40 • Of the Advancement of Learning. ■ L i b. I. 



age of ambitious Princes is commonly more fad and befieged with Me- 

 lancholy 5 Eut of Knowledge there is no fattety ; but viciffitudejperpetu- 

 ally and interchangeably ,returning of fruition and appetite 5 fo that the 

 ' good of this delight muft needs be fimple, without Accident or Fallacy. 

 Neither is that Fleajure of fmall efficacy and contentment in the mind 

 of man, which the Poet Lncretius defcribeth elegantly , Suave^mari 

 De Rer. magtio turbantibtts tequora ventis, &c. It is a. view of delight (faith he) to 

 KuMb.i.JiaKd or wttlk^upon the pore, and to fee afiip tojl with tempefi upon the 

 fea : apleafnre tofland in the window of a Cafile , and to fee two Bat- 

 tails joyn upon a plain : but it is apleafure incomparable , for the taind of 

 man, by Learning to befetled and fortified in the Tower of Truths and from 

 thence to behold the errors andwandrings of other men below. 



§ Laftly, leaving the vulgar arguments , That by Learning man excels 

 man , in that wherein man excels beajis^ that by the help of Learning, 

 man afcends in his underftanding, even to the heavens, whither in bo- 

 dy he can not come, and the like ^ let us conclude this difcourfe con- 

 cerning fi^e ^;^«/7j' (««<^ Kwon'/c^/ge <?/ Learning, with that good, where- 

 unto mans nature doth moft afpire. Immortality and continuance. For 

 to this tendeth Generation, raifing of Houfes and Families, Buildings, 

 Foundations, Monuments, Fame, and in cffedt the fum and height of 

 humane defires. But we fee how far the monuments oftVit and Learning, 

 are more durable than the Monuments of matcriate Memorials and Ma- 

 nufa&urer. Have not theverfes of Homer continued xxv Centuries of 

 years and above, without the lo(s of a f}'llable, or letter ? during 

 which time, infinite number of Places, Temples, Caftles, Citifs, have 

 been decayed or been demoli(ht. The Ti&ures and Statues of" Cyrus , 

 Alexander, C^far, no nor of the Kings and Princes of much later years , 

 by no means poffibleare novvrecoverablejfor the Originals,worn away 

 with age, are periftit 5 and the Copies daily lofe of the life and Primi- 

 tive refemblance j But the images of mens wits,rcmain unma'imed in bookj 

 for ever ^ exempt from the injuries of time , becaufe capable of perpetual 

 renovation. Neither can they properly be called Images, becaufe, in 

 their way, they generate ftill and caft their feeds in the minds of men 5 

 raifing and procreating infinite Aftions and Opinions in fucceeding 

 ■ ages. So that if the invention of a (hip, was thought fb noble and won- 

 derful, which tranfports Riches and Merchandice from Place to Place 5 

 and confociates the moft remote regions in ptirticipation of their fruits 

 and commodities i how much more are letters to be magnified, which at 

 flups, pajjlng through the vajifea of time, to counite the remotest ages of 

 IVits and Invention in mutual Trafique and Correfpondcncy } 



^ Furthermore, we (ee fome of the Philofophers which were moft 

 immerfedin thefenfesand leaft divine, and which peremptorily ,deny- 

 cd the immortality of the foul, yet convided by the power of truth " 

 came to this point. That whatfoever Motions and A&s thefpirit of matt 

 could perform without the Organ of the body, it was probable that thofe re- 

 mained after death , fuch as were the motions of the underO:anding,but 

 not of the affections , fo immortal and incorruptible a thing did l^now- 

 ledge feem to them to be. But we, illuminated with divine Revelation, 

 difclaiming thefe rudiments, and delufions of the fenfes, know that not 

 only the mind, but the affedtions purified ; not only the foul, but the 

 body {hall be advanced in its time to immortality. But it muft be re- 



membred. 



