rt more imperceptibly,
and covers itself under more disguises, than pride. For my own part, I
think, if there is any passion or vice which I am wholly a stranger to,
it is this; though at the same time, perhaps this very judgment which I
form of myself, proceeds in some measure from this corrupt principle.

2. I have been always wonderfully delighted with that sentence in holy
writ, _Pride was not made for man_. There is not, indeed, any single
view of human nature under its present condition, which is not
sufficient to extinguish in us all the secret seeds of pride; and, on
the contrary, to sink the soul into the lowest slate of humility, and
what the school-men call self-annihilation. Pride was not made for man,
as he is,

1. A sinful,

2. An ignorant,

3. A miserable being.

There is nothing in his understanding, in his will, or in his present
condition, that can tempt any considerate creature to pride or vanity.

3. These three very reasons why he should not be proud, are,
notwithstanding, the reasons why he is so. Were not he a sinful
creature, he would not be subject to a passion which rises from the
depravity of his nature; were he not an ignorant creature, he would see
that he has nothing to be proud of; and were not the whole species
miserable, he would not have those wretched objects before his eyes,
which are the occasions of this passion, and which make one man value
himself more than another.

4. A wise man will be contented that his glory be deferred till such
time as he shall be truly glorified; when his understanding shall be
cleared his will rectified, and his happiness assured; or, in other
words, when he shall be neither sinful, nor ignorant, nor miserable.

5. If there be any thing which makes human nature appear _ridiculous_ to
beings of superior faculties, it must be pride. They know so well the
vanity of those imaginary perfections that swell the heart of man, and
of those little supernumerary advantages, whether in birth, fortune, or
title, which one man enjoys above another, that it must certainly very
much astonish, if it does not very much divert them, when they see a
mortal puffed up, and valuing himself above his neighbours on any of
these accounts, at the same time that he is obnoxious to all the common
calamities of the species.

6. To set this thought in its true light, we will fancy, if you please,
that yonder mole-hill is inhabited by reasonable creatures, and that
every pis