Ways of Pleafantnefs. 6 r nefs, and immutable truth, they caufe de- S E R M. light. Thefe are the pcí:fe ±ions which his III. people celebrate with triumphant joy. It followeth then, that moral excellence, ab- flradly confidered, is a delightful object of contemplation ; and if it be fo, the more we partake of it ourfelves, that is, the more virtuous we are, and walk in wifdom's ways, the greater is our pleafure ; for then we have the more thorough acquaintance with it, as our author faith, chap. vii. 4. Wild= is a filler, and under/landing a kinf- woman, with whom we have agreeable con - verfation as an intimate friend. This, I think, fheweth the truth of the affertion in the text, that the ways of wifdom, are ways of pleafantnefs, as a confequence from the doctrine before explained, that they are excellent and right. But I (hall now confider this as a diflinì argument recommending religious virtue ; and for illuflrating it, we muff have our recourfe to faét and experience, for that is the only way pleafure can be known. We find it neceffarily attendeth fome impreffions made on the mind by external objets, or fome of its its own inward exercifes ; and, on the contrary, pain and uneafinefs as ne- ceffarily arife on other occafions. The ori- ginal
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