Sentence:  ... "Curmudgeons" among "Books," are as discoverable as those among "Bags;" and ... they may lose more Honour and Credit, than gain Wisdom or Happiness, by the fruitless <WSD>Amassment</WSD> and Imprisonment of either. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The act of amassing.<ref>(Edward Phillips), "(The New World of English Words)," London: Nath. Brooke, 1658: “"Amassement," (...) a crouding, or heaping of several things together.”[http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A54746.0001.001]</ref><ref>(Elisha Coles), "An English Dictionary," London: Peter Parker, 1677: “"Amassement," (...) heaping up.”[http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A33754.0001.001]</ref>