A Practical Discourse UPON HUMILITY. Wherein is shown, The Nature, Reasonableness, and usefulness thereof. Together With the Ways of Expressing and Increasing it.  
By EDWARD PELLING, D. D. Chaplain in Ordinary to Their Majesties, and Rector of Petworth in Sussex.  
LONDON, Printed for William Crook, at the Green Dragon without Temple-Barr, 1694.   

THE CONTENTS.  

THE Introduction. Page 1  
CHAP. I. Of the Nature of Humility. 5  
CHAP. II. The Loveliness of Humility. 16  
CHAP. III. The Reasonableness of Humility. 23  
CHAP. IV. The Usefulness of Humility, in respect of the Peace of Mind it brings. 40  
CHAP. V The Usefulness of Humility, in respect of our Proficiency in Virtue. 63  
CHAP. VI The Usefulness of Humility, in respect of the many Evils it preserves us from. 79  
CHAP. VII. The Suitableness of Humility to the Mind of Christ. 93  
CHAP. VIII. How Humility is to be expressed, as by serving the Honour of God. 112  
CHAP. IX. How Humility is to be expressed, by not making our own Esteem the End of our Actions. 134  
CHAP. X. How Humility is to be expressed, by acknowledging our Faults. 144  
CHAP. XI. How Humility is to be expressed by doing all good Offices, tho' seemingly mean, and by submission to our Superiors. 151  
CHAP. XII. How Humility is to be expressed, by being contented with such things as we have. 166  
CHAP. XIII. How Humility is to be expressed, by keeping an Even Temper in a State of Prosperity. 179  
The Conclusion. 189    

THE INTRODUCTION.  
I AM now entering upon the Consideration of a Virtue, which is in a manner proper and peculiar to the Christian Religion: 'Tis called Humility, or Lowliness of Heart. A Virtue to which even the wisest of the old Pagans were for the most part strangers: For, though they discoursed well against Pride, and of the Unreasonableness and Folly of it; yet were they to seek, as to the Notion and Nature, and especially as to the Practice of Humility. In fact they were generally Proud; only some of them were more addicted to that Vice, than others were: As 'twas said of Diogenes, when he went into Plato's fine House, and with rudeness and insolence trod upon his rich Carpets; That he trampled upon Plato ' s Pride, and yet himself was much the proudest of the two. These Men spoke many good things of Sobriety, Modesty, and moderation of Mind; and of the government of men's Desires; which may be applied to this Virtue by way of accommodation; but I do not find that they hit rightly upon this most amiable perfection, Humility. So far from it, that they used those words in a bad Sense, which both in the Greek and Latin Languages signify an humble Heart: They meant by those expressions, an abject Mind, weakness and littleness of Spirit, Pusillanimity; a servile, slavish and cowardly Disposition; a degenerous and mean Temper; a low, sordid Spirit that sinks presently, when a Man meets with any Calamity or Disappointment; a pitiful, sneaking Mind, that upon any Discouragements makes a Man to Apostatise from himself; to fall from his Constancy, and behave himself after such a poor manner, as unbecommeth a wise Man. These are wrong Notions of Humility; and those Philosophers expressed their Notions by words that are too good for them; but the reason was, because they did not well understand the Virtue itself; and, perhaps, were not very willing to understand it; because they themselves were guilty of an epidemical Vice to which it stands in direct opposition. The Lord Jesus, who brought Life and Immortality to light, did in his own Person give the World a most lively Idea of Humility; and hath made the Practice of it the distinguishing Mark of his own true Disciples: So that he is none of his, who has not, as he had, an humble Mind: He may be a Philosopher, but he cannot be a Christian. To this purpose some learned Critics have observed out of that place, 1 Pet. 5. 5. where the Apostle bids us to be clothed with humility, that the Greek word (which we render clothed) signifies a servile Habit, a short little Garment, white but very course, that the meanest Servants were formerly wont to wear about their Shoulders, as a particular token of their poor and low Condition; a mark of their Servitude, like a Badge or a Livery, to distinguish them from others. Thus the Allusion is very elegant, and the Sense plain, viz. That Humility is the peculiar Note of Christ's Servants; a far better Ornament than a Philosopher's Pall, under which a fastidious Mind was wont to lurk; the true Livery of a Christian indeed; the Badge of those that belong to the Lord Jesus, how despicable soever it may appear to the Men of this World; the distinguishing Mark of such as serve him, who took upon himself the form of a Servant; and came into the World, not to be ministered unto, but to minister even his Heart Blood for the Life of the World.  
In discoursing upon this admirable Christian Virtue, I shall observe my former plain Method; and consider with what brevity I can conveniently, these Three things as General Heads of the following Discourse.  

I. Wherein the true Nature of Humility doth consist.  
II. What Motives and Arguments there are to enforce the Practice of it.  
III. After what Manner and Way we are to express it.    

A Practical Discourse UPON HUMILITY.  
CHAP. I. Of the Nature of Humility.  
FIRST as touching the true Nature of Humility. It is, in short, a modest and slender Opinion of a Man's own self, whatever his Endowments or his Circumstances are. An Opinion, I say; first, because the proper Seat of Humility is in the Mind. A lowly Heart, an humble Soul; that is the thing which God values. He looketh not, as we poor Creatures do, at things outward: He judgeth not of Men according to appearance; by dejected Countenances; by lugubrious Looks; by a fordid or homely Dress; no, nor by those semblances of Humility which some express, when they call themselves the greatest of Sinners, the vilest People, and by a great many other hard Names, which they will not endure their Neighbour to give them. For all these exterior semblances and shows of Humility may very easily consist with a conceited and proud Mind. A Lucifer may be hid under such disguises. All this may be nothing but a sort of Ostentation; an art of gaining Esteem and Applause; the effect of Pride, and a means of serving the Ends of it; the professions and formalities of profligate Hypocrites. The hidden Man of the Heart is the true Ornament: Humility is that of the Spirit, the casting down of imaginations, and of every high thing that exalteth itself against God, and the bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ, 2 Cor. 10. 5. Pride is properly an elation of the Mind, an high and lofty Conceit; the Sin of the Devil, and the Original Cause of those Mischiefs which have made the World miserable, since the Devil infected our first Parents with the Disease: And the office of this Virtue, Humility, is to cure and clear all our Minds from the Contagion; to bring us by Methods of Revulsion to a right Opinion of our own selves; and to lay us low in our own Thoughts, under a due sense of what we really are.  
THIS Opinion of ourselves therefore must be, Secondly, very modest and slender: For it must needs be very mean, if it be a due estimation of ourselves; no more than what is just and proportionable to our true value; exactly according to our intrinsic worth, as we shall see hereafter, when we come to consider what little reason any Man in the World hath to be proud. I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith, Rom. 12. 13. Nothing hinders but that a Man may esteem himself; provided, that his thoughts be fair and equal; that he esteem himself just as he is, and just as he hath of his own. The sin is when he rates himself above his real Dignity; when he overvalueth his Deserts; when he thinks more, and higher, and greater things of himself than he ought. For so every proud Man doth: He enhanceth his own Price: He raiseth himself beyond the true Standard: His Pride and Vanity, his Folly and Sin lie in his overweening Conceit; in pretending to Excellencies which he hath not, and to higher things than he really deserves: In belying himself after a most hateful manner: In fancying and boasting himself to be some Body; in giving out, and setting himself off, like Simon the Sorcerer, to be some great thing, when he is nothing at all; nay, when he is worse than nothing, a miserable foolish and very wicked thing of a Man; much the more foolish for being Proud; and much the more miserable and wicked for being like the Devil. I say therefore to every Man among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly; that is, according to the measures of Humility; to think so as to be modest; not to set up any airy and highflown Conceits, but to furl their Sails, to contract their Thoughts, and to shrink them within their due limits and scantling.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, saith St. Chrysostom; the Apostle here calls Humility by the name of Sobriety: And he gives us the Etymology of the word too, to show that proud Men have quite lost their sober Senses, if ever they had any. They are no longer Men of sound Understandings and Judgement, but things beside themselves; mere toys and fantastical Creatures, with their Heads all puffed up, as if they had nothing in them but Bladders and Bubbles. There are divers overweening Conceits, which plainly argue all proud People to be carried away with Wind and Vapours; either, that the things they value themselves upon came not altogether from God; but chief, if not solely, from themselves, and are the effects of their own Wit and Industry: or, if from God, yet that they were bestowed as a just Reward of their singular Merits and Dignity: That their Portion is much greater than other men's: That they know much better than others what to do with their Acquisitions: That in all, or in most respects, they are more excellent than their Neighbours, and that hardly any thing can be too much for them, if they can but get it. And what is all this but wild Imagination? Pride without any bottom? Folly which they themselves could not but be ashamed of, did they seriously and soberly consider, from what Hand every Man of us receives his All; and for what purposes; that all of us are but Stewards in our several Places and Vocations: And that the things committed to our Trust, are no other than Debts and Burdens; things we own, and things we are accountable for; and things which Men of reason will think as improper for them to value themselves upon, as it is to be proud of Encumbrances or Poverty.  
THEREFORE, to bring our hearts down to a true level, we must be very careful to banish out of our Minds all undue and flattering Opinions of our own worth, and to reduce ourselves to David's temper, Psal. 131. Lord, I am not highminded: I have no proud looks: I do not exercise myself in great matters, which are too high for me; but I refrain my Soul and keep it low; like as a Child that is weaned from his Mother; yea, my Soul is even as a weaned Child. Which puts me in mind of the method our blessed Saviour used with his Disciples, when they disputed among themselves, which of them should be the greatest. Some of them would have been his chief Favourites, the principal Officers in that glorious Kingdom, upon Earth, which they expected he would one day set up. To cure this their ambitious Humour, he took up a little Child in his Arms, and proposed the Child to them as an emblem of Humility; with this solemn declaration, that very nearly concerns us all, Except ye be converted, and become as little Children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, Mat. 18. 3, 4. Men die (saith Seneca) in a worse condition than they were born in; because Nature did not bring us out of the Womb with that Pride, and Vanity, and Ambition of mind, which afterwards becomes the reproach of Manhood, and of our riper Years. Though indeed the seeds of these Vices be in us naturally, yet 'tis our own fault that they grow up with us; and the design of Christ's Religion is, to bring our Souls to an Infant state of Innocence and Humility, that we may go out of the World as well (at least) as we came into it; Children the second time; Children as to all Malice, as to all guile, as to all airy and bloating conceits of our own excellencies. We can never be truly humble as we should, and as we must be, in order to our entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven, till we leave exalting of ourselves above measure. Pride, we may be sure will keep us out of God's Presence, because it would not suffer Angels themselves to stay in it. Their original Sin consisted, in admiring excessively the eminent Perfections of their Nature, and the Glory of their State. Hence followed a state of Envy at the more eminent Condition of those Orders of Angels that were placed above them: This grew into direct Hostility against them, and against God himself, the Maker and Disposer of them all. This Hostility increased into open Apostasy; and all ended by God's just Judgement in their final and eternal Damnation, and so of Glorious Angels they became Hellish Devils.  
SINCE which time, their sole business hath been to propagate their Envy and Malice, and Apostasy from the Father of us all; and so to involve Mankind under the same Condemnation: But their chief Artifice, and that which by their own sad Experience they have found to be the surest way, is to accelerate our ruin by propagating their Pride; that is, loftiness of Opinion, and haughtiness of Heart, the first Sin that ever was in Heaven; and the first Sin those Devils brought upon the Earth. So they made our first Parents believe, that they should be as Gods, knowing good and evil, Gen. 3. 5. And the same Sin which cost those Angels their Celestial Paradise, did presently cost our Parents and Us the Earthly one. Ambition and self-conceit began the War between God and his Creatures: It was made the first Example of God's Vengeance, and 'tis that which God will pursue with Vengeance to all Eternity. He resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble, James 4. 6. This then is true Humility, and Wisdom also, not to think ourselves to be better or greater than we are, but to rate ourselves according to our just value; which cannot but be very low, if we would but inquire into ourselves impartially. But this is one great fault, and the cause of a great many more, that every Man is apt to overlook himself, while he prieth narrowly into the state of others: Whereas, did we duly apply our Hearts to find out and understand our own Condition, our Follies, and Demerits, the mere Vanity of Pride would in a little time make the Sin a ridicule, and dethrone its dominion, by exposing it to contempt and scorn. It's credit and prevalency proceeds from our neglects at home, because we are such strangers to our own selves; with whom we should have the closest, and might have the safest intimacy. We still take it for granted, That we really are, what we willingly believe ourselves to be. Either we look not into our state at all, or else take a very transient and false view; passing over the discovery of those flaws and humbling Ideas, which should have been the principal Object; and perhaps fearing too, lest upon a strict Examination we should see something to be ashamed of. By this means we scarcely judge so much as by appearance; but bring ourselves into a mistaken Reputation with our own over-credulous Hearts; and go on in the Error, till we are passed making Righteous Judgement, and are quite out of the reach of Self-condemnation.  
OUR first care therefore must be, to have as perfect a knowledge as we can of ourselves, what we are indeed, and what we deserve upon a true estimate: For till the Account be just which we take, it will be impossible for us to be delivered from that opiniatry, and conceitedness of Mind, which is as different a thing from true Humility, as that Pharisee was from the poor Publican, Luke 18. His Prayer was all Heraldry, and Ostentation, while the other standing at a distance would not so much as lift up his Eyes to Heaven, but smote upon his Breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner: This man, saith our Saviour, went down to his house justified, rather than the other: For every one that exalteth himself, shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself, shall be exalted, verse 14.  
2. HAVING thus briefly showed wherein the Nature of Humility doth consist, viz. In a modest and slender Opinion of ones own self; I proceed now, according to the Method proposed, to consider the Motives which render this great Christian Virtue practical, and the Arguments which serve to enforce the practice of it.  
WHERE divers things will fall under our Meditations; which I shall endeavour to put together into a little room; but must not wholly omit any of them: BecausE the Virtue I now treat of, is of such necessary and great Concernment, that there is no fear of saying too much; hardly indeed a possibility of saying enough, to recommend it to our Hearts.   

CHAP. II. The Loveliness of Humility.  
1. THE Native Beauty and Loveliness of this Virtue; perhaps above the Rivalry of any other. This is one great reproach and infamy to Pride, That neither God nor Man can endure it. Seven things God hates after a more particular manner; as Solomon tells us, Prov. 6. A lying tongue; hands that shed innocent blood; a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations; feet that be swift in running to mischief; a false witness that speaketh lies; him that soweth discord among brethren: But chief, and in the first place a proud Look, or haughty Eyes. And one main reason is, because wherever Discord is sown, 'tis this meddling Vice that finds the Seed, prepares the Soil, and hath an Eye upon the Harvest. Only by pride cometh contention, Prov. 13. 10. 'Tis the only prolific, natural Mother, which is continually in travail with that Evil, which is so hateful to the God of Love and Peace. For these base Effects, and for the natural turpitude of the Vice itself, it is of all others the most hateful to Mankind also: So that though in many cases People generally love communion and society in Sin; yet in this they abhor it; for proud Wretches are detested by all; and most of all by those who are as proud as they; till the emulation riseth like that between Caesar and Pompey; the one could not endure a Superior, nor the other an Equal. All this while Humility carrieth  Charms with it. It is a most graceful Virtue, that wins the Esteem and Affections of every beholder; not excepting the haughty Person himself. As it is the most Christian, so it is the most becoming Virtue to set any one off; and we may deservedly give it the same Character (at least) which St. Peter gives of a meek and quiet spirit; an ornament of great price, 1 Pet. 3. 4. An humble Spirit, naturally quickens us to those Actions which affect Men with Pleasure: It doth not things that are harsh or disobliging: It is not capricious, or scornful: It lieth not upon the catch: It maketh not unjust or severe constructions: It is not an Enemy to Charity or Friendship, nor to any the most homely Offices that are good: It is no disturber of another's Peace: It is not void of Tenderness, or Compassion: It needs no Lure, but the Love of God and Man to make it stoop: It resents not every Peccadillo, nor magnifies Infirmities beyond their due measure; much less doth it falsify for Reputation or Interest sake: It is not rough, nor is it wont to threaten, or oppress, or to scare People after an insolent manner, like that weak and haughty Prince, Rehoboam, 1 Kings 12. where we see a remarkable instance of a proud Temper, and such an account of the End and Folly of it, as, I think, is hardly to be paralleled in the whole Scripture; unless it be the Story of Nebuchadnezzar's being turned out among the Beasts. Rehoboam coming young to the Throne of his Father Solomon, all Israel besought him, in some measure, to ease them of their former Burdens: And his wisest and honestest Counsellors advised him to treat the People after a kind, gentle, and respectful manner, as the only sure way of preserving their Affections. If, said they, thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, than they will be thy servants for ever. But this method pleased not Rehoboam: He was willing rather to hearken to those raw Counsellors, who knowing his rough and imperious Disposition, advised him according to his own Mind; though it was to the ruin of his Greatness. So he used the People with Contempt and Menaces, frightning them with an arrogant Answer, That his little finger should be thicker (or heavier) than his father's loins; that he would add to their yoke; and that whereas his Father had chastised them with Whips, he himself would chastise them with Scorpions. And what did this turn to in the end? Why, the People could not bear his Pride and Insolence, and threaten of Oppression. It presently alienated their Minds; and that of course brought on an open defection from him. What portion, said they, have we in David? Neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. And so Israel departed unto their tents, and rebelled, all but the Tribe of Judah, against the House of David, and set up Jeroboam, a King of their own. I will not dispute here about the Justice or Injustice of this act of theirs. The Proceed were Natural enough (which is all I would observe from the Story) because nothing doth more naturally and powerfully tend to sour men's Minds, to alienate their Affections, and to estrange their Hearts, than Pride doth.  
ON the other hand; every Body loves an humble Person, because Humility is naturally amiable; and the more amiable, because it is attended with many such other Graces, as win and endear the Hearts of all Mankind, with a power that is , and attractive, like the faculty of a Magnet. Where true Humility is, there is Meekness, Charity, Candor, Affability, Courtesy, Gentleness, a serene Brow, kind Entreating, and the like; nor is it possible but such graceful Endowments must meet with kind entertainment, and be beloved every where.  
WHEN Agesilaus of Lacedaemon, who was so esteemed for his great Wisdom, was desired to give his Opinion how a Man should do to get all People's Love; he told Socrates, That the surest way would be, to speak well, and to do better. And this is one part of an humble Man's business; to give others the kindest Characters he is able, and to do them all the Good he can: And such offices, offices of Love, return into his own Bosom; he receives himself, as a Reward of them, a certain retaliation of good Nature; like the skilful Apothecary that prepares for others precious Ointments and Aromaticks, which in the very preparing perfume and enrich his own Shop.  
BEFORE Honour is Humility, saith Solomon, Prov. 15. 33. Humility is the certain; ready way to it. Though a good Name be far from being his Aim or End, yet it will be an humble Man's Lot, whether he will or no; and, notwithstanding his own Desires, or Endeavours to the contrary, he becomes Popular for the best reasons. For all Mankind desire to be well used: It is a Principle never to be rooted out of humane Nature; and when they find these their innocent Appetites answered, they cannot but love and honour the Hand that dealeth so well with them: It is as Natural as it is to detest the thick and heavy Finger that holds out nothing but Whips and Scorpions, as Rehoboam's did.  
WERE there then nothing else to be considered, the Rules of Wisdom and Prudence are strong Arguments to every Man to be of an humble Mind; because it carrieth with it such a Ruling Power, as is beyond all the Grandeur in the World; which may keep People in some little awe, and that for a little time, but cannot command their Affections. There is indeed an outward state, that is necessary to preserve Order and Government in the World; an external Greatness and Splendour, suitable to that high Rank and Quality wherein it pleaseth God to place some far above others. Nor is this inconsistent with Lowliness of Mind: For the more and greater God's Blessings are, the deeper should the sense of them be; and, God be thanked, many times is; so that few, if any, are of more humble Minds, than some whom the Divine Providence hath dignified with the highest Honours. In the midst of Pomp they can consider what infirm Pedestals they stand on; nor are they so easily rifled of their Virtues, as those whose sordid Birth, and illiberal Education, exposeth them the more to the Devils Snares. Few such, God knows, keep the Humility of Job, after they are once raised from the Dunghill. But where ever this Grace grows, whether in the more barren, or in the richest Soil, it is always lovely to the Eye; and the more Beautiful, because it resembles him, who is styled, the Lily of the Valley, Cant. 2. 1. We should all learn of him, who was lowly in Heart; who gained as many Admirers by his Humility, as by his other Miracles; and whose Example is a sufficient Comment upon his Directions, That to sit down in the lowest Room is the best for us, the ready way to be advanced higher, and to have worship in the presence of all, Luke 14. 10.   

CHAP. III. The Reasonableness of Humility.  
2. I CONFESS this is comparatively a very low Consideration; because we must not seek for Honour of Men, no more than the Lord Jesus did; nor may we make use of Virtue, (especially the Virtue of Humility) as an Art for it. Let us therefore in the Second place consider the great Reasonableness of this Matter; which will not only invite, but oblige us to the Practice of it.  
NOW here we should consider, whence we came, what we are, and what we have,  
FIRST we should reflect upon our Originals; because People are apt to be ashamed of their base beginnings; like the haughty Simon in Lucian, who being advanced to Honours, from a very mean, obscure Condition, pulled down the Cottage which had been the place of his Nativity, that Passengers might not point to it and say, Here was Great Simon born. The Son of God, by dignifying a Manger, hath indeed taken away all such shame from us: But yet he left us enough, when he said, Before Abraham was I am.  
THE Father of the Faithful was once nothing. And the production of every one of us, was out of nothing. The Being we have, we are beholding for it to the Power of God, who of his own Pleasure raised us out of Inanity, that our whole Life might be a state of Lowliness, the better to dispose us for entire Obedience, Submission, and Resignation of ourselves to his Divine Will.  
The Flesh we consist of, and pamper so, what is it but next to nothing? A Structure of Clay and Rottenness, a Lump provided for Worms; an heap of Corruption, that yields nothing but a noisome Atmosphere, which we are fain to correct with Spices and Odours, that Industry gathers out of the Fields, and are brought us from far by long and chargeable Adventures?  
AS vile and despicable things as we are, the God of Power vouchsafeth to support us: We daily depend on him; and by his Law all his Creatures, are forced to lend us their helping hands, each doing its part for us, according to its Kind and Capacities, and all at the same time upbraiding us with our dependant and beggarly Condition. The Heavens bestow their Light upon us, and put us in mind of that great Obscurity, which wrapped us up in our Mother's Wombs. The Earth under our Feet, however we trample upon it, doth the kind office to afford us, first our Nursery, and at last our Lodging. The thin Air we breathe in, how soon do we drop to the Ground, like untimely Fruit, when it is shut out of our Nostrils? The Waters help to quench our thirst, as it helps the wild Asses, and other Beasts of the Field, Psalm 104. 11. Poor Animals and Vegetables of infinite sorts, are fain to be the Proveditors and Guardians of our Life. Our Nakedness is hid by the contribution of dumb Creatures, whose Backs we are necessitated to strip, that we may cover our own; and all this for the preservation of that Body, which in its best state is subject to variety of Diseases: And which, when Death and Rottenness hath seized upon it; we ourselves cannot endure the very sight of. Every Creature is God's Almoner, to relieve and secure us whilst we live in this World: And when we are going out of it, we have nothing to depend on, but his infinite Mercies, in whom we now live, and move, and have our being, Acts 17. 28.  
LORD! what is Man? That poor, wretched, contemptible thing, Man? What is Man, that he should swell and be bloated with a proud Opinion of himself, who can never retire into his own true self, till, like a Snail that creeps into its Shell, he humbleth himself in Dust and Ashes?  
DUST we are; and to Dust shall we all return, like the Beasts that perish. And, as for that nobler part of us, the Soul; tho' it be a Ray of Divinity, a Spirit endued with the Powers and Faculties of an Angel; yet, upon due reflectons, it will find more and greater Reasons for Humility, that may be drawn from within itself, than it sees by viewing its poor and frail habitation.  
THERE are in every one of us two Prime Faculties, which are connatural to the Soul: A Faculty of knowing and reasoning, which is called the Understanding; and a Faculty of Acting, a Power of Choosing or Refusing, which is called the Will: And each of these Powers doth minister to us many humbling Considerations.  
1. FIRST: For the Intellectual Faculty, or Understanding. Tho' Knowledge be a very excellent Endowment, that which People generally covet with greediness, and are too apt to value themselves upon; yet in much wisdom is much grief; and he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow, saith Solomon, Eccl. 1. 18. And yet, God was pleased of his Bounty, to give Him an extraordinary Portion; exceeding much understanding and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore: His wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east-country, and all the wisdom of Egypt: For he was wiser than all men, saith the Scripture, 1 King. 4. It is not without great toil and trouble of Mind that we get the Knowledge we have at last; and even that is very little; considerable, only because it costeth us dear; nothing indeed, in comparison of that infinite number of things Natural, Moral, and Divine, which we are ignorant of. The further we search, the further still we are to seek, and the more sensible of our great wants. And that which we pretend to be Masters of, is rather conjecture than certainty, unless it be bottomed upon Divine Revelation. Nor are our few Notions without a mixture of Mistakes, and a great many Doubts and Difficulties, which disquiet the Mind, because we are not able to resolve them. So that after many Years study and travel, we come just thus far, to know enough to make us very humble.  
2. AS for the other Faculty of the Soul, which is the Principle of Action; we find there so much Gild, as we cannot be sufficiently humbled for all the days of our Life. For, it is the Will that committeth Sins; 'tis this Faculty that chooseth and consenteth to a sinful Action, and that makes it our Crime. The Understanding dictates and proposes the thing; but still it is in the Power of the Will, whether to do it, or no: And the more the Will consents to the Sin, the more sinful it is always. No Man can be forced to do any evil thing against his Will, if he be obstinate. There may be Allurements, and strong Temptations, but there can be no Compulsion. All Consent and Compliance is from within; and for that reason wicked People are justly liable to Punishment, because they choose to do that, which they might avoid: They transgress without cause, as the Expression is, Psalm 25. 3. Now, how can any Man think of his Sins, and be proud? Especially since Pride is the most accumulative Sin of all, and deserves Hell the more, because it is after a peculiar manner the very Devil's Sin? 'Tis strange that any one should value himself for being in a state of Damnation: And yet that is the state every wicked Man is in, without true Repentance, or Reformation of Life; Sins acted against an infinite Being, must needs be of infinite demerit; and, consequently, obnoxious to infinite Punishment. Because there is a God, there must be an Hell too, for God to punish wicked People in everlastingly: And is it possible for us to be truly sensible of this, and at the same time not to be cast down under the Sense of our sad Deservings; and of that most miserable Condition, which nothing can save us from but the mere Mercy of God? Such Reflections as these, could not choose but be very humbling, if vain Men would not think it beneath their Spirits to admit and entertain them. It is both the Folly and Wickedness of haughty People, that they banish from them Thoughts of this Nature, and mind only trifles and things imaginary; quite overlooking those Crimes, which (if attentively considered) would make them abhor themselves, and repent in dust and ashes, as Job spoke, Job 42. 6. People who really believe that they deserve eternal Damnation, and that without God's infinite Clemency they shall receive it, can hardly be so very inconsistent with themselves, as to swell with a vain Conceit of any other Merits. An evil Conscience, and a true Sense of Gild, is enough to lay the loftiest Spirits low. And this is one reason for which Pride is concluded, by all considerate Men, to be such a foolish Vice; Because haughty People value themselves upon things which are not valuable, not considering what they justly deserve; but throwing aside many melancholy. Thoughts, which are in truth most proper and fit for Criminals. The only thing worth our esteem is Virtue; 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 intrinsic 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 dependence 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 own all that we have, and all that we are.  
THE ancient Moralists. among the Heathen thought it a Fundamental Principle of all Virtue, for a Man to know and understand himself rightly. I am sure it is the Principle and Source of this Virtue, Humility. For there is very little (if any thing) in us, or about us, but what teacheth us to despise ourselves: 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 Virtue, which by the sweet and kindly insinuations of Christ's Spirit, the Soul of every regenerate Person is endowed 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 rejoice, that God is pleased 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 mentioned serve to keep us from all Assume, 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 Judgement 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 'tis 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 shows, 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 Sunshine, 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 That which they count the great Happiness of This. And hereby God shows the great Justice of his Providence, in making some sort of equality in his Distributions, such an equality as the Nature of the thing admits of; because all Men by this means take their respective turns in the several states of Happiness and Misery; they have their respective shares, suitable to their respective Conditions and Capacities. Wicked Wretches have their turn served in this present state; their Cup is filled here, such a Cup as it is; and they must thank hemselves that there is not a better laid up in store for them. They have their portion in this life, saith David, Psalm 17. 14. So in our Saviour's Parable of the rich Man, in Luke 16. Abraham told that glorious Epicure, represented there to be in Hell; Son, remember that thou in thy life-time receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus (his) evil things, verse 25. But observe what follows; Now Lazarus is comforted, and thou art tormented. It was but just, that both the one and the other should have his Portion; and, since it is so ominous to receive a large Portion in this World, certainly none have greater reason to be humble than they, whose bellies God filleth here with his hid treasures, as the expression is, Psalm 17. 14. Such Treasures as vain Wretches bury here in their Bowels, and in the Earth. But, lastly, the indifferent distribution of these outward temporal matters, is a very strong argument of a future Judgement, which will be according to the Rules of exact righteousness. Because in the present Administration of Affairs, the greatest Lot many times falls to evil doers; and the Men of this World run away with the greatest share of its Wealth, Pleasure and Honours; it is very rational to conclude, That there will be a day for an after-reckoning, when all things shall be adjusted, and all Manking shall receive according to what they have done, whether it be good or evil. Then, we may be sure, there will be no respect of Persons; no distinction between rich and poor, between high and low; for all must stand upon the same level, and the only difference will be between the just and unjust. And what a terrible warning is this to the greatest Men on Earth, not to be high minded, but to fear; because their neglecting those opportunities they have of doing Good is more heinous, their Ingratitude much more scandalous, their evil Actions more visible, their Examples more influential, their Injustice more hurtful, their Yokes more heavy, their Oppressions more intolerable; and, consequently their Gild, Condemnation and Torment will be much greater, than we may suppose those to be capable of incurring, who pass through the World in a manner desticute and naked, as they dropped into it. Of all People in the World, none have greater reason to be humble, than they who are in danger; nor are any in such a dangerous condition, as flourishing Wretches; such as David speak of, Psalm 73. I was (saith he) grieved at the foolish, when I saw them in such prosperity; for they are in no peril of death; but are lusty and strong. They come in no misfortune, like others; nor are they plagued, like other men. And this is the cause that they are so holden with Pride, and overwhelmed with Cruelty. Their eyes swell with fatness; and they do even what they lust. Lo, these are the ungodly; these prosper in the world, and these have riches in possession. 'Twere impossible for such Men thus to swell in their Prosperity, did they sadly consider David's observation, (which we see verified every day,) O! how suddenly do they consume, perish, and come to a fearful end, verse 18. Haman hanged after all his Greatness and Insolence, Esther 7. The presuming Fool snatched away while he was building his capacious Barns, to stow up his many years Wealth in, Luke 12. The rich Man, I spoke of before, cast out of his Purple and fine Linen into Hell torments, Luke 16. Herod smitten suddenly on his Throne, and in his Royal Apparel, Acts 12. These, and infinite Instances more, show what Dangers the loftiest Men are surrounded with, and what slippery Ground they stand on, how great soever their Presumptions are, that they shall never be moved.  
AND, if the common danger of ruin in this World, be a reason to humble the haughtiest Spirits, the most assuming and confident Minds, certainly the prospect of a final Judgement, and an irrevocable doom to everlasting and infinite Misery, must (if duly entertained) cast such a damp upon the vain Thoughts of Men, as is enough to slain the pride of all glory, as the Prophet speaks, Isaiah 23. 9   

CHAP. IU. The Usefulness of Humility, in respect of the Peace of Mind it brings.  
THE Reasonableness of Humility being thus considered, the next thing that falls under our Meditations, and serves to make it practical, is the great Usefulness of this Virtue, during our passage through this vain, deceitful World. Now there are many great Advantages which attend the sincere and constant Practice of this Virtue: And more especially these Three:  

I. AN humble Mind brings that inward Peace and Satisfaction, which is so much desired by all wise Men.  
II. IT mightily promotes Ones Progress and Perfection in Virtue.  
III. IT is an excellent Preservative from many great Evils and Inconveniencies, which commonly happen in this our Militant State.   
1. FIRST, An humble Mind brings that inward Peace and Satisfaction, which is so much desired by all wise Men. This tranquillity of Soul is indeed the most desirable thing we are capable of on this side Heaven; for it is the great Happiness of this Life; the Happiness whereunto the Practice of Religion tendeth; the Happiness that is a fore-taste of the Comforts above; a Specimen of that everlasting Rest, which is reserved for all that love the Lord Jesus in sincerity. This is so plain, that we need not the help of any Philosophy to prove it. Now, of those Virtues which are instrumental and operative in order to this Happiness, Humility is one of the chiefest; because it it sets the Heart upon a Basis, where it resteth quietly; safe and free from those impetuous Passions, which work violently upon proud Spirits; like a Tempest that breaks the Cedars of Lebanon, but flies over the low Ground, without doing any hurt, or making much noise. There are several things which are apt to discompose and ruffle men's Minds in this frail, mortal Condition: And from all these an humble Heart is a great security.  
AS, First, The guilt of Sin. This is a thing that carries a very quick Sense with it, which naturally and deservedly disquiets Criminals; nor is any thing so painful as an evil Conscience, when once it beginneth to rage. Humility will preserve you from this guilt; and, by consequence, from the torment that would attend it, if you will but learn to submit yourselves to God, to his Laws, and Pleasure in all things, as the due Consideration of your own Meanness must needs incline you to do. An humble Heart is not apt to be lifted up against its Maker, nor to resist and disobey his Commands; because it is conscious of God's Greatness, Power, and Authority over us all; and, of that infinite Distance which is between his Glorious Majesty and us poor Creatures, who are Worms, Earth, Vanity, nothing in comparison. Obedience doth naturally spring from such lowly Thoughts; and so that Peace and Comfort which is the Fruit of Obedience, must spring in the Mind too. In short, it is that Spiritual Refreshment and Ease, which our Blessed Saviour hath promised to his followers, and particularly to such as follow the Example of his great Humility; Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls, Matth. II. 29.  
2. ANOTHER thing that is wont to discompose men's Minds, is a Sense of Disrespect; we are too ready (God knows) to entertain very kind Thoughts of our own selves; and to expect that others should think as we do, and should show that deference, which we fancy to be due from abroad, because we are fond of making the first payment of it at home. When vain Men find themselves disappointed, Lord! What pain and anguish are they in presently! Impatient and dejected, like Haman, who was so mortified by failing of one Ceremony, as if all his Enjoyments lay at Mordecai's Feet. This is one great reproach of Pride, That 'tis always ready with a Rack, for those who never think themselves high enough: Nor are any so crucified as they who are most in love with this Tyrant Vice.  
EVERY thing that looks like contempt, is a nail that createth fresh Torture in them: Whereas a Spirit of Humility delivers one from pains of this Nature; because such a Man considers whose face it was that was spit upon, before he endured the Cross; and if the Son of God was so patiented under the greatest indignities, certainly a poor sinful Man hath reason when the right Cheek is used Contumeliously, to turn the left also, though the disgrace be never so provoking. But in this case an humble Person finds not sufficient cause of disturbance, because he is supposed to be despicable in his own Eyes; and if he thinks his Eyes do not deceive him, how is it a provocation that he is so in the Eyes of others too? Their agreement in the same opinion is matter not of trouble, but of complacency rather, because each Party believes his opinion to be right. If to expose thee, People proclaim some of thy faults, do not stand upon thy defence (saith Epictetus') as if they did thee wrong; but say only, they are ignorant People; for if they knew all thy faults, they would not have mentioned these alone. By such a modest turn of the hand 'tis easy to wipe off the foulest Spittle, before it sinks into the breast. And besides, the Humble Man considers what Mouth it came from: For, Applause from some men's lips may be construed as a Libel; and many times we may well be jealous, as Socrates was wont to be, that he had done something amiss, when he was respected and commended by ill Men: The despitefulness of such brings this great comfort with it, That there is no present danger of that woe, which we have reason to be afraid of, when all Men speak well of us, Luc. 6. 26.  
FURTHER yet; Whoever the Men, whatever the Disrespect be, and what impressions soever it makes, it sits the easier upon an Humble Man's mind, because he takes it as a means of making him the more Humble still: For lowly hearts are apt to mistrust, that they are never lowly enough; and therefore, when any thing happens, which helps to abase them, whether it be deserved or no, it is not unwelcome, because it is of very good use, and may have been ministered by the hand of God for the good Man's particular advantage. Thus David took it when Shimei cursed him, and threw stones at him: So let him Curse, said the King, because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David, 2 Sam. 16. 10. And when we make such a Religious construction of Affronts and Contumelies, as things intended for our good; and such a Religious use of them, as to be bettered and made more Humble by them, they must needs lose that Acrimony and Gall which is so very distasteful and grievous to proud Men who want the Divine Art of altering the Waters of Marah, so as to destroy their bitterness.  
3. A third thing that too often disquiets men's minds, is the great Prosperity of others as to their outward Fortunes; because in the distribution of these Temporal Blessings, the Divine Providence doth not observe the Rules of exact Equality: People whose condition is much lower than their Neighbours, look upon those above them with an evil Eye, grow impatient, fretful, and querulous, because (forsooth) the same liberal and open hand is not extended unto themselves. Such greedy and reaching desires can never be without great vexation of Spirit, especially when Industry and Ambition have made many unsuccessful attempts to get higher. In which case, nothing certainly can be such a speedy and effectual relief to the Soul to give it. Peace and Rest, as true Humility. The first thought that is naturally incident to an Humble Man, is, That as all Right is in God, the great and sole Proprietary, who hath an indisputable Power to do what he pleaseth with his own, Matth. 20. 15. So the greatest Title we can pretend to, is that of Usufructuaries; Tenants at Will in every respect (though in this case the Tenure be for Lives too, as precarious a Tenure as the other) and for such entire dependants to be envious at the Divine oeconomy, is the most impious unthankfulness, when we have all of us as little reason to murmur, as we have capacity to Pay, or power to Demand. Again, as we depend upon God for all that we have, so we must acknowledge, that whatsoever that be, is more than we deserve. And this humble consideration that God is our absolute Sovereign, but not our Debtor, is another strong reason for us to acquiesce, and be content with our Portion; because, though it be not as great as other men's, yet it is enough to make us not only satisfied, but thankful. Lord, said Jacob, I am not worthy of the least of all the Mercies, which thou hast showed unto thy Servant: With my Staff I Passed over Jordan, and now I am become two bands, Gen. 32. 10.  
THIRDLY, Humility teacheth us to consider, that whatsoever our Condition is, it is that which is best and fittest for us. Of this, indeed, we ourselves are not competent Judges, because our Understandings are as weak as our Desires are unreasonable; and were our Fortunes in our own hands, our partiality and ignorance would make us the very worst Carvers of them; God knows best what we most need; and that alone is proper, which he sees to be necessary and convenient: And therefore the mere Light of Nature directed Socrates when he prayed, to implore the Divine Goodness in general terms, leaving it to God to choose for him, how, and when, and what to bestow upon him; believing it to be a Man's safest course to submit always to the Wisdom and Determinations of God. But you will say, Was not David envious at the Prosperity of the wicked? Yes; he tells us himself that he was so, and that in his discontented, sullen humour, he muttered, as if he had cleansed his Heart in vain, and had washed his Hands in Innocency, (to no purpose;) but he tells us too, that in all this he behaved himself very foolishly, and like a beast, Psalm 73. 22. The truth is, this is one of the most affecting Cases, when we see those whom we take to be very ill Men, to thrive at a mighty rate, and to grow great and powerful in the World. Nevertheless, Humility teacheth us in all Cases, not to take Example by any, so as to be Uncharitable or Irreligious. The humble Man's Rule is that, Phil. 2. 3. In lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. I know the Apostle's meaning to be, That we should behave ourselves to others, as if they were better, whether they be really so, or not. Such a Judgement of the Mind is not always required; and, if sometimes we think it impossible too, for the humblest Person in the World, to think all others better, it is yet inconsistent with Humility to judge them worse; for God alone is the searcher of the Heart: That is in too close a Repository for One's next Neighbour to penetrate into; and therefore to make wrong judgement of others, is too facile a thing, even for good Men, who are apt to take false estimates of themselves, with whom they should be far better acquainted. Such humble Thoughts as these do naturally prompt Men, evermore to make very charitable Judgements; and, consequently, to rest satisfied in their Minds, when the Divine Providence doth multiply and heap up the good things of this life upon the Heads of others. But to put the Case at the very worst; Suppose the Men, thus judged and censured, to be wicked indeed, (I mean, wicked in the strict Scripture-sence; guilty of great, scandalous, presumptuous Sins:) This is, in truth, an Argument for our Prayers, and charitable Admonitions; but not for Envy; nor are any People in the World more to be pitied than such.  
4. BY this short Account it appears, what an useful Virtue Humility is, to rid our Minds of all foolish impatience, and to compose them into a serene and calm state, how invidious soever the Condition and Circumstances of others may be. Let us consider now, Fourthly, the Advantage it brings an humble Man, how perplexed soever his own Condition is. There are many cross, calamitous Accidents in this life, which we cannot digest under any one General Head so well as under the common name of Afflictions; so called, because they give very painful blows to the Hearts of such People, as are not in some good measure improved and perfected by the Discipline of Religion. And these Afflictions are of two sorts; some that are actually felt; and others that we fear: Both are dolorous; for though present Afflictions yield the quickest sense, yet many times future ones create the most melancholy pain; nay, the bare apprehension and prospect of them, when at some distance usually makes longer and deeper impressions upon men's Minds, than when they are engaged and wrestling with them in a direct Conflict. In each of these Cases, Humility affords the best Auxiliaries; so that how lowly and subdued soever One's Heart is, he can lift up his Head in the day of distress. First, As to present Afflictions: There are these Four Considerations, which naturally serve to make every humble Christian very easy (if not cheerful) in his own Mind.  
1. THAT though second Causes be the immediate instruments of Affliction, yet the Hand of God doth so order, govern and direct them, that we are still under his management in all Conditions. And since it is so, what can so well become a lowly Mind, as that modest resignation which old Eli expressed, 1 Sam. 3. 18. It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good. Dost thou well to be angry? As the great Governor of the World was pleased to argue with Jonah, when he was in his sullen fits; first, because Nineveh was not destroyed, and then because his friendly Gourd was smitten with a Worm, Jonah 4. By which mild Expostulation God shows, that whether he spares, or destroys, still 'tis our Duty to acquiesce in his Divine Pleasure; and that it is the foolishness of man, which makes his heart fret against the Lord, as Solomon observes, Prov. 19 3. Secondly, Whether God afflicteth Men by the Hands of others, or with his own Hands, and by his immediate Providence, it must be acknowledged, that the Judge of all the Earth doth still do Right. Considering the scandalous Provocations which are given by some, the heinous, though secret Crimes which are acted by others, the Faults which the best are guilty of, and the Corruption of Heart which is in all, none can reasonably expect to steal out of this World without a Rod upon his Back; or, at least without some Thorn or other in his Flesh: (You know, a Sword was to pierce through the Soul of the blessed Virgin herself, Luke 2. 35.) The humble will consider this; and the due Consideration of it must needs stop his Mouth, and quiet his Mind, in reference to God's Proceed, because he cannot but be sensible, that his Sufferings are the consequent of his Offences, and that too which falls so very. short of them, that if we will put both into the Scales, and then judge by weight, the burden that is in one Scale, how heavy so ever it may seem, is really very light, hardly any thing in comparison of those Demerits which by a vast preponderation bear and keep down the other. Humility directs us in all Cases to reflect not so much upon our Grievances, as our Gild: And, if People in Affliction would take this safe and prudent course, there would be no room nor reason for any sorrow of Heart, besides that which worketh Repentance unto Salvation. Wherefore doth a living man complain? a man for the punishment of his sins? saith Jeremy, Lam. 3. 39 Thirdly, In visiting men's Offences with a Rod, God doth not act purely as a Judge, but rather with the Wisdom and Tenderness of a Father; either to keep his Children still within the limits of their Duty, or to reclaim them from their Aberrations. Outward Ease is naturally apt to corrupt good Manners, as fullness and idleness is apt to vitiate the Blood, and to ruin One's whole Constitution. Therefore, to exercise the Soul, and thereby to preserve it in the right state, God doth commonly use such a measure of severity, as he knows we stand in need of; and when a Man makes an application of this to himself, after an humble manner, he cannot but be satisfied with the Apostle's argument, Heb. 12. 9, 20. If we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence, shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of Spirits, and live? For they verily, for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. For this gracious purpose sake, they who are conscious to themselves of their Deserts and Wants (as all humble Persons are) cannot but possess their Souls in Patience under the Hand that correcteth; and with Thankfulness too, for stripes which are thus profitable and advantageous to them; not only hearing the Rod, as the Prophet speaks, Micah 3. 9 but kissing it also, because there is Honey on the end of it, as there was on the top of Jonathan's Rod, 1 Sam. 14. Fourthly, and lastly, St. Paul gives this Character of Temptation, (meaning Affliction) that it is cammon to man, 1 Cor. 10. 13. And considering that it is a general Lot, the humble in Soul will sit down quiet, and well contented to have a share: For how, (says he) am I better than my neighbours? Indeed, it is no comfort to good Nature, to see others in misery; yet every Man's Grief is much the less, when Discipline is administered impartially; and of all others, the humble Man's satisfaction is the greatest, when comparing his Sins and his Sufferings with other men's, he findeth so vast a disproportion; as if God were particularly merciful to him, in visiting more, and (as he thinks) more heinous Offences, with fewer and less-afflicting Stripes. It is one great cause of Murmurs and Impatience, that we look at the Prosperity, not at the Misfortunes of other People; at least, that we do not lay them equally to Heart: Their glittering Condition strikes the tenderest Side, and there makes the deepest impressions. The sense of their Afflictions goes off with an easy, and too often with a pleasant slide; especially where Nature is too hard for Religion. But were our Humility commensurate to St. Paul's, when he owned himself less than the least of all Saints, Ephes. 3. 8. nay, the chiefest of sinners, 1 Tim. 1. 15. 'Twere impossible for us to be very uneasy under our Afflictions, could we be able to give in such a large Register of them, as he gives of his own, 2 Cor. II. In the midst of which we find him still rejoicing. In short, he that is vile and worthless in his own estimate, cannot but learn in what state soever he is, therewith to be content; unless he will be so false to himself, as to condemn his own Opinion, and reverse his own Judgement. Which sufficiently demonstrates, what an inestimable Blessing Humility is to the Soul, amidst all the various and troublesome encumbrances of this Life. At once it polisheth our Nature, and refresheth us with Delights; that is, it doth us all the Good that we are capable of enjoying in a mortal state. There is such an indissoluble Union between this Virtue and Felicity, that it is impossible for a Man to be truly Humble, but he must, in spite of Fortune, be very Happy too.  
2. I told you before, That of all Afflictions, those which we pretend to discern aloof off, do many times affect the Mind with the greatest Anguish: And at the close of this Consideration, touching that Peace and Comfort wherewith Humility endues the Heart, it will be necessary to observe, how advantageous this Virtue is, when a Calamity threatens and looks terrible at a distance. In this Case there are three things especially which Humility suggesteth to our Minds, for the ease and satisfaction of them.  
1. FIRST, Our whole dependence being upon the Care of that infinite Being, who is the Governor and Disposer of all things, we may be sure, that nothing can befall us contrary unto, or without his Pleasure: So that tho' we are little, contemptible things of ourselves, yet considering whose Creatures we are, and whose Hands we are in, it is our Duty in all ominous Circumstances to commit ourselves to God, with such resignation and recumbency as becomes the Condition of poor, shiftless Being's, that are left entirely to him, and hang every minute upon his Providence.  
2. SECONDLY, God being infinitely Wise, Governing and Ordering every part of the Universe with constant Respect to the Whole, it is our Wisdom to acquiesce in our Lots, as God shall please to dispense them, and to make his blessed Will our Choice; in regard that we ourselves are so very  and partial, that we are not fit to be our own choosers, because we do not know what we should, but crave only for what we would have.  
3. THIRDLY, However Events prove, it is not out of our power to make an Honest and Religious use of them; and then all things shall work together for good to them that love God, Rom. 8. 28. These humble Considerations must needs minister great Rest and Comfort to One's Soul, tho' future Contingencies carry with them a terrible aspect; and thereby the reasonableness and excellence of our Duty appears, of taking no anxious, carking Thoughts about to morrow. Because God prefideth over all, many things which we presage, do not happen (Clouds usually drop before they advance over our heads) and how can the humble Man answer it to his own mind, to crucify himself beforehand, for that which, for aught he knows, may never come to to pass? Because God is infinitely Wise and Good, who can tell certainly what is within the Cloud? Or, whether many Blessings may not fall down together with the Storm? It is inconsistent with Humility to pry into God's Counsels after a distrustful manner; and, consequently, to perplex One's Heart with a grievous apprehension of accidents, which perhaps may be for his great advantage: Or, say it be a real Calamity that is coming, it is an humble Man's part to leave God to his own time, and to wait God's leisure, without going forward to meet an Evil, which he is bound to be patiented under, but not to anticipate. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, said the humble Jesus, Matth. 6. 34.  
TO enforce the practice of Christianity as to this particular, I cannot but observe what Religious Principles some Heathen Moralists went on, who placed Happiness in the study and exercise of Virtue, because it is the only thing which blesseth a Man's Soul with Satisfaction and Tranquillity. By the Light of Nature they discovered three great Truths, which they proved too, and urged the belief of them, as absolutely necessary to a Man's Happiness.  
1. THAT there is a God; or, (as they themselves mean) a Sovereign, Incorporeal, Intellectual Being, that is Uncompounded, Independent, Self-existent, Self-moving; the most Absolute and Perfect Good, the Supreme and first Cause of all things.  
2. SECONDLY, That as God exactly knoweth all the things he hath made, and hath a Power over all, so he taketh care of the whole Universe, and the several parts of it, the meanest Creatures not excepted.  
3. THIRDLY, That God doth not only inspect the World, but doth moreover administer and govern all Affairs, according to the strict Rules of Goodness and Righteousness. From which Principles those wise Philosophers concluded, That as it is our Duty to honour and worship God, so we must set ourselves to Obey him, to submit to his Determinations, to follow his Conduct with cheerfulness, to be well-pleased with what he doth, as being the Result of his Divine Wisdom and Providence. If you do no dispose your Minds thus, your Lives (say they) will be not only Irreligious, but full of Sadness and Misery too: Whereas, if you resign your Wills to God's, and be contented with Events, as God shall please to order them, you will be happy. Therefore Socrates was wont to say, If God will have it thus, then thus let it be. And Epictetus his Prayer was, Led me, O God, according to thy Will, and I will readily obey, and submit to thy Providence. For (says Arrian) every good Man who believes there is a Deity and a Providence, will submit his own Mind to God's Pleasure, the Governor of the Universe, as good Citizens submit to the Laws of the City they live in. 
Concerning all this see Epictetus, cap. 38, 77, 79. Arrian on Epictet. lib. 1. c. 12. and especially Simplicius his Comments 38. per totum.   
THESE were great Notions for Heathens to entertain; such a complexure of good Divinity and Morality together, as one would think were the Sense of a Christian. And the result of the whole matter is this; That as all the Happiness of this Life is lodged in Virtue; so this Virtue of Humility doth contribute towards it after a more especial manner, and in a singular degree; because it resigneth up the Soul to God's Wisdom and Pleasure in all Conditions; so that in all afflicting Circumstances, whether actually felt, or apprehended only, the truly humble Person possesseth his Soul in Patience, and is blessed with Tranquillity in as great measures, as a frail Nature is capable of receiving. Such as are so proud, that they care not for the Almighty, and think themselves too big for his Rod, in times of trial and distress, aggravate the smart from without, by being their own tormentors within, and the most inhuman tormentors, because the Pains they inflict are hardly curable, and seldom intermitting. Every odd chance is magnified into a great Affliction; and every Affliction gnaws and eats, as if it were an affront to their singular Merits, and an argument of Injustice and Partiality in the Divine Providence. And thus the Spirits of such vain Wretches breed Worms, which like those engendered in a dead Carcase, never leave till they have devoured their Parent; and all at last produce the Worm which dieth not.   

CHAP. V The Usefulness of Humility, in respect of our Proficiency in Virtue.  
HITHERTO I have considered the Usefulness of Humility, in respect of that Contentment and Serenity of Mind, which is the blessed Fruit of it. Let us proceed now to the next thing, and observe how instrumental it is, in order to our Progress and Perfection in Virtue: Now there are very many ways, whereby it helpeth to promote this inestimable Advantage: But it will be sufficient for me to take notice of these Four ways following.  
1. FIRST, By obliging us to rest in the Authority of Divine Revelation. This is the Foundation of our Faith and Hopes, and of those Religious Endeavours, we are encouraged to use, that we may receive the end of them: All is bottomed on this Principle, That the things we believe and look for, are certain, because God hath revealed them; and 'tis Humility that concurs with right Reason to settle our Souls upon this Principle, how dark and doubtful soever some things may seem to humane Apprehensions. The daily Sense which all humble Men have of the weakness and fallaciousness of their own Understandings, is sufficient to convince them, that Carnal Reason is not to be trusted Universally, and with Confidence in things pertaining unto God; and that it is our Wisdom as well as Duty, to take God's Word for all, however the Word spoken may sound in our Ears. This is a great Fault in some pretenders to Reason, that they will not allow us to believe Doctrines, unless they appear rational as to all the Parts and Modes of those Matters which are proposed to our Belief; and unless they captivate our Faith, by suiting with our Capacities, and by carrying with them a plain Evidence, How those things can be. This proceeds from Spiritual Pride, and Self-conceit, and is the ready way to make Reason not an Assistant, but an Idol, for the Holy Bible to be offered up unto. Humble Men will tell you, That many things in Religion are and aught to be covered with a Veil; that it is not Modesty to pry without Light, or without Leave, or beyond the reach of our finite Faculties; that Mysteries ought to be let alone, and suffered to remain Mysteries; that secret things belong unto the Lord our God; and that those things which are revealed, belong unto us, and to our children for ever, Deut. 29. 29. And thus our Faith will be infallible and unshaken, our Hope firm, and our progress in a course of Religion will be steady, which otherwise may be fatally interrupted by our turning aside into mazes and labyrinths, with a design to discover things, which God in his Wisdom hath purposely hid from us.  
2. THAT in this course of Religion we may not travel with a Tympany, full of hopes that will at last deceive, and make us ashamed; we are taught, that besides a modest Faith, universal Obedience to the Divine Will is necessarily required; and this is another improvement that comes by an humble Mind; it disposeth the Soul to perfect Holiness in the fear of God; and not only to rely upon the Veracity, but to have an Eye also to the Authority of God; that transcendent Authority which is stamped upon his Laws. Considering that he is our Supreme, Absolute, and only Wise Legislator; that we were all made for his Glory; that we have no urgent business in the World, but to glorify him; that he is glorified in our Happiness, and that his Laws are intended to fit and prepare us for it; what other Thoughts can an humble Mind suggest, but that it is at once our Duty and our Interest to serve God in true Holiness and Righteousness before him all the days of our lives? Such lowly Thoughts are apt to be seconded with suitable Resolutions; and thence proceed those various acts of Godliness, Righteousness, and Sobriety, which are answerable to the Commands of the Lord and Saviour of the World. For which reason the Ancients in their Encomiums of Humility, frequently style it, The Foundation, the Original, the Root, the Mother of all Virtue, and the great Preserver of it: Because a submiss disposition of Soul is naturally pliant, and never more obediential than when the Pleasure and Will of God is to be done. The adoring Sense of the glorious Nature, Attributes, and Works of God, on the Contemplation whereof the humble Man's Mind is fixed; the apprehension of his infinite Greatness and Majesty; the thoughts of his Absolute Power and Authority over all; the amazing and profound Consideration of his free Goodness and Love, especially in Redeeming our miserable Souls from eternal Ruin, and in bestowing on us such Spiritual and Divine Blessings, as are Arguments of our Adoption, the Preparatives and Earnest of a most blessed future Estate: These things carry such a charming Power over a meek and lowly Heart, as is productive of the most cheerful and affectionate Obedience to the Mind and Pleasure of God in all things.  
3. THIRDLY, As Humility fits us for an entire and hearty compliance with God's Commands; so it possesseth us with a genuine sense of our own Defects and Wants; which is another way whereby it helpeth our progress and perfection in Virtue. For this is necessary to all manner of Improvements, that we see first wherein we are defective. That Observation of Seneca, That many might be very wise in time, but that they foolishly think themselves wise enough already, will hold true in all Cases: Men might easily be better Artists, better Scholars, better Christians than they are, if a false Opinion of their Accomplishments did not supersede their Industry. And this is apparently the mischievous effect of Pride, That it shuts a Man (as it were) out of himself; makes him uncapable of finding out that blind side, and ugly temper, which requires help, but admits of none for want of discovery. And the reason is, because such Men take not a clear and fair view; they overlook those manifold faults which deserve their Eye, and contemplate only those glittering Objects which dazzle it. Hence it comes to pass, that a great many flaws within them escape their observation; and they are no Proficients, because they are not properly Teachers, but Admirers of themselves, only; lifted up with the Vanity and Confidence of those our Saviour pointed to who trusted in themselves, that they were righteous, and despised others, Luke 18. 9 That humble Apostle who confessed his Sins to the whole World, and proclaimed himself the chiefest of Sinners, counted all things but loss for the Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ Jesus: And tho' he spoke as if he were blameless, as touching Righteousness which was by the Law, yet he threw aside all that Righteousness of his own; not conceiving that he had already attained, or was already perfect, but following after, (stretching and straining hard, like those that contended of old in the famous Agonistical Combats) forgetting those things which were behind, he reached forth unto those things which were before, pressing towards the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, Phil. 3. As many as are perfectly humble, will be thus minded; thus zealous to run and to finish their course well. Because they are conscious of their former Miscarriages, of their present Infirmities, Defects, Unworthiness, Encumbrances, and natural proneness to Slip and Fall; they know the better what Care to take, what Temptations they are to avoid, what Weights they are to lay aside, what aids of Grace they are to pray for, and what Supplies are most necessary for them. They are always jealous over themselves with Godly Jealousy; still fearing lest as the Serpent beguiled Eve, through his Subtlety, so their Minds should be corrupted from the Simplicity that is in Christ. They think their Sins can never be mortified enough, nor their Hearts be clean enough, nor their Repentance fruitful enough, nor their Devotion ardent enough, nor their Charity great enough, nor any other acts of Religion worthy enough of his gracious Acceptance, who loved them, and gave himself for them. These are so far from being Discouragements, that they are great Motives to a course of Proficiency. For tho', when we have done all, we must acknowledge ourselves unprofitable Servants, and come short of our Duty, tho' our Minds and Endeavours be sincere; yet considering, that not so much as a Cup of cold Water loseth its Reward, and considering the great Goodness of the Lord Jesus, who is pleased with what we are able to do, (as he said of that Woman who anointed his Head, Mark 14. She hath wrought a good work on me: She hath done what she could; considering this, I say) the meanest Performances must afford such a comfortable Prospect, as will invite the humble to proceed from Virtue to Virtue, while all the Pomp of proud Men, with their stiff Necks and inflexible Hearts, serves only to alienate their Minds from Religion by degrees, till they come to that high pitch of Insolence which David speaks of, Psalm 10. 4. The wicked through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.  
4. FOURTHLY, An humble Mind helps Men on in their Christian Progress, by preparing and inclining them to use the means of Holiness.  
THE means of Holiness I now speak of, are Prayer, Sacraments, and Instruction.  
1. FIRST, For Prayer: It is a great Instrument of Grace. If any of you lack wisdom (saith St. James) let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him, James 1. 5. And this may be one reason, why the same Apostle tells us, Chap. 4. 6. God giveth grace to the humble; that is, more Grace, greater measures of Divine Assistance, than he gives to others; because they are of a more devout Spirit, more ready for any opportunities of Praying, more constant, and fervent, and importunate at their Devotion. The want of this pious Disposition proceeds, not more from an earthly, heavy Temper, than from a secret Principle of Pride; from a fastidious Mind in People, which makes Religion hang so lose about them, that every puff of Wind carries it away? 'Tis a sign they have contemptuous Thoughts of God, who make so slight of his Service, as if to honour him, to worship him, and to bow down before him, were a precarious matter. To fold our Arms in a soft Bed, when we should be prostrate in our Closets; to rove about, when the Church wants us; or, to be busy about many things at home, when we should repair to the Congregation, and take a share with those who choose the better part: This looks as if we thought Almighty God beholding to us for our Service. And so, an indifferent sort of carriage in the House of God, when we meet together for Prayer, a wand'ring Eye, impertinent Talk, a stiff Knee, an irreverent Gesture: This looks as if we counted our bare attendance in the Church, Civility and Favour rather than Obedience: I am sure it is not suitable to the Temper of those humble Souls, who reckon no Ground too vile, no Posture too lowly, no Thoughts too awful, no 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 blessed 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 Virtue to Virtue, 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 pleased 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 Virtue. 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 Virtue. 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 show, how effectually this single Virtue 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. 'Tis 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 rectify 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 prefer one another, Rom. 12. 10. and esteem each other better than ourselves, 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 kindness; and let him reprove me, it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head, saith the holy Psalmist, Psalm 141. 5.  
THE result of this whole Consideration is, That if Men expect ever to make Improvements, so as to be wise unto Salvation, it is absolutely necessary for them to mould their Hearts into an humble, soft, and ductile temper: To cast out that scornful, disdaining Spirit, that sets up itself against God; to lay aside all that self-conceit, which every where hinders the advancement of true Religion; and to entertain such modest Opinions of their own Abilities and Endowments, as are suitable to the condition of poor, , infirm Creatures, that without Light and Help from better Hands, and especially from God's, could never arrive to a true state of perfect Happiness. In our travels towards it, nothing can be of greater use to us, than an humble, plaint, and manageable Disposition.   

CHAP. VI The Usefulness of Humility, in respect of the many Evils it preserves us from.  
THE next thing to be considered is, what an excellent Preservative a Spirit of Humility is, from divers Evils and Inconveniencies, which are apt for want of it, to fall out and gall us in this our Christian Progress. These Evils and Inconveniencies are hardly to be numbered: But yet I conceive, an humble Spirit helps (at least, in a very considerable measure) to preserve us from them all, by these following means.  

I. BY governing and moderating our inordinate Desires.  
II. BY guarding us from divers hurtful Sins, which pride of Heart leadeth People unto.  
III. BY teaching us to make good use of the Dispensations of Providence.   
1. FIRST, By governing and moderating our inordinate Desires. There is hardly a worse Plague, than a craving and greedy Appetite after the things that are in the World; which St. John distinguisheth into three sorts, 1 John 2. 16. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; that is, Pleasure, Profit, and Honour. An inordinate desire of these things, doth not only come from an evil Principle, but also is of very evil Consequence; because it cannot be answered. Such a Stomach is always craving; and the Wretch that condemns himself to the slavish office of feeding it, cannot with all his drudgeries satisfy it; for, instead of being filled, it stretcheth daily. From these boundless Desires proceed a world of moral Evils, which torment Mankind, and disorder the state of humane Affairs, as Envy, Murmur, Uncharitableness, Strife, and innumerable sorts of Injustice and Oppression: Of all which, none are more apt to be guilty than proud Men, who enlarge their desires as hell, and as death, that cannot be satisfied, as the Prophet tells us, Hab. 2. 5. Indeed this doth necessarily follow; for those inordinate Cravings being both bred and cherished by the vast Opinion Men have of their own deserts, they must needs think themselves very hardly used by God himself; and, consequently, grudge, and grow impatient, troublesome, and vexatious, if their Merits be not rewarded according to that estimate which they themselves take of them. Nor is such a Reward possible to be given; because whatever their Condition is, still there is something or other in it, which answers not expectations. Moderate Prosperity can bear no manner of proportion to the unmeasurable Opinion and Appetite of a proud Person; and therefore it cannot possibly satisfy him, because the Enjoyments he hath, fall so very short of what he thinks he should have. And if God be pleased to heap up the things of this World upon him in great abundance, neither doth this please the vain Wretch so as to satisfy him to the full, because the opinion of his Merits still swells, as his Fortunes grow. His singular Acquisitions he takes as some Reward of his singular Deservings; and as an argument and sign of something more behind which he should, and is to have yet; till the Ambition resembles Alexander's the Great, who could not be satisfied without getting the whole World, nor indeed with it: Tho' he had overrun so great a part of it, yet he cried for madness that there were no more Worlds for him to Conquer. Now, every one may 〈◊〉 what Mischiefs come from such wicked Tempers, and the World has e●…y day too great reason to lament them. They pla●…y show, That to be of an humble ●…ind, is not only a very necessary 〈◊〉, but an excellent Blessing too; that which keeps One from many hurtful Exorbitances, and makes him uncapable of annoying, of being a grievance to himself and others: Having a mean Opinion of his own Worth, he is therefore contented with his outward Fortunes, because he thinks them greater than he deserves: He is satisfied with what is needful, and that is but little in comparison, because Nature requires not much, unless Vanity creates an Appetite after many things, which might better be spared, because they are overcharging. And tho' a Man's particular Condition and state of Life does call for more than what is just proportionable to the necessities of Nature, yet the most chargeable stations are a●…ded with much Excess; and many Expenses should be retrenched, which are merely thrown away upon Luxury and ●…utter. Many great Incon●…niencies and Evils might easily be avoided, would Men but suffer their impertinent Ambition to shrink, and their Minds to be governed by a Spirit of Humility. And, after all, the Laws of it require us, whatever our outward Qualities and Circumstances are, to repose our Cares in God's Bosom, where all humble Men think them so safely lodged, that there can be no room in their own Breasts for those tumultuous Desires, which set the World in an uproar: Without acting against their own friendly Principle, they cannot but rest in Christ's Promise, that all these things shall be added unto them, Matth. 6. 33. that is, all the necessary things of this Life; and to vex the World and ourselves about more, is only to be mad to no purpose.  
2. SECONDLY, Besides the Advantage an humble Mind yields us by governing and regulating our Desires, there is this additional Happiness by it, That it guards us from many hurtful Sins which Pride of Heart leads People to. This is such a fruitful, teeming Vice, that there are not many Sins but what are nearly related to it▪ Envy, Wrath, Contentiousness, Singularity, Intractability, Vainglory, Avarice, Censoriousness, Affectation of Power, and divers other Vices, are either the immediate Issue, or the Kindred of This, and all are set on work to support it. Any one may see how fatally it operates in undermining and ruining the common Comforts of humane Life, together with the Peace and Interests of all Societies, whether they be Civil or Sacred. It is Pride of Heart that denies Obedience, that disjoints Families, that oppresses and tyrannises over a Neighbourhood, that disturbs Kingdoms, that divides Churches, that levies Wars, that forms and maintains heterodox Opinions, that violates Order, and (as a ready way to all manner of Mischief) that stops men's Ears against honest and faithful Counsels, because they are in their own Thoughts wiser and better than others, and count it a diminution to be directed. Did Humility take its due place under our Roofs, these various Evils would soon be removed; Hagar and her Issue would be quite cast out of Doors, or at least, secured from giving disturbance. The first work of Humility is to mould our Hearts into an obsequious, pliable and pacific Temper. With the lowly is wisdom, says Solomon, Prov. 11. 2. He means that Wisdom which is from above, which is pure, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of Mercy and good Fruits, without Partiality, and without Hypocrisy, as St. James describes it, James 3. 17. The truth is, were nothing else to be considered, but the present welfare of Societies, an humble Disposition is of such vast use for the procuring and preserving of it, that if we might suppose a Community to consist of the wisest Men that ever were in the World, and that they were to find out and agree amongst themselves upon some one thing that should be most advantageous for the Whole, they could not pitch upon any thing more Beneficial, more conducing to every One's Good, than the universal Practice of this admirable Virtue, which is the subject of this Discourse: It disposes Men of all Degrees and Ranks, whether Superiors, Inferiors, or Equals, to behave themselves so in their respective Stations, that Mankind could not choose but be very happy even in this Life, were this single Virtue sincerely practised by all, as it should be: It disposes all Governors to condescend to those of low estate, Rom. 12. 16. To show themselves in all things patterns of good works, Tit. 2. 7. To be Ministers and Servants to the rest, even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, Matth. 20. 27, 28. It disposes such as are to be governed, whether in Church or State, to be subject to the higher Powers, Rom. 13. 1. To be subject to Principalities; to obey Magistrates, Tit. 3. 1. To submit themselves to every Ordinance of Man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the King as Supreme, or unto Deputies that are sent by him, for the punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that do well, 1 Pet. 2. 13, 14. It disposes People that stand upon the same Level, and are of the same Degree, to be kindly affectioned one to another in brotherly love, in honour preferring one another, Rom. 12. 10. Not to do any thing through ●…rife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind, each to esteem other better than themselves, Phil. 2. 3. To be at peace among themselves, to warn them that are unruly, to comfort the feeble-minded, to support the weak, to be patiented towards all men, 1 Thess. 5. 13, 14. In short, the Office of Humility is to cast out of us the very Offal of humane Nature, to cure us of all imperious, surly and perverse Humours, to sooth and soften our Tempers, to animate us with a condescending, complaisant and gentle Spirit; to make us tractable and easy, candid and sweet, benign and truly gracious, as it becomes those whose mutual Necessities require them to stoop to each other, to relieve each other, to bear with each others infirmities. And what a happy World would it be, were we all thus minded! Those Vices which annoy and infest Mankind, would hardly be so much as heard of; to be sure the mischievous Effects of them would not be felt so as to disorder all Affairs, and to throw People into such fits of Rage and Distraction, as if the World were nothing but a great Hospital of Lunatics.  
3. A Spirit of true Humility would be a Sovereign Cure of th●se many Evils which the foolish Pride of Men naturally brings upon us. And if it shall please God, for particular Reasons, to suffer at any time some untoward Accidents to happen, ●…ich are not immediately and directly of our own ●…sing, an Humble Mind will help us to make such a wholesome use of them, as to turn that into good Discipline, which to fa●…dious and intractable Tempers is a very p●…●…re; which is the last Argument of the great usefulness of this Virtue. Among these Accidents, we may reckon Domestic Misfortunes, disappointments of Expectations, Miscarriages in Friendship, loss of Liberty, decay or want of Fortunes, and the like, contingent Pressures, which to Men of unsubdued Minds are things very heavy and grievous to be born. But Plutarch has rightly observed, That as Bees gather Hony out of the driest and prickliest Herb, so Good Men may draw something that is proper and beneficial for them out of the sharpest Misfortunes: There are no trials, but what will yield a kindly extract, where Art and Industry undertakes Improvements: And if Men would apply their minds to this Divine sort of Chemistry, they might at once sublimate their Natures, and their Delights too, tho' it be by Fire ('tis a Proverbial expression, which St. Paul uses, denoting some Difficulty, 1 Cor. 3. 15.) It may be hard perhaps at the first, but Time and Assuefaction will help all Men to draw good out of any Evil: Nor are any so well prepared for it, as Men of humble minds; because idivers things will sink into their thoughts, which the Hearts of others are too big and too hard for: As, That no Man ought to be master of the World, or of his own Fortunes; but that we should rather make our minds pliant and suitable to our Condition, whatever that is. If it be Retirement we are confined to, the best way is to turn it into an opportunity for Speculation; as, Socrates Philosophised in Prison, and Plato betook himself to close Studies, when he had fallen under the hatred of Dionysius; And thus Knowledge and Wisdom might be the Extract of such misfortunes. Again, the World, for great Reasons is subjected to variety of Chances, as Consort does consist of great diversity of Notes, which yet serve altogether to make Harmony, tho' some by themselves are flat and unpleasant: And why (faith the Humble Man) should the course of things be altered for our sakes, when our Betters before us have had their turns too, and when constant Experience shows us, that every thing is sickle and liable to changes, and that the World is no other than a Scene, that for a time pleases, but soon deceives the Eye; and the consequent of this Meditation is, That we should set our Affections on things above.  
AGAIN, notwithstanding this diversity and uncertainty of Affairs, if People would but make just Comparisons, they might easily find, that the measure of their Wants bears no proportion to the greatness of their Enjoyments. But this is a great fault, That they overlook many Blessings which are under their Eye, and turn their Thoughts lose and fugitive after some little thing that is lost; Like Children (says Plutarch) who, when a single Toy is taken from them, cry and roar for that, neglecting all other things, which may be of greater value. 'Tis pity that Men should outlive the Innocence of Childhood, and retain its Follies: If they were governed by a Spirit of true Humility, they would make such a Religious use of those Wants which they count great Mischances, as to be thankful to God, that they are not greater nor more.  
FURTHER yet; suppose One's Misfortunes to be great indeed, an humble Mind will direct him to consider whether other men's do not equal, and perhaps exceed them: Few indeed take such an estimate of them, because they do not create such an acute and home-pain, as the little Thorn which is in One's own Flesh. But we see Afflictions are every where; and since they are common to all Mankind, Humility teaches us to take it for our Comfort, that we are not singular; and, instead of Murmuring, to express our Gratitude by Works of Charity and Compassion to our Neighbours: This is to make a good use of God's Dispensations; and to all this we are directed by an humble Mind.  
AND yet, lastly, there is one thing more, which I should not forget or omit; and it is, That we should set our Affections on things above, not on these earthly matters. I have often thought on the Philosopher's Notion, That the readiest way to be rich is, not to enlarge One's Estate, but to limit and pinion the Desires: And this is the ready way to be happy also, to keep our Minds from roving, and to confine them to the things which are at home before us. When Misfortunes disquiet us, the great fault is within ourselves, because we want much of the Stoic, as well as of the Christian, and place Felicity, not in the Practice of Virtue, but in outward foreign Acquisitions. And this is the reason that we are so troubled about them, and dejected when we miss them; whereas we should rather apply our Minds to that one thing necessary, which is always ready at hand, and never to be taken away without our own consent.  
HUMILITY prompts us to improve our Spiritual State by the Dispensations of God in every mortifying Condition; to grow Wiser or Better by them, to become the more Meek, the more Patiented, the more Devout, the more mindful of our whole Duty to God and Man.  
AND if we be careful to answer the Ends of the Divine Providence to us after this humble manner, tho' the things which the World thirsteth after fall to a low ebb, we shall have Waters enough within our own Cisterns to refresh our Souls, till we get to those Rivers of Pleasure, which are at God's Right-hand for evermore.   

CHAP. VII. The Suitableness of Humility to the Mind of Christ.  
HAVING considered the great Usefulness of this Virtue in several Respects, as a very powerful Argument to enforce the Practice of it, I should now put an end to that part of this Discourse, but that there remaineth behind yet one Consideration more, which ought to be the most affecting and moving, because it is to be drawn from the great Exemplar of all Holiness, the Lord Jesus; whose own Humility is a Pattern which he seems to have singled out from the rest of his Virtues, for the more peculiar imitation of his Disciples. Lest the Grandees of the World, the Mighty and the Noble, should account this Virtue an unmanly Habit, and look upon it with a disdaining Eye, as a thing infinitely beneath them, the Son of God was pleased to Dignify it with a singular Honour, and to make it Glorious by inrobing himself with it, and by expressing his own great Esteem of it to the very last.  
THESE three things show the stupendous Nature of his Humility: 1. His wonderful Incarnation. 2. His outward Condition of Life. 3. His dying upon the Cross.  
1. FIRST, His wonderful Incarnation. In the Second Chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians, where the Apostle does with such Earnestness and Zeal conjure us to be humble-minded, he makes use of Christ's own Example, as the most operative and irresistible Argument; because antecedent to his Conception in the Holy Virgin's Womb, he was a Divine Person, actually having the Divine Essence, really subsisting in the Divine Nature, full of the Divine Majesty, and of all the Glories which are Essential to the Deity. In him dwelled all the fullness of the Godhead Bodily, (that is, truly, really, and substantially) as St. Paul speaks, Col. 2. 9 This is the meaning of those words, Phil. 2. 6. Christ being in the form of God, thought it no robbery to be equal with God, (meaning, by Identity of Nature.) Notwithstanding which most glorious State, he emptied himself, taking the form of a Servant, being made in the likeness of Men; for that is the literal exact rendering of the words, Verse 7. This was most astonishing Humility! Deity and Manhood are things so vastly distant, and the Distance between the Perfections of the one, and the Infirmities of the other is so infinite, that the Son of God's Condescension in taking humane Nature upon him, is impossible to be expressed, or comprehended. God's being manifested in the Flesh, is one of those Mysteries which Angels themselves desire to look into; stooping and bowing down, to pry into it, as the Greek word signifies, 1 Pet. 1. 12. Where the Apostle alludes to the golden Cherubims upon the Ark, which hovered with their wings over the Mercy-seat, with their faces one toward another, Exod. 37. 9 When the Power of the Highest over shadowed the Virgin, so that God became Incarnate, a humane Body was prepared him, that he might be in a fit state to transact the Mediator's Office, which he had undertaken between his Father and Mankind. This was indeed a necessary part of the Divine Oeconomy, to bring about the great Ends of the New Covenant. But yet the Son of God's submitting to the vile condition of Humanity, is his subjecting himself thereby to the natural Weaknesses, Wants and Passions of humane Flesh, was a far greater act of Humility than when he humbled himself to Death; which yet the Apostle reflected on with such Admiration, Phil. 2. For a Man to die, is the consequent of Nature; and whatever the death is, it is no such wonder, as for God to be made Flesh. This was such a reconciling of Extremes, as could not be brought about, but by stepping down to the very lowest degree of Exinanition and Abasement.  
2. AGREEABLE hereunto was the subsequent Condition of his Life, from the Womb to the Grave: All along so humble in every Respect, that the World might easily see his Intentions were, to banish all Pride out of the World, and to show what a despicable thing humane Glory is in the account of God, whose own Glory consists in the adorable Perfections of his Nature. To be entitled to such mean Parentage, to take up with such poor Fortunes, to be born in the Stable of an Inn, to be wrapped in the coursest Fashion, to be laid in a Manager; to appear in such an abject, despicable Condition, and to make 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 men's 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 showed, 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 extremest 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) 'tis believed that he used the Trade alone for his own and his Mother's support; making Yokes and Ploughs, (says Justin Martyr) for which reason he was afterwards called, not only the Carpenter's Son, but the Carpenter, Mark 6. 3. As he was first revealed 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 ceased as soon as he entered on his Ministerial Office: Then he lived by the Hands of others; which manner of living, tho' it was grounded upon an eternal Principle of Justice, because the workman 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 confessed him to be the Son of God, the Lord of all: And at the same time when his Necessities required 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 patiented bearing Aspersions and Reproach (the usual consequents of a needy Condition) was a further argument still of the great Humility of his Heart. High Stomaches are apt to be stimulated to that degree by one sharp treatment, that sometimes nothing can allay, but a glut of Revenge; life itself falls a sacrifice for it; and a little detraction is too often made the Price of Blood. When the Lord Jesus was reviled, he did not at all revile again, 1 Pet. 2. 23. but endured beforehand 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 spiteful 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 mortify him. 'Tis 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 Buffet, the Scourge, 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, showed him to the People as an amazing Spectacle, Behold the Man, said he, John 19 5. His submitting to such shameful Scourge and Dilacerations exceeded his stooping down to the Basin 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 exposed upon a Gibbet, after he had suffered 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 looked upon as one not fit to tread upon the Earth, and therefore was hanged 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 deserved presently to be removed out of the People's 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 exposed, was to be buried 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 show, 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 pleased to submit to that reproach and shame which was due to those, and to those only, who were particularly cursed. Had the Ignominy been all his Suffering; had he not undergone the Pains, the Torments, the Death of the cursed Tree, his condescending to take up the Opprobrious part was without Parallel, and beyond all possibility of Example, considering the Innocence of his whole Life, the Dignity and Greatness of his Person, and his own voluntary susception of the most Infamous Punishment.  
AND yet this is an additional Circumstance, That it was the Ignominy of the Cross; which was a Roman Instrument of Death and Shame, distinct and different from those that were ordinarily in use among God's People; nay, an Instrument which had a peculiar Ignominy belonging to it. The Law of God equally reached all Men that were obnoxious to the Penalty: The Sanhedrim had a Power of bringing them all indifferently under the Malediction of the Gibbet: But among the Romans Crucifixion was a servile Punishment (as 'twas often called) a reproachful Death appointed for the most feculent part of Mankind, chief for Slaves, and more especially for such of them as ran away from the service of their Lords, or plotted their Lord's ruin, or privily carried Information against them to the Magistrate. Fugitives, Traitors, Sycophants, and such infamous, abject Villains, were wont to be executed upon Crosses, as Dog; too sometimes were. Very rarely did any Free man of Rome suffer after that manner, unless he was found to be a Robber, an assassin, or a Forger of Deeds. In short, it was such a base, disgraceful Punishment, that the first Christian Emperor Constantine the Great, took away the further use of it, because the Saviour of the World had suffered the shame of it in his Person. Lord! what a low step of Condescension was This? That He, who was in the form of God, clothed with Majesty and Honour from everlasting: That He, who thought it no Robbery to be equal with God (it was a Dignity which he had a Natural Right unto) that He should not only conceal this his Greatness, and appear in the shape and fashion of a Man, but should moreover take on him the form of a Servant, the most contemptible Man, and at last submit to the Punishment of the vilest and most proffigate Slave! No Wonder can exceed or come near this; unless it be, that sinful wretched Man should be proud, when God himself was pleased to be thus humble.  
ONE would think, that if haughty People would but reflect with one Eye upon their own state, and with the other behold the most Holy Jesus, they could not but be abashed to find so absurd a dissimilitude; themselves glittering like so many Morning-Stars, with a borrowed Light; and the Sun of Righteousness wading in an Eclipse all along from his first Rising to his Bed. 'Twere strange, if shame did not cover their Faces at last; if a Comparison so very unequal were not enough to baffle a foolish Vice; if this alone were ot of sufficient force, not only to supplant its Credit and Interest in the World, but to put it out of countenance also. As there never was any Sorrow, so never was there any Humility like his, for Quality and for Degree too: Nor indeed is any such proportion expected of us; tho' according to humane Reasoning, our Measure, as to this, aught (if possible) to exceed. The Son of God could not but know his own Dignity and Excellencies: He could not but be conscious of the infinite Glories of his Divine Nature, and of the Perfections of his Humanity too, by means of its Hypostatical Union with the Deity. Upon this account, had he set himself out, according to his true, intrinsic Worth, all the Splendour in the World had been infinitely short of his just Due. But his Business here was not to appear as the Son of God, but to act as a Mediator, as our Substitute and Proxy. Accordingly, as he put on our course Clothing, so from the Manger to the Cross he wrapped himself up in such a mean Disguise, as was suitable to the great Design upon which he came out of his Father's Bosom. When he said to his Disciples, I am lowly in heart, he spoke as the Son of Man, that was not to make a pompous show of the Glory he had from everlasting, but was to live in an obscure Condition, to end his Life with Contumely and Disgrace, and throughout the whole course of his Exinanition, was to act and suffer below his Great Self, beneath his Dignity. In all this he was a charming Pattern to his Followers, that we should learn of him to step low, and to walk in that lowly manner, which, tho' it was beneath him, is very fit for us; answerable to things of our low size, very suitable to Creatures, whose first Principles are Dust and Clay, and whose fall would have sunk us lower by far than into our original Earth, had not the Son of God humbled himself so, as to come down from Heaven, and to descend into Hell too for us. In him, Humility was a Degradation; in us, it is a standing upon our own proper and due Level: Which makes the Example carry the greater force, because it proposes to us, not any sort of Condescension, strictly and rightly so called (much less such Condescension as was in the Lord of Life and Glory) but such lowliness of Heart as is proportionable to our true Quality and Deserts; and, consequently, agreeable to the Laws of Justice.  
I told you before, That Humility consists in a fair and equal Opinion of One's own self, according to his exact Rate and intrinsic Value: And such an Opinion must needs be very mean and low, because if we take a true estimate of what we really have, and of what we really are, we cannot find in ourselves any thing considerable, setting our Demerits and Gild aside; to be sure, nothing considerable enough to out weigh, or balance that Gild. So that every touch of Pride is so far the exalting of One's self above measure, which is therefore the more Criminal, because it is a direct Affront to the Saviour of the World, whose unfathomable Humility was intended for an everlasting Law, to exact of Mankind the profoundest Submissions, since he, the Son of God, was pleased to set so great a Price upon the Duty, by becoming a Precedent to us in his own most Sacred Person.  
AND now, what shall we say more to encourage or oblige us to the Practice of it? A Virtue so graceful in its own Nature, so desirable for itself; a Virtue that is justified upon so many Principles of common Reason; a Virtue so adapted to our great Necessities; a Virtue so instrumental towards our greatest Good; a Virtue so productive of all interior Peace and Complacency, so necessary and useful for our growth in Grace, such a security and defence against the Malignity of outward Accidents: Lastly, a Virtue so Divine and Honourable for its near Relation to the only begotten of God, the Author and Finisher of our Faith: This so excellent a Perfection carries with it such present Rewards, as are not to be exceeded but by the actual Possession of that most blessed State which is as yet in futurity: The truth is, Humility of Mind is a very proper Preparative for it. The Lord Jesus, who came down from Heaven, knew best what Virtues and Dispositions of Soul are necessary for us, in order to our happy being there. He has not given us so many Precepts in vain, nor are his Commands only to try and exercise our Obedience. Nay, the Duties he exacts of us are not purely Conditions neither, things fixed by the mere Pleasure of God, without which we shall not be happy. We cannot be truly happy without them; without them our Nature is not capable of the Felicities which are above. They are therefore both necessary Conditions, and suitable Qualifications too; proper, genuine and kindly Preparations to fit and dispose us for a Heavenly state: And of these noble Qualifications, an humble Temper is one; it has a direct and natural Tendency to fit us for that Place, where there has been no room since Lucifer's Apostasy (nor ever will be again) for Lucifer's Vice, the damned Original of Strife, Passion, and Disobedience.  
A lowly Heart is fixed and ready for the Works in Heaven, to admire and adore the Father of Spirits, and to fall down prostrate before him; to glorify him in the blessed Choir of Angels; to bless him for our being written in the Lamb's Book of Life; to praise him for being counted worthy of the least degree of Glory; to rejoice that others have their share of it also; to triumph for being found at the Feet of God's Saints, as Ignatius the Martyr wished he might be found in Christ's Kingdom at the Feet of St. Paul; to join with all the Spirits of just Men made Perfect, in a Life of everlasting Harmony; to live on to everlasting Ages in the ravishing Entertainments of a serene and delightful World, in a fixed and unchangeable state of Rest and Peace, of Order and Obedience, of Joy and Love, continually accompanied with Hallelujahs and Hosannah's, and the profoundest Adorations: These will be our Works in Heaven when it shall please God to bring us thither, and we endeavour ourselves to go. And all these Works Humility of Mind does naturally serve to fit and dispose us for: Which shows, that we cannot take a more Religious and Prudent course now, than to work our stiff and stubborn Hearts into an humble Temper, and to apply them to the constant exercise of those things which help at once both to express and to increase it. For as all Habits are acquired by the daily repetition of single acts, so are they confirmed and increased by it.  
THIS, as well as other Virtues, grows by degrees, by our using ourselves to the familiar Practice of it. The more we exercise acts of Humility, and the more frequent those acts are, the more humble do our Minds become: He that is lowly, will thereby be the more lowly still; due Expressions are both the Signs of an humble Disposition, and the Instrumental Causes of its Increment. For which reason I shall not enlarge this Discourse, by directing you, under a distinct particular Head, to the proper means of Humility (tho' it would be a very Practical Method) but for the greater brevity, shall choose rather to proceed to that which I proposed as the Third and last General, viz. To show after what manner we are to express this great Christian Virtue; which, I presume, will serve instead of all, as arguments and tokens of Humility, and as means of it likewise.   

CHAP. VIII. How Humility is to be expressed, as by serving the Honour of God.  
1. NOW the first and noblest Expression of a lowly Heart is, to apply itself to those things which are for the Honour of God. If it be the part of all humble Men, in honour, to prefer one another, Rom. 12. 10. certainly nothing can be so necessary and proper for them, as to seek God's Honour, to do the things that are for God's Honour, and to prefer God's Honour before and above all. This is a most genuine act of Humility, because we are infinitely below him; derive all from him, and depend every minute upon him; as the Supreme Author of our being, the sole Arbiter and Disposer of our Fortunes. Upon this account, to do the things which are for his Honour is very natural to an humble Soul, possessed with a sense of his Glory and Excellencies, of his Dominion and Authority over all, and of the inexhaustible Riches of his Goodness and Love to Mankind. And as this is an argument of Humility, so it is a good means to amplify and improve it. For the more we are concerned for God's Honour, and the more we intent it, the more we must needs think on him, and the more sensible still we must needs be of the reasons of this our Duty towards him.  
HE is hereby the more before our Eyes; his Perfections hereby appear every day to us the more Glorious; the vast distance between his infinite Majesty, and us poor contemptible Creatures, begets in us still the greater Reverence; his Power strikes us with the more piercing awe; the Consideration of his All-sufficiency aboundeth the more; and the sense we have of his Mercy, Kindness and Truth increaseth daily. In short, the more we entertain our Souls with Contemplations of God's Greatness, the more we find ourselves obliged to honour him; and the more we study to do that, the lower are our Souls apt to sink under the due apprehension of our own meanness. Now, for the better exercising ourselves as to this matter, we must note, That there are divers ways of serving God's Honour; at present I shall mention only these Five.  

I. BY ascribing unto God all the Good we have.  
II. BY making him such humble Returns, as may in some measure testify our Obligations to him.  
III. BY devoting ourselves to his Worship.  
iv BY giving ourselves up to his Disposal.  
V BY depending upon him, and trusting to him, in reference to all Events: And by every one of these ways of serving God's Honour, must we express our Humility.   
1. BY ascribing unto God all the Good we have. There is no such Child of a Man, as he who becomes his own flatterer; who is so full of himself, as if he were the Maker and Master of his own Fortunes. And yet the Folly would be the more pardonable, were it attended with the Innocence of a Child. But in this there is a mixture of Sacrilege with Vanity, because such Parasites rob God of his Glory, to bestow it at home. This is the ridiculous Sin of assuming Spirits, That they engross the Honour that should be returned to the Divine Being; they sacrifice to their own nets, and burn incense to their own drags, as the expression is, Hab. 1. 16. That is, give themselves the praise of all, either as the sole, rightful Proprietors, or, at least, as Partners and Sharers with God. Is not this great Babylon that I have built, for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? said that haughty Prince, Dan. 4. 30. Answerable to which is the echo you may hear from every proud Heart: Are not these the Perfections that I have wrought? Are not these the Excellencies that I have deserved? Are not these the Rewards that I have purchased? Nay, is not that the Heaven too, which I have merited and bought? When this Vice groweth so rank in the Mind, so high and strong, it is a plain argument, that the Soil is very bad, and that good Husbandry hath been wanting, since the evil One sowed the Tare. An humble Heart is necessarily productive of all self-denial: 'Tis the most indisposed, most unapt thing in the World to exalt itself, and especially to magnify itself against the Lord, as the Prophet speaks, Jer. 48. 26. Because it is in him that we live, and move, and have our beings, Acts 17. 28. Because the whole disposing of the Lot is of the Lord, however it be cast into the Lap, Prov. 16. 33. Because every good gift, and every perfect, is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, James 1. 17. Because we all live (the very best and greatest of us) upon God's Providence, and stand indebted to his Goodness for all that we enjoy, and for all that we hope for; it is a most natural act of an humble Soul, to ascribe all we have, and all we expect to have, to him whose Mercy is over all his Works. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy Name give the praise, for thy mercy, and for thy truth sake, said the Psalmist, 115. 1. By the Grace of God I am what I am, saith St. Paul. And again, Not I, but the Grace of God which was with me, 1 Cor. 15. 10. And again, By Grace are ye saved, through Faith, and yet not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast, Ephes. 2. 8, 9 These are very humbling Reflections, that we are Debtors to God's Goodness, for all our Enjoyments; for those Advantages which are most valuable and excellent. And this affords us a sure Rule to go by; on every occasion to give God the Praise and Glory of all.  those things be, which are ready to puff vain People up; whether they be natural Endowments of the Body or the Mind: Whether they be accidental Acquisitions, such as a plentiful Fortune, worldly Greatness, popular Esteem, and the like: Or, whether they be moral Accomplishments and Perfections, whereby we become wiser and better than other Men: Still to look up to God as our Creditor and Benefactor, and with religious Bashfulness and Modesty to slide away from all danger of self-assuming, to beat off every Temptation, and every rising of the Heart towards it. Indeed it would be well for us, to cover and conceal these things from our own view: But if we find that too hard a Task (as sometimes it is) to blind and cousin our Eyes by such an honest Artifice, we should remember, That the Office of every humble Man is to look, not so much on his own things, as on the things of others, Phil. 2. 4. that is, others that excel us. To compare ourselves, not with ourselves, or with those behind us, but with such as outdo and outstrip us; and when we turn our Eyes homeward, to look upon the black Feet, as well as upon the gaudy Plumes; this would be a proper way to make us sink into a just proportion, and to destroy all that Loftiness, which at every turn is apt to shoot out of the Mind on a sudden, like Jonah's Gourd; which was stiff and shady for the time, but the less valuable, because subject to be smitten with a little Worm. Any just Reflection is enough to spoil and ruin that high Conceit, which vain Persons entertain of their Accomplishments and Perfections; because many times they are but imaginary; and when they are real, the Honour must be given where it is due; namely, to that Supreme Being, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, saith the Apostle, James 1. 5. 'Tis no reproach to receive at God's Hands: The only thing wherewith Men are upbraided is, That they arrogate to themselves the Blessings they receive, as if their own Hands had created them. Therefore to express your Humility, and at the same time to increase it, keep your Minds full of God; make him the Theme for your Meditations, that he may be the Object of your Fear and Love: Let the sense of his Goodness abide, and dwell with you continually. Consider what you are, by whose Grace and Bounty you are so; and what you have, which you did not receive; and in all your actions be sure to manifest the great sense you have of his Divine Providence, of whose Mercy alone it is, that you are not worse than nothing. This is to honour God after an humble manner, and to express your Humility indeed; to exalt him in your Hearts, and him only; to cast down all Imaginations, and every high Thought before him; to make his Name and his Praise Glorious in that Temple of his, which the Devil would have you desecrate, by setting up an Idol in God's room.  
2. SECONDLY, Another way of serving God's Honour, and consequently, of expressing the lowliness of your Hearts is, to make him such humble Returns, as may in some measure testify your Obligations to him Where there is a true and thorough sense of that, the next natural Thought will be that Divine Enquiry of David's, What shall I render unto the Lord, for all his benefits towards me? Psalm 116. 12. Considering that we derive all from him, and own all to him, it is highly reasonable for us to make such Retributions, as are arguments and significations of his Dominion and Goodness over all, and of our daily Dependence upon him. This was the Ground and Original of those Sacred Rites and Solemnities, which thinking Men in all Ages of the World found themselves obliged to use, by the Laws of Natural, as well as Revealed Religion. The rearing of Altars, the offering of Sacrifices, the building of Temples, the paying of Vows, the hallowing of Times, the setting apart of Lands, the presenting of First Fruits, the sanctifying of Persons, the use of Musical Instruments, and all those great and costly Solemnities which were thought most suitable to the Divine Majesty, and most proper to set forth the Honour of it; they were all instituted out of a just Sense, and in humble Acknowledgement of God's Absolute Right and Sovereignty over all. They were the best outward Returns poor Creatures could make him, for his inexhaustible Goodness to Mankind; and as the Sense of it increased upon the promulgation of the Gospel, so the Zeal of lowly Hearts increased with it. Their only Ambition was, who should do most for God's Honour; and who should erect the noblest Monuments of Pious and Thankful Minds. From Age to Age Humility was sedulously working; till, first in the Church of Rome, and then in other Churches, sacrilegious Hands laid hold on some of God's Propriety, to maintain Voluptuousness and Pride, and threw away a great deal, even of the Shewbread of the Sanctuary among Dogs.  
IT would be in vain in this degenerate Age to tell Men, what they should do, as to things of this Nature. But, God's Honour is to be served still; nor are we any more excused from Offices of Gratitude and profound Respect, than our Forefathers were. There are eternal Laws of Reason, which oblige us to render all possible Acknowledgements to the Great Maker, Governor and Disposer of all things; nor is any thing more becoming Men of humble Minds and Tempers. His great Name is still to be had in Honour; his Day to be kept Holy unto him; his Word to be reverenced and obeyed; the Seals of his Covenant with us to be used so, as may be most for his Glory; his House to be frequented as the House of Prayer; and his Service there to be performed with that Gravity and Decorum, with that Order and Solemnity, with that Fervour and Zeal, with that Devotion and Presence of Mind, as becometh People that appear in the Presence of that infinite Being who is to judge us at the last Day, and to Reward us all according to our Works. Had we all right Notions of God, and did we daily consider what worthless, necessitous Being's ourselves are; that wait upon God, as the meanest Animals do, that he may give us our Meat in due season; that are troubled presently, when God hides his Face; that die and return to our Dust, when God takes away our Breath: Were nothing but this to be considered, the Power of common natural Conscience would be enough to humble us into a readiness of making such retributions of Gratitude, as I have now mentioned.  
3. AND the same Power of Conscience would bring us daily upon our Knees, and lay us prostrate on the Earth, to adore him, to praise him for the Glory of his Majesty, to implore his great Compassion, and to give him Thanks for the constant Operations of his Mercy; which is the third way of serving his Honour. By these acts of Worship we declare our belief, that God is a superexcellent Being; of such Perfections in his Nature, as render him an Object most worthy of all Adorations: By these acts we confess, that he hearkens to all our Addresses; that he is able to answer all our Wants; that he is ready to receive our Invocations, and to fulfil our Desires; and that our concerns are entirely in his Hand, and at his Disposal. The sense we have of his Omniscience, Power, Goodness, Wisdom, and Providence over all, giveth life and breath to our Supplications; and therefore he saith himself, whoso offereth me thanks and praise, he honoureth me, Psalm 50. 23. Now, none are so kindly conditioned for all this, as People of lowly Hearts; because they are most possessed with the admiration of God's Excellencies; most apprehensive of his All-sufficiency; most sensible of their own Defects and Indigencies; most apt to betake themselves to him, and to run under his Wings for Shelter and Protection. This therefore being so natural to humble Spirits, we cannot better express this great Virtue, than by addicting our Souls to the Love of God's Worship; by giving our Minds to it, by making it as Solemn as we can, by such external acts of Reverence as are the ordinary significations of a lowly Disposition; and exemplary too in their Consequence, that others may thereby learn how to glorify God, as well as we. A careless and supine behaviour, as if the worshipping of God were an indifferent, nay, a trifling matter, a sleepy Eye, an inflexible Body, and such like anomalous, odd Figures which some People make, are as unsuitable in a Christian Oratory, as changing of Money was in the Temple; and for this reason ought to be cast out, because instead of expressing a slender and low Opinion of One's own self, they rather argue Men to have very mean and contemptuous Thoughts of God. O come, saith David, let us worship, and fall down, and kneel before the Lord our Maker. Due Notions of an Omnipotent Creator; a due remembrance of the Dust, out of which we were form, and into which we shall return; and due Consideration of the Hand which hath kept us from dropping into it as yet: These and the like humble Thoughts are enough to strike us down into the most reverend and lowly Prostrations.  
'TIS true, there is a voluntary Humility which carrieth an ill Character with it, Col. 2. 18. But this is impertinently objected against the use of these external acts in the Worship of God, because it is joined there with the worshipping of Angels. Such voluntary Humility is indeed criminal, when People address themselves to Angels, as the Ethnics did to Daemons, as to Mediators and Intercessors for them to the Supreme Being, and out of a great awe and fear of approaching immediately unto God himself. This Humility is culpable: But this makes nothing against those outward acts of Religious Adorations, which are directed to the Creator of all things. For such acts are not properly voluntary; they are God's due, to which he hath an indefeisable Right by having created the Body; and for that reason it is Idolatry to give them to a Creature, because it is the giving away of God's Honour and Right; a Right founded upon an Original Law, which Adam and his whole Family brought into the World with them.  
TO argue therefore against such solemn acts of Worship, from such weak Topics, betrays great affectation of Mind, a love of singularity and stubbornness; like that quarrelsome Temper that is in some, who lie still upon the catch, and want only an opportunity of starting a pretence. A Mind that is truly humble, truly conscious and sensible of the vileness of such a miserable, sinful Creature as Man is, cannot use a more genuine Method of expressing its Sense of this vileness, than by those Reverend Gestures, in the Solemnities of God's Worship, which would be suitable, significative, and justifiable, were they not commanded.  
4. BESIDES these ways of expressing our lowliness, there is yet a Fourth, viz. By giving ourselves up to God's disposal. Resignation is an inseparable Property of an humble Soul; nor is it ever so becoming and agreeable, as when we absolutely resign ourselves up into the Hands of God. This is greatly to honour him; because it is a manifestation of those Divine Attributes, wherein his Glory doth consist. It is a confession that he is a Being of  Power, not bounded or governed, but by the Perfections of his own most blessed Nature: That he hath an absolute Dominion and Authority over us, as over his own; and that he can exercise his Power when, and as he pleaseth: That he is just in all his Proceed, acting always according to the Equal Laws of his own Eternal and Infallible Reason. That he is most perfectly Wise in ordering all things according to the Counsel of his Will; and so transcendently Good, that he disposeth Affairs in this World, in such a manner as is best, and in such a way as is most safe and proper to lead us into another World, where alone there is unmixed Happiness, and that Happiness everlasting. These are the Religious Sentiments of every humble Man that is rightly instructed: And upon these sound Principles, he believes it his safest, and most necessary course, to throw himself at God's Feet, and under God's Hand, neither thwarting nor opposing his Will, nor murmuring at his Providence, but submitting universally to his Commands and Oeconomy. For all such stubbornness, and strive, such repine, and disobedience, and reluctancies proceed from Hearts that are lifted up and swell against their Maker; whose Wisdom, Truth, and Goodness they call in question, and in opposition to whose Pleasure they set up their own Lusts and Passions; the sturdy Vices of those aspiring Angels, who once made a War in Heaven, which ended presently in a total defection from the Father of Spirits. Therefore, that we may express and increase that Humility of Heart, which the Saviour of Mankind hath with such earnestness recommended to us all, that he may stock and people Heaven with New Colonies, we must submit ourselves unto God in all things.  
FIRST, By resigning up our Understanding, where he proposeth matters to our belief. The only Enquiry to be made as to this is, Whether God hath revealed and declared those matters? If that be once out of dispute, we must acquiesce in the Revelation. How remote soever the things to be believed are from the reach of our finite Reason, and how seemingly impossible soever they may appear, we must receive them upon the Credit of God's Veracity, because he cannot Lie; 'tis inconsistent with the Perfections of his Glorious Nature, to be capable of deceiving, or being deceived. Humane Reason is neither fixed, nor large enough to be the Standard of all Truth; nor can we avoid the guilt of a thousand Errors, if we take nothing, but what holds just even measure with our finite Capacities. Let the Point be never so disputable to our own thinking, this must decide the Doubt, God hath said it, and required us to believe it, therefore it must be true.  
SECONDLY, We must resign our Wills up, where God requires our Obedience. Because his Commands cannot but be Righteous, Good, and Holy, as his Nature is, they bring with them necessary Obligations; nor must our sensual Inclinations carry it against God's Law, how strongly soever the Bias that is in our own Nature may be drawing of us away from the Rule. In this case we must deny ourselves, renounce our Animal Satisfactions, and follow the Will of the God of Purity, tho' all our Interest and Pleasures lie at stake. For, tho' God hath obliged himself to provide Necessaries for us, yet he is not concerned to humour us: Nor is it our business to cram our Purses, or to gorge our wanton Appetites, with the Honours and Luxuries they crave for, but to serve God; to seek the kingdom of God, and his Righteousness. Whatever he saith unto you, do it; as the Holy Virgin directed the Servants at the Wedding, when she pointed to Jesus, John 2. 5.  
THIRDLY, We must submit unto God, by resigning up our Persons and Fortunes also to his Pleasure, when his Providence shall call for that expression of Humility; let our present Circumstances be never so mortifying. We must not think of ever returning into a Paradise here below; or, that the Lands we are driven out into will lose their fertility of Thorn and Thistles. The Sins we act, do help to renew and aggravate the primordial Curse; and as long as we go upon such prickly Ground, no wonder if we are made, for the most part, to smart, and sometimes to bleed also. Yet God, who bringeth Good out of Evil, hath made this our way to the Celestial Eden; and a Thorn in the Flesh serves to accelerate our course thither. We may be sure God intends it to quicken us; and we should the rather be contented with his ordering of us, because he is the only Wise Being, that knoweth what we most need, and what is most proper for us. Our Understandings at the best are very  (all humble Men must needs think so) and our Desires lean so aukardly, towards an infinity of things which would hurt us, that were we to be choosers for ourselves, we should repent of nothing sooner than of our own options. 'Tis an happy thing, that we are all under God's Government and Care; and we may be sure, that as long as by patiented continuance in well-doing we seek for Glory, Honour, and Immortality in another World, he chooseth those things for us, which our Necessity's most require; and in the Faith of that we should evermore submit to his Wisdom, and learn, in what state soever we are, therewith to be content, as that humble-minded Apostle was, Phil. 4. 10.  
5. HAVING proceeded thus far on the first Point, of expressing our Humility by serving God's Honour, there is but one Direction more for me to offer, before I quit this Consideration: And it is, That we depend upon him and trust to him, in reference to all Events. This is an honouring of God for the same Reasons, and upon the same Grounds I mentioned before; because by acts of this Nature we manifest our belief of his Omniscience, Wisdom, Goodness, and the like glorious Perfections, which are the prop and stay of all our Hopes. By virtue hereof every humble Man finds it his best Wisdom, to cast all his Care on him, who careth for us all, and to commit himself to him in well-doing, 1 Pet. 4. 19 For were such Men left purely to their own Conduct and Forecast, they could not but act with tremulous Motions, with many Doubts and Fears, with mistrustful Thoughts, and misgiving Minds, because they are so conscious of their manifold Weaknesses and Imperfections. It is therefore very safe and suitable for Men of lowly Hearts, to leave all future contingencies to the Great Governor of the World; with such confidence as is consistent with Humility; and with a modest assurance, that all things shall work together for their Good. I confess it is scarcely possible, especially for the more thinking and sagacious sort of Men, to be utterly unmoved, unconcerned in their Minds at the prospect of Affairs, when they appear, tho' at some distance, with a melancholy Countenance, louring, dolesome Wether, which affecteth the Sense with the appearance of a Storm, must needs make some impressions upon the most Religious Minds. But this is possible for us, and this we should be very careful of, in all ominous and threatening Circumstances, to act without fretting at the Dispensations of God's Providence, without despondency, without those anxious and inordinate Solicitudes which undisciplined, and unsubdued Spirits are subject unto. Because there is an Almighty, All-sufficient God that presideth over the Universe; that observes all the Parts of it, and all Motions in it; that holds his Hand over the whole Series of Affairs; that foresees all Contingencies, and whatsoever is likely to happen; that governs and directs every thing so as may be best for his own Glory, and for the Good of the whole World; that takes a more particular Care of good Men; that is with them in all their Troubles, how great and how many soever their Troubles be; that ordereth their Afflictions as is most for their Advantage: Upon these Principles which are so clear and certain, we should, with all lowliness of Heart, compose ourselves into such a state of acquiescence and satisfaction, in respect of all Events; as, to live still in Hope (a firm and immovable Hope) of seeing the Goodness of God, who gives us all things richly to enjoy: To submit to his Providence; to cherish our Souls with the continual belief and consideration of it; to be deeply afraid of nothing before us, but a bottomless Pit; to rely upon God's Mercy in doing the Works of our Callings. In a word, we should humbly wait God's leisure, to give us either those very things we desire, at his own time, and in his own way; or (which he never faileth to give) other Blessings, which he seethe far more profitable and necessary for us.   

CHAP. IX. How Humility is to be expressed, by not making our own Esteem the End of our Actions.  
2. HAVING thus provided for the Honour of God; we must in the Second place, beware of making our own Reputation the principal End of our Actions.  
THIS is utterly inconsistent with an humble Mind, and with the Laws of our Religion: The only difficulty is, How to reconcile it with that of Solomon, Prov. 22. 1. A good Name is rather to be chosen than great Riches. But this difficulty is inconsiderable, if we distinguish, between a Good, and a Great Name; and between making it our ultimate Design, to feed a vain glorious Humour, and valuing it only as a means in order to an End which is truly Honourable.  
FOR the clearing of this Matter we must observe, That a Good Name is that Esteem which ariseth from Actions that are Praiseworthy: Virtue is very laudable Justice, Meekness, Charity, Sobriety, and the like, are things which we honour all Men for; nor is any one well esteemed without them. By dis-regarding these Virtue's Men supplant their own Design; and ruin their Reputation even when they think to raise it. But of all Virtues, Humility yieldeth a most rich Perfume, and that which is better than precious ointment, Eccles. 7. 1. To condescend to Men of low Estate, and to inferior Offices, is a thing which carrieth its own Praise with it; and this is well called, an honest Reputation. Now such a Name as this we are allowed to have, because it is the necessary Result of good Actions, especially when we have to do with People who have a due regard for Virtue and Religion. Nay, considering how useful it is towards the setting forth of God's Glory, we are obliged also to seek it in some measure. For hereby we are the more able to do good in our Generation; to instruct, to admonish, to show People their Duty, and their true way to everlasting Happiness. The good things they see in such Directors, and the good Opinion they have of them, serves t●●…ake their Admonitions and Examples the more operative: Whereas nothing is more Natural, than to discredit and abhor those whose improbity hath rendered them deservedly infamous; when their Names cast a very ill savour, and especially when the Stench is very strong and stolen too, every wise Man will be jealous of them; at least, afraid and shy of listening to their Counsels. Hence it is, that we are commanded to think on those things which are of good report, Phil. 4. 8. Because an honest Fame is so necessary to make us serviceable to God, and useful to the World in our respective Callings. And hence it was, that such care was taken in the first Ages of Christianity, of intrusting those with Sacred Employments who were Men of honest report, Acts 6. 3. Men of good Report among them that were (as yet) without the Church, 1 Tim. 3. 7. That the uprightness of their Lives, and the honesty of their Reputation might help to bring unbelievers into it, and be a means of promoting and carrying on the great Ends of Religion. Upon this account, it is not only an unrighteous act in itself, but an injury to the Church too, and great Impiety towards God himself, to defame others, and especially those whom God hath set apart to serve him in any Public Station: To reproach and rifle them of their good Names, hath a direct and immediate tendency to eclipse the Glory of God, which never shines more than when the Hearts of People are brought in Obedience to the Truth. And for the same reasons every innocent Person is bound in Conscience to defend, as well as to seek, his honest Reputation, by all fair and justifiable Methods; because it is a matter of such moment in its Consequences. A clear Example whereof we have in St. Paul, when some endeavoured by false and unjust Accusations to render his Labours in the Church at Corinth unsuccessful; tho' he was so humble as to confess the Crimes of his former Life, with this modest Hyperbole, that he was the chiefest of sinners; yet, when the Honour of God, and the Good of men's Souls came to be concerned in his Reputation, that he might continue an Instrument of advancing both, you see by 2 Cor. 11, and 12th. Chapters, how zealous he was to redeem his Authority, by clearing himself from those foul Aspersions; tho' he was constrained to do it by magnifying himself, contrary to his usual Custom, and against his own Mind: Indeed, he there calls his boasting, Folly; and himself, a Fool for it; not that the thing deserved that hard Character (his Circumstances at that time considered) but, either because he thought his Adversaries would count it Vanity; or, because it looked like Vanity, and in Fact would have been so, had not great and necessary Reason's extorted from him such Glorying, and Commendations of himself.  
THIS shows, That the Laws of Humility allow, and the Laws of Charity require every one, who is conscious of his Innocence, to vindicate and rescue his honest Fame, when it hath the hard fate, to suffer and bleed under the cruel Mercies of unreasonable Men. The truth is Wounds of this kind are so deep and maiming, that common Nature is enough to justify our endeavours to cleanse and heal them; provided, that Revenge have no hand in the Operation, to retort the Blows, and that the Methods used be only sanatory.  
BUT, tho' a fair Esteem be valuable, yet we must be careful of two things:  
1. THAT we desire no greater share of it, than what will enable us to be serviceable to God and Men, in our respective Callings. There is (as was observed) much difference between a good and a great Name. This we must beware of seeking, or of being pleased with; because it proceedeth from Vanity, and helpeth still to increase it; like Thirst in a Dropsy, which springs from the Disease, and feeds it too, by being gratified itself: A return, which in that case should not be made to such a Parent. A desire of being called every where Rabbi, Rabbi, is as inconsistent with an humble Mind, as the Ambition of a troublesome Prince, that would enlarge his Dominions, and carry his Glories to the ends of the Earth; when his greatest Honour should be to do good at home in his own Country. An honest ordinary Repute, arising from the conscionable performance of our Duty, within the limits of a private Station, is far more suitable to a Christian Temper, than all the Lustre and Fame that is acquired by high reaching, and rather than be guilty of such vain Affectation, we should covet the Solaces of a quiet Obscurity, and imitate Saul when he modestly ran among the stuff, to hid his Head from the splendid burden of a Crown, 1 Sam. 10. 22.  
2. 'TIS true; a good Name is apt to grow up to an unexpected pitch; and never more, than when we think by condescensions to lower it, and make it shrink; therefore we must be very careful, Secondly, that it be not the End we aim at, be it greater or less: This is properly vain glory; when a Man hath a strong and greedy Appetite after popular Applause, as a thing very desirable: Nor is any thing more contrary to a Spirit of Humility, than a vain glorious Humour, an Ambition of appearing Great in the World, and of being thought worthy of all Deference and Esteem. I receive not honour from men, said the humble Jesus, John 5. 41. And they who make this the Scope and End of their Actions, deserve not the Character of his Disciples. Such as have a mean and slender Opinion of themselves, must needs be contented (at least) if others have the same Opinion of them too: He that wanteth this Disposition of Soul, is not humble indeed, but only seems to be so; like the Pharisees of old, who went about with lugubrious and dejected Countenances, as if they were the humblest Men in the World; yet all this was nothing but Art, and Affectation of Popularity. If they fasted, they disfigured their Faces, that they might appear unto Men to fast. Oh! What mortified Saints were they! If they gave Alms, the Trumpet presently sounded, to gather People to a show, that they might have glory of Men, Matth. 6.  
THEREFORE that there may be room enough for Christ in your Hearts, be sure to cast out the Pharisee, neither looking after humane Praise, nor valuing it any more than a slight puff of Air, which to day may yield a flavour, and to morrow noisomeness. Whether it be through honour, or dishonour, seek the Kingdom of God, and his Righteousness: Let this be your business and design, to please God, and to do your Duty, whatever be the result of it, whether the favours, or the frowns of Men. Be careful to do the things which are honourable and praiseworthy; and if a fair Name follows, regard it only as a Perquisite that falleth in by the buy. And accordingly make use of it, as an accident dropped into your Hands, for your better assistance and encouragement in the prosecution of Pious and Charitable Purposes. This is indeed the only good reason we have, to desire to be well esteemed, and well spoken of, that thereby we may be the better able to do good in the World, and that God may be the more glorified by us.  
A laudable Character is a mighty advantage and help in order to these noble Ends; for thereby our Principles pass among Men with the fairer Credit; our Counsels carry the greater Authority, and our Reprehensions make the deeper impressions upon the Minds of People who have a good Opinion of us: And by these means the designs of Religion are the better, and the sooner answered. Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God, saith St. Paul, 1 Cor. 10. 31. Unto this end Humility prompts us to direct all our Actions; and when Men make their own glory either a Substitute instead of God's, or a Competitor with it, it is an ill sign of such a Spirit, as did once set up against the Majesty of Heaven; but met with such a fatal turn, as presently drew on the Chains of Darkness: An everlasting warning to us not to aspire, not to seek our own Greatness; not to move in any Sphere, but by humble ways of subserviency, for fear of Giddiness and ruin. Self-exaltation, which unbecame Angels, and was so sinful in them, is far more intolerable in such Worms as we are. God knows, the brightest of us is but a Gloe-worm; and the Rule before us is this, Let your light so shine before Men, that they may see your good Works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven. If the little Lustre about us doth not serve to direct others in the Paths of Righteousness and Peace, it were better suppressed; like the old Vestal Fires at Rome, which (as some tell us) burned well enough, as long as they were kept under Ground, and free from Air. Ostentation is pernicious, not only to the Soul, but to itself. To be seen of Men, and to make that our Aim, is the ready way to lose our Credit while we pretend to seek it; and to get nothing at last, but the Name of vain Persons: And so we miss the Mark, by making our own selves the End. And the truth is, it is pity but it should be so. The Vice I now speak of is so foolish, that it ought to carry a Rod to punish itself with.   

CHAP. X. How Humility is to be expressed by acknowledging our Faults.  
3. BUT to forbear courting our own Praise, is not all we are to do to express our Humility. It is, Thirdly, the office of every humble Man, to own and acknowledge his Faults. Tho' it be a modest Virtue, yet it is not so bashful as to be ashamed of confessing Miscarriages, where the guilt is real. The reason of this lieth in the Nature of Humility; which being a mean and low Opinion of One's self, makes the humble Person apt to look continually upon the viler part, and to make that known, which he discovers there. It was the true cause of St. Paul's repeated Confessions: The conscience of his guilt would not permit him to conceal his Crimes; but moved him upon all occasions to tell the World, how he had persecuted the Church of Christ; and wasted it; and to declare himself the chief of Sinners. It was the Rule in those days, and that which Christians most readily observed, Confess your faults one to another, James 5. 16. This filled the Church with as many humble accusers of themselves, as there were Penitents and Converts; they confessed and shown their Deeds, as 'tis said of those at Ephesus, Acts 19 18. St. Austin's Books of Retractations and Confessions do plainly show us, what a lowly Spirit prevailed in his time. There needed then no other Remonstrances, but what extravagant or deceived Men drew up against themselves: And we of this Age might have hopes of bringing the Tempers of People into some Conformity to the Primitive Rule and Practice, could we persuade Men once to be sensible wherein they do amiss. But, alas! Christianity (instead of Pride) is fallen to such a low ebb, that many will not endure to be told their Faults; but Advice is interpreted as Disgrace, and Reproof as Scandal. The reason of this is latent within; because such Men are swollen with so great a Conceit of themselves, as if they were in an impeccable and infallible state. Hence it is, that they love Flatterers, and very few, if any, but Flatterers, because they are first their own Parasites. The Vice in their Breasts is in confederacy with that at the Elbow; and both combine to abuse them with Courtship, which they are willing to take, not as Compliment, but Justice. 'Tis, indeed, a reproach to humane Nature, that any Man can be so degenerate, as to practise the base and wicked Arts of Adulation. Yet, in the observation of all Men, nothing is more common, especially where some sordid Ends may be served by it. Plutarch in his excellent Book concerning the difference between a Flatterer and a Friend, tells us, That when Dionysius the Tyrant was in a fit of studying Philosophy, his Palace was crowded with Geometricians, that filled it with Dust, to draw Schemes and Figures in: But as soon as the fit was over, and Dionysius betook himself again to Luxury, all on a sudden they that were about him left their Philosophy too, and turned Drunkards. As that great Moralist observes, Flatterers will adapt and suit themselves to any Humour; especially if they be serious Parasites, which are the most dangerous of all. They will cherish, and comply with the very Vices of Men, and obsequiously follow them in their own way, tho' ruin be at the end of it. But the original Sin, the fatal cause of all this, is in proud and weak Men that love to be flattered. They hold out a Bait to the Sycophant, who to keep himself from being lean, will be sure to make use of it; nor has every one the bold Probity, to venture the worst by telling Men their Faults; the hazard they run in such a case is too apparent. Plutarch tells us again, but in another place, of Philoxenus the Poet, That being commanded by Dionysius to correct a Tragedy which he had composed, because he disliked it from the beginning to the end, and obliterated the dull stuff, was presently condemned to the Quarries. Proud Men will not endure to be thought to have done amiss, or to be in an Error. How plain soever it be, it is a very hard matter to convince them, and the hardest of all to extort a Confession from them. There is a deceivableness in their Temper; an odd propension to be soothed into the belief of any Misrepresentations, especially of themselves; a Disposition like that which God so complained of in the Jews, Jer. 5. 30, 31. A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land: The Prophets prophesy falsely, and the Priests bear rule by their means, and my people love to have it so. The Question that follows there is very pertinent; and what will ye do in the end thereof? For when once Men arrive to such a pitch of stupid Vanity, there is very little hope of them; because the means of Reforming them are quite frustrated; Advice and Reprehension (the ordinary means of making People wiser and better) are utterly lost, perhaps scarcely offered, because such deceived Persons scorn to think there is any need of them; and hereby it cometh to pass, that many Vices, which should be weeded out, thrive daily, and become Luxuriant. But where the Spirit of God hath wrought an Heart to a right humble Mould and Frame, there the Inclination is quite the other way; a proneness to think or to believe the worst of One's self. And because the humble Man's great business is, to search into himself, to understand and find out himself, he is not easily abused with false Notions. There is a Conscience within, which deals freely and plainly with him; too severe a Judge to be bribed with smooth Insinuations and words of Oil, as the expression is, Psalm 55. 22. Hence it is, that none is so sensible of his Miscarriages, as he; none so ready to confess them; because his Eye being still over his flaws and defects, what he seethe amiss in himself, he thinks it but just and equal to acknowledge: This is no more than what is agreeable unto Truth. My sin, saith David, is ever before me, Psalm 51. 3. And again; I will acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine unrighteousness have I not hid, Psalm 32. 5. And to the same purpose I observed before of St. Paul, That he proclaimed his Offences, as it were, from the Housetop: As he kept a faithful Register of them, so he took hold of every opportunity, to open and spread it before the Eyes of all Men.  
THESE were true Arguments and Expressions of Humility; and noble Examples for us all to follow, for the exercising and increasing in us this great Christian Virtue. Have you been guilty of any direct Impiety towards God? Why, with the lowest Prostrations confess the Sin unto him, implore his Mercy. Was it an act of Violence? An act of Oppression? An act of Injustice, in any sort, or to any degree? Why, tho' Men commonly count it a Shame and a Dishonour, yet it is a kind of Modesty, which of all things doth most become the Forehead of a Christian, to own the Wrong, and to make Amends, or (at least) to ask Pardon for it. In these and the like cases we should not suffer Pride to get the upper hand of us; or, to make us so hardy, as to persist, to carry a stiff Neck, to justify or palliate those things, which the Laws of Religion require us to expose. Sins of this nature affect the Conscience with too great a guilt to be smothered; God and Man should know it; and, rather than any humble Zacchaeus will hid his Injustice, he will first climb up into a Sycamore-Tree, and then venture into a press, that he may make Proclamation, Behold, Lord, the, half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have wronged any man by false accusation, I restore him four fold, Luke 19 8.   

CHAP. XI. How Humility is to be expressed by doing all good Offices, tho' seemingly mean, and by submission to our Superiors.  
4. THIS excellent Disposition of Soul will prepare us to give a Fourth expression of Humility, viz. By doing all the good Offices we can, how mean and inferior soever they may seem to Men of haughty Eyes. To secure the poor Fatherless; to comfort the forlorn Widow; to stretch out the Hand to the needy; to lend it to the Blind; to sympathise and pray by a sick Bed; to minister in Prisons and Lazarettoes; to treat Enemies courteously; to show Respect to the most Vulgar, the most unfortunate part of Mankind: These and the like acts of deference are looked upon with a disdainful Eye by supercilious Men, who think themselves privileged from such trivial Offices, by the quality of their Character, or the loftiness of their Station. And yet the Lord Jesus stooped down to the washing his Disciples Feet; nay, those very Feet that were now running swiftly to shed his Blood; which astonishing Example shows, that the most lowly Ministrations are far from beneath us, who stand indebted to each other in the Bond of one common Nature, and are allied by the Contract of a common Gild too. If he, the most Blessed and Glorious Son of God, came not to be ministered unto, but to minister; Good God What Offices can be servile enough for Wretches, whose base Extraction, and much base Crimes render us unworthy to be called, either Sons, or Servants? Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate, saith the Apostle, Rom. 12. 16. He calls that Condescension, which in strictness of Speech might be called Due Retribution; an intercourse of Justice, which ought to pass between Man and Man, considering that we all stand upon the same Ground, equally involved in the same Necessities, mutually indebted by reciprocal Obligations, and distinguished only by the Pageantry of the World, which gilds one Mushroom, while another is passed by, and a third struck down. All consist of the same stuff; of the Earth, Earthy: And tho' some be fairer and larger than the rest, yet the lesser may have more intrinsic value, if in such things there be any value at all. In lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves, saith St. Paul, Phil. 2. 3. That is, in their actions towards them, show others that deference and respect, and minister to them so, as if they were better; as indeed they may be, in some respect or other, whatever the proudest think. All have not the same gifts; at least they have not the same proportion and measure the most contemptible Man hath, wherein he doth excel, even as the Foot hath Abilities, which the Eye wanteth. Therefore that command, Rom. 12. 10. That in honour we should prefer one another, is bottomed upon great reason; because in every one there is something which is preferable; to be sure an humble Man will find, in those of the lowest Rank, this or that which deserves preference.  
AND from this Fountain all acts of Charity, Goodness, and Condescension do naturally flow; because how mean soever the Offices may appear and seem to be, a lowly Heart will think them a sort of Debt, which he is obliged to pay those, who upon some account or other, and for some Faculties and Endowments, excel him, and are much his Betters. It is the Nature of Humility, to take from itself, and to bestow that Respect and Esteem it parts with, any where rather than at home: And if we would all be once persuaded to apply our Minds to the hearty love and practice of this single Virtue, what admirable effects would it not produce? The most ordinary works of Love would not be grudged. The meanest of our fellow Creatures would be within every One's reach, and under every One's care. We should soon learn to be so Affable, Gentle, Courteous, Friendly, Charitable, Compassionate, and Assistant unto all (especially to all of the Household of Faith) that a more effectual course could not be taken to make our own and other men's Lives happy, and to mend the condition of this World, where we see daily such Vicissitudes and Misfortunes. If Humanity constrains us to lift up an Ass, or an Ox out of the Pit; I am sure humble Minds would not permit us to let any of those for whom Christ died, to lie long in a lost or a fallen condition.  
5. NEXT to this Expression of Humility, a Fifth will naturally follow; which is, to behave ourselves after a submissive and dutiful manner to those, whom God hath set over us in Church and State. For, if it be a necessary act of Humility, to do kind and respectful Offices to all our equals, it must be much more necessary to pay Honour and Deference to such as are exalted into a state of Superiority and Power. Therefore St. Peter links these two things, Obedience and Humility, together, 1 Pet. 5. 5. Likewise ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder; yea, all of you be subject one to another; and be clothed with Humility. As there are in Heaven several Degrees of Glory, several States of Saints, and several Orders of Angels, so hath God constituted on Earth different Ranks of Men, in condescension to the Necessities of the World, where the Interests of Societies cannot possibly be preserved without Government and Laws; and, consequently, without the subjection of those who are in a state of Subordination. Such People cannot express the Humility of their Hearts more successfully and directly for the Public Good, than by an entire Compliance with things established, where the Constitution is not repugnant to Laws Divine. For 'tis Pride that is the great Troubler of the World, the common Pest and Grievance, the domineering, surly, restless Vice that disturbs the Peace of Mankind, and breaks that Order and Unity on which the Safety and Welfare of all Communities doth depend. That overweening Conceit which Men have of their own Worth, believing themselves to be wiser, and better, and more deserving than others, doth naturally make them ambitious of Ruling, and impatient of being Ruled; and whatever the Pretences and Accessories may be, 'tis the Affectation of Superiority and Power that is the Principal Cause of those disorders, which render the Lives of People Miserable, and turn the Condition of Affairs into a State of War. O that I were made Judge in the land, said Absalon, 2 Sam. 15. 4. His design was upon the Throne, and the Artifices he used to steal the People's Hearts, were nothing but ways of stepping up into it. His Promises, that he would do them Justice; and his Popularity, in putting forth his Hand to such as did him Obeisance, his embracing and kissing them: All this sawning Address was to serve his own Ambition, and nothing but a Preamble to his setting up his Standard in Hebron. Seldom is the Civil Peace disturbed, but Ambition blows the Trumpet, to gather Malcontents, of the same Temper with their Leaders; and when the Passions of an united Multitude are fired by one common Principle, the Prospect is as terrible to the State, as that was to the Roman Army, when Hannibal forced in upon them two thousand Oxen, with combustible matter flaming upon their Heads. Pride is the great Incendiary, that heady and disobedient Principle; and the Yoke being shaken off, Confusion and Anarchy, and infinite variety of Mischief must follow of course.  
THE same Spirit of Disobedience, which raiseth Commotions in the State, operates in the Church too; and there indeed more fatally, because animated with a great (tho' mistaken) Zeal for Religion, and Lucifer there transforms himself into an Angel of Light. Diotrephes loved to have the preeminence, 3 John 9 and this Ambition of Mind made him so hardy as to oppose the Authority of St. John. Simon Magus, the first that corrupted the Christian Faith, did it for fear of losing or lessening the Esteem he had while he was yet a Sorcerer. He gave out, that himself was some great one, and deceived People into a belief, That he was the great power of God, Acts 8. 9, 10. To preserve his Credit he would have bought the Gift of Miracles; and, seeing it was not to be sold for Money, to support his great Name he turned Apostate, and the Ringleader of Apostates; opposing and exalting himself above all that was called God, or that was Worshipped; so that as God he sat in the Temple of God, pretending himself that he was God, 2 Thess. 2. 4. In aftertimes assuming Spirits became Heretics, that they might be in the Head of a Sect, and build themselves Monuments, tho' upon the Ruins of God's Sanctuary. And in our own days the same Spirit still worketh in the Hearts of the Children of Disobedience, who set up Fancy against Truth, private Reason against Divine Revelation, and separate Parties against Government and Order. The bottom of all this, is Pride; because Men swollen with that Disease, think it beneath them to be dictated unto; would be thought more Knowing, and more Holy than others; and love singularity, because it makes Men always talked of, and sometimes venerated. And tho' for all this some Arguments are pretended, yet the Disputation is maintained not so much for Truth, as for Victory. Pertinacy will still hold, what Singularity before invented; and such as coin new Opinions, will be sure for their Credit sake to make them as currant as they can, to justify the stamp they once set upon them. By this means poor credulous People are abused with false Notions, which by degrees make an impress upon their Minds, not only of the Falsehood, but of the Vice too from which the Error came; so that in a short time Spiritual Pride grows Popular, and ends in Schism; which instead of curing the Humour, inflames it, and canonizeth a Sin which God threw out of Heaven to be damned eternally.  
THEREFORE we cannot give a plainer and better Expression of our Humility, than by rendering Honour and Subjection to whom it is due; and to the utmost extent, which the Laws of God will admit of. I am far from pleading for an implicit Faith; a blind Obedience that will necessarily bring us in danger of the Ditch, if we should trust barely (as some are taught to do) to the Conduct of our Leaders. At all times we should be careful of these Four things.  
1. FIRST, Not to start Opinions out of a Principle of Opposition to our Superiors. For it is an ill sign, when People have an itch in their Ears to hear their Governors hardly spoken of, and an itch in their Hearts to contradict and thwart them. This can proceed from nothing but from Opiniatry, and a strong Presumption in them, that they are fit to be Dictator's; and it looks as if they had a mind to raise themselves a Name by treading upon Authority; a thing which we are not to Trample on, but Reverence.  
2. SECONDLY, In those Points which are of a doubtful Nature, we should pay great Respect and Deference to the Judgement of the Church we belong to. For every humble Man must think it much easier for one or two to be deceived, than for a thousand; especially when it is the Office of so many to inquire more particularly after Truth, and their Abilities are more probable to find it out. They must be very strong Reasons that can warrant Men to departed from a received Opinion: Yet it is not always, Reason, but for the most part Affectation that gives the encouragement; a desire of being taken notice of, by stepping out of the way from the rest, who think it more advisable and safe to follow the beaten Path. For Men to distinguish themselves by Singularity, and to set up Private Judgement against Public Definitions, is to tell the World, that they have more Sense and Understanding than others, and that their own Conceits are better Standards of Truth, than any that can be found in the Sanctuary. In short, where some particular Persons differ in their Sense from the Church in general, private Sentiments should be managed with all possible Modesty. These Opinions are not to be judged of by the Poll, because Error is too often Popular; yet considering, how great an hand Pride is apt to have in all Disputes, and how much easier it is for private Men to be mistaken, than to retract, we should evermore observe that Law of Humility which the Apostle hath laid before us, Rom. 14. 22. Hast thou Faith? Have it to thyself before God: That is, whatever a Man's Persuasion be as to things Disputable, he ought to keep it so private by himself, as not to make it an occasion of Disturbance or Offence.  
3. THIRDLY, When Authority requires things that are Innocent in their own Nature, we should express our Humility by complying with those Commands. In this case too 'tis Pride that makes Head against Order; a stiff Sinew in the Neck, that hinders Men from stooping to that which Laws Divine and Humane have made their Duty. Humility teacheth us to be Pliant and Peaceable; to be Tractable, Yielding and Obsequious: And, I think, as to this we need no plainer Directions than what our most humble Lord gave his first Disciples, Matth. 23. 2, 3. The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses seat; and therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do. The Rulers he spoke of, were for the most part very wicked Men, and scandalous Hypocrites; which was the Ground of the following Caution, Do not ye after their works, for they say and do not. And yet considering that in their Authority they succeeded Moses, who had his Authority immediately of God, they were to be obeyed in all Commands that were lawful. This Rule is applicable to all Cases now, where things which are not really Sinful are imposed by those who have the Government of us. They sit in Christ's Seat; they derive their Authority from Christ, as he did his from his Father; and for that reason their Innocent Directions are to be observed, whatever their Personal Condition, or Quality of Life may be: And therefore when you are directed by such as sit in the Seat of the scornful, to hold off, and to disobey; if the matters enjoined be not evidently repugnant to the Will of God, you may be sure that the Interdict is not from Christ, and that it is only humour, or stubbornness, or some such evil thing, that gives the casting Voice against Authority.  
4. FOURTHLY, There are some set over us, whose Address to us we may not so well call Mandatory, as Instructive. Tho' the Authority they are vested with be after an especial manner Divine, yet it must be administered in an humble way, and they that have it must be Examples of Humility, as the Son of God himself was, who gives them this Authority. See what he said to his Apostles, Matth. 20. 25, 26, 27. Ye know that the Princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them; and they that are great, exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you; but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant. And yet, such Servants as they be, they must be submitted to in their Ministrations; for so our Lord saith elsewhere; He that heareth you, heareth me: And he that despiseth you, despiseth me; and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me, Luke 10. 16. Contempts of this nature do not only reflect upon God, but are grounded too upon contumelious Notions of him, and proceed from Hearts that swell and are lifted up against him. The Probationary Atheist gins with efforts at the Pulpit, and goes on by degrees to a perfect hatred of God, and of Religion, and of the Ministers of Christ for God and Religion sake. 'Tis the Spirit of Lucifer that worketh at the bottom; a secret Principle of Aversion and Enmity to all that is Good and Holy. Therefore to express our Humility as we should, we must obey them that have the Rule over us, and submit ourselves to those that watch for our Souls, Heb. 13. 17. Which St. Paul calls in another place, knowing them which labour among us, and are over us in the Lord, and admonish us; and this, for their works sake, 1 Thess. 5. 12, 13. Because 'tis God's Work they are about, God's Business they are upon; and so, the Obedience paid them in the discharge of their Office, is carried on to God, and terminates in God, for whose sake it is that the humble Person hath a regard to one as vile, or viler than himself. This is an argument of a lowly Heart, and the proper, ready way to make it more lowly still; to receive the Doctrines they deliver us from the Mouth of God; to lay up in our Minds the things spoken; to set our Souls upon the Consideration of them; to give ear to Instruction; to lay hold on every opportunity of being instructed; to follow wholesome Directions; to take even Reproofs with meekness, with an aptitude and willingness to be reform; and for all this, to have continually prepared and open Hearts.   

CHAP. XII. How Humility is to be expressed, by being contented with such things as we have.  
6. BECAUSE I am desirous to draw this whole Discourse to a full Point, I shall take notice but of two Expressions more of Humility, which are as Considerable and Necessary as the rest. And that which comes next to my Hand is in Heb. 13. 5. That we be content with such things as we have. Covetousness, which the Apostle there cautioneth us against, is inconsistent with a Spirit of Humility, because it is always attended with a distrust of God's Providence, and with a secret averseness to submit to his Will; and is very usually too a subservient Vice to Pride; a Slave and Drudge to toil for the support of it. It is the taking away, or detaining of what is not One's own; or, an inordinate desire of that which he hath no right unto. And the great reason why Men reach out their Hands to wrest Naboth's Vineyard out of his, and are greedy of laying Field to Field, and do such other acts of Oppression, as are contrary to the Laws of Religion and Nature; the reason I say, of this Injustice is, because Men intent thereby to lift up themselves the higher in the World; they rob, and cousin, and overreach in order to their Advancement; and that they may be the more conspicuous, by standing upon an heap; tho' Wrath and Vengeance be under it, to blow up all at last. Men of humble Minds had rather stand on low Ground, to be hid in a Multitude; for since the Lord Jesus was pleased to be numbered with Transgressor's, a poor sinful Man need not care what his Lot is, and among whom he chanceth to be reckoned. Whatever his Station be, 'tis better than he deserves. This one humble Reflection should be enough to persuade us, in what condition soever we are, therewith to be content. But besides this, there is in every humble Soul an aptitude to consider, that God is the Sovereign Rector of the Universe; that no part of it is out of the reach of his Eye, or out of the verge of his Providence; that he always acteth according to the Laws of his own infinite Reason, and as it is best for his Creatures; that he assigneth to every Man his Lot and Place; that he is the only competent Judge to determine, what is proper for every Man, and what a Man himself is fittest for; that he taketh a due Care of every one, and provideth such things for him, as are most suitable to his Quality and Calling; and that such as seek him shall want no manner of thing that is good, Psalm 34. 10. These Principles are deeply rooted in all lowly Hearts, that are rightly prepared to submit to the Will, and to depend upon the Promises of God; and the genuine Product of them is this, that 'tis our best course to commit ourselves to God's Disposal, and to be satisfied with his Providence and Determinations: I am sure this is infinitely more Becoming and Advantageous, than to be always Repining and Craving, as those humoursome People are, who by taking false Measures of themselves think, whatever is done for them, to fall short of their Merits; and grudge if they be not satisfied, when by stretching their Desires continually, they render themselves uncapable of being filled. Therefore to express our Humility, we must carefully learn these three things.  
1. TO have as mean an Opinion of the World, as we have of our own selves. The reason why Men covet the things of this Life with such Greediness and Ambition is, because they think Happiness to consist in Riches and Greatness, and those to be the happiest Persons, who have the largest share of them. Now this is a most gross mistake, an argument of a childish and little Mind. For such outward Enjoyments are for the most part instruments of Sin; and then they are the most unfortunate Men, that carry such edged Tools in their Hands. The greater they be, the more able they are to do themselves and others mischief, and the more ready many times to do it. Vanity, Luxury, and a lewd Life, are too often the sad Consequents of a plentiful Fortune; and when the loss comes to be felt which such expensive Vices bring, Injustice and Rapine commonly follows next, and Reprisals are forced from defenceless Innocence. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment-seats? saith the Apostle, James 2. 6. If Men have the Grace, to make a better use of God's Blessings, yet the enjoyment of them yields no more real Comfort, than what People of an Inferior Class are blest with, who have Air, and Food, and , and Rest, as well as the most Prosperous. There may be in a Palace more Splendour and Gaiety; but this affords no more solid Felicity, than Moonshine doth warmth. In this respect the humble Cottage may have much the advantage, where the sleep of a Labouring man is sweet, saith Solomon, Eccles. 5. 12. whether he eat little or much, he eats with an appetite that needeth not the studies of an Epicure, or the Arts of Apicius. And the drinking his own sweat is a preparative for more delightful Refreshments, than the nicest Creatures can pretend to, who abuse the Fruit, without taking any share of the Works of the Vineyard. Those Pleasures which Humane Nature universally thirsteth after, run commonly in low Channels; the despised part of Mankind go away with them; to be sure with as great a portion of them, as the most craving men can have; and 'tis in vain to look for Happiness any where below, but in the exercise of Virtue; particularly this. Virtue, Contentedness of Mind; without that, and for want of that alone, Haman himself was unhappy amidst all his Honours; all availed him nothing, because he was so discontented to see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the King's Gate, Esth. 5. 13.  
2. HAVING possessed our Minds with low Thoughts of the World, we must, in the next place, show our Humility, by being satisfied with things necessary. My meaning is not, that we must desire no more, than what is just enough to support Nature. For there are many things which One's Vocation, Quality, and Condition of Life calleth for, besides what Nature requires for its maintenance. The Necessities of Princes, and great Men, are more and greater, than what ordinary People can pretend. And so it is throughout all inferior Ranks and Orders of Men; according as their Families and Charges are, and according as their Degree and Condition is, wherein the Providence of God hath placed them, so are their Necessities; these rise or sink in proportion to the other. The short of the matter than is this, That when God hath made competent Provision for us, answerable to our Condition, suitable to that Place, Degree, and Station, wherein he hath been pleased to dispose of us, we should command our Desires, and keep them from running out, and from roving abroad after things superfluous. If superfluities fall into our Hands of themselves, we are to dispense them where they are needful, and as it is most for the Glory of God, and for the good of our Brethren. But our Appetites must not be so inordinate, as to crave for more than what we want ourselves; and when those Necessities are answered, we should be satisfied and thankful. 'Tis Pride that makes Men unsatiable; because they think they never have as much as they deserve: And this is its condemnation, That it quarrels with God for that he doth not humour us, and for not gratifying our Lusts, tho' he liberally supplies our real Wants. It is a very true Observation, That none are so querulous, so greedy, so reaching after more, as those to whom God hath been very openhanded, and who have most reason to give Thanks, instead of Complaining; like squeamish Stomaches, that nauseate the wholesome Provision which is before them in abundance, and long for Rareties which are out of the way: A plain sign, not of Want, but a Surfeit; and of a Disease within which needs a Physician rather than a Purveyor. Humble Men are glad of that which is within their reach; and make themselves Happy in the enjoyment of it, because they take it as a Doal that God seethe to be fittest for them, tho' it be not a Benjamin's Mess, nor the miraculous Portion of Quails and Manna. A competency is best; and few can think they want that, if they be not so partial, as to make their own unreasonable Appetites, Judges in the case: An upright Conscience will tell them, that they have at hand what is for their Necessity, and for their Delights too. Indeed God doth not rain down his Blessings upon some, as he doth upon others; but the reason is, because great Plenty would not be so good for them: The Soil in some places is so odd, that much watering would produce little but a crop of Nettles; things that would bring smart and hurt. Such is the Temper of some men's Hearts, that were they as Great and Powerful as they could wish, there could be no tolerable living near them, and very slender hopes of their own living well in another World; so apt are many to make an ill use of the Riches of God's Mercy. 'Tis therefore an act of his Wisdom and Goodness, to keep those low, whose exaltation would be fatal: But as for the necessary Accommodations of Life, he provides those for all; and gives them opportunity and means of gathering every day as much as will serve their turn, if they be not such sluggards, as to need the Ant for a Monitor. 'Tis not Nature, but Luxury, that complains for not being fed; and the Mother of that is Pride; which is like the Horse-Leach we read of, Prov. 30. Whose two Daughters (that is, the two Forks of its Tongue) are always craving, Give, give; sucking on, till the sanguine Creature drops down through abundance, but not through satiety. Our real Necessities are not hard to be answered, if we would confine our fugitive Desires, and suffer ourselves to be in a Paradise, by being contented with what may be daily brought to our Doors, by the Blessing of God upon our honest Industry. Food and  no Body needs want; and that is as much as the very greatest can have; and more than they carry into another World with them: And why should not every lowly Heart be pleased to have the same Portion; in having the Belly and the Back provided for as well, tho' not with the Vanity of sumptuous and gorgeous Furniture? That plain and humble Man, the Father of the Twelve Tribes, as he was Journeying towards Haran, was an Emblem to all that travel towards the Land of everlasting Rest. He passed on with a poor Staff in his Hand; and at Bethel he took of the Stones he found there, and put them for his Pillows, and lay down upon them to sleep: And in the morning, he set them up for a Pillar, and pouring Oil upon the top of it, he vowed a Vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me 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 Superior to us. This is a great cause of men's Dissatisfactions and Murmur, not that themselves want, but because others have a more liberal allowance. The Original of this, is Pride, which makes Men look asquint 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 choosers, 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 Proceed 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 compared 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, wherever 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. 'Tis 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 expressed, 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 blessed 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 show 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 slur; 'tis vanity and superciliousness, that is both the Crime and the Infamy, which too frequently follow a state of Exaltation. 'Twas the Vice which cost Saul his Credit, Crown, and Life. By what we read of him, before his advancement he deserved 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 turned 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 sour, sullen, envious, spiteful, 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 'tis 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 Ballast. This abuse of Prosperity proceeds from a threefold 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 shows, 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 form 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 pruned and hindered 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 Archbishop 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 than is the great Danger; and then the Honour and the Virtue 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. 'Tis 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 steady, 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 Ruin 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 tripped 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 shows 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  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 rectify 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 possessed 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 upperhand, 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 Virtue; or, rather creates a Lustre in it, which makes it the more Admirable and Exemplary. It is then most Charming, when we  ourselves 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 show 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 tetchy 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 Virtue 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 ourselves is then just at hand. 'Tis 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 People's Minds are naturally apt to be puffed up, especially those who are of small Value, People of little Sense, and of less Goodness. 'Tis 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 Gold do a Mule, or an Ass. If therefore our Fortunes grow, we must be sure to set the stricter Watch over our own Minds; we must presently provide against all danger of a Flatus within, that may make our Brains giddy; and beware of every thing that may tempt us to put on a scornful Brow, or an imperious Temper. Indeed, the more God is pleased to multiply his Blessings upon us, the more humble we should be. And this I take to be the safe, infallible Rule to go by in such a case, still to lower our own Minds within, the more God exalts us without: For fear we should not be able to poise Affairs so, as to keep the Scales even enough, to make our Hearts the Overbalance to cast the one Scale, by sinking and being depressed, as these our external Acquisitions rise in the other. To be the more Selfdenying for living Great; to be the more Charitable, Beneficent, and Openhanded for being Wealthy; to be the more Cautious and Tender, for being Powerful; to be the more Devout and Holy, for being Prosperous; to be the more Innocent and Just, for having a plentiful Measure of God's Goodness; to be the more Condescending, for being High; to be the more Affable, Courteous, Obliging, Meek, Peaceable, and Easy to be entreated, for having the more Advantages, the more Abilities and Opportunities of doing those things which are Praiseworthy: These indeed are truly Noble Expressions of a lowly Heart.   

The CONCLUSION.  
HAVING now dispatched those things which in the beginning of this Discourse I promised to consider, I shall conclude all with an humble Address to my Readers, to do their part in making such a Christian Use of what hath been said, as may be for their own real Good: The great End which I had at first in my Eye, and that which should be the rather answered, because it is of the quickest dispatch, as well as of very near concern. To write Discourses is not so easy, as to make a good Use of them, if Men would apply the Zeal of Honest and Religious Hearts to do it: Which, methinks should not be wanting where they are sure beforehand of this Advantage, that their labour shall not be in vain. Necessary indeed it is; absolutely necessary in order to our everlasting Happiness in another World. For we must not be so foolish as to think, that God will drag us to Heaven against our Wills; or, that he will give us a Portion of Bliss there, if we be indisposed and unprepared for it. The Practice of Religion and Virtue serves to make us meet and fit for what we are to do among Saints and Angels: And this particular Virtue I have been treating of, is a principal Disposition of Soul, that we must carry thither with us. Besides, no other Virtue is or can be more necessary to make us happy in some measure here. There is such a close connexion of This to divers other Virtues, and of all, to Happiness, that our Duty is in the very Practice of it a Reward; nor is it possible for us to be miserable, no not in this Life, but by our acting Hostilities against ourselves; and such Hostilities too, as none but Fools would desire to gain a Victory by, because it is a Conquest over our own Felicities. This Virtue, for instance, Humility, brings with it a kind of Heaven upon Earth: It is attended with such Faith in God, with such Submission to his Will, and with such Dependence upon his Truth, Mercy, Power, and Goodness, that a composed and happy State of Mind must needs attend it too; so that by trampling upon this Virtue, People do really destroy their own Comforts; and  proud Men think, they have no such Enemy, as the Satan in their Breasts. Hence it is, that Humility is so often extolled, so often commanded, so often encouraged by various Promises throughout the Scripture; because God seethe it to be so infinitely Instrumental to our own Good.  
THIS renders the Consideration the more melancholy and lamentable, that a Virtue which would be a common Blessing, is so great a Rarety. For, if we take a strict view of those Evils, which embitter men's Lives, and ruin the Peace in Church and State, which would make them happy, we shall find, that they all or mostly proceed from an epidemical Principle of Pride, which gives those sturdy Vices both birth and maintenance. When Hagar had the Insolence to despise her Mistress, no wonder that the Egyptian brought forth a wild Ishmael, whose Hand was against every Man, Gen. 16. 12. Such a troublesome offspring naturally descends from an imperious Parent: And 'tis such another Original that those outrageous Sins come from, which infest us to this day, both within our own Walls, and abroad in the World. A too great and overgrown Conceit of One's self, doth by a Physical Influence dispose him to think it very hard to be advised, harder to be commanded, and the most intolerable diminution to obey. Hence proceed Discontents, Murmur, Impatience, Headiness, desires of Innovation, contempt of our Superiors, reviling of Magistrates, affectation of Power, and divers other Wickednesses, which prepare Men to cast off the Yoke, and to bring on innumerable sorts of Rapine and Oppression, which are always the certain Consequents of avowed Disobedience.  
WERE a Spirit of Humility suffered to prevail in the World, it would soon bring with it such a composed, peaceable, and harmonious state of Affairs, as would make Private People, and Public Societies as happy, as they could wish to be on this side Eternity: And when a Virtue that is so excellent, is yet so scarce, it shows us to our shame what great Fools Men are; and what stupidity there is in some Natures, which can endure to be laughed at for being fond of a Vice, which was Lucifer's Crime, and is now propagated on Earth only to be our common Plague.  
BUT having spoke already of the unreasonableness and hurtfulness of Pride, I shall not draw you back to Meditations we have passed from long ago, but close all by desiring you to look forward, to the end of it. There are two things yet to come, that will slain the Pride of all Glory, as the Prophet speaks, Isa. 23. 9 I mean, Death, and Judgement. These will give the last stroke to all our Follies; and the prospect of them is enough to lay our Minds prostrate, if our Pride be not like Alexander's, whose Triumphs exalted him into the silliest Fancy, That he was immortal.  
1. O Death! How bitter art thou to a Man that sitteth at Ease in his Possessions? And so it must needs be to every vain Man that setteth himself in too rich a Chair of State. Tho' for that reason such People think of nothing seldomer, than of dropping into the Grave, yet it is appointed unto all men, once to die, Heb. 9 27. And when that Messenger comes to execute its Commissian, no Riches can Bribe it off, no Grandeur can keep it at a Distance, nor can any Arguments persuade to use Respect. It will strike all with an impartial Hand, lay all of us down in our primordial Dust, and there give Prince and Peasant an equal Portion. There no discrimination is made between High and Low, when once all are laid down. The haughty Head, the long Arm, the thick and heavy Finger, has there the very same fate, with the Hand that once hung down, and with the feeble Knee; nor doth the Worm make any difference, between the pampered Flesh, and that which was wont to be covered with Sackcloth. These are mortifying Meditations; and such as have a direct tendency to humble us all, would we daily consider, whither we are going; what a state we shall all fall into at last; and how we shall be huddled together in one common heap of Dust. Men generally stoop in their old Age: Nature thereby shows them, that they should daily look down towards the Hole, that will shortly receive them, and that every day draws them, as it were, by a Magnetic faculty more and more towards it. And the oftener we think of this, the apt our Minds will be to bow down too; nothing being so powerful for the pulling down of vain Imaginations, as the remembrance and sense of our Mortality. For which reason I have now imitated the Custom of the old Persians, who at their splendid Entertainments were wont to serve up a Death's-Head for the last Course, to put one another in mind, what they were to come to after all their Jollities. If this was thought so useful a thing by Ethnics, who looked not beyond the Grave; at least had not those Eyes which have been given Us by him who cured the Blind; 'twere strange, if we should not be much more powerfully wrought upon, who have a farther and clearer Prospect; I mean, of a Judgement, which gins presently upon our Dissolution.  
IT is no great matter what becomes here of our Bodies: They do but go home to their Parent. The Dust returns to the earth as it was; and the Spirit returns unto God who gave it, Eccles. 12. 7. To receive its Sentence at God's Hand, according to all it hath done in the Body. The Author of the Book of Wisdom, would have us consider beforehand, what the End will be, when the Accounts of our Sins (and more particularly, of our Assume) come to be cast up. What then will the pride of men profit them? And what good will their riches, with all their vaunting, do them? Wisd. 5. 8. The sin which at first was with such fury thrown out of Heaven, we may be sure will never find any readmission thither. And therefore it everlastingly concerns us, to cast it away from us in time, because it affects the Soul with a cursed Incapacity of ever appearing in the presence of the humble Jesus, to Reign with him, after all its Imperiousness on Earth. A wicked Soul is utterly uncapable of this, by reason that its Inclinations and Dispositions are utterly inconsistent with that State, which is the Portion of just Men now made Perfect. The ba●e passing of Souls out of this World into the next, cannot possibly be enough to change their Temper. Death indeed gives them an outlet, into such Places as are suitable and proper for them; but it doth not make an entire alteration of their Faculties and Habits; it is no such Refiner, as to cleanse what was polluted; Repentance, and Faith in the Blood of Christ must do that before we go hence, or else it will never be done. He that is unjust, will be unjust still; and he that is filthy, will be filthy still; and he that is righteous, will be righteous still; and he that is holy, will be holy still, Revel. 22. 11. Those Dispositions and Qualities which Souls have at Death, they carry with them into another World, and keep with them for ever: And so we may add, That he which is proud, will be proud still; and therefore cannot be fit for any Place, but where that Vice is punished, nor for any Company but the Devil and his Angels, that were first guilty of it. How light soever Men make of their evil Tempers, the end of them must be miserable; they have a necessary and direct tendency towards it; nor is there any way of preventing it, but by being new Creatures here: It is by acquiring new Natures, new Dispositions, new Qualities and Habits, which may make us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light, Col. 1. 12. Of those Qualities, an humble Temper is one, and indeed one of the chiefest: And therefore the Promise of a present and future Rest is made more especially to this Virtue, Matth. 11. 29. Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest to your souls. Which God of his Mercy grant unto us all for the sake of that great Exemplar of Holiness and Humility, Jesus Christ. Amen.  
Almighty and Everlasting God, who of thy tender Love towards Mankind, hast sent thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, to take upon him our Flesh, and to suffer Death upon the Cross, that all Mankind should follow the Example of his great Humility; mercifully grant, that we may both follow the Example of his Patience, and also be made Partakers of his Resurrection, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  
FINIS.