Page:The Works of Samuel Johnson ... A journey to the Hebrides. The vision of Theodore, the hermit of Teneriffe. The fountains. Prayers and meditations. Sermons.v. 10-11. Parliamentary debates.pdf/402

 own peculiar superiority to other men; nor will he, therefore, be humbled, by being told of the ignorance, the weakness, and wickedness of humanity; for he is satisfied with being accounted one of the most knowing, among the ignorant; the most able, among the weak; and the most virtuous, among the wicked.

The pride of the learned, therefore, can only be repressed by showing, what indeed, might easily be shown, that it is not justifiable, even upon comparison with the rest of men; for, without urging any thing, in derogation from the dignity and importance of learning in general, which must always, either immediately, or by the intervention of others, govern the world, it will be found, that they who are most disposed to be swelled to haughtiness by their own attainments, are generally so far from having any just claim to the superiority which they exert, that they are betrayed to vanity by ignorance: and are pleased with themselves, as a hind with his cottage, not because, upon inquiry, they are convinced of the reasonableness of the preference; but because they overvalue the little they possess, for want of knowing its littleness, and are contented with their own state, as a blind man feels no loss from the absence of beauty. Nor needs there any other proof of the origin of literary pride, than that it is chiefly to be found amongst those who have secluded themselves from the world, in pursuit of petty inquiries, and trivial studies.

To such men it should be recommended, that, before they suffer themselves to fix the rule of their own accomplishments, and look down on others with contempt, they should enjoin themselves to spend some time in inquiring into their own pretensions; and consider who they are whom they despise, and for what reason they suffer themselves to indulge the arrogance of contempt. Such an examination will soon drive back the pedant to his college, with juster conceptions, and with humbler sentiments; for he will find that those whom he imagined so much below his own exaltation, often flourish in the esteem of