{5th.) The more estate you have, the more danger and the more trouble. A pirate doth not set upon empty vessels. None are so liable to such snares as those that have wealth and greatness. You can hardly discharge what you have already. If you had more, you would have the greater trust ; for ' to whom much is given, of them much shall be required,' Luke xii. 48. You must give account for more time, for more opportunities to do good, for more acts of mercy. A greater estate is incident to more cares and more duties.
3. The third lust is pride of life. The most natural affection is self- love, and pride is nothing else but the excess of self-love. We suck it in with our milk. Our first parents fell by pride ; they soon catched at that bait, ' You shall be as gods,' Gen. iii. 5 ; and we see it takes with us, and surpriseth us upon every small occasion ; a fine garment, a lock of hair, a good horse, or a serviceable creature. There is no- thing so high and nothing so low but pride can make use of it ; if we go back any degrees, it is to rise the higher. Yea, rather than not be proud, we can be proud of sin. The apostle speaks of some ' that glory in their shame,' Phil. iii. 19, as their revenge and glutting themselves with their unchaste pleasures. It is a sin that will put us upon much self-denial. How can men rack their spirits to promote their own praise and exaltation ? How can they pinch themselves of the con- veniences of life to feed pride and to supply pomp and state ? Nay, a man may be proud after his death in funeral-pomp and in the glory of the sepulchre. Now pride is twofold — in mind, and in desire. Pride in the mind is self-conceit, and pride in the desire is an inordinate affection of glory or high place. Pride in mind is when we ascribe to ourselves what we have not, or transfer upon ourselves the praise of what we have. To boast of what we have not is folly ; to boast of what we have is sacrilege, and we rob God ; this is like a man deeply in debt, who boasts of an estate he has borrowed. Pride in the desire is an inordinate affectation of our own glory : all that men do is to set up themselves.
[L] Against pride in the mind. Consider what little reason we have
'■ This appears to be the opposite of what the author designs to say.— Ed.
VeR. 12.] SERMONS UPON TITUS II. 11-14. 117
to be proud. Poor men ! in whose birth there is sin, in whose life there is misery, and in whose death there is sorrow and perplexity. What should we be proud of ? Not of strength, which is inferior to many beasts. Not of beauty ; many flowers are decked with a more glorious paintry. Beauty it is but skin-deep ; it is blasted with every sickness, it is the laughing-stock of every disease. And then he that 'is proud of his clothes is but proud of his rags wherewith his wounds are bound up. Clothes you know were occasioned by sin ; in innocency holiness was a garment for man, and men might have conversed naked without shame. And so for birth ; we have no reason to be proud of that. Omnis sanguis concolor — all blood is of a colour : ' He hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth,' Acts xvii. 26. Not of estates ; they are but as trappings to a horse, things without us. We do not value a horse for his trappings, but by his courage, mettle, and strength. Not of learning ; there is none so learned but he hath ignorance enough to humble him. To be proud of learning shows our ignorance. A little river seems deep when it runs between narrow banks, but when there is a broad channel it is very shallow ; so men seem to be profound till their thoughts run out into the breadth of learning. Nor should we glory in preferment and in being advanced. When men are put into great places, they grow proud, but it is their folly : thy preferment may be in judgment ; God many times chooseth wicked men to rule. He gives kingdoms to the basest of men, Dan. iv. 17. God's providence is not only seen in pre- ferring wise and godly governors, but in setting up the base for a judgment to the nation. Nebuchadnezzar is called God's servant, Jer, XXV. 9. The sins of Egypt and Judah did require such a servant. A devout man complained of a bloody prince. Lord ! why hast thou made him emperor ? He did seem to hear this answer. Because I could not find a worse for such a wicked people. So when such an one was chosen bishop, he grew proud upon it, and there was a voice heard. Thou art lifted up, not because thou art worthy of the priesthood, but because the city is worthy of no better a bishop. Some may be preferred, not because they are worthy, but because the sins of the nation deserved no better governors. So in any good actions, when they are done com- mendable before men, remember, God makes another judgment : ' All the ways of man are clean in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits,' Prov. xvi, 2. Man hath but a partial hatred of sin, but God hath an exact balance, and he weighs the spirits : Luke xvi. 15, 'Ye are they that justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your hearts ; for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.' When men praise you, say, These men cannot see my heart. Usually after some eminency there afterward comes a blasting. Jacob wrestled with God, and then his thigh was broken. Paul was rapt up into the third heaven, then presently there was sent him a thorn in the flesh. Sometimes God blasts the creature before the work, as Moses's hand was made leprous before he wrought the miracle, Exod. iv. 6. Sometimes after the work, to show we are but vile instruments ; there is something left to remember the creature of his own vileness. Then be not proud of thy holiness, for what is this to God's ? Ps. cxxx. 3, ' If thou, Lord, shouldst maik