VIII. 4-] THE FIRST BOOK. Jl 



their great largesses and donatives, and distributions of 

 lands to so many legions. And no doubt it is hard to 

 say whether arms or learning have advanced greater 

 numbers. And in case of sovereignty we see, that if arms 

 or descent have carried away the kingdom, yet learning 

 hath carried the priesthood, which ever hath been in some 

 competition with empire. 



5. Again, for the pleasure and delight of knowledge 

 and learning, it far surpasseth all other in nature, For, 

 shall the pleasures of the affections so exceed the plea 

 sure of the sense, as much as the obtaining of desire or 

 victory exceedeth a song or a dinner ? and must not of 

 consequence the pleasures of the intellect or understand 

 ing exceed the pleasures of the affections ? -We see in aH 



other pleasures there is satiety, and after they be usecL 

 their verdnrp H^parreth ; \vhkb-showeth well thev_b_but 

 deceits of pleasure, and not pleasures: and that it was 

 the novelty which pleased, and not the quality. And 

 therefore we see that voluptuous men turn friars, and 

 ambitious princes turn melancholy. But of kno\yledge 

 there is no satiety, but satisfaction and appetite are per 

 petually intcrchangeabje ; and therefore afipearetrrTo be 

 good in itself simply, without fallacy or accident. Nei- 

 TrTef~Ts~that pleasure oFlirriall efficacy and contentment 

 to the mind of man, which the poet Lucretius describeth 

 elegantly, 



Suave mari niagno, turbantibus aequora ventis, &c. 



It is a view of delight (saith he) to stand or walk upon 

 the shore side, and to see a ship tossed with tempest upon the 

 sea ; or to be in a fortified toiver, and to see two battles join 

 upon a plain. jg///jj? is a pleasure incomparable* for thf 

 mind of man to be settled, landed, and fortified in the cer 

 tainty of truth ; and from thence to descry and behold the 



