PLEASURES OF KNOWLEDGE. 



passion; that his real happiness consisted in intellectual 

 delight. How beautifully does he state this when enume 

 rating the blessings attendant upon the pursuit and 

 possession of knowledge: 



&quot; The pleasure and delight of knowledge and learning 

 far surpasseth all other in nature : for, shall the pleasures 

 of the affections so exceed the senses, 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 understanding exceed the pleasures of the affections ? 

 We see in all other pleasures there is satiety, and after they 

 be used their verdure departeth, which sheweth well they 

 be 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 knowledge there 

 is no satiety, but satisfaction and appetite are perpetually 

 interchangeable ; (a) and therefore appeareth to be good in 

 itself simply, without fallacy or accident. Neither is that 

 pleasure of small efficacy and contentment to the mind of 

 man, which the poet Lucretius describeth elegantly, 



Suave mari magno, turbantibus sequora ventis, &c. 



It is a view of delight, 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 tower, and to see two battles join 

 upon a plain; but it is a pleasure incomparable for the 

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

 certainty of truth ; and from thence to decry and behold 

 the errors, perturbations, labours, and wanderings up and 

 down of other men/ &quot; (b) 



(a) &quot; Heaven and earth pass away, but my words do not pass away.&quot; 

 (6) Advancement of Learning. 



