Justice and tells us That Kings heretofore were chosen according to their Characters for Justice and Integrity 'T Was for the sake of enjoying the Benefits of this Justice the great Use of which we have now been discoursing of that the Medes heretofore as we are told by b The first of any great note among the Greek Historians very well known by his Works which are still extant in nine Books which for their Sweetness and Elegance are deservedly call'd by the names of the Nine Muses Herodotus and I am apt to imagin our own Ancestors too chose always the honestest Persons for their Kings For the poorer sort of People being oppress'd by the richer had recourse to some one of remakable Virtue to save and protect 'em from Violence and Injuries who constituting Measures of Equity and Justice bound the greatest to observe 'em as well as the meanest And that which was the reason for their choosing Kings in like manner put them upon enacting Laws For Men have always desired to enjoy such a Right as all sorts of 'em might have an equal Share in for otherwise indeed 't would be no Right at all which when they could get by the Justice and Honesty of some one Person they were contented with him and never look'd any further but when they could not they were put upon a necessity of inventing Laws which could never be partial but use the same Language to all Ranks and Conditions 'T is very plain therefore that those Men were usually chosen to be Kings who were counted by the People Men of Honesty and Integrity but if they were held Prudent and Wise withal the People thought there was nothing they might not obtain by their Conduct and Management By all means therefore let us constantly follow and stick close to Justice as for its own sake for otherwise indeed 't will not be properly Justice so for the increase of our Honour and Reputation c He has shewn what these Virtues are which make the People Love c. But as 't is not enough for a Man to get Riches unless he knows how to make use of 'em too So after we have gotten the Virtues he has mention'd the next thing that comes to be consider'd is How we should use 'em so as to be remarkable in the World and let People see by our Pactice and Exercise in some sort of Life that we are such Persons as deserve their Love Confidence and Admiration For these Virtues themselves are only the Ground-work or Foundations as it were of perfect Glory and we know Foundations are laid in the Earth and require something else to be Built upon 'em before they are taken notice of in the Eye of the World Here he puts in by way of Caution a Saying of Socrates That we make sure in the first place that we really are such c. Now as 't is not sufficient for a Man to get Riches unless he has the Wisdom to dispose of 'em so as thereby to furnish out all his Expences not only those of his bare Necessities but those of his Bounty and Liberality too So neither is it enough for a Man to get d By Glory here he understands the Virtues of Justice c. which he has just been discoursing of as the Foundations of true Glory Glory unless he knows how to make Use of it with discretion Tho' what Socrates says is very excellent to this purpose That the readiest Way and as it were shortest Cut to arrive at e Outward Glory not the Virtues themselves Glory is really to be what one desires to be accounted Those People therefore are highly mistaken who think of obtaining a solid Reputation by vain Shews and hypocritical Pretences by compos'd Countenances and studied Forms of Words for true Glory takes deep rooting and grows and flourishes more and more but that which is only in Shew and meer Outside quickly decays and withers like Flowers nor can any thing be lasting that is only Counterfeit I might bring a great many pregnant Examples for the proof of these Assertions but for brevity sake I shall content my self with those of but one single Family f A Noble Wise and Valiant Roman who was twice Cof and as often triumph'd and at last was made Censor in which Office by his Wisdom and Prudence he sav'd the Republick See Cic. de Orat. 1. 9. He marry'd Cornelia the Daughter of the Elder Africanus by whom he had the two Gracchi Tiberius Gracchus the Son of Publius will always be Prais'd and had in Admiration as long as there shall any Memorials remain of the Roman Atchievements But his g Tib. and Caius Gracchus two eloquent and ingenious young Men but for attempting to make Laws pernicious to the State about equally dividing Lands c. they were both Slain the former by Scipio Nasica and the latter by Opimius the Cos. See Paterc Book 2. ch 2 3 6 7. and their Lives in Plut. Sons on the contrary were not in their Lives-time approv'd of by good Men and since their Decease have been number'd among those who were justly Slain CHAP. XIII What young Men should do to make ' emselves Known and taken Notice of in the World Courage in War the first thing that sets off young Men. Another Temperance Sobriety c. Keeping often Company with Wise and Good Men another thing that very much Recommends them 'T Is the Business therefore of those who desire to get true Glory strictly to discharge all the Duties of Justice what those are we have shewn already in the former Book I shall now proceed to lay down some Directions a His Design is to shew What Methods a young Man who is just coming into the World supposing he has laid a Foundation of Virtue had best enter upon that he may make himself Known and taken Notice of among his Citizens that so his Virtues mayn't lye hid and conceal'd In order to which he distinguishes young Men into those who are remarkable already upon their Ancestors account c. and those who are unknown and obscure They must both take to some honourable Way of Life so as to signalize their Valour Honesty c. How a Man should do to appear before the World what he is in himself tho' that of Socrates is certainly the wisest that can possibly be given To make sure in the first place that he really be in himself that which he desires to appear before the World For when a young Gentleman is just come into the Publick and is already known and remarkable in it either by the Fame of his Father's Actions which I think Son Marcus may be your Case or by any other Means or Accident whatever the Eyes of all are immediately upon him and every one's enquiring after what he does and how he steers his Life and as tho' he were set in the publick View so none of his Actions or so much as his
that nothing was good or desirable for its own sake but Virtue or Honesty Stoicks g Who deny'd there was any such thing as Certainty and were not tied to any particular Opinions but always follow'd what appear'd most probable tho' generally inclining to the Peripateticks See Book 2. ch 2. Book 3. ch 4. Academicks and h Who held that Virtue was the chief and abundantly most desirable Good See Book 3. ch 3. but yet allow'd the Name of Good to some other things viz. Riches Friends Health c. which the Stoicks did not Peripateticks have a Right to lay down any Rules upon this Subject For as to the Opinion of i These three Philosophers were of different Opinions about Man's Happiness Aristo and Pyrrho making it consist in Virtue alone with a perfect indifference as to every thing else such as Health Riches Honours c. See Cicer. de Fin. Book 4. ch 16. Acad. Quest. Book 4. ch 42. Herillus made it to consist in Knowledge with a like indifference Tho' they did disagree therefore in their Notions of Happiness yet they were all agreed in what Cicero here taxes them with viz. taking away all delectus rerum difference or power of Chusing between things by which means they left no aditus as he speaks ad inventionem Officii no way of finding out what is our Duty For how can that Prudence which is seen in wisely chusing one thing before another have any place if all things are equally in themselves indifferent And if there be no difference between Sickness and Health Riches and Poverty and 't is as good for a Man to be in one as the other of these this takes away all obligation of assisting those who are in Sickness or Want seeing according to this Opinion they are not any wise in a worse condition than the Healthy or Rich and by consequence all Justice Charity Bounty c. must fall to the Ground This is what Cicero often objects to them That they did Virtutem ipsam quam amplexabantur tollere take away and ruin by just consequence that Virtue in which their Opinion made Happiness to consist See Cic. de Fin. Book 2. ch 13. and several other places Aristo Pyrrho and Herillus that has been exploded a good while ago who might have claim'd a Priviledge to treat about Duties as well as the former three had they but left a possibility of Chusing and allow'd at least so much Difference between things as to put us into a capacity of finding out our Duty and distinguishing it from that which is not so I shall k For being an Academick he was not tied to any Set of Opinions but allow'd to chuse that which he thought most probable whether Stoick Peripatetick or any other follow therefore at this time and on this Subject more especially the Stoicks not as a bare Translator of them but according to my usual Custom shall take out of their Stores so much and after such a manner as in my own Judgment I shall think most convenient Seeing then the whole of our following Discourse is design'd to be about Offices or Duties I think 't will be necessary for me in the first place to l The word definire does not necessarily signifie to define in the strict acceptation of that word but in a larger sence to set bounds to the meaning and signification of any word determin and fix the Signification of the word Office which I can't but admire to find omitted by m An eminent Stoick Scholar of Antipater Tarsensis or Sidonius He writ three Books concerning Offices which Cicero follows in this Work He was a Rhodian by birth and greatly admir'd for his Learning and Wisdom by the second Africanus and the wise Laelius c. Gicero often makes honourable mention of him calling him One of the greatest of all the Stoicks and worthy of that Familiarity with those two great Men. Panaetius for every clear and rational Discourse upon any Subject ought first to begin with an Explication of that Subject that so we may have a distinct Conception of what we are afterwards to discourse about CHAP. III. The whole Subject of Duties consists of two Parts Ordinary and perfect Duties and what they are Panaetius made but three general Heads of Deliberation to which Cicero adds two more The general Method he designs to take in the whole Work a The whole of Morality consists of two Parts in one of which 't is enquir'd What the Happiness or chief Good of Man is in the second are laid down some Rules of Action by living up to which he is to obtain that Happiness Of the former he has discours'd in his Books de Finibus the latter makes the Subject of his present Enquiry THe whole subject of Duties then in its greatest Latitude comprehends under it these two Parts The first is taken up in explaining what is Good and what our greatest Good The second in certain Directions and Precepts according to which upon all occasions 't is our Duty to govern our Lives and Actions To the first Part belong such Questions as these Wnether all Duties are perfect or not And Whether one can be greater or less than another With several others to the same purpose Not but that b Such are the Actions of Justice Temperance c. the performance of which tends directly to Man's Happiness tho' they immediately relate to the Conduct of his Life the Duties of this second Part the Rules and Precepts of which are laid down have some tendency and relation to our chiefest Good but only it does not so plainly appear because they seem to concern more immediately the Government of our Lives and Regulation of our Manners and these are they I design to explain in the following Treatise There is also another c Philosophers usually reckon three Degrees or States of Virtue The first utterly imperfect before a Man has gotten an Habit of it which is rather an Entrance into than a State of Virtue therefore not mentioned here by our Author The second more perfect when a Man hath got a Habit of it but yet may sometimes fall into Vice such was the Virtue of Cato Laelius and other wise Men. The third absolutely perfect and compleat by Aristotle call'd Heroick and by the Stoicks The State of Wisdom When a Man has perfectly got the mastery of his Passions and with all the Powers and Faculties of his Soul from a perfect Habit of the truest Wisdom and Prudence doth nothing but what is wholly agreeable to right Reason An Office or Virtue of this third kind the Stoicks called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Man that does it a wise Man such a one as by their own confession never was in the World but only in Idea A Virtue of the second is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which I have English'd Ordinary which does not require a perfect imaginary Wisdom but is
such as ordinary Men are capable of in the Affairs of Life See Book 3. ch 3 4. Distribution of Duties some of 'em being call'd Middle or Ordinary and others Perfect or Compleat To the latter I think we may give the name of Right or Strait which sort by the Greeks is call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the former ordinary one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By that which we have call'd Right or Strait as they explain it is meant a Virtue That is wholly Compleat in all its Parts without any manner of Flaw or Imperfection and by that which we have call'd Ordinary such a one as A fair and reasonable Account may be given for the doing of it d I have enlarg'd a little upon our Author here to make his Sence more plain Now these fair and reasonable Accounts are all to be drawn from several Heads which are by Panaetius reduc'd to three and may be call'd general Heads of Deliberating or Doubting concerning any Action whether it should or should not be done The first is when 't is consulted or doubted Whether the Action that 's under Consideration be Honest or Dishonest in which Enquiry Men are often divided between several Opinions The second is when 't is enquired and consulted Whether the Action that 's under Deliberation will supply us with the Pleasures and Conveniencies of Life furnish us with Plenty of outward things such as Riches Honors Power c. which may put us into a capacity of doing good to our selves and to all those for whom we are more nearly concern'd all which Enquiry comes under the general Head of e He comprehends then under the Notion of Profit not only Riches and Honors but all the other Conveniencies and Pleasures of Life such as Health Strength bodily Pleasures c. And an Action that will supply us with any of these is what he calls by the name of a profitable one Profit The third Ground or Reason of Doubting is When that thing which f He says seems to be because however it may supply us with the Conveniencies of Life yet 't is not really but only seems to be profitable if it thwart Honesty For Honesty being the greatest if not only Good as he before laid down whatever takes away our Honesty must needs be unprofitable for us tho' it should supply us with all the Pleasures and Glories of the World as he shews at large in the third Book seems to be profitable for us comes into competition with that which is Honest For then our Interest drawing us one way and Honesty pulling us back another the wavering Mind is as 't were toru in sunder between the two and is rack'd with doubting and anxious Thoughts There 's no greater fault in any Division than not to take in all the several parts of the Matter to be divided and yet two are omitted in the now mention'd one of Panaetius For Men not only consult and deliberate whether such an Action be Honest or Dishonest but also Of two Honests that are both propos'd to 'em which is the most so and in like manner Of two Profitables which is the most profitable From whence it appears That what he thought was contain'd in three ought rather to be divided into five Heads g Having thus laid down his five Heads of Deliberation he tells you in what Method he designs to discourse of ' em In the first Book he 'll handle the two about Honesty First Whether an Action be Honest or Dishonest to ch 43. Secondly Of two that are both Honest which is the most so to the end In the second Book he treats of Profitable enquiring First Whether an Action be Profitable or not to ch 25. Secondly Of two that are both Profitable which is the most so to the end The whole Subject of the third Book is the fifth Head When a seeming Profit interferes with Honesty how a Man should do to know what is his Duty I have added something to the Text here to make the Method more plain We must then in the first place discourse about Honesty and this we shall do under these two Enquiries Whether the thing propos'd be Honest or Dishonest And Of two that are Honest which is the most so which will make up the Subject of our First Book We shall treat in our Second of Profit or Interest under the same Heads And lastly in our Third we shall endeavour to shew When a seeming Advantage and Honesty come into competition how a good Man should determin his Judgment CHAP. IV. The Excellence of the Nature of Man above that of Brutes How the several Virtues Prudence Justice c. are agreeable to its Dictates and result from ' em Wherein Honestum in general consists a His Design he has told us is to treat of the Means for attaining Man's Happiness Now the Happiness of any thing is the highest Perfection of its Nature which consists in acting most agreeably to its Dictates as that 's a perfect Horse or Dog which does those things best which are most according to the Natures of those Animals The Duties therefore of which he is to treat since their Design is to bring Men to Happiness must needs be such as are perfective of and consequently such as are agreeable to the Nature of Man And to shew that they are so and how they are deduc'd and deriv'd from it 't was necessary for him in the first place to shew wherein the Nature of Man consists and how it differs from that of other Creatures which is therefore the Design of this Chapter See his de Fin. Book 2. ch 14. and Book 5. ch 9 10 c. THe first thing then to be taken notice of is this That every Creature doth by Nature endeavour to preserve its own self its Life and Body and to shun and avoid those things which appear prejudicial and hurtful to it but to seek and procure whatever is necessary for the support of its Being and advancement of its Happiness such as Food Shelter and the like There is likewise common to all sorts of Animals a Desire of Copulation for the continuance and propagation of their several Species together with a Love and Concern for their young Ones Now there 's this special Difference between Men and Brutes that the latter are govern'd by nothing but their Sences never look any farther than just to what strikes and affects 'em at present and have a very little if any Concern for what is past or to come But the former are Creatures endow'd with Reason which gives 'em a power to carry their Thoughts to the Consequences of Things to discover Causes before they have yet produc'd their Effects to see the whole Progress and even the first Seeds as it were and Appearances of 'em to compare like Occurrences with like and by joyning what is past and what is to come together to make a just Estimate of the one from
creditable and manly Recreations CHAP. XXX The Excellence of Man's Nature above that of Brutes necessary to be consider'd Wherein it consists Some are really Beasts under the shape of Men. Sensual Pleasures Effeminacy c. unbecoming Man's Nature Beside Reason which is the common Nature of all Men each Man has his particular Nature or Genius The difference of Mens particular Natures or Dispositions shewn by a large number of Examples BUt in all Enquiries concerning what becomes us 't is of very great moment to be a To the end that we may perceive the Nobleness and Excellency of the one above the other and make it our Business to live accordingly This will shew us as he goes on to observe how mean and unworthy an Employment it is for a Man to wallow in Lust and Sensuality how inconsistent with his reasonable Nature and how much more agreeable to Goats and Swine constantly reflecting How much Man's Nature excels that of Beasts and inferior Annimals These have no tast or relish for any thing but the Pleasures of the Body towards which they are carry'd with a great deal of Eagerness whereas nothing's more agreeable and nourishing as it were to the Mind of Man than Learning and Contemplation Hence he is always a-seeking or contriving of something that 's new and is greatly delighted with seeing and hearing for the increase of his Knowledge And if there is any one too much addicted to sensual Pleasures unless he 's transform'd into a meer Brute for some such there are who are Men in Name and not in Reality but if I say any one is too much addicted and suffers himself to be conquer'd by Pleasure yet for very shame he will hide and conceal his Propensions towards it as much as is possible And what is this now but b For what else should be the reason why Men are asham'd to discover their Desires and Inclinations for bodily Pleasures but only a sort of natural Consciousness that they are not answerable to the Dignity of their Nature a plain Indication That sensual Pleasures are unbecoming the Dignity of a reasonable Creature and ought to be despis'd and rejected by it And whoever sets any Value upon them should be sure to take care that he keep within the Limits of Reason and Moderation From hence it follows that we should not have any respect to Pleasure but only to the preservation of our Health and Strength in our Victuals Cloaths and other Conveniencies belonging to the Body And does not the Consideration of the same Dignity and Excellence of our Natures plainly inform us how base and unworthy a thing it is to dissolve in Luxury Softness and Effeminacy And how brave and becoming it is on the other hand for a Man to lead a Life of Frugality and Temperance of Strictness and Sobriety c Having shewn what the true Notion of Decorum is and hinted at the Duties of it as 't is drawn from the Nature of Man in general he now proceeds to a second sort of it taken from each one 's particular Nature We should not only live so as is Consonant to our general Character Right Reason but every one should endeavour to follow what 's agreeable to his particular Inelinations provided there 's nothing in 'em vicious or unreasonable For nothing can ever be handsom or becoming that 's contrary to the tendency of a Man 's own Genius for whatever is strain'd and forc'd as all such things are must consequently be undecent Here therefore he begins to discourse of Mens various Dispositions c. some are naturally Witty and Merry others Grave and Serious or the like And 't is impossible one of these should ever sustain the Character of the other but he must come off very aukwardly and unhandsomly And here we must observe that Nature has given us as it were a double Part to be acted in the World The first is extended to all Men in common forasmuch as we are all Partakers of Reason and that Prerogative of our Nature whereby we are exalted above other Animals 't is this that conducts us in the finding out our Duty and from it all Honesty and Becomingness arises The second is appropriate to each in particular for as there 's a great deal of difference in Bodies some being nimble and proper for Running others more lufty and fitter for Wrestling some of a noble and majestick Air others of a sweet and engaging kind of Beauty so there 's no less or rather a far greater Variety in Humours Thus d A famous Roman Orator one of the Interlocutors in our Author De Oratore where may be seen enough of his Character particularly an admirable Account of his Death chap. 1. Book 3. Lucius Crassus and e L. Marcius Philippus a great Orator and Cos. of Rome An. Urb. 662. Our Author calls him magno virum ingenio Book 2. chap. 17. and mentions him in several places of his Works Lucius Philippus were Men of a great deal of Wit and Pleasantry f Brother to the Elder Catulus whom we spoke of ch 22. He is often mention'd by our Author for his Wit particularly very much in his De Oratore and ch 37. of this Book Caius the Son of Lucius Caesar of more than they and a great deal more studied Whereas the young g M. Livius Drusus an excellent young Roman Gentleman Tribune when Philip was Cos. See his Character and Death in Patercul Book 2. ch 13 14. Drusus and h There were several Noble Romans of that Name one M. Aurelius Scaurus was Cos. and slain by the Cimbri when they broke into Italy 'T is likely he means here M. Aemilius Scaurus whom he mention'd ch 22. Scaurus at the same time were Men of extraordinary Gravity and Severity i He was sirnam'd the Wise whom he makes speak in his Book de Amicitia Laelius had abundance of Mirth and Gaity his Familiar k The Younger Africanus Scipio much more Ambition and greater Austerity and Strictness of Living Amongst the Greeks Socrates is said to have been one that was of a very easie and facetious Humour that always loved to be Merry and Jesting and was a mighty Artist at hiding his Meaning under witty Ironies and drolling Expressions which sort of Men are by the Grecians call'd l 'T is plain from what he has been saying that this Word is taken here in a good Sence Not for those roguish Dissemblers call'd by that Name and describ'd by Theophrastus in his Characters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereas m The former a famous Athenian General and Statesman of whom see Plut. and Thucid. The latter an eminent Philosopher of the Isle Samos Founder of the Pythagorick Sect. Pericles and Pythagoras got ' emselves Credit by being of exactly the contrary Temper Hannibal among the Carthaginian Generals and amongst our own Fabius was Crafty and Subtle one that knew how to disguise his Intentions and
Standard of Justice and Equity Here 's one Man shall dwell in what belongs to another What Reason is there I beseech you for this that when I have bought built repair'd and laid out a great deal of Money another should come and injoy all the Fruits of it in spite of my Teeth Is not this plainly to take away from one that which justly belongs to him and give to another what he has nothing of Right to As for the Project of Forgiving Debts I can see no Reason in the World for it unless it be Reason that another should buy Land with my Money and that he should have the Land but I never have my Money CHAP. XXIV Care should be taken to prevent Peoples running too much into Debt Faith the Cement of Publick Society Cicero 's Conduct in his Consulship about the matter of Debts The Duties of a good Magistrate How one's Health and Estate are to be taken care of a Since the Design of making Creditors Forgive all Debts is so very pernicious c. 't is one great Business of a good Governour to prevent Peoples running too much into Debt which may be done several Ways CAre ought therefore to be taken before-hand which 't is easie to do by a great many ways to keep People from running so much into Debt as may bring any Damage or Inconvenience to the Publick and not when they are in to make the Creditors lose what 's their own and let the Debtors gain what in Justice is another's For nothing so cements and holds together in Union all the parts of a Society as Faith or Credit which can never be kept up unless Men are under some force and necessity of honestly Paying what they owe to one another This Design of having Debtors excus'd from Payment b In the Conspiracy of Catiline See chap. 22. Book 1. was never attempted with greater eagerness than whilst I was Consul Men of all Ranks and Degrees in the State took up Arms and form'd Camps for the bringing it about whose Endeavours I resisted with so much vigour as that the Republick was quickly deliver'd from so pernicious an Evil. There never were known greater Debts in the City nor ever more easily and faithfully paid and pray what was the Reason of all this Why because when their Hopes of Defrauding were cut off they found ' emselves under a Necessity of Payment 'T is true there is c He means Caesar who being over head and ears in Debt was suspected in Catiline's time to favour his wicked Designs under-hand and so may be said to have been conquer'd by Cicero when he ruin'd Catiline one who has since been a Conquerer tho' then he was conquer'd by my Vigilance that has d He made the Creditors lose not all but only a fourth part of their Due found out Means to effect these Designs at a time when they 'd bring him e Because he was then got free from Debt by other Ways and so had no occasion to make use of this upon his own Account no manner of Advantage but such an Inclination had that Man to Villany that the bare Doing of it was a Pleasure to him without any other Invitation in the World The Sum then of what has been said is this That such as design for the good of the Republick must be sure to avoid this sort of Liberality which takes away from one what it gives to another and must constantly make it their principal Care to uphold each Member in his proper Rights according to the Principles of Justice and Equity so as neither to suffer the poorer sort of People to be wrong'd or oppress'd by reason of their Poverty nor the richer to be hindred from keeping or demanding what 's justly their own by the Envy of the others and in fine must apply their most earnest Endeavours whether in War or Peace to encrease the Power and enlarge the Bounds and Revenues of the Republick These are the Duties and Exercises of great Men These are the things which were practic'd by our Ancestors and whoever goes on to perform the same will not only bring great Advantage to the Republick but gain a mighty Interest and Reputation to himself f He has now done with his first Head propos'd in this Book viz. Whether an Action be profitable or not In which after having shewn That Men are able to bring the most Profit to us he gives some Directions about how we should engage Men to be of our side and so do us all the Service that lies in their Power He should now proceed to the second Head propos'd to be the Subject of this Book but because Antipater thought the former not perfect because two material things were omitted in it viz. The Care of our Health and Estate he therefore before he leaves this Head adds a word or two about each of these In these Rules of Duty relating to things profitable g There were two or three Stoicks of that Name The one of Tarsus call'd Tarsensis Scholar to Diogenes Babylonius and Master of Panaetius He is mention'd ch 12. of the next Book Another about the same time or as others think the same Man by another name call'd Sidonius a familiar Acquaintance of L. Crassus an Historian and Poet famous for making Hexameter Verses extempore See Cic. and Quintil. of whom we have several Epigrams still extant in the Greek Anthologia He 's said to have had a Fever every Year on his Birth-day of which at last he dy'd The third a Tyrian here mention'd an Acquaintance of Cicero's and particularly familiar with Cato Uticensis whom he Instructed in Morality and Politicks Antipater the Tyrian a Stoick Philosopher who lately dy'd at Athens thinks that two things have been omitted by Panaetius First The care of getting or preserving one's Health And Secondly Of an Estate I believe that great Philosopher might omit 'em on purpose because they are so easie and obvious to every one however 't is certain they are both of 'em profitable h How the Health of the Body is to be maintain'd Now Health is preserv'd by considering the peculiar Temper of one's Body and observing what agrees or does not agree with it by Temperance and Moderation in Meats and Drinks and other things relating to the welfare of the Body by forbearance and abstinence as to the matter of Pleasures and lastly by the Skill of Physicians and the like i How an Estate should be gotten kept c. An Estate should be gotten by nothing that 's any ways Scandalous or Dishonest preserv'd by Diligence and prudent Management and lastly by the same means better'd and augmented But this whole Subject is excellently handled by k A famous Athenian Son of one Gryllus and Scholar of Socrates a valiant and wise Captain as well as an eminent Philosopher and Historian His Works are most of 'em extant to this day the native Simplicity
Guilt of so great a Sin they do really increase it by adding to their Iniquity the impudent Folly of Mocking God and Deceiving themselves that it aggravates it rather and makes it the more criminal This therefore was no more than a foolish piece of Craftiness impudently pretending to pass for Prudence Whereupon the Senate took care to order that my crafty Gentleman should be sent back in Fetters again to Hannibal But the gloriousest Action of the Senate was this Hannibal had c After the Battel at Cannae where Paullus and Varro the two Consuls were defeated by Hannibal eight Thousand of our Soldiers his Prisoners not such as had either been taken in Battel or had fled from any imminent Danger of their Lives but were left in the Camp by Paullus and Varro the then two Consuls The Senate decreed that these should not be Ransom'd tho' it might have been done with a small Sum of Money for no other end but to let our Soldiers see that either they must resolve to Conquer or Die Upon the News of which as the same Author tells us Hannibal presently began to be disheartned when he saw that the Senate and People of Rome had so great Resolution even in the midst of their Misfortunes Thus we see Honesty gets the better in the comparison against that which has only the Appearance of Profit But d A learned Roman who was Quaestor and Tribune of the People He writ the Annals of the Roman Empire in Greek which are thought to have been translated into Latin by Q. Claudius Quadrigarius and to be the Claudii Annales Aciliani quoted by Livy Acilius who has written an History in Greek says More of 'em return'd under this Pretence to the Camp hoping by such a Trick to get quit of their Oaths and that they were all of 'em branded with Shame and Dishonour by the Censors But let us now put an end to this third Head since from what has been said 't is apparently manifest That whatever is contrary to the Virtue of Fortitude that is to say whatever is done with a timerous mean disheartned abject Spirit can never be really and truly Profitable because it is wicked disgraceful and odious And such would this Action of Regulus have been had he either in delivering his Sence about the Captives spoke what was for his own not the Publick Security or afterwards chosen to remain at home instead of returning to fulfil his Oath CHAP. XXXIII Nothing contrary to Temperance c. can be truly Profitable Who those Philosophers were that made Happiness and Misery consist in Pleasure and Pain This Opinion ruins all Virtue Prudence Fortitude Temperance and Justice However these Philosophers endeavour to clear themselves of this Imputation but can't get well off Pleasure opposite to Honesty The Absurdity of those who would have made Happiness to consist in both these A short Recapitulation of this last Book How far Pleasure may be allow'd A Conclusion by way of Exhortation to his Son WE have now finish'd our third Head a He has shewn that nothing can ever be Profitable that 's contrary to three of the general Virtues Justice Prudence and Courage It only remains that he shew the same of the fourth Temperance which he endeavours to do in this Chapter the fourth and last remains only to be spoke to which contains in it Decency Modesty Moderation Continence and Temperance And can any thing be Profitable that is opposite to a Train of such excellent Virtues There hath been however a Sect of Philosophers Scholars of Aristippus who were call'd b Because Aristippus chap. 14. Book 1. was born at Cyrene a Town in Africk Cyrenaicks and others who had the Name of c So call'd from one Anniceris a Cyrenian Scholar of Paraebates a Cyrenaick He corrected a little the Cyrenaick Opinions and therefore was call'd Founder of a new Sect. See Menage on Laertius's Life of Aristippus where he shews there were two call'd Anniceris the former Contemporary with Plato and his Redeemer when a Slave in Aegina and the latter of this Sect. Annicerians given them that affirm all Good to consist in Pleasure and count Virtue it self therefore only desirable because of some Pleasure which it brings along with it But these being now almost worn out of Date Epicurus is mightily come into Vogue the great Supporter and as 't were second Founder of the same Opinions With these we must fight as they say with might and main if ever we think of supporting the Cause and maintaining the Interest of Virtue and Honesty For if what d An Athenian Scholar and most intimate Friend to Epicurus often mention'd by our Author Metrodorus has written pass for Truth That whatever can truly be call'd our Profit nay and all the Welfare and Happiness of Life consists in a firm Constitution of Body and a well-grounded Hope of its lasting Continuance it is certain this Profit nay this sovereign Profit for such they account it must sometimes be set in opposition to Honesty e He proceeds to shew That this Opinion ruins all the Virtues as first Prudence For what in the first place will be the Office of Prudence only to cater and look about for Pleafures How miserable a case is that Virtue in which is thus made a Servant and Pander to Pleasure But what shall be her Business in this Office to tast and distinguish ingeniously betwixt Pleasures Supposing this to be a pleasant Business 't is certainly the most scandalous one that could ever have been thought on Again Can he that makes Pain be the greatest Evil have ever such a Virtue as Fortitude in him the very Nature of which consists wholly in despising of Pains and Difficulties I know Epicurus upon several Occasions and this in particular speaks very couragiously as to the matter of Pain but we must not consider so much what is said as what ought to be said by a Man of his Principles who makes Pleasure and Pain to be the ultimate Bounds of Man's Happiness and Misery So again if you 'd hear him about Continence and Temperance he tells you abundance of extraordinary things in a great many places but he 's gravell'd as we speak and can never be able to acquit himself handsomly For with what Face of Reason can he commend Temperance who places his Happiness in the Enjoyment of Pleasures f That is Pleasure Epicurus's Happiness consists in indulging the sensual Appetite but Temperance consists in opposing this Appetite therefore Temperance and Pleasure can never agree and consequently Epicurus is inconsistent with himself when he commends Temperance and yet makes Pleasure his soveraign Good when the sensual Appetite follows after Pleasures and 't is the Business of Temperance to correct that Appetite g Having prov'd that this Opinion ruins all the Virtues he proceeds to shew how these endeavour to bring themselves off in each of them But still they endeavour
TULLY's MORALS TULLY's Three Books OF OFFICES In ENGLISH With NOTES Explaining the Method and Meaning of the AUTHOR LONDON Printed for SAM BUCKLEY at the Dolphin in S t Paul's Church-yard M DC XC IX TO Mr. Will. Bedingfield AND Mr. John Wallis I Beg leave Gentlemen to prefix your Names to this little Treatise about Moral Duties which the wise Author of it thought fit to recommend to his own Son and which has usually been look'd upon as one of the perfectest and compleatest in its kind It has alter'd its Dress indeed since it came under my Hands and I am afraid may-have suffer'd very much by the Alteration however as to the Body and more substantial Parts of it I hope 't is still the same and worthy of that Opinion which the Author himself had of it That 't was a very good Present if made such Use of as the Nature and Importance of its Argument requir'd 'T was at first design'd for a Person in your Circumstances a Student in an University a young Gentleman of great Hopes one from whom his Country did expect to receive Benefit and his Friends no small Comfort and Satisfaction I thought I could not do better therefore after once I had resolv'd to Translate it into English than Dedicate it to You who have so good a Title to it as well upon this as upon some other Accounts The Honour and Happiness I have in being appointed the Director of your Studies the many Favours and Obligations I have receiv'd upon that account together with a great many other Inducements arising from so close and endearing a Relation almost forc'd me to make this publick Acknowledgment And I confess I was desirous my self of doing it both that it might serve for a Testimony of that Value and Esteem which I have for you and that I might oblige you by it in some measure to read these Precepts when you are gone from under my Care which most People in those Circumstances are but too ready to forget You will find here all the more useful Parts of Virtue so clearly set before you the Excellence and Importance of it so judiciously enlarg'd upon the Necessity of it toward the procuring a Reputation toward the meeting with Encouragement and Success in our Undertakings and in a word toward the obtaining any tolerable degree of Happiness in whatever State of Life so abundantly made out that I hardly know of any thing relating to meer Morality that could more fitly be recommended to Persons in Your Circumstances by one in Mine than this excellent Treatise 'T is true you have read it in its Original Language and my Request to you is that you would continue to do so the Design of this Translation being not to exclude but to assist the Latin which if it may but do in any tolerable manner so as to help toward the Understanding of such excellent Rules of Living I have obtain'd my End Such as it is Gentlemen I heartily present it to you wishing that it may be in some measure serviceable to those Ends for which it was at first design'd and that all but especially Men of Estate and Fortune and such as are likely to make some Figure in the World would be persuaded to learn ev'n from an Heathen Writer That there is no true Profit or Advantage no solid Reputation or Honour and in short no real Happiness any where to be found except in the Practice of Virtue and Honesty I am GENTLEMEN Your most affectionate humble Servant T. C. ERRATA P. 129. l. 23. r. any by-ends p. 161. l. 22. r. filed off p. 204. Note h. r. six Books p. 281. l. 14. for now living r. lately dead THE PREFACE THE turning into English so excellent a Discourse as this is I suppose will hardly stand in need of an Apology But the attempting it after so eminent a Person as Sir R. L' Estrange perhaps will hardly admit of any I do not design to spin out a long Preface in making Excuses for so bold an Undertaking much less in finding fault with the Performance of that Gentleman I have more regard to the Reader 's Patience than to do the former and am too sensible of His great Worth and my own Miscarriages to be guilty of the latter I shall only beg leave to assure the Reader That this Translation was well-nigh finish'd before I saw the last Edition of Sir Roger's in which he hath corrected some very notorious and palpable Faults that were in all the former I hope therefore it could be no Presumption in me to think his Translation faulty since he himself by this late Alteration has in effect acknowleg'd it I might 't is true have suppress'd my own Work when I saw he had corrected those Mistakes and Oversights I had formerly found in his and which first put me upon making this new Attempt But beside that all Men when once they are pretty far advanc'd in any Business as I then was are naturally unwilling to have it taken out of their Hands and desirous of going on to see an end of it and beside that I think there are still some places in which he hath mistaken or not clearly enough explain'd the Meaning of the Author I was always of Opinion That there would be something further necessary before Tully's Offices could be throughly understood and that a bare Translation and especially so close an one as Sir Roger's is could never give the Reader a View of the deep Sence and sometimes intricate Method of that Book I resolv'd therefore to go on with my design'd Translation of it and to add such things to it by way of Explication as seem'd necessary or convenient for the better understanding the Design Meaning and Method of the Author Those People therefore that can understand Cicero by Sir Roger's Translation may still make use of it if they please notwithstanding any thing I have said to the contrary and I hope there 's no harm done and for those that cannot I have attempted this new one which I hope may be in some measure serviceable to that End The Author of this Book is so well known that 't would be altogether needless to give any Account of him in this place As for the Book it self it has always been look'd upon as one of the perfectest Pieces of his Writings and one of the noblest Systems of Moral Precepts that have ever been left us by the ancient Heathens and not without reason There appears all along in it so great a Love and Concern for Virtue which he recommends to his Son with all imaginable Earnestness so deep a Sence of the Obligations to Honesty and Aversion for every thing that 's contrary to it such an admirable Inclination for the Virtues of Plainness Truth and Sincerity and such a generous Contempt of all shuffling mean and under-hand Dealings such Piety toward his Native Country and hearty Concern for the Calamities it groan'd under and withal so
VII The second general Virtue which consists in maintaining of Human Society Two Parts of it Justice and Liberality The first Duty of Justice All things at first common The Original of Property Men are born for the Good c. of one another whence arises the second Duty of Justice Two sorts of Injustice the one of Commission the other of Omission The Causes of the first sort of Injustice First Fear Secondly Desire OF the other remaining three a Which may be call'd Justice in a larger signification of that Word as it takes in all the Duties Men owe to one another which is the second general Head he mention'd and comprehends under it Justice strictly so call'd and Liberality or Kindness one to another of which he begins to treat chap. 14. that which consists in upholding Society and keeping up mutual Love and good Nature amongst Mankind seems of the largest and most diffusive Extent It comprehends under it these two Parts First Justice which is much the most glorious and splendid of all Virtues and alone entitles us to the Name and Appellation of Good Men. And Secondly Beneficence which may also be call'd either Bounty or Liberality Now the first thing that Justice requires of us is this That no one should do any Hurt to another unless he be necessarily driven upon it for his own Security b The word deinde doth not denote a second Duty of Justice but only the second Part of the first Duty of Doing no Wrong The meaning is That of things which are common he should content himself with his reasonable Share and those which are appropriate to particular Persons he should suffer to remain in the State they are without disturbance The word suus signifies here as in many other places the same thing with proprius and whatever belongs either to all in common or to particular Persons as their own Propriety should not be alter'd but made use of accordingly Now no Man can say that he has any thing c He supposes all things at first to have been common like the Room in a Theatre or other such place and as in these he who first gets a Place has a Right to it and can't be fairly turn'd out of it so he imagins it to have been in old Time Not that the Seizure of it self gives a Right but the tacit Agreement amongst Mankind That what any Man had first possess'd himself of should be his own Property See Grot. De Jure B. P. Book 2. ch 2. his own by a Right of Nature but either by an ancient immemorial Seizure as those who first planted uninhabited Countries Or secondly by Conquest as those who have got things by the Right of the Sword or else by some Law Compact Agreement or Lot 'T is by some of these means that the People inhabiting d Cicero himself was born at Arpinum a mean place in Italy hence by his Enemies in contempt call'd Arpinas He had a noble Country-house at Tusculum another Town not far from Rome whither he often retir'd and where he wrote five Books of Philosophy thence call'd his Tusculan Questions He therefore uses the Examples of these two Places because his Son was acquainted with ' em Arpinum and Tusculum came to have those Lands which are now call'd theirs and e Descriptio signifies a Draught of any Land or the like in order to every Man 's having his due Share The meaning is that private Men came to their Estates by the like sort of Distribution or Allotment as Towns and Cities did the same may be said as to private Mens Estates However since at present by some of these ways each particular Man has his personal Possessions out of that which by Nature was common to all 't is but reason that each should hold what is now his own which if any one endeavour to take away from him f Quicquid jure possidetur says Quintil. injuria aufertur Whatever any Man is in the rightful Possession of can't be taken from him without Injustice Since every one then has a Right to that which is now his own tho' 't were originally common no one without injuring him can dispossess him of it again he directly breaks in upon common Justice and violates the Rights of Human Society But seeing as is excellently said by Plato we are not Born for our selves alone but that our native Country our Friends and Relations have a just Claim and Title to some part of us and seeing whatsoever is created on Earth was meerly design'd as the Stoicks will have it for the Service of Men and Men themselves for the Service Good and Assistance of one another We g He now comes to the second Duty of Justice which is To do all the Good we can as the first was To do no Wrong certainly in this should be Followers of Nature and second her Intentions and by producing all that lies within the reach of our Power for the general Interest by mutually giving and receiving good Turns by our Knowledge Industry Riches or other means should endeavour to keep up that Love and Society that should be amongst Men. Now the great Foundation of Justice is h Justice is the rendring to every Man his due which no one can do without being true to his Word and conscientiously performing all Promises Oaths Bargains c. For he that Promises c. to another makes himself a Debtor of something to him which he may demand as a kind of Due 'T is the business of Faithfulness to see this pay'd so that Justice is as 't were built upon Faithfulness as its Basis and Foundation Faithfulness which consists in being constantly firm to your Word and a conscientious performance of all Compacts and Bargains whereupon for this once let us venture to follow the Opinion of the Stoicks those mighty Admirers of Derivations and believe that Fides Faithfulness is so call'd tho' perhaps it may seem a little too far fetcht quia fiat quod dictum est because what was promis'd is perform'd The i Having laid down the two great Duties of Justice and the Foundation of it he now proceeds to its opposite Vice Injustice of which there are two sorts and the Causes of it Vice that is opposite to Justice is Injustice of which there are two sorts the first consists in the actual doing an Injury to another the second in tamely looking on while he is Injur'd and not helping and defending him tho' we are able For he that injuriously falls upon another whether prompted by Rage or other violent Passion does as 't were leap at the throat of his Companion and he that refuses to help him when Injur'd and to ward off the Wrong if it lies in his power is as plainly guilty of Baseness and Injustice as tho' he had deserted his Father his Friends or his native Country k The Causes of the first sort of Injustice
are of all things most strictly to be observ'd in the Common-wealth For there being two sorts of Disputing in the World the one by Reason and the other by open Force and the former of these being that which is agreeable to the Nature of Man and the latter to that of Brutes when we can't obtain what is our Right by the one we muste'en of necessity have recourse to the other 'T is allowable therefore to undertake Wars but it must always be with design of obtaining a secure Peace And when we have gotten the better of our Enemies we should rest content with the Victory alone and shew our selves merciful and kind to 'em afterwards unless they are such as have been very Cruel and committed inhuman Barbarities in the War Thus our Forefathers took into their City the c Several little Nations in Italy all conquer'd by the Romans Aequians Volscians Sabines and others whom they had subdu'd whereas d The former a City in Africk the latter in Spain both taken by Scipio Africanus the Younger Carthage and Numantia they entirely destroy'd I could wish I might not add e A famous and rich City in Achaia plac'd exactly in that Neck of Land which separates Peloponnesus or the Morea from the rest of Greece Hither S t Paul writ two of his Epistles 'T was taken by Mummius the Roman Consul and ras'd to the Ground because of some Affront the Corinthians had given to the Roman Ambassadors Corinth too but I believe they had something in their Eye when they did it and that more especially the Situation of the Place which being so very convenient as it was they were afraid least it might be at one time or other an Encouragement to a Revolt In my Opinion 't is always our Duty to do what we can for a fair and safe Peace in which thing if People would have f In the Civil War between Caesar and Pompey Cicero always labour'd for a Peace and Agreement between the Parties but to no purpose hearkned to me we might at this time have seen the Republick tho' 't is true I can't say in a flourishing Condition yet certainly not as at present we perceive it entirely subverted and fal'n into Ruins And as we are bound to be merciful to those we have actually conquer'd so should those also be receiv'd into Favour who have laid down their Arms and thrown ' emselves wholly upon the General 's Mercy and that even tho' the Breach be made in their City Walls Our good Fore-fathers were most strictly just as to this particular the Custom of those Times making him the Patron of a conquer'd City or People who first receiv'd 'em into the Faith and Allegiance of the People of Rome In short The whole Right and all the Duties of War are most religiously set down in the g The Feciales were a sort of Priests or Heralds among the Romans establish'd by Numa whose Business it was to determin all Cases about the Lawfulness of War about Leagues Ambassadors c. They were sent to demand Satisfaction of the People that had offended they denounc'd or proclaim'd Wars and in short nothing of that nature could be done without their Advice Cicero gives us an account of their Duties in his De Leg. 2. 9. Faederum pacis belli induciarum judices Feciales sunto c. Fecial Laws out of which it is manifest that never any War can be justly undertaken unless Satisfaction have been first demanded and Proclamation of it made publickly before-hand Poppilius was Commander in one of the Provinces and Cato's Son a young Soldier under him and Poppilius thinking fit to disband one of his Legions it happen'd to be the same in which the young Man was who therefore was dismiss'd among the rest of the Soldiers But having a mind to see more of the War he notwithstanding this continu'd still in the Army Hereupon old Cato writes a Letter to Poppilius and therein desires him That if he suffer'd his Son to remain in the Army he would give him his h An Oath that was given to the Soldiers when they went out to War call'd Sacr amentum by which they were oblig'd to be faithful to their General c. See the Form of it in Livy Military Oath again for as much the former being void by his Disbanding he could not any longer fight lawfully with an Enemy So religiously careful they were in those Days of doing nothing that 's contrary to the Laws of War There is extant still an Epistle of Cato the Father's to his Son in which he tells him That he had heard of his being Disbanded by the Consul when he was a Soldier in Macedonia in the War with i The last King of Macedonia beaten and led in triumph by Paulus Aemilius the Roman Consul about the Year of Rome 586. See Plautarch 's Life of Aemilius Perseus and therefore he advises him not by any means to intermeddle in a Battle because he says 't is unlawful for one that is no longer a Soldier to engage with the Enemy CHAP. XII The Civility of the old Romans towards their Enemies in giving 'em the mildest Names Some Wars are only for Empire others for Safety Difference of Conduct to be observ'd in each A noble and generous Saying of King Pyrrhus ANd here I can't but observe moreover That he who is properly call'd Perduellis a stubborn Enemy had by our Ancestors the name of Hostis giv'n him the gentleness of the Word somewhat lessening the foulness and odium of the Thing for Hostis an Enemy among them signify'd the same thing that Peregrinus a Stranger does now amongst us as appears from the a The Body of the ancient Roman Laws which were gather'd from the wisest Laws of all the Grecians by the Decemviri created for that purpose about the Year of Rome 301. See the History of 'em in Livy Book 3. chap. 33 34. where he calls 'em the fons omnis publici privatique Juris and our Author in his first Book de Orat. prefers 'em for Wisdom before whole Libraries of Philosophers Laws of the XII Tables and therein such sort of Expressions as these b These are the Words of two Laws taken out of the XII Tables See Charondas de Leg. XII Tab. The Meaning of the first is That whoever has got any Business at Law with a Stranger shall appoint a Day for the Decision of it before-hand that so he may have time to make his Appearance Of the second Tho'a Stranger had possess'd a Man's Estate never so long he should have no Title to it by way of Prescription but the rightful Owner after never so many Years should have Authority and Power to demand it of him again Status dies cum hoste and Adversus hostem aeterna auctoritas What greater Courtesie could be shewn than this to call even an Enemy by only the softest and most obliging Names Tho' the
follows That 't is Reason which ought to be the governing Faculty and the Appetite subject to the Commands of it CHAP. XXIX Our Actions should neither be Rash nor Careless c. How the Sensitive Part should be subject to the Reasonable Passion disorders the Body as well as Mind Watchfulness and Consideration necessary for the subduing of the Passions Men were not design'd by Nature for Jesting c. but serious Studies Several sorts of Jests and Diversions Measures to be observ'd about ' em EVery Action therefore should be free as from Precipitancy and Rashness on the one hand so from all Carelesness and Negligence on the other nor should any thing be done for which we can't give a sufficient Reason which is almost the very Definition of Duty In order to this a Since God has endow'd us with the Faculty of Reason to shew and instruct us in the Way of our Duty What can be more either Sinful or Unbecoming than to stifle the Sparks of it by Negligence and Heaviness Or what more unnatural than to make what should be our Guide and Directress become a Captive and Slave to our irregular Passions For God has given us that Divine Faculty to no purpose if afterwards we refuse to be Guided and Conducted by it The great and fundamental Duty therefore in this place is To do nothing but according to the Directions of Reason to assert her Soveraignty and never suffer her to be captivated by any vicious Principle or inordinate Lust. the Passions must be brought under the power of Reason so as neither thro' Hastiness to run before its Orders nor thro' Coldness and Heaviness to disregard 'em when given but all their Motions must be so quieted and so restrain'd as to bring no Uneasiness or Disturbance to the Mind And from this calm and peaceable State of the Soul arises that Constancy and Moderation we have mention'd For when once the Passions grow unruly and extravagant and refuse to be guided in their Desires and Aversions by the Rules of Prudence b For nothing is so wild and ungovernable as the Passions when they 've over-power'd and got the mastery of Reason And how then can there be any Regularity Temper or Decency in that Life which is under the Government of such blind inconsistent Masters Distrahuntur in contrarias partes impotentium cupiditates says our Author in another place cum huic obsecutus sis illi est repugnandum they 'll run without question beyond all Bounds and Measure for they abandon and cast off their Allegiance to Reason which they ought to obey by the Constitution of Nature By this means are all things turn'd topsie-turvy and not the Mind only but even the Body also put very much into Disorder and Confusion Do but mark those who'r enflam'd with a vehement Anger or Desire who'r transported with Fear or an over-great Joy and you 'll see an alteration in their Countenances Voices Gestures and all their Actions which sufficiently gives us to understand that we may return again to the Duty now before us how necessary 't is to restrain and give check to the Movements of the Appetite and to be always Watchful and standing upon our Guard that so we may neither be Careless and Inconsiderate nor do any thing Rashly and at all Adventures c Since Reason as was shewn is the governing Part of Man and he 's bound to act according to its Precepts certainly it must follow That to spend his time in Idleness and Sloth in foolish Playing and impertinent Jesting is contrary to his Duty as being unworthy of that excellent Nature which God has bestow'd on him This brings him to discourse How far these things are allowable As first as to the Measure of Jesting it must not be excessive As to the Matter it must not be immodest or abusive c. For Mankind were never design'd by Nature meerly to sport and idle away their Time but to follow after grave and serious Studies and Business of greater importance than Play is Not but that Jesting and Diversion are allowable provided we use 'em but only as Sleep and other such necessary Refreshments of Nature viz. after the discharge of our serious and more important Duties And even then we must see that our Jesting be neither excessive nor immodest but such as is handsom and becoming a Gentleman For as Boys are allow'd not all kinds of Sports but only such as have nothing that is vicious or ill in them so in this Jesting we should allow our selves nothing but only what is agreeable to Honesty and Good-manners We may therefore observe that Jesting or Merriment is of two sorts the one clownish abusive scandalous and obscene the other handsom gentile ingenious and truly pleasant Of this kind are several Instances to be met with as in our d A famous Latin Comedian very well known by his Plays which are still extant See his Character in the Preface to three of 'em which are turn'd into English and the Commentators on Horace de Art Poet. v. 270. Plautus and the Old e Old in opposition to the New There were in all three sorts of Comedy among the Athenians The first in the strictest sence Old the Authors of which took true Stories for their Subjects and expos'd Men publickly by Name tho' they had otherwise a great deal of handsom Wit This being forbid the middle Comedy succeeded wherein they still took true Subjects and expos'd Men as formerly but under borrow'd Names these are both of 'em often and I suppose here comprehended under the name Old This was follow'd by the New wherein they only us'd feign'd Subjects and forbore to abuse See Horace Sat. 4. Book 1. and Art Poet. vers 281. and the Commentators upon him Greek Comedians so in the Writings of the Socratick Philosophers to which we may add the ingenious Sayings of several Men such as are collected by the Senior Cato and usually go by the Name of Apothegms There is no great difficulty then to distinguish between a gentile and a clownish Jest the one if brought in at a seasonable time and when a Man's Mind 's disengaged from Business is becoming for a Gentleman the other for no Man at all indeed when base and unhandsom things are dress'd up in filthy and obscene Expressions f Having done with Jesting he now proceeds to Plays and other Recreations concerning which almost the same Rules are to be observ'd They must not be excessive unhandsom c. Our Plays and Recreations must also be kept within their due Bounds and care should be taken that we don't run out into great Excesses and suffer the Pleasure which we take in them to carry us into any thing that 's Base or Unbecoming Hunting and the Exercises of the g A Field just without Rome where the Youth us'd to perform all their Sports and Exercises Campus Martius supply us with Examples enough of
keep his Counsel that could make shew of one thing whilst he was really designing another of exquisite Skill for contriving of Stratagems and preventing those laid by the Enemy against himself In this kind the Grecians give Jason n So call'd from Pherae a Town in Thessaly where he Reign'd He was one of the greatest Captains of his Age and chosen General of all the Greeks to make War upon the Persians He was Father-in-law of that Alexander Pheraeus whom he mentions ch 7. Book 2. the Pheraean and Themistocles the Preference before any others and there 's one thing of Solon's which shews he had his share of this Cunning and Subtilty o The Athenians and Megarans had been at Wars a great while for the Isle Salamis At last the former grew weary of it and made a Law That whoever propos'd fighting for it any more should lose his Life Solon once finding the Place might be recover'd but fearing to speak because of the Law feign'd himself Mad that under that Disguise he might speak what he would and coming into the Assembly in a strange Garb c. he repeated some odd Verses about Salamis and by degrees brought it about that the Athenians resolv'd to try again for the Isle and recover'd it when he feigned himself Distracted to save his own Life and withal to do a good piece of Service to the Publick There are others to be found of just an opposite Humour who think it unlawful to do any thing by Stratagem and under-hand Dealing but are all for Simplicity and Plainness in their Actions Lovers of open and undisguis'd Truth but Haters of any thing that looks like a Trick There are some that will undergo any thing in the World fawn and crouch to any manner of Person if they can but obtain their own Ends and Designs by it as Marcus Crassus we know did to Sylla Of which sort of crafty and complying kind of People Lysander the Lacedaemonian is said to have been Chief whereas Callicratidas who was Admiral of the Navy next after Lysander was quite the contrary Again There 's as great a variety in Men's Ways of Discourse as in their Humours and Complexions some who are able to speak very nobly can yet suit their Language to the Humours and Capacities of the ignorant Vulgar as I remember Catulus Father and Son as also Mutius Mancia could do and I have heard old People relate the same of Scipio Nasica But his Father on the contrary he who by slaying Tiberius Gracchus put a full end to his ruinous Attempts had none of that affable familiar way of speaking No more had p An eminent Philosopher Born at Chalecedon Schollar of Plato and Founder of the Academick Sect. He is frequently mention'd by our Author Xenecrates the most rigid and severe of all the Philosophers and for that very reason was Noted and Eminent In short There 's almost an infinite number of these different Natures and Characters in Men not one of which is q But only if it be apply'd to ill Ends and Purposes in it self to be condemn'd CHAP. XXXI Every one should follow his own Genius so far as 't is innocent Uniformity or Consistency most becoming a Man which can't be kept if we run counter to our own Natures The great force of this Difference in Mens Natures Custom of the Actors on the Stage Several other Rules relating to the same THe more easily then to arrive at that Decorum of which we are speaking let every one stick to his own peculiar Character and Humour provided it has nothing that 's Vicious in it I say provided it has nothing that 's Vicious in it for we should always take a particular care to do nothing that is contrary to that a Viz. Reason See Note on chap. 29. universal Character which Nature has imprinted on every one of us but saving the Reverence we owe to that then to live according to our own particular one so as to follow after that kind of Study and apply our selves to that course of Life which is most suitable and agreeable to our own Inclinations tho' others perhaps may be more useful and important For 't is in vain to struggle against the Bias of your Nature or at first to set upon that sort of Business which you can never arrive at any perfection in From what has been said it more fully appears what that is which we call b He means that which results from one's living up to his particular Character not that general one of which we have spoken before Becoming since nothing can be such that is done as we say in despite of Nature i. e. contrary to the bent and tendency of a Man's Genius Now it 's certain if any thing in the World is Becoming 't is a constant Uniformity in our whole Lives and particular Actions c Because 't is impossible wholly to conquer our Nature and Inclinations so that tho' we should by Custom to the contrary make shift to keep 'em under for some time yet they 'll certainly break out again and so spoil that Uniformity which is requir'd in our Lives which 'tis utterly impossible we should ever maintain so long as we run counter to our own Inclinations and foolishly follow after those of other People for as we should use our own Native Language which all are suppos'd to understand best and not lard our Talk as a great many do with Expressions out of Greek who are therefore deservedly laugh'd at by others So we should keep to one constant Tenour and regular Conduct in our Lives and Actions so that nothing may be in them which is not well suited and of a piece with the rest And this difference in the Characters or Natures of Men is of so great moment as that in consequence of it one Man may be oblig'd to make away with himself whilst another tho' like him as to all other Circumstances may be oblig'd to the contrary d He that was sirnam'd Uticensis because he chose rather to kill himself at Utica than yeild to the Power of Julius Caesar. He was Great Grandson to Censorius See his Life in Plutarch Cato for instance and those e Viz. Lucius Caesar Considius c. See Comment de Bell. Afric ch 11. who in Africk surrendred ' emselves to Caesar were all of 'em under the same Condition and yet any of the rest might perhaps have been blam'd for 't had they murder'd themselves so as Cato did because they were Men of less strictness in their Lives and less severity in their Manners But Cato was a Person whom Nature had endow'd with incredible Firmness and Strength of Soul which he had augmented by perpetual Constancy and unalterably adhering to his once undertaken Designs and Resolutions f This might be true enough if to kill himself were a lawful Action and had nothing in it that 's contrary to the Universal Nature of
one kind for the most part endeavour to excel in the same as c Q. Mutius Scaevola who was Augur and Son-in-law to the Wise Laelius whom he mentions at the beginning of his Book de Amicitia to whom his Father recommended him for the Study of the Civil Law He was Cos. with L. Metellus An. U. C. 636. There was another of this Name at the same time who was Pontifex maximus Quintus the Son of Publius Mucius did in the Civil Law d Scipio Africanus Minor who was Son of Paullus Aemilius but adopted by P. Scipio the Son of Africanus Major Africanus the Son of Paullus in Martial Atchievements And some not content with the Glory of their Ancestors have added something else of their own to it as that Africanus whom I just now mention'd who beside his great Fame for Military Exploits made himself noted for his Learning and Eloquence The same did e Two famous Athenian Generals See the Lives of 'em both in Corn. Nep. Timotheus the Son of Conon who was equal to his Father in the Glory of War and obtain'd that of Learning and Ingenuity besides But it happens sometimes that omitting to tread in the Steps of their Fathers some take new Methods and Designs of their own which generally speaking is the case with those who are born of mean Parents and propose to Rise and make their Fortunes in the World Each of these things should be thro'ly consider'd and revolv'd in our Minds when e'er we deliberate about what will become us The first thing then to be determin'd is what sort of Men we design to be and what course of Living to take to in the World which is a case of all others the most hazardous and difficult For when People are young and consequently most foolish they generally pitch upon that way of Life which then best pleases their unexperienc'd Fancies so that they are fix'd and engag'd in a certain Course before they have the Judgment to discern what is best f Prodicus was a Sophist in the Island of Cos one of Euripides's Masters who in a Book of his concerning Hercules brings in this Story as Socrates tells it in Xenophon's Memorab Book 2. ch 1. therefore he calls him here Herculem Prodicium Prodicus indeed as I find it in Xenophon tells us this Story concerning Hercules That when he was a Youth which is the proper Season allotted by Nature for chusing a Way of Life he withdrew himself into a solitary Place and there having found out a couple of Ways the one of Pleasure and the other of Virtue he sat musing and consider'd a while with himself which of these two he had best to follow Such a thing as this might happen to Hercules a Son of Jupiter but 't is not for us to expect the same who each of us take whom we please for our Patterns and suffer ourselves to be drawn any whither according as they lead us We have most of us Principles instill'd by our Parents and follow their Customs and Manners of Living others are guided by popular Opinion and like that best which takes with the most However there are some whether it be out of mere good Fortune or an happy Temper and Disposition of Soul or lastly by the Care and Instuctions of their Parents that pursue right Methods and Ways of Living CHAP. XXXIII Few so happy as to consider thro'ly what Way of Life they should choose The principal thing to be regarded in Choosing is one 's own Genius Next to that one's Fortune in the World After a Man has chose he should stick to his Choice without great Reasons to the contrary How a Change should be made Two Cautions to be observ'd about Imitating our Ancestors Those Men whose Nature is not capable of some should take the more care that they have other Virtues The best Inheritance a Father can leave his Son is the Fame of his Virtues 'T is a mighty Shame for a Son to be unworthy of the Fame of his Ancestors BUt those of all are the most difficult to be found who having sufficient natural Parts or sufficient Improvements of Learning and Education or both these together have withal had due time to consider with themselves what 's the best Course of Life they can follow in the World a Two things which ought to be carefully consider'd by us in Choosing our Calling First Our natural Disposition and Capacity for it Secondly Our Fortune and outward Circumstances in the World Now in this Deliberation the principal thing which we ought to regard is each Man 's peculiar Nature and Genius For since the Decorum of each particular Action as before was observ'd is taken from the Disposition of the Person that does it sure that Disposition should be carefully consulted before we determine upon our whole Way of Living b See Note on ch 31. 't is otherwise impossible we should keep a due Tenour and Consistency in our Lives and not sometimes faulter in the Performance of our Duty But tho' Nature in this case has much the greater sway yet Fortune comes in for a share next after her both of 'em therefore should be duly consulted in making choice of a Calling but more especially Nature For Fortune's unconstant and often changing but Nature is firm and will always abide by us so that for the former to oppose this latter is like a mortal Power 's contending with an immortal c After the Rules about choosing a Calling he proceeds to shew what a Man should do after he has chosen Should not be eager to change c. That Man then who has chose a Way of Living that 's suitable to his d His particular Nature or Genius Nature provided that Nature be no ways vitious should make it his next care never to alter it for nothing's less becoming than a Humour of Changing But if upon tryal he should find that he was mistaken in the choice of his Method as 't is possible such a thing sometime may happen there 's no way left but to unravel again what is already done If the Times themselves favour the making such a Change it may be the more easily and conveniently done but if not it must be brought about gradually and insensibly according to that Rule which is given by Wise Men When e'er you design to break off any Friendship or displeasing Acquaintance you should loosen the Knot by little and little and not try to cut it asunder all at once And when by this means we have chang'd our course of Life great care should be taken that we may seem to have done it upon very good Reasons But having before recommended the Imitation of our Fathers and Ancestors I must here interpose an Exception or two In the first place then we should take great care not to follow 'em in any thing that is vitious or blamable Nor secondly should we attempt it when we find our
Nation and accordingly Rule it with an high Hand if they do sometimes use Rigour and Severity like Masters towards their Slaves when there 's no other way of holding 'em in Subjection But for those who are Magistrates in a free City to endeavour to make themselves fear'd by the People is one of the maddest and most desperate Attempts upon the face of the Earth For tho' a Man should by his Power and Greatness oppress the Laws and over-awe Liberty by Terrour and Threatnings yet still they will find time to recover again first by the private Resentments of the Citizens and afterwards by their choosing in secret Consults some worthier Person to free 'em from the Oppressour And Liberty after she has been chain'd up a while is always more Curst and bites deeper than she would otherwise have done if she had never been restrain'd Let us therefore embrace and adhere to that Method which is of the most universal Influence and serves not only to secure us what we have but moreover to enlarge our Power and Authority That is in short Let us rather endeavour to be Lov'd than Fear'd which is certainly the best way to make us successful as well in our private as our publick Business For those who desire to have others be afraid of 'em must needs be afraid of those others in their turns What for Instance shall we imagin of d A Tyrant of Syracuse Son of one Hermocrates He seiz'd upon the Government at twenty five Years old about the Year of Rome 447. See our Author 's Tuse Quest. His Son of the same Name succeeded him in his Tyranny but was expell'd for it by Dion See Plut. Life of Dion the Elder Dionysius With what eternal Fears and Apprehensions must he needs be rack'd when e His Barber one day happening to say That his Life was in his Hands he caus'd him to be murder'd and made his Daughters shave him for some time But afterwards suspecting even them too he us'd singing as the safest way he could think of daring not to venture his Throat to any Razor he was forc'd even to singe off his Beard with Coals Or what of f See chap. 30. Book 1. He by his savage Cruelties and Injustice made all the World hate him The Thessalians beg'd Aid of the Thebans against him who sent their General Pelopidas several times whom he by Treachery got into his Power and kept Prisoner a good while Alexander who was sirnam'd the Pheraean In what Torment think we must he perpetually live When as 't is usually reported of him he dar'd not so much as to rise from Table and go to his own Wife Thebe's Chamber one whom he lov'd with an entire Affection without a Barbarian and him as 't is said too a g The Thracians were counted some of the savagest Barbarians and ordinarily made use of by Tyrants in those times as the fittest Executioners of their bloody Designs To be mark'd on the Forehead was a token of Honor amongst them as it was of Disgrace and Slavery amongst others But Cic. here seems to speak of this Man as a Slave or Villain 't is probable therefore he might be a Thracian Slave and mark'd as such after he came into Greece branded Thracian to lead the way with his naked Sword And would always dispatch some of his Guards before him to search all the Cloaths and Coffers of the Women for fear least any Weapon might be conceal'd within ' em O miserable and unhappy Man who could think a Barbarian one that carried the Marks of his Condition in his Forehead would be faithfuller to him than his own Wife Neither it seems was he mistaken in it for he was afterwards Murther'd h She persuading her three Brothers to it who accordingly flew him in his Bed See Plut. Life of Pelopidas by her Procurement upon suspicion of having to do with someother Woman Nor indeed can any Authority how absolute soever subsist very long when 't is thus generally fear'd i A noted Tyrant of Agrigentum in Sicily Son of Laodamas Born at Astypalea but expell'd his own Country He is remarkable for his Cruelty particularly for a brazen Bull in which he us'd to torture those whom he had a mind to get rid of He is said however to have lov'd Learning and learned Men. There is still extant a Book of Epistles under his Name Phalaris himself who is particularly remarkable for his barbarous Cruelties may serve for a Witness to this Truth who was not destroy'd by domestick Treacheries like that Alexander whom I just now mention'd nor yet by some few Men conspiring his Death like our late Tyrant but by a general Insurrection of all the Agrigentines falling upon him at once Again Did not the Macedonians revolt from k Sirnam'd Poliorcetes a King of Macedonia Son of Antigonus one of Alexander the Great 's Captains By his Pride and Insolence he made the Macedonians desert him and go over to Pyrrhus See his Life in Plutarch Demetrius and all with one consent march over to Pyrrhus And when the Lacedaemonians grew Insolent and Tyrannical did not their Allies upon a suddain forsake 'em and shew ' emselves idle and unconcern'd Spectators of their Ruin at l A Town in Baeotia where the Lacedaemonians were entirely routed by the Thebans under the Conduct of their brave Leader Epaminondas See chap. 24. Book 1. Leuctra without ever stirring one Foot to their Assistance CHAP. VIII The just and gentle Government of the old Romans When chang'd and the fatal Consequences of that Change Caesar and Sylla 's unjust Cruelties One Cause of Civil Wars is Mens hoping to raise ' emselves by them All have occasion for some Friends tho' not for general Love I Much rather choose upon such a Subject to bring Instances from Forreign than our own Nation However I can't but observe thus much That so long as our Empire supported it self not by Ways of Injustice and Violence but rather by Actions of Kindness and Gentleness Wars were undertaken to Protect its Allies or Defend its Honour and accordingly their Issues were attended with Mercy or at least no more Rigour than was absolutely necessary The Senate then was a kind of Port or Refuge for Princes and Nations to have recouse to in their need and our Officers and Commanders made it their greatest Glory to Defend their Provinces and Assist their Allies with Justice and Fidelity This City therefore was not then the a Patrocinium verius quam imperium 'T was the Duty of a Patron to Protect and Defend not to Rule over his Clients and one was never the less free because he was under the Patronage of another but only the more safe as being protected by him In like manner one Nation might be under and as 't were the Client of another and yet be a Free Nation for all that Whence there 's a difference in Roman Authors betwixt in fide
Words can be long kept in secret But those who at the beginning and entrance of their Lives by reason of their Meanness are unknown to the World as soon as ever they come up to years of Discretion should set before their Eyes the most honourable Places and bend all their Studies and honest Endeavours toward the obtaining of 'em which they ought to do with so much the more boldness because Men are so far from envying Youth that they rather encourage and forward 'em in their Progress The b Courage in the Wars the first thing that makes a young Man become Remarkable first thing then that sets a young Man off and recommends him to the Publick is Courage and Bravery in Martial Affairs by which a great many amongst our Forefathers who were scarce ever wholly disengag'd from Wars very nobly distinguish'd and signaliz'd themselves But you my Son have had the misfortune to light upon the times of a Civil War wherein the c That of Julius Caesar. one Party was wicked and detestable and the d That of Pompey the Great other unfortunate and unsuccessful In which however when Pompey had giv'n you the Command of e Each Body of Foot consisting of two Legions had two Troops of Horse to support it one on the right and t'other on the left Cicero's Son commanded one of these being call'd Wings one Wing you got much Praise from that great Commander and all his Army by your riding darting and patiently abiding all the Fatigues of War But as for this piece of your rising Glory that and the whole Constitution of the Republick are both of 'em fall'n to the ground together But I never design'd so to model this Discourse as that it should be proper for none but you but as that it might be applicable to all Men in general I shall go on therefore to the remaining part of it As then in all things the Functions of the Soul are more noble and excellent than those of the Body so the Effects of our Reason and Understanding are greater and more powerful as to this Particular than those of meer Strength f Of the Virtues that don't require Strength of Body Temperance c. most recommend a young Man Now of these there is none that can more recommend and adorn a young Man than Temperance and Sobriety Duty and Respect to his natural Parents Love and Good-nature towards his Friends and Relations g A third thing that recommends young Men is keeping frequent Company with those that are Wise and Lovers of their Country Another good Way for young People to get Known and have a good Reputation is often to attend on some Great and Wise Men who are thought to design for the Good of the Publick For when they 're observ'd to be frequently with such the People are presently apt to imagin that they 'll be like those Men whom they choose for their Patterns Thus h P. Rutilius Rufus a noble Roman Cos. together with Cn. Mallius He was Schollar of Panaetius See Book 3. chap. 3. a great lover of Learning and very well skill'd in Philosophy and the Civil Laws Cicero in his first Book de Oratore calls him Exemplum innocentiae and Vell. Paterc Book 2. chap. 13. Virum non sui tantum seculi sed omnis aevi optimum However he was accus'd by the Malice of some Men and condemn'd of Extortion and accordingly Banish'd Of which see the fore-cited places Pub. Rutilius when he was young had the general Vogue of a very honest Man and an able Lawyer because he frequented the House of i P. Mutius Scaevola a noble Roman famous for his Knowledge of the Civil Laws and withal an eloquent Speaker therefore call'd by our Author Jurisperitorum disertissimus He was Cos. with Calpurnius Piso about the Year of Rome 620 when Tib. Gracchus rais'd his Sedition and afterwards made Pontifex maximus Mutius As for k Lucius Crassus the famous Orator whom he mention'd Book 1. chap. 30. Crassus whilst he was very young he was not beholden to any one else but obtain'd of himself everlasting Honour by undertaking that l Of C. Carbo a very eloquent Man who had been Tribune and Consul whom Crassus at the Age of nineteen Years when others begin but to study Eloquence publickly accus'd and got condemn'd so that he poyson'd himself noble and glorious Accusation when at that term of Years wherein others are commended if they begin but to Study and Exercise the Art as we have it recorded of the famous Demosthenes at that Age I say did Crassus make it appear that he could perform that laudably in the open Courts of Justice which he might without disparagement have been Studying at home CHAP. XIV Discourse of two sorts Affability very powerful to obtain Mens Love c. But Eloquence much more Several Occasions of shewing a Man's Eloquence To Defend more Laudable than to Accuse but the latter in some cases Honourable enough Several Examples of brave Accusations 'T is lawful in some cases to Defend the really Guilty but never to Accuse the Innocent The Judges and Advocates Duties Defending the Accus'd especially honourable when 't is against some powerful Oppressor BUt a Having ended the last Chapter with Crassus's Accusation of Carbo and the Credit he got by it this easily brings him to another thing that recommends young Men and makes 'em be taken notice of viz. Their Discourse This he divides into two sorts and speaks upon 'em severally of Speaking or Discourse there are two sorts the one proper only for common Conversation the other for Pleadings and Debates in the Publick Of these two the latter which is what we call Eloquence is apparently most powerful towards the procurement of Glory b Of the first sort of Discourse viz. That of common Conversation and its Power but yet 't is unexpressible of what Influence Courtesie and Affability are in the business of obtaining Mens Love and Affections There are extant Letters of c Son of Amyntas Father of Alexander the Great Philip to Alexander d A Soldier of Philip's left Governour of Macedonia by Alexander when he invaded Persia At last he Poyson'd Alexander by his Son Cassander's means See Quint. Curtius Antipater to Cassander and e A King of Macedonia not Father but only first Guardian and afterwards Father-in-law to Philip who was Son of Demetrius King of Macedonia and Epirus Antigonus to Philip in which these most Wise and Prudent Princes for such we are told they really were advise each his Son to speak kindly to the Multitude and try to win the Hearts of both them and the Soldiers by gentle Words and familiar Appellations f The second sort of Discourse viz. Eloquence of which he speaks pretty largely and gives some Rules about Accusations relating to their Lawfulness Frequency c. But that other Discourse which is proper for Pleadings
beyond all Question But whether he was mistaken in his Judgment or not when he laid down this Head as the third of deliberating for the finding out our Duty may perhaps be disputed b The Reasons why Panaetius should not have brought in this Enquiry First Honesty is the only or at least much the greatest Good therefore Profit should not be made to oppose it nothing being comparable to the greatest Good For whether according to the Opinion of the Stoicks we take Virtue or Honesty to be the only Good or according to that of your Peripateticks acknowledge it so to be the chiefest Good as that all things else are just nothing against it 't is certain upon either of these Suppositions That Profit can't be put in the Ballance against Honesty We are therefore told That Socrates us'd even to curse those People who disjoyn'd these things in Thought and Conception which are one and the same in Nature and Reality And c Secondly The Stoicks of whom Panaetius was one hold that Profit and Honesty are really the same thing therefore he should not have brought in this Head wherein they are set in opposition to each other the Stoicks are so far of his Opinion as constantly to maintain That whatever is Honest must be also Profitable and whatever is Profitable must be also Honest. 'T is true had Panaetius been one of those who assert that Virtue is therefore only desirable because it brings something of Profit along with it like d Epicurus and his Disciples and also Hieronymus Rhodius whom our Author often mentions in his Works He liv'd about the 440th Year of Rome and had been Scholar to Aristotle some who think nothing any further worth a-seeking for than as it begets Pleasure or Exemption from Pain we could then have allow'd him the liberty of saying That Profit is sometimes repugnant to Honesty But seeing he was one of e Viz. That of the Stoicks a different Sect and thinks nothing to be Good except that which is Honest and avows that whatever is contrary to Honesty and appears to us under the Notion of Profit can neither if we have it make Life ever the better nor if we have it not ever the worse he should not methinks have brought in such a Deliberation wherein that which seems Profitable comes into Competition with that which is Honest. For that which f Thirdly The Stoicks make the whole Happiness of Man to consist in Living conformably to the Rules of Honesty therefore Profit should never have been brought in in opposition to it the Stoicks call their Sovereign Good to live in Conformity with the Dictates of Nature means I suppose no more than this That we should always live agreeably to the Rules of Virtue and should use other things which are suited and adapted to our natural Inclinations no further than Virtue permits and allows ' em Now this being so there are several of opinion That this general Head wherein Profit and Honesty are compar'd with one another was improperly brought in and that there ought not to have been given any Rules or Directions upon this Subject g To what has been objected it might have been reply'd That there 's a double sort of Honesty the one Perfect and belonging to none but a perfectly Wise Man the other Middle and which ordinary Men are capable of That Profit ought never to be oppos'd to the former but perhaps to the latter imperfectene it might Here he gives a large account of this Division of Honesty See chap. 3. Book 1. and shews that the Second or Middle sort of Honesty ought no more to be parted with for the sake of any Profit than the first or consummate one Now your Perfect Honesty which is truly and properly call'd by that Name is only to be found in your perfectly Wise Men and can never be possibly separated from Virtue But those Men who have not this Perfect Wisdom must by no means pretend to such a Perfect Honesty tho' they may have some Shadows and Resemblances of it For all those Duties of which we are treating in these Books have the name of Middle ones given 'em by the Stoicks which are common indifferently to all Men in general and are not confin'd to any particular number of them But several get 'em either by the peculiar Happiness of their Natures or by a constant progress in Study and Learning Whereas those others which they call Right ones are perfect and consummate or as they ' emselves express it have all their Numbers which none can attain to but the perfectly Wise. 'T is true that the Vulgar as soon as they see any Action of such a nature as indeed is no more than a Middle kind of Duty are immediately thinking it a Perfect and Compleat one h Men judge of the Perfection or Imperfection of any thing according as it comes up to or falls short of their Idea's He whose Idea is short and imperfect will think a very mean piece of Work to be excellent because he has no Notion of any thing that is more so But an Artist will judge it as it really is ordinary because his Conceptions are more refin'd and exquisite This is the Reason why the Vulgar imagin the imperfect Virtues to be Perfect and Compleat because they fully answer their Idea of Perfection which is but an half and inadequate one It ought to be read here propterea quod in the Latin and not proptereaque as Graevius has it For the common sort of People can't tell what is Perfect and by consequence don't know how much any Virtue or Excellency comes short of it but finding it answer the highest of their Conceptions they imagin it wants nothing of being as perfect as can be Just as it happens in judging of Poems or Pieces of Painting and other such like those who aren't Judges are generally pleas'd with and praise those things which by no means deserve any Praise or Commendation Because I suppose there may be something that 's Good in 'em which serves well enough to take with those that are ignorant and who han't so much skill as to be able to discover their several Imperfections Therefore when they are instructed by those who understand it they are brought with no great difficulty to forsake their Opinions CHAP. IV. The greatest Men that have been in the World were not perfectly Wise. Profit ought not to be compar'd with the Middle any more than with the Perfect Honesty How Men come to compare 'em together or to doubt upon this Subject This illustrated by an Example One certain Rule necessary for our Guidance in this case The Doctrin of the Stoicks preferable to that of the Peripateticks THose Duties therefore which make up the Subject of this Enquiry by the Stoicks are counted a kind of second-rate Honesty which is not confin'd to their Wise Men only but is common and open to all Mankind and therefore
should ever be a good Man Should such a one therefore be Judge in his Friend's Case he would not by any means be biass'd in his Favour but would wholly lay aside the Person of a Friend as soon as he took upon him that of a Judge Perhaps he might do so much for Friendship sake as to wish that his Friend may have the juster Cause and allow him as long time to speak for himself as h For there was a Law amongst the Romans allowing the Plaintiff but so many Hours to speak in and the Defendant one more the Laws will permit of but when he 's to give in his Sentence i For the Judges among the Romans were sworn always to Judge impartially upon Oath he 'll then remember that he calls God to Witness that is I conceive his own k For the Soul or Conscience according to the Ancients is nothing but a kind of God in us and the Voice of one is indeed the Voice of the other Hence Plato call'd all wicked Men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Atheists for acting in opposition to their Reason and Conscience that is to the God dwelling within them Soul and Conscience the divinest thing that God has granted to Man 'T is a good Custom therefore we have receiv'd from our Ancestors if we did but observe it of Desiring the Judge to be as favourable to us as his Oath will permit him The meaning of which Request is no more than this That he 'd do so much for us as I just now said might very honestly be done by a Judge for his Friend For if Men were oblig'd to do every thing presently that their Friends should desire of 'em such Agreements as these ought to be counted not Friendships but dangerous Conspiracies I speak here only of the ordinary sort of Friendships for l Because Men of perfect Wisdom will never desire any thing but what is Honest and Reasonable one of another in those which are found between perfectly Wise Men there can be no danger of any such thing m A famous pair of Friends and often mention'd as such by ancient Writers See Valer. Max. Plutarch c. Damon and Pinthias two of Pythagoras's Followers were so closely united to one another in their Affections that when Dicnysius the Sicilian Tyrant had appointed a time wherein one of 'em should die and the Party condemn'd had beg'd a few Days respite wherein he might provide for his Children and Family and recommend 'em to Somebody who would take care of 'em after his Death the other deliver'd up himself in his stead voluntarily to die in the room of his Friend if he did not accordingly make his Appearance The Prisoner came back at the Day appointed in order to his Execution which the Tyrant perceiving was so greatly amaz'd at their extraordinary Faithfulness as to desire he might be admitted a third Man in their Friendship In Friendship therefore when that which seems Profitable comes into competition with that which is Honest the latter should always be preferr'd before the former but Faith and Religion should be preferr'd before Friendship whenever it demands any thing that is not reconcilable with Virtue and Honesty Which one Rule if but carefully attended to is sufficient for the Purpose we are now upon which is to discover upon every occasion what are those Duties which Friendship requires of us CHAP. XI In the Management of Publick Affairs the appearance of Profit makes Men relinquish Honesty Several Examples of it Examples of the contrary when the appearance of Profit is rejected for the sake of Honesty a Having shewn how far the Love of Empire Friends c. draws particular Men from their Duty he now goes to shew How whole Republicks have been drawn to what is ill by the appearance of some pretended Profit THe appearance of Profit is also an occasion in publick Affairs of making false Steps and doing several things that are contrary to Duty Thus our Fathers for Instance did ill in destroying and razing of Corinth The Athenians yet worse in making an Order That the People of b A little Island in the Sinus Saronicus almost over-against the Piraeum a Port of Athens somewhat distant from the City but joyn'd to it by a mighty Wall built by Themistocles Aegina should all have their Thumbs cut off because they were powerful with their Navies at Sea This no question was thought a profitable Decree for Aegina seem'd to threaten their Port Piraeum by reason of its nearness But nothing can truely be Profitable that 's Cruel for the Nature of Man which we ought to follow as the Guide of our Actions of all things in the World is most opposite to Cruelty Those do ill likewise who banish all Strangers and forbid 'em the City as c M. Junius Pennus a Tribune of the People about the Year of Rome 657. 'T is quoted by some under the Name of Lex Petronia Pennus did in the preceeding Age and d C. Papius Tribune of the People An. U. C. 688 two Years before Cicero was Consul Papius but lately For tho' 't is but fair that he who 's no Citizen should not have the Priviledges of those who are which was made into a e In the Year of Rome 658 call'd Lex Licinia Mucia See Note on chap. 17. of this Book Law by two very wise Consuls viz. Crassus and Sâ—aevola yet wholly to exclude 'em from having any thing to do there f This is true provided those Strangers live peceably under the Government and no ways prejudice or endanger the State for then to let 'em live there is a thing innoxiae utilitatis Otherwise there are several Cases wherein 't is allowable to expel Strangers from a City is plainly against the Dictates and Laws of Humanity And as these things are bad in the Government of a State so nothing's more splendid and glorious on the other hand than for that which appears to be the Interest of the Publick to be rejected in the comparison with Justice and Honesty Our own Commonwealth can abundantly supply us with g Some Examples of the contrary Practice of those that would not suffer a seeming Advantage to make them do any thing contrary to their Duty Examples of this nature as on other occasions so more especially in the second Punick War when after the loss of that fatal Day at Cannae it shew'd more courage and bravery of Resolution than ever it had done upon the greatest Successes There was not any sign of Faint-heartedness seen nor ever any mention of Peace once heard of so great is the glory and brightness of Honesty as that it utterly overwhelms the appearance of Interest h See Plutarch 's Life of Themistocles The Athenians knowing they should never be able to resist the Persians resolv'd by consent to abandon their City and carrying their Wives and their Children to i A City
of what he bought I have brought you these Instances only to let you see That these cunning sort of Men were ne're approv'd of by our Ancestours CHAP. XVII The different Methods us'd by Law and Philosophy for the rooting out of Knavery Treachery to set up Traps tho' one don 't drive the Beasts into ' em How the Law of Nature differs from the Civil The Excellence of the Roman Civil Laws The Extent of that Expression Ex fide bona Knavish Cunning very different from true Prudence How the Laws provide against Fraud in Selling of Slaves Nature forbids one Man to make his Gain of another's Ignorance The ill Effects of false Prudence BUt a The Difference between the Laws and Philosophers as to taking away Wickedness is cheifly this That those can restrain the outward Actions only but these inform the Mind and Understanding those can only punish the actual Crimes of Delinquents but these by informing the Judgment and improving the Reason take care to prevent the Commission of 'em and keep Men from Vice out of a Love of Virtue whereas the Laws can only terrifie them from it by fear of Punishment the Laws take one way to root these Frauds out and Philosophers another the former medling no further with them than as they break out into open Acts and may as 't were be laid hold on by the Hands of Justice the latter endeavouring to hinder their breaking out and to prevent them by Precepts of Wisdom and Reason Reason therefore requires of us That we do nothing Treacherously nothing Deceitfully nothing meerly by outward Shews and false Pretences Now is it not Treachery to set up a Trap tho' one does not raise and pursue the Beasts into it for the simple Creatures of themselves will run into it without being driven Just so you offer an House to be sold because of some Faults which you know to be in it and put up your Bill as it were like a Trap in which some unwary sort of Body will be taken I know that at present the depravation of Manners and prevalence of evil Custom have made this be counted neither Base nor Dishonourable and that 't is tolerated by the Laws and Constitutions of the Publick but I am sure 't is not tolerated by the Laws of Nature For 't is to be consider'd I must repeat it again tho' I have already mention'd it a great many times that there is such a thing as Natural Society which comprehends all Men and ties and unites 'em to one another There 's a nearer between those of the same Nation and a nearer yet between those of the same City Therefore our Fore-fathers made a distinction between b The Law of Nations is nothing else but some Rules and Maxims of the Law of Nature which Reason tells us we ought to observe in our Actions and Entercourse with all Men whatever This is not so distinct from that of particular Cities as tho' this could command any thing contrary to the former No the Laws of every City must be allow'd by Reason and suppose it as their Foundation but they determin some things which Reason has left indifferent and descend to some Particulars as to Time Place c. which Reason does not meddle with that Law which is common to Nations and that which belongs to each City in particular Whatever we are bound by the Civil Constitutions to do to our Citizens we are c Because the Civil may add tho' it can add nothing contrary to that of Nations not oblig'd by the Law of Nations to do the same to Strangers but d Because that of Nations is still in force and obliges notwithstanding what the Civil may have added to it The building upon a Foundation does not take away the Foundation it self whatever we are bound by this latter to do to others the same we ought to do to our Citizens also But e The Laws and particular States consider Men as now they are in the World and only regulate their outward Actions so as to preserve the Peace and Safety of the Publick But those of Nature or Right Reason in the Observation of which consists the perfectest Justice that Men are capable of considers Men as they ought to be and commands all that Purity Sincerity c. that becomes the Perfection of a Reasonable Nature which is more than the Civil can possibly do The Nature of God is the true Standard of genuin Right and perfect Justice Right Reason which is taken from the Nature of God is an original Piece which tho' in no wise equal to the living Standard is at least agreeable to it as far as it reaches The Civil Laws are taken from Reason and are only a Copy and faint Representation of it however 't were to be wish'd that such as it is it were carefully follow'd This is the Sence in which I take this place the Law which at present we use amongst us is far from being an original Piece immediately taken from genuin Right and true perfect Justice 't is only a Copy and faint Representation of it However I could wish we liv'd up even to this for 't is copy'd at least from some of the best Originals which were drawn from the Truth and Nature of the thing For how excellent is that Form in judicial Proceedings Uti ne c. That I mayn't be Defrauded or brought to an Inconvenience by trusting to you and your Honesty And how incomparable that other That Honest Men do nothing but that which is Honest and without Design But the great Question is Who they are that are Honest Men and what 't is to do nothing but that which is Honest f Of whom he speaks chap. 1. of his de Amicitia and to whom he apply'd himself for Knowledge in the Civil Laws after the Death of the other Mucius who was Augur He was Cos. with L. Licinius Crassus An. U. C. 658 whom he call'd duo Sapientissimi Consules chap. 11. of this Book He was afterwards kill'd by Marius's Order in Vesta's Temple Temperantiae prudentiaeque specimen says our Author ante simulachrum Vestae trucidatus est c. De Nat. Deor. Q. Scaevola I remember the High-Priest was us'd to say That all those Judgments which had Ex fide bona Faithfully and honestly put into their Forms were of marvellous Force and that Faithfully and Honestly were of very large Extent and belong'd not only to Wardships Societies Trusts and Commissions but to Buyings Sollings Lettings and Hirings which relate to the Society and Entercourse of Mankind and that 't was the part of an extraordinary Judge to determin exactly all these Cases what one Man ought to make good to another upon only the bare Principles of Conscience and Honesty especially seeing Men differ in their Judgments about the greatest part of ' em All Craft therefore should utterly be banish'd and that knavish sort of Cunning which would fain indeed
never take any thing away from another for the enriching himself and filling his own Coffers which whoever admires at let him e'en confess at the same time that he does not understand what a Good Man is For if any one will thro'ly examin his own Thoughts and clear up a little his obscure Conceptions he 'll quickly be able to tell himself that a Good Man is one Who does all the Good that he can to others but never any Harm unless necessarily forc'd upon 't for his own Security I desire to know then is not that Man guilty of Harming another that outs the rightful Heirs as it were by a Spell and procures himself to be put into their Rooms How then will some Men say what would not you have People consult their own Interest Yes but withal I would have 'em understand That nothing can be so that 's Base or Dishonest which is a necessary Maxim for all those to learn who ever design to be Good Men. I remember I heard my own Father tell as long ago as when I was a Boy That Fimbria one who had formerly been b With C. Marius An. Rom. Cond 649 when Cicero was but three Years old Consul was Judge in a case of Lutatius Pinthia's a Roman Knight and a very Honest Man who c The Plaintiff in a Cause was to lay down a Sum of Money which if his Case was not just he was to lose The Defendant was to do the same or give up the Cause to the Plaintiff This Money was call'd Sponsio or Sacramentum See Val. Max. Book 7. chap. 2. upon pain of losing a certain Sum of Money was to prove himself to be a Good Man Hereupon Fimbria plainly told him that he 'd never pass Judgment upon such a matter least either by giving the Cause against him he should spoil the Credit of a well-approv'd Citizen or else should be forc'd by giving it for him to pronounce that any one was a Good Man which he could not do considering the infinite Virtues and Duties that are requisite to the completing any Person of that Character This Good Man then of whom Fimbria had a Notion as well as Socrates will never judge any thing Profitable that 's Dishonest From whence it follows That such a one will always be so far from doing as that he will never so much as think of any thing which he 's afraid should be laid open to the rest of the World And is it not a shame that Philosophers should doubt of this when there is not e'er a Peasant in the Country but assents to it For from them we have gotten that common Saying which is now by long Usage become a Proverb among us which they bring in to signifie the faithful Dealing and Honesty of a Man He 's one say they that you may venture d Micare signifies to hold up the Fingers a Play among the Romans said to be in use to this Day in Italy wherein one holding up such a number of his Fingers the other on a sudden or something like it was to guess how many they were 'T was easie therefore to Cheat in the dark by holding up more or fewer before the other could be able to see Hence to express a very Honest Man and one that would scorn to Cheat tho' sure not to be discover'd they us'd this Proverb See Erasm. Adag to play with at Even and Odd in the dark The meaning of which what can it be but this That nothing can be Profitable which is not Honest and Becoming tho' a Man could be certain of being never found out in it You see then according to this Proverb that neither that Gyges whom we mention'd above nor that other whom we just now suppos'd to have a power by the snapping of his Fingers to become all Peoples Heir can by any means be excus'd For as that which is Scandalous and Dishonest in it self however it may be hid from the Eye of the World can never be brought to be Honest and Creditable so also that which is not Honest and Creditable can never be brought to be Profitable and Advantagious the very e That which is not Honest is contrary to Reason that which is Profitable must be agreeable to Reason otherwise it deprives Men of their Good viz. Virtue and consequently would be Unprofitable The Natures therefore of these two being opposite can never let the same Action be not Honest and yet Advantagious Nature of the things resisting and opposing it CHAP. XX. Great Rewards are very apt to make Men forgetful of Honesty Examples concerning this An excellent Rule for our Direction in this case A Man loses more by doing an unjust Action than ever he can gain by it be the Reward what it will BUt a He goes on with his Examples of Craft that pretends to be true Prudence and shews That tho' it gets Men Honours c. as it did Marius the Consulship yet that 't is truly Unprofitable when People expect great Advantages from their Roguery 't is a mighty Temptation for 'em to be guilty of it Thus for Instance when b He who afterwards came to be seven times Consul Marius was far from any hopes of obtaining the Consulship and had lain seven Years from the time of his being Praetor so that no one suspected his standing for that Honour being dispatch'd to Rome by c A noble valiant and virtuous Roman chose Cos. in the War of Jugurtha King of Numidia and sent against him where by his Valour and wise Conduct he beat that Prince and might have ended the War had not Marius supplanted him However he obtain'd a Triumph and the Sirname of Numidicus See Sallust Jugurth Q. Metellus whose Lieutenant he was an extraordinary Man and a brave Member of the Republick he accus'd his General to the People of Rome for protracting the War and told 'em That if they would but choose him Consul they should soon have Jugurtha either dead or alive deliver'd into their power 'T is true by this Artifice he got to be chosen Consul but he pay'd for 't the price of his Honesty and Fidelity who could thus bring an useful and excellent Citizen whose Lieutenant he was and by whom he was sent into Hatred and Ill-will by false Accusations Nor did my d See chap. 16. of this Book Kinsman Gratidianus act the part of an Honest and Fair-dealing Man in the time of his Praetorship The Tribunes of the People held a common Consultation with the Company of Praetors about setling the Value and Rate of Money which at those times was grown to be so very Unconstant as that no body could be certain how much he was Worth They made an Edict by common Consent allowing an Action against those who transgress'd it and appointing a Penalty for those who were convicted This being order'd they agreed to meet again in the Assembly after Noon and all of 'em
add That whatever makes highly for one's Profit and Advantage thereby becomes Honest. I answer That it f Fieri signifies to be made and esse actually to be The meaning is That a thing which is very Profitable may be also Honest but it can't be made Honest by its being Profitable if it were otherwise Dishonest may indeed antecedently be such but can never thereby become such For nothing is Profitable but what is Honest and things don't become Honest by their first being Profitable but become Profitable by their first being Honest. I conclude therefore That of all those great and wonderful Examples which might easily be brought upon this Subject 't will be hard to find any more illustrious and commendable than this of Regulus CHAP. XXXI Regulus 's Returning to Carthage a Commendation of those Times The Sacredness of an Oath tho' extorted by Force among the ancient Romans This illustrated by the Example of Pomponius and Manlius BUt the only thing that deserves our Admiration in all this glorious Conduct of Regulus is his persuading the Senate not to restore the Capives As for his returning again to Carthage 't is true we admire it in our Days but at those times he could not have possibly avoided it The Age I think therefore should rather be commended for that than the Man For there 's nothing our Ancestors took greater care of than that the Tie of an Oath should be always held as most Sacred and Inviolable This appears plainly from the XII Tables it appears from those Laws which are call'd a Because the Commons thinking they were oppress'd by the Nobles rais'd a Sedition and retiring to a place call'd Sacer mons refus'd to return till such and such Privileges were granted them by the Senate The Laws made upon that occasion were call'd Sacratae See Livy Book 2. chap. 32 33. and Paul Manut. de Leg. Rom. pag. 39. Sacratae it appears from the strict Observation of Leagues by which we 're oblig'd to keep Faith even with Enemies and lastly it appears from the Punishments and Penalties which have been inflicted by the Censors who in no one thing have been more severe than in punishing those who had transgress'd their Oaths M. Pomponius a Tribune of the People once enter'd an Action against b Sirnam'd Imperiosus a valiant and noble Roman he was chose Dictator upon a Religious Account for driving a Nail into Jupiter's Tempel Livy Book 7. chap. 3. but a War falling out in the mean time he would have manag'd that too imperiously forcing the Youth to take Arms which got him the Hatred of the Tribunes and made Pomponius accuse him about the Year of Rome 393. L. Manlius the Son of Aulus who had been Dictator for holding that Office somewhat longer than he should have done And amongst other things brought in this too against him That he kept his Son Titus who was afterwards Torquatus from Conversation with the World and had strictly charg'd him to live solitary in the Country As soon as the Son heard his Father was in Trouble about this Business he 's reported immediately to have set out for Rome and come early in the Morning to Pomponius's House Pomponius was no sooner told of his coming but he got up immediately and thinking the Youth out of Anger had brought some Complaint against his Father commanded all others to depart the Room and him alone to be brought in to him As soon as the young Man was got into the Room he drew his Sword and swore he would immediately kill Pomponius unless he 'd promise him upon Oath to meddle with his Father no further Pomponius out of sudden Apprehension of the Danger did swear to him accordingly and discharged his Father from any more Trouble having first reported the Matter to the People and told 'em why he was forc'd to let fall his Action Thus strict and conscientious were People at those times in observing their Oaths And this Titus Manlius is that very Person who being afterwards challenged by a mighty French Man c The Year of Rome 394 T. Quintius Pennus being Dictator Livy Book 6. chap. 9 10. kill'd him in a Duel by the River d A River in Italy that falls into the Tiber a few Miles above Rome whence 't is now call'd Teverone that is the little Tiber. Anien and was Sirnam'd Torquatus from wearing a Chain in Latin Torquis which he took from his Neck The same Man again in his third Consulship put to flight and defeated the Latins near e Another River in Italy not far from the foot of the Mountain Vesuvius Veseris He was indeed a very great and extraordinary Person who as he shew'd his Love in this Case to his Father so he was f His Son fought a single Combat with Geminius Metius a stout Latin and overcame him but because he did it without Leave from him who was General he commanded his Head to be cut off for his Breach of Military Discipline Hence Manliana Imperia us'd to signifie any unnatural Rigor and Barbarity unnaturally Cruel to his Son CHAP. XXXII The Severity of the Romans against the Breakers of Oaths The Example of ten sent by Hannibal to the Senate upon Oath of returning Fraud not sufficient to excuse a Perjury A resolute Action of the Senate in not redeeming eight Thousand Prisoners The Conclusion of this Head BUt as Regulus did well in performing his Oath so those ten who after the Battel at Cannae were by Hannibal sent to the Roman Senate upon Oath of returning to the Carthaginian Camp if they could not obtain an Exchange of Prisoners did ill if they did not return accordingly Concerning whom Writers have differ'd in their Relations a An eminent Historian Native of Achaia and Son of one Lycortas a Prince of that Country but afterwards brought to Rome where he was admir'd for his Learning by all the Great Men Scipio Laelius c. He wrote in Greek a History of the World containing forty Books most of which are now lost Polybius an Author of very good Credit informs us Ten Persons of considerable Quality were sent to the Senate and that nine of 'em honestly return'd to the Camp not having been able to obtain what they went about but the tenth staid behind and remain'd at Rome This Man as soon as he was out of the Camp pretending he had forgot to take something along with him went back thither again as thinking his returning under such a colour was a very sufficient Performance of his Oath But certainly he was mistaken for Cunning's so far from excusing a Perjury b For all departure from the Simplicity of an Oath they are the Words of a very great Man is a Degree of Perjury and a Man is never a whit the less Forsworn because his Perjury is a little finer and more artificial than ordinary And tho' Men think by such Devices to save themselves harmless from the