48 The Excellency of Wifdom. S E R M. but he hath not wholly facrificed all his fa- ll. cial difpofitiens to his idol ; he hath an eye to the good of fome or other betides him - felf, which his heart findeth to be the great - eft pleafure and advantage his riches afford, though it may be they lie within a very fmall circle, fuch as his own family, his neareft relations and friends, whofe wants at prefent he fupplieth very fparingly as he doth his own; yet fill a regard to their future, and, as he imagines, kiting benefit, is the chief fupport of his fatisfaftion ; and that, in fine, he can have no enjoyment of his jewels and his gold without fome degree of bene- volence. Confider farther, how we value other mens poffeffion of thefe precious things, and here perhaps, we will be more impartial ; are the poíl"ef ors at all in our efteem if we fuppofe them void of inclina- tions to ufe their riches for the good of mankind ? Are thefe things at all valued when in the poffeffion of our neighbour, otherwife than as the means and inftrumentsof virtue, confequently inferior and fubordinate to virtue itfelf, from which they derive all their worth ? So that in this way of Bating the comparifon, Wifdom muff be acknow- ledged to have the fuperior excellence. And,
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