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Show No CROSS, fVo C R.OW N. J66S. him to believe they ore juft: And he had rather c~ur!Hhly'upbraid thern" ~ the Caufe, than be ready to commiferate or relieve. r_hem. So tJlat Com. Chap. XII. pallion and Charity are with him as Vjciefr, as Hum1hty and Meeknefs aro Hate[lll. '-"'. §. 111. A Fraud .Ilion makes an ill Child, Servant and Subjea: He Contemns his Parents, Mafter and Pnnce: He ~tll not be _fu~jeEt. He1 ••• thinks himfelf too \Vife, or too old, to be d1reaed; as If It were a S/avijb Thing to obey; and that none were Free, that may not d.o what they pleafe ; which turns Duty out of Doors, and degrades Aurh~rrry. On the other Hand ific be an Hufband, or Farber, or Mafter, there IS fcarce-- ly any enduring. He is fo infu:fferably Curious and Tefty,_ th:n 'tii an Amicrion to live with him: For hardly can any Hand carry H even enough to pleafc him. Some Pe~cadiOio a.bout his Cloa~hs, ~is Diet, . his Lodging or .Attendance, quite d1forders htm: But efpec1~1ly tf he fanctes any Want in the State and Refp<a he looks for. Thus Pnde deftroys the Nature of Relations 1 On the One Side, it learns to contemn Duty ; and on the other Side, it turns Love into Fear, and makes the Wife a Servant, and tho Children and Servants, Slaves. . §. JV. But the Proud .Ilion makes an ill Neighbour too 1 for he is an Enemy to Hofpitality : He dcfpifes to re~;eive Kindnefs, becaufe he would not fbew any, nor be thought to need it. Befides,1it looks too equal and• familiar for His Haughty Hu_mour. Em11l~tionand Detrallion are. his Elementt for he is Jealous of attribuung any Pra1fe to others, where Juft, left that fhould cloud and leCfen him, to whom it never could be due : He is the Man thatfear.r, what he !honid wijh, to wir, Thill others jhould do nlllJ. IBut that is not all; he malicioofiy mifca!ls their ACls of Virtue, which his Corruptions will t:tot let him im~tate, . t~at .they may get no Credit by them. lfhe wants any Occafion of domg ldifchze[, he can make one; eirher, they ufe him iU or have Jome Defign upon him; t'otber Day tbq paid bim not the Cap and Knee; the Di/lance and RefpeU be thinks his $2_uality, Parts or .Merit .r (/o require. A fmail Thing ferves a.l Proud Man to pick a Quar· rel, Of all Creatures the moft Jealom, SuiJen, Spitt/ul,and Revengeful: He can no more forgive an Injury, than forbear to do one. §. V. Nor is this all; a Proud Man can never be a Friend to any Body.' For bcfides that his Ambition may always be brib9d by Honour and Prefer· ment to betray that Relation, he is Vnconverfib!e; He muit not be Care. chis'd and Counfel'd, much lef~ Reprov'd or Contradiaed: No, he is too Coveto11s of himfelf to fpare another Man a Share, and much too HigO, Stiff, and Touchy: He will not a war with thofe Freedoms that a real Friend~ fhip requires. To fay true, he contemns the CharaCl:er; it is too much f.tmiliar and humble fot him: His Mighty Soul would know nothing befides himfelf and Vaj[als to ftock the World. He Values other Men as we do Cnttel, for their Service only ; and if he could, would ufe them fo; but as it happens, the Number and Force are Unequal. §. VI. But a Proud Man in Power is very MijclJievotts; for his Pride is the more dangerous by his Greatnefs, fincc from Ambition in pti\'Jte Men, i.t becomes Tyranny in them: It would Reign alone; nay, live [6, rather than have Competitors: JJ.ut C4far,aut NuiJm. Reafon muft not check ir, nor Rules of Law limit it; and either it can do no Wrong, or ~tis Sedition to complain of the Wrong that it does. The Men of this Temper would have nothing thought amifs they do; at leaft, they count it dangerous ro allow it to be fo, though fo it be; for that would imply they had erred, which it is always Matter of State to deny. No, they will rather chufe to perifh ob~inarely, than by acknowledging, yield ar011y the Reputation of better Judgmg to Inferiors; though it were their Prudence to do f(l. And indeed, 'tis all the Stttisfa8itm tliat Proud Great Men make to the World for the Miferies they often bring upon it, that, firft or lafi. llpon a Divifion. they ltave their real Intere/1 to foUow fome one Excefs of H11mour and nrt almoft ever deftroyed by it, This is the End Pride gives proud Me~, and the: Ruin it brings upon them, after it has punilht others by them. §.\11 VoL. I. No CROSS, No CROWN. §. VII. But 'above all Things, Pride is intolerable in Men prrte~Jing to Religion 5 ~nd, of them, i_n ..Mini/lers; for they are Names of t~1e gre:t.relt ConuadtE.hon. I fpeak wtthout Refpetl', or Anger ro Perfom or Parfies. for I only touch upon the Btld of All. \Vhat fhall Pride do with ]{eligion~ that Kebukes it ? Or Ambition wirh Minifters, whofe \'ery Office is }J11111;~ fity? And yet there are but too many of them. Thlt, hefides an Equal Guilt with others in the Flefhly Pride of the World are even proud of that Name an~ Office, which ought always to mind rhem of Self-Denial. Yea, t~ey ufe .tt as the _Beggars do the t-lame of God and Chrift, only ro get by rt: Placmg ro theu own Account the Advantages of that Reverend Profeffion, and tberehy making their Funtlion btit a polirick HJndle to raife themfelves to the Great Preferments of the World. But 0 rhen! How cari fuch ~e his Minifters, tha.t faid, A1y Kingdom is not oftbis World? Who, of Mankmd, more Stlf.concwed than thefe Men? If contradift:ed as Ar-rogant and Angry, as if it were their Calling to be fo. Counfel one ~f them he fcorns y~u; Reprove hitn, and he is almofl: ready to JJXcommunicare You: 1 am a Mmifl_er and an Elder: Flying thither to fecure himfelf from the Reach of Juft Cenfure, which indeed expofes him but the more to ic: And therefore .his Fault cannot be the lefs, by how much "tis worfe in a Minb-fter to do 1l1, and fpurn at l~eproof, than an Ordinary Man. §. VIII. 0 but he pleads on Exrmprion by his Office! Wliat! SbaU lie Breed up Cbicken_s t.o pick out .his own hJes? Be Rebuked or htjlr118ed by a Lay-man, or Parijlnonet! Ji Jl!ah cf lejs ~gt, .~arn~ng or .Ability! No fuch Matt.er: He would have us believe that h1s Mmiflenal Prerogauve has placed h1m out of ~he Reach of po~ular Impeachment. He is not fuhjeEl: to Vulgar J~d~ments. Even Queihons :~.bout ~eligion are Sc1)ifm: Bdicvc ttl be fays: Tts not fot you to P':Y {o cllno11jlj mto the Jll;flcnes of Religion : Never good pay /ina [..ay-.Meft medled jo 1kucb tvitb tbc _i11inijlrrt Office. N ot confider1.ng, po~r Man •. that the contrary is inoft true; Not mt~ny gooi. Day.rf!nc~ MmiPers tned!edfo,muf.b fn Ltry·men's Bujinrf.r. Thongh perhJps there 1s lutle Reafon for the Dtlhn8:ion, befide Spiritual Gifts and the lmpro\•ement of them by a diligent Ufe of them for the Good or' others. Such good Slyings as thefe, Be ready to Tencl~, -(inft~er n•itb JHedmefs: Let every Ala:" j}eak as of the Gift of God, th<~t ts zn IJ/m: If any Tbing be rev~a!t:d If hzm that fits hy, let the }irfl bold bU Pe(/ce; Be not Lmls over God .r.Henrage, b'!t Meek ~n4 Lowly; ~afoing tbe Feet of the People, M JejuJ d1d thofe ofhn poor Dijc1ples; :ue unreafonable and antiquated Inftrutlions with .fom~ Clet~y, and 'tis little lefs th. an .Herefie.to remember them of thefe Th.m~s. TO be fure, a Mark of great Dtf-affefrion to the Church in theu Opm1on. For b'y this Time their Pride has made them the Church :Jn~ the People bu~ thC: Porch at be~: A Cypher. that fignifics nothing, u11~ lcfs rhey clap thetr Ftgure before tt: Forgcmng, thar if they were as good as they fho.uld .be, they could be but lHinijlers, Stewards and Under· Shepherds; that 1s, Servants to the Church, Fa.mily, Flock and Herir::rge of 2 Tim.2.2.f.; •I· Tit. 3· 1 Cor.J4oP God; and not that they are th:n Churcb, FttmJly. Flock and Herirngc whic'h they are only Servants unto. Remember the Words of Chrift Let him tbat Mat. 2o. 26· '(t)Ottld bC grenreft be yo11r Serv11nt. ' §. IX. There is ~t one Place to be found in the Holy Sctipture, where the Word .cterm (~"f~t) can properly be appUed to the Church, and they ha\'e .got 1t to th7mfelves; Fr9m whence they call themfelvc:s the C/r:rgy, th?t.ts, the Inhema.nce or Hemage of God. Whereas Peter exhorts rhe Mmtfters of the Gofpel, Not to b~ Lords oVu God's Huita_£t:, nor to fred 1 Per. S· 2 ,.3; th~m_ for filthy Lu~t·e. Pete~ (beltkc) forefaw Pride and .Avnrice robe rhe Mtmfiers Temptauons; and mdeed they have often proved their Ftlli: And to fay true, they c~uld h~rdly full by worfe. . Nor is rhere any Excufe to he tr:~ade for them 10 thefe rwo RefpeS:s, wh1ch is not worfe rhln their Sin. For 1f they have not been I;ords over Gt,d's licrirage, it is becaufe rhey h:tve made themfel\'es that Hemage, and Dif.inherited the People: So that now ~~~i~:ay be the People"s Lords1 with a Salvo ro good Old Prr er's Ex:hor· X x Apd |
