bodies so is the Destiny of particular causes and events one generall one of the same nature that particular causes are What I now say even they that are mere Idiots are not ignorant of for they say commonly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is This his Destiny hath brought upon him This therefore is by the Fates properly and particularly brought upon this as that unto this in particular is by the physitian praescribed These therefore let us accept of in like manner as wee doe those that are praescribed unto us by our Physitians For them also in themselves shall wee finde to containe many harsh things but wee neverthelesse in hope of health and recovery accept of them Let the fulfilling and accomplishment of those things which the common nature hath determined be unto thee as thy health Accept then and be pleased with whatsoever doth happen though otherwise harsh and unpleasing as tending to that end to the health and welfare of the Vniverse and to Joves happinesse and prosperity For this whatsoever it be should not have beene a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 produced had it not b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 conduced to the good of the Vniverse For neither doth any ordinary particular nature bring any thing to passe that is not to whatsoever is within the sphere of its owne proper administration and government agreeable and subordinate For these two considerations then thou must be well pleased with any thing that doth happen unto thee First because that for thee properly it was brought to passe and unto thee it was praescribed and that from the very beginning by the series and connexion of the first causes it hath ever had a reference unto thee And secondly because the good successe and perfect welfare indeed the very continuance of Him that is the Administrator of the whole doth in a manner depend on it For the whole because whole therefore entire and perfect is maimed and mutilated if thou shalt cut off any thing at all whereby the coherence and contiguity as of parts so of causes is maintained preserved Of which certaine it is that thou doest as much as lyeth in thee cut off and in some sort violently take somewhat away as often as thou art displeased with any thing that happeneth IX Bee not discontented bee not disheartned bee not out of hope if often it succeed not so well with thee punctually and precisely to doe all things according to the right dogmata but being once cast off returne unto them againe and as for those many and more frequent occurrences either of worldly distractions or humane infirmities which as a man thou canst not but in some measure be subject unto bee not thou discontented with them but however love and affect that only which thou dost returne unto a Philosophers life and proper occupation after the most exact manner And when thou dost returne to thy philosophie returne not unto it as the manner of some is after play liberty as it were to their School Masters Pedagogues but as they that have sore eyes to their sponge and egg or as another to his cataplasme or as others to their fomentations so shalt not thou make it a matter of ostentation at all to obey reason but of ease and comfort And remember that philosophie requireth nothing of thee but what thy nature requireth and wouldest thou thy selfe desire any thing that is not according to nature for which of these saiest thou that which is according to Nature or against it is of it selfe more kind pleasing Is it not for that respect especially that pleasure it selfe is to so many mens hurt and overthrow most prevalent because esteemed commonly most kind and naturall But consider well whether magnanimitie rather and true libertie and true simplicitie and equanimitie and holines whether these be not most kinde and naturall And prudencie it selfe what more kind and amiable then it when thou shalt truly consider with thy self what it is through al the proper objects of thy rational intellectuall faculty currētly to go on without any fall or stumble As for the things of the world their true nature is in a manner so involved with obscuritie that unto many philosophers and those no meane ones they seemed altogether incomprehensible and the Stoicks themselves though they judge them not altogether incomprehensible yet scarce not without much difficulty comprehensible so that all assent of ours is fallible for who is he that is infallible in his cōclusions From the nature of things passe now unto their subjects and matter how temporary how vile are they such as may be in the power and possession of some abominable loose liver of some common strumpet of some notorious oppressor and extortioner Passe from thence to the dispositions of them that thou doest ordinarily converse with how hardly doe wee beare even with the most loving and amiable that I may not say how hard it is for us to beare even with our owne selves In such obscuritie and impuritie of things in such and so continuall a fluxe both of the substances and time both of the motions themselves and things moved what it is that we can fasten upon either to honour and respect especially or seriously and studiously to seeke after I cannot so much as conceive For indeed they are things contrary X. Thou must comfort thy selfe in the expectation of thy naturall dissolution and in the meane time not grieve at the delay but rest contented in those two things First that nothing shall happen unto thee which is not according to the nature of the Universe Secondly that it is in thy power to doe nothing against thine owne proper god and inward Spirit For it is not in any mans power to constraine thee to transgresse against him XI What is the use that now at this present I make of my soule Thus from time to time and upon all occasions thou must put this question to thy selfe what is now that part of mine which they call the rationall mistris part imployed about Whose soule doe I now properly possesse a childes or a youths a womans or a tyrants some brute or some wilde beasts soule XII What those things are in themselves which by the greatest part are esteemed good thou maist gather even from this For if a man shall heare things mentioned as good which are really good indeed such as are prudence temperance justice fortitude after so much heard and conceived hee cannot endure to heare of any more for the word good is properly spoken of them But as for those which by the vulgar are esteemed good if he shall heare them mentioned as good he doth hearken for more He is well contented to heare that what is spoken by the Comaedian is but familiarly and popularly spoken so that even the vulgar apprehend the difference For why is it else that this offends not and needs not to be excused when vertues are stiled good
which would suffice in matter of action there thou comest short of that which thou maist It must needs be therefore that thoudost not love thy selfe for if thou didst thou wouldst also love thy Nature that which thy nature doth propose unto her self as her end Others as many as take pleasure in their trade and profession can even pine themselves at their workes and neglect their bodies and their food for it and doest thou lesse honour thy nature then an ordinary mechanick his trade or a good dancer his art then a covetous man his silver and a vaine glorious man applause These to whatsoever they take an affection can be content to want their meat and sleepe to further that every one which he affects and shall actions tending to the common good of humane societie seeme more vile unto thee or worthy of lesse respect and intention II. How easie a thing is it for a man to put off from him all turbulent adventitious imaginations and presently to be in perfect rest and tranquillitie III. Thinke thy selfe fit and worthy to speake or to doe any thing that is according to Nature and let not the reproach or report of some that may ensue upon it ever deterre thee If it be right and honest to be spoken or done undervalue not thy selfe so much as to be discouraged from it As for them they have their owne rationall over-ruling part and their owne proper inclination which thou must not stand and looke about to take notice of but goe on straight whither both thine owne particular and the common nature doe lead thee and the way of both these is but one IV. I continue my course by actions according to nature untill I fall and cease breathing out my last breath into that aire by which continually breathed in I did live and falling upon that earth out of whose gifts and fruits my father gathered his seed my mother her blood and my nurse her milk out of which for so many yeares I have beene provided both of meate and drinke And lastly which beareth mee that tread upon it and beareth with me that so many wayes doe abuse it or and so freely make use of it so many wayes to so many ends V. No man can admire thee for thy sharpe acute language such is thy naturall disabilitie that way Be it so yet there be many other good things for the want of which thou canst not pleade the want of naturall abilitie Let them be seene in thee which depend wholly from thee sinceritie gravity laboriousnesse contempt of pleasures be not querulous be content with little be kinde be free avoid all superfluitie all vaine pratling be magnanimous Doest not thou perceive how many things there be which notwithstanding any pretence of naturall indisposition and unfitnesse thou mightest have performed and exhibited and yet still thou doest voluntarily continue drooping downewards Or wilt thou say that it is through defect of thy naturall constitution that thou art constrained to murmur to be base and wretched to flatter now to accuse and now toplease and pacifie thy body to bee vaine-glorious to bee so guidy headed and unsetled in thy thoughts nay witnesses bee the Gods of all these thou mightest have beene rid long agoe Only this thou must have beene contented with to have borne the blame of one that is somewhat slow and dull Wherein thou must so exercise thy selfe as one who neither doth much take to heart this his naturall defect nor yet pleaseth himselfe in it VI. Such there be who when they have done a good turne to any are ready to set them on the score for it and to require retaliatiō Others there be who though they stand not upon retaliation to require any yet they thinke with themselves neverthelesse that such a one is their debtor and they know as their word is what they have done Others againe there be who when they have done any such thing doe not so much as know what they have done but are like unto the vine which beareth her grapes and when once shee hath borne her owne proper fruit is contented and seekes for no further recompence As a horse after a race and a hunting dog when hee hath hunted and a Bee when she hath made her hony looke not for applause and commendation so neither doth that man that rightly doth understand his owne nature when he hath done a good turne See B. IV III. but from one doth proceed to doe another even as the vine after shee hath once borne fruit in her owne proper season is ready for another time Thou therefore must be one of them who what they do barely do it without any further thought are in a maner unsensible of what they doe Nay but will some reply perchance this very thing a rationall man is bound unto to understand what it is that hee doeth For it is the property say they of one that is naturally sociable to be sensible that hee doth operate sociably nay and to desire that the partie himselfe that is sociably dealt with should bee sensible of it too I answer That which thou sayest is true indeed but the true meaning of that which is said thou dost not understand And therefore art thou one of those first whom I mentioned For they also are led by a probable appearance of reason But if thou dost desire to understand truely what it is that is said feare not that thou shalt therefore give over any sociable action VII The forme of the Athenians prayer did runne thus O raine raine good Iupiter upon all the grounds and fields that belong to the Athenians Eyther wee should not pray at all or thus absolutely and freely and not every one for himselfe in particular alone VIII As wee say commonly The physitian hath praescribed unto this man riding unto another cold baths unto a third to goe bare foot so it is alike to say The Nature of the Vniverse hath praescribed unto this man sicknesse or blindnesse or some losse or dammage or some such thing For as there when wee say of a physitian that hee hath praescribed any thing our meaning is that hee hath appointed this for that as subordinate and conducing to health so here whatsoever doth happen unto any is ordained unto him as a thing subordinate unto the fates and therefore doe wee say of such things that they doe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is happen or fall together as of square stones when either in wals or pyramides in a certaine position they fit one another and agree as it were in an harmony the Masons say that they doe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if thou shouldest say fall together so that in the generall though the things be divers that make it yet the consent or harmony it selfe is but one And as the whole world is made up of all the particular bodies of the world one perfect and compleat body of the same nature that particular
or lesse thou shalt live as thy nature requireth or according to the true and naturall end of thy making Take paines therefore to know what it is that thy nature requireth and let nothing else distract thee Thou hast already had sufficient experience that of those many things that hitherto thou hast erred and wandred about thou couldest not finde happinesse in any of them Not in Syllogismes and Logical subtilities not in wealth not in honour and reputation not in pleasure In none of all these Wherein then is it to be found In the practise of those things which the nature of man as he is a man doth require How then shall he doe those things If his Dogmata or morall Tenets and opinions from which all motions and actions doe proceed be right and true Which bee those Dogmata Those that concerne that which is good or evill as that there is nothing truly good and beneficiall unto man but that which makes him iust temperate courageous liberall and that there is nothing truly evill and hurtfull unto man but that which causeth the contrary effects II. Upon every action that thou art about put this question to thy selfe How will this when it is done agree with me Shall I have no occasion to repent of it Yet a very little while and I am dead and gone and all things are at end What then doe I care for more then this that my present action whatsoever it be may be the proper action of one that is reasonable whose end is the common good who in all things is ruled and governed by the same law of right and reason by which God himselfe is III. Alexander Caius Pompeius what are these to Diogenes Heraclitus and Socrates These penetrated into the true nature of things into all causes and all subjects and upon these did they exercise their power and authoritie or these were the objects of their power and jurisdiction But as for those as the extent of their error was so farre did their slavery extend IV. What they have done they will still doe although thou shouldest hang thy selfe First Let it not trouble thee For all things both good and evill come to passe according to the nature and generall condition of the Universe and within a very little while all things will be at an end no man will be remembred as now of Africanus for example and Augustus it is already come to passe Then secondly Fixe thy minde upon the thing it selfe looke into it and remembring thy selfe that thou art bound neverthelesse to be a good man and what it is that thy Nature requireth of thee as thou art a man bee not diverted from what thou art about and speake that which seemeth unto thee most just onely speake it kindly modestly and without hypocrisie V. That which the Nature of the Universe doth busie her selfe about is that which is here to transferre it thither to change it and thence againe to take it away and to carry it to another place So that thou needest not feare any new thing For all things are usuall and ordinary and all things are disposed by equalitie VI. Every particular nature hath content when in its owne proper course it speeds A reasonable nature doth then speed when first in matter of phancies and imaginations it gives no consent to that which is either false or incertaine Secondly when in all its motions and resolutions it takes its levell at the common good only and that it desireth nothing and flyeth from nothing but what is in its owne power to compasse or avoid And lastly when it willingly and gladly embraceth whatsoever is dealt and appointed unto it by the common Nature For it is part of it even as the nature of any one leafe is part of the common nature of all plants and trees But that the nature of a leafe is part of a nature both unreasonable and unsensible and which in its proper end may be hindered or which is servile and slavish whereas the nature of man is part of a common nature which cannot be hindered and which is both reasonable and just From whence also it is that according to the worth of every thing she doth make such equall distribution of all things as of duration substance forme operation and of events and accidents But herein consider not whether thou shalt finde this equalitie in every thing absolutely and by it selfe but whether in all the particulars of some one thing taken together and compared with all the particulars of some other thing and them together likewise VII Thou hast no time nor oportunitie to read What then Hast thou not time and oportunitie to exercise thy selfe not to wrong thy selfe tostrive against all carnall pleasures and paines and to get the upper hand of them to contemne honour and vaine glory and not only not to bee angry with them whom towards thee thou doest finde unsensible and unthankfull but also to have a care of them still and of their welfare VIII Forbeare henceforth to complaine of the troubles of a Courtly life either in publicke before others or in private by thy selfe IX Repentance is an inward and selfe-reprehension for the neglect or omission of somewhat that was profitable Now whatsoever is good is also profitable and it is the part of an honest vertuous man to set by it and to make reckoning of it accordingly But never did any honest vertuous man repent of the neglect or omission of any carnall pleasure no carnall pleasure then is either good or prositable X. This what is it in it selfe and by it selfe according to its proper constitution What is the substance of it What is the mattter or proper use What is the forme or efficient cause What is it for in this world and how long will it abide Thus must thou examine all things that present themselves unto thee XI When thou art hard to be stirred up and awaked out of thy sleepe admonish thy selfe and call to minde that to performe actions tending to the common good is that which thine owne proper constitution and that which the nature of man doe require But to sleepe is common to unreasonable creatures also And what more proper and natural yea what more kinde and pleasing then that which is according to Nature XII As every phancie and imagination presents it selfe unto thee consider if it be possible the true nature and the proper qualities of it and reason with thy selfe about it XIII At thy first encounter with any one say presently to thy selfe This man what are his opinions concerning that which is good or evill as concerning paine pleasure and the causes of both concerning honour and dishonour concerning life and death thus and thus Now if it be no wonder that a man should have such such opinions how can it be a wonder that he should do such and such things I will remember then that he cannot but do as hee doth holding those opinions that
that were yet of a more excellent nature as the starres and planets though by their nature farre distant one from another yet even among them beganne some mutuall correspondencie and unitie So proper is it to excellencie in a high degree to affect unitie as that even in things so farre distant it could operate unto a mutuall Sympathie But now behold what is now come to passe Those creatures that are reasonable are now the only creatures that have forgotten their naturall affection inclination of one towards another Among them alone of all other things that are of one kinde there is not to be found a generall disposition to flow together But though they fly from Nature yet are they stopt in their course and apprehended Doe they what they can Nature doth prevaile And so shalt thou confesse if thou doest observe it For sooner mayest thou finde a thing earthly where no earthly thing is then finde a man that naturally can live by himselfe alone VIII Man God the World every one in their kinde beare some fruits All things have their proper time to beare Though by custome the word it selfe is in a manner become proper unto the vine and the like yet is it so neverthelesse as wee have said As for reason that beareth both common fruit for the use of others and peculiar which it selfe doth enjoy Reason is of a diffusive nature what it selfe is in it selfe it begets in others and so doth multiply IX Either teach them better if it be in thy power or if it be not remember that for this use to beare with them patiently was mildnesse and goodnesse granted unto thee The gods themselves are good unto such yea and in some things as in matter of health of wealth of honour are content often to further their endeavours so good and gracious are thy And mightest thou not be so too or tell me what doth hinder thee X. Labour not as one to whom it is appointed to be wretched nor as one that either would be pittied or admired but let this be thine only care desire so alwayes and in all things to prosecute or to forbeare as the law of Charity or mutuall society doth require XI This day I did come out of all my trouble Nay I have cast out all my trouble it should rather be For that which troubled thee whatsoever it was was not without any where that thou shouldest come out of it but within in thine owne opinions from whence it must be cast out before thou canst truly and constantly be at ease XII All those things for matter of experience are usuall and ordinarie for their continuance but for a day and for their matter most base and filthy As they were in the dayes of those whom we have buried so are they now also and no otherwise XIII The things themselves that affect us they stand without doores neither knowing any thing themselves nor able to utter any thing unto others concerning themselves What then is it that passeth verdict on them The understanding XIV As vertue and wickednesse consist not in passion but in action so neither doth the true good or evill of a reasonable charitable man consist in passion but in operation and action XV. To the stone that is cast up when it comes downe it is no hurt unto it as neither benefit when it doth ascend XVI Sift their mindes and understandings and behold what men they be whom thou doest stand in feare of what they shall judge of thee what they themselves judge of themselves XVII All things that are in the world are alwayes in the estate of alteration Thou also art in a perpetuall change yea and under corruption too in some part and so is the whole world XVIII It is not thine but another mans sinne Why should it trouble thee Let him looke to it whose sinne it is XIX Of an operation and of a purpose there is an ending or of an action and of a purpose wee say commonly that it is at an end from opinion also there is an absolute cessation which is as it were the death of it In all this there is no hurt Apply this now to a mans age as first a child then a youth then a young man then an old man every change from one age to another is a kinde of death And all this while here is no matter of griefe yet Passe now unto that life first that which thou livedst under thy Grandfather then under thy Mother then under thy Father And thus when through the whole course of thy life hitherto thou hast found and observed many alterations many changes many kindes of endings and cessations put this question to thy selfe what matter of griefe or sorrow dost thou finde in any of these or what doest thou suffer through any of these If in none of these then neither in the ending and consummation of thy whole life which also is but a cessation and change XX. As occasion shall require either to thine owne Understanding or to that of the Universe or to his whom thou hast now to doe with let thy refuge be with all speed To thine owne that it resolve upon nothing against justice To that of the Universe that thou maist remember part of whom thou art Of his that thou mayest consider whether in the estate of ignorance or of knowledge And then also must thou call to minde that he is thy Kinsman XXI As thou thy selfe who ever thou art wert made for the perfection and consummation being a member of it of a common society so must every action of thine tend to the perfection and consummation of a life that is truly sociable What action soever of thine therefore that either immediately or afarre off hath not reference to the common good that is an exorbitant and disoderly action yea it is seditious as one among the people who from such and such a consent and unity should factiously divide and separate himselfe XXII Childrens anger meere bables wretched soules bearing up dead bodies that they may not have their fall so soone Even as it is in that common dirge song or bearing up dead bodies that the number of the dead may not be full so soone XXIII Goe to the qualitie of the cause from which the effect doth proceed Behold it by it selfe bare and naked separated from all that is materiall Then consider the utmost bounds of time that that cause thus and thus qualified can subsist and abide XXIV Infinite are the troubles and miseries that thou hast already beene put to by reason of this only because that for all happinesse it did not suffice thee or that thou didst not account it sufficient happinesse that thy understanding did operate according to its naturall constitution XXV When any shall either impeach thee with false accusations or hatefully reproach thee or shall use any such carriage towards thee get thee presently to their mindes and understandings and looke in them and
shell fish of this nature are all other things Thy life it selfe is some such thing too a meere exhalation of blood and it also apt to be changed into some other common thing XXXV Will this querulousnesse this murmuring this complaining and dissembling never bee at an end What then is it that troubleth thee Doth any new thing happen unto thee What doest thou so wonder at At the Cause or the matter Behold either by it selfe is either of that weight and moment indeede And besides these there is not any thing But thy duty towards the Gods also it is time that thou shouldest acquit thy selfe of it with more goodnesse and simplicity XXXVI It is all one to see these things for a hundred of yeares together or but for three yeares XXXVII If he have sinned his is the harme not mine But perchance he hath not XXXVIII Either all things by the providence of Reason happen unto every particular as a part of one generall body and then it is against reason that a part should complaine of any thing that happens for the good of the Whole or if according to Epicurus Atomes be the Cause of all things and that life be nothing else but an accidentarie confusion of things and death nothing else but a meere Dispersion and so of all other things what doest thou trouble thy selfe for XXXIX Sayest thou unto that Rationall part Thou art dead corruption hath taken hold on thee Doth it then also voide excrements Doth it like either Oxen or sheepe graze or feede that it also should be mort all as well as the body XL. Either the Gods can doe nothing for vs at all or they can still and alay all the distractions and distempers of thy minde If they can doe nothing why doest thou pray If they can why wouldst not thou rather pray that they will grant unto thee that thou mayst neither feare nor lust after any of those worldly things which cause these distractions and distempers of it Why not rather that thou mayst not at either their absence or presence bee grieved and discontented then either that thou mayst obtaine them or that thou maist avoyde them For certainly it must needs be that if the Gods can help us in any thing they may in this kinde also But thou wilt say perchance In those things the Gods have given me my liberty and it is in mine owne power to doe what I will But if thou mayest use this liberty rather to set thy minde at true liberty then wilfully with basenesse and servility of minde to affect those things which either to compasse or to avoyde is not in thy power wert not thou better And as for the Gods who hath told thee that they may not helpe vs up even in those things that they have put in our owne power Whether it be so or no thou shalt soone perceive if thou wilt but try thy selfe and pray One prayeth that he may compasse his desire to lye with such or such a one pray thou that thou mayest not lust to lye with her Another how hee may be rid of such a one pray thou that thou mayest so patiently beare with him as that thou have no such neede to be rid of him Another that hee may not lose his child Pray thou that thou mayst not feare to lose him To this end and purpose let all thy prayer be and see what will be the event XLI In my sicknesse sayeth Epicurus of himselfe my discourses were not concerning the nature of my discase neither was that to them that came to visite mee the subject of my talke but in the consideration and contemplation of that which was of especiall weight and moment was all my time bestowed and spent and among others in this very thing how my minde by a naturall and unavoydable sympathie partaking in some sort with the present indisposition of my body might neverthelesse keepe herselfe free from trouble and in present possession of her owne proper happinesse Neither did I leave the ordering of my body to Physicians altogether to doe with me what they would as though I expected any great matter from them Or as though I thought it a matter of such great consequence by their meanes to recover my health for my present estate me thought liked me very well and gave me good content Whether therefore in sicknesse if thou chance to sicken or in what other kinde of extremity soever endeavour thou also to be in thy minde so affected as hee doth report of himselfe not to depart from thy philosophie for any thing that can befall thee nor to give eare to the discourses of silly people and meere naturalists XLII It is common to all trades and professions to minde and intend that only which now they are about and the instrument whereby they worke XLIII When at any time thou art offended with any ones impudencie put presently this question to thy selfe What Is it then possible that there should not be any impudent men in the world Certainly it is not possible Desire not then that which is impossible For this one thou must thinke whosoever he be is one of those impudent ones that the world cannot be without So of the subtle and craftie so of the perfidious so of every one that offendeth must thou ever bee ready to reason with thy selfe For whilest in generall thou doest thus reason with thy selfe that the kinde of them must needs be in the world thou wilt be the better able to use meeknesse towards every particular This also thou shalt find of very good use upon every such occasion presently to consider with thy selfe what proper vertue nature hath furnished man with against such a vice or to encounter with a disposition vicious in this kinde As for example against the unthankfull it hath given goodnesse and meeknesse as an antidote and so against another vicious in another kinde some other peculiar facultie And generally is it not in thy power to instruct him better that is in an error For whosoever sinneth doth in that decline from his purposed end and is certainly deceived And againe what art thou the worse for his sinne For thou shalt not finde that any one of these against whom thou art incensed hath in very deed done any thing whereby thy minde the only true subject of thy hurt and evill can be made worse then it was And what a matter of either griefe or wonder is this if he that is unlearned doe the deeds of one that is unlearned Should not thou rather blame thy self who when upō very good grounds of reason thou mightst have thought it very probable that such a thing would by such a one be committed didst not onely not foresee it but moreover doest wonder at it that such a thing should be But then especially when thou doest finde fault with either an unthankfull or a false man must thou reflect upon thy selfe For without all question thou thy selfe art much
thine Now that the World doth love as it is true indeede so is it as commonly said and acknowledged when according to the Greeke phrase imitated by the Latines of things that use to be wee say commonly that they love to be XXIII Either thou doest continue in this kinde of life and that is it which so long thou hast beene used unto and therefore tolerable or thou doest retire or leave the World and that of thine owne accord and then thou hast thy minde or thy life is cut off and then mayest thou rejoyce that thou hast ended thy charge One of these must needes be Be therefore of good comfort XXIV Let it alwayes appeare See B. IV N. III. and be manifest unto thee that solitarinesse and desart place by many Philosophers so much esteemed of and affected are of themselves but thus and thus and that all things are here to them that live in Townes and converse with others as they are the same nature every where to be seene and observed to them that have retired themselves to the top of mountaines and to desart Havens or what other desart and inhabited places soever For any where if thou wilt mayest thou quickly finde and apply that to thy selfe which Plato saith of his Philosopher in a place as private and retired saith hee as if hee were shut up and enclosed about in some Shepherds lane on the top of a hill There by thy selfe to put these questions to thy selfe or to enter into these considerations What is my chiefe and principall part which hath power over the rest What is now the present estate of it as I use it and what is it that I employ it about Is it now voyde of reason or no Is it free and separated or so affixed so congealed and growne together as it were with the flesh that it is swayed by the motions and inclinations of it XXV Hee that runnes away from his Master is a fugitive But the law is every mans Master Hee therefore that forsakes the Law is a fugitive So is hee whosoever he be that is either sorry angry or afraid or for any thing that either hath beene is or shall be by his appointment who is the Lord and Governour of the Universe For hee truly and properly is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Law as the onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or distributer and dispenser of all things that happen unto any one in his life time Whosoever then is either sorry angry or afraid is a fugitive XXVI From man is the seede that once cast into the wombe man hath no more to doe with it Another Cause succeedeth and undertakes the Worke and in time brings a Child that wonderfull effect from such a beginning to perfection Againe Man lets food downe through his throat and that once downe hee hath no more to doe with it Another Cause succeedeth and distributeth this foode into the Senses and the affections into life and into strength and doth with it those other many and marvailous things that belong unto man These things therefore that are so secretly and invisible wrought and brought to passe thou must use to behold and contemplate and not the things themselves onely but the power also by which they are effected that thou mayst behold it though not with the eyes of the body yet as plainly and visibly as thou canst see and discerne the outward efficient cause of the depression and elevation of any thing XXVII Ever to mind and consider with thy selfe how all things that now are have beene heretofore much after the same sort and after the same fashion that now they are and so to thinke of those things which shall bee hereafter also Moreover whole dramata and uniforme scenes or scenes that comprehend the lives and actions of men of one calling and profession as many as either in thine owne experience thou hast knowne or by reading of ancient histories as the whole Court of Adrianus the whole Court of Antoninus Pius the whole Court of Philippus that of Alexander that of Craesus to set them all before thine eyes For thou shalt finde that they are all but after one sort and fashion or all of the same kinde and nature only that the actors were others XXVIII As a pigge that cryes and flings when his throat is cut phancie to thy selfe every one to bee that grieves for any wordly thing and takes on Such a one is he also who upon his bed alone doth bewaile the miseries of this our mortall life And remember this that unto reasonable creatures only it is granted that they may willingly and freely submit unto Providence but absolutely to submit is a necessity imposed upon all creatures equally XXIX Whatsoever it is that thou goest about consider of it by thy selfe and aske thy selfe What because I shall doe this no more when I am dead should therefore death seeme grievous unto me XXX When thou art offended with any mans transgression presently reflect upon thy selfe and consider what thou thy selfe art guiltie of in the same kinde As that thou also perchance dost think it a happinesse either to be rich or to live in pleasure or to be praised and commended and so of the rest in particular For this if thou shalt call to mind thou shalt soone forget thine anger especially when at the same time this also shall concurre in thy thoughts that he was constrained by his error and ignorance so to doe For how can he choose as long as he is of that opinion Doe thou therefore if thou canst take away that from him that forceth him to doe as he doth XXXI When thou seest Satyro thinke of Socraticus Eutyches or Hymen and when Euphrates thinke of Eutychio and Sylvanus when Alciphron of Tropaeophorus when Xenophon of Crito or Severus And when thou doest looke upon thy self phancie unto thy selfe some one or other of the Caesars and so for every one some one or other that hath beene for estate and profession answerable unto him Then let this come to thy minde at the same time And where now are they all No where or any where For so shalt thou at all times be able to perceive how all worldly things are but as the smoake that vanisheth away or indeed meere nothing Especially when thou shalt call to minde this also that whatsoever is once changed shall never be againe as long as the world endureth And thou then how long shalt thou endure And why doth it not suffice thee if vertuously and as becommeth thee thou mayest passe that portion of time how little soever it be that is allotted unto thee XXXII What a subject and what a course of life is it that thou doest so much desire to be rid of For all these things what are they but fit objects for an understanding that beholdeth every thing according to its true nature to exercise it selfe upon Be patient therefore untill that as a strong stomach that turnes
man desire to continue here any longer Neverthelesse whensoever thou dyest thou must not be lesse kinde and loving unto them for it but as before see them continue to be their friend to wish them well and meekly and gently to cary thy selfe towards them but yet so that on the other side it make thee not the more unwilling to die But as it fareth with thē that die an easie quick death whose soule is soon separated frō their bodies so must thy separation frō them be To these had nature joyned and annexed mee now shee parts us I am ready to depart as from friends and kinsmen but yet without either reluctancie or compulsion For this also is according to Nature XXXVII Use thy selfe as often as thou seest any man doe any thing presently if it bee possible to say unto thy selfe what is this mans end in this his action But begin this course with thy selfe first of all and diligently examine thy selfe concerning whatsoever thou doest XXXVIII Remember that that which sets a man at worke and hath power over the affections to draw them either one way or the other way is not any externall thing properly but that which is hidden within every mans dogmata and opinions That that is Rhetorick that is life that to speake true is man himselfe As for thy body which as a vessel or a case compasseth thee about and the many and curious instruments that it hath annexed unto it let them not trouble thy thoughts For of themselves they are but as a carpenters axe but that they are borne with us and naturally sticking unto us But otherwise without the inward cause that hath power to moove them and to restraine them those parts are of themselves of no more use unto us then the shuttle is of it selfe to the weaver or the pen to the writer or the whip to the coach-man THE ELEVENTH BOOKE THE naturall properties and priviledges of a reasonable soule are That she seeth her selfe that she can order and compose her selfe that shee makes her selfe as she will her selfe that shee reapes her owne fruits whatsoever whereas plants trees unreasonable creatures what fruit soeuer be it either fruit properly or analogically only they beare they beare them unto others and not to themselves Againe Whensoever and wheresoever sooner or later her life doth end shee hath her owne end neverthelesse For it is not with her as with dancers and players who if they be interrupted in any part of their action the whole action must needes be imperfect but shee in what part of time or action soever shee be surprised can make that which she hath in her hand whatsoever it be compleat and full so that she may depart with that comfort I have lived neither want I any thing of that which properly did belong unto mee Againe she compasseth the whole world and penetrateth into the Vanity and meere outside wanting substance and solidity of it and stretcheth her selfe unto the infinitnesse of eternity and the revolution or restauration of all things after a certaine period of time to the same state and place as before shee fetcheth about and doth comprehend in her selfe and considers withall and sees clearely this that neither they that shall follow us shall see any new thing that wee have not seene nor they that went before any thing more then wee but that hee that is once come to forty if he have any wit at all can in a manner for that they are all of one kind see all things both passed and future As proper is it and naturall to the soule of man to love her neighbour to be true and modest and to regard nothing so much as her selfe which is also the property of the Law whereby by the way it appeares that sound reason and justice comes all to one and therefore that justice is the chiefe thing that reasonable creatures ought to propose unto themselves as their end II. A pleasant song or dance the Pancratiastes exercise See B. xii N. VI. sports that thou art wont to be much taken with thou shalt easily contemne if the harmonious voyce thou shalt divide into so many particular sounds whereof it doth consist and of every one in particular shall aske thy selfe whether this or that sound is it that doth so conquer thee For thou wilt be ashamed of it And so for shame if accordingly thou shalt consider it every particular motion and posture by it selfe and so for the wrestlers exercise too Generally then whatsoever it be besides vertue and those things that proceed from vertue that thou art subject to be much affected with remember presently thus to divide it by this kind of division in each particular to attain unto the contēpt of the Whole This thou must transfer and apply to thy whole life also III. That soule which is ever ready even now presently if neede be from the body whether by way of Extinction or Dispersion or Continuation in another place estate to be separated Gr 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See the Notes how blessed and happy is it But this readinesse of it it must proceed not from an obstinate and peremptory resolution of the mind violently and passionatly set upon opposition as Christians are wont but frō a peculiar iudgement with discretion and gravity so that others may be perswaded also drawne to the like example but without any noyse and passionate exclamations IV. Have I done any thing charitably then am I benefitted by it See that this upon all occasions may present it selfe unto thy mind and never cease to thinke of it What is thy profession to be good And how should this bee well brought to passe but by certaine Theorems and doctrines Some concerning the Nature of the Universe and some concerning the proper and particular constitution of man or by the true and Theoremeticall knowledge both of the nature of the Vniverse c. V. Tragedies were at first brought in and instituted to put men in minde of worldly chances and casualties That these things in the ordinary course of nature did so happen That men that were much pleased and delighted by such accidents upon this stage would not by the same things in a greater stage bee grieved and afflicted For here you see what is the end of all such things and that even they that cry out so mournfully to Cithairon must beare them for all their cries and exclamations as well as others And in very truth many good things are spoken by these Poets as that for example is an excellent passage But if so be that I and my two children be neglected by the Gods they have some reason even for that c. And againe It will but little availe thee to storme rage against the things themselves c. Againe To reape ones life as a ripe eare of corne and whatsoever else is to bee found in them that is of the same kinde After the Tragedie the