example for the very greatest in his Church to follow that they should do as he did unto them because the servant is not greater than his Lord neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him John 13. 15 16. AND yet Thirdly There is one thing behind still which was more than this and that was his preparing a Lavatory for the whole World by pouring out not Water only but Blood too and that upon the Cross St. Paul mentions this as the most signal and stupendous Act of Humility that he submitted even to Crucifixion which was not only the most Cruel but the most Opprobrious kind of Punishment AMONG the Jews a particular Malediction went along with Suspension tho' the Criminal did not expire and die by it but was expos'd upon a Gibbet after he had suffer'd death some other way For the Law of God gave them no Authority to take any Man's Life by this sort of Punishment It only impower'd them after they had stoned or strangled a Malefactor to hang his breathless Body up for shame and example sake and that Ignominy was inflicted only upon Blasphemers Idolaters and the like It was a sign that such Criminals were under a particular Curse for he that is hanged is accursed of God saith the Scripture Deut. 21. 23. This his Suspension was not the cause but the sign of his being accursed a token of the Malediction an argument that he was detested by the God of Purity that he was look'd upon as one not fit to tread upon the Earth and therefore was hang'd up in the Air lest he should defile the Land and thence was to be thrown under Ground in all haste the very same day as an abominable Creature that deserv'd presently to be remov'd out of the Peoples view If a man have committed a sin worthy of death and he be put to death and thou hang him on a tree his body shall not remain all night upon the tree but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day so the Law runs Deut. 21. 22 23. And some learned Jews tell us That even the Tree on which such a Malefactor was expos'd was to be bury'd with him and so the Stone wherewith he had been stoned or the Sword wherewith he had been cut off or the Napkin wherewith he had been strangled all was to be put into the Earth with him and all this to shew what a vile and abominable thing he was in the account of God Now by this the wonderful Humility of the Lord Jesus appears that he was pleas'd to submit to that reproach and shame which was due to those and
bread to eat and raiment to put on so that I come again to my Father's house in peace then shall the Lord be my God And this stone which I have set for a pillar shall be God's house and of all that thou shalt give me will I surely give the tenth unto thee Gen. 28. Here was Gratitude Simplicity and Religion mixed with the Modesty of a truly humble Mind the thing he asked for was Bread and Raiment And considering what an Improvement Christianity is of Nature this single Example renders St. Paul's Exhortation the more binding 1 Tim. 6. 8. Having food and raiment let us therewith be content 3. IN order thereunto we should learn yet a Third thing namely not to make envious Comparisons between our own Condition and the state of those who are Superiour to us This is a great cause of Mens Dissatisfactions and Murmurings not that themselves want but because others have a more liberal allowance The Original of this is Pride which makes Men look a-squint upon those above them wishing themselves in their Place or at least in a collateral Line with them and thinking it hard measure that their Station and Fortunes are not greater and all this upon a vain supposition of their own that they are as deserving as the best This is to direct Providence and to set up against it than which nothing can be more inconsistent with a Spirit of Humility For they who have a mean Opinion of themselves must needs think they are well used if they have any room assigned them by the Almighty tho' it be the lowermost Seat and are obliged to acquiesce in his Determination because we are not our own chusers and the least expression of Favour from God is not Debt but Kindness and Grace We should be careful therefore to take our Lot as it falls and to look upon it not as Partiality but Wisdom in him when he keepeth down one and setteth up another He is the only competent Judge of what is fittest to be done and the reasons of his Providence are always Great tho' we cannot peep through the Veil to see them at every turn IN all his Proceedings he hath a regard to the Beauty Order and Stability of his whole Creation and to the Good of every part And as this infers a necessity of constituting different States and Conditions amongst Mankind that one may be subservient to another and that all may be subservient to his Glory so it requires us with all Humility to be contented with that Place and Condition which God in his Wisdom thinks to be most proper for us This is the true way of husbanding God's Dispensations so that we may be happy under them how obscure soever our Sphere and how slender soever our Fortunes are if compar'd with theirs whose Pomp some have the Vanity and the ill Nature to grumble at FELICITY doth not reside only in stately Mansions nor indeed can it have access to them unless a lowly Heart be ready there to give it entertainment It hath its abode with Contentedness where-ever that dwells tho' within a little Door under a low Roof with plain Diet and in an homely Dress It is a contented Mind that makes one happy indeed and so every one may be happy at home if he will 'T is but bounding his extravagant Ambition and being satisfied with his daily Bread and the thing is presently done And this an humble Heart teacheth us to do because the Bread we have is of God's giving We pray for it daily or at least we should and because it is God's Hand that reacheth it unto us we should bless him over it And when we receive it with Thankfulness and Comfort and pleasure of Mind a dinner of Herbs is much better Fare than the stalled Ox that is sacrificed to the Lusts of the voluptuous and proud Wretch CHAP. XIII How Humility is to be express'd by keeping an Even Temper in a State of Prosperity 7. THE last Expression of Humility which I shall mention hath more peculiar reference to those whom God hath bless'd with a flourishing Condition Humility is God's way to Honour and to sit down in the lowest Room is to be capable of Advancement at God's Hands who exalteth them of low degree as the humble Mother of our Lord said Luke 1. 52. And when God is pleased to do this we should express our Humility by keeping an Even Temper in a prosperous State To shew how well-pleased God is when People diligently follow the Works of their lawful tho' it be a mean Calling the first two Kings that were set successively upon the Throne of Israel were advanced by God's own Directions to that great Dignity from ordinary Employments Saul as he was seeking his Father's Asses and David as he was feeding his Father's Sheep Which is an argument that poor Beginnings are not any slurr 't is vanity and superciliousness that is both the Crime and the Infamy which too frequently follow a state of Exaltation 'T was the Vice which cost Saul his Credit Crown and Life By what we read of him before his advancement he deserv'd the Character of a modest and humble Person But Promotion which makes a great Man too often spoileth a good one especially when he is mounted high not by gradual ascents but by a quick and unexpected lift It presently turn'd Saul's Head so that first he usurped Samuel's Office then acted against God's own express Command in sparing the Amalekites then grew sowre sullen envious spightful false and outrageous which I suppose is meant by the evil Spirit from the Lord that troubled him 1 Sam. 16. And at last departed from God to consult a Pythoniss So that as things fell out accidentally through the Foollishness and Corruption of his own Heart it had been better for Saul to have remained still among the Asses Indeed this Instance with all its Circumstances is singular But yet 't is no uncommon thing to observe That it is a very hard matter for some to bear up against their own Prosperity and that the danger of their being lost is the same with what a little Pinnace is in when driven impetuously with too great sail in the Head especially if it wants Balast This abuse of Prosperity proceeds from a three-fold cause 1. FIRST From a degeneracy and sordidness of Disposition which whether it be purely Natural or Accidental and for want of liberal ingenuous Education we need not dispute Every days Experience shews That none are so heady and assuming as those of base Originals Trifles made lately of an ugly sort of Clay which no Art can bring to a due Temper nor any thing Reduce but a stroke from the Potter's Hand that formed them The Personage whom good Breeding and Quality makes Illustrious distinguisheth himself from the dirty Swain by his kind courteous and endearing Behaviour Tho' his Fortunes grow his Mind is kept prun'd and hindred from running out into those Luxuriances and
Inequalities which without due care all are subject to especially such whose Root is in a Dunghill That Arch-Bishop of Mentz Willegis whose Father was a poor Carpenter did a very becoming act in hanging his House with representations of Saws and Axes that he might be sure not to forget whence he had been hewn and might preserve himself the better from being elated by his surprising Dignity Men should be very watchful over themselves when their Fortunes swell lest their Hearts swell with them For then is the great Danger and then the Honour and the Vertue appears to admiration when they govern themselves with such a strict Hand as to be always of a Piece the same condescending Men as when Obscurity and Wants made them crouch equally as obliging as when they stood in need and courted those whom a Principle of Vanity would be apt without great care to make them afterwards despise 2. THIS unevenness of Temper and shameful Disparity between the Man and himself proceedeth Secondly from palpable Imprudence 'T is a sign of a weak Head when a Vertigo takes it upon the top of an Hill There is some Defect within in the Intellectual as well as Moral Faculties something is wanting which should poise the Mind and keep it steddy when our Condition grows and riseth to a considerable pitch To think we can be so high as to be above all and out of the reach of all is a very foolish Imagination for we are ever in danger of one another and always stand in need of one another and one time or other the loftiest find it so And such inequalities of Temper as Grate in a prosperous Condition as they are more discernible and offensive so they expose vain People the more first to Envy and then to Ruine at the next fair opportunity For the state of this World ever was and ever will be mutable the Ground we stand upon is very slippery nor are any more commonly tripp'd up than those that think they have sure footing Pride goeth before destruction and an haughty spirit before a fall saith Solomon Prov. 16. 18. His own Father had found much of this after his advancement to the Throne he said in his Prosperity he should never be removed God as he thought had of his Goodness made his Hill so strong Psalm 30. 6. But he shews us himself in the very next words what a vain and weak Conceit this was Thou didst turn thy face from me and I was troubled Nothing is more usual than to see such Vicissitudes and Turns in the World and many times Fortune is most persidious to those who take occasion by its Liberality to be false to others and to deceive themselves too with vain and foolish Confidences of their own Such Cheats fall fatally and the more fatally for having been so and commonly where they tumble they lie unpitied These things wise and thinking Men will consider in time while the Blessings of God are in their Hands and will carry them with such Evenness and Caution and true Generosity of Mind that all good People may have reason to wish they may never drop out of Hands that use them so well 3. BUT after all this unevenness of Temper I now speak of proceeds not so much from some foulness and imperfections in Nature as from a wicked Abuse of God's Grace which is given Men to rectifie what is amiss in them There is in it a mighty touch of the Devil who once set up against the most blessed God because he found himself a very glorious Creature It is from such a Spirit that the greater and higher Men are in their outward Estate the prouder too they are in their Minds They take their Acquisitions not as Gifts and Boons but as Rewards and as Payments in part of a great Debt This must needs be the secret Principle such elated People go upon that all they have is a due and but a pittance neither in comparison of what they ought to have and are very fit for Hence it is that their Pride increases with their Enjoyments They conclude that their singular Advantages are only in Consideration of their singular Deserts retributions of Providence and as these are larger and larger so is the Admiration of themselves greater and greater still And then it is no wonder if Men who are possest with such lofty Notions look down Disdainfully upon all below them because they take measures of themselves and others by Events and Providential Successes They look upon these as clear Arguments and Determinations on their behalf because they believe that God sideth with them and allots them the upper-hand by reason that he too thinks them to be really better than their Neighbours Now these are very dangerous Conceits because they are bottomed upon Lucifer's Sin and evidently lead proud Men to the very same Fate Therefore we cannot give better or plainer Expressions of our Humility than by keeping our Minds down and by doing such acts as argue them to be still in a subdued Condition however it shall please God to exalt us A state of Greatness adds a vast Lustre to this Vertue or rather creates a Lustre in it which makes it the more Admirable and Exemplary It is then most Charming when we cloath our selves with it in defiance of all Prosperity Nor was Solomon in all his Glory arrayed like one such little one For this I appeal to the common Sense of Mankind whose daily Observations shew us That there is no such glorious Ornament as Humility especially when it keeps its former place in the midst of flourishing Circumstances when no Advancement can be powerful enough to transport Men to an indecent Distance nor to bring with it a techy Temper or a supercilious Look nor to make them forsake those kind Offices which they were ready for in a low Station THE more becoming and admirable this Vertue is the greater care is required of us to preserve and keep it in all Conditions but more particularly in a prosperous State when the World smiles upon us and fallacious Fortune attempts by Caresses and Flatteries to steal away our humble Hearts from us Then we should use the greater Caution because the danger of losing our selves is then just at hand 'T is no hard or uncommon thing for People to carry themselves in an humble manner while their Condition is low The difficulty is how to act with the same Mien when Honours and Riches increase In such cases Peoples Minds are naturally apt to be puffed up especially those who are of small Value People of little Sense and of less Goodness 'T is very usual for such when their Affairs begin to glitter to be full of self-admiration and to be carried away with Vanity Nay some are so weak as to think it proper for them to affect State tho' it sits very aukwardly and ill upon them is very unsuitable to such little things and makes them as ridiculous as Trappings of