4. Yet, however we may be disappointed in the pleasures of Knowledge, we shall have no reason to repent of our labours, if the profits she yields be large and certain. Let us observe then the effects of much wisdom, with regard to external advantages : let us consider it as a mean, not as an end. Thus perhaps it is usually considered, when men first engage in the pursuit of it; but when their curiosity is once raised, they soon forget the original motive, and follow truth for its own sake. And hence it frequently happens, that large acquisitions in knowledge are a real impediment to success in life. We too easily become enamoured of this ideal mistress; who, the moment we catch her, is sure to elude our grasp, and engage us in a chace which never ends. He must be little sensible to the charms of truth, who can be solicitous about obtaining power, or wealth, or titles. A strong passion, of whatever kind, causes us to despise the objects of other passions; and much more will a fondness for intellectual pleasures produce a hearty contempt for the mean servile pursuits of the bulk of mankind. How then can it be expected that the lover of knowledge should exert himself

self in the prosecution of those ends which appear unworthy of his care and regard? Or how can it be imagined that the gifts of fortune should be poured down upon his head, whilst he refuses either to seek or to ask

them? - Suppose, if you please, that he is not wholly insensible to the advantages of a higher condition in life: yet still he will be averse from the means of obtaining them, and most probably unqualified. He will not sacrifice his time to low cares and employments; he will not bend his understanding to the ore dinary affairs of life; he will not, or he can. not, conform to the humours, and court the favour of the great. Add to all these advantages, that he will be feared by one part of mankind, perhaps despised by the other.

And see now, What is the mighty amount of this boasted wisdom? Short, delusive, empty pleasure, procured by long fatigue and application, and drawing after it either a total neglect of our interest, or an unsuccessful pursuit of it. Must we not own with the Preacher, that ALL IS VANITY, when we find that knowledge itself, which might seem to bid the fairest for our esteem, produces so

little solid satisfaction? When he who has followed it as asubstantial good, finds it to be little more than an empty name, the very disappointment he feels will justify the censure in my text, "In much wisdom is much grief; and he that increaseth knowledge "increaseth sorrow."

66

But it is not only the vanity of knowledge which brings concern and uneasiness to its deluded votaries. Besides that it does not yield the joy it promises, it is in many different ways the occasion of sorrow. Indeed, this has in some measure appeared from the observations already made; but will appear more distinctly to him who considers,

1. That all the knowledge we can obtain is but little. 2. That of this little, there is still less, in which we can rest with assurance. 3. And lastly, that the few truths of moment which we certainly know, are such as often fill the mind with painful reflections.

These particulars, together with the practical conclusion to be drawn from the whole, will be considered on another occasion.

D

DISCOURSE III.

ON THE SAME SUBJECT.

ECCLES. i. 18.

For in much wisdom is much grief; and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth

sorrow.

I Endeavoured to shew in

my former discourse the vanity of wisdom; in this I am to consider the vexation arising from it.

1. It is one occasion of sorrow to him who increases knowledge, that all the knowledge he can obtain is but little. We fancy, when we begin the search after truth, that an unbounded prospect lies open before us, in which we may range at pleasure from one subject to another, without either dis

appointment or satiety. But though human curiosity has no bounds, human understanding is confined and weak: and they who cultivate it most successfully, are most sensible of its weakness. The professors of philosophy, falsely so called, have a large and spacious empire; an empire which knows no other limits than those of the universe itself. But the dominions of true wisdom are of small extent. She is possessed of nothing but a few scattered districts, severed from each other by vast tracts of undiscovered land, where no human footsteps ever reached.

2. It would be some consolation, in this intellectual poverty, if the little knowledge we are capable of acquiring could be possessed with security; but much wisdom will soon. teach us to suspect the most confident conclusions of human reason. When we reflect how often we have embraced as clear and certain, what had no truth, or perhaps no meaning, it is impossible not to fear that the opinions we now hold may be equally precarious or vain. Now what can be more painful to a lover of truth than this unsettled and wavering state of mind? How must he