D originally no more than displeasure ner, every criminal passion, in its progress, swells and blackens; and what was at first a small cloud, such as the prophet's servant saw, no bigger than a man's hand rising from the sea, (1 Kings xviii. 44.) is soon found to carry the tempest in its womb. SERMON VIII. ON OUR IGNORANCE OF GOOD AND EVIL IN THIS LIFE. Who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life, which he spendeth as a shadow?-Eccles. vi. 12. THE measure according to which knowledge is dispensed to man, affords conspicuous proofs of Divine wisdom. In many instances, we clearly perceive, that either more or less would have proved detrimental to his state; that entire ignorance would have deprived him of proper motives to action; and that complete discovery would have raised him to a sphere too high for his present powers. He is, therefore, permitted to know only in part; and to see through a glass darkly. He is left in that state of conjecture, and partial information, which,though it may occasionally subject him to distress, yet, on the whole, conduces most to his improvement; which affords him knowledge sufficient for the purpose of virtue, and of active life, without disturbing the operations of his mind by a light too bright and dazzling. This evidently holds with respect to that degree of obscurity which now covers the great laws of nature, the decrees of the Supreme Being, the state of the invisible world, the future events of our own life, and the thoughts and designs which within the breasts of others. (Vide Sermon IV.) pass But there is an ignorance of another kind, with respect to which the application of this remark may appear more dubious; the ignorance under which men labour concerning their happiness in the present life, and the means of obtaining it. If there be foundation for Solomon's complaint in the text, who knoweth what is good for man in this life? this consequence may be thought inevitably to follow, that the days of his life must be vain in every sense; not only because they are fleeting, but because they are empty too, like the shadow. For to what purpose are all his labours in the pursuit of an object, which it is not in his power to discover or ascertain ?—Let us then seriously inquire, what account can be given of our present ignorance, respecting what is good for us in this life; whether nothing be left but only to wander in uncertainty amidst this darkness, and to lament it as the sad consequence of our fallen state; or whether such instructions may derived from it, as give ground for acknowledging, that by this, as by all its other appointments, the wisdom of Providence brings real good out of seeming evil. I shall, in order to determine this point, first endeavour to illustrate the doctrine of the text, that we know not, or at most know imperfectly, what is good for us in this life: I shall next explain the causes to which this defect in our knowledge is owing: and then shall shew the purposes which not be which it ought to produce on our conduct. it was intended to serve, and the effects | former privacy and retreat. Beauty, wit, eloquence, and fame, are eagerly desired by persons in every rank of life. They are the parent's fondest wish for his child; the ambition of the young, and the admiration of the old. And yet, in what numberless instances have they proved, to those who possessed them, no other than shining snares; seductions to vice, instigations to folly, and, in the end, sources of misery? Comfortably might their days have passed, had they been less conspicuous. But the distinctions which brought them forth to notice, conferred splendour, and withdrew happiness. Long life is, of all others, the most general, and seemingly the most innocent, object of desire. With respect to this, too, we so frequently err, that it would have been a blessing to many to have had their wish denied. There was a period when they might have quitted the stage with honour and in peace. But, by living too long, they outlived their reputation; outlived their family, their friends, and comforts; and reaped nothing from the continuance of days, except to feel the pressure of age, to taste the dregs of life, and to behold a wider compass of human misery. The whole history of mankind seems a comment on the doctrine of the text. When we review the course of human affairs, one of the first objects which every where attracts our notice is, the mistaken judgment of men concerning their own interest. The sore evil which Solomon long ago remarked with respect to riches, of their being kept by the owners thereof to their hurt, takes place equally with respect to dominion and power, and all the splendid objects and high stations of life. We every day behold men climbing, by painful steps, to that dangerous height, which, in the end, renders their fall more severe, and their ruin more conspicuous. But it is not to high stations that the doctrine of the text is limited. In the crimes by which too often these are gained, and in the misfortunes which they afterward bring forth, the greater part of every audience may think themselves little concerned. Leaving such themes, therefore, to the poet and the historian, let us come nearer to ourselves, and survey the ordinary walk of life. Around us, we every where behold a busy multitude. Restless and uneasy in their present situation, they are incessantly employed in accomplishing a change of it; and, as soon as their wish is fulfilled, we discern, by their behaviour, that they are as dissatisfied as they were before. Where they expected to have found a paradise, they find a desert. The man of business pines for leisure. The leisure for which he had longed, proves an irksome gloom; and, through want of employment, he languishes, sickens, and dies. The man of retirement fancies no state to be so happy as that of active life. But he has not engaged long in the tumults and contests of the world, until he finds cause to look back with regret on the calm hours of his Man walketh in a vain show. His fears are often as vain as his wishes. As what flattered him in expectation, frequently wounds him in possession; so, the event to which he looked forward with an anxious and fearful eye, has often, when it arrived, laid its terrors aside; nay, has brought in its train unexpected blessings. Both good and evil are beheld at a distance through a perspective which deceives. The colours of objects, when nigh, are entirely different from what they appeared when they were viewed in futurity. The fact then being undoubtedly certain, that it is common for men to be deceived in their prospects of happiness, let us next inquire into the causes of that deception. Let us at- | justments beyond our skill and power. tend to those peculiar circumstances It is a chaos of events into which our in our state, which render us such in- eye cannot pierce; and is capable of competent judges of future good or regulation, only by Him who perevil in this life. ceives at one glance the relation of each to all. First, we are not sufficiently acquainted with ourselves to foresee our future feelings. We judge by the sensations of the present moment; and, in the fervour of desire, pronounce confidently concerning the desired object. But we reflect not that our minds, like our bodies, undergo great alteration, from the situations into which they are thrown, and the progressive stages of life through which they pass. Hence, concerning any condition which is yet untried, we conjecture with much uncertainty. In imagination, we carry our present wants, inclinations, and sentiments, into the state of life to which we aspire. But no sooner have we entered on it, than our sentiments and inclinations change. New wants and desires arise; new objects are required to gratify them; and by consequence our old dissatisfaction returns, and the void which was to have been filled, remains as great as it was before. But next, supposing our knowledge of ourselves sufficient to direct us in the choice of happiness, yet still we are liable to err, from our ignorance of the connexions which subsist between our own condition and that of others. No individual can be happy, unless the circumstances of those around him be so adjusted as to conspire with his interest. For, in human society, no happiness or misery stands unconnected and independent. Our fortunes are interwoven by threads innumerable. We touch one another on all sides. One man's misfortune or success, his wisdom or his folly, often, by its consequences, reaches through multitudes. Such a system is far too complicated for our arrangement. It requires ad Farther, as we are ignorant of the events which will arise from the combination of our circumstances with those of others, so we are equally ignorant of the influence which the present transactions of our life may have upon those which are future. The important question is not, What is good for a man one day? but, What is good for him all the days of his life? Not, What will yield him a few scattered pleasures? but, What will render his life happy on the whole amount? And is he able to answer that question, who knoweth not what one day may bring forth; who cannot tell, whether the events of it may not branch out into consequences, which will assume a direction quite opposite to that in which they set forth, and spread themselves over all his life to come? There is not any present moment that is unconnected with some future one. The life of every man is a continued chain of incidents, each link of which hangs upon the former. The transition from cause to effect, from event to event, is often carried on by secret steps, which our foresight cannot divine, and our sagacity is unable to trace. Evil may, at some future period, bring forth good; and good may bring forth evil, both equally unexpected. Had the patriarch Joseph continued to loiter under his father's fond indulgence, he might have lived an obscure and insignificant life. From the pit and the prison, arose the incidents which made him the ruler of Egypt, and the saviour of his father's house. Lastly, Supposing every other incapacity to be removed, our ignorance of the dangers to which our he believed himself incapable; and became the bloody tyrant whose character his soul once abhorred. Such then, at present, is man; thus incapable of pronouncing with certainty concerning his own good or evil. Of futurity, he discerns little ; and even that little he sees through a cloud. Ignorant of the alteration which his sentiments and desires will undergo, from new situations in life; ignorant of the consequences which will follow from the combination of his circumstances with those of others around him; ignorant of the influence which the present may have on the future events of his life; ignorant of the effect which a change of condition may produce on his moral character, and his eternal interests; how can he know what is good for him all the days of his vain life, which he spend spiritual state is exposed, would dis- Instead of only lamenting this ignorance, let us, in the last place, consider how it ought to be improved; what duties it suggests; and what wise ends it was intended by Providence to promote. I. Let this doctrine teach us to proceed with caution and circumspection, through a world where evil so frequently lurks under the form of good. To be humble and modest in opinion, to be vigilant and attentive in conduct, to distrust fair appearances and to restrain rash desires, are instructions which the darkness of our present state should strongly inculcate. God hath appointed our situation tobe so ambiguous, in order both to call forth the exertion of those intelligent powers which he hath given us, and to enforce our dependance on his gracious aid. It is not in man that walketh, to direct his steps. Surrounded with so many bewildering paths, among which the wisest are ready to stray, how earnestly should we implore, and how thankfully should we receive, that divine illumination which is promised in Scripture to the pious and the humble! The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him. He will guide them with his counsel. He will teach them the way that they should choose. But what must be the fate of him, who, amidst all the dangers attending human conduct, neither looks up to Heaven for direction, nor properly exerts that reason which God hath given him? If, to the most diligent inquirer, it proves so difficult a task to distinguish true good from those fallacious appearances with which it is ever blended, how should he discover it who brings neither patience nor attention to the search; who applies to no other counsellor than present pleasure, and, with a rash and credulous mind, delivers himself up to every suggestion of desire? This admonition I particularly direct to those, who are in a period of life too often characterized by forward presumption and headlong pursuit. The self-conceit of the young is the great source of those dangers to which they are exposed, and it is peculiarly unfortunate, that the age which stands most in need of the counsel of the wise, should be the most prone to contemn it. Confident in the opinions which they adopt, and in the measures which they pursue, they seem as if they understood Solomon to say, not, Who knoweth, but, who is ignorant of what is good for man all the days of his life? The bliss to be aimed at, is, in their opinion, fully apparent. It is not the danger of mistake, but the failure of success, which they dread. Activity to seize, not sagacity to discern, is the only requisite which they value. How long shall it be, ere the fate of your predecessors in the same course teach you wisdom? How long shall the experience of all ages continue to lift its voice to you in vain? Beholding the ocean on which you are embarked covered with wrecks, are not those fatal signals sufficient to admonish you of the hidden rock? If, in Paradise itself, there was a tree which bare fruit fair to the eye, but mortal in its effects, how much more, in this fallen state, may such deceiving appearances be expected to abound! The whole state of nature is now become a scene of delusion to the sensual mind. Hardly any thing is what it appears to be. And what flatters most, is always farthest from reality. There are voices which sing around you; but whose strains allure to ruin. There is a banquet spread, where poison is in every dish. There is a couch which invites you to repose; but to slumber upon it is death. In such a situation, be not high-minded, but fear. Let sobriety temper your unwary ardour. Let modesty check your rash presumption. Let wisdom be the offspring of reflection now, rather than the fruit of bitter experience hereafter. II. Let our ignorance of what is good or evil, correct anxiety about worldly success. As rashness is the vice of youth, the opposite extreme of immoderate care, is the vice of advancing years. The doctrine which I have illustrated, is equally adapted for checking both. Since we are so often betrayed into evil by the mistaken pursuit of good, care and attention are requisite, both in forming our choice, and in conducting our pursuit; but since our attention and care are liable to be so often frustrated, they should never be allowed to deprive us of tranquillity. The ignorance in which we are left concerning good and evil, is not such as to supersede prudence in conduct: for wisdom is still found to excel folly as far as light excelleth darkness. But it is that degree of uncertainty, which ought to render us temperate in pursuit; which ought to calm the perturbation of hope and fear, and to cure the pain of anxiety. Anxiety |