to be the visible Cause of all the happy Events of Human Life 'T is our Ignorance says a certain Poet which makes us imagine that blind Chance governs all Human Affairs 'T is our mistake ô Fortune that has plac'd Thee in Heaven which has made us believe that thy capricious Decrees regulate our Actions Whâ—re Prudence Reigns no Deity From that same Breast can absent be Prudence deprives thee of thy Power and destroys thee of thy Divinity 't is she alone that has the power to make us happy and her Laws alone observ'd or violated are the causes of our Good or Evil Destiny Nothing so clearly shews us the ridiculous vanity of men as that same pleasure which they take to be undeceiv'd from popular Opinions and yet at the same time they are undeceiv'd to deceive themselves after another manner For certainly 't is a great absurdity to refer all Events to a Cause so irregular and blind as Fortune But on the other side it is as great an error to look upon Prudence as the insallible source of our Happiness and the prosperity of Families Common-wealths and Empires as we shall shew in due place To make it therefore evidenâ— That the good Opinion which Men have of Prudence is ill grounded we need no more then to examin the Nature of Men without prejudice and consider that it is always full of distrust timorousness and uncertainty which proceeds from the obscurity and inconstancy of the matter For she has to do with Men whose Hearts are impenetrable and who are continually subject to change thro the lightness of their humour thro the succession of their passions and the diversity of their interests So that as Heraclitus assur'd us that he could have no natural Knowledg because the Object of the Sciences ought to be constant but that Nature was in a perpetual motion still gliding along like a stream where we can never consider the water because it passes away before we can well look upon it so we may affirm in like manner that Prudence can assure her self of nothing seeing that Man is never in the same posture but varies in his Disposition and Affections thro an infinite number of Causes both internal and external I admire with the rest of the world the ways that Aristotle has discover'd to facilitate perswasion by rousing the pasons that are predominant in men In a word it frequently happens that Submissions will move the most inhuman and cruel to Pity and Compassion that with Menaces we force the Timorous to yeild and that with Money we obtain our desires from persons uninteressed But I cannot see how Prudence can safely make use of these no more then upon the Avarice of one in whom desire of Revenge upon his Enemy may be more powerful at the very time that I promise my self to corrupt him with the offer of a large Sum. But a Person of vast Natural parts who is of great experience and who is otherways Learned and compleatly read in History Shall not he act with security Yes if he meet with subjects and occasions altogether like to those which he has seen or observ'd in History But it is as rarely possible to meet with this Resemblance as to find out two Men of the same Complexion and Features 'T is no true Consequence in Physic that a Medicine that has been given with success to that Choleric person will cure another For Choler says Galen is not only different from all other Humours but varies also from it self And this difficulty to encounter subjects and occasions altogether alike is the reason that Prudence and Physic are much indebted to Hazard and that Prudent Men and wise and wary Physitians proceed with so much caution and take so much care before they determine How did uncertainties fill the Soul of Alexander with restless trouble and inquietude the Night before the Battel of Arbela So that we cannot imagine a greater confusion at Sea between contending Surges and mountainous Billows when agitated by tempestuous Winds then in the Breast and Soul of Alexander where so many various thoughts and passions at that time strugled together It is clear then that Human Prudence is erroneous and uncertain and that there is no secure reliance upon it for any true success or prosperity But it is not enough to have shewn that it is unprositable we must also prove it to be hurtful Which is a Truth we may be easily convinc'd of after we have freed our selves of all manner of prejudice if then we do but examine whether Prudence does not frequently do much mischief with her circumspection her scruples and her cautions How many has she not perplex'd How many grand Affairs has she not caus'd to miscarry How many Families has she not undone How many great Fortunes have been made how many Treaties have been advantageously concluded how many Victories won contrary to the Rules of Prudence The Battel which Alexander won not far from the Banks of Granicus which made way for all his succeeding Renown was it not lookt upon by the Romans as a piece of Rashness that deserv'd to be severely punish'd And that River which as I may so say was the Cradle of his Glory might it not as well have prov'd his Tomb It is impossible for us to have other perswasions then these when we remember that the Enterprize of Lucullus against Tigranes attended with Victory and the Defeat of an hundred thousand men was nevertheless both censur'd and blam'd at Rome when we remember I say that the Equity of that grave and judicious People did not think it a thing fit to applaud the daring Temerity of the General of an Army because it had prosper'd nor to approve a Success that had advanc'd the Glory of the Empire since it was from a Cause that might have been its Ruin If you would see an Example of a Battel lost thro the Councels of Military Prudence and after all the care imaginable taken to secure the Victory cast but an eye upon the Battel of Poitiers and there behold King John inexorable and haughtily refusing to the Prince of Wales the Peace which he sought with so much earnestness and upon Conditions so advantageous Doubtless the Assurances which the King then had of Victory were both probable and rational For he found himself at the Head of four and fifty thousand Men accompanied with his four Sons the Duke of Orleans his Brother two Marshals of France five and twenty Dukes Counts and Great Lords and all the Nobility of France yet notwithstanding all this Force he was defeated and taken Prisoner by the Prince so weak at that time that he had scarce Ten thousand fighting men in the Field and those so ill provided with Victuals that they had but for one day a scant remainder left and so far advanced into the heart of the Kingdom that to all outward appearance it was impossible for him to retreat The Battels thus gain'd and lost
their sentiments are more sincere then those of other men and that their Friendship is exempt from all sort of Interest we desire them but to reflect upon the Accidents that happen to most men in the course of Human Life and then how undeniably they prove that there is no sincere or real Friendship Not only our Misfortunes and our Business render them unfaithful and discover to us what they are but we also find by woful experience that the saying of Socrates was not without reason when he affirm'd That a Man is never more at a loss then when he is oblig'd to give an account of his Friends Therefore true and solid Friendship is nothing else but that same Charity which unites two persons together to assist each other in the Service of God and maintaining his Glory If Cicero believ'd there were very few Friendships clear from Interest we may with much more reason aver that there are fewer Christian Amities or rather that they are so rare that we can hardly find one in an Age. And I am the more positive in this assertion because that tho they seem frequent enough in the imagination of those that make a profession of Piety yet the greatest part of such people too easily perswade themselves that their Friendships are grounded upon Vertue when they are only grounded upon Nature and receive their Birth from Human Sympathies and corresponding Tempers But most assuredly we shall be astonish'd when the Day of the Lord shall come and the lustre of his grand Appearance shall disperse the night and darkness from the Hearts of Men and discover the secret foundations of Friendship which Men now esteem so Holy and maintain in so profound a repose The Heavens saith Job which seem to be so clear and full of Brightness are not pure in the sight of God nor are the Stars themselves without Sports And therefore the reason we have to fear that Men seek after human satisfactions in vertuous Friendships is this because they who are lookt upon by the greatest part of the world as Holy Men have very few Friends Correspondencies or Interests and for that they cannot approve in most people of worth their particular obligations to Women believing that the person that binds himself to a Woman and devotes all his Services to her how regular soever he may be in his Life and Conversation is altogether sway'd by some secret Ambition if it be not of the number of those that are cherish'd by Diligence and Confidence Could we discover what lies conceal'd in the folds of mans heart we should find in the breast of the most prudent and pious sentiments altogether strange and surprizing We should find a great number of Amours turn'd into Friendship others into Zeal for the good of the Soul others cover'd with a pretence of Kindred we should find Amours intermix'd with Ambition and several other sorts of such like Amours which we could easily discover were it proper to dive into that subject CHAP. IV. CONFIDENCE HE that should deprive a man of all the Kindnesses which he receives from his Imagination and should only leave him those which he really enjoy'd would render him miserable the greatest part of his time or would at least abridg him of a confiderable share of his Felicity They who doubt of the truth of this let them but pursue him through the whole course of his Life and they shall find him frequently pensive in the midst of Wealth and Graudeur which are the Felicities which he passionately desires and which he labours after with so much care and trouble and therefore they are only his Conceits and his Visions that occasion his Happiness and chiefest Delight What greater proof of this can we desire then what may be drawn from a sort of people which we see at Court who pride themselves in nothing more then in being the Confidents of Princes and of Ministers of State and all that make a figure in the World and who are transported with joy every time they bethink themselves that persons of this Rank and that Quality have pick'd 'em out of a great number of other persons and made choice of them to be the Trustees of their Secrets And this Confidence swells up their Hearts because they look upon it as an undeniable proof of their Merit and as a mark of the Friendship and Esteem which those Grandees have for them Nevertheless it is most certain that those Grandees that put their Confidence in them have no design to oblige them by their Confidence but only that either weakness pleasure vanity or necessity are the real causes of that Reliance Necessity is the visible cause of the great Reliances wherewith the person confided in believe themselves honour'd and such a man has but little reason to think himself happy therein or to have a just occasion of boasting But the general causes of Reliance are the fear of disquieting and grieving our selves the allurements of Novelty and our natural proneness to Communication And these causes dispose us in such a manner to open our hearts and relye one upon another that the smallest occasions are many times the most inevitable snares to those who are reckon'd in the number of the wisest and most reserv'd Insomuch that two or three days travel together or a short converse in the Country have a strange power to open their Lips and disclose the secrets of their Hearts There is a sort of Confidence of which the cause seems to be altogether strange and wherein the persons themselves confiding have no share But to give the Idea of it we must observe that there are a sort of people who have the Gift to make others Talk This is a particular Talent and sufficient to introduce a man into Court and to prefer him to the good Opinion of persons of the best Quality But they who have this and are unprovided of all the rest are forc'd to take a great deal of pains and yet are frequently nonplus'd and put to the foyl For in regard that they are not endow'd with Qualities agreeable and that they are not able to gain the goodwill and favour of persons of high Condition to whom they make their Addresses they are constrain'd to employ their utmost industry and to make use of all manner of artifices and devices to insinuate themselves into their Confidence So that whereas other persons that are in good esteem and acceptable whenever they come think it sufficient to make their Visits at convenient times The others never stir from their Houses follow 'em observe 'em and attend 'em all day long to take the advantage of every moment that they find 'em alone and by all the obsequious Oratory both of Looks and Gesture to oblige the Grandee to vouchsafe 'em a word of his mouth And this is the first Act of the Comedy After which they begin several general discourses to engage the Grandee to speak But if none of those trains will
far from being a Vertue that it is in him the extinction of all Royal Vertues as being a quality so mischievous to his Dominions that it is the most general cause of their Ruin It is an ignorance of the use and necessity of Justice Without which says St. Austin Commonwealths and Empires are but numerous Societies of Robbers 'T is a false and ill-extended Goodness a cruel Lenity and a vitious Indifference in reference to public Order and Repose Such was the Clemency which Titus affected after he obtained the Empire nor can we forbear notwithstanding his being call'd The Delight of Mankind to censure the Oath which he swore Never to put any man to Death which was an Oath by which he was engaged in the sight of Heaven to be the Protector of Robbers and Homicides to authorize all sorts of Attempts and Conspiracies and to ranverse and destroy the Empire As for that Oath which Nerva took at his first reception into the Senate that he would never suffer any Senator to be condemn'd to Death for any Crime whatsoever it was only a sneaking Compliment which he put upon the Senators disapprov'd by themselves and which gave occasion to the Roman Consul to utter this generous Expression 'T is a great Misfortune to Live under a Prince that oppresses his Subjects and commands them as his Slaves But it is a much greater Misery to Live under a Prince that gives them their full swinge and prostitutes all things to their Licentious Pleasure If therefore we desire to know the real cause of the Clemency of these two Emperors we shall find it to be only a secret Fear of being destroy'd by the Factions of the Great Men or massacr'd by the People as almost all their Predecessors had been For Vitellius Otho Nero and Caligula who all preceded Titus had every one suffer'd untimely Deaths by that means and Nerva ascending the Throne found it besmear'd with the Blood of Domitian And this we shall find to be true especially in respect of Titus when we consider that Mildness was by no means his Natural temper for his Consulship was so cruel that it was publickly said That if he succeeded in the Empire he would prove a second Nero. But notwithstanding that there are several false kinds of Clemency it does not hinder but that there may be a real sort of Clemency and that this real and vertuous Clemency may be a great Ornament to a Soveraign Prince The true Characters whereof are as follow Now we know that altho the proper function of Clemency is either absolutely to remit those punishments which Offenders have deserv'd or to remit something of their rigour and so all that are in Authority and have power to punish may in some measure be said to be Merciful Nevertheless in regard that Fathers and Tutors have no other Punishment at their disposal then only such as are call'd Chastisements since they who have the power of Life and Death as the Judges are not able to hinder the effects of their Sentences and therefore that only Soveraign Princes have only power to save those whom the Law has condemn'd to Dye all the World must grant That Clemency is the Vertue of Kings Fortune said Cicero to Caesar could do nothing greater for Thee then to make Thee Master of the Lives of Men. And the Goodness of thy Natural temper can inspire Thee with nothing more generous then with a Will to make use of thy Power to the ease of the Distressed So that Clemency may well be call'd the last Refuge of Man For in regard the Laws are deaf severe and inexorable the condition of Man says Livy would be extreamly unhappy if being so frail as it is there were no way to escape their Rigour but by Innocency This weakness and frailty of Man is the first foundation of the Royal Clemency For upon many occasions that touch him to the quick and surprize him as for example when a Man sees his Brother slain before his eyes such a sight so strongly moves his natural Affection that he pursues the Murâ—herers like a Madman even to the exposing of his own Life This is therefore that which a Clement Prince considers for as he is always disposed graciously toâ—â—lend an Ear to all that may excuse a suppliant Criminal he willingly admits such an allegation that the Oftender kill'd the Man only to revenge his Brothers Death that he had not time to consult his reason upon so short a warning and 〈◊〉 he was transported by his Natural Affections Crimes also committed by accident and misfortune are a second ground of Royal Clemency For if Crimes voluntarily committed may be thought to deserve Pardon because the force of Natural Affection has constrain'd the Will into Action with much more reason ought those Crimes to be pardon'd which a man commits contrary to his Intention as the French Gentleman who shooting at a Wild Boar kill'd his near Kinsman and one of his dearest Friends Justice also is a third ground of Royal Clemency For they justly exercise it in favour of those Offenders whose Crimes are less than the Services which they have done the Public and some regard may be also had to the Deserts of their Ancestors For Punishments as Plato has observ'd were not ordain'd to prevent the Criminal Acts since all the severity of Law and all the power of Soveraignty cannot prevent their being committed nor does Justice in the Sentences of Death propose the Amendment of those that are executed Therefore the Legislators had no other aim in ordering the Punishments of Crimes than to procure the public Good that is to terrifie the Wicked and prevent Honest people from being debauch'd by their bad example So that as the Public Interest excuses the Cruelty of the Law and all Men approve the Executing of Robbers and notorious Villains The same Public Good justifies the Clemency of Princes in saving from an ignominious Death such as have signaliz'd themselves in Defence of their King and Country by which means their good Service has been more beneficial to the Kingdom than the Fact which they committed or the bad Example given was ever prejudicial There was something of particular rarity in the Clemency of Theodosius For he punish'd his Anger by his Clemency and never fail'd to make use of it towards those that had incens'd him even to transportment So that they were sure to be pardon'd the Offences which they committed against him who had but the Address to provoke him to Rage As for the Character of true Clemency by which we may know and distinguish it from that which is false Cicero tells us That real Clemency agrees with Justice A Wise Prince said the Stoics ought not to have that effeminate Pity which cannot endure the Punishment of Offenders rather he ought to preser the wholesom Rigour of the Law before the Dictates of a tendâ—â— Disposition But because the Moral Vertues are only imperfect Vertues and for
wicked can be no sour and lofty disposition that puts 'em forward to reproach their evil Lives but a disposition mild and charitable that pities their own miscarriages and labours their Reformation The Spirit of Wisdom is a loving Spirit according to the Sacred Oracle of Scripture And there is no greater Testimony of Goodness says Aristotle than that which we give to a Man when we assist him in the recovery of Vertue The last Reason that Aristotle brings to prove the benefit of Anger is this For that the heat of Choler shares in all warlike Atchievements To which we Answer That if a Great Commander has need of being animated with this Passion to foresee the designs of his Enemies to range his Army in Battalia to give out his Orders to manage the Combat and be himself in the heat of the Conflict we may thence conclude that he cannot be valiant unless he be transported and that he must be beside himself to manage any dangerous Enterprize But for all that we cannot but admire the General of an Army who is always 〈◊〉 of himself in Fight even when danger most surprizes him For we find that the Valour not only of Commanders but of private Soldiers is most to be relyed on and most equally prov'd where it is least boyling and precipitate Therefore says Plutarch the Lacedemonians before they joyn Battel order'd the Flutes and Cornets to play certain soft and melting Airs on purpose to temper the heat and fury of the Soldiers Lastly if we do but reflect upon those barbarous People who have no other courage then I know not what kind of natural Rage that they never go to Fight in cold Blood but as they are smitten with the Image of the Injury which they often have or believe they have received they fling themselves into the thickest of the Enemy without any Order or Government but then it happens that notwithstanding the strength of their Bodies their ability to endure the rigors of all Seasons and the hardships of War and notwithstanding the fury of their Onsets they are frequently vanquish'd by People more tender and soften'd by Luxury and Pleasure Story tells us and every one knows after what manner the Romans handled the Cimbrians hideous for Bulk and Stature and terrible for their Aspects who had already passed the Alps with an intention to Sack Rome and ransack all Italy yet vanquish'd by Marius in several Great and Bloody Battels So that if the natural Fury of Savage People be not sufficient to make Men truly valiant how shall we believe that Choler no less Blind no less Wild and Impetuous should be the Soul of Valour But whence then comes it to pass that the Poets call Courage a Noble and Generous Indignation and that all the World takes Anger for Valour It proceeds from hence that Choler has certain Qualities that resemble Valour First it is Rash and thence they believe it Active It is Obstinate and that passes for Stoutness 'T is Terrible and that renders it Formidable and then it is boldly Daring which makes People imagine it to be Couragious The Vulgar says Seneca take those that are inflam'd with Choler for persons brave and couragious A Second Cause of this mistake is this That the vehemence of Choler is taken for the strength of the Soul whereas on the other side it is a demonstrative proof of its weakness for this same Passion growing in the Soul like a Tempest rears it up and drives it impetuously to and fro So that altho to outward appearance the Soul may seem to act with vigor and strength it is really a violent Force that tumbles and tosses her like an anger'd Sea Which is more manifestly discover'd from hence that Choler more easily gets the Mastery of Women than Men of the Sick People than Healthy of Age than Youth of Men that live in Plenty and softned by Delights than of the unfortunate harden'd by Persecutions and Adversities As to what the Peripateticks affirm that Anger is serviceable to Eloquence there can be nothing more weak and groundless and to which it will be sufficient to answer with Cicero That it is enough for an Orator to appear in a Passion but there is no necessity he should be really angry and it is so far from being necessary that he should be in passion that it is a dangerous thing for him to be so since the perfection of Eloquence according to Quintilian consists in speaking all that he ought to speak and not in speaking precisely no more than he ought but that Choler never speaks as it ought to speak but always that which it ought not Therefore Caius Gracchus a Great Orator yet one that chas'd himself so immoderately in Talking that he sometimes confounded himself by changing the Tone of his Voice had one of his Servants alway standing behind him who when his Voice was out of Tune Tun'd it again by means of a certain Instrument formerly us'd to keep the Voice to a constant pitch In the Second place we answer That there is a great difference between the vehemence of an Orator and that of Choler The First is nothing but the strength of Reason forcibly expressed by Words by the Tune of the Voice and agreeable Gestures and this Vehemence never fails of making an impression and perswading The Second transports an Orator troubles distracts disorders his Gesture and Action and by that means conveying his own disorder into the Minds of the Hearers puts 'em all in a hurry and confusion Besides that it is so unacceptable that it alienates the affection of the Hearers Now if we have a mind to view the Rock against which Renowned Aristotle so desperately splits himself he discovers it to us himself where he says That we are to consider the Passions as the Arms of Vertue And where he says farther That we are to make use of Choler as of a Soldier and never suffer it to Command within us or do the Office of a Captain Whence it is visible this Great Philosopher thought that Men might weild their Choler like a Sword which we take up or lay down thrust forward or draw back as we please our selves which is a very great Error since there is no person so stupid who does not perceive that if the Passions be Arms they are Weapons that Fight of themselves as Seneca says and of which we may affirm Man to be so little the Master that on the contrary they rather keep Man in subjection As for what he says that Reason ought to take upon her the Conduct of Anger he supposes there that Reason is separated from Choler that she considers its Emotions in repose and security and that they have Seats apart whereas they are both together in the Soul And therefore so soon as the Passion of Anger is kindled it transports the Soul and extinguishes within her the sight of Reason So that all that Reason can do is to employ all her
healthy when they least dream of it ' are attacked by tedious and incurable Diseases and that the most happy become often the Objects of Fortunes Hatred take all the care they can of the Unfortunate to the end that others may take the same compassion upon them should the same casualties befall Them So that they prevent all their necessities and afford themselves before-hand all the Relief they can imagine So that Pity is a Sentiment secretly interested a politick Foresight or more properly the Providence of Self-Love The Tears which Cesar shed when Theodorus presented him with Pompâ—y's Head clearly demonstrates this to be a Truth For it is evident that he wept at the sight of that Spectacle out of a certain apprehension that Fortune who had betrayed Pompey might prove as unfaithful to Him And that the number and continuance of the Favours which he received from him were but a fore boding Omen of her Inconstancy For if he had bewail'd the deplorable end of Pompey out of the least remainder of Friendship that he had preserved for him would he not have testified a real abhorrency of an Assassination committed upon so great a Personage and would he not have punished the Assassin whom he had in his Power But how could he be truly afflicted at a Murther that had deliver'd him from so formidable an Enemy and secur'd him the Empire In truth says Quintus Curtius They have little experience of the Heart of Man who expect compassion from thence or think that the Misfortunes of others go so near their Hearts as to draw Tears from their Eyes This Idea which I have conceiv'd of Pity is conformable to the Definition which I have given of it Pity says he Is a Sorrow which we conceive for the Misfortunes and Afflictions that happen to others out of mistrust that they may one day befall our selves Now if any one desires to be convinc'd that it is this Mistrust from whence our Pity springs let him but observe that it is rarely to be found among those that are laden with Wealth and Honour and who are fix'd in their Prosperity or among that sort of miserable People who are overwhelm'd with Calamity that there remains nothing more for them to fear Therefore we have great reason to wonder that Pity should be lookt upon as a vertuous Quality much more when we consider that there is nothing to be valu'd in the Causes that produce it or the Subjects wherein we usually meet with it Pity in it self is but a mollifying of the Soul which Vertue incâ—ssantly labours to fortify so that it is chiefly for Pity 's sake that Plato condemns Dramatick Poetry There they represent says he Tragical Adventures and bring us Hero's upon the Stage complaining and bewalling their misfortunes to move the Spectators Pity not considering that being thus mollify'd they are much more apt to be cast down by Afflictions Ought they not rather then to have proposed Us Afâ—lictions proper to confirm and strengthen the Soul and to have brought upon the Theater such great Persons as boâ—e their Losses and Misfortunes with a Generous Equality and Constancy of Mind True it is that Aristotle is not of his Opinion believing Dramatick Poetry to be a lively and natural Imitation and Portraiture of the Passions to make Men either fear or avoid ' em A singular Remedy indeed and a strange Undertaking to pretend to cure Passions by Passions As to the productive Causes of Pity there are Two in chief The First is excess of Self-Love which is the reason that Man extending his Prospect through the whole course of his Life searches out for Remedies for all the Accidents that may befall him The cause of Pity is the mixture of Humors where Phlegme predominates For moist persons are apter than others to receive the impressions of Objects and they weep the more easily because they find some ease in shedding Tears Hence it comes to pass that they who are of this temper are not always alike sensible of it and that there are some times and hours of the day that they little perceive it as Phlegme pâ—edominates more or less So that we must not look upon that for Bread or Relief which is merely given by the Commission of Nature The Subjects that are most susceptible of Pity are Old Men. Women and Children who are all Subjects weak and easy to be mov'd Old Men because their Minds and Bodies are enfeebled by Age Children because they act by the impression which those Objects that strike the Senses imprint therein And Women because their Sex doth not admit 'em to employments that awaken and exercise their Courage And beside they want Learning and Knowledge which fortifies the Mind so that when bad Accidents befall 'em they have neither Strength nor Resolution And for this reason they extreamly bemoan all those that they behold in durance and that they would if they might says Seneca knock off their Shackles and set open the Prison Doors So that altho all Men have a kindness for tender-hearted Persons tho the whole World be anticipated in favour of Pity yet we must beware how we take it for a vertuous Quality rather we ought to look upon it as a real Passion as it is reckon'd to be by the consent of all Philosophers True it is that Aristoâ—le ranks it in the number of those Passions which he calls profitable and necessary For he believing that all Generous Actions and Noble Sciences are beholding for their Original to Ambition that desire of Immortality made so many Hero's and Great Men Famous in all Arts and Sciences that Choler aids the valiant and shares in all warlike Atchievements that Fear causes us to foresee Mischief and is a matter of Prudence believes in like manner that Pity excites us to supply the wants of the Poor and to be liberal upon all occasions Cicero cannot relish this Opinion and laughs at Aristotle for affirming That Man could not be Charitable were he not mollify'd by Pity Man says he would be very unfortunate if there were a necessity that he should be miserable that he might relieve the Unfortunate or that nothing but a disturb'd or troubl'd Soul could succor the Indigent Or as if he could not says Seneca relieve the Afflicted without being cast down languishing and sad like them But is not Pity then the usual Promoter of that Charity which we exercise towards our Neighbour There is nothing more certain Answers Cicâ—ro But the Question is not How Men perform those actions which are laudable and vertuous in themselves but how they ought to be done and what is the disposition of a Wise Man when he relieves those that are in necessity Now the disposition of a prudent Man is such that he does good by the calm dictates of Reason and never stays till he be excited thereto by his Passions So that the more he encreases in Wisdom the less need he has to be mov'd by his
and Handsomness imaginable Must not also he be a great Master of his Resentments who favours those that have caus'd him to waste the best part of his Estate through their quarrelsome and litigious vexations when after the loss of their suit so unjustly commenc'd it lies in his power to ruine ' em Lastly we must acknowledge that we have need of a great deal of good Nature to pardon a Person that has offer'd us a bloody Affront when his Misfortune delivers him into our power and that we have an easy opportunity to revenge our selves And that which advances the Power of Generosity upon all occasions is this that besides that the Power of Revenge is so sweet that it is a difficult thing for a Man to surmount its Temptations and generally all those Advantages that he obtains against those that have adventured to contend with him so swell his Heart that he has much ado to govern it We cannot deny but that the force of Generosity is highly extraordinary But thence it does not follow that it is a vertuous Force For as St. Austin says There are two sorts of strong Men that divide all Mankind the one sort is of such who are strong through the vehemence of their desires The other sort that is to say True Christians are strong through the greatness of their Charity There is nothing that they will not venture for the Love of God There is nothing which the others will not dare or are not capable to act for the Love of themselves and to gratify their Passions To them they are beholding for all their force and Strength and it is their Ambition that empowers 'em to vanquish their Revenge For how sweet soever pleasure of Revenge may be an ambitious Person that loves Glory finds the Honour which he seeks in a Generous proceeding much more sweet than his Revenge Reason also joyns with his Ambition and shews him that Revenge how pleasing soever it is but a Transitory Delight where the Reputation which he acquires by his Generosity remains to perpetuity The Generosity of Prime Ministers and such as are in Authority proceeds from their Interest and therefore when they apprehend that a person of Merit or high Quality is obstructed being their professed Enemy and perplex'd in his Affairs they presently use all their diligence to help him out of his trouble on purpose to gain his good Will and fix him to their Interests And upon the same score they are more officious many times to gratify their greatest Enemies than their most faithful and zealous Friends Again our Natural Malignity is the most usual cause of our Generosity For in serving those that have cross'd our Designs we do but heap as it were so many Coals of Fire upon their Heads that is to say we do 'em kindness for no other end but only to make 'em asham'd that ever they did us any injury and to render 'em the more inexcusable if they persevere in their Malice towards us The Spirit of Revenge may be reckon'd for a piece of this Malignity For we believe that if a Person to whom we have been frequently serviceable comes to fail in the Obligations which he owes us he will disband himself and revenge the injustice done us much better than we can do our selves The Generosity of Victors toward the Vanquish'd is either vain or politic which makes us wonder that Historians should extoll the kindness which Alexander shewed to the Mother Wife and Daughter of Darius for Actions really Generous For besides that their Sex and Quality in some measure obliged him to those Civilities and that he could not have done otherwise without a great stain to his Reputation he was so desperately in Love with Honour that his Soul not being satisfy'd with what he had gain'd by his Victories he labours incessantly to augment his Civilities besides that he took care as much as in him lay to alleviate the misfortunes of those Captive Princes to prevent their Hatred against him that was the Author of all their Miseries He had also a particular aim so far to recover the good Opinion of Darius and the Royal Family as to believe that since their evil destiny had depriv'd 'em of the former Luster and subjected 'em under his Dominion they could not have fall'n into better hands And we find that Alexander obtained the Honor which he desired by the Prayer of Darius to the Gods That if they were fully resolved in their displeasure to take from his Family the Diadem of Persia they would set it upon Alexander's Head to recompence the Vertue of so good and generous a Prince The same Honor he receiv'd from Sisygambis the Queen This Soveraignty said She is so soft and gentle that the Remembrance of my past Felicity does no way render me uneasie in the Condition of my present Fortune Nor was it out of any desire to revenge the death of Darius or out of any hatred of the Treason that he so severely punish'd that horrid Assassination committed by Bâ—ssus since it was his Perfidiousness how execrable soever that put Alexander in the possession of the greatest Empire in the World But it was for his Honour and his Interests sake that he reveng'd the Death of Darius but chiefly for the sake of his Interest For he put Bessus to death to prevent the Conspiracy of his own Commanders against him And this is no more than the Advice which Darius sent him some few Minutes before he expir'd that it would be no less Profitable than Honourable for him to prosecute his Revenge upon that execrable Parricide Bessus as owing that Example to the World and for that it was the common Cause of all Kings Less does it deserve the name of Generosity when seeing Darius lying all along dead in his Chariot he cover'd his Body with his upper Garment and bitterly bewail'd the Misfortune of so Great a King for coming to an end so unsuitable to his high Dignity For it was no Sentiment of Generosity that made him bewail the evil destiny of his Enemy for that Darius was none of Alexander's Enemy but Alexander was Darius's and had invaded his Empire So that it was Alexander himself who was the real Subject of his own Lamentations who reflecting upon himself in the Person of Darius saw himself abandon'd by his own People assâ—ssiâ—ated by his best Friends and over-whâ—lm'd with those dire Misfortunes that usually attend great Prosperities Among these sorts of People who esteem as Generous all those Sentiments wherein there appears something of Grandeur of Mind as the Contempt of Mony and vain Honours some there are that vilifie this sort of Generosity Fore-seeing that almost all the World run after the Favour of Great Personages and court their Kindness not only with a restless credulity but after a sordid and misbeseeming manner they steer a quite con-contrary course They refuse all attendance upon those Great Men to desire any Kindness at their