Security If Death be at Any time to be Fear'd it is Allwayes to be Fear'd but the way never to Fear it is to be often thinking of it To what end is it to put off for a little while that which we cannot avoid He that Dyes does but follow him that is Dead Why are we then so long afraid of that which is so little a while a doing How miserable are those People that spend their Lives in the Dismal Apprehensions of Death For they are beset on all hands and every Minute in Dread of a surprize We must therefore look about us as if we were in an Enemies Country and Consider our Last hour not as the Punishment but as the Law of Nature The Fear of it is a Continual Palpitation of the Heart and he that overcomes That Terror shall never be troubled with any Other Life is a Navigation we are perpetually wallowing and dashing one against another Sometimes we suffer Shipwrack but we are Alwayes in Danger and in Expectation of it And what is it when it comes but either the End of a Journey or a Passage It is as great a Folly to Fear Death as to Fear Old Age. Nay as to Fear Life it self for he that would not Dye ought not to Live since Death is the Condition of Life Beside that it is a Madness to Fear a thing that is Certain for where there is no Doubt there is no place for Fear WE are still chiding of Fate and even those that exact the most Rigorous Justice betwixt Man and Man are yet themselves Unjust to Providence Why was such a One taken away in the Prime of his Years As if it were the Number of years that makes Death easie to us and not the Temper of the Mind He that would Live a little Longer to Day would be as loth to Dye a Hundred year Hence But which is more Reasonable for Us to obey Nature or for Nature to obey us Go we must at Last and no Matter how soon 'T is the Work of Fate to make us Live Long but 't is the Business of Virtue to make a short Life sufficient Life is to be measur'd by Action not by Time a Man may Dye Old at Thirty and Young at Fourscore Nay the One Lives after Death and the Other Perish'd before he Dy'd I look upon Age among the Effects of Chance How Long I shall Live is in the Power of Others but it is in my Own how Well The largest space of Time is to live till a Man is Wise. He that Dyes of Old Age does no more than go to Bed when he is weary Death is the Test of Life and it is that only which discovers what we are and distinguishes betwixt Ostentation and Virtue A Man may Dispute Cite Great Authorities Talk Learnedly Huff it out and yet be Rotten at Heart But let us Soberly attend our Business and since it is Uncertain When or Where we shall Dye let us look for Death in all Places and at all Times We can never Study that Point too much which we can never come to Experiment whether we know it or no. It is a Blessed thing to dispatch the Business of Life before we Dye and then to Expect Death in the Possession of a Happy Life He 's the Great Man that is willing to Dye when his Life is pleasant to him An Honest Life is not a Greater Good than an Honest Death How many Brave young Men by an Instinct of Nature are carry'd on to Great Actions and even to the Contempt of all Hazards 'T IS Childish to go out of the World Groning and Wailing as we came into 't Our Bodies must be thrown away as the Secondine that wraps up the Infant the other being only the Covering of the Soul We shall then discover the Secrets of Nature the Darkness shall be Discuss'd and our Souls Irradiated with Light and Glory A Glory without a Shadow a Glory that shall surround us and from whence we shall look down and see Day and Night beneath us If we cannot lift up our Eyes toward the Lamp of Heaven without dazling What shall we do when we come to behold the Divine Light in its Illustrious Original That Death which we so much dread and decline is not a Determination but the Intermission of a Life which will return again All those things that are the very Cause of Life are the way to Death We Fear it as we do Fame but it is a great Folly to Fear Words Some People are so impatient of Life that they are still wishing for Death but he that wishes to dye does not desire it Let us rather wait Gods Pleasure and Pray for Health and Life If we have a Mind to Live Why do we wish to dye If we have a Mind to dye we may do it without talking of it Men are a great deal more Resolute in the Article of Death it self than they are about the Circumstances of it For it gives a Man Courage to Consider that his Fate is Inevitable the slow Approches of death are the most Troublesome to us as we see many a Gladiator who upon his wounds will direct his Adversaries weapon to his very Heart though but Timorous perhaps in the Combat There are some that have not the Heart either to Live or Dy and that 's a Sad Case But this we are sure of The Fear of Death is a Continual Slavery as the Contempt of it is Certain Liberty CHAP. XXII Consolations against Death from the Providence and the Necessity of it THIS Life is only a Prelude to Eternity where we are to expect Another Original and Another State of Things We have no Prospect of Heaven Here but at a Distance Let us therefore expect our Last and Decretory Hour with Courage The Last I say to our Bodies but not to our Minds Our Luggage we must leave behind us and return as Naked Out of the World as we came Into 't The day which we fear as our Last is but the Birth-day of our Eternity and it is the only way to 't So that what we Fear as a Rock proves to be but a Port In many Cases to be Desir'd Never to be Refus'd and he that Dyes Young has only made a Quick Voyage on 't Some are Becalm'd Others cut it away before the Wind and we Live just as we Saile First we run our Childhood out of sight our Youth next and then our Middle Age After That follows Old Age and brings us to the Common End of Mankind It is a great Providence that we have more wayes Out of the World than we have Into 't Our Security stands upon a Point the very Article of Death It draws a great many Blessings into a very Narrow Compass And although the Fruit of it does not seem to extend to the Defunct yet the Difficulty of it is more than ballanc'd by the Contemplation of the Future Nay suppose that all the
fall under Natural Philosophy Arguments under Rational and Actions under Moral Moral Philosophy is again divided into Matter of Iustice which arises from the Estimation of Things and of Men and into Affections and Actions and a failing in any one of these disorders all the rest For What does it profit us to know the true value of things if we be transported by our Passions or to Master our Appetites without understanding the when the what the how and other Circumstances of our Proceedings For it is one thing to Know the Rate and Dignity of things and another to know the little Nicks and Springs of Acting Natural Philosophy is Conversant about things Corporeal and Incorporeal the disquisition of Causes and Effects and the Contemplation of the Cause of Causes Rational Philosophy is divided into Logick and Rhetorick the One looks after Words Sense and Order the Other Treats barely of Words and the Significations of them Socrates places all Philosophy in Moralls and Wisdome in the distinguishing of Good and Evil. It is the Art and Law of Life and it Teaches us what to do in all Cases and like good Markes-men to hit the White at any distance The force of it is incredible for it gives us in the weakness of a Man the security of a Spirit In Sickness it is as good as a Remedy to us for whatsoever eases the Mind is profitable also to the Body The Physitian may prescribe Dyet and Exercise and accommodate his Rule and Medicine to the Disease but 't is Philosophy that must bring us to a Contempt of Death which is the Remedy of all Diseases In Poverty it gives us Riches or such a State of Mind as makes them superfluous to us It armes us against all Difficulties One Man is prest with Death another with Poverty some with Envy others are offended at Providence and unsatisfied with the Condition of Mankind But Philosophy prompts us to relieve the Prisoner the Infirm the Necessitous the Condemn'd to shew the Ignorant their Errors and rectify their Affections It makes us inspect and govern our Manners it rouzes us where we are faint and drouzy it binds up what is loose and humbles in us that which is Contumacious It delivers the Mind from the Bondage of the Body and raises it up to the Contemplation of its Divine Original Honors Monuments and all the works of Vanity and Ambition are demolished and Destroyed by Time but the Reputation of Wisdome is venerable to Posterity and those that were envy'd or neglected in their Lives are ador'd in their Memories and exempted from the very Laws of Created Nature which has set bounds to all other things The very shadow of Glory carries a Man of Honor upon all dangers to the Contempt of Fire and Sword and it were a shame if Right Reason should not inspire as generous Resolutions into a Man of Virtue NEITHER is Philosophy only profitable to the Publick but one Wise Man helps another even in the Exercise of their Virtues and the One has need of the Other both for Conversation and Counsel for they Kindle a mutual Emulation in good Offices We are not so perfect yet but that many new things remain still to be found out which will give us the reciprocal Advantages of Instructing one another For as one Wicked Man is Contagious to another and the more Vices are mingled the worse it is so is it on the Contrary with Good Men and their Virtues As Men of Letters are the most useful and excellent of Friends so are they the best of Subjects as being better Judges of the Blessings they enjoy under a well-order'd Government and of what they owe to the Magistrate for their Freedome and Protection They are Men of Sobriety and Learning and free from Boasting and Insolence they reprove the Vice without Reproaching the Person for they have learn'd to be Wise without either Pomp or Envy That which we see in high Mountains we find in Philosophers they seem taller near hand then at a distance They are rais'd above other Men but their greatness is substantial Nor do they stand upon the Tiptoe that they may seem higher than they are but content with their own stature they reckon themselves tall enough when Fortune cannot reach them Their Laws are short and yet comprehensive too for they bind all IT is the Bounty of Nature that we live but of Philosophy that we live well which is in truth a greater Benefit than Life it self Not but that Philosophy is also the Gift of Heaven so far as to the Faculty but not to the Science for that must be the business of Industry No Man is born Wise but Wisdom and Virtue require a Tutor though we can easily learn to be Vicious without a Master It is Philosophy that gives us a Veneration for God a Charity for our Neighbor that teaches us our Duty to Heaven and exhorts us to an Agreement one with another It unmasks things that are terrible to us asswages our Lusts refutes our Errors restrains our Luxury Reproves our Avarice and Works strangely upon Tender Natures I could never hear Attalus sayes Seneca upon the Vices of the Age and the Errors of Life without a compassion for Mankind and in his discourses upon Poverty there was something me thought that was more than Humane More than we use saies he is more than we need and only a Burthen to the Bearer That saying of his put me out of countenance at the superfluities of my own fortune And so in his Invectives against vain pleasures he did at such a rate advance the felicities of a Sober Table a Pure Mind and a Chast Body that a man could not hear him without a Love for Continence and Moderation Upon these Lectures of his I deny'd my self for a while after certain delicacies that I had formerly used but in a short time I fell to them again though so sparingly that the Proportion came little short of a Total Abstinence NOW to shew you saies our Author how much earnester my entrance upon Philosophy was than my Progress My Tutor Sotion gave me a wonderful kindness for Pythagoras and after him for Sextius The former forbare shedding of Bloud upon his Metempsychosis and put men in fear of it least they should offer violence to the souls of some of their departed friends or relations Whether sayes he there be a Transmigration or not if it be true there 's no hurt in 't if false there 's frugality and nothing's gotten by Cruelty neither but the cozening a Wolfe perhaps or a Vulture of a Supper Now Sextius abstain'd upon another Account which was that he would not have men inur'd to hardness of heart by the Laceration and tormenting of Living Creatures beside that Nature had sufficiently provided for the Sustenance of Mankind without Bloud This wrought so far upon me that I gave over eating of flesh and in one year made it not only easie to me but
stand the Test. One Man is Forsaken for Fear or Profit Another is Betray'd 'T is a Negotiation not a Friendship that has an Eye to Advantages only through the Corruption of Times that which was formerly a Friendship is now become a Design upon a Booty Alter your Testament and you lose your Friend But my End of Friendship is to have One dearer to me than my Self and for the saving of whose Life I would chearfully lay down my Own taking this along with me that only Wise Men can be Friends Others are but Companions and that there 's a great Difference also betwixt Love and Friendship The One may sometime do us Hurt the Other alwayes does us Good for One Friend is Helpful to Another in all Cases as well in Prosperity as Affliction We receive Comfort even at a Distance from those we Love but then it is Light and Faint whereas Presence and Conversation touches us to the Quick especially if we find the Man we Love to be such a person as we wish IT is Usual with Princes to Reproach the Living by Commending the Dead and to Praise those People for speaking Truth from whom there is no longer any Danger of Hearing it This was Augustus his Case He was forc'd to banish his daughter Iulia for her Common and Prostituted Impudence and still upon Fresh Informations he was often heard to say If Agrippa or Mecaenas had been now alive this would never have been But yet where the Fault lay may be a Question for perchance it was his Own that had rather complain for the Want of them than seek for Others as Good The Roman Losses by War and by Fire Augustus could quickly Supply and Repair but for the Loss of Two Friends he lamented his whole Life after Xerxes a Vain and a Foolish Prince when he made War upon Greece One told him 'T would never come to a Battel Another That he would find only empty Cities and Countryes for they would not so much as stand the very Fame of his Coming Others sooth'd him in the Opinion of his Prodigious Numbers and they all concurr'd to puff him up to his destruction Only Demaratus advis'd him not to depend too much upon his Numbers for he would rather find them a Burthen to him than an advantage And that 300 Men in the Streights of the Mountains would be sufficient to give a Check to his whole Army and that such an Accident would Undoubtedly turn his vast Numbers to his Confusion It fell out afterward as he foretold and he had Thanks for his Fidelity A Miserable Prince that among so many Thousand Subjects had but One Servant to tell him the Truth CHAP. XIX He that would be happy must take an Accompt of his Time IN the distribution of Humane Life we find that a great part of it passes away in Evil-doing A Greater yet in doing just Nothing at all and effectually the whole in doing things beside our business Some hours we bestow upon Ceremony and Servile Attendances Some upon our Pleasures and the Remainder runs at Waste What a deal of Time is it that we spend in Hopes and Fears Love and Revenge in Balls Treats making of Interests Suing for Offices Solliciting of Causes and Slavish Flatteries The shortness of Life I know is the Common Complaint both of Fools and Philosophers as if the Time we have were not sufficient for our duties But 't is with our Lives as with our Estates a good Husband makes a Little go a great way whereas let the Revenue of a Prince fall into the Hands of a Prodigal 't is gone in a moment So that the Time allotted us if it were well employ'd were abundantly enough to answer all the Ends and Purposes of Mankind But we squander it away in Avarice Drink Sleep Luxury Ambition fawning Addresses Envy Rambling Voyages Impertinent Studies Change of Counsels and the like and when our Portion is spent we find the want of it though we gave no heed to it in the Passage In so much that we have rather Made our Life Short than found it so You shall have some People perpetually playing with their Fingers Whistling Humming and Talking to themselves and Others consume their dayes in the Composing Hearing or Reciting of Songs and Lampoons How many precious Mornings do we spend in Consultation with Barbers Taylors and Tire-Women Patching and Painting betwixt the Comb and the Glass A Counsel must be call'd upon every Hair we cut and one Curle amiss is as much as a Bodies Life is worth The truth is we are more sollicitous about our Dress than our Manners and about the Order of our Perriwigs than that of the Government At this rate let us but discount out of a Life of a Hundred years that Time which has been spent upon Popular Negotiations frivolous Amours Domestick Brawls Sauntrings up and down to no purpose Diseases that we have brought upon our selves and this large extent of Life will not amount perhaps to the Minority of another Man It is a Long Being but perchance a Short Life And what 's the Reason of all this we Live as if we should never Dye and without any thought of Humane Frailty when yet the very Moment we bestow upon this Man or Thing may peradventure be our last But the greatest Loss of Time is Delay and Expectation which depends upon the Future We let go the Present which we have in our own Power we look Forward to that which depends upon Fortune and so quit a Certainty for an Uncertainty We should do by Time as we do by a Torrent make Use of it while we may have it for it will not last alwayes THE Calamities of Humane Nature may be Divided into the Fear of Death and the Miseries and Errors of Life And it is the great Work of Mankind to Master the One and to Rectifie the Other And so to Live as neither to make Life Irksome to us nor Death Terrible It should be our Care before we are Old to Live Well and when we are so to Die well that we may expect our End without Sadness For it is the Duty of Life to prepare our selves for Death and there is not an hour we Live that does not Mind us of our Mortality Time Runs on and all things have their Fate though it lies in the Dark The Period is Certain to Nature but What am I the better for it if it be not so to me We propound Travels Armes Adventures without ever considering that Death lies in the way Our Term is set and none of us Know how Near it is but we are all of us Agreed that the Decree is Unchangable Why should we wonder to have That befall us to Day which might have happen'd to us any Minute since we were Born Let us therefore Live as if every Moment were to be our Last and set our Accompts Right every day that passes over our Heads We are not Ready for Death
Business of This World should be Forgotten or my Memory traduc'd What 's all this to me I have done my Duty Undoubtedly That which puts an End to all Other Evils cannot be a very great Evil it Self and yet it is no Easie thing for Flesh and Blood to despise Life What if Death comes If it does not stay with us why should we Fear it One Hangs himself for a Mistress Another Leaps the Garret Window to avoid a Cholerick Master a Third runs away and Stabs himself rather than he will be brought back again We see the Force even of our Infirmities and shall we not then do greater things for the Love of Virtue To suffer Death is but the Law of Nature and it is a great Comfort that it can be done but Once In the very Convulsions of it we have This Consolation that our Pain is near an end and that it frees us from all the Miseries of Life What it is we Know not and it were Rash to Condemn what we do not Understand But this we Presume either that we shall pass out of This into a Better Life where we shall Live with Tranquillity and Splendor in Diviner Mansions or else return to our First Principles free from the Sense of any Inconvenience There 's Nothing Immortal nor Many things Lasting but by Diverse wayes every thing comes to an End What an Arrogance is it then when the World it self stands Condemn'd to a Dissolution that Man alone should expect to live for Ever It is Unjust not to allow unto the Giver the Power of disposing of his Own Bounty and a Folly only to value the Present Death is as much a Debt as Mony and Life is but a Journey towards it Some dispatch it Sooner others Later but we must All have the same Period The Thunder-Bolt is undoubtedly Just that draws even from those that are stuck with it a Veneration A Great Soul takes no Delight in Staying with the Body it considers whence it Came and Knows whither it is to Go. The day will come that shall separate this Mixture of Soul and Body of Divine and Humane My Body I will leave where I found it My Soul I will restore to Heaven which would have been There already but for the Clog that keeps it down And beside How many Men have been the worse for longer Living that might have dy'd with Reputation if they had been sooner taken away How many Disappointments of Hopeful Youths that have prov'd Dissolute Men Over and above the Ruines Shipwracks Torments Prisons that attend Long Life A Blessing so deceiptful that if a Child were in Condition to Judge of it and at Liberty to Refuse it he would not take it WHAT Providence has made Necessary Humane Prudence should comply with Chearfully As there is a Necessity of Death so that Necessity is Equal and Invincible No Man has cause of Complaint for that which Every Man must suffer as well as himself When we should dye we Will not and when we would not we must But our Fate is Fixt and Unavoidable is the Decree Why do we then stand Trembling when the Time comes Why do we not as well lament that we did not Live a Thousand years agoe as that we shall not be alive a Thou sand years hence 'T is but travelling the Great Road and to the Place whither we must All go at Last 'T is but submitting to the Law of Nature and to That Lot which the whole World has suffer'd that is gone Before us and so must They too that are to Come After us Nay how many Thousands when our Time comes will Expire in the same Moment with us He that will not Follow shall be drawn by Force And Is it not much better now to do That willingly which we shall otherwise be made to do in spite of our Hearts The Sons of Mortal Parents must expect a Mortal Posterity Death is the End of Great and Small We are Born Helpless and expos'd to the Injuries of all Creatures and of all Weathers The very Necessaries of Life are Deadly to us We meet with our Fate in our Dishes in our Cups and in the very Ayr we Breathe Nay our very Birth is Inauspicious for we come into the World Weeping and in the Middle of our Designs while we are meditating great Matters and stretching of our Thoughts to After Ages Death cuts us off and our longest Date is only the Revolution of a few years One Man Dyes at the Table Another goes away in his Sleep a Third in his Mistress's Armes a Fourth is Stabb'd Another is Stung with an Adder or Crush'd with the Fall of a Horse We have several wayes to our End but the End it self which is Death is still the same Whether we dye by a Sword by a Halter by a Potion or by a Disease 't is all but Death A Child dies in the Swadling Clouts and an Old Man at a Hundred they are Both Mortal alike though the One goes sooner than the Other All that lies betwixt the Cradle and the Grave is Uncertain If we compute the Troubles the Life even of a Child is Long if the Swiftness of the Passage That of an Old Man is short The whole is slippery and Deceiptful and only Death Certain and yet all People Complain of That which never Deceiv'd any Man Senecio rais'd himself from a small Beginning to a Vast Fortune being very well skill'd in the Faculties both of Getting and of Keeping and either of them was sufficient for the doing of his Business He was a Man Infinitely Careful both of his Patrimony and of his Body He gave me a Mornings Visit sayes our Author and after that Visit he went away and spent the rest of the day with a Friend of his that was desperately Sick At Night he was Merry at Supper and seiz'd immediately after with a Squincy which dispatch'd him in a few hours This Man that had Mony at Use in all Places and in the very Course and Height of his Prosperity was thus Cut off How Foolish a thing is it then for a Man to flatter himself with Long Hopes and to Pretend to Dispose of the Future Nay the very Present slips through our Fingers and there is not that moment which we can call our Own How vain a thing is it for us to enter upon Projects and to say to our selves Well! I 'll go Build Purchase Discharge such Offices Settle my Affairs and then Retire We are all of us Born to the same Casualties All equally Frail and Uncertain of To morrow At the very Altar where we Pray for Life we Learn to Dy by seeing the Sacrifices Kill'd before us But there 's no Need of a Wound or Searching the Heart for 't when the Noose of a Cord or Smothering of a Pillow will do the Work All things have their Seasons they Begin they Encrease and they Dye The Heavens and the Earth grow Old and are appointed
only of Madness but many times an irrevocable transition into the thing it self How many persons have we known read and heard of that have lost their Wits in a Passion and never came to themselves again It is therefore to be avoided not only for Moderation sake but also for Health Now if the outward appearance of Anger be so foul and hideous How deformed must that miserable Mind be that is harrass'd with it for it leaves no place either for Counsel or Friendship Honesty or Good Manners No place either for the Exercise of Reason or for the Offices of Life If I were to describe it I would draw a Tiger bath'd in Blood sharp set and ready to take a leap at his Prey or dress it up as the Poets represent the Furies with Whips Snakes and Flames It should be Sour Livid full of Scars and wallowing in Gore Raging Up and Down Destroying Grinning Bellowing and Pursuing Sick of all other things and most of all of it self It turns Beauty into Deformity and the Calmest Counsels into Fierceness It disorders our very Garments and fills the Mind with Horror How abominable is it in the Soul then when it appears so hideous even through the Bones the Skin and so many Impediments Is not he a Mad-man that has lost the Government of himself and is toss'd hither and thither by his Fury as by a Tempest The Executioner of his own Revenge both with his heart and hand and the Murtherer of his nearest Friends The smallest matter moves it and makes us Insociable and Inaccessible It does all things by Violence as well upon it self as others and it is in short the Master of all Passions THERE is not any Creature so Terrible and Dangerous by Nature but it becomes fiercer by Anger Not that Beasts have humane Affections but certain Impulses they have which come very near them The Boar â—…omes champs and whets his Tusks the Bull tosses his horns in the Ayr Bounds and tears up the Ground with his Feet The Lyon Rores and Swinges himself with his Tail the Serpent Swells and there is a Ghastly kind of fellness in the Aspect of a Mad-Dog How great a Wickedness is it now to indulge a Violence that does not only turn a Man into a Beast but makes even the most outrageous of Beasts themselves to be more Dreadful and Mischievous A Vice that carries along with it neither Pleasure nor Profit neither Honor nor Security but on the Contrary destroyes us to all the Comfortable and Glorious Purposes of our Reasonable Being Some there are that will have the Root of it to be Greatness of Mind And why may we not as well entitle Impudence to Courage whereas the One is Proud the Other Brave the One is Gracious and Gentle the Other Rude and Furious At the same rate we may ascribe Magnanimity to Avarice Luxury and Ambition which are all but Splendid Impotences without Measure and without Foundation There is nothing Great but what is Virtuous nor indeed truely Great but what is also Compos'd and Quiet Anger alass is but a Wild Impetuous Blast an Empty Tumour the very Infirmity of Women and Children a Brawling Clamorous Evil and the more noise the less Courage as we find it commonly that the Boldest Tongues have the Feintest Hearts CHAP. V. Anger is neither Warrantable nor Useful IN the first place Anger is Unwarrantable as it is Unjust For it falls many times upon the wrong person and discharges it self upon the Innocent in stead of the Guilty beside the disproportion of making the most trivial Offences to be Capital and punishing an Inconsiderate Word perhaps with Torments Fetters Infamy or Death It allows a Man neither Time nor Means for Defence but Judges a Cause without Hearing it and admits of no Mediation It flies in the face of Truth it self if it be of the Adverse Party and turns Obstinacy in an Error into an Argument of Justice It does every thing with Agitation and Tumult Whereas Reason and Equity can destroy whole Families if there be Occasion for 't even to the extinguishing of their Names and Memories without any Indecency either of Countenance or Action SECONDLY It is Insociable to the highest point for it spares neither Friend nor Foe but tears all to pieces and casts Humane Nature into a perpetual State of War It dissolves the Bond of Mutual Society in so much that our very Companions and Relations dare not come near us it renders us unfit for the Ordinary Offices of Life for we can neither govern our Tongues our Hands nor any part of our Body It tramples upon the Laws of Hospitality and of Nations leaves every Man to be his own Carver and all things publick and private Sacred and Profane suffer Violence THIRDLY It is to no purpose 'T is a sad thing we cry to put up these Injuries and we are not able to bear them as if any Man that can bear Anger would not bear an Injury which is much more Supportable You 'll say that Anger does some good yet for it keeps People in Awe and secures a Man from Contempt never considering that it is more dangerous to be fear'd than despis'd Suppose that an Angry Man could do as much as he threatens the more Terrible he is still the more odious and on the other side if he wants Power he is the more despicable for his Anger for there is nothing more wretched than a Cholerick Huff that makes a Noise and nobody cares for 't If Anger should be Valuable because Men are afraid of it Why not an Adder a Toad or a Scorpion as well It makes us lead the Life of Gladiators we Live and we Fight together We hate the Happy dispise the Miserable envy our Superiors Insult upon our Inferiors and there is nothing in the World which we will not do either for pleasure or profit To be Angry at Offenders is to make our selves the Common Enemies of Mankind which is both weak and wicked and we may as well be Angry that our Thistles do not bring forth Apples or that every Pebble in our Grounds is not an Oriental Pearl If we are Angry both with Young Men and with Old because they do offend Why not with Infants too because they will offend It is Laudable to rejoyce for any thing that is well done but to be transported for another Mans doing Ill is narrow and sordid Nor is it for the dignity of Virtue to be either Angry or Sad. It is with a Teinted Mind as with an Ulcer not only the Touch but the very offer at it makes us shrink and Complain When we come once to be carry'd off from our Poyze we are lost In the Choice of a Sword we take care that it be weildy and well mounted and it concerns us as much to be wary of engaging in the Excesses of Ungovernable Passions It is not the Speed of a Horse altogether that pleases us unless we
Things and to the Unity of Life Not but that every Man has Naturally a Love for his Own Carkass as Poor People Love even their Own Beggerly Cottages they are Old Acquaintances and Loth to Part And I am not against the Indulging of it neither provided that I make not my Self a Slave to it for he that serves it has Many Masters Beside that we are in Continual Disorder One while with Gripes Pains in the Head Tooth-Ach Gout Stone Defluxions some time with too Much Blood other while with too Little And yet this Frail and Putrid Carkass of Ours values it self as if it were Immortal We put no Bounds to our Hopes our Avarice our Ambition The same Man is Vatinius to Day and Cato to Morrow This hour as Luxurious as Apicius and the next as Temperate as Tubero Now for a Mistriss by and by for a Wise Imperious This hour Servile the Next Thrifty and Prodigal Laborious and Voluptuous by turns But still the Goods or Ills of the Body do but Concern the Body which is Peevish Sour and Anxious without any effect upon a Well-Compos'd Mind I was the Other day at my Villa And Complaining of my Charge of Repairs My Bayliff told me ' T was none of his Fault for the House was Old and he had much adoe to keep it from falling upon his Head Well thought I and what am I my Self then that saw the laying of the First Stone In the Gardens I found the Trees as much out of Order the Boughs Knotted and Wither'd and their Bodies over-run with Moss This would not have been said I if you had Trench'd them and Water'd them as you should have done By my Soul Master sayes the poor Fellow I have done what I could But al ass they are all Dotards and Spent What am I then thought I to my self that planted all these Trees with my own Hands And then I come to bethink my Self that Age it self is not yet without its Pleasures if we did but know how to use them and that the Best Morsel is reserv'd for the Last Or at worst it is Equivalent to the Enjoying of Pleasures not to stand in need of any It is but yesterday methinks that I went to School But Time goes faster with an Old Man than with a Young Perhaps because he reckons more upon it There is hardly any Man so Old but he may hope for One day more yet and the Longest Life is but a Multiplication of Dayes nay of Hours nay of Moments Our Fate is Set and the First Breath we draw is but the First Step towards our Last One Cause depends upon another and the Course of All things Publick and Private is only a Long Connexion of Providential Appointments There is great Variety in our Lives but all Tends to the same Issue Nature may use her own Bodies as she Pleases but a Good Man has this Consolation that nothing Perishes that he can call his Own What Must be Shall be and that which is a Necessity to him that Struggles is little more than Choice to him that is Willing 'T is Bitter to be Forc'd to any thing but things are Easy when they are Comply'd with EPIST. X. Custome is a great Matter either in Good or Ill. We should check our Passions Betimes Involuntary Motions are Invincible THere is nothing so Hard but Custome makes it Easie to us There are some that never Laugh'd Others that Wholly abstain'd from Wine and Women and almost from Sleep Much use of a Coach makes us lose the Benefit of our Legs So that we must be Infirm to be in the Fashion and at last lose the very Faculty of Walking by Disusing it Some are so plung'd in Pleasures that they cannot Live without them And in This they are most Miserable that what was at First but Superfluous is Now become Necessary But their Infelicity seems to be then Consummate and Incurable when Sensuality has laid hold of the Judgment and Wickedness is become a Habit. Nay some there are that both Hate and Persecute Virtue and that 's the last Act of Desperation It is much Easier to Check our Passions in the Beginning than to stop them in their Course For if Reason could not hinder us at first they will go on in despite of us The Stoicks will not allow a Wise Man to have any Passions at all The Peripateticks Temper them but That Mediocrity is altogether False and Unprofitable And 't is all one as if they said That we may be a Little Mad or a Little Sick If we give any sort of Allowance to Sorrow Fear Desires Perturbations it will not be in our Power to restrain them They are fed from Abroad and will encrease with their Causes And if we yield never so little to them the least disorder works upon the whole Body It is not my Purpose all this while wholly to take away any thing that is either Necessary Beneficial or Delightful to Humane Life but to take That away which may be Vitious in it When I forbid you to desire any thing I am yet content that you may be Willing to have it So that I permit you the same things And those very Pleasures will have a Better Rellish too when they are enjoy'd without Anxiety and when you come to Command those Appetites which before you serv'd 'T is Natural you 'll say to weep for the Loss of a Friend to be Mov'd at the Sense of a Good or Ill Report and to be Sad in Adversity All this I 'll grant you and there is no Vice but something may be said for 't At First 't is Tractable and Modest but if we give it entrance we shall hardly get it out again As it goes on it gathers strength and becomes Quickly Ungovernable It cannot be deny'd but that all Affections flow from a Kind of Natural Principle and that it is our Duty to take Care of our selves But then it is our Duty also not to be over Indulgent Nature has mingled Pleasures even with things most Necessary Not that we should value them for their Own Sakes but to make those things which we cannot live without to be more Acceptable to us If we Esteem the Pleasure for it self it turns to Luxury It is not the Business of Nature to Raise Hunger or Thirst but to Extinguish it As there are some Natural Frailties that by Care and Industry may be Overcome So there are Others that are Invincible As for a Man that values not his Own Blood to Swoun at the Sight of another Mans. Involuntary Motions are Insuperable and Inevitable As the Staring of the Hair at Ill News Blushing at a Scurrilous Discourse Swiming of the head upon the sight of a Precipice c. Who can Read the Story of Clodius Expelling Cicero and Anthony's Killing of him the Cruelties of Marius and the Proscriptions of Sylla without being mov'd at it The Sound of a Trumpet the Picture of any thing that is
and Terrour It is only War and to Burn and Ravage as if the Earth were not large enough for the Scene of our Destruction Whereas we might live and dye at Ease if we had a mind to 't and draw out our Lives in Security Why do we Press our own Dangers then and Provoke our Fates What do we look for Only Death which is to be Found every where It will find us in our Beds in our Chambers But wheresoever it finds us let it find us Innocent What a Madness is it to pursue Mischieves to fall foul upon those we do not know to be Angry without a Cause to Over-run whatsoever is in our way and like Beasts to kill what we have no Quarrel to Nay worse than Beasts We run great Hazards only to bring us to Greater We force our way to Gold without any regard either to God or Man But in all this without any Cause of Complaint we abuse the Benefits of God and turn them all into Mischiefs VVe dig for Gold we Leave the Light and Abandon the Courses of a better Nature VVe Descend where we find a new Position of Things Hideous Caves Hollow and Hanging Rocks Horrid Rivers a Deep and Perpetual Darkness and not without the Apprehensions even of Hell it self How Little now and how Inconsiderable are those things that Men venture for with the Price of their Lives But to pass from those Hazards that we may avoid to others which we cannot As in the Case of Earthquakes In what Condition can any Man be Safe when the VVorld it self is shaken and the only thing that passes for fixed and Unmoveable in the Universe Trembles and Deceivâ—… us VVhither shall we fly for security if wheresoever we are the Danger be still under our Feet Upon the Cracking of a House every Man takes himself to his heels and leaves all to save himself But VVhat Retreat is there where that which should Support us Fails us when the Foundation not only of Cities but even of the VVorld it self Opens and VVavers VVhat Help or what Comfort where Fear it self can never carry us off An Enemy may be Kept at a Distance with a VVall A Castle may put a stop to an Army a Port may Protect us from the Fury of a Tempest Fire it self does not follow him that runs away from 't A Vault may Defend us against Thunder and we may quit the Place in a Pestilence There is some Remedy in all these Evils Or however no Man ever knew a Whole Nation destroy'd with Lightning A Plague may Unpeople a Town but it will not Carry it away There is no Evil of such an Extent so Inevitable so Greedy and so Publickly Calamitous as an Earthquake For it does not only Devour Houses Families or Single Towns but Ruines Whole Countreys and Nations Either Overturning or Swallowing them up without so much as leaving any Footstep or Mark of what they were Some People have a greater Horror for this Death than for any Other To be taken away alive out of the Number of the Living as if all Mortals by what Means soever were not to come to the same End Nature has Eminently this Justice that when we are all dead we are all Alike And 't is not a Pin Matter whether I be Crush'd to Pieces by one Stone or by a whole Mountain whether I perish by the Fall of a House or under the Burthen of the whole Earth Whether I be swallow'd up alone or with a Thousand more for Company What does it signifie to me the Noise and the Discourse that is made about my Death when Death is every where and in all Cases the same We should therefore Arme our selves against that blow that can neither be Avoided nor Foreseen And it is not the Forswearing of those Places that we find Infested with Earthquakes that will do our Business for there is no Place that can be warranted against them What if the Earth be not yet mov'd It is still Movable for the whole Body of it lies under the Same Law and expos'd to Danger only some part at One time and some at Another As it is in great Cities where all the houses are subject to Ruin though they do not all Fall Together So in the Body of the Earth now This Part Failes and then That Tyre was Formerly Subject to Earthquakes In Asia Twelve Cities were swallow'd up in a Night Achaia and Macedonia have had their Turns and now Campagnia The Fate goes Round and Strikes at last where it has a great while passed by It falls out oftner 't is true in some Places than in Others But no Place is totally Free and Exempt And it is not only Men but Cities Coasts nay the Shores and the very Sea it self that suffer under the Dominion of Fate And yet we are so vain as to Promise our selves some sort of Assurance in the Goods of Fortune Never considering that the very Ground we stand upon is Unstable And it is not the Frailty of this or that Place but the Quality of every Spot of it For not one Inch of it is so compacted as not to admit many causes of its Resolution And though the Bulk of the Earth remain Entire the Parts of it may yet be broken There is not any thing which can promise to it self a Lasting quiet And it is no small Comfort to us the Certainty of our Fate For it is a Folly to Fear where there is no Remedy He that troubles himself sooner than he needs grieves more also than is Necessary For the same weakness that makes him Anticipate his Misery makes him Enlarge it too The Wise fortify themselves by Reason and Fools by Despair That saying which was apply'd to a Conquer'd Party under Fire and Sword might have been spoken to all Mankind That Man is in some Sense out of Danger that is out of Hope He that would Fear nothing should Consider that if he fears Any thing he must fear Every thing Our very Meat and Drink Sleeping and Waking without Measure are Hurtful to us Our Bodies are Nice and Weak and a Small Matter does their Work That Man has too high an Opinion of himself that is only afraid of Thunder and of Earth-quakes If he were Conscious of his own Infirmities he would as much fear the being Choak'd with his own Phlegme What do we see in our Selves that Heaven and Earth should joyn in a Distemper to Procure our Dissolution when the Ripping of a Hang-nail is sufficient to Dispatch us We are Afraid of Inundations from the Sea when a Glass of Wine if it goes the wrong way is Enough to Suffocate us It is a great Comfort in Death the very Mortality it self We creep under Ground for fear of Thunder we dread the sudden Concussions of the Earth and the Rages of the Sea when yet we carry Death in our Own Veines and it is at hand in all Places and at all Times There is nothing so
little but it is of Force enough to bring us to our Last End Nay so far should we be from dreading an Eminent Fate more than a Vulgar that on the Contrary since Dye we must we should rather Rejoyce in the Breathing of our Last under a more Glorious Circumstance What if the Ground stand still within its bounds and without any Violence I shall have it over me at Last and 't is all one to me whether I be laid under That or That layes it Self over me But it is a Terrible thing for the Earth to gape and swallow a Man up into a Profound Abyss And what then Is Death any Easier Above Ground What cause have I of Complaint if Nature will do me the honor to Cover me with a Part of her Self Since we must Fall there is a Dignity in the very Manner of it when the World it self is Shock'd for Company Not that I would wish for a Publick Calamity but it is some Satisfaction in my Death that I see the World also to be Mortal Neither are we to take these Extraordinary Revolutions for Divine Judgments as if such Motions of the Heavens and of the Earth were the Denouncings of the VVrath of the Allmighty but they have their Ordinate and their Natural Causes Such as in Proportion we have in our own Bodies and while they seem to Act a Violence they Suffer it But yet for want of knowing the Causes of things they are Dreadful to us and the more so because they happen but seldome But why are we commonly more Afraid of that which we are not Us'd to Because we look upon Nature with our Eyes not with our Reason Rather Computing what she Usually Does than what she is Able to do And we are Punish'd for this Negligence by taking those things to which we are not VVonted to be New and Prodigious The Eclipses of the Sun and Moon Blazing Stars and Meteors while we Admire them we Fear them and since we Fear them because we do not Understand them it is worth our while to Study them that we may no longer Fear them VVhy should I fear a Man a Beast an Arrow or a Lance when I am expos'd to the Encounter of Greater Dangers We are Assaulted by the Nobler parts of Nature it self by the Heavens by the Seas and the Land Our Business is therefore to Defy Death whether Extraordinary or Common No matter for the Menaces of it so long as it Asks no more of us than Age it self will take from us and every petty Accident that befalls us He that Contemns Death What does he Care for either Fire or Water the very Dissolution of the Universe or if the Earth should Open Under him and shew him all the Secrets of the Infernal Pit He would look Down without Trouble In the Place that we are all of us to go to there are no Earthquakes or Thunder-Claps no Tempestuous Seas Neither War nor Pestilence Is it a Small Matter Why do we fear it then Is it a Great Matter Let it rather once fall upon us then always hang over us Why should I dread my Own End when I know that an End I must have and that all Created things are Limited EPIST. XXIV A Discourse of Gods Providence in the Misfortunes of Good Men in this World and in the Prosperity of the Wicked YOu are troubled I perceive that your Servant is run away from you but I do not hear yet that you are either Robb'd or Strangl'd or Poyson'd or Betray'd or Accus'd by him So that you have scap'd well in Comparison with your Fellows And Why should you complain then especially under the Protection of so gracious a Providence as suffers no Man to be miserable but by his own Fault Nor is this a Subject worthy of a wise Mans Consideration Adversity indeed is a terrible thing in Sound and Opinion and that 's all Some Men are Banish'd and strip'd of their Estates Others again are Poor in Plenty which is the basest sort of Beggery Some are overborn by a Popular Tumult that breaks out like a Tempest even in the highest security of a Calm Or like a Thunder-Clap that frights all that are near it There is but One Struck perhaps but the Fear extends to all and affects those that May Suffer as well as those that Doe As in the Discharge of a Piece only with Powder 'T is not the Stroke but the Crack that frights the Birds Adversity I 'll grant you is not a thing to be wish'd no more than War but if it be my Lot to be Torn with the Stone Broken upon the Wheel or to receive Wounds or Maims It shall be my Prayer that I may bear my Fortune as becomes a Wise and an Honest Man We do not Pray for Tortures but for Patience nor for War but for Generosity and Courage in all the Extremities of War if it happens Afflictions are but the Exercise of Virtue and an Honest Man is out of his Element when he is Idle It must be Practice and Patience that Perfects it Do we not see see how one Wrestler provokes another And if he find him not to be his Match he will call for some Body to help him that may put him to all his strength It is a Common Argument against the Justice of Providence in the matter of Reward and Punishment the Misfortunes of Good Men in this World and the Prosperity of the Wicked But it is an easie matter to vindicate the Cause of the Gods There are many things that we call Evil which turn very often to the Advantage of those that suffer them or at least for the Common Good whereof Providence has the greater Care And further they either befall those that bear them willingly or those that deserve them by their Impatience under them And Lastly they come by Divine Appointment and to those that are Good Men even for that very Reason because they are Good Nor is there any thing more Ordinary than for that which we fear'd as a Calamity to prove the Foundation of our Happiness How many are there in the World that enjoy all things to their Own Wish whom God never thought worthy of a Tryal If it might be imagin'd that the Allmighty should take off his Thought from the Care of his Whole Work What more Glorious Spectacle could he reflect upon than a Valiant Man Struggling with Adverse Fortune Or Cato's Standing Upright and Unmov'd under the Shock of a Publick Ruin Let the Whole World sayes he fall into one hand and let Caesar encompass me with his Legions by Land his Shipping at Sea and his Guards at the Gates Cato will yet cut out his way and with That Weapon that was untainted even in the Civil VVar give himself that Liberty which Fate deny'd to his Country Set upon the great VVork then and deliver thy self from the Clog of thy Humanity Juba and Petreius have already done the good office One for the Other
when I was once in I could not lay it down again till I had gone through with it At Present I shall only tell you that I am exceedingly pleas'd with the Choice of the Subject but I am Transported with the Spirit and Gentleness of it You shall hear farther from me upon a Second Reading and you need not fear the hearing of the Truth for your Goodness leaves a Man no place for flattery I find you still to be one and the same Man which is a great Matter and only proper to a Wise Man for fools are Various One while Thrifty and Grave Another while Profuse and Vain Happy is the Man that sets himself Right at first and cntinues so to the End All Fools we say are Mad Men though they are not all of them in Bedâ—…am We find some at the Bar some upon the Bench and not a few even in the Senate it self One Mans Folly is sad Anothers Wanton and a Third's is Busie and Impertinent A Wise man carries all his Treasure within himself What Fortune Gives she may Take but he leaves nothing at her Mercy He Stands Firm and keeps his Ground against all Misfortunes without so much as Changing Countenance He is Free Inviolable Unshaken Proof against all Accidents and not only Invincible but Inflexible So long as he cannot Lose any thing of his own he never troubles himself for what 's Anothers He is a Friend to Providence and will not murmur at any thing that comes to pass by Gods Appointment He is not only Resolute but Generous and Good Natur'd and ready to lay down his Life in a Good Cause and for the Publick Safety to Sacrifice his Own He does not so much consider the Pleasure of his Life as the Need that the World has of him And he is not so Nice neither as to be weary of his Life while he may either serve his Wife or his Friends Nor is it all that his Life is Profitable to Them but it is likewise Delightful to Himself and carries its own Reward for What can be more Comfortable than to be so Dear to Another as for that very Reason to become Dearer to Himself If he Loses a Child he is Pensive he is Compassionate to the Sick and only Troubled when he sees Men wallowing in Infamy and Vice Whereas on the Other side you shall see nothing but Restlessness One Man Hankering after his Neighbors Wife Another in Pain about his Own A Third in Grief for a Repulse Another aâ—… much out of humor for his Success If He loses an Estate he parts with it as a thing that was only Adventitious Or if it was of his own acquiring he computes the Possession and Loss and sayes thus to himself I shall live as well afterward as I did before Our Houses sayes he may be Burnt or Rob'd Our Lands taken from us and we can call nothing our Own that is under the Dominion of Fortune It is a Foolish Avarice that restrains all things to a Propriety and believes nothing to be a Man 's Own that 's Publick Whereas a Wise Man judges Nothing so much his Own as That wherein Mankind is allow'd a share It is not with the Blessings of Providence as it is with a Dole where every Man receives so much a Head but every Man there has All. That which we Eat and either Give or Receive with the Hand may be broken into Parts But Peace and Freedome of Mind are not to be Divided He that has First cast off the Empire of Fortune needs not fear that of Great Men for they are but Fortunes Hands nor was any man ever broken by Adversity that was not first betray'd by Prosperity But VVhat signifies Philosophy you 'll say if there be a Faâ—…e If we be Govern'd by Fortune or some over-ruling Power For Certaintiâ—… are Unchangeable and there 's no Providing against Uncertainties If what I shall Do and Resolve be already Determin'd VVhat use of Philosophy Yes great Use for taking all this for granted Philosophy Instructs and Advises us to obey God and to follow him Willingly to oppose Fortune Resolutely and to Bear all Accidents Fate is an Irrevocable an Invincible and an Unchangable Decree a Necessity of all Things and Actions according to Eternal Appointment Like the Course of a River it moves forward without Contradiction or Delay in an Irresistable Flux where one Wave pushes on another He knows little of God that Imagines it may be Controll'd There is no Changing of the Purpose even of a Wise Man For he sees beforehand what will be best for the Future How much more Unchangeable then is the Allmighty to whom all Futurity is alwayes Present To what end then is it if Fate be Inexorable to offer up Prayers and Sacrifices any further than to relieve the Scruples and the VVeaknesses of Sickly Minds My Answer is First That the Gods take no Delight in the Sacrifices of Beasts or in the Images of Gold and Silver but in a Pious and Obedient Will And Secondly That by Prayers and Sacrifices Dangers and Afflictions may be sometimes Remov'd sometimes Lessen'd other whiles Deferr'd and all this without any Offence to the Power or Necessity of Fate There are some things which Providence has left so far in Suspence that they seem to be in a manner Conditional in such sort that even Appearing Evils may upon our Prayers and Supplications be turn'd into Goods Which is so far from being against Fate that it is even a Part of Fate it self You will say That either This shall come to Pass or not If the Former It will be the same thing if we do not Pray And if the Other it will be the same thing if we do To this I must Reply That the Proposition is False for want of the Middle Exception betwixt the One and the Other This will be say I that is if there shall any Prayers Interpose in the Case But then do they Object on the Other side That this very thing also is Necessary for it is likewise determin'd by Fate either that we shall Pray or not What if I should now grant you that there is a Fate also even in our very Prayers A Determination that we shall Pray and that therefore we shall Pray It is Decreed that a Man shall be Eloquent But upon Condition that he apply himself to Letters By the same Fate it is Decreed that he shall so apply himself and that therefore he shall learn Such a Man shall be Rich if he betake himself to Navigation But the same Fate that promises him a great Estate appoints also that he shall Sail and therefore he puts to Sea It is the same Case in Expiations A Man shall Avoid Dangers if he can by his Prayers avoid the threatnings of Divine Vengeance But this is Part of his Fate also that he shall so do and therefore he does it These Arguments are made use of to Prove that there is nothing left
to our Will but that we are all Over-Rul'd by Fatalities When we come to handle that Matter we shall shew the Consistency of Free-Will with Fate having already made it appear that notwithstanding the Certain order of Fate Judgments may be Averted by Prayers and Supplications And without any Repugnancy to Fate for they are part even of the Law of Fate it self You will say Perhaps VVhat am I the better for the Priest or the Prophet for whether he bidâ—… me Sacrifice or no I lye under the necessity of doing it Yes in this I am the better for it as he is the Minister of Fate We may as well say that it is Matter of Fate that we are in Health and yet we are indebted for it to the Physitian because the Benefit of that Fate is convey'd to us by his Hand EPIST. XXVI All things are Produced out of Cause and Matter Of Providence A Brave Man is a Match for Fortune I Had yesterday but the one Half of it to my Self My Distemper took up the Morning the Afternoon was my Own My First Tryal was how far I could endure Reading and when I saw I could bear That I fell to Writing and pitch'd upon a Subject Difficult enough for it requir'd great Intention but yet I was resolv'd not to be Overcome Some of my Friends coming in told me that I did Ill and took me off So that from Writing we pass'd into Discourse and made you the Judge of the Matter in Question The Stoicks you know will have all things to be Produc'd out of 〈◊〉 and Matter The Matter is Dull and 〈◊〉 sive Susceptible of any thing but 〈◊〉 Capable of Doing any thing it Selâ—… 〈◊〉 Cause is that Power that Formâ—… 〈◊〉 Matter this or that way at Pleasure Some thing there must be of which every thing is Made and then there must be a Workman to Form every thing All Art is but an Imitation of Nature and that which I speak in General of the World holds in the Case of every Particular Person As for Example The Matter of a Statue is the Wood the Stone or the Marble the Statuary shapes it and is the Cause of it Aristotle assigns Four Causes to every thing The Material which is the Sine quâ non or That without which It could not be The Efficient as the VVorkman The Formal as That which is stamp'd upon all Operations and the Final which is the Design of the whole VVork Now to explain This. The First Cause of the Statue for the Purpose is the Copper For it had never been made if there had not been something to work upon The Second is the Artificer for if he had not understood his Art it had never Succeeded The Third Cause is the Form For it could never properly have been the Statue of such or such a Person if such a Resemblance had not been put upon it The Fourth Cause is the End of making it without which it had never been made As Money if it were made for Sale Glory if the Workman made it for his Credit or Religion if he design'd the Bestowing of it upon a Temple Plato adds a Fifth which he calls the Idea or the Exemplar by which the Workman draws his Copy And he makes God to be full of these Figures which he represents to be Inexhaustible Unchangable and Immortal Now upon the whole Matter give us your Opinion To me it seems that here are either too many Causes assign'd or too few and they might as well have Introduc'd Time and Place as some of the rest Either Clear the Matter in Question or deal Plainly and tell us that you cannot And so let us return to those Cases wherein all Mankind is agreed the Reforming of our Lives and the Regulation of our Manners For these Subtilties are but time lost Let us search our selves in the first Place and afterward the World There 's no great Hurt in passing over those things which we are never the better for when we know and it is so order'd by Providence that there is no great difficulty in Learning or Acquiring those things which may make us either Happier or Better Beside that whatsoever is Hurtful to us we have drawn out of the very Bowels of the Earth Every Man knows without Telling that this Wonderful Fabrick of the Universe is not without a Governor and that a Constant Order cannot be the Work of Chance For the Parts would then fall foul one upon another The Motions of the Stars and their Influences are Acted by the Command of an Eternal Decree It is by the Dictate of an Allmighty Power that the Heavy Body of the Earth hangs in Ballance Whence comes the Revolution of Seasons and the Flux of Rivers The wonderful virtue of the smallest Seeds as an Oak to arise from an Acorn To say nothing of those things that seem to be most Irregular and Uncertain as Clouds Rain Thunder the Eruptions of Fire out of Mountains Earthquakes and those Tumultuary Motions in the Lower Region of the Air which have their Ordinate Causes And so have those things too which appear to us more Admirable because less Frequent As Scalding Fountains and New Islands started out of the Sea Or What shall we say of the Ebbing and Flowing of the Ocean the Constant Times and Measures of the Tides according to the Changes of the Moon that Influences moist Bodies But this needs not For it is not that we Doubt of Providence but Complain of it And it were a good Office to Reconcile Mankind to the Gods who are undoubtedly Best to the Best It is against Nature that Good should hurt Good A Good Man is not onely the Friend of God but the very Image the Disciple and the Imitator of him and the true Child of his Heavenly Father He is true to himself and Acts with Constancy and Resolution Scipio by a Cross Wind being forc'd into the Power of his Enemies cast himself upon the Point of his Sword and as the People were enquiring what was become of the General The General sayes Scipio is very well and so he expir'd What is it for a Man to Fall if we consider the End beyond which no Man Can Fall We must repair to Wisdom for Armes against Fortune for it were unreasonable for her to furnish Armes against her self A Gallant Man is Fortunes Match His Courage Provokes and Despises those terrible Appearances that would otherwise Enslave us A Wise Man is out of the Reach of Fortune but not Free from the Malice of it and all Attempts upon him are no more than Xerxes his Arrows they may darken the Day but they cannot Strike the Sun There is nothing so Holy as to be Priviledg'd from Sacrilege But to Strike and not to Wound is Anger Lost and he is Invulnerable that is Struck and not Hurt His Resolution is try'd the Waves may dash themselves upon a Rock but not Break it Temples may be Profan'd and