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
the times of Vespasian Thou shalt see but the same things some marying some bringing up children some sick some dying some fighting some feasting some merchandizing some tilling some flattering some boasting some suspecting some undermining some wishing to die some fretting and murmuring at their present estate some wooing some hoarding some seeking after Magistracies and some after Kingdomes And is not that their age quite over and ended Againe consider now the times of Trajan There likewise thou seest the very selfe-same things and that age also is now over and ended In the like manner consider other periods both of times and of whole nations and see how many men after they had with all their might and main intended and prosecuted some one worldly thing or other did soone after drop away and were resolved into the Elements But especially thou must call to minde them whom thou thy selfe in thy life time hast knowne much distracted about vaine things and in the meane time neglecting to doe that and closely and unseparably as fully satisfied with it to adhere unto it which their owne proper constitution did require And here thou must remember that thy carriage in every businesse must be according to the worth and due proportion of it for so shalt thou not easily be tyred out and vexed if thou shalt not dwel upon small matters longer then is fitting XXVIII Those words which once were common and ordinarie are now become obscure and obsolet and so the names of men once commonly knowne and famous are now become in a manner obscure and obsolet names Camillus Caeso Volesius Leonnatus not long after Scipio Cato then Augustus then Adrianus then Antoninus Pius All these in a short time will be out of date and as things of another world as it were become fabulous And this I say of them who once shined as the wonders of their ages for as for the rest no sooner are they expired then with them all their fame and memorie And what is it then that shall alwayes be remembred all is vanity What is it that wee must bestow our care and diligence upon even upon this only That our minds wils be just that our actions be charitable that our speech be never deceitfull or that our understanding bee not subject to error that our inclination be alwayes set to embrace whatsoever shall happen unto us as necessary as usuall as ordinary as flowing from such a beginning and such a fountaine from which both thou thy selfe and all things are Willingly therefore See the Pref. towards the end and wholly surrender up thy selfe unto that fatall concatenation yeelding up thy selfe unto the fates to be disposed of at their pleasure XXIX Whatsoever is now present and from day to day hath its existence all objects of memories and the mindes and memories themselves incessantly consider all things that are have their being by change and alteration Use thy selfe therefore often to meditate upon this that the Nature of the Universe delights in nothing more then in altering those things that are and in making others like unto them So that wee may say that whatsoever is is but as it were the seed of that which shall be For if thou thinke that that only is seed which either the Earth or the wombe receiveth thou art very simple XXX Thou art now ready to dye and yet hast thou not attained to that perfect simplicitie thou art yet subject to many troubles and perturbations not yet free from all feare and suspition of externall accidents nor yet either so meekly disposed towards all men as thou shouldest or so affected as one whose only study and only wisedome is to be just in all his actions XXXI Behold and observe what is the state of their rationall part and those that the world doth account wise see what things they flie and are afraid of and what things they hunt after XXXII In another mans minde and understanding thy evill cannot subsist nor in any proper temper or distemper of the naturall constitution of thy body which is but as it were the coate or cottage of thy soule Wherein then but in that part of thee wherein the conceit and apprehension of any misery can subsist Let not that part therefore admit any such conceit and then all is well Though thy body which is so neere it should either be cut or burnt or suffer any corruption or putrefaction yet let that part to which it belongs to judge of these be still at rest that is Let her judge this that whatsoever it is that equally may happen to a wicked man and to a good man is neither good nor evill For that which happens equally to him that lives according to Nature and to him that doth not is neither according to nature nor against it and by consequent neither good nor bad XXXIII Ever consider and thinke upon the world as being but one living substance See B. VI N. XXIII and having but one soule and how all things in the world are terminated into one sensitive power or terminate into one generall sense and are done by one generall motion as it were deliberation of that one soule and how all things that are concurre in the cause of one anothers being and by what manner of connexion and concatenation all things happen XXXIV What art thou that better and divine part excepted but as Epictetus said well a wretched soule appointed to carry a carcasse up and downe XXXV To suffer change can be no hurt as no benefit it is by change to attaine to being The age and time of the world is as it were a flood and swift current consisting of the things that are brought to passe in the world For as soone as any thing hath appeared and is passed away another succeeds and that also will presently out of sight XXXVI Whatsoever doth happen in the world is in the course of nature as usuall and ordinarie as a rose in the spring and fruit in summer Of the same nature is sicknesse and death slaunder and lying in waite and whatsoever else ordinarily doth unto sooles use to be occasion either of joy or sorrow That whatsoever it is that comes after doth very naturally and as it were familiarly follow upon that which was before For thou must consider the things of the world not as a loose independent number consisting meerely of necessary events but as a discreet connexion of things orderly and harmoniously disposed There is then to be seen in the things of the world not a bare succession but an admirable correspondence and affinitie XXXVII Let that of Heraclitus never be out of thy minde that the death of earth is water and the death of water is aire and the death of aire is fire and so on the contrary Remember him also who was ignorant whither the way did lead and how that Reason being the thing by which all things in the world are administred and which men are
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
a meere dissolution and unbinding of the manifold intricacies and intanglements of the confused atomes or some such dispersion of the simple and incorruptible Elements †††With meates and drinkes and divers charmes they seeke to divert the chanell that they might not die Yet must we needs endure that blast of winde that commeth from above though we bewaile our toile and misery XXVIII He hath a stronger body and is a better wrastler then I What then Is he more bountifull is he more modest Doth he beare all adverse chances with more equanimitie Or with his neighbours offences with more meeknesse and gentlenesse then I XXIX Where the matter may be effected agreeably to that Reason which both unto the gods and men is common there can be no just cause of griefe or sorrow For where the fruit and benefit of an action well begunne and prosecuted according to the proper constitution of man may be reaped and obtained or is sure and certaine it is against reason that any dammage should there be suspected In all places and at all times it is in thy power religiously to embrace whatsoever by Gods appointment is happened unto thee and justly to converse with those men whom thou hast to doe with and accurately to examine every phancie that presents it selfe that nothing may slippe and steale in before thou hast rightly apprehended the true Nature of it XXX Looke not about upon other mens mindes and understandings but looke right on forwards whither Nature both that of the Vniverse in those things that happen unto thee and thine in particular in those things that are done by thee doth leade and direct thee Now every one is bound to doe that which is consequent and agreeable to that end which by his true naturall constitution hee was ordained unto As for all other things they are ordained for the use of reasonable creatures as in all things wee see that that which is worse and inferiour is made for that which is better Reasonable creatures they are ordained one for another That therefore which is chiefe in every mans constitution is that he intend the common good The second is that he yeeld not to any lusts and motions of the flesh For it is the part and priviledge of the reasonable and intellective facultie that she can so bound her selfe as that neither the sensitive nor the appetitive faculties may not any wayes prevaile upon her For both these are brutish And therefore over both she challengeth masterie and cannot any waies indure if in her right temper to be subject unto either And this indeed most justly For by nature shee was ordained to command all in the body The third thing proper to man by his constitution is to avoid all rashnesse and precipitancie and not to be subject to error To these things then let the mind apply her selfe and goe straight on without any distraction about other things and shee hath her end and by consequent her happinesse XXXI As one who had lived and were now to die by right whatsoever is yet remaining bestow that wholly as a gracious overplus upon a vertuous life G◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See pref Love and affect that onely whatsoever it be that happeneth and is by the Fates appointed unto thee For what can be more reasonable And as any thing doth happen unto thee by way of crosse or calamity call to mind presently and set before thine eyes the examples of some other men to whom the selfe same thing did once happen likewise Well what did they They grieved they wondred they complained And where are they now All dead and gone Wilt thou also be like one of them Or rather leaving to men of the world whose life both in regard of themselves and them that they converse with is nothing but meere mutabilitie or men of as fickle minds as fickle bodyes ever changing and soone changed themselves their owne fickle dispositions let it be thine onely care and study how to make a right use of all such accidents For there is good use to be made of them and they will prove fit matter for thee to worke upon if it shall bee both thy care and thy desire that whatsoever thou doest thou thy selfe mayst like and approve thy selfe for it And both these see that thou remember well according as the diversity of the matter of the action that thou art about shall require Looke within within is the fountaine of all good Such a fountaine where springing waters can never faile so thou digge still deeper and deeper XXXII Thou must use thy selfe also to keepe thy body fixed and steady free from all loose fluctuant either motion or posture And as upon thy face and lookes thy minde hath easily power over them to keepe them to that which is grave and decent so let it challenge the same power over the whole body also But so observe all things in this kinde as that it be without any manner of affectation XXXIII The art of true living in this world is more like a wrastlers then a dancers practise For in this they both agree to teach a man whatsoever falls upon him that he may be ready for it and that nothing may cast him downe XXXIV Thou must continually ponder consider with thy selfe what manner of men they bee and for their mindes and understandings what is their present estate whose good word and testimonie thou doest desire For then neither wilt thou see cause to complaine of them that offend against their wills or finde any want of their applause See B. VIII N. 13. if once thou doest but penetrate into the true force and ground both of their opinions and of their desires No soule saith he is willingly bereaved of the Truth and by consequent neither of justice or temperance or kindnesse and mildnesse nor of any thing that is of the same kinde It is most needfull that thou shouldest alwayes remember this For so shalt thou be farre more gentle and moderate towards all men XXXV What paine soever thou art in let this presently come to thy minde that it is not a thing whereof thou needest to be ashamed neither is it a thing whereby thy understanding that hath the government of all can be made worse For neither in regard of the substance of it nor in regard of the end of it which is to intend the common good can it alter and corrupt it This also of Epicurus maist thou in most paines finde some helpe of that it is neither intolerable nor eternall so thou keepe thy selfe to the true bounds and limits of reason and give not way to opinion This also thou must consider that many things there be which oftentimes unsensibly trouble vexe thee as not armed against them with patience because they goe not ordinarily under the name of paines which in very deed are of the same nature as paine as to slumber unquietly to suffer heat to want appetite
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