Places and Persons And each of these is of so considerable Importance that the Change of one single Circumstance even such as may seem least and of no account produces a very great Alteration and sets quite another Face upon the whole Matter This Difficulty is likewise greater and more evident upon account of the Office in which this Virtue is employ'd which consists in mustering together Contraries and then tempering them in just proportions with one another so as to qualifie the whole at last in the best manner the Case will admit Another part of this Office is Distinguishing aright between things that are like and making a wise Choice by discerning Real from Seeming Good and preferring a Greater to a Less of the same Kind Now all these things are puzzling and full of Confusion for Contrariety and Resemblance both agree in this that either of them is a great Impediment and creates Doubt and Irresolution And as the Executive Part of Prudence is exceeding difficult Obscure so the Discerning part is subject to great Obscurity by reason the first Causes and Springs of Things from whence they arise and by which they are moved and carryâ—d on are secret and unknown and like the Seeds and Roots of Plants lie deep in the Ground and far out of sight so deep that Human Nature cannot dive to the bottom of them and some of them so mysterious too that it is as criminal to enquire into them as it is impossible to satisfie our selves by such Enquiry * Occultat corum semina Deus plerunque benerum malorumque causa sub diversa specielatent Providence hath thought fit to conceal the Seeds of these things and it often happens that the Causes of Good and Bad Effects lie hid and disguise themselves under very different Appearances And besides all this there is that strange Turn of Chance that unaccountable Fatality call it what you please that Supreme Secret Unknown Power which always maintains its Authority and gives the finishing stroke in despight of all the properest Methods and wisest Precautions we can use From hence it comes to pass that the best-laid Designs and most regular Proceedings are very frequently most unfortunate in the Event The very same Course taken by One Man succeeds according to his heart's Desire and with Another crosses all his Expectations and yet the Case to all Human appearance is the same in both and no reason can be given for such contrary Issues Nay the same Man found those very Methods successful yesterday which when he tries again to day baffle all his Designs and Dependencies and he who was a Winner but just now plays the same Game over twice and the second time loses all This Lottery of Fortune gave just occasion for that received Rule That no Man's Counsel or Capacity can be rightly measured by his Success And He was certainly in the right who told some of his Friends that stood amazed at his ill Fortune when they observed a more than common Wisdom in all his Discourse and Behaviour Look you Gentlemen this does not mortifie me at all I am Master of my Methods and capable of judging what is proper and convenient but Events are what no Man alive can govern or insure to himself This is Fortune's doing which seems to take a kind of envious Joy in defeating our subtlest Projects and diverts her self with our Disappointments She in an instant blasts our Hopes and overturns the most regular Schemes which have cost the Study and Care of many Years to draw and design and when all the matter is duly consider'd and resolv'd when we have advanced so far that nothing remains but the last Act when all is brought to Bear as we call it she nails up all our Cannon and puts a full stop to all the Execution we intended And in truth This is the only way Fortune takes to make her self great and maintain her Credit in the World thus she exerts her Power over the Affairs of Humane Life or to speak more truly and in language more besitting the mouth of Christians 'T is Thus that Providence takes down our Pride and mortifies our Presumption Fools cannot be made Wise by Chance and of a sudden but then to check the Vanity of those who have the advantage in Parts They are frequently successful even to a degree that may provoke the Envy of Virtue and Wisdom it self Accordingly we may often observe that Persons of very indifferent Capacities and small Attainments have been able to accomplish vast Undertakings both publick and private while others of more Masterly Judgments have been defeated in matters of less difficulty From all which Reflections my Reader plainly perceives that Prudence is a boundless and a bottomless Sea never to be limited by positive Preceps or reduced to certain and standing Rules because the Subject it is concerned with is fickle and inconstant like the Sea too and all our Measures must be changed all are liable to be broke as oft as the Winds change One cross Blast blows us back again or dashes us to pieces upon the Rocks and neither the best Vessel nor the best Pilot can be proof against this Stress of Weather All then that Prudence can engage for is to be circumspect and consider every Circumstance in the several lights it is capable of but still the most discerning Man is in the Clouds The greatest Judgment and Application finds all its Endeavours frivolous and vain and that when he thought he saw all things clearly he was all the while groping and blundering in the dark And yet notwithstanding we cannot arrive to a commanding and infallible Certainty Necessary this Virtue must be acknowledged of exceeding great weight and absolute Necessity For thus much is her just due that what is possible to be effected must be compass'd by her assistance that though she cannot do All she can do a great deal and that however Men are not constantly successful with her yet without her all their Attempts are frivolous and perfectly insignificant Not only Riches but Power and Opportunities and Strength for Action are impotent and vain if destitute of Wisdom to use them * Vis consilì expers mole ruit suâ c. Hor. Lib. 3. Od. 4. Rash Force by its own weight must fall But prudent Strength will still prevail For such the Gods assist and bless †Mens una sapiens plurium vincit manus One good Head is better than a great many Hands â‚ Multa quae naturâ impedita sunt consilio expediuntur Liv. Many things that Nature hath made intricate and difficult are made easie and very feasible by good Consideration and Advice Nor does what I urged in the former Paragraph at all invalidate the Truth of these Observations because though Prudence be not the never-failing Cause yet it is the usual Cause of Success God does not always prosper Mens wisest Projects To convince us that the World is
his next Care is to see that others are Just too For This indeed is the Fundamental Article of all Government the very End of its Institution and the particular Trust put into the Hands of every Sovereign He hath his Power committed to him for this very Purpose To take care that Justice be equally distributed and Wrongs and Oppressions repress'd by interposing his Arbitration and the Power of the Sword Therefore he ought in Person or in Authority and Deputation to hear and decide Causes to let every one have a fair Tryal to award to each Party what by the Letter of the Law or by the equitable Construction of it belongs to him and all this without Delays or Quirks or Trickings without Perplexing the Case or Countenancing Foul and Litigious Practice And in order hereunto it were very well if that Way of Pleading now in use could be eithr reformed as it ought or quite turn'd out of doors which is at present become a most vile most destructive Trade a perfect Market †Concessum Latrocinium Columel A Robbery and Picking of Pockets Countenanc'd by the Law and upheld under the Pretence of a Learned and Honourable Profession It will also be advisable to avoid as much as may be Multiplicity of Laws and Decrees which only breed Confusion and are *âŽ* Corruptissimae Reipub. plurimae leges A Symptom of a sick and corrupt State as sure as taking much Physick and wearing many Plaisters are Signs of gross Humours and ill Health For unless some Care of this kind be taken that which is established by Good and Wise Las will be defeated and quite overturned again by too many Laws One thing by the way ought not to be omitted upon this Occasion which is that the Justice and Virtue and Probity of a Prince is not in all Points ty'd up to the same Methods and manner of Proceeding with that of Persons in a private Capacity It hath a larger Range and freer Scope allow'd and all this Latitude is Indulgence little enough no more than is absolutely necessary for the Weighty and Hazardous Office our Governours are engag'd in and the Infinite Unconceivable Difficulties that arise in their Administration This makes it reasonable for Them to go in a Way by Themselves the common and direct Tract is too Narrow they are oblig'd to shift and dodge and wheel about and whatever Censures People who understand not the Nature of the Case may pass as if every thing that is unusual and indirect were presently Wicked and Unjust yet those who are capable of considering and competent Judges of the Matter must admit it to be lawful and allowable as well as prudent and needful for them to do For Prudence must be mix'd with Justice some Feints and Stratagems and little Slights made use of and as they commonly express it when the Lion's Skin is not big enough of it self it must be eked out by tacking a Fox-Skin to it Nor would I be so mistaken here neither * Salus Populi Supreme Lex esto as to be thought a Justifier of these crafty Dealings at all times and in all Cases indifferently By no means This is not a standing Rule of Action But must be reserv'd for special Occasions and particularly there must be three Conditions to warrant it The first is absolute Necessity or at least some evident and very considerable Advantage to the Publick that is to the Prince and the State who are to be look'd upon as One and the Same and their Interests altogether inseparable and this must by all means be consulted and made the chief Aim This is a natural an indispensable Obligation For the Publick Good is a Consideration Paramount to all others and the Man that is procuring it cannot but be doing his Duty * Salus Populi Supreme Lex esto The Safety of the People must be the Supreme Law The Second Qualification which these Methods must have to recommend them nay indeed to acquit them of Blame is That they be used Defensively only and not Offensively with a Design to preserve a Prince or a State but not to aggrandize Them and oppress Others For this Reason they should seldom or never be begun with but only returned back again and then are they in proper time and Place when employ'd to save the Publick from Snares and Subtle Designs and not to contrive but to discover and defear mischievous and sicked Practices For one Trick may be answered with another and it is reasonable to play the Fox with a Fox The World is exceeding full of Malice and Cunning And Aristotle's Observation is most true That the Subversion of States and Kingdoms is usually owing to Treachery and Deceit What then should hinder what forbid Nay in such Exigencies what can excuse the Conservators of the Publick Safety from preventing and disappointing such Calamities and Villainous Intentions by countermining Why may not the State save it self by the same Methods that were practis'd to ruine it and retort the Artifice of Factions and Wicked Male-contents back upon their own Heads For a Man to be too Squeamish in these Cases to play constantly above-board and upon the square and deal with these Men according to the Rules of that Rigorous Equity and Plain-dealing which Reason and Conscience require from us in private Affairs is inconsistent with the Nature and the Measures nay with the very End of all Government and the Event would often be the betraying and losing all and Sacrificing the Publick to an Unreasonable Scruple The Third Qualification is That these Methods be used moderately and discreetly As they are not fit for all Times nor all Occasions so neither are all Persons sit to be trusted with them For they are capable of great Abuses And if abused will prove of ill Example and ill Consequence by ministring Occasion to ill Men to practise and justifie their Frauds and indirect Dealings and so giving Countenance to Wickedness and Injustice even in private Commerce and Transactions For a Man is never at Liberty to forsake Virtue and Honesty to follow Vice and Injustice These things are so far from indifferent that there is no Possibility of reconciling those distant Extremes no Satisfaction capable of being made for so ill a Choice And therefore away with all Injustice and Infidelity all Treacherous and Illegal Proceedings and cursed be the Principles and the Politicks of those Men who as I instanc'd before would possess Sovereign Commanders with a Belief that all things are lawful if they be but expedient for them There is a vast difference between such an Arbitrary Notion of Right and Wrong and the Rules and Limitations I have here laid down Reasons of State may sometimes make it necessary to temper Honesty with Profit and try if these two can be so mingled together as to make a good Composition But tho' we may try to compound and soften the Matter yet we must never act in opposition to
must concur The First That it be denounced and undertaken why a Person who hath the Power of making and proclaiming it which can only be the Sovereign himself or in Common-Wealths those who are invested with the Suprme Authority and whom the Law in that respect looks upon but as one single Person The Second is That the Cause upon which it is so denounc'd be just and such without all Dispute is the Case of a Defensive War the Light of Reason clearly and constantly pronounced in Favour of such a War in the Judgment of all the Wise and civiliz'd Part of Mankind and Necessity supply'd the Place of Argument and Thought and moved the Barbarous and Ignorant to agree in the Justification of it too Custom hath made this Opinion and Practice universal among Men and Nature her self hath infus'd this Principle into Brutes But then by Defensive I mean That which is truly and properly so when Life or Liberty one's Relations or one's Country are assaulted Nay not only so but a War is really defensive when begun in behalf of our Confederates and Allies or to chastise Breach of Faith and former Treatise or for the Protection and Redress of those that are oppressed Grievously and injuriously treated For it is the great Roman Orator's Judgment That * Qui non defendit nec obsistit si potest injuriae tam est in Vitio quam si Parentes aut Patriam aut Socios deserat Cic. Lib. I. de Offic. He who does not defend the Injured and as much as in him lies prevent and ward off the Wrong is as much in Blame as if he deserted Country or Kindred Parents or Friends So that Injury it self without the Addition of any other Motive is and ought to be esteem'd Engagement Sufficient for the employing our best Endeavours to right and assist the Persons labouring under it And accordingly we find St. Ambrose comprehending all these three Kinds of Defence under the Character of Justice †Fortitudo quae per bella tuetur à Barbaris Patriam vel defendit infirmos vel à latronibus Socios plena Justitiae est That Fortitude says he is highly Just and Commendable which by Force of Arms defends our Country from the Invisions of Enemies and Barbarians or protects the Weak and Suffering from those that are too mighty for them or saves our Friends and Allies from Plunder and Robbers Another ₠Nullum bellum à Civitate optimà suscipitur nisi aut pro Fide aut pro Salute Salust Author brings the Matter into a narrower Compass still and reduces it to these two Particulars of Faith and Safety No War says he is undertaken by a Righteous and Good Government except either Breach of Covenant or the Prospect of their own Danger provoke it Offensive War must likewise have Two Conditions to render it justifiable The One is that there be really some Offence given and Damage sustain'd upon which the Quarrel can fairly be grounded as in the Cases of Violence and Outrage and Usurpation The Second That Satisfaction and Restitution be first demanded in the usual Manner and Solemnities in which among the Romans a * Post Clarigatum Plin. Nat. Hist Lib. XXII Cap. 2. Herald was the proper Minister For Force is the last Remedy and ought never to be made use of till the rest have been tried to no Purpose And Justice cannot be duly sought this Way till it hath been sought in softer and more amicable Methods and deny'd If the Aggressor will hearken to calm Reason and submit to such Terms as are agreeable to it there ought to be an End of the Controversie but if he will be obstinate and refuse to do this then indeed War is Just and Allowable because it becomes necessary and the only possible Method left for redressing such Grievances and preserving our own Rights For †Justum Bellum quibus necessarum pia Arma quibus null◠nisi in armis relinquitur spes that is a just War which cannot be avoided and those are righteous Arms which are taken up by Men who have nothing less to trust to The Third necessary Qualification for making a War just is that it be undertaken for a good End and such is no other than the Peace and Security of a Nation †Sapientes pacis causà bellum gerunt laborem spe otii sustentant ut in pace sine injurià vivant Wise Men says my Author wage War for the sake of Peace and are centent to sustain great Labour and Pains for the Prospect of Ease and Leisure that so they may live quietly and secure themselves from Wrong After once the Justice of the Cause is taken care of then and not before Prudence it is seasonable to consider of the Prudence of the Undertaking And this Consideration consists in Mature Deliberation that a Prince may not run giddily on and engage in Attempts which have no probable Prospect of Success And therefore to prevent Heat and Rashness it will be very convenient that these following Particulars should be very seriously weighed First the Strength and Conveniences on both sides what the Aggressor and what his Enemy is capable of Secondly The Hazard and doubtful Chance of Wars the mighty and surprising Revolutions of Humane Affairs Particularly the unaccountable Events of Engagements and Stratagems which we see happen daily and wherein when the nicest Policy hath done its utmost Providence hath still the chief Hand and gives the finishing Stroke For it is obvious to every Man's Observation that what the World calls Fortune cannot pretend to so absolute a Dominion in any one Instance as in the Decisions of the Field And accordingly we often see that One Hour there turns the whole Face of Affairs and exalts or reduces a Prince to the very Reverse of what he was an Hour ago And therefore Livy hath observ'd very truly that ₠Simul parta ac sperata decora unius horae Fortuna evertere potest the Glories and Laurels which have been the Acquisition or the Expectation of a whole Life are all blasted and withered by the Fortune of a single Hour and he who thought himself sure of All and stood actually possest of a great deal the next Moment hath not so much as the Hope of any thing lest to sustain him The Third Consideration necessary upon this Occasion is That of the horrible Grievances and Hardships the Calamities and Miseries which War supposing the very best of the Event and sinal Determination does unavoidably draw both upon the Publick in general and private Persons in particular And these indeed when duly reflected upon are such that the very Thought alone is Dismal and full of Discouragement and Horror A Fourth Reslection will concern the Slanders and Calumnies the Reproaches and Curses which are sure to light upon the Authors and first Beginners of any War For the Misfortunes and Losses which cannot but happen will be
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
or less Those Motions that are moderate are capable of being relished and digested a Man knows what he feels and is in a Condition of expressing his Resentment in Words or giving it Vent by Tears But those that are excessive and extreme are too big and too mighty They stun and take away our Senses quite fill the Soul with Confusion and Amazement bind up and quite overbear her Powers and disable her from acting * Curae leves loquuntur ingenâ—es stupent Senec. Hippolyt Slight Passions find a Vent and Words command The Fierce swell inward Dumb and Stupid stand Thus much may suffice to give us some little Notion of the Passions Of the Viâ—iaus Irregularity in them the manner of their Operation and their Degrees in general But if we now look upon them in the Second Place with Regard to the Viciousness and Irregularity and Extravagance the Injustice and Unreasonableness these Passions are frequently guilty of thus Man may not unfitly be resembled to a State or Common-Wealth and the Condition of the Soul to that of a Monarch presiding over that State constituting several Officers and Magistrates under him to assist in the good Government of such vast Multitudes of People giving particular Laws and Directions for their Behaviour and for the due Exercise of their particular Charges and Commissions but still reserving to himself and his own Supreme Jurisdiction the Cognizance and Determination of all Matters of great Weight and general Importance and for the giving fresh and necessary Orders commanding that all extraordinary Accidents and Emergencies should immediately and faithfully be reported to himself in Person Now upon such a Constitution and such Orders duly observed the Peace and Prosperity of the whole Kingdom will depend But if these be neglected and broken and put out of their proper Course If the Magistrates which go between and are a sort of Balance between King and People shall suffer themselves either to be imposed upon thro' Easiness or Credulity or corrupted by Favour or Assection or if they shall employ their Authority in acting contrary to the Established Laws and Duties of their Places or if they shall go beyond their Commissions and come to a sinal Resolution in Causes which they ought not to determine without ever laying them before their Sovereign who hath reserv'd the Hearing and Decision of all such Matters to himself in Person In all these Cases I say the publick Peace is violated the Establishment infring'd the Prerogative incroach'd upon and nothing but Mischief and Misery and Confusion can be the End of it Now thus it is likewise in our Little World The Understanding is King in Man and under him is employed a Faculty whose Business it is to receive Idea's and to make an Estimate of them This is the Subordinate Magistrate whose Office obliges him to examine and to judge The Evidence he goes upon is that Report the Senses make of all things represented to them and according to this Testimony and the Judgment in consequence of it the Affections are by the same Faculty put forward in order to execute this Sentence For his Direction and Governance in the Execution of this Office our Judge in Commission hath the Law the Light of Nature and Dictates of Reason to go by and this in ordinary Cases is sufficient without any farther Formality But if it happen that the Affair be of great Moment or if any Difficulty arise then he must have recourse to and know the Pleasure of his Superiour and in this Case the Understanding which sits Supreme answers all Doubts and Points of Law and expects to be consulted and applied to for Orders and Advice This is the Scheme of our Government and Constitution and so long as Matters are thus managed all is quiet and well But it is our Great Unhappiness that this Imaginative Faculty which is under the Intellectual but over the Sensitive and to whose Jurisdiction the first Examination and Judgment of things belong often suffers it self to be bribed corrupted imposed upon And the Effect of this is First to pass wrong and rash Judgment then to set the Affections at work to very ill Purpose and at last to disturb and confound and ruine All. Now several things there are which may contribute towards the depraving and disordering this Power in its Judgments and Operations As first of all The Senses themselves which cannot penetrate into the Bottom nor comprehend the Real Substance and hidden Nature of Things but the bare Surface and next Appearance of them only And These make a Report to the Soul according to their present Apprehension set before it the outward Images only and that so as may gain them Favour and Recommendation and pre-possessing it with a Character of their Qualities founded upon the Satisfactions and Delights they are capable of administring to these Senses in particular and not upon the Considerations how Necessary or how Advantagious they may prove to the whole Man in general A Second Corruption which often confirms and strikes in upon the Neck of This is the False Notions and Unthinking Cry of the Vulgar when we look upon our seives oblig'd to Approve and Disapprove as Others do and when nothing is reputed needful to establish an Opinion more than its being Popular From these two false Offices of Intelligence The Report of our own Senses and the Voice of the People proceeds a Rash Inconsiderate Opinion which the Soul takes up of Things and without fair Tryal or sufficient Deliberation pronounces them Good or Evil Advantagious or Hurtful fit to be courted or fit to be detested and avoided And this is without all Dispute a very dangerous Guide a very hot and hasty Mistress for as soon as ever we entertain it without more ado it seizes upon the Imagination and there standing upon its Defence strengthens it self as in a Castle Mans all the Works and holds it out against Reason then it comes down to the Heart and there stirs and agitates the Affections with the violent Resentments of Hope and Fear and Joy and Grief In a Word it is a perfect Incendiary in the State looks out all the Fools and Disaffected in the Soul and blows them up into Sedition raises the Mobb that is the Passions and sets all in an Uproar and Confusion And all this by taking wrong Methods going Headlong to work and not submitting the Matter to the Understanding as by the Nature of this Establishment and the Duty of its Station that Faculty was obliged to do Permit me to set before you another Illustration of this Matter by a Comparison taken from Military as the former was an Allusion to Civil Government The Senses answer here both to the Centinels whose Post it is to watch and be constantly upon the Guard for the safety of the Soul and also to Scouts who are to look out and scour the Country and bring in Intelligence to the Understanding which is the Supreme
The Power of the Husband In some Places where the Paternal Authority hath been so This hath likewise Extended to Capital Punishment and made the Husband Judge and Disposer of Life and Death Dionys Halic l. 2. Thus it was with the Romans particularly For the Laws of Romulus gave a Man Power to kill his Wife in Four Cases viz. Adultery Putting False Children upon him False Keys and Drinking of Wine Thus Polybius tells us that the Greeks and Caesar says that the old Gauls gave Husbands a Power of Life and Death In Other Parts and in these already mention'd since those Times their Power hath been brought into a narrower Compass But almost every where it is taken for granted that the Authority of the Husband and the Subjection of the Wife implies thus much A Right to direct and controul the Actions to confirm or disannul the Resolutions and Vows of the Wife to Correct her when she does amiss by Reproofs and Confinement for Blows are below a Man of Honour to give and not sit for a Woman to receive and the Wife is obliged to conform to the Condition to follow the Quality the Countrey the Family the Dwelling and the Degree of her Husband to bear him Company wheresoever he goes in Journeys and Voyages in Banishment and in Prison in Flight and Necessity and if he be reduc'd to that hard Fortune to wander about and to Beg with him Some celebrated Examples of this kind in Story are Sulpitia who attended her Husband Lontulus when he was proscribed and an Exile in Sicily Erithrea who went along with her Husband Fhalaris into Banishment Ipsicrate The Wife of Mithridates King of Pentus who kept her Husband Company when he turn'd Vagabond Tacit. after his Defeat by Pompey Some add that they are bound to follow them into the Wars and Foreign Countries when they are sent abroad upon Expeditions or go under any Publick Character The Wise cannot sue or be sued in Matters of Right and Property all Actions lie against the Husband and are to be commenced in His Name and if any thing of this Kind be any where done it must be with the Leave and Authority of her Husband or by particular Appointment of the Judge if the Husband shall decline or refuse it neither can she without express Permission from the Magistrate Appeal from or be a Party in any Cause against her Husband Marriage is not every where alike nor under the same Limitations Different 〈◊〉 aâ—â—â—â— it the Laws and Rules concerning it are very different In Some Countries there is a greater Latitude and more Liberties Indulged in Others less The Christian Religion which is by much the strictest of any hath made it very close and strait It leaves Nothing at large and in our own Choice but the first Entrance into this Engagement When once That is over a Man's Will is made over too and conveyed away for the Covenant is subject to no Dissolution and we must abide by it whether we are contented with our Terms or not Other Nations and Religions have contrived to make it more Easie and Free and Fruitful Of Polygamy and Divorce by allowing and practising Polygamy and Divorce a Liberty of taking Wives and dismissing them again and they speak hardly of Christianity for abridging Men in these Two particulars as if it did great Prejudice to Affection and Multiplication by these Restraints which are the Two great Ends of Marriage For Friendship they pretend is an Enemy to all manner of Compulsion and Necessity and cannot consist with it but is much more improved and better maintain'd by leaving Men free and at large to dispose of Themselves And Multiplication is promoted by the Female Sex as Nature shews us abundantly in that one Instance of Wolves who are so extremely Fruitful in the Production of their Whelps even to the Number of Twelve or Thirteen at a Time and in this exceed other Animals of Service and common Use very much so many of which are kill'd every Day and so few Wolves And yet there are notwithstanding fewer of the Breed Breeders because fewer She-Wolves than of any other Species For as I said the true Reason is because in all those Numerous Litters there is commonly but one Bitch-Wolf which for the most Part signifies little and bears very rarely the Generation being hindred by the vast Numbers and promiscuous Mixtures of the Males and so the much greater part of them die without ever propagating their Kind at all for want of a sufficient Proportion of Females to do it by successfully It is also manifest what Advantages of this Nature Polygamy produces by the vast Increase of those Countries where it is allowed The Jews Mahometans and other Barbarous Nations as all their Histories inform us very usually bringing Armies into the Field of Three or Four Hundred Thousand fighting Men. Now the Christian Religion on the contrary allows but One to One and obliges the Parties to continue thus together though Either nay sometimes Both of them be Barren which yet perhaps if allowed to change might leave a numerous Posterity behind them But supposing the very best of the Case all their Increase must depend upon the Production of One single Woman And lastly they reflect upon Christianity as the occasion of insinite Excesses Debaucheries and Adulteries by this too severe Constraint But the true and sufficient Answer to all these Objections is That the Christian Religion does not consider Marriage upon such Respects as are purely Humane and tend to the Gratification of Natural Appetites or promote the Temporal Good of Men It takes quite another Prospect of the Thing and hath Reasons peculiar to it self sublime and noble and insinitely greater as hath been hinted already Besides common Experience demonstrates that in much the greatest part of Marry'd Persons what they complain of as Confinement and Constraint does by no means cool and destroy but promote and heighten the Affection and render it more dear and strong by keeping it more entire and unbroken Especially in Men of honest Principles and good Dispositions which easily accommodate their Humours and make it their Care and Study to comply with the Tempers of the Person to whom they are thus inseparably united And as for the Debaucheries and Flyings out alledg'd against us the only Cause of Them is the Dissoluteness of Men's Manners which a greater Liberty though never so great will never be able to correct or put a Stop to And accordingly we find that Adulteries were every whit as rife in the midst of Polygamy and Divorce Witness the whole Nation of the Jews in general and the Example of David in particular who became guilty of this Crime notwithstanding the Multitude he had of Wives and Concubines of his own On the contrary These Vices were not known for a long while together in other Countries where neither Polygamy nor Divorce were ever permitted as in Sparta for Instance and at
and more noble that Fire is more respectful than Putrefaction and Stench an Element which even Religion hath given some Countenance to by commanding the Remainders of the Paschal Lamb heretofore to be burnt But what can we do worse than to cast our Friends to rot in the ground and be eaten by Vermine and Insects an Indignity which to Me seems fit to be offered only to those Scandalous Wretches who dye by the Hands of Common Executioners but the Remains of Persons of Honour and Virtue in my poor Apprehension should be otherwise treated For of the five several ways by which dead Bodies are capable of being disposed of the committing them to the mercy of the four several Elements or suffering them to be devoured by Beasts that of Burning seems to me much the most eligible Once more I am well enough pleased to have the Wise Man of my forming look out of Countenance and take care to decline and conceal every thing that passes for Immodest in the Esteem of the World and must have a very ill Opinion of him should he do otherwise But then I desire he should be satisfied that this is due from him in regard to the Customs and common Sentiments of other people not to any shame in the Nature of the Things themselves For Nature that is the God of Nature never made any thing which was reproachful and these Ignominies are purely accidental the product of Sin which is the Greatest Enemy and Corrupter of Nature Even Religion it self which is much more Chaste and Reserv'd than Philosophy assures us that while Man continued in his Original Innocence and Perfection there was no such thing as Shame but That and Guilt entred the World at once I comply with the Mode of my own Countrey in point of Cloaths and Dress and so I would have gone Naked too if my Lot had cast me in a Countrey where it is usual to do so But to Me both these Fashions appear so inconvenient that were I left to my own Choice entirely I should do neither The manner of those Nations which use some One slight Garment plain and light without Constraint or Ceremony or Great Expence is much the best in my apprehension For the multitude of Cloaths and the different Sorts of them but especially the Vanity and abominable Extravagance the World is guilty of in them is a thousand times worse than going Naked These Instances I content my self with the mention of at present my Reader may multiply them to himself at pleasure upon Occasion of the infinite Variety of Laws and Customs and Modes and Matters of Fact and the as great Variety in Opinions too and contests in Matter of Right and what is fit to be done as well as what is actually done If any shall suppose me in the wrong as to the foregoing Instances or object against this Liberty in general as an Indulgence of dangerous Consequence That by this means mens minds will never settle but they will be eternally lost in a Wood and fill their heads with idle and phantastical Notions I answer as to the former part which relates more immediately to my self that it is very possible I may lye under a mistake in some or all of those Cases but then it argues great Confidence thus to charge any man with being in the wrong for such a one does in effect assume to himself the knowledge of Exact Truth and seems to say that He is Master of it though others be not Nor should I much be mortified though the Charge were true for the not hitting upon the Right is no certain Argument that a man judges amiss For This consists in not giving Arguments their due weight not confronting them fairly nor holding the Scales even not measuring by the Level and Standard of Universal Reason and Nature in her primitive Perfection Now a man may discharge the examining part very faithfully and diligently and yet he may not attain to the Truth notwithstanding But to deal plainly I give no Credit to any thing till it be proved to me If the Objector brings me stronger and more weighty Reasons against my Opinion than any I have to urge in defence of it I bid him heartily welcome and shall thank him for the opportunity which his Contradiction gives me to exercise this Judicial Authority with so much greater accuracy I only take up with my present Thoughts till better Information give me Cause to change them and therefore they are only upon good liking ready to be dismissed when more rational ones may succeed in their stead But as to the more general part of the Objection which regards the dangerous Consequences and pernicious Effects of such a Liberty besides what hath been urged already and will be more at large hereafter That the Rule by which our Judgments are to be directed is Nature and Universal Reason which so long as we keep close to we are secure from Error the Second Branch of this Judicious Liberty will provide us with Remedies against this supposed Mischief and That is what I shall now apply my self to treat of particularly and fully The Other branch then of this Absolute Liberty of Soul consists in a sort of Indifference and a Suspending one's Judgment and Final Resolution By This the Wise Man preserves his Temper his Affections are not engaged and so he can consider every thing without Heat or Passion He is not at all provoked by Opposition not staked down to any one Notion but keeps an Ear always open for the Contrary Party and is ready to receive either the Truth or that which seems to make a nearer Approach and carry greater Resemblance to it than the Ideas he hath entertain'd already When he seems most determined his secret Sense goes no farther than This is my present Opinion and I have reason to embrace it above any other but still he can hear it contradicted without any Disorder and satisfy himself to know all that can be said against it and if what is offered preponderates he makes no scruple to change his Mind and constantly even of That Opinion which stuck last by him he goes no farther in vindication than that possibly there may be some other better grounded but this is the Best that he hath met with Now this Suspension and Indifference I speak of is built upon several famous Maxims entertained and propagated by the Greatest Philosophers and likewise upon the Freedom they used in their Writings and Behaviour For this Quality must be confess'd to have been the concurrent Practice and avowed Principle of Wise Men in all Ages the Most and most conspicuous among them have made no scruple openly to confess their Ignorance and their Doubts saying That all Nature was full of Difficulties and Dilemma's That nothing was more certain than Uncertainty That there was scarce any thing so plain but an Ingenious Man might bring plausible and almost equal Arguments for Either side of the Question and
Prudence is requisite in the laying out such Moneys and what Frugality necessary for the reserving a convenient Supply for extraordinary Exigencies And therefore all I shall need to add here is only thus much That the Prince ought very diligently to beware of Three Things The First That he bear no manner of Resemblance to those Tyrannical and Extravagant Impositions the insupportable Burden whereof have rather made the Leviers of them Devourers of their Country and common Plunderers than Fathers and Defenders of it Such as God describes by the Mouth of his Psalmist Psalm liii that ₠Qui devorant Plebem sicut escam panis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quorum aerarium spoliarium Civium cruentarumque praedarum receptaculum Eat up the People as they would eat Bread Woose Treasuries are enrich'd with the Spoils of their Subjects and made the common Receptacle of Blood and Rapine For these Oppressions weary out all Patience and provoke Tumults and Insurrections as infinite Examples of Revenge and Sedition and other desperate Calamities prove to us The Second Thing to be declined is Sordidness and that first in the gathering part * Indignum lucrum ex omni occasione odorari ut dicitur etiam à mortuis auferre Following the Scent of Gain every where and balking no occasion tho' never so vile and unbeseeming his Character or as the common Proverb says Robbing the very Spittle for which reason it will be highly advisable in him to be very sparing in taking the Advantage of Accusations and Attainders Confiscations and Forfeitures and other Spoils which have an Air of Hardship even when they are clear of Injustice The other Branch of Sordidness is in being close-handed giving nothing or giving in little and sneaking Proportions making his Favours mercenary or being slow and difficult in granting so that whatever is obtain'd shall be dear bought by importunate Requests and long Attendance and is not so properly the effect of Generosity or a Sense of Merit in the Receiver as extorted by dunning and wrested out of his Hands by tiring and vanquishing his Patience The Third is Methods of Violence and unreasonable Exaction in the levying of Taxes when the manner of bringing it in looks more like forraging or going to plunder an Enemy than to make a Demand upon a Subject This Caution I confess is chiefly aim'd at the Insolence of Collectors and Receivers who by their base Extortions and grinding the Faces of the Poor expose the Prince to Hatred and Disrepute and breed angry Resentments and ill Blood in the People For his Honour suffers for the Misdemeanors of his Under-Officers These Monsters of Foxes and Wolves who as one describes them have Six Hands and Three Heads apiece And as in other Matters so particularly in that of making Seisures are barbarous and remorseless especially such Goods as are Necessaries of a Man's Life the Tools of his Trade or Instruments of Husbandry a Method to be declin'd in common Prudence as exceeding odious and what nothing less than Extremity or very just Provocation ought to put them upon It is therefore of mighty consequence to a Prince what sort of People are employ'd in these Offices for it is highly requisite they should be Men both of Integrity and Prudence Nor is it less Necessary for his Honour to turn them out with Disgrace when they misbehave themselves A severe exemplary Punishment a swinging Fine to make them disgorge all their ill-gotten Gains is what he owes to himself and his own Defence For these State-Sponges should be used accordingly and squeez'd in their Turn too till they have given back every Drop of that Blood and Sweat which they most mercilesly suckt up by draining and squeezing the poor Country People before Let us now proceed to consider that other and if it be possible still worse Enemy of a Prince and his Government Contempt which is Contempt arising from an ill and mean Opinion both of the One and the Other What is it that can possibly support one single Man and that sometimes one of great Years and Infirmities in a Station so much above many Millions of his Brethren except it be Authority and a high Esteem When once This is lost and sinks into Contempt all the rest is lost with it and both Prince and Government fall to the Ground And therefore as in this respect according to what was urged before Authority is of greater Strength and Efficacy and carries more Pomp and Majesty with it than the good Affection of a People so likewise Contempt is more dangerous and formidable than even Hatred it self For Hatred is Modest and Timorous it is restrain'd by Fear and dares attempt nothing till Contempt let it loose but this shakes off that Yoke animates and arms it for the most desperate Undertakings It is true indeed Contempt seldom rises very high especially under the Government of a Rightful Prince unless he be perfectly insignificant and degrade and prostitute himself and his Honour to that degree as only to be * Ut videatur exire de imperio a King of Clouts But still since there is a possibility of its happening we shall do well to observe what are the Occasions most likely to produce it Now This as it is in its own Nature the very Reverse to Authority so does it derive it self from Causes directly contrary to Those by virtue whereof a Prince's Authority is procured and preserved As for Instance those Three that follow First as to his manner of Government a loose effeminate softness supineness and negligence in Business a tame heedless unthinking Temper or else Fickleness in his Resolution and perpetual Change and Uncertainty in his Opinions and Methods For when there is no Attention no Steadiness no Spirit or Vigor this is the mere empty Name of a Government without the Thing Subjects under such Princes grow insolent and bold and encroaching They think they may do what they will and that He will never regard or reckon with them for it †Malum principem habere sub quo nihil ulli licet pejus eum sub quo omnia omnibus It is a great Calamity to have a Prince under whom no Man enjoys any Liberty at all but it is still greater to have one under whom none are subject to any Check or Restraint at all Secondly This is frequently the Effect of his Misfortunes either with regard to his Affairs when they succeed ill Or in respect of his Family when there is no certain prospect of Succession either of his own Issue or else by a fixt Settlement for Children are a mighty strengthening to a Prince's Interest and the not knowing what will become of the Crown when the present Possessor fails is such a Diminution and Unhappiness that we find even Alexander himself in the midst of Glory and Conquest complaining bitterly of it ₠Orbitas mea quod sine liberis sum spernitur Munimen