Page:Elizabeth Elstob - An English-Saxon homily on the birth-day of St. Gregory.djvu/22

 them into the Light; but these Persons have in themselves an answer to all their Cavils against Learning, and their Punishment. viz. ''The Punishment of their Ignorance, for which they are to be pityed, tho' they are not sensible of it: and a being in love with their Ignorance, which justly renders them contemptible. I have often thought it very strange Incogitancy in some Persons, when with an air of Wit, as they imagin'd, they would declare openly they hated any Woman that knew more than themselves. But so they may hate any one that's better dress'd than themselves, or richer, or in a degree of Power or Authority superior to them: and yet what the Consequence of such Hatred would be, if it were not fantastical, rather than real, might justly be feared; and I think the rash Wit, and thoughtless Expressions of such Persons ought not to pass for any thing else but Folly, with those who have any real taste of good Sense, or Christian Prudence.''

''But I shall not give my self, or the Reader, any farther trouble with these Admirers of Ignorance, whether real, or pretended. I shall chuse rather to converse a little with those who have some degrees of Learning, and know how to value it in themselves: but are not so favourable to any degree or Portion of it when found in others, of which they are not possess'd themselves. They admire a Play, a Romance, a Novel, perhaps entertain themselves a little with History, they read a Poem gracefully, and make Verses prettily, they rally and repartee with abundance of Wit and readiness; and with''