Great and Divine men we are to look upon as a privilege purchas'd by their Virtues Now for the Cyniques those Enemies of Shame and Consequently of Honesty and Virtue there 's no enduring of them To Magistrates and Persons in Authority we are to pay all Honour and Reverence and so likewise to all those worthy Patriots that have spent their Lives in Great and Honest Actions and in the service of their Country We owe a respect also to Grey hairs and even to Those that are but designed to any Administration in the Government We must distinguish betwixt a Citizen and a Stranger and even in a Stranger betwixt a Private Person and a Publique But to summ up all in Word it is our Duty to Cherish Maintein and Preserve Unity Peace and Good Agreement in Humane Society WE come now to the matter of Trade and Profit which we find to be divided into Liberal or in Vulgar English Creditable and Sordid There are some Painful Employments that carry along with them a General Odium as that of a Tax gatherer or an Vsurer These in the first place I do not like and I do also look upon all Mercenary Dealings where we pay for the Work and not for the Art to be Meane and Ignoble The very Price of the Commodity is a kind of Covenanting for Slavery It is also a Course Business That of a Retayler that only buys in a Lump to sell again in Parcels For they get their very Bread commonly by Lying which is a most Unmanly submission And so for all Mechaniques they are men of Low and Vulgar business and we are not to expect any thing that is Clear and Generous from the Shop I am likewise with Terence no friend to those Trades that Minister to Luxury as Fishermen Butchers Cooks Pudding-makers Fishmongers nor to the Voluptuous Arts as Perfumers Dancing-masters and the whole Mistery of Gaiming But for those Professions that require a greater measure of Prudence and minister Advantage in proportion as Physique Architecture the furnishing of Good Instructions These are commendable Employments where they suit with the Condition of him that uses them And then for Merchandizing the driving of a petty Trade That way is little better than Peddling But when it comes to be Large and General and to be menag'd back and forward with Candor and Credit it is no contemptible Application Nay on the Contrary This way of Commerce is highly to be esteem'd when he that has made his Fortune by it sits down not satiated but contented and retires as well from his Port to the Country as he has done many a time from the Sea to the Port and there quietly enjoys himself and his Possessions Of all Beneneficial Industry Certainly there is not any thing more Agreeable or more Worthy of a Man of Honour and Reason then the Culture and Emprovement of the Earth which being a Subject handled at large in our Cato Major we shall refer you thither for your satisfaction Here is enough said already upon the several parts of Virtue and our Duties arising from thence It remains now to consider in a Case of two Duties before us which to chuse a thing that often happens and of Two honest Propositions which is the Honester is the Question a Point omitted by Panaetius For since there is no Virtue but what issues from One of these four Fountains and has a respect either to Knowledge Society Courage or Moderation it must necessarily be that upon a Complication of these Virtues there must likewise ensue a Competition of Duties Now it is my Opinion that Mankind is Naturally more concerned in Offices that relate to the Community then in matters that only affect the Vnderstanding which may be thus made out Take a wise man that has the World at Will both for Fortune and Leisure let him consider with himself and comtemplate all things whatsoever that are worth the Knowing He would be yet sick of his Life for all this if he were to spend his time wholly in solitude and without a Companion The Principal Virtue is as I have said That which the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Wee Wisdom But their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Prudence is quite Another thing being the skill of Iudging what we are to do and what not Or of distinguishing betwixt Good and Evil. Whereas Wisdom which we call the Principal is the Knowledge of things Divine and Humane wherein is Comprehended a certain Correspondence betwixt the Gods and Men and a Society among Themselves Now if This be the most Eminent Virtue as Certainly it is So must that likewise be the most Eminent Duty which refers to Community For the Speculation and Perception of things is but lame and imperfect if it be not follow'd with Action which Action is best seen in providing for the Common Benefits of Mankind And must therefore be reduced to the Subject of Humane Society in preference to the naked Understanding of things And this does every Good man find to be True upon his Own Practice and Observation For where 's the man that is so transported with a Thirst of Knowledge or a desire of piercing into the Nature of things that if he should be call'd upon the sodain to the Relief of his Country his Father or his Friend that were in danger Where is the Man I say that in the heat and rapture of his most Divine Contemplations would not quit All to attend this Duty even supposing him to be in his Thoughts already numbring the Stars and taking measure of the Universe This gives us to understand that the Osfices of Iustice conducing to the Common Utility of Mankind then which nothing ought to be dearer to us are of so much greater importance then These of Study and Science and never was any man so taken up in his Life and Application with the search of Knowledge as not yet to have an Eye to his Duty to the Publique and to Consult the well-being of Sociable Nature As we see in the Instance of Lycias the Pythagorean to the Theban Epaminondas and in That of Pluto to Dion of Syracuse and divers others that train'd up their Disciples to the Love Knowledge and Exercise of Civil Duties And for the service if any at all which I my self have render'd to the Republique I must ascribe it to my Masters and to my Books that instructed and fitted Me for my Function For great men do not only teach the Lovers of Learning during their Lives but in their very Graves too Transmitting their Precepts down to after times for the Use of Posterity Now to shew how much Their Leisures contributed to our Business These Eminent men have not slipt so much as any one point apperteining to the Laws Manners and Discipline of the Commonwealth but have still with all their Faculties applyed the Fruits of their Labours and Studies to the well-being of the
very often Happens For sometimes Bodily Goods fall in Competition with the Goods of Fortune Sometime Outward Goods with Those of the Body And sometime again One of either of them is compar'd with Another of the same Kind As in the First Instance I had rather have Health than Money In the Second I had rather have a Great Estate than a Robust Strength of Body And so forward I had rather enjoy Health than Pleasure I had rather be Strong then Nimble And then in the Collusion of External Things I had rather have Honour than Wealth and a Fortune in the City rather than in the Country The Comparison that we find in the Elder Cato was of This Quality The Question was put to him What he look'd upon as the greatest Convenience in a Country Life His answer was In the First Place Good Pasturage What next then Pasturage that was Indifferently Good And what then Pasturage still tho' a Degree worse than the Other And what again Tillage What do you think of Vsury says the Enquirer And what do You think of Murther says Cato By This and abundantly more we cannot but understand that Things Profitable came often in Competition And that This Fourth Enquiry was not at all Impertinent But as to the matter of Getting Disposing or Using of Moneys it is a Subject fitter for a Scrivener than a Philosopher and better understood by the Good Men upon the Bourse than by the Learned Men in the Schools It is a thing needful however to be known as apperteining to the Business of Profit Of which having discoursed sufficiently in This Book we shall now proceed to what remains The End of the Second Book TVLLY's OFFICES The Third BOOK IT was the saying my Son Marcus of Scipio Affricanus the Elder as we have it from Cato his Cotemporary that he was never Less Idle or Alone then when he most appeared so to be It was a Noble thing said and worthy of a Great and of a Wise man to shew that in all his Leisures his Thoughts were still taken up with Business his Solitudes in Discourses to himself without any Loss of Time And without need some whiles of any other Company Insomuch that the Two things which commonly make Other people Listless and Heavy did even set an Edge upon him That is to say Solitude and Leisure Now tho' I cannot come up to the Imitation of that Illustrious Person I am not much Behind him yet in my Good Will I would I could say as much of my self as he does in Effect For since I have been driven by the Force of Impious Arms from my Station in the Government and the Bus'ness of the Bar I have apply'd my self to a Life of Leisure too upon That very Consideration quitting the Town and betaking my self to the Privacy and Solitude of a Country Life Not that I compare either This Leisure or Solitude with That of Affricanus For His was only a Voluntary Retirement from the Importunities of Company when he had a mind to give himself some Respite from the Honourable Charges he susteined in the Commonwealth by withdrawing into a Recess as a man sometimes puts into a Port But my Leisures proceeded not from a desire of Respite but from want of Employment For since the Dissolution of the Senate what is there to be done either in the Palace or in the Hall that is worthy of us The world swarms everywhere with Criminals and after a life spent in so Eminent a Post and in the Open View of the People I am e'enforc'd to hide my head and live in a manner quite alone to avoid the very sight of thâ—m I have heard Wise men say that we are not only to chuse the least of Necessary Evils but out of all Evils themselves to extract somewhat of Good I shall therefore make the best of my Repose tho' not such perhaps as he has deserv'd from his Country who hath formerly contributed so much to Their Quiet And tho' this be a Solitude wholly of Necessity not Choice I would not yet have it absolutely Fruitless Affricanus I must Confess gained to himself a Fairer Reputation but we have no Monuments of his Thoughts committed to Writing No Remains of his Leisures and Solitude that we find Extant But we may Conclude however that he was neither Idle nor Alone from his Glorious Actions which were only the Product of Deliberation and Thought But Alas I have not that strength of Mind to Think away my Solitudes and supply the want of Company with bare Meditation So that My whole Diversion is to pass away my Time and my Cares upon Writing and I have done more that away Now in a little while since the overturning of the Government then I did in many years before while it was in a flourishing Estate NOW my Son tho' Philosoyhy be Profitable and Fruitful from one end of it to the other without any Waste or Desert there is not any place yet in the whole Extent of it that yields greater Advantage and Benefit then that Part of it which treats of Civil Duties and the Rules of a Steady and a Virtuous Life Wherefore tho' I doubt not either of the Great and Excellent Cratippus's Care in the inculcating of this Lesson daily to you or of your own Diligence and Attention in the receiving of it it is not amiss yet to be often minded of so necessary a Point and which way soever you turn your self to have this voice still sounding in your Ear even if it were possible without hearing any thing else This is a thing for every man to do that propounds to himself an Honest Course of Life and it is your Interest perhaps as much as any bodies because the world expects it from you that you should succeed to the Industry the Honours and if I may so say in some measure to the Reputation of your Father And you have a great deal to answer for upon the score of Athens and Cratippus For what could be more Dishonorable then after so ample a Commission granted you to the famous Staple of the whole World for good Manners and Letters to come back Empty to the Disparagement both of the Master and the City Wherefore you must Labour with all the Faculties of your Soul and Body to make good This Expectation if I may call That a Labour which is so great a Pleasure and let it never be said that after all other supplies from your Father you were only wanting to your self But let This suffice having written so much and so often to you already upon This Subject We shall now return to the remaining part of the Division propounded PANAETIVS is the man without Dispute that has the most accurately handled This question and Him have I chiesly follow'd with some amendment and additions of my Own He lays down Three Propositions that men are want to deliberate and advise upon in the
TVLLY'S OFFICES IN Three Books Turned out of LATIN into ENGLISH By Ro. L'ESTRANGE LONDON Printed for Henry Brome at the Gun in St. Paul's Church-yard 1680. TO THE READER 'T IS hard me thinks that a Man cannot Publish a Book but he must presently give the World a Reason for 't when yet there 's not One Book of Twenty that will bear a Reason not One Man of a Hundred perhaps that is able to Give One nor One Reason of a Thousand when they are given that was the True Reason of Doing it The True Reason I say For there 's a great Difference many times betwixt a Good Reason for the doing of a thing and the True Reason why the thing was done The Service of God is a very Good Reason for a Man's going to Church and yet the meeting of a Mâ—striss There may perchance be the True Reason of his Going And so likewise in Other Cases where we cover our Passions and our Interests under the Semblances of Virtue and Duty But however since Custom the Plague of Wise Men and the Idol of Fools since Custom I say will have it so that a Man had as good go to Court without his Cravat as shew himself in Print without a Preface I shall e'en Content my Self to play the Fool too in so Much and in so Good Company General Dedications being no Other then Fashionable Fopperies For what can be more Ridiculous than for a Man to Treat Princes and Tinkers Coxcombs and Philosophers Men of Honour and Rascals promiscuously all in a Stile Now as it is no Easie Matter to give a Good Reason for Writing at all so it is yet more Difficult to give That Reason in an Epistle which at best stands in need of another very good Reason for its own support But Prefaces at the Ordinary rate of Prefaces are wholly Inexcusable Only an Idle Deal of Fiddle-Faddle betwixt the Writer and the Reader made worse by Care and Peins and Digested out of Vulgar and Pedantique Common-Places into one Mass of Putid and Elaborate Folly This Liberty of Prefacing against Prefaces may seem a little Unreasonable but Common Scriblers are allow'd the Privileges of Common Strumpets One of the Frankest Prostitutes that ever I knew since I was born had These Words the oftenest in her Mouth Lord says she to see the Impudence of some Women To come now to the Reasons that induâ—â—d me to the Translating of This Little Book I shall Begin with the Excellency of the Work it Self which has ever been Esteemed both for the Method and Matter of it as one of the most Exact Pieces of the Kind that ever was written and the most Instructive of Human Life In so much that Cicero himself valu'd himself upon This Tract of Morals as his Master-Piece and accordingly recommended the Study of it to his Beloved Son under That Illustrious Character Secondly as it was Composed in a Loose and Troublesome Age so was it accâ—â—modated also to the Circumstances of Those Times for the assert-of the Force and Efficacy of Virtue against the utmost Rigour and Iniquity of Fortune Vpon which Consideration likewise I have now turn'd it into English with a regard to a Place and Season that extreamly needs it I do not speak This as if at any time it would have been Superfluous but that Desperate Diseases require the most Powerful Remedies To give you the Sum of it in a few Words It is a Manual of Precepts for the Government of our Selves in all the Offices Actions and Conditions of Human Life and tending not only to the Comfort of Men in Society but to the Conducting of Particulars also into a State of Felicity and Virtue It is a Lesson that serves us from the very Cradle to the Grave It teaches us what we Ow to Mankind to our Country to our Parents to our Friends to our Selves what we are to do as Children what as Men what as Citizens It sets and it keeps us Right in all the Duties of Prudence Moderation Resolution and Justice It Forms our Manners Purges our Affections enlightens our Understandings and leads us through the Knowledge and the Love of Virtue to the Practice and Habit of it This Treatise of Offices I find to be one of the Commonest School-Books that we have and as it is the Best of Books so it is apply'd to the Best of Purposes that is to say to the Training up of Youth in the Study and Exercise of Virtue The Foundations of an Honorable and a Blessed Life are laid in the very Cradle and we suck in the Tincture of Generous or Perverse Inclinations even with our Mothers Milk Insomuch that we may date the greater part of our greatest Miscarriages from the Errors and Infelicities of our First Institution and Education But tho' upon the whole matter I do Highly approve of the Usage of This Book in Schools I must confess yet with Submission that I am not at all satisfy'd in the ordinary Way of using it For the cutting of it out into Particles here and there a Chop makes it a Lesson to the Boys rather of Syntax then Morality beside the prejudice that it suffers under the Trivial name of a School-Book and the disgust which naturally continues with us even when we are Men for that which we were whipt for when we were Boyes Now the Matter of this Book being so Excellent and truly the Latin of it hardly Ciceronian it should be our bus'ness rather to inculcate the Doctrine then the Stile and yet in such manner too that the One may be Attended without Neglecting the Other And This may be effected to the Common Benefit of the Schollar in Both Kinds by First Reading and Expounding These Offices Whole to him in English before he be put to Hack and Puzzle upon them by Snaps in the Original the One Facilitating and Preparing him for the Other Let him be First and in his Mother-Tongue instructed in the Principles of Moral Duties and he shall then with the more Ease Profit and Delight take the same Notions down in Latin and Digest them Whereas in beginning with the Latin the Pupil has little more to do then to bring together the Nominative Case and the Verb without either Understanding or Heeding the main Scope and Intent of the Book I might here entertain the Reader with Twenty Stories of the Interruptions I have met with in the Course of This Translation how it has been only the Work of Broken Hours and I might plead These Distractions in excuse of all its Inequalities and Defects But such as it is Plain and Simple I do here present it to the Publique without either Vanity or Complement and I hope without giving unto any sort of Reader any Iust Cause of Compleint For He that does not like it may let it alone and there 's no Hurt done TVLLY's OFFICES The First BOOK ALTHOUGH after Twelve Months spent in the School of Cratippus and That at
every man his Part with greatExcellency and advantage over other Living Creatures So that the Poets will see to the accommodating of all parts to the variety of Persons even the Observing of a Decorum toward the worst of men as well as the best But since Nature has assign'd us our parts of Constancy Moderation Temperance Modesty and the same Nature teaches us not to be wholly careless how we demean our selves toward one Another it is clear to us how far that Decorum extends that belongs to every Virtue and every kind of Honesty For as the Beauty of the Body with an apt disposition of the Parts proves the Eye and delights us in the very Correspondence Symetry and apt disposition of the Parts so this Decorum that Illustrates Life gains upon all those we converse with by the Order Steadiness and Moderation of all our Words and Deeds Wherefore there should a Certain reverence be used toward all men both high and low for 't is the humour of an Arrogant and dissolute Man not to care what the World says of him But there 's a great difference betwixt Iustice and Modesty upon all Accounts It belongs to Iustice not to wrong men and to Modesty not to offend them Wherein the Power and Virtue of a Decorum does most eminently appear This is enough said I suppose to make it understood what is intended by that which we call a Decorum THE Duty that proceeds from it is chiefly to preserve our selves in a Conformity to Nature A Guide That will never mislead us but conduct those that follow her to all acuteness and perspicacity of Understanding to the best means of Uniting men in Society to That which is Strong and Manly But the mighty power of Gracefulness is in That part which we are now upon For not only the Motions of the Body according to Nature are to be allow'd but the Motions of the Mind likewise much more THE Force and Nature of the Mind is Two-fold One part is plac'd in the Appetite the Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that carries a man hither and thither The Other in Reason that teaches us and explains to us what to do and what to avoid by which means our Appetite shall be kept obedient to our Reason In all Cases we should have a care of Rashness and Negligence and do nothing but what we can give a fair Account of This is in some degree the Image and Description of Duty But then we must so order it that the Appetite follow the Dictate of Reason so as neither rashly to out-run iâ— nor out of Heaviness and Sloth to desert it but keep it quiet and calm and free from all Perturbation This make us Eminent for Constancy and Moderation For Those Appetites that wander from the Rule and Skip from one thing to another either by Coveting or Avoiding Those Appetites I say for want of being govern'd by Reason will without all question pass Bounds and Measure for they relinquish and cast off their Allegeance to Reason which they ought to obey by the Law of Nature and their Ill Efsects are Imprinted not only upon our Minds but also visibly upon our Bodies As in the Transports of Wrath Lust Fear Pleasure What an Alteration is there of Countenance Voice Motion Gesture from whence we may Collect how necessary it is to moderate and govern our Passions and so to keep our selves upon a Guard that we do nothing heedlesly Or as it were by Chance without Care or Consideration For man was never made for Levity and Pleasure but rather for the severity of Grave and weighty Studies Not that we are to be debarr'd the Freedom of Froliques and Divertisements provided that we use them only as Sleep and such other ways of Repose after the discharge of our Serious and more Important Duties And our very Liberties in Discourse must not be Profuse neither nor Immodest but only Candid and Facetious For as we do not allow our Children all sorts of Games but only such sports as hold some proportion with honest Actions So in Raillery it self there must be a mixture of Candour as well as Vnderstanding THERE are two sorts of Raillery or Mirth the One is Course Petulant Criminal and Foul the Other Cleanly Gracious Ingenious and Facetious In which kind not only Plautus and the Greek Comedians but the Followers of Socrates have written much and stuffed their Books with a great many of their sayings and Conceipts As Cato's Collection of Apothegm's c. Now 't is an Easie matter to distinguish betwixt a Course and a Cleanly way of Iesting The One is a word in season only for Recreation and worthy of a man of Honour The Other not fit for an Honest man especially where filthy Things are deliver'd in as Vnclean Words NAY in our very Recreations we should keep within Compass and have a Care that we do not lash out into Excesses and pass the Limits of Modesty in the Transports of our Pleasures The Chace of Wild Beasts and the Military and Manly Exercises that are Practis'd in our Field or Campus Martis These I reckon to be Honorable pleasures and we need never want these ways of Diversion BUT whatever we do it should be always in our Thought the Excellency of Humane Nature above That of Brutes which are only push'd on by Violent Appetites to Sensual pleasures Whereas the Enterteinment of a mans Mind is Learning and Meditation which is never Idle but still employ'd either upon Enquiry or Action and charmed with a delight that arises from what we hear or see Nay the very man himsâ—lf that is most addicted to his Pleasures if he has but the Soul of a Man in him and not only the Name without the Effect for such there are Though he may be overcome by his Lusts he yet stands so right as to be asham'd of to conceal and to disguise his Love of Those pleasures even for Modesty sake which shews that the Pleasures of the Body are not worthy of the Dignity of the Soul but rather Contemptible and to be rejected But if any man shall be found to have a great Regard for Pleasures let him be sure to use them with Moderation In our very Cloaths and Dyet we should still keep an Eye rather to matter of Health and Strength then to the humouring of the Phansie or Palate and if we shall but duly weigh and examine the Dâ—gnity and Excellency of Nature we shall quickly find how shameful a Thing it is to dissolve in a Luxurious softness and Delicacy And how becoming on the other side to live Frugally Temperately Gravely and Soberly EVERY man must be understood to be invested with Two Capacities the One Common to Mankind as endu'd with Reason and in a preference to Beasts from whence we do not only dâ—rive the Knowledge of Decency and Virtue but the very means of finding out our several Duties
much stronger than those of Fear We shall now debate upon the Fairest Means of obteining that Affection which we so earnestly desire with Honour and Justice But we do not all of us stand in need of it alike so that we must accommodate the Matter to every Mans Condition and Course of Life to see whether it be necessary to procure a General Esteem or that the kindness of some few may do the bus'ness We may however conclude upon This as the First and Principal Point That we contract Faithful Friendships and make Acquaintances with those that Truly Love and value us And this is a Common Medium almost indifferently betwixt Great and Small And a Rule that holds with Both alike not as if all Men stood Equally in need of Glory and Reputation but they are good Helps yet whoever has them toward the Gaining of Other Advantages and the making of Friendships which in my Loelius I have expresly handled And I have written two Books also upon the Subject of Glory which yet I must touch over again as a thing of great moment in the Conduct even of our most Important Affairs WE are then arrived at the highest pitch of Glory when we have gained These Three Points The Love the Trust and the Reverence of the People When we can hear them say That Man is worthy of Honour Now to speak â—hort and Plain The Method is well nigh the same of Ingratiating our selves with a Single Person or with the Multitude But yet there is Another manner of Address also toward the Influencing of the Minds and good Will of the People in our Favour TO speak in Order now to the three Points before mentioned Nothing works so much upon the Affections of the People as Liberality or Bounty And next to That is a Benevolent and Generous Inclination Even without the Means of expressing it in Effects For the very Fame and Opinion of a Mans Frankness Bounty Justice Faith and briefly of all those Virtues that Contribute to the Sweetening and Smoothing of our Manners has a wonderful Power over the Hearts of the People There is such a Charm in That Gracefulness and Decorum which we have already Treated of that the very Nature and bare Appearance of it does move us strangely Beside that as it receives its Lustre from the aforesaid Virtues wherever we find those Virtues we cannot but naturally have a good Inclination for the person that possesses them These are the most powerful attractives of Love Not but that there may be other motives also tho' of less moment AS to the Matter of Trust and Credit if we can but get the Reputation of being Prudent and Iust our Bus'ness is done For we have naturally a Confidence in those that we think Wiser then our selves In men of Providence and Foresight upon whom we may depend for our seasonable direction and advice as those that in Case of any difficulty are able to help us out This is the True and Profitable Wisdom As to the Trust now which we repose in Iust Good and Faithful Men we must not entertain so much as the least suspicion in it of Fraud or Injury These being the men into whose hands we do reasonably commit our Lives our Children and our Fortunes But it is Iustice yet that creates the greater Confidence of the Two For Iustice may beget Confidence without Wisdom but Wisdom can do nothing without Iustice. For take away the Opinion of a mans Integrity and the more Crafty and Subtle he is by so much is he the more Hateful and Suspected Iustice and Prudence in Conjunction will give a man what Credit he pleases but taking them Apart Iustice even without Wisdom may do very much but Wisdom without Iustice is nothing Worth Let not any man wonder now at my dividing One Virtue from Another as if it were possible for a man to be Iust and yet not Prudent when the Philosophers are all agreed upon 't and my self too for one that he that has one Virtue has All. For it is One thing the Nicety of hitting a Truth in a Philosophical Decision and another thing to make a Discourse in Words accommodated to Vulgar acceptation And That 's my Intent in this place when I say that one is Valiant another Good a third Wise. For these are popular Opinions and must be clothed in Common and Popular Terms which was also Panaetius's way of expressing himself But to resume my Purpose THE Third point recommended toward the acquiring of Glory is This So to behave our selves that people may hold us in Admiration and accompt us Worthy of all honour The Common people are Generally admirers of all things that are Great and beyond their Understanding And so they are in particular Cases too Where they find more Good in a man then they expected But where they Phansie any Virtues Peculiar and Extraordinary they extol men to the Skies and behold them with a kind of Veneration despising and villifying such on the Other side as they find wanting either in Virtue Strength or Courage But they cannot yet be said to Despise all that they have an Ill Opinion of For there is a Lewd Backbiting Couzening Quarrelsom Generation of men which tho' they do exceedingly Dislike they do not yet Contemn For those Only are properly to be taken for Contemptible that lead a Lazy Droning Heedless Life without any Benefit either to Themselves or Others The Admirable Spirits are such as have the Repute of a Preeminence in Virtue and keep themselves not only from doing Mean and Dishonourable things but clear even of those Vices which others cannot easily resist For by thâ— Charms of Pleasures our Minds are Dissolv'd and withdrawn from Virtue And we are as much discomposed and shaken on the the other hand with the Burnings and Tortures of Pein It is a prodigious power that the Consideration of Life and Death Riches and Poverty has over the Weakness of Flesh and Bloud But how Glorious then and how Admirable must That Virtue be that takes so absolute a Possession of the Soul of man in the Contemplation of Great and Honorable things As in that elevated state of mind to make him look down upon all the Circumstances of Fortune with Indifference and Scorn This Bravery of mind never fails of moving Great Admiration Especially accompany'd with Iustice which singlâ— Virtue constitutes the very Character of a Good man and makes him wonderful in the Eyes of the People and not without reason neither For no man can be Iust that either Fears Death Pein Banishment or Poverty Or that Values before Equity the Comforts that stand opposed to these Calamities Veneration of all is paid to him that holds out against Mony And wheresoever they find such a man they think they can never do enough for him So that by Iustice we gain all those points that lead to Reputation As Benevolence by Obliging as
his Fortune but the other to his Virtue And then by These Pecuniary Bounties the very Fountein is drawn dry and one Bounty is destroy'd by Another and in the very Act we lose the Means of Obliging But he that is Liberal of his Peins that is to say of his Industrâ— and Virtue the more Good he has done already the more Friends will he find to assist him toward the doing of more And then by the Custom and Practice of doing good Offices a man does not only learn the Way of Obliging but gets the very Habit of it It is a Notable Reprehension that of Philip in a Letter to his Son Alexander for endeavouring to ingratiate himself with the Macedonians by the Force of Mony What is it with a mischief says he that should make you expect Faith from those People whom you your self have Corrupted Is it that instead of their Prince you would be lookt upon only as their Servant or Purse-bearer An Office so much below the Dignity of a Monarch Such a Bounty could not have been better exprest then by calling it a Corruption For the very Receiver is the worse for 't and the more he gets the more he looks for This Epistle was written only to his Son but it may serve as a Precept to Mankind NOW as there is no question but that the Bounty which consists in Labour and Industry is the Fairer of the two and the more Extensive because more men are the better for 't we meet with several Occasions yet and many proper Objects for the Exercise also of the Other sort of Bounty which in some Cases must be put in Practice but with Choyce and within Compass For there are many people that squander away their whole Estates upon Inconsiderate Gratuities Nor can any thing be more senseless then for a man to take peins to put himself out of condition to do the thing that he loves to do And these Unadvised Liberalities are commonly follow'd with Extortion too for when men are brought to Want by Over-giving they fall to the repairing of their Profusions upon Some by Violence upon Others And the Friends they get by Giving on the One side will not ballance the Enemies they raise by taking away on the Other Wherefore as I would not lay my Fortune in Common so neither would I refuse a Part of it to my Friend but still in Proportion to the whole We have a Common saying which is grown by use into a Proverb Bounty has no Bottom and it is worth remembring For what Mean can be There expected where by the Custom of Giving and of Receiving both the Giver and the Receiver come to desire the same thing OF large Givers there are Two sorts the Liberal and the Prodigal The Prodigal they lash out upon Treats Popular Doales Prizes Publique Sports and Spectacles and other Entertainments which are no sooner past then forgotten The Liberal they employ their Expences upon Redeeming of Slaves setting a Friend out of Debt or helping him out in the bestowing of a Daughter in the Getting of a Fortune or in the Encreasing of it I cannot but wonder what put it into Theophrastus's head in his Book of Riches that among so many Excellent things he should be guilty of one so very gross an Absurdity His Discourse runs much upon the Honour and Magnificence of Popular Shews and Presents and he makes this to be the great Advantage of an Ample Fortune that it Furnishes a man with means to be at That Exepnce Now in my Opinion the Fruit of Liberality is much more Certain and Considerable in the Few Instances I have before mentioned It is a Grave and a Pertinent Reproof that of Aristotle's upon This Subject We make nothing says he of our Profusions upon the Humouring of the Common People but to hear of Ten Crowns given in a Siege for a Bottle of Water what a wonderment is made of it as a thing Incredible till upon second Thoughts we find the Price excus'd by the Necessity But in the Other Extravagant Spoil and Excessive Prodigality where there is neither Honour nor Necessity Consulted in it and the very Pleasure passes with the Spectacle we can find nothing there to wonder at And who are they but the weakest of the People that stand affected with this Vanity And no sooner are they satiated then the Delight it self is forgotten And who are they that are so much taken with these Fooleries but Women Children and Slaves that is to say people either of servile Condition or of servile Minds scarce any man of Sense Judgement or Consideration approving of them I know very well that it is an Ancient Custom in This City for the AEdile to exhibit Shews to the People upon Entering his Office and that very good men expect it from him P. Crassus the Rich as well in his Fortune as in his Name made a very Magnificent Entry and so did L. Crassus after Him tho' join'd with Q. Marius too a man of singular Moderation And then C. Claudius the Son of Appius with a great many more as Lucullus Hortensius Silanus which were all outdone by P. Lentulus in My Consulship and Scaurus Emulated him But the most Pompous and Expensive Solemnity of all was that of our Friend Pompey in his Second Consulship This is enough to shew you my opinion in all these Cases But yet however we must have a Care on the Other hand not to incur a suspition of Avarice Mamercus a very Rich man was repulsed when he stood for Consul because he had refused the Charge of AEdile Wherefore if the People call for it on the One side and wise men be not against it tho' they do not desire it on the Other the thing ought to be done But according to our Abilities as it has been my Own Case Or otherwise where we may reap some Advantage by it that will more then Countervail the Charge As it turn'd much to the reputation of Orestes not long since the publique Dinners that he exposd in the Streets to the Multitude under Colour of Dedicating his Tenths to Hercules Neither did any man blame M. Seius for supplying the people in a great Scarcity with Corn at about a Groat a Bushel when by so doing he delivered himself from the great and inveterate hatred of the Multitude and being AEdile too by a Liberality that was neither Dishonorable nor Burthensome But it was a most Glorious and Memorable Action my Friend Milo's engaging of the Sword-players for the Publique safety which in my own particular I was not a little concern'd in And by Means whereof all the Attempts and Outrages of Claudius were Crusht and disappointed So that Bounties should be grounded either upon Necessity or Profit and even in These Cases too the best Rule is Mediocrity L. Philip the Son of Quintus a person of great Worth and Understanding was want to make it his Vaunt that
utterly Inconsistent with the Rules of Government THERE are some again will have the Citizens Provided for but not Strangers And These Men tear up the very Foundations of Human Society For take away That once and there will be no longer any Good Nature Liberality Honesty or Justice to be found upon the Face of the Earth And whosoever brings Matters to That pass is to be accounted an Enemy to the Gods Themselves for breaking That Union among Men which was no other than a Constitution of Divine Appointment It is the strongest Band of Society a General Agreement in This Position that it is a greater Offence to Nature for me to take any thing from Another for my Own Advantage then to suffer all the Miseries that can possibly befal any Man in his Body or Estate Nay that can befal the very Mind it self saving the single point of Justice which one Virtue is the Mistress and the Princess of all the rest But what will some say Shall a Wise Man rather Perish for want of Bread than take a Loaf from another Man that 's good for nothing to keep himself from Sterving This must not be done yet no not upon any Terms Life is not so dear to me as my Duty and my Resolution not to wrong any Man for my Own Benefit Suppose an Honest Man almost frozen to death might save his Life by taking away the Cloak of Phalaris a Barbarous and a Bloody Tyrant should he not do it This is a Case easily determin'd For the taking of any thing away from another for a Man 's Own sake is Inhuman and against the Law of Nature let the Man be never so worthless But in the Case of a Person whose Life may be of Eminent Use and Service to the Commonwealth to take any thing from such a Worthless Person to preserve so necessary an Instrument to the Publique and to take it purely upon That Consideration it is not blame-worthy But Otherwise I must rather bear my Own Misfortunes than Relieve my self by what I force from another Man so that it is not more against Nature to be Sick or Necessitous than to Seize upon or Covet the Goods of Another But the Abandoning of the Common Good is an Offence to Nature for it is Unjust and therefore the Law of Nature that Regulates and Provides for the Common Welfare of Mankind does in a manner direct the Translation of Necessaries from a slothful and unprofitable Wretch to the behoof of a Wise a Good and a Valiant Man and whose Loss might be of great damage to the Government Provided that it be done meerly out of such a respect without any Vanity or Self love or making use of a Publique Pretext for a Colour to a Particular Injustice justice In so doing I keep my self still upon my Duty consulting the Benefit of Mankind and that which I often Inculcate of Human Society AS to the Case of Phalaris the Decision is Obvious For a Tyrant is rather an Enemy then a Member of Human Society and there can be no Crime in the Dispoiling of an Usurper whom it is Lawful to Kill and it were well if the whole Race of this impious and pestilent sort of Men were Exterminated from having to do with Mankind For as we cut off Mortifi'd Limbs when the Blood and Spirits have in a manner forsaken them and that they grow dangerous to the Rest so should that fierce and outrageous Brutality be separated if I may so say from the Common Humanity of the Publique Body Of This Quality are all those Questions of Duty whereof the Resolution depends upon the Circumstances of Times which I presume Panaetius would have persu'd if somewhat of accident or bus'ness had not taken him off from his Purpose We have said enough in our former Books upon This Matter to shew what we are always to shun as evil and shameful in it self and what we are Not obliged always to avoid because it is not always either Mis-becoming or Dishonest BUT being now about to Crown the Work we have begun I must deal with You my Cicero as the Mathematicians Do with their Disciples They lay down certain Postulata to be taken before-hand for granted without the Trouble of discoursing the Points to the end that they may make themselves more easily understood So must I require of You my Cicero to yield me This Point if you can afford it that Nothing is desirable for it self but what is Honest. Now if Cratippus will not allow of the Proposition whole as it lies This yet I presume will not be deny'd That Virtue is Chiefly if not Only to be desired and for its own sake It is all one to me which of the Two you take for they are Both of them more Probable than any thing else And First let me vindicate Panaetius in This that he never supposed a Competition of Vtility and Virtue nor could he have justifi'd it if he had but he is to be understood of things that seem Profitable for over and over in all his Discourses he still makes Vtility and Virtue to be Convertibles and represents it to be the most Pestilent Errour that ever enter'd into Human Life the Opinion that Divided them And therefore he introduced a Repugnancy betwixt Appearances and Truths not as separating the Profitable from the Honest but for our Caution and Instruction that we might judge betwixt them We shall therefore dispatch this remaining Part without any help from others and upon our own Account as we say For since Panaetius left This Subject I have seen nothing yet that has given me any sort of satisfaction WE are all of us apt to be moved upon any thing that presents it self unto us under the appearance of Profit But if upon looking narrowly into it we find any thing that is dishonest or shameful annexed thereunto we are not to leave it then as a thing Profitable but as considering that Vtility and Dishonesty cannot stand together For if there be nothing so Contrary to Nature as the One or so Agreeable to it as the Other for Nature affects what is Right Convenient and Constant and despises the Contrary it is impossible that they should Both meet in the same Subject Again If we are born for Virtue either according to Zeno Virtue is to be desired for it self alone or according to Aristotle it weighs down all other things then does it follow of Necessity that Virtue must be either the Only or the Supreme Good So that whether way soever it be taken that which is Good is certainly Profitable and that which is Prositable is certainly Good Those Men therefore are very short-sighted that presently lay hold of that which appears Profitable and consider it apart from that which is Honest. From Hence come Murthers Poysonings Forgeries Thefts Publique Cheats Oppressions Squeezing of the People or our Confederates From Hence come the Intolerable Insolencies of Men of over-grown Fortunes and
Law But he lookt upon 't as a thing Advantageous to himself to augment his Own Power by the Envy that was born to the Other but how Vnjust This was to his Country and how Dishonourable to himself he did not consider His Father in Law had often in his Mouth those Greek Verses of the Phoenicians out of Euripides which I 'll tell you as well as I can not so gracefully perhaps but so as to be Understood To get a Crown a man would break a Trust. If break 't at all everywhere else be Just. It was a Lewd and Horrible thing done of Etheocles or rather of Euripides to make That the Exception of a Crime which of all Crimes is it self the most Abominable But what do we talk of Petty things as Inheritances Traffiques Fraudulent Bargains What do you think of Him rather that having the Ambition to make himself the Master of the People of Rome and the Emperor of the World it self accomplish'd his Ends No man in his Wits will pretend to justifie This Ambition for in so doing he passes an Approbation upon the Subversion of our Laws and Liberties and reckons as a point of Honour that Ignoble and Detestable Oppression But he that confesses the Unlawfulness of any mans Usurping a Dominion over a City that both has been Free and ought so to be and yet supposes it a thing Profitable to him that can compass it I would spare no Reprehension nor in truth any Reproche to reclaim such a man from his Error For I appeal to the Immortal Gods what Profit can any man find in the Foul and Execrable Destruction of his Country albeit he that is Guilty of it should come afterwards to be stil'd the Father of it by the oppressed People Vtility should therefore be guided by Honesty and in such manner that tho' the Words differ the Thing should be still the same I do not find any thing more Profitable in the Opinion of the Common People then Power and Empire Neither when I look narrowly into the Matter do I find any thing more Vnprofitable to him that Vnjustly atteins it For what advantage can it be to any man to live in Anxiety Carefulness Fears Day and Night and to lead a Life that is beset with Snares and Dangers There are more treacherous and unfaithful men in a Kingdom says Accius then there are good But of what Kingdom does he speak even of That which is reported unto us of Tantalus and Pelops a Kingdom that procceded by a Lawful Descent How much greater then is the Number of the Unfaithful to That Prince who having opprest Rome it self by a Roman Army and a City not only Free in its own Constitution but giving Laws to others brought That City at last into subjection to Himself How ulcerated a Conscience do you think This man must needs have What wounds in his Soul Or how is it possible that This mans Life should be Profitable to Himself when such was the Condition of it that Posterity will ever have a Veneration and Esteem for those that took it away NOW if those things that carry the Fairest Appearance of Profit fail yet of being what they seem to be because they are full of Shame and Dishonour This methinks should Convince any man that nothing can be Profitable that is not likewise Honest. Now as This has in Many Cases been determin'd so most remarkably by the Senate of Rome and by Caius Fabricius in his second Consulate For when King Pyrrhus made War upon Rome and the Quarrel was Empire too and That with a Powerful and a Generous Prince there came a Fugitive from Pyrrhus into the Tents of Fabricius and promised him upon Condition of a Considerable Reward that he would convey himself back as privately as he came and Poyson the King Fabricius order'd this man to be carried back to Pyrrhus and the Senate applauded the Resolution Now if a man should regard the Appearance and Opinion of Profit This One Fugitive might have put a Period to That hazardous War in the removal of the most Considerable Enemy of the Empire But where the point in Controversie was Honour it would have been a Scandalous and an Impious practice to have encountred a Noble Enemy with Baseness and Treachery instead of Resolution and Virtue Now which was the more Profitable either to Fabricius who was as Eminent in Rome as Aristides was in Athens or to our Senate that never separated Profit from Honour to subdue an Enemy by Arms or by Poyson If Empire be desirable for Glories sake let there be no Treachery or Injustice in the Attempt For therein can be no Glory And we must have a care too how we compass Wealth it self for it can never be Advantageous to us with Infamy And therefore it was no Profitable Advice that of L. Philippus the Son of Quintus to Tax those Cities over again which L. Sylla had discharg'd for a Sum of Mony by a Decree of the Senate And This too without their Mony again which they had already paid for their Liberty The Senate however took his Counsel to the Scandal of the Empire At this rate there 's more Faith to 〈◊〉 found among Pyrates then among Roman Senatoâ—s Well! But the Revenue was increas'd and it was therefore Profitable But how long shall we dare to call any thing Profitable that is not Honest How is it possible that Hatred or Infamy should ever be Profitable to any Government that must support it self by its own Reputation and the good will of its Confederates Nay I have had many a dispute upon this Point with my Friend Cato himself for insisting too rigorously upon the Interest of the Publique Treasury and Revenue He was too hard methought to the Officers for we ought to be Bountiful to the One and treat the Other as we were wont to treat our Colonies And so much the rather because the Connexion of the Parts did much contribute to the Preservation of the Whole And Curio did very Ill too who tho' convinced that the Transpadans were in the Right still concluded Vincat Vtilitas Let Utility carry it Now he should rather have said that it was not Iust because it was not Profitable to the Commonwealth then allowing it to be Profitable to conclude that it was not Iust. In Hecaton's Sixth Book of Offices we find a great many Questions to our purpose As for Instance he puts the Case Whether in a great Scarcity of Corn a Good Man be not oblig'd to Maintein his Servants He Reasons it Pro and Con but at last concludes the Duty with a regard rather to Profit then to Humanity He puts another Question Whether in the Extremity of a Storm at Sea a Man should rather throw over a Serviceable Horse or a Servant of little Value And here his private Interest draws him One way and Humanity Another And again Suppose that upon a Shipwrack a Fool
that all Pleasure is directly Contrary to it Concerning which point I reckon Calliphon and Dinomachus to be the more to blame in thinking to put an end to this Controversie by coupling Pleasure with Honesty as if it were a Man with a Beast Whereas Virtue does not admit of That Conjunction but despises and rejects it And then for the end of Good and Evil men which must be Simple it cannot be Temper'd and Compounded of disagreeing things But of This elsewhere more at large And it is a weighty bus'ness But To my purpose now in hand Concerning any matter to be determin'd in the Case of a Concurrent Opposition betwixt Profit and Honesty we have said enough already But if Pleasure shall be said to carry some shew of Profit also there can be no Conjunction of it with Honesty For allowing the most we can to Pleasure it does but serve us for Sawce without any Profit in it at all IN This Book my Son Marcus your Father makes you a Present in My Opinion a Great one but it is to You according as you Take it And yet however you may allow These Three Books of Mine an Entertainment in your Study among the Commentaries of Cratippus If I my self had come to Athens as I had done if my Country had not Commanded me back even when I was half way thorough you should sometimes have been your Fathers Disciple too So that I am now fain to speak to you in these Writings Bestow as much of your time upon them as you can and what you have a mind to do you may do When I shall understand that This Study pleases you I hope it will not be long before I be with you my self And however at this distance though in absence I shall still be speaking to you Wherefore My Cicero farewel And assure your self that you are exceeding dear to me And yet much dearer you will be if I shall find that you take delight in these Memorials and Precepts THE END 'T is a great Advantage Good Institution and Good Example Greek and Latin Rhetorique and Philosophy do well together Ceâ—ro Half a Peripatetique A better Orator than Philosopher None of the Greeks Excellent in Both Kinds His Reasons for the Choice of This Subject He taxes the Epicureans Nothing desirable for it self but Virtue All Disputes should Begin with a Definition A Division of Offices Deliberation according to Panaetius under Three Heads Cicero makes Five Self-love is Natural The Difference betwixt Instinct and Reason The Seeds of Justice Liberality Prudence Magnanimity Modesty and Temperance The Four Cardinal Virtues and the subject-matter of each Distinct Duties in a Complication of Virtue Prudence searches the Truth of Things Justice shews it self in Society Fortitude in the Contempt of Difficulties Temperance in Order and Measure A Decorum in the Congruity of all Prudence is a Natural Virtue Have a care of Two Mistakes Credulity and Curiosity Justice and Liberality The Duties of Justice The Bounds of it by the Civil Law A forced Etymology of Fides Two sorts of Injustice The Injurious Aggressor And the Deserter An Injury out of Fear Avarice Magnificence Ambition Luxury Difference of Injuries Injuries of Omission and the Causes of them Expence Fear Sloth Bus'ness Do nothing with Doubting Faith is not always to be kept The Duty changes with the Occasion Of Two Evils the Less Injuries of Fraud and Cavil The Rules of War The End of War The Roman Generosity to their Enemies And to those that yielded Upon what Terms to undertake a War A Conscientious instance A Brave Resolution of Pyrrhus Faith must be kept with an Enemy A noble Example of Regulus A glorious piece of Justice The Romans a generous Enemy Of Justice to Inferiors Of Liberality How to Give How much and to Whom Whom to Oblige Give in Proportion Consider the Intent of the Giver The Choice of the Person There is no Stoical Perfection Whom to value most How to return Benefits Benefits to be repaid with Interest Rash Bounties Whom to Requite first Reason and Speech are the Bond of Humane Society Benefits in Common Degrees of Communities Common Privileges Marriage Children Families Kindred Friendship Similitude of Manners Exchange of Benefits Our Duty to our Country Our Kindred and Friends Duties vary with Circumstances Magnanimity Courage defined Pertinacy and Ambition True Magnanimity Contempt of Mony Affectation of Glory A Retired Life A Comparison of Military Virtues with Civil Clemency to the Conquer'd Spare the Multitude Courage with Discretion Danger Publique and Private A Mistake in point of Honour Plato's advice to Magistrates The danger of Factions Of Ambition Against Anger Of Reproof and Correction Moderation in both Fortunes Greatness of mind in a private Life Honesty and Decorum A Decorum in Prudence And in all Virtues A Decorum General and Special The Decorum of the Poets The Decorum of Order Steadiness and Moderation A Decorum in a Conformity to Nature From the Appetite ariâ—e Perturbations Passion disorders both Mind and Body The Bounds of Mirth Two Sorts of Raillery scurrilous and facetious Honest and Manly Pleasures The Excellency of Man Brutal Pleasures Man has Two Capacities A great Diversity both in Minds and Bodies Several Humours Nature is the best Mistress The same thing Good in one and Ill in another Let every man Act his own Part. Let every man chuse his own Study Some Course of Life must be pitched upon Nature and Fortune to be consulted what course of Life Let every man do all the Good he can The Duâ—y of a Young man Youth should be Temperate and Industrious The Business of Age is Wisdom Beware of Sloth and Luxury The Duty of a Magistrate A privatâ— man And a Stranger The Decorum of the Body The Seeds of Modesty are in Nature The Obscene humour of the Cyniques A Decency in Gestures and Postures The Modesty of the Romans Of Dignity and Gracefulness Affectation is Odious A Meane does best The Motions of the Mind are Thought and Appetite Of Rhetorique and Ordinary Discourse The Voice should be Clear and Sweet Instances of Excellent Speakers Of Familiar Discourse Cautious The Subject of it Seasonable and not Tedious Nor Passionate Respectful Let Reproof be without Anger Ostentation is Odiouâ— Of Buildingâ— and Palaces Fit the House to to the Master Keep the Expence within Compass Three Rules for all Undertakings The Decorum of Place and Time Order defin'd Indecencies in respect of Time and Place The Niceties of Conversation By Observing Others we may Reform our selves Great Virtues are a Privilege to some Mistakes A General Duty Of Trade Which is either sordid And Voluptuary Or of Candour and Credit Of Two Duties which to Chuse Wisdom is the principal Virtue Justice more valuable than Science Our Country in the first place Leagues are more for Society then Defence Justice and Temperance compar'd Dâ—grees of Duties The Subject of This Book The Introduction The Praise of Philosophy An Objection answered The Distribution
Athens too you cannot my Son Marcus but be abundantly instructed in the Precepts and Institutions of Philosophy by reason of the Great Authority of the Master as well as of the Place the One for Erudition the Other for Example I am yet of Opinion that you shall do well nevertheless to take the same Course in Your Studies that I have done in Mine and to mingle your Latin with your Greek as a Method which I have ever found very much Conducing to the Bus'ness both of an Orator and of a Philosopher Beside that it will give you the Command indifferently of Both Languages In This Particular I am perswaded that I have done my Country-men no small Service and that not only those who have no Skill at all in Greek but even the Learned Themselves will acknowledge that I have in some sort Contributed to the Advantage both of their Eloquence and Iudgment Wherefore as you have the greatest Philosopher of this Age for your Master you shall also Learn of him as long as you please and so long certainly you ought to desire to Learn as you find your self the Better for it Upon the Reading of my Writings you will see a great deal in them of the Peripatetique for I am a Follower of Socrates and of Plato Both. As to the Matter it self you are at liberty to use your Own Judgment but yet the Acquainting of your self with my Stile will undoubtedly be of some Use toward the Improvement of your Latin Tongue And let me not in This be thought Arrogant neither For allowing my self the meanest of many Philosophers I have yet some Right me thinks after an Age spent upon This Study to value my self upon all the Parts of an Orator as Propriety Perspicuity and the Flowers and Ornaments of Well-speaking Wherefore I must Earnestly recommend unto you the Perusal not only of my Orations but likewise of my Philosophical Discourses which are now swell'd almost to the Bulk of the Other and that you will read them with Intention and Care for tho' there may be in the Other a greater Force and Dignity yet This smooth and temperate Mixture is not to be neglected Among the Greeks I have not found any Man that has Successfully apply'd himself to the Language of the Bar and to this gentle way of Argumentation both at once unless I should reckon Demetrius Phalerâ—us for one who was indeed a subtle Disputant no very Powerful Orator but then such a Vein of Sweetness with him that a Body might imagine Theophrastus had been his Tutor For my Own part I have labour'd in Both these Kinds and with what Effect let the World judge Plato I believe would have made a Ready and a Weighty Pleader if he had bent his Mind to 't And Demosthenes a Queint and a Polite Philosopher if he would but have treated of and stuck to what he had from Plato And This was the Case also of Aristotle and Isocrates they were both of them fond of their Own Way and slighted one another BUT being resolved to Write somewhat to you at present and More Hereafter I have made it my Choice to begin upon That Subject which I look upon to be most accommodate to your Age and best becoming the Authority of a Parent There are many Profitable and Important Points in Philosophy which have been accurately and copiously handled by divers Learned Men But that which I take to be of the Greatest Latitude falls under the Head of Offices or Duties betwixt Man and Man whereof we have many Precepts and Traditions transmitted to us from our Fore-fathers For there is no Condition of Life either Publique or Private from Courts of Iustice to Particular Families either Solitary or in Society but there is still a place for Humane Duty And it is the Well or Ill discharging of This Office that makes our Character in the World either Glorious or Shameful And This is the Common Theme too of all Philosophers for who shall dare to Usurp That Sacred Name that never prescrib'd Rules for the Government of Life But there are some Doctrines yet that render these Offices wholly Vain and Useless upon a Mistake concerning the Ends of Good and of Wicked Men For whosoever phansies any Possibility of separating the Supreme Good from Virtue That Man can never be either a Friend or a Iust or a Generous Person upon That Foundation That is to say so long as he agrees with himself and without attending to the Dictate of a better Nature Can any Man be Brave that makes Pein the worst of Evils or Temperate that makes Pleasure the Sovereign Good This is so clear that it is not worth a Dispute beside that I have expresly discours'd upon it in another place The Patrons of these Positions must Contradict themselves if they will pretend in any sort to intermeddle in This Matter For there can be no Sound Stable and Natural Principle of Duty erected upon any Other Foundation than This That Virtue is Only or at least Chiefly desirable for its proper self Wherefore the Stoiques Academiques and Peripatetiques were much in the Right in This Particular as the Whimsies of Aristo Pyrrbo and Herillus are long since out of Doors Not but that They had as much Right as Other People to a Freedom of Debate if they had but left us in a State or Capacity of Election without Cutting off the very Means of any Correspondence at all with Humane Duties Therefore at This Time and in This Question I shall follow the Stoiques not as an Expositor but after my Usual Custom I shall draw as much Water at their Well as I think fit and then make use of it according to my Own Discretion BEING in this Book to treat of the Offices or Duties of Mankind it will be proper in the First place to define what is intended by the Word Office a thing omitted by Panaetius which I wonder at For all Reasonable Propositions ought to be introduced by a Definition for the better understanding of the Point in Debate OF Duties or Offices there are Two Kinds the One respects the Ends of Good Men the Other consists in certain Rules and Precepts to be apply'd to the Vse and Conduct of Humane Life Under the Former are These Questions Whether All Offices be perfect or not Whether One Office be Greater or Less then Another And What Offices are found to be of the same Sort and Degree But those Offices which are deliver'd to us by Precept tho' they have a regard also to the Life of Good Men yet it does not so much appear because they seem to be rather a Provision for the Ordering of Life in Society These are the Offices which we shall Discourse of in this Book There is also Another Division of Offices some are call'd Middle and Imperfect others Perfect We may call the Latter a Right according to the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
should get hold of a Plank whether or no may a Wise Man take it from him if he can He 's upon the Negative because the thing is Vnjust But what if it were the Master of the Ship Shall not he take his Own No by no means He may as well throw a Man over-board that is at Sea in his Ship because the Ship is his Own For till they come to the End of the Voyage the Ship is rather the Passengers then the Masters But what if there should be but One Plank and Two Men equally Wise and Deserving in danger to be drown'd Whether shall Neither of them take it or shall Either of them yield it to the Other I would have it yielded to him that may do most Good either to the Republique or in his Own Particular by Living But what if they be both alike I would have no Contention But let the One render to the Other as if the point had been decided by Lot What if my Father should Rifle a Church or Dig a Passage under ground to Rob the Treasury Whether or no should the Son give an Information of it to the Magistrate This were an Unhappy Case but I would however Defend my Father if he were Accused But is not my Duty to my Country above all other Duties Yes it is But then my Country it self is concern'd that the People in it should bear a Reverence to their Parents But what if a Father should Design the betraying of his Country or the getting of the Government into his own Hand Shall the Son Conceal it I would have him earnestly desire his Father to Desist and if That will not do he 's bound to Accuse him But I would have him threaten him First and in the Conclusion if he finds his Country in danger he is to value the safety of it before That of his Father He puts another Question if a Wise and Good man shall by oversight take False mony whether or no may be put it off again in Payment after he knows it to be Counterfeit Diogenes says he may Antipater is against it With whom I do rather agree of the Two Suppose a man sells a Piece of Wine knowing that it will not keep Is he bound to tell this or no Diogenes says he needs not but Antipater says that a Good man Will tell it These are the Propositions in Controversie among the Stoiques In the selling of a Slave whether or no am I bound to discover all his faults Only those which the Civil Law obliges me to discover or to take him again But for Discovering him to be a Lyer a Gamester a Thief a Drunkard Some are For the telling of it and Others not What if a man should sell Gold believing it to be Copper Is a Good man that knoweth it to be Gold bound to tell him it or no Or whether can any man Iustifie the buying of That for One Penny which is worth a Thousand I have now clear'd my own Opinion And what are the Points in Controversie among the Philosophers before-named WE come now to consider how far Those Offices and Contracts are to be observ'd that are neither Extorted by Force nor as the Law has it Dolo malo or by Circumvention I have a Remedy given me for the Dropsie upon This Condition that if it Cures me I am never to use that Medicine again Within a few years and after I have been once Cur'd of it I relapse into the same Disease and the person with whom I contracted will not give me leave to make any further Vse of it What am I to do in This Case It is an Inhumanity in Him to refuse me beside that my Vsing of it does Him no Hurt In this Case we must Consult the Means of Life and Health Well! Suppose a Wise man should be made Heir to a great Estate upon This Obligation from the Testator that before he touches one penny of the Profits of it he should dance publiquely before a Court of Iustice or in the Market place He promises accordingly so to do and without passing That Promise he could never have been entitled to that Estate Should he do it or no I could wish he had not promis'd it and my Opinion is that it would better have become his Gravity not to have done it but in regard that he has past his Word if he accounts it a Shameful and Dishonourable thing to discharge That Condition he may break his word with a better Grace by making no Benefit of the Estate then Otherwise unless peradventure the Benefits of it might be converted to so Great and Publique an Advantage that it would be no longer Dishonorable so to do as being Profitable to his Country Neither is a man always bound to keep those Promises that are of no Advantage to those to whom the Promise is made Phaebus to come back to Fables having promis'd his Son Phaeton a Grant of whatever he should ask Phaeton demanded the Government of his Fathers Chariot he had his Desire and in his full Carriere Iupiter cast him down with a Thunderbolt Had not this promise of his Fathers now been better broken then kept And then the Promise that Theseus extorted from Neptune what became of it Neptune accorded to him Three Wishes One was the Destruction of his Son Hippolitus upon a suspicion of his Familiarity with his own Mother-in-Law and the Granting of That Wish was the greatest Affliction that ever came near to Theseus's Heart And what was Agamemnons Vow to Diana in promising her the most beautiful Creature that should be born within his Dominions that year which proved to be own his Daughter Iphigenia whom he accordingly sacrific'd as the fairest Creature which That year produc'd How much better had it been if This Promise had never been made then so horrible a Crime admitted Wherefore sometime we should not pass a Promise Nay a Depositum it self is not in all Cases to be restor'd A man leaves a Sword in Trust with me when he 's Sober and calls for 't again when he 's Mad Now to Restore it in such a Case were a Crime and the Refusal of it a Duty What if I should lay up Mony for him and then find that he 's about to make War upon his Country Shall I render it I think not because it is against the Republique which we ought to prefer So many things that seem Honest enough in their Own Nature are yet made Vnwarrantable by Time and Occasion To make good a Promise stand to a Bargain deliver up a Trust when it comes to be rather Hurtful then Profitable becomes Dishonest This is enough said of those Vtilities against Iustice that are cover'd with a Pretext of Reason But as we have drawn all Duties from the four Fountains of Duty in our First Book we'ell keep still to our Subject and Shew how those things that seem to be Profitable and Are not stand in
the greatest Opposition to Virtue Here is enough said of Prudence and of the Counterfeit of it which is Craft and likewise of Iustice which can never fail of being Profitable THE Two remaining Parts of Honesty follow the One is seen in the Greatness of an Excellent Mind the Other in a Conformity and Moderation of Continence and Temper It seemed Profitable to Vlysses the Counterfeiting himself Mad to avoid the War as the Tragadians would perswade us For there appears no such suspition of him in Homer who was an Eminent Author This was no Honest Counsel but it may be said perhaps that it was a Profitable one to stay at Home and Govern in an Easie Lazie Life at Ithaca with his Wife his Son and his Relations But do you Imagine that in daily Labours and Hazzards there can be any Dignity that is to be compar'd with This Tranquility of Life And yet I cannot but have a Contempt for such a Retreat because those things that are not Honourable I cannot allow to be Advantageous But what do you think the World would have said of Vlysses if he had gone on in that Disguise who notwithstanding all his Brave Exploits in the War did yet suffer these reproaches from Ajax in the Tragedy He that contriv'd the Oath and made us take it Was th' only man Himself you know that brake it Playing th' Mad Driv'ling Fool under That Blind To sleep in a whole skin and stay behind And the bold Cheat had past without all doubt But for fly â—alamede that found it out NOW it was much better for him to encounter as he did not only Enemies but likewise Seas and Tempests then to abandon Greece which was then by one Consent carrying a War among the Barbarians But to pass over things Fabulous and Foreign Let us now come to our own Country and Affairs Marcus Attilius Regulus in his second Consulship when he was surpriz'd and taken prisoner in Affricae by Xantippus the Lacedemonian a Commander under Hamilcar the Father of Hannibal who was then General he was sent to the Senate under an Oath of rendring himself again at Carthage unless certain Carthaginian Noblemen should be releas'd in exchange Being come to Rome he had before him a fair Colour of Profit but as the Story makes it out he found it Vain and Idle The condition of it was that he might stay in his Country live at home with his Wife and Children suffering the Calamity he was fallen into as the Common Fortune of the War and still reteining the Honour of his Consulary Dignity Will any man deny these things to be Profitable Or what shall we say when Courage and Magnanimity oppose it What Greater Authority or Security would a man desire For it is the Property of these Virtues not to fear any thing to despise all accidents and to reckon nothing Intolerable that can befal a man But what did he do He came into the Senate told them his bus'ness but refus'd to to give his Opinion for so long as he was under an Oath he was in the Condition of a Prisoner to an Enemy and not of a Senator But like a Fool as he was as some will say and one that stood in his own light that which he did speak was against himself He would not allow it to be the Roman Interest to exchange their Prisoners for the Carthaginians were young men he said and good Soldiers but himself wasted with Old age His Authority prevailing the prisoners were deteined and himself return'd to Carthage without any regard to the Affection he had either for his Country or for his Friends He was not Ignorant neither to how cruel an Enemy and to what exquisite Torments he expos'd himself by his Return only he was resolved not to violate his Oath When they had Tortur'd and Watch'd him even to death his Condition was yet more Honourable then if he had ended his days in his Own house a decrepite Captive and a Forsworn Senator But what a Fool was he not only not to agree to the remitting of their Prisoners but also to disswade it But what shall we call That Foolish that conduces to the Good of the Commonwealth Or can any thing be Profitable to any Member of the Publique that is not so to the Whole It is a Subversion of the Fundamentals of Nature to divide Profit and Honesty for we do all of us desire that which is Profitable It is an Attractive that draws us to it whether we will or no. Is there any man that avoids it or rather that does not vigorously persue it Put since Profit is not any where to be found but in that which is Praiseworthy Honourable and Honest therefore do we account these Considerations as most Noble and Excellent intending under the name of Profit what is rather necessary then Splendid But what is there you 'll say in an Oath are we afraid that Iupiter should take offence at us Now This is a point common to all Philosophers that God is neither Angry with us nor Hurts us and not only to those that take God himself to be Idle and wholly careless of us but to those also that will have God to be always in Action and doing of something But what greater harm could even an Angry Iupiter do to Regulus then Regulus did to Himself So that there was nothing of Religion in the perverting so great a Profit Was it least he should do a mean thing First of Two evils we know we are to chuse the Least But was That Dishonourable Proposition then an evil Equal to the Torment And then That of Accius Hast thou broken thy Faith To any man that does not believe me I neither Have given nor Do give it Now tho' this was spoken by a Wicked King it was yet well enough said And moreover as we say that some things appear Prositable which are not so so do they say on the Other side that some things appear Honest too which are not so As in this case of Regulus's returning to the Torment to save his Oath For it is rendred Dishonourable because it was done under a Force and by an Enemy and so ought not to be made good And they go farther that whatsoever is very Profitable becomes Honest upon That Consideration tho' it was not so before This is it which is commonly urg'd aginst Regulus But let us examin what it amounts to Iupiter was not to be fear'd least he should hurt us in his Anger because he does not use to be either Angry or Mischievous This Reason lies as strong against all other Oaths as against This of Regulus But the question is not in an Oath the fear of being punish'd for breaking it but the Conscience and the Obligation of keeping it Now an Oath is a Religious Affirmation and whatsoever we promise pâ—sitively as in the presence of God we must keep it for This does not concern the Anger of
of â—he Whole Work The Word Profitable is Corrupted Profitable and Honest are Convertible Terms Craft mistaken for Wisdom Things Inanimate Animate Unreasonable Reasonable One man is the greatest Benefit or Mischief to another The Necessity of Mutual Hâ—lp and Society The great Mischiefs are from one man to another Of Pruâ—ence and Virtue The Power of Fortune Unhappy Casualties The Grounds of Honour and Esteem in the World Mercenary Natures Love is the best Security of Power Hatred is the certain effect of Fear The Condition and Fate of Tyrants The End of Phalaâ—is Rome was formerly the Sanctuary of the Oppressed The Miseries that befel Rome for Cruelty and Injustice Prosperous Cruelties are dangerous Presidents How to gain a fair Reputation in the World What is perfect Glory Bounty and Gentâ—eness wâ—â—k mucâ— upâ—n the Peâ—ple The Power of Justice Prudence Wisdom without Justice is Craft Aâ—miration produces Esteem Great Virtue produces great Admiration As Magnanimity Justice Contempt of mony The very Opinion of Iustice gives a man Reputation Justice is sacred even among Thieves and Pirates Kings chosen for their Virtues A Notable Saying of Socrates Some are Born Remarkable Others make themselves so Let a Young Man study the Use of his Arms. The Virtues of the Mind are more Noble than those of the Body Of Modesty and Piety It is a good Sign when a Man loves good Company Of Speech Affability Eloquence the Power of it The Subject of it It is a busie Office that of an Informer Have a Care of Innocent Blood Liberality is Twofold Labour and Money A Generous Reproof The Bounty of Labour is the fairest of the Two Give within Compass Prodigality True Liberality Fine Shews are only for Women and Children In what Cases Profusion may be allowed But still within Bounds Of Privater Liberality How to bestow them A Regard to the Benfit as well as to the Person Our Obligations should be Frank. Of Hospitality Obligations of Care and Industry The Reputation of the Civil Law Some Affinity betwixt a Civilian and an Orator The Force of Eloquence The Dâ—cay of Orators Disoblige no man In Benefits consider the Man not the Fortune The Pride and Vanity of Great Men. The Poor mans Gratitude A Wise Sâ—ying of Themistoâ—les Justice is the Foundation of a Lasting Fame Of Publick Bounties The Propriety of Particulars most be protected The danger of Levelling Principles No Extraordinary Taxes Corrupt Magistrates are the Bane of any Government The Abstinence of Affricanus Avarice a Detestable Vice The Power of Frugality in Publique Administrations The Danger of Invading Proprieties A Generous Account of Aratus No Debts to be permitted that may endanger the Publique A Caution in Matter of Health and Estate Two Profitable things meeting in comparison A famous saying of Scipio Affricanus Cicero's Retreat Cicero compares himself with Affricanus Of Civil Duties and a Virtuous Life Panaetius of Civil Duties Cicero excuses an Omission of Panaetius Nothing can â—e Profiâ—aâ—le but whâ—t is Honest True Honesty and True Wisdom are Inseparable Middle Duties No man Good or Wise in the Abstract The Epicureans measure Hâ—nâ—sty by Prâ—fit Circumstances alter the Case A Rule keeps us Rigâ—t In our Judgments of Profitable and Honâ—st Fraud and Rapine are against the Laws of Nature and Nations The Interest of the Whole is the Interest of every Part. Better suffer any Calamity than do an Injury Certain Principles to be given for granted Nothing can be beneficial that is dishonest The great Punishment is that of Conscience A Divine Precept The Fable and Moral of Gygeâ—'â— Ring The appearance of Profit oftentimes distracts us How far we may look to our selves Many Niceties in Friendships The Generous Friâ—ndship of Damon and Pythias Publique Mistakes under the appearance of Profit Humanity to Strangers A scrupulouâ— point of Honour Some nice Cases of Conscience Resolutions upon the former Cases A Pleasant Cheat. * Words of Form Simulation and Dissimulation A Generous Scruple of Scaevola's Concealments punishable in Baâ—gainâ— for Estates Laws and Philosophers provide several ways against Fraud The Law Civll and the Law of Nations Of Good Faith No Pest like Craft under the Masque of Simplicity A Case of Conscience about a Forgery No Dividing of what Nature has Coupled Who is a Good man * A Little Play with the Fingers A Mean Action of C. Marius Small matters may be of great Importance A Good man will not do an Ill thing The Ambition of Iulius Caesar. Utility should be guided by Honesty Pabricius's Generosity to Pyrrhus Wealth it self may be Unprofitable Instances of Good and Profitable in Competition Their Servants were Slaves Cases of Conscience Conscience in Contracts Some Promises better broken than kept Of Fortitude The Case of Regulus His Honour and Justice The Sacredness of an Oath Pein is no Evil. A Pagan Dispensation The Rigour of the Roman Discipline The Tye of an Oath The Severity of the Romans in case of Perfidy Of Temperance Epicurus places Good and Ill in Pleasure and Pein