necefTary to the attaining of it. ï (hall find ourfelves obliged to acknowledge S E R Nt: its fuperior excellence, then it followeth, VII - adly, That we fhould delire it above all things. This alfo Solomon propofeth as a qualification and means of attaining to wif- dom, Prov. xviii. r. Through de /ire a man having feparated himfelf, feeketh and inter- meddleth with all wifdom; a ftrong prevailing delire in his heart towards its native worth and molt amiable beauty putteth him upon ufing the molt vigorous and conftant endea- vours for acquiring it, which (hall be fuc- cefsful. Delire is, in the human conflitu- tion, an attive fpring of our movements and operations ; as the weight of bodies deter - mineth their defcent towards the center, fo delire carrieth the mind towards its objett; its force appeareth univerfally in all the bu- finefs of human life, and in the whole com- pafs of our enjoyments ; it is that which ex- citeth every one of the powers of nature to its proper exercife. Seeing it is fo, if the . obtaining of wifdom be propofed as our end, we muft be engaged in the profecution of it, juft as in the profecution of all other ends, that is by delire. But in the human nature there is a great variety of inclinations, and they cannot all have an equal degree of force; that which is the ftrongeft carrieth the
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