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OF Uzziah, the ancestor of this king of whom we have been speaking,
himself also praised in all things by the witness of the Scripture, after
great commendation for his virtue, after countless triumphs which he
achieved by the merit of his devotion and faith, learn how he was cast down
by the pride of vainglory. "And," we are told, "the name of Uzziah went
forth, for the Lord helped him and had strengthened him. But when he was
made strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction, and he neglected
the Lord his God." You behold another instance of a most terrible
downfall, and see how two men so upright and excellent were undone by their
very triumphs and victories. Whence you see how dangerous the successes of
prosperity generally are, so that those who could not be injured by
adversity are ruined, unless they are careful, by prosperity; and those who
in the conflict of battle have escaped the danger of death fall before
their own trophies and triumphs.
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