Affe's Colt; that is, (fays Maimonides,) with as little actual Knowledge.

But the Apostle tells us of a Knowledge, Cor.i.8. without Charity that puffeth up: According ly we find some of the Great Mafters of Knowledge fo puffed up with the Opinion of it, as Scornfully to Defpife the Reft of Mankind: Or if they will throw in a Grain of good Nature to their Contempt, they then Proudly Pity the Weakness of Other Men.

We have now feen fome of the great Idols of the World, (the Chief Objects of Worldly Wisdom,) which Men fo eagerly purfue, according to their different Genius's, expecting to find their Happiness in them. But the Question is, whether they take the right Way to Happiness? Whether any of the Things they fo eagerly Covet, can make them truly Happy? Or, in the Language of my Text, truly Wife for themselves.

Not that I am setting up to Declaim against the World, nor the Things of the World, its Riches, Greatnefs, or Honours, which are the Gifts and Bleffings of God, that may be made use of to excellent Ends and Purposes; but when I speak of them as the Fruits of Worldly Wisdom, I confider them only as Ill-gotten, or Ill-us'd; Or elfe when Men wholly fet their Hearts on them, put their Truft in them, and Rely upon them for their Happiness. But This requires me to proceed to my

23.

II.

IId General, wherein I am to confider,
what Account this Worldly Wifdom turns to ;
whether it be True Self-Wifdom.

This I fhall examine in the forementioned
Particulars, taking them in their Order.

1. As for the Man that must needs grow
Rich; Perhaps it is what he fhall never be
able to attain to; and then with much Care
and Pains, after much Toil and Drudgery,
and Anxiety of Mind, he only Sows the
Hof. viii.7.Wind, and for it Reaps the Whirlwind, as
the Prophet expreffes it. Though he fets
out with never fo good a Will, refolved to
fpare neither his Time, nor Labour, nor In-
dustry, neither his Credit nor his Conscience,
Pro.xvi. yet after all the whole Difpofal is of the
Lord. And whilft his Design is driving on
under full Sail, many an adverse Blast of
Providence may arife to break his Course,
that he fhall never be able to arrive at the
End of his Hopes. One Breath of God's
Displeasure is enough to blaft all the Fruit
of his Labours,--Te have fown Much, and
bring in Little.-
-Te looked for Much,
and it came to Little; and when ye brought
it home, I did blow upon it, faith the Lord,
Haggai i. By the Blaft of God they Perish,
and by the Breath of his Noftrils are they
Confumed, Job iv. 9.

-

But if he does fucceed, yet wherein lies the great Wisdom of the Purchase? Riches themselves,

themselves, as much as they are doated on by the World, may yet be bought too Dear, if a Man does, in present Payment, part with his Eafe and Quiet for them, or any of the Comfort and Enjoyment of his Life, and perhaps the Innocence and Present Peace of his Mind too, befides the After-Pains that Conscience may have to undergo, and all other After-Reckonings.

Wherein then lies the great Advantage of his Riches? How is it that they are to make him Happy? Can they secure him a Happy Old Age to Live and Enjoy them? No, the Prophet has foretold his Fortune otherwise, As the Partridge fitteth on Jer. xvii Eggs, and hatcheth them not; fo He that getteth Riches, and not by Right, shall leave them in the Midft of his Days, and in the End shall be a Fool. A Fool indeed, that has taken no Care, for what ought to have been his greatest Care, his Latter End. For admit that Riches could yield a Man Complete Satisfaction in This Life, yet That is but of fhort Continuance: The Days of Darkness are coming on that will want Comfort, and what will his Riches avail him Then? What are Then the Sovereign Vertue of his Treasures? Can they bribe Death or Diseases? Can they revive or fupport a Man's Spirits at the Dying Hour? Can they charm the Alarms of an Awaked Confcience? Or speak Peace to it? Or bind up Wounds?

its

Or

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Or can his Treasures laid up on Earth make him an Intereft in the other World, whither he is going? Can they atone the Wrath of an Angry Judge? or procure a more favourable Sentence at the JudgmentPro. xi. 4. Day? No, fays the Wifeman, Riches profit not in the Day of Wrath. So far from it, that, if they have been unlawfully gotten, they then make a terrible Article against him.

All this, and much more, of the Infufficiency and Unprofitableness of Riches at the laft, has our Saviour compendiously couch'd in his Parable of the Rich Man: He was veLuke xvi. ry Rich, and cloathed in Purple, and fared Sumptuously every Day; He wanted nothing Here of all that his Heart could Wish. But then he had All his Good Things in this Life: When he came to Dye, Hell was his Portion; and when in Torments he lifted up his Eyes, crying to his Father Abraham,

all the Anfwer he had was,Son, remember that thou in thy Life-time receivedft thy Good Things, and likewife Lazarus Evil Things; but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

But which Way then do ill-gotten Riches Profit, if they are not Profitable to the Owner Living nor Dying? Shall his Posterity after him be fure to Reap the Fruits of his Wisdom and Care? Are they a fure Foun dation of a Lafting Name and Family? No,

nor

7.

nor This neither,Man walketh in a vain Pf. xxxix, Shadow, and difquieteth himself in vain; he heapeth up Riches, and cannot tell who fhall gather them,-whether a Friend or a Stranger; Whether he shall be a Wiseman Ecclef. ii or a Fool, that shall have Rule over all his 19. Labours, wherein he has laboured under the Sun.

Much less can he tell, how long they fhall continue to his Pofterity. How oft (fays Job,) is the Candle of the Wicked put out? They are as Stubble before the Wind,—and Job xxi. God layeth (up their Iniquity for their Chil dren. Eftates unjustly gotten, by the Arts and Methods of Worldly Wisdom, have a Curfe intailed upon them. The Cries of the Widow and the Fatherless, and those that have None to help them here on Earth, do ufually pierce the Heavens, and engage them in their Vindication, to avenge their Cause; not perhaps by any Sudden Judgment, but by a Secret Blaft upon them: For as God can profper by infenfible Means, fo he can Blaft by a Secret Curfe.

I am not fond of applying Judgments: But unless we are quite Blind, we cannot but fee and obferve the Curfe that goes along with the Gain of Oppreffion; How it Eats like a Canker at the Core; And how many fair Eftates, without Vifible Loffes, or Extravagant Expences, crumble and moulder away, inwardly confuming, and melting a

way