SERMON VII. ECCLESIASTES I. VERSE XIV. Behold all is vanity, and vexation of spirit. THOSE vices are not always the most dangerous, which are the most rapid of operation, but as effects strike the senses most, where they follow immediately from their causes, such vices have been more accurately observed, and more clearly explained, than any others. In the mean time, there are many habits of thought little noticed, and little feared, which pollute, no less effectually, the springs of the heart, and destroy the purity of religion. We shudder at falsehood, at ingratitude, at neglect of serious duties, at hardness of heart; we look at vanity with a smile of contempt, at the vanity of the young, and gay, with a smile of indulgence'; it seems, to our improvident view an harmless plant, that has got up in the luxuriant soil of youth, and will quickly wither away in more mature age; in the mean time, up it climbs, and strangles in its grasp the towering, and lordly passions of the soul. I mean by vanity, the excessive love of praise, and I call it excessive, whenever it becomes a motive to action; for to make men indifferent to the praise of their fellow creatures, as a consequence of their actions, is not, that I know of, any where enjoined by our sacred religion, nor would it be wise, if it were possible. The vanity of great men, when it stimulates them to exertions, useful to mankind, is that species of vanity, which seems to approach the nearest to virtue, and which we most readily pardon for its effects; and, indeed, so much are we inclined to view actions by their splendor, or their importance, rather than by their motives, that we can hardly agree to call by the name of vain, a man who has exercised consummate, and successful ability upon great objects; whereas, there is a vanity of great, and a vanity of little minds, and the same passion regulates a ceremony, which saves, or ruins a kingdom. It is better, to be sure, that good, (if it cannot be done from the best) should be done from any motive, rather than not be done at all; but the dignity of the fact can never communicate purity to the intention: True religion consists not only in action, but in the mind with which we act; and the highest beneficence, which flows from vanity, though it may exalt us in the eyes of men, abases us in the view of God. It is curious to observe this versatile passion of vanity, in all the forms under which it loves to exist; every shape, every colour, every attitude become it alike; sometimes it is a virtue, and sometimes a decency, and sometimes a vice; it gives birth to the man of refined manners, the profligate, the saint, and the hero; it plays with the toy of the child; it totters on the crutch of age; it lingers on the bed of sickness, and gathers up its last strength to die with decent effect amidst the plaudits of the world. The fall of great cities, the waste of beautiful provinces, the captivity of nations, the groans and bleedings of the earth, Whence have they sprung? that folly might worship, that fame might record, that the world might look on, and wonder; for these feelings men have embittered life, accelerated death, and abjured eternity. But with these vast scenes, I have nothing to do here; to common life, and ordinary occasions, I must at present confine myself. One of the great evils of vanity is, that it induces hardness of heart: Compassion must have exercise, or it will cease to exist; the mind cannot be engrossed at once by two opposite systems of hopes, and fears; If we are occupied by the consideration of what the world will think on every occasion, there is no leisure for reflection on those solemn duties which we owe to our fellow creatures; duties which God has not trusted to reason only, but towards which he has warned us by compassion, |