after all those wonderful Exploits this was not the least wonderful that he should have the Use of his Understanding so perfect as to call upon God to restore him those Bowels again and so dye This I thought not amiss to hint and let them look both to the Truth of the Story and the Justice of the Commendition who have entitled these Books to an equal Authority with the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament That Instance of the Women under the Tyranny of Antiochus I do not understand for if it refer to those mentioned 2 Macc. VI. 10. they seem to have been thrown headlong from the Wall by the hands of Executioners But if they had done it themselves their Case had been somewhat more Pitiable but not more Imitable than that of Razias Those of Pelagia and Sophronia are indeed extolied but yet St. Jerom who in one place makes the preserving of Chastity an Exception and the only reserved Case from what I quoted out of him just now against Dying by one's own hand in Persecutions says in another place without exception Epist ad Marc. That God receives no Souls who come without his orders Deus non recipit Animas quae se nolente exterunt è corpore And whether this Case of Theirs was a Call notwithstanding the Advocates and Applauses they have found is greatly to be questioned For what is the Chastity God requires Is it not that of the Mind Could not God have restrained even those lascivious Intentions Does not Eusebius in the very same Chapter wherein he relates this Act of Sophronia delivering her self from Maxentius Euseb Eccles Hist. L VIII Ch. XIV particularly tell of a Christian Lady at Alexandria who not being any way to be conquered by Maximin he would not so much as Kill her for her obstinacy nor indeed Force her Person but in the Conflict of Rage and Lust at last only Confiscated her Goods and sent her into Banishment But supposing God had permitted the soul Act yet so long as the Mind was unblemished here had been no Guilt but rather a double Martyrdom If you say they might possibly suspect that they should in the Commission of the Fact have been polluted with sinful Inclinations 'T is easy to Answer That this is but a Fear but a bare Possibility and if an Act be Otherwise and in the general Unlawful the bare avoiding a possible Sin cannot make it lawful to break a Command and by going against God and Nature 1 Cor. X. 13. 2 Cor. XII commit and chuse a certain Sin He has promised That he will not suffer his Servants to be tempted above that they are able and declared that our Weakness can never be so great but that his grace is sufficient for us with many other gracious Promises which it is a great fault in us to distrust even in our greatest Straits and Necessities And to deliver our selves by Methods contrary to his Laws is to distrust them for we are to expect the Assistance of his Grace and the Protection of his Providence in the use of those Means and observance of those Rules he hath given us And therefore I cannot conceive how the fear of falling into Sin only can possibly render that Action Lawful which otherwise and generally speaking is it self a Sin and Unlawful Methinks therefore we should do well in this Case to distinguish with our Saviour in the Parable of the Unjust Steward and as he commended the Wisdom of that Man without approving his Injustice so we may allow all possible Praise to the Gallantry and Constancy of these Female Martyrs without allowing that the Course they took to preserve their Virtue Tom. 1. Front Ducae 628. compared with Comment on Gal. I. 4. was strictly regular and good And thus St. Chrysostom seems to have done who notwithstanding the great Encomium given of Pelagia in one place yet speaks of this Act of dying by one's own hand in very severe Terms in another and declares without exception that the Christians had all such Persons in abhorrence and that they were more guilty before God than any other murderers And some of those Instances which were thought hard to condemn the Vindicators have not well known how to acquit otherwise than by a presumption of a particular Impulse of God which was for that Time and Action a Dispensation to the General Law So St. Augustin of Sampson Spiritus latenter hoc jusserat qui per illum miracula faciebat The same Spirit which wrought Miracles by him gave him a Secret Command to do this thing And Lipsius speaking of these very Women says Monitum aut Jussio Dei hîc quoque praesumenda Lip Manuduc ad Philos Stoic Cap. XXIII That a Command or at least some Instinct and Direction from God is to be presumed in their Case as well as Sampson's and he had St. Augustin's own Authority he says for this presumption All which when duly considered as it will not warrant us to censure these Persons as to their Eternal State so neither will it warrant our Imitating such Actions or arguing from thence in defence of such Behaviour or for the Extenuating the Sin of Self-murther For whatever they might be in Themselves 't is sure they are no Pattern to Us and if God see sit to Allow or the Church to Commend their Zeal it will still become us to observe and beware of the Irregularities of it The Examples which follow of Cities destroying themselves rather than they would lie at the Mercy of the Conquerors whatever appearance they may have of Fortitude and Gallantry yet as to the point of Conscience and Lawfulness they are certainly blameable and fall under the same Censure which is afterwards given of Cato and others Page 294. N. 3 4. The Custom of Marseilles and the Isle of Ceô Valer. Maxim Lib II. Cap. VI. F. 7 8. where Persons willing to Dye made no scruple of doing it having first obtained the Judgment and Approbation of the Senate and by Poison kept on purpose and prepared at the Publick Charge is only a Permission and Allowance and does by no means take off the Guilt and Injustice of making our selves a way except only in that single Point that here the Publick is not injured having expresly consented to the loss of that Member But in all other respects the Fact was Wicked and Abominable and is reported to have had no other foundation than Affliction or Extreme old Age or in general a Weariness of Life Nor will the next Argument hold concerning the Desire of Death for supposing that whatsoever a Man is allowed to desire he is likewise allowed to procure to himself which yet is not universally true yet this Desire it self is faulty when it grows into Impatience and is not content to wait God's methods and God's leisure And there is great difference between meeting Death gladly and running into it between receiving our Release with
Precepts and a strider Consideration of Things The First looks upon Things but very slightly and take up with very loose and imperfect Notions of them Now it may very truly be said that there are Three sorts of Wisdom Divine Humane and Worldly these relate and bear proportion to God to Nature in its primitive Purity and Perfection and to Nature lapsed and deprav'd Concerning each of these sorts the Three Orders of Men just now instanc'd in deliver themselves each according to their Condition and Capacity But more properly and peculiarly thus The Vulgar are most skilled and conversant in the Worldly the Philosophers about the Humane and the Divines about the Divine Wisdom as their particular Business and Study The Lowest of these is Worldly Wisdom and this varies according to the great Ends which it proposes to it self Riches Pleasure or Honour With regard to these it degenerates into Avarice Luxury or Ambition according to St. John's Division of it 1 John iii. 16. All that is in the World is the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life From whence St. James hath given it those scandalous Characters of Earthly Jam. iii. 15 Sensual Devilish Now This is what both Philosophy and Divinity take upon them to reprove and endeavour to suppress and reform They pronounce it to be no better than Folly and Madness and so accounted in the sight of God And accordingly you will find no mention made of This in the following Treatise of Wisdom except it be to disallow and to condemn it The Divine and Highest of these Three sorts is treated of by Philosophy and Religion after a manner somewhat different from each other As for what the Common and Vulgar sort of People usually say or are capable of saying upon this Occasion I omit it all as too mean and low to have any place in our Consideration and rather a Profanation of the Subject than otherwise Philosophers represent it as a Matter wholly Speculative the Knowledge of First Principles and the Hidden Causes of Things and lastly the Highest and Supreme Cause GOD Himself which with other abstracted Notions is the proper Business of Metaphysicks in particular This resides entirely in the Vnderstanding and is its chief Happiness and Perfection 't is the first and most sublime of all the Intellectual Virtues and Excellencies which are capable of subsisting without Probity or Action or any Moral Virtue Divines on the contrary do not so consine it to Speculation as not to extend it to Practice too for they make it the Knowledge of things pertaining to God such as should enable us to form a Judgment of Matters to regulate our Lives and actions by And This they tell you is of Two Sorts The One acquired by Study and Industry not much unlike what I mention'd to be the Science intended by Philosophers The Other infused and coming from above This is the First of those which are sometimes termed the Seven Gifts of the Spirit with regard whereunto he is styled The Spirit of wisdom such as rests only upon the Righteous and the Pure and as the Book of Wisdom truly observes Wisd 1. iv will not enter into a malicious Soul nor dwell in the Body that is subject unto Sin This is what the present Treatise is not intended for neither but is the Subject of my First Truth and those other Works of mine which are properly Treatises of Divinity and Religious Discourses From hence my Reader easily perceives that Humane Wisdom is the real Title and Subject of the following Book of which it is fit some short Description should here be premised which may stand for the Argument or summary Account of the whole Work Now the Common Accounts of this Matter as they are various and very distant from one another so are they all narrow and imperfect The vulgar and most general Notion of it amounts to no more than Circumspection Address and Prudent Behaviour in Business and Conversation This indeed is like the Vulgar and a Thought worthy of Them who place all Excellence in Action and Shew and outward Advantages and consider no good Quality any farther than as it is observ'd and admir'd They are entirely devoted to Eyes and Ears the Internal Motions of the Mind are of little or no Consequence with this sort of Men and therefore in their Acceptation of the Matter Wisdom may subsist without either Piety or Pobity for All they require from it is a good Outside and Appearance and such Easiness of Conduct and Agreeable Management as shall approve a Man's Discretion and his Parts Others again mistake it for a Roughness and Singularity of Temper and Behaviour a particular Stiffness of Fashion Obstinacy in Opinions Affected Expressions and a Way of Living out of the Common Road. And therefore those that value themselves upon these Qualities they call Philosophers when in truth to return a little of their own Jargon back again upon them They are nothing better than conceited Humourists Fantastical and Capricious Coxcombs This now according to the Scheme and Measures pursued in this Book is in plain English Extravagance and Folly The Nature then of this Wisdom must be learn'd from some other Hand that is from Philosophers and Divines who have both explain'd and treated of this Matter in their Moral Tracts The Former handle it as their proper Business For they consider Men as they are by Nature and with regard to practice But the Latter rise higher and aspire to infused and supernatural Graces such as are Speculative and more than Humane that is Divine Wisdome and with Regard to Faith Hence it comes to pass that the Former is more extensive and large as undertaking not only to direct private but publick Duties Societies as well as single Persons are instructed by it Whatever can be necessary or advantagious to Families Communities Common Wealths and Kingdoms all falls within its Compass and Jurisdiction Divinity on the Other Hand is more silent and sparing upon these Accounts and Aims chiefly at the Eternal Happiness and Salvation of particular Persons Besides The Manner and Air of their Treatises is very different That of Philosophy more free and easie and entertaining that of Divinity more plain and authoritative and with less Pains to recommend it self to Mens Fancies and Palats Philosophy therefore which is the Elder of the Two as Nature must have been antecedent to our Supernatural Assistances tries to insinuate it self and win Men's Favours * Simul Jucunda idonea dicere vitae Lectorem delectando pariterque monendo Horat. So as to join Instruction with Delight Profit with Pleasure Lord Roscommon And therefore she dresses and adorns her self with Discourses Arguments Turns of Wit and Flights of Fancy Apt Examples and moving Similitudes Ingenious Expressions useful Apothegms and all the Graces of Art and Eloquence Divinity comes in a commanding strain and thinks it a Diminution of her Majesty to descend
he arriv'd at Paris the Third of October 1603. and in a convenient time afterwards he went to pay his Respects to the Bishop of Bologne who receiv'd him with great Civility and Kindness and repeated his Offer of that Preferment merely to have him near himself and more within the Eye of the Court. Monsieur Charron return'd him many Thanks for the Honour he had done him and the good Intentions he was pleas'd to entertain for his Advancement And with his usual Freedom told an Advocate in the Parliament who was a particular Friend of his that he could be well pleas'd to accept that Preferment for some Years but that the Moisture and Coldness of the Air and its Nearness to the Sea did not only make it a Melancholy and Unpleasant Place but very Unwholsome and Rheumatick and Foggy too That the Sun was his visible God as God was his invisible Sun and therefore since he had no Hope of seating himself at Bologne with Safety to his Health he thought it much better not to venture thither at all During his Stay at Paris he lodg'd at one Bertand's a Bookseller that he might be near the Press and correct the new Edition of his Books of Wisdom of which he liv'd to see but Three or Four Sheets wrought off For on Sunday the Sixteenth of Novembber 1603. going out of his Lodging about one of the Clock at the Corner of St. John Beanvais Street he call'd to his Servants and complain'd he found himself Ill And immediately while they ran to hold him up he sell upon his Knees and with his Hands and Eyes lifted up to Heaven he expired upon the Spot without the least Agony or Appearance of Pain His Disease was an Apoplex and the Quantity of extravasated Blood was so great that no Humane Help could have preserved him The Body was kept Two Days but the Physicians being well satisfied that he was actually dead and the Blood too which settled about his Throat beginning to mortifie and grow offensive they buried him with great Decency and a very Honourable Attendance in St. Hilary's Church the Eighteenth of the same Month where his Father Mother most of his Brothers and Sisters and a great many other Relations were Interred The Day of his Funeral he had his Face expos'd to view and his Body drest in the Priest's Habit as if he had been going to Officiate at Mass And this was done by a particular Direction of his own for he had frequently left those Orders in Charge provided his Death happen'd to be such as wrought no mighty Change or Deformity in his Person As to his Person He was of a moderate Stature inclining to Fat of a smiling Countenance and cheerful Humor a large open Fore-head streight Nose pretty large downwards light blue Eyes his Complexion Fresh and Ruddy his Hair and Beard very White though he had not yet got through his Climacterick being about Sixty Two Years and a Half when he died The Air of his Face was always Gay without the least Allay of Melancholy his Mien Graceful his Voice Strong and Distinct his Expression Masculine and Bold His Health Firm and Constant he had no Complaints either from Age or Indispositions till about Three Weaks before his Death Then indeed he now and then while he was in Motion felt a Pain in his Breast and found himself opprest with Shortness of Breath But this presently went off again after a little Rest and fetching his Breath deep However he acquainted his Physician the eminent Sieur Marscot with his Case who advised him by all means to open a Vein assuring him that all his Illness proceeded from fulness of Blood and if some Course were not taken speedily to prevent it a Suffocation might ensue And accordingly it happen'd for in all probability the neglecting this Advice of bleeding quickly was the very thing that cost Monsieur Charrou his Life His Books of Wisdom and Christian Discourses were printed off after his Death by the Particular Care of an Intimate Friend whom he had charged with the Inspection of them in hiâ— Life-time And abundant Satisfaction was given to the World that the Author himself had in this Impression added and corrected several Passages Some particularly which not Others only but Himself also thought necessary to be changed from that first Impression at Bourdeaux in 1601 By these Alterations he hath explained his Meaning strengthened his Arguments softned many Expressions without any Material Alteration of the Sense All which was done Principally in Compliance with the World to obviate the Malice of Some and condescend to the Infirmities of Others The whole had been perused and approved by some very good Friends and Persons of sound Judgment and till They had declar'd themselves satisfied and pleas'd he could not prevail with himself to be so But above all he submitted his Writings to the Church and hop'd there was nothing there that might call for a just Censure or Minister ground of Offence either to Religion in general or to that Communion of which he was a Member in particular As to his peculiar Manner of handling the Subjects he undertook to treat of whether in Books or Sermons he was us'd to say that there are Three Ways of expressing and communicating a Man's Thoughts which bear Proportion and seem to be adapted to the Three Several Faculties of the Mind the Imagination the Memory and Vnderstanding One of these proceeds upon Rules of Art runs upon Etymologies and Distinctions of Words and Things Definitions Divisions Subdivisions Causes Effects Accidents and the like A Second collects together what other People have thought or said upon the Occasion and values it self upon the nicety of quoting Books and Chapters and Pages The Third is free and generous including and doing in a manner all that both the former pretend to but without any Ostentation of doing so or enslaving it self to Niceties of Method and Rules of Art The First of These he used to say was sit for Schools and to instruct young Beginners The Second too much in Vogue with Preachers and Orators who in Effect only tack together other Peoples Notions and those too very often after an affected and impertinent Manner for having nothing to say for themselves they make other People speak for them though never so little to the Purpose In respect of this Way he declar'd himself of a Judgment directly opposite to the generality of the World That to stuff a Discourse with Quotations was an Argument rather of Weakness and Ignorance than of Wisdom That Men took this Course in all likelihood to set themselves and their great Reading off to the World which after all amounts to no more than a good Memory And This if not attended with Judgment is no such mighty Commendation That These things are oftentimes brought in at random and all Adventures picked up from Common-place Books and Indexes where they find Stuff ready made up to their Hands and so
easily loses them again A Second which quickly remembers and seldom or never forgets and a Third where the Impression is hard to be made and yet is presently worn out again The Sciences proper to this Faculty are Grammar and the Theory of the Civil Law Dogmatical Divinity Cosmography and Arithmetick The Imagination abounds in Distinctions and Differences are occasioned by it much more than either the Memory or the Understanding is capable of To this belong after a more peculiar manner Fanciful Inventions Pleasant Conceits Witty Jests Sharp Reflections Ingenious Repartees Fictions and Fables Figures and Comparisons Propriety and Purity of Expression and in a Word All that Quaintness and Elegance and Easiness which adorns Conversation and becomes the Character of a Man of Sense and Good Breeding And therefore we may range under this Division Poetry Eloquence Musick Correspondence Harmony and Proportion Now from hence it appears that Sprightliness The Properties of the several Faculties Subtilty Readiness of Parts and all that which commonly goes by the Name of Wit is to be imputed to the Warmth of Imagination Solidity Mature Judgment and Truth to the Dryness of the Understanding The Imagination is Active and Blustering and Busy keeps all about it awake and sets the other Faculties on work The Understanding is a grave sedate and severe Action The Memory acts not at all but is purely Passive and the manner of these Operations seems to be thus In the First Place the Imagination collects together the Idea's and Figures of Things not only such as are present by the conveyance and ministry of the five Senses but those that are absent too by the Assistance of that Inward and Common Receptacle called the Sensorium commune where the Forms of them lie deposited The Next thing in Order is to represent these to the Understanding if that be thought fit and then this Faculty takes them into Consideration examines digests and makes a Judgment of them When That is over the Imagination lays them up carefully to be preserved in the Memory as a Man takes down a Memorandum in his Table-Book that so they may be consulted and made use of again when any future Occasion shall call for them Or if the Imagination be not so disposed then she commits these things into the Memory's Custody without referring them to the Understanding at all and so the Second Branch of this Operation is wholly Superseded Now this Account informs us that the Acts of Recollection Representing to the Intellectual Faculty laying up in the Memory and drawing out those Stores again for Use are all of them Operations of the Imaginative Faculty So that That Common Repository the Internal Sense Reminiscence as it is called and Fancy come within the Compass of This and are not as some pretend Powers of the Mind distinct and separate from it And consequently there is nothing in those Operations that shou'd oblige us to quit the former Division or allow more Faculties of the Reasonable Soul than the Three already insisted upon The Common People who to give them their due are very seldom in the right have an high Esteem The Faculties compared together and make a marvellous to do with Memory extolling This insinitely above the other Two The only Reason whereof seems to be that this hath more of Shew is more pretending and forward and makes a greater Noise in Conversation Hence it is that a Man whose Memory is well stored is usually reputed a great Scholar and that to pronounce one a Person of good Parts you look no farther than his having a good Memory as if Learning were to be preferr'd before Wisdom which indeed comes infinitely short of it and this Faculty from whence it is furnish'd is the least valuable of all the Three For it is consistent with great Folly and insufferable Impertinence and very rarely to be met with in any great Degree where the Person excels in Understanding and Wisdom for the Temperaments indeed from whence they result are contrary to one another From this vulgar Errour I suppose the improper Methods of teaching Children to have taken their Rise it being the Custom of Country-Schools almost every where to follow them close with Tasks to be got by Heart as they call it that so they may be able to repeat and quote things readily out of Books Thus they stuff their Memories full and load them with the Riches of other Men without taking any care to awaken and whet the Understanding to form or to refine the Judgment Which after all is the most necessary part of Instruction to shew them the true worth of their Natural Faculties to draw out the Stores and Abilities of their own Mind and by the Exercise and Improvement of their Home-Growth to render them considerate and wise and qualify'd for all manner of Business Accordingly we see that many of your Scholars which carry all Aristotle and Cicero in their Heads are mere Prigs and Puts and incapable of any management at all and that generally speaking the World is led by the Nose and all the weightiest Affairs of Governments entrusted with Men of little or no Learning Which yet no doubt is of infinite Advantage and wou'd render even the prudentest and cunningest Politicians yet more capable than they are if wisely instill'd and well us'd But then they must not as the way of the World is value themselves upon Other Men's Wisdom nor think it their Own because they remember it but make it so by digesting what they read incorporating it with their own Thoughts refining and improving upon it and knowing how to convert it to the Use and Benefit of themselves and others But to return All Wise Men have given the Preference to the Understanding and admit it to be the most excellent and choicest Piece of Furniture belonging to the Mind If this moves right all the rest goes true and the Man is wise and if this be false the whole Movement is out of Course Imagination is the Second in Dignity and Memory is the Last and Lowest The following Similitude may perhaps contribute something to our apprehending the true State of these Faculties and the different Circumstances and Relations they are in more perfectly An Image of the Three Faculties The Reasonable Soul then cannot be more painted to the Life than by forming an Idea of it to our selves as a Court of Judicature Now in every such Court there are Three Degrees and Orders of Persons concern'd The Uppermost and most Honourable Order is the Bench of Judges and here there is little or no Noise but a World of Business and Dispatch For they proceed calmly and quietly and without any Hurry or Passion try Causes decide Controversies and Claims make Decrees and give the Final Determination to all Matters brought before them This carries a very lively resemblance to the Understanding which is the highest the most honourable and the judging Faculty of the Soul The Second
this Little or to express the thing in terms every whit as true though more acceptable A moderate Proportion and Sufficiency of Mind is the thing that brings Wisdom and Satisfaction This is what will content a Wise Man and keep him always in a State of Ease and Tranquillity Upon the full Conviction of this Truth it is that I have chosen for my Motto those two significant words Paix Peu Quiet and a Little A Fool thinks nothing enough he is sickle and irresolute knows not what he would have nor when to have done and consequently can never be contented because he never knows what would satisfy him Such a Man is well enough represented by the Story Plutarch tells of the Moon which came to her Mother and begged she would give her some New Cloaths that would sit her but received this Answer That such a Garment was impossible to be made for she was sometimes very Big and at other times very Little and continually Increasing or Decreasing and how then could she expect to be sitted with a Garment which must always be the same when her own Body was so changeable that its Bulk was never two days together the same 2. The next Point is That our Desires and Pleasures be Natural and this in truth carries great Affinity and Resemblance to the former For we cannot but observe that there are Two sorts of Pleasures Some of which are Natural and These are Just and Lawful They have a foundation in our very Temper and Frame and are imparted not to Men only but are exactly the same in Brutes These Appetites and the Gratifications of them are short and bounded in a narrow compass it is an easy matter to see to the End of them Now with regard to such no Man is or can be poor because all Circumstances and all Places furnish enough to satisfy these Inclinations For Nature is Regular and Abstemious a very little contents her and not only so but she is very well provided too and puts into every Man's hand as much as will suffice to support him Thus Seneca observes * Parabile est quod Natura desiderat expositum Ad manum est quod sat est That the Sustenance Nature requires is always ready and any-where to be had and it is very easy to come at enough for the supply of our Necessities For that which Nature requires for the preservation of its Being is in reality as much as we need and sure we ought to acknowledge it a particular Happiness and a special Favour that Those things which we stand in need of for the support of Life as they must be had or we perish so they are easy to be had and no body need perish for want of them and that the matter is so contrived that whatever is hard to be obtained we can be without it and suffer no great Prejudice If we lay aside Fancy and Passion and follow Nature and Necessity we are always rich and always safe for these will direct us to such pursuits as all the malice of Fortune cannot defeat To this sort of Desires we may add too those others which regard the Customs of the Age and Place we live in and the Circumstances and Quality of our Persons and Fortunes For I can easily allow that They should be comprehended under this Head too though it must be confess'd that they do not come up to the same degree of Necessity with the former If we will speak strictly and consider things according to their utmost rigour These are neither Natural nor Necessary but if they be not absolutely so yet they follow close in order and are next to Those that are They do indeed exceed the bounds of Nature which hath done her part when she maintains us in Any Condition but yet we are not tied to all that Exactness but are permitted to enlarge our Desires farther and may without any breach of Virtue desire a Competency in proportion to the Rank Providence hath placed us in We may I say desire and endeavour this fairly and reasonably but yet with this Reserve that it is against Justice and Reason both to murmur and be discontented if we be disappointed in our Hopes or deprived of the Possession of it For These are Additional Advantages and the Effect of Bounty all that Nature hath bound her self to is the Subsistence of our Persons and we have no Right to depend upon more But we must not omit to observe that there are as I hinted before another sort of Pleasures and Desires which we may truly call Unnatural because they are quite beside and beyond the Bounds already mentioned With These Nature hath nothing at all to do she knows them not They are of a Bastard Race Fancy and Opinion give them birth Art and Industry Cherish and Improve them They are superfluous and studied Follies and must not be allowed so mild a Term as Appetites but are most truly and in the worst sense of the word Passions I know not well indeed what Title to distinguish them by they are so fantastical that it is not easy to find a Name for them but call them if you will Lustings Longings Any thing that expresses the Whimsy and Impatience of a wild and wanton Mind These we have therefore spoken to already when in the First Book we treated of the Passions at large all that is necessary to be added here concerning them is only That the Greatest part of what Men call Desires are such as These and that They are the proper source of that Misery and Fretfulness we see Mankind so generally disquieted by and That a Wise man will think himself concerned to distinguish his Virtue in no one Instance more than in keeping himself absolutely and entirely clear from any Vanities of this kind 3. See Book III. Ch. 40. The Third Qualification requisite upon these Occasions is That all our Pleasures and Desires be Moderate by which I mean that they should be guilty of no Excess in any respect whatsoever Now This is a Rule of a very large Extent and capable of being parcelled out into a great many subdivisions but I think All of them may be reduced to these Two That neither first our Neighbour nor secondly our Selves suffer by them When I mention other People's Sufferings I design by it that we should indulge our Selves in nothing that may any way give any person disquiet by scandalizing him or ministring just cause of Resentment nothing that may contribute to his loss or prejudice by hurting his Person Estate or Reputation By Our Own suffering I mean that we should have all due regard to our Health our Leisure our Business and particularly the Offices of our Calling and Capacity our Honour and above all our Duty And He that is content with being subject to these Restraints and takes care not to break in upon any of the forementioned Boundaries I admit to be such a one as exercises what
Good especially that God likes us the better merely because we use our selves the worse is a very Fantastical and Erroneous Imagination And such as any Communion or Party of Men by Encouraging do great Injury to the Honour of God deceive the Souls of Penitents and hinder the Essentials of Religion which are Faith and Newness of Life In short They expos Religion in general to the scorn of all those who see the Foppery and unreasonableness of those mistaken Methods and call the very foundations of it into Question by tempting such to think that it is all Invention and Trick and Empty Sensless Formality Advertisement the Second Book II. Chap. 5. Sect. 8. Monsieut Charron hath in this Section put together Two Objections against the Divine Origine of Religion and such as no doubt do it prejudice in the Minds of Men who do not attend to the Reasons of things and judge impartially The First concerns the Manner of Propagating Religion and Man's first entrance into it The Second That want of Efficacy which one would expect an Institution coming immediately from God must needs have upon the Lives and Actions of Those who have Embraced and profess to be Governed by it I. Page 125. The Former of These is urged to be only a matter of Custom and Necessity the Fate of a Man rather than his Choice who if Adult is brought over by Custom and Multitudes and if an Infant is presently initiated into the prevailing Persuasion of his Country or his Family and so continues all his Life long Now for Custom and Multitudes and Example it is very evident This was much otherwise in the first Plantation of Religion that of the Christian in particular A Persuasion which it is manifest came into the World with all possible disadvantages and the Establishment whereof was one of the most amazing Miracles that ever was wrought since the Beginning of the World For People had common Sense then as well as now and all the Corruptions of Human Nature were equally powerful There was the same Arrogance and Vain Opinion of their own Wisdom to render the Mysteries which are acknowledged above the Comprehension of a Human Mind offensive to the Men of some Learning and more Vanity The same sensual Appetites and Vicious Practices to hold out and stand at defiance against the Precepts of Chastity and Sobriety Self-denial and Mortification The same Pride and Opinion of Worldly Grandeur to raise their Indignation and Disdain of a Crucified Saviour The same Love of the World and Tenderness for their Persons to prevent any rash Sacrificing of their Lives and Estates for a Persecuted Faith when nothing was promised in Reward but a very distant Happiness after Death And yet notwithstanding prevail that Faith did in despight of Human Opposition and Interest and prevail it could not have done by any other means than the Almighty Power of its Author and Protector and the Astonishing Effects which the Conviction of its Truth produced upon men's Consciences This certainly was Argument sufficient even to Demonstration that those Words were not in any degree misapplied when put into the Mouth of Christianity and its Preachers Not of Man neither by Man nor of any other Creature but of God And shall it be esteemed any Prejudice to this Religion that Men do not still lie under the same Difficulties in the Choice of it When it hath made its own way triumphantly and weatied out or won over its Persecutors shall the Multitude of its Professors and the Peaceable and Easy Exercise of it be thought to derogate from its Authority Sure it is very unreasonable that Faith should be thought of Divine Extract no longer than while it bids Men embrace it at their Peril The being handed down in Families is a plain and natural Effect of an Established Principle Parents could not have the Affection which becomes their Character did they not take all lawful and Commendable Methods of putting their Children into the same way to Heaven which they trust they are in themselves Especially if the Case lie between any other Persuasion and Christianity which we have reason to believe is the only possible Ordinary way thither The entring Children early into Covenant with God is a very Profitable and Charitable Custom what He himself not only admitted but enjomed formerly and since He is much more eminently the Father of the Christians than of the Jews we have no reason to suspect they shall be less favourably received when as early dedicated to him This gives Security that they shall be taught when their Years enable them to learn how they ought to believe and act so that if their Religion afterwards be merely the effect of Custom and Example This is utterly beside the Design of Those early Initiations where the Express Contrary is positively indented for If Men happen to be bred up in a wrong Persuasion there is little Question to be made but great and gracious Allowances will be made for that fast hold which the Prepossessions of Education have taken But be they in the right or in the wrong it is every One's duty so far as his Opportunities and Capacity will give him leave to examine and see that he may have comfort and be better established in the Truth or else retract his Error Where This is not done it is a neglect and far from the intent of Truth for Truth will bear Enquiry and the more nicely she is look'd into the better she is lik'd the more admired and triumphs and reigns more absolute St. Peter positively commands that we should be ready to give a Reason of the Hope that is in us 1 Pet. III. 15. and though Men are more disposed to consider when their Opinions are like to cost them dear yet the Reason of the Command is Universal and by no means restrained to Times of Persecution only Every Man should do his best to obey it and every Persuasion ought to encourage it and if any do not but hide the Key of Knowledge either by detaining the Scriptures or not leaving Men to the Free Use of Modest and Impartial Reason These are the Men who are most contrary to St. Peter and best deserve the Censure of Monsieur Charron in this Passage II. The Second Insinuation against the Divine Authority of Religion is taken from the Visible Inefficacy of it upon Men's Lives as if all that came from God must needs be effectual for reforming the World Now This how popular and plausible soever at first appearance yet is an Argument of no Foundation or Strength at all For the Short of the Matter lies here Religion never was intended to destroy Men's Nature but only to mend it to change Men indeed in their Affections and Inclinations but so as that this Change should be wrought by themselves Hence it is that though the Grace of God be Almighty yet Man is not a proper Object for its Omnipotence to exert it self upon For
significant Part of it that so his Eye may command all the Quarters and like the Sun in the midst of the Firmament pierce enlighten and warm all round about him with the Influence of his Beams For when a Prince resides in some very remote Corner of his Dominions this Distance emboldens those in the contrary Extremity to behave themselves insolently and grow Tumultuous and Unruly As forâ—h's Conversation That should be very reserved his Considents and familiar Friends but few his Progresses and other Appearances in publick but seldom that the People may always be eager and glad to see him For the shewing himself often and giving too easie Access to his Person will mightily lessen the Majesty of his Character * Continunâ— Aspectus minùs verendos magnos homines ipsa satietate facit Liv. The being always admitted to the Sight and Presence of Great Persons does mightily impair and diminish our Respect by Glutting our Curiesity says one of the Roman Historians And another to this purpose †Majestati major ex longinquo Reverentia quia omne ignotum pro magnih co est Majesty is always most reverenc'd at a distance for Nature forms all our Idea's bigger than the Life and what we are not acquainted with is always fancy'd to be very Great and Stately After the Three Things already treated of The fourth Head Counsel The Knowlege of his People and Government the Virtues of his Mind and the Fashion and Address of the Prince all which are inseparable from his own Person The next things we are led to consider are such as are near and about his Person And therefore in the fourth place let us say somewhat concerning his Counsel which in truth is the main Point of all this Head which relates to his Politicks and of Consequence so vast that it is in a manner All in All. For Counsel is the Soul of any Government the Spirit that insuses Life and Motion Energy and Vigour into all the rest And upon the Account of This it is that the Management of Affairs consists in Prudence because Hand are of no Significance at all till the Heads have cut them out their Work and prescrib'd their Methods It were indeed to be wish'd That a Prince were enrich'd with so great a Stock of Prudence and Consideration as to be able himself to govern and dispose and contrive every thing without calling in Help from abroad This is such a Sufficiency as the first Chapter of this Book observed to be the Noblest Perfection and highest Degree of Wisdom and no Question can be made but that Matters would be better order'd and more successfully dispatch'd if it could be so But this is an Accomplishment meerly imaginary no Instance of it is to be found in Nature whether it be that Princes want the Advantage of Good Temper or Good Instruction And indeed let Nature be never so bountiful and Education never so proper yet it is scarce possible to suppose That all the Parts and all the Improvements in the World could ever qualifie one single Head for the Comprehending and Direction of such infinite Variety of Business * Nequit Princeps suâ scientià cuncta complecti nee unius Mens tantae molis est capax No Prince says Tacitus can have a Reach so great as to be Master of all his Concerns no one Mind is strong enough to carry so great a Burden A single Man hears and sees but very little in Comparison But Kings have need of abundance of Eyes and Ears to assist and give Intelligence Great Weights and great Undertakings can only be made light by a Multitude of Hands And therefore it is absolutely necessary for a Prince to provide himself with good Advice and with Persons every way capable of giving it for as the Case stands and the Intrigues of Government are perplex'd he that will take upon him to do all of his own Head shall much sooner six upon himself the Character of Pride and Conceitedness than gain the Reputation of Wisdom A Prince then of all Men hath most need of faithful Friends Liv. and diligent Servants who may assist him in his Difficulties and ease him of part of his Cares These are the real the most valuable Treasures of a King Tacit. and the most useful Instruments to the Publick And therefore the first and great Care must be to make a wise Choice of Assistants and employ the utmost Application Plin. and bend all one's Judgment to have such as are excellent and proper for a Post of such vast Importance Now of these Assistants there are two sorts One that contribute their Advice and Project only Xenoph. and these employ their Wit and their Tongue and are in strict propriety of Speech Counsellors the Other are concern'd in the executive part they lend us their Hands and their Pains and these are more properly styled Officers Of these the former sort are in much the more Honourable Character For thus the two great Philosophers have declared their Opinion Plato Aristot that it is a most Sacred and Divine Accomplishment to consider judiciously and be able to advise well Now in Persons thus to be chosen and employed Qualifications of Counsellors several Qualifications are necessary As first of all It is necessary to choose such as are Faithful and fit to be trusted that is in one Word Men of Virtue and good Principles * Optimum quemque sidelissimum puto I take for granted says Pliny that the better Man any one is the more stanch and true be is and more safe to be depended upon Secondly They must be Persons of Ability and proper for this Office not only in regard of their Knowledge and Learning in general but upon the Account of their Skill in Politicks and that express Form of Government in particular such as have been used and try'd before and have come off with Honour and Success versed in Business and accustomâ—d to Difficulties For Hardships and Adversities are the most useful and improving Lessons †Mihi Fortuna multis rebus ereptis usum dedit bene suadendi Mithr in Salusi Fortune says one in the room of many Advantages which she hath torn frem me hath given me the Faculty of Advice and Posuasion And in one Word They must be wise and discreet moderately quick not too sprightly and sharp for such Men will be always projecting And â‚ Novandis quam gerendis rebus aptiora ingenia illa ignea Mon of Fire are more for Change than steady Management Now in order to these Qualifications it is necessary that they should be Men of ripe Years to give them Stayediness Experience and Consideration nay I may add to inspire them with Caution too for it is one of the many Unhappinesses attending Youth that Persons then are easily imposed upon of which the Tenderness and Softness of their Brain may perhaps be one reason as that
the Declarations of their Readiness to assist us And that our Memory upon this occasion may never want Refreshing it will be Decent to mention the Advantage we have receiv'd by the Title of his Gifts who conferred it upon us The Fourth and Last is to make a Return and Restitution wherein we may govern our selves according to these Four Rules First That This be not done too hastily We should not be extremely Eager and Anxious in the Thing for this hath a very ill Savour It looks like Pride as if we were loath and scorned to be obliged and for that Reason were impatient to get out of their Debt This ministers a very just cause of Jealousie to our Benefactor that his Kindness was not well taken when we shew our selves so very uneasie under the Engagements it lays upon us A convenient time therefore is necessary to be taken and a favourable Opportunity waited for Though this ought not to be very distant neither nor be put off to too long a Day For the Graces are painted Young to hint that Favours should not grow old upon our Hands I add farther that this Opportunity should be one that offers it self of its own Accord or if of Our seeking yet so contrived that it may be void of all Suspicion of Vanity and Ostentation Secondly We should pay back with Interest and exceed the Proportion of what we receive like a good Soil which cannot maintain the Character if it only produce the Seed again So a grateful Man * Ingratus est qui Beneficium reddit sine usurâ will forfeit that Title if he restore no more than the Principal But the least we must do is to return as much as we received and that with all possible Demonstrations that we thought our selves under an Obligation and wished it in our Power to do more That what we have done in the mean while is not look'd upon as full Satisfaction but only as an Acknowledgment of the Debt and a Testimony of our Sincerity and Respect Thirdly That these Returns be made willingly and chearfully for †Ingratus est qui metu gratus est Eodem animo beneficium debetur quo datur Errat siquis Beneficium libentiùs accipit quà m reddit he is not Grateful whom Fear or Force make desirous to appear so Especially too if the Kindness was done Frankly and generously For we should pay back in the same Coin and with all the commendable Qualities the Favour brought along to recommend it And that Man is much to blame who is more ready and cheerful when he is to receive a Kindness than when it is expected he should requite one Fourthly If a Man's Circumstances be such as render him Incapable of actual Restitution at least he ought to take Care that he be not wanting in Will and this Grateful Disposition is the First and Principal Part of the Thing the very Life and Soul both of the Benefit and of the Acknowledgment in return for it This indeed can have no Witness but it self to testifie for it But as the Thanks of the Heart ought to be well accepted where People are in no Condition to pay more so the Desires and Offers of obliging us either when our Friends could not compass their Desires or when we had no need or did not think fit to accept their Services must be acknowledged as if we had actually received them For here was the Will though not the Deed and this as I said is the Chief and of it self a sufficient Ground of Obligation to Gratitude THE Second PART OF JUSTICE CONSISTING Of Duties owing to and from certain Persons and arising from Special and Personal Obligations The PREFACE MY Design is in the next Place to treat of such Duties as are peculiar to some Men and not to others And These differ according as the Persons concern'd in them and their respective Conditions differ Some of them are unequal as Superiours and Inferiours Others are equal and upon the same Level I shall begin with married Persons because This is a Relation mixt and compounded of both They being in some Respects Equal and in Others Vnequal Besides it will be convenient to set out with such Instances of Justice as are Private and Domestick These being in the very Nature and Order of Things antecedent to those that are Publick and Political For Families are the Foundation and first Matter of Common-wealths and Kingdoms And therefore the Justice exercised here is the Scurce and Model and first Draught of Publick Administrations Now these Domestick Relations are Three Husband and Wife Parents-and Children Masters and Servants These are the Principal Parts of a Family but that of Husband and Wife is the Ground-work and beginning of all the rest And therefore That hath a right to be first considered CHAP. XII The Duties of a Married State IN Regard the Persons under this Condition may be considered in different Respects according to that Mixture of Equality and Inequality which I have observed to be in their Circumstances it must needs follow that the Duties peculiar to such a State are of Two Sorts Some common to both and Others appropriated to each of the Parties Now of those that are reciprocal the Obligation is entirely the same and the Consciences of both are equally violated by the Breach of them though according to the Customs of the World the Penalty and Reproach and Inconvenience fall more Heavy on one side than they do on the other By these reciprocal Duties I understand an Entire Affection steady Loyalty uncorrupted Fidelity and unreserved Communication of all things whatsoever so that Neither of them have any thing they can call their own exclusive to the Right and Claim of the Other To these we may add a prudent and provident Care and the Exercise of a just Authority over their Family a diligent Inspection into their Manners and consulting the Advantage of all that belong to them Book I. Chap. 42. Of this Subject we have spoken more at large in the first First Part of this Treatise The Other sort are Duties Peculiar to each of the Parties and These differ Husband's Duty according to the Terms of that unequal Relation in which they stand For those of the Husband considered as Superiour are 1. Instructing his Wife conferring with and directing her in every Particular that may any way contribute to their Honour and Advantage taking Care that she may be Ignorant in no Part of the Duty expected from her Character nor defective in any useful and necessary Accomplishments which she is capable of attaining to and all this to be done not in a Rough and Magisterial Way but with all possible Gentleness and Sweetness in the softest and most engaging manner with the Tenderness of a Parent and the respectful Affection of a Friend 2. The maintaining her as his Wife as befits One whom he hath made the same with himself and therefore without any Regard
and Brawling and contemptuous Usage for none but Slaves He that is once accustomed to these will come to very little But Reason and Argument the Gracefulness of the Action the Imitation of excellent Men the Honour and Respect and universal Approbation that attend their doing well the pleasing and generous Satisfactions of one's own Mind which result from a Sense of having done so and the Deference paid by others to such Persons and Actions The Deformity of an ill thing the Representations of its being unworthy and unbecoming a Reproach and Affront to Human Nature the Shame and Scandal the inward Upbraiding and Discontents and the General Dislike and Aversion it draws upon us how despicable and little it makes us appear both in our own Eyes and the Esteem of the World These are the Defensive Arms against Vice these the Spurs to Virtue that influence and quicken up all Children of good Tempers and such as give us any tolerable Hopes of making significant Men. These we shall do well to be perpetually ringing in their Ears and if such Arts as these prove ineffectual all the Methods of Rigour will do but little Good upon them What cannot be compassed by dint of Reason and Prudence and Address will either never be compassed by dint of Blow or if it be it will turn to very poor Account But indeed there is no fear of Disappointment if such Methods are taken in time and the Corruptions of Vice be not suffered to get beforehand with us For these Notions are commensurate and Proper to the Soul and the most natural that can possibly be while it is preserved in its Primitive Innocence and Purity I would not be mistaken in all this As if it were any part of my Intention to countenance or commend that loose and effeminate Indulgence which admits of no Contradiction no Correction at all but makes it a Principle to let Children have their Humour in every Thing for fear of fretting and putting them out of Temper This is an Extreme every whit as extravagant and as destructive as the other Such Parents are like the Ivy that certainly kills the Tree encircled by it or the Age that hugs her Whelps to Death with mere Fondness 'T is as if when we see a Man drowning we should stand by and let him sink for fear the pulling him out by the Hair of the Head should hurt him Against this Foolish Tenderness it is that the wise Preacher inveighs so largely and so smartly Prov. xiii 24. xix 18. xxiii 13 14. Ecclus xxx 8 9 12. He that spareth the Rod hateth his Son but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes Chasten thy Son while there is hope and let not thy Soul spare for his crying With-hold not Correction from the Child for if thou beatest him with the Rod he shall not die Thou shalt beat him with the Rod and shalt deliver his Soul from Hell An Horse not broken becometh Headstrong and a Child lest to himself will be wilfull Cocker thy Child and he shall make thee afraid Bow down his Neck while he is young lest he wax subborn and bring Sorrow to thine Heart And all this Advice is very consistent with what I recommended before for Youth must not be suffered to run wild and grow Lawless They ought to be contained in Discipline and good Order but then this Discipline should be so tempered and managed as becomes a Spiritual Human and reasonable Discipline and not fly out into Rage and Fury as if we were dealing with Brutes who have no Sense or with Madmen who have lost their Senses and must be bang'd into them again And now it may be seasonable for us to proceed in the Consideration of those Particulars mention'd lately Advice for forming the Mind and the Rules for Instruction and Education suited to each of them The First of these Particulars was said to consist in exercising sharpening and forming the Minds of young People And here we might take Occasion to lay down a great Variety of Directions But the First and Chief and indeed the Fundamental Rule of all the rest that which regards the Aim and End of all this painful Toil and which I am the more concerned to press and inculcate because it is very little observed but by an Epidemical and fatal Mistake Men are generally fond of the quite contrary Course this Rule I say which I would urge and presume to be infinitely the most concerning and material of any is That Men would employ the greatest Part by much and make it in a manner the Whole of their Business and Study to exercise and improve and exert That which is our Natural and Particular Excellence to brighten and bring to light the Treasure hid in every Man's breast rather than to heap up and make Ostentation of that which is a foreign Growth To aim at Wisdom rather than Learning and the quaint Subtilties of Speculative Knowledge to strengthen the Judgment and consequently give the true Bent and Turn to the Will and the Conscience rather than fill the Memory and warm the Fancy in a Word That they would labour to make the Persons committed to their Charge Prudent Honest and good Men and think this better Service and infinitely higher Accomplishments than the making them Nice Florid Learned or all that which the World calls fine Scholars and fine Gentlemen Of the Three predominant Parts of the Reasonable Soul Judgment is the Chief and most Valuable Book I. Chap. 19. as was shewn at large in the Beginning of this Treatise to which I refer my Reader But almost all the World are of another Opinion and run greedily after Art and acquired Learning Parents are at an infinite Expence and Children themselves at infinite Pains and trouble to purchase a Stock of Knowledge and yet Tacitus his Complaint may be ours at this Day That the Excess of Learning is our Disease and as it is in all other Excesses the World is not the better but the worse for it For in the midst of all this Fruitless Care and Charge they are in little or no Concern for that which would come at a much easier Rate the breeding them so that they may be Prudent and Honest and fit for Business Now though this Fault may be so general yet All are not Guilty of it upon the same Principle Some are blindly led away by Custom and imagine that Wisdom and Learning are either the same thing or very near of Kin to one another but to be sure that they constantly go together and that one of them cannot possibly be attained without the other These Men are under an innocent Mistake and deserve to have some Pains taken with them for their better Information Others are wilfully in the Wrong and know well enough the Difference between these Two But still they will have artifical and acquired Knowledge whatever it cost them And indeed as the Case stands now with our Western Parts