20 STUDIES OF NATURE. 



of efcaping ! the inconflancy of friends, the revo- 

 lutions of fortune, calumnies, and the hour of 

 death itfelf, fo tremendous to moft men. The 

 knowledge of ills like thefe would mar all the 

 comfort of living. How many bleflings does igno- 

 rance render fublime ! the illufions of friendiliip, 

 and thofe of love, the perfpedives of hope, and 

 the very treafures which Science unfolds. The 

 Sciences infpire deiight only when we enter upon 

 the ftudy of them, at the period when the mind, 

 in a ftare of ignorance, plunges into the great ca- 

 reer. It is the point of contad between light and 

 darknefs, which prefents to the eye the moft fa- 

 vourable ftate of vifion : this is the harmonic 

 point, which excites our admiration, when we are 

 beginning to fee clearly ; but it lafts only a fingle 

 inftant. It vanilhes together with ignorance. The 

 elements of Geometry may have impaffioned young 

 minds, but never the aged, unlefs in the cafe of 

 certain illuftrious Mathematicians, who were pro- 

 ceeding from difcovery to difcovery. Thofe fci- 

 ences only, and thofe paflions, which are fubjeded 

 to doubt and chance, form enthufiafts at every age 

 of life, fuch as chemiftry, avarice, play, and love. 



For one plealure which Science bellows, and 

 caufes to perilh in the bellowing, ignorance pre- 

 fents us with a thoufand, which flatter us infinitely 

 more. You demonftrate to me that the Sun is a 



fixed 



