PHILOSOPHY, MORAL. 
singly in the mind : there may be those to 
whom their own good opinion, indepen- 
dently of the approbation of God, shall be 
every thing; and wlio find the sympathy of 
ptheis totally unnecessary for the nurture of 
their own pride. In tlie present state of 
society this is not common, the good opi- 
nion of otliers is productive of too many 
important consetpiences ever to permit 
pride to be thus fostered, except where it 
is the effort of a strong, but ill-directed 
mind, to counterbalance the disappoint- 
ments of vanity. He who has made the 
good opinion of others the primary object 
of pursuit, having met with its snre conse- 
quence, disappointment in his wishes, if he 
have not lost all his strength of mind by the 
weakening effects of vanityj will endeavour 
to rise above it; and if he have no religious 
principles, or but little religious culture, 
will dwell with gratification upon all the 
fancied excellencies of his own character, 
till they have acquired in his mind an im- 
portance to which they are little entitled : 
then nioroseness must be the predominant 
feature in his temper, for he cannot bear 
that others should treat him with less re- 
spect than he thinks he has aright to claim; 
till at last an almost total unconcern for the 
opinion of others is forced upon his mind, 
and having no higher principle of action he 
becomes a misanthrope. It is probably 
doing no injustice to the character of Swift, 
when we mention him as having gone this 
round. — But this is an extreme case; pride 
leads a man to set too high a value upon 
himself ; but it is only tliat strength of 
mind which, when well directed, would have 
led to the highest attainments in moral 
worth, that will permit him to rest satis- 
fied without the sympathy from, others 
whicli he supposes is his due. Hence his 
pride must meet with constant mortifica- 
tion; for where will be found those who 
are willing to restrain their conduct con- 
tinually by the rules, to which he would 
bind them; where even are those who 
can enter into his views and feelings; 
pride then, even in a less extreme state, 
cannot be productive of happiness. But 
its ill effects are not thus limited. Blind 
to his own deficiencies, keen-sighted to ob- 
serve the marks of merit in his own mind, 
tire proud man throws continual impedi- 
ments in his own progress towards worth of 
character. He sees not his deficiencies ; 
how then can he supply them ? He imagines 
bis excellencies have mounted high in the 
scale of worth ; how shall he purify them. 
when that wliich prevents then- eminence 
is fostered by every comparison which he 
draws ? 
46. It has been said by one who appears 
to liave possessed some knowledge of the 
world, that pride has at least this valuable 
effect, it tends to exclude all other failings ; 
for the proud man places his standard so 
high, that he never feels his regard to his 
own dignity satisfied, till all inferior feelings 
are extirpated. This, we apprehend, is er.. 
rone OHS. It is supposing a mixture of pride 
and humility which will never appear in 
that mind in which pride is the ruling fea- 
ture. The man who is proud of his own ex- 
cellencies seldom sees that they are defec- 
tive ; besides, a desire of self approbation is 
not pride, tiiough too strong and unchasten- 
ed a desire may tend to produce pride, be- 
cause self-approbation is easily gained when 
made independent of higher sources.-— 
There may be anomalies here, as in every 
other case of the operation of moral causes ; 
but they are not sufficient to lead to the 
conclusion, that pride has the tendency to 
raise the mind above all other failings. 
Pride will operate differently in different 
minds, and the desire of self-approbation is, 
and ought to be, a primary motive in all the 
earlier stages of the moral progress : but if 
the mind rests satisfied with this approba- 
tion, that progress will sooir be impeded ; 
the standard will be lowered, rather than the 
conduct exalted; comparison with others 
will suggest numerous sources of self-grati- 
fication ; and the mind, unable to rise to the 
heights which once appeared in view, now 
rather looks down upon the advances she 
has made, than upon the cliffs which still 
tower very far above her. Here then is a 
stop to improvement; the desire which sti- 
mulated to improvement is gratified: and 
he, who, had he looked beyond himself, 
might have risen to the summit of excel- 
lence, now rests contented on the little 
pinnacle which his imagination has raised, 
looks with contempt on the crowds below, 
but, wrapt in the veil of conscious supe- 
riority, sees not that numbers whom he once' 
saw below him have risen, and are rising, 
while be is lost to all improvement. 
47. In minds possessed of some strength, 
pride may exist with little or no tendency 
to vanity. Firmly convinced of their own 
worth, they need not the sympathy of others; 
and if that respect which they deem their 
due is not given, it is the last suggestion that 
would occur to their minds that they had 
mistakesn their due. But in tliose whose 
