with every invitation he received to the banquet of the Queen; till it impelled him to devise the flaughter of a whole nation, and ended in a degree of rage, which confounded his reafon, and hurried him to ruin. In this manner, every criminal paffion, in its progrefs, fwells and blackens; and what was at first a fmall cloud, fuch as the Prophet's fervant faw, no bigger than a man's hand rifing from the Sea, I Kings xviii. 44. is foon found to carry the tempeft in its womb.

SERMON

VIII.

On our IGNORANCE of GOOD and EVIL in this

Life.

ECCLES. vi. 12.

Who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life, which he spendeth as a fa dow?

TH

HE meafure according to which knowledge is difpenfed to man, affords confpicuous proofs of divine wisdom. In many inftances we clearly perceive, that either more or less would have proved detrimental to his ftate; that entire ignorance would have deprived him of proper motives to action; and that complete difcovery would have raifed him to a sphere too high for his prefent powers. He is, there

fore,

fore, permitted to know only in part; and to fee through a glass, darkly. He is left in that ftate of conjecture, and partial information, which, though it may occafionally fubject him to distress, yet, on the whole, conduces moft to his improvement; which affords him knowledge fufficient for the purposes of virtue, and of active life, without disturbing the operations of his mind, by a light too bright and dazzling. This evidently holds, with refpect to that degree of obfcurity which now covers the great laws of Nature, the decrees of the Supreme Being, the ftate of the invifible world, the future events of our own life, and the thoughts and defigns which pafs within the breafts of others. Vid. SERM. IV.

But there is an ignorance of another kind, with refpect to which the application of this remark may appear more dubious; the ignorance under which men labour concerning their happiness in the present life, and the means of attaining it. If there be foun dation for Solomon's complaint in the Text, who knoweth what is good for man in this life? this confequence may be thought inevitably to follow, That the days of his life must be vain in every fenfe; not only because they are fleeting, but because they are empty too, like the fador. For, to what purpose are all his labours in the purfuit of an object, which it is not in his power to discover or ascertain ?-Let us then seriously enquire, what account can be given of our prefent ignorance, respecting what is good for us in this life; whether nothing be left, but only to wander in uncertainty amidst this darkness, and to lament it as the fad confequence of our fallen ftate; or whether fuch inftructions may not be derived from it, as give ground for acknowledging, that by this, as by all its other appointments, the wisdom of Pro

vidence

vidence brings real good out of feeming evil. I fhall, in order, to determine this point, firft, endeavour to illuftrate the doctrine of the Text, That we know not, or at most know imperfectly, what is good for us in this life: I fhall next explain the causes to which this defect in our knowledge is owing: And then shall show the purposes which it was intended to ferve, and the effects which it ought to produce on our conduct.

The whole hiftory of mankind feems a comment on the doctrine of the Text. When we review the course of human affairs, one of the first objects which every where attracts our notice, is, the mistaken judgment of men concerning their own intereft. That fore evil, which Solomon long ago remarked with refpect to riches, of their being kept by the owners thereof to their hurt, takes place equally with refpe&t to dominion and power, and all the fplendid objects and high stations of life. We every day behold men climbing, by painful fteps, to that dangerous height, which, in the end, renders their fall more fevere, and their ruin more confpicuous. But it is not to high ftations that the doctrine of the Text is limited. In the crimes by which too often thefe are gained, and in the misfortunes which they afterwards bring forth, the greater part of every audience may think themselves little concerned. Leaving fuch themes, therefore, to the poet and the hiftorian, let us come nearer to ourselves, and furvey the ordinary walk of life.

Around us, we every where behold a bufy multitude. Reflefs and uneafy in their prefent fituation, they are inceffantly employed in accomplishing a change of it; and, as foon as their wifh is fulfilled,

we

we difcern, by their behaviour, that they are as diffatisfied as they were before. Where they expected to have found a paradise, they find a defert. The man of business pines for leifure. The leifure for which he had longed, proves an irkfome gloom; and, through want of employment, he languishes, fickens, and dies. The man of retirement fancies no state to be fo happy, as that of active life. But he has not engaged long in the tumults and contefts of the world, until he finds caufe to look back with regret on the calm hours of his former privacy and retreat. Beauty, wit, eloquence, and fame, are eagerly defired by perfons in every rank of life. They are the parent's fondeft with for his child; the ambition of the young and the admiration of the old. And yet, in what numberlefs inftances have they proved, to those who poffeffed them, no other than fhining fnares; feductions to vice, inftigations to folly, and in the end, fources of mifery? Comfortably might their days have paffed, had they been lefs confpicuous. But the diftinctions which brought them forth to notice, conferred splendour, and withdrew happiness. Long life is, of all others, the most general, and feemingly the most innocent, object of defire. With refpect to this too, we fo frequently err, that it would have been a bleffing to many to have had their with denied. There was a period, when they might have quitted the ftage with honour, and in peace. But by living too long, they outlived their reputation; outlived their family, their friends, and comforts; and reaped nothing from the continuance of days, except to feel the preffure of age, to taste the dregs, of life, and to behold a wider compafs of human mifery.

"

Man

Man walketh in a vain show.

His fears are often as vain as his wishes. As what flattered him in expectation, frequently wounds him in poffeffion; fo the event to which he looked forward with an anxious and fearful eye, has often, when it arrived, laid its terrors afide; nay, has brought in its train unexpected bleffings. Both good and evil are beheld at a distance, through a perspective which deceives. The colours of objects when nigh, are entirely different from what they appeared, when they were viewed in futurity. '

THE fact then being undoubtedly certain, that it is common for men to be deceived in their profpects of happiness, let us next enquire into the caufes of that deception. Let us attend to thofe peculiar circumstances in our ftate, which render us fuch incompetent judges of future good or evil in this life.

First, We are not fufficiently acquainted with ourfelves, to forefee our future feelings. We judge by the fenfations of the prefent moment: and, in the fervour of defire, pronounce confidently concerning the defired object. But we reflect not, that our minds, like our bodies, undergo great alteration from the fituations into which they are thrown, and the progreffive stages of life through which they país. Hence, concerning any condition which is yet untried, we conjecture with much uncertainty. In imagination we carry our prefent wants, inclinations, and fentiments, into the ftate of life to which we, afpire. But no fooner have we entered on it, than our fentiments and inclinations change. New wants and defires arife; new objects are required to gratify them; and by confequence our old diffatisfaction returns, and the void, which was to have been filled, remains as great as it was before.

But,