f men was,
at the time spoken of, in opposition to the praise of God. It must be
wrong to prefer any thing to the will of God. To seek praise is in
itself as little wrong, as it is wrong to hope, and to fear, and to
love, and to trust; all depends upon the object hoped, or feared, or
loved, or trusted; to seek the praise of good men is not wrong, any
more than to love or to reverence good men; only wrong when it is in
excess, when it interferes with the exercise of love and reverence
towards God. Not wrong while we look on good men singly as instruments
and servants of God; or, in the words of Scripture, while "we glorify
God in them[1]." But to seek the praise of bad men, is in itself as
wrong as to love the company of bad men, or to admire them. It is not,
I say, merely the love of praise that is a sin, but love of the corrupt
world's praise. This is the case with all our natural feelings and
affections; they are all in themselves good, and implanted by God; they
are sinful, because we have in us by nature a something more than them,
viz. an evil principle which perverts them to a bad end. Adam, before
his fall, felt, we may suppose, love, fear, hope, joy, dislike, as we
do now; but then he felt them only when he ought, and as he ought; all
was harmoniously attempered and rightly adjusted in his soul, which was
at unity with itself. But, at the fall, this beautiful order and peace
was broken up; the same passions remained, but their use and action
were changed; they rushed into extremes, sometimes excessive, sometimes
the reverse. Indignation was corrupted into wrath, self-love became
selfishness, self-respect became pride, and emulation envy and
jealousy. They were at variance with each other; pride struggled with
self-interest, fear with desire. Thus his soul became a chaos, and
needed a new creation. Moreover, as I have said, his affections were
set upon unsuitable objects. The natural man looks to this world, the
world is his god; faith, love, hope, joy, are not excited in his mind
by things spiritual and divine, but by things seen and temporal.

Considering, then, that love of praise is not a bad principle in
itself, it is plain that a parent may very properly teach his child to
love his praise, and fear his blame, when that praise and blame are
given in accordance with God's praise and blame, and made subservient
to them. And, in like manner, if the world at large took a correct and
religious view