Enjoyment Attending The Pursuit Of Knowledge.

beneficial . A genuine relish for intellectual enjoyments is naturally as inconsistent with a devotion to the coarser gratifications of sense , as the habit of assiduous study is Avith that dissipation of time , of thought , and of faculty , Avliich a life of vicious pleasure imj > lies .

But KnoAvledge is also happiness , as Avell as power and virtue;—happiness both in the acquisition and in the possession . And , vsjere the pursuit of it nothing better than a mere amusement , it would deserve the preference over all other amusements ou many accounts . Of these

, indeed , the chief is , that it must almost of necessity hecome something * better than an amusement , — must invigorate the mind as Avell as entertain it , and refine and elevate the character while it

supplies to Iistlessness ancl weariness their most agreeable excitement and relaxation . But , omitting this consideration , it is still of all amusements the best for other reasons . So far from losing any part of its zest with time , the longer it is knOAvn the better it is loved . There is no other

pastime that can be compared Avith it in variety . Even to him who has been longest conversant Avith it , it has still as much novelty to offer as at first . It may be resorted to by all , in all circumstances : hy both sexes ; by the young and the old ; in -town and in the country bhim who has onl

; y y his stolen half hour to give to it , and by him Avho can alloAv it nearly his Avhole day ; in company with others , or in solitude , Avhich it converts into the most delightful society . Above all , it is the cheapest of all amusements , and consequently the most universally accessible . A book is

emphatically the poor man's luxury , for it is of all luxuries that which can be obtained at the least cost . By means of itineratin g libraries for the country , and stationary collections for each of our larger towns , almost every individual of the population might be enabled to secure access for himself to an inexhaustible store of intellectual amusement and

instruction , at an expense which even the poorest would scarcely feel . As yet , however , these advantages have been chiefly iu the possession of the middle classes , to whom they have been a source not more of enjoyment than of intelligence ancl influence . Among

the highest orders of society , the very cheapness of literary pleasures has probably had the effect of making them to bo less in fashion than others , of which Avealth can command a more exclusive enjoyment . Even such distinction as eminence in intellectual pursuits can confer must be shared

with many of obscure birth and low station , ancl on that account alone has doubtless seemed often the less ivorthy of ambition to those Avho were already raised above the croivd by the accidents of fortune . Yet , what enjoyment there may really be in such pursuits will not , of course , be the less

to any one because he happens to be a person of wealth or rank . On the contrary , these advantages are perhaps on no other account more

valuable , than for the power which they give their possessor of prosecuting the Avork of mental cultivation to a greater extent than others . He can command , if he chooses , a degree of leisure , ancl freedom from interruption , greatly exceeding ivhat the generality of men enjoy . Others have

seldom more than the mere fragments of the day to give to study , after the bulk of it has been consumed in procuring merely the bread that perisheth ; he may make literature ancl philosophy the vocatian of his life . To be enabled to do thisor to do it only in small partmany have

, , willingly embraced comparative poverty in preference to riches . Even in modern times , Aln ' eri , the great Italian dramatist , gave up his estate to his sister , that he mig ht devote himself the more freely to his poetical studies . Among the philosophers of the ancient worldsome are said to

, have spontaneously disencumbered themselves of their inheritances , that the cares of managing their property might not interrupt their philosophic pursuits . Crates , Thales , Democritus , Anaxagoras are particularly mentioned as having made this sacrifice . But in those days , it is to be

remembered , knowledge was chiefly to be obtained by travelling into foreign countries , and those who sought it were therefore ohlia'ed , he fore setting out on the search , either to relinquish the possessions they had at home , or to leave them in charge of trustees , Avho generally took advantage of their steAvardship to embezzle or squander

them . Doubtless no one of the celebrated persons Ave have enumerated Avould have thrown away his patiimony , if he could have retained it ivith as little inconvenience as such an encumbrance can possibly occasion a philosopher in our OAVII times . The only worldly imprudence even of which they

can be fairly accused , is that of having preferred knowledge to wealth ' 'Avhen it was necessary to make a choice between the two ; or that of having allowed themselves to be too easily cheated of the latter , in their enthusiastic devotion to the former . BayleAVIIO had himself a strong sympathy Avith

, this love of a quiet in preference to a splendid life , states the matter correctly in the case of Democritus , when he says , in his article on that great father of natural philosophy : — " The spirit of a great traveller reigned in him ; he journeyed to the heart of India in quest of the riches of

learning , and bestowed but little thought on those other treasures which he had almost at his door . " Anaxagoras , in like manner , although he did not travel so far from home as Democritus , still oiA r ed the loss of his property to his being obliged to leave it in the hands of others . This ingenious

but someAvhat fanciful speculator , the master of Socrates ancl Euripides , ancl the honoured friend of Pericles , Avas a native of Clazomenee in Ionia , and the descendant of noble and Avealthy ancestors , whose lands he inherited ; but , determining to devote his life to philosophy , he did not hesitate , when only about twenty years of age , to bid adieu