what he is to think, and to do; raifes fome Fanciful Scheme of things to himfelf, frames fome Particular Set of Opinions; and then rejoices in the mighty Discovery he hath made, and wonders at the Reft of the World, that they do not fall in with it, and adore it. Now thefe Pretences, the Wife-man tells us, are vain, and thefe Searches are vain; he hath taken a great deal of pains, only to be out of the way, and to mifs the mark which he aims at: A Scorner feeketh Wisdom, and findeth it not.

Having thus largely opened the Senfe of the Text, I fhall endeavour, in what follows, to juftifie the Truth of the Obfervation contain'd in it, by fhewing you, how it comes to pafs, that the Men, who thus fet up for a more than ordinary pitch of Wisdom and Senfe, by Contemning Religion, and Deriding the Profeffors of it, do always, and must always, fail of the End which they propofe to themselves; fince, whatever Abilities they may have in Other matters, yet they are the most unqualified and incapable, of all men, to make impartial Enquiries after Divine Truth, and to difcern between That and Error,

There

There are Four things, which particularly unfit a Man for fuch a Task, a very Proud, or a very Sufpicious Temper; Falfe Wit, or Senfuality. And Thefe are the Chief and Prevailing Ingredients in the Compofition of that man, whom we call a Scorner. The Two Last do generally, and in moft inftances, belong to him; but the Two Firft are Effential to him, and infeparable from him.

I.

Prov. xxi

13.

Pride is that Ruling Quality which, of all others, feems to take the fafteft Hold of him ; Proud and Haughty Scorner is his Name, fays Solomon, elfewhere. 24. And again, There is a Generation, O how Prov.xxx lofty are their Eyes! and Their Eylids lifted up! The truth is, there never was, nor ever can be a fettled Contempt of Religious Principles, that is not built upon Pride, i. e. upon an undue Value, which a Man hath for himself, and for his own Opinion, and a Difregard for every thing befides. And, therefore, the Author of (that Fantastical Book) the Leviathan, doth, at the very Entrance of it, very honeftly, and in Terms confefs, that he is a Man who Loves his own Opinions. And fo, doubtlefs, doth every

L 4

Man

Man too, who treads in His Steps, tho? he doth not own it fo frankly, or perhaps know it fo throughly. Indeed, a Modeft Humble man can hardly bring himself once to think of fhaking off common receiv'd Principles, and going against the United Wisdom of mankind: or, if he fhould entertain, yet will he never venture to publifh that Thought; but will conceal it, as carefully as he would his own Bofom Infirmity, or the Secret of his Friend. 'Tis the Prefumptuous and Proud man alone, who dares to trample on thofe Truths, which the reft of the World reverence; and can fit down quietly in the affurance, that He alone is in the Right, and all Mankind befide in the Wrong

Now, I fay, as there is no One Quality, that sticks more closely to a Scórner than that of Pride, fo is there none that doth more evidently obftruct right Reafoning, and an impartial Search after Truths of all kinds, especially those which relate to Vertue and Piety. And no wonder, therefore, if, on This Account, the Scorner, tho' he feek Wisdom, yet find eth it not. Pride makes a man feem fufficient in his own Eyes for all manner of Speculations and Inquiries; and, there

fore,

fore, puts him indifferently upon the purfuit of all Knowledge, and the determination of all Doubts, without giving him Leave to diftruft himself in the leaft, or once to confider, which way his Genius and Abilities lie. Hence it happens, that the Man, not being duly Qualified for Every Search, or, if he were, yet not having leifure and opportunity enough to go through with it, is fain to take up with flight and fuperficial accounts of things; and then, what he wants in true Knowledge, to make up in downright Affurance. As foon as he hath touch'd on any Science, or Study, he im mediately seems to himself to have mafter'd it; is as Pofitive in his Opinions, and as hardy in his Affertions, as if the Thoughts of his whole Life had been directed That way only: which is, as if a Coaster, who hath gone from Port to Port only, fhould pretend to give a better defcription of the Inland Parts of a Country, than Those who have travell'd it all over. But this, I fay, is the mifchievous Nature of Pride; it makes a Man Grafp at every thing, and, by Confequence, comprehend nothing effectually and throughly; and yet (which is worst of all) inclines him to despise and con

tradict

;

tradict those that do. It gives him juft enough Understanding, to raise an Obje&tion, or a Doubt but not enough to lay it: which, as it is the meanest and most despicable, fo it is alfo the moft dangerous State of mind, a man can be in; and by fo much the more dangerous, as the Subject, upon which his Enquiries turn, is more important, and the Errors more fatal which he runs into, for want of a due knowledge of it. He that is but Half a Philofopher, is in danger of being an Atheift; an Half-Phyfician is apt to turn Empiric; an Half-Bred man is conceited in his Address, and troublefome in his Converfation. Thus it is in all matters of Speculation, or Practcie; He that knows but a little of them, and is very confident of his own ftrength, is more out of the way of True Knowledge, than if he knew nothing at all. Now there is, I fay, a Natural Tendency in Pride, towards putting a Man's mind into fuch a Situation as this; and, therefore, it must must needs be a Quality very oppofite to the Search and Attainment of True Wisdom.

And then, fuppofing a Proud man to be once in the Wrong, it is fcarce poffible that he should ever be fet right again; he is

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