and contentedly forgo them But the chief use we ought to make of so noble a Passion is thereby to raise us up to God and to make thereof a glorious chain to fasten us inseparably to him as he is the only object of Love he is also the only object of desires they miss of their end when they keep aloof from him they lose themselves when they seek not him and they stop in the midst of their course when they come not full home to him He is the Spring-head of all perfections and as they are without mixture of default there is nothing in them which is not perfectly wishable we see some creatures which have certain charms which make them be desired but then they have imperfections to make them be undervalued the Sun is so full of glory and beauty as it hath made Idolaters one part of the world doth yet worship it and Christian Religion which is spread over the whole earth hath not been able to dis-deceive all Infidels yet hath its weaknesses which teacheth Philosophers that it is but a creature the light thereof is bounded and cannot at one and the same time enlighten the two halves of the world it suffers Eclipses nor can it shun them it grows faint and sees it self obscured by a constellation not so great nor glorious as it self it hath benign influences it hath also malignant ones if it concur with the birth of man it doth the like to his death if it be the father of flowers it is also their Paricide if the brightness thereof serve to light us it doth also dazle us if the heat thereof warm Europe it scorcheth Africa so as the noblest of all constellations hath its defaults and if it cause desire in us it is also cause of aversions under-valuations but God hath nothing that is not lovely innumerable numbers of Angels see all his perfections and are destin'd to honor them they have immortal lovers which adore them from the beginning of the world men who know them desire them and wish death unto themselves that they may enjoy them this Summum bonum is that which we ought to seek after for him it is that our wishes were given us our heart is sinful when it divides its love and gives but one part thereof to him that deserves the whole Gods abundance and mans indigence are the first links of alliance which we contract with him He is all and we are nothing He is a depth of mercy and we are a depth of misery He hath infinite perfections and we faults without number He possesseth no greatness which is not to be wisht for we suffer no want which obliges us not to make wishes He is all desirable and we are all desire and to express our nature aright it will suffice to say that we are only a meer capacity of good there is no part of our Body nor faculty of our Soul which doth not oblige us to seek him we make Inrodes in the world by our desires we wander in our affections but after having considered the beauty of Heaven and the riches of the Earth we are constrained to return again unto our selves to fix our selves on him who is the ground-work of our being and to confess that none but God alone is able to fill the capacity of our heart Let us draw these advantages from our misery and let us rejoyce that Nature hath endowed us with so many desires since they have wings which raise us up to God and chains which fasten us to him Upon all other occasions desires are useless and after having made us Long a long time they furnish us not with what they made us hope for they torment us whilst they possess us and when despair causes them to die they leave us only shame and sorrow for having listned to so evil Councellors I know very well that they awaken the Soul and that they endue it with vigor to compass the good which it wishes for but the good success of our undertakings depends not upon their efficacy and should the things that we love cost us nothing but desires all ambitious men would be Kings all covetous men rich and we should hear no Lovers complain of the rigors of their Mistresses or of their infidelity women would take their Husbands from their Graves Mothers would cure their sick children and captives would regain their liberty we should do as many Miracles as make wishes and all mischief would be banish'd from off the earth since men can wish but experience shews us they are for the most part impotent and that their accomplishment depends upon the supream providence which at its pleasure can turn them into effects those that concern our souls health are never useless fervency in wishing is sufficient to make a man good our conversion depends only upon our will our desire animated by Grace blots out all our sins and though God be so great he hath only cost them wishes that possess him this Passion dilates our soul and makes us capable of the good we wish for she extends our heart and prepares us to receive the happiness which she procures us In fine she gets audience of God makes her self be understood without speaking and she hath such power in heaven as nothing is denied to her demands she glorified Jesus Christ and the Saints Christ takes from them the most ancient of his Names and before he was known by that of Saviour of the world he was already known by that of the desired of all the people His Prophets honoured him with this title before he was born He who shewed us the time of his coming took his title from his wishes and merited to be called the man of Desires His Vows did advance the Mystery of the Incarnation the like of the Virgin did obtain the accomplishment thereof ours will taste the effect thereof if they grow not weary in begging them at Gods hands The FOURTH DISCOURSE Of the Nature Proprieties and Effects of the good evil use of Eschewing NAture would have failed us at our need if having endued us with Love to good things she had not furnished us with desire to seek after them These good things which now are cause of our happiness would cause all our punishments if being permitted to love them we should be forbidden to wish for them the Summum bonum would only serve to make us miserable and the virtue which it hath to attract hearts would contribute to our misery if we wanted a capacity of atchieving it We should have equal reason to complain of her charity if having imprinted in our hearts the hatred of evil she had not likewise engraven therein that Passion which we call Shunning or Eschewing to make us keep aloof from it for we should see our enemy and not have the power to defend our selves from him we should have an aversion from vice yet should be enforced to
reside in the inferior part of the Soul and cannot discourse they only consider their object and by a blind impetuosity they either draw near unto it or keep far from it they do not mark so much as the Circumstances which accompany it and not comparing the difficulties with their strengths they engage themselves indiscreetly in a war or shamefully run away their judgment is so ready as it is almost precipitate for after having listned to what the senses say they advise with their inclination and not expecting orders from Reason they bear away the whole man and enforce him to follow their motions Hence it comes that he oft-times repents him of his designs condemns what he formerly approved and cannot end what he had begun But of all Passions none is more unfortunate than Audacity for she betakes her self to powerful enemies and she grapples with Pain and Death Fighting is her ordinary exercise and she oft-times bathes her self in tears or bloud she is always encompassed with dangers and on what side soever she turns she sees nothing but ghastly images and fearful apparitions this mean while she borrows no aid nor takes no counsel save only of Hope and the same that hurries her into danger is she that counsels her she who sets her on work is she who puts weapons into her hands and who under vain promises engageth her in extream difficulties she also often sees the greatest part of her designs prove abortive and reaps nothing of all her useless endeavours but sorrow for having followed evil counsel oft-times she discourageth her self and seeing that her undertakings do exceed her strength she suffers her self to be astonished by Fear beat down by Despair and consumed by Sadness for these Passions do almost always succeed her and experience teacheth us that those who at the beginning of a fight have been more couragious than men have at the end thereof been found more fearful than Woman The fewel of Boldness soon takes fire but it is as soon extinguished and as the fury of waves turns into foam the violence of the Audacious turns into Fearfulness and for all the confidence they shewed in their designs all that remains unto them is Weaknesses as full of shame as of guilt 'T is true that Choler sometimes sides with Boldness and furnisheth it with new forces when the danger hath made it lose its own but this assistance is not always sure the souldier that engages himself in battel upon her weak succours is in as great danger of losing the victory as he who puts his hope in Despair and is no more assured of conquest than he that fights only because he cannot retire Desperate men have been seen to die with their weapons in their hands and if sometimes they have revenged their deaths they have not always preserv'd their lives Bold men have also often been seen who for being cholerick have not more luckily evaded the danger whereinto they had precipitated themselves Cholers forces are as well limited as are those of Boldness and unless the one and the otherâ— of them be guided by Prudence they oughtâ— not to expect any thing but dreadful consequences that which hath happened upon one occasion will not happen upon many others and the Heavens are not obliged to give the same success to all rash enterprizes Alexanders example ought not to serve for a rule to all Conquerors he lived not long enough to be certainly imitated the fortune which followed him in his youth would peradventure have forsaken him in his age his rashness would not always have been so fortunate and if he had begun his conquest in Europe he might not perhaps have carried them so far as Asia the birth of Rome would have staid the course of his victories and she that shut up Pyrrhus in his dominions would have driven him back into Macedonia For my part I am of Seneca's opinion believe that this Prince had more courage than wisdom and more rashness than courage in effect his fortune did oftner preserve him than his valour and if the Heavens had not made choice of him to punish the pride of the Persians he had been stopt in the first battel he would not take those advantages which the greatest Commanders do commonly make use of when their forces are not equal to those of their enemy he would not set upon Darius his army whilst favoured by the night but with a piece of rashness which deserved more blame than it hath received praises he would tarry till it were day and have thâ— Sun for witness of his victory he thoughâ— he should have stoln a victory if he shoulâ— have won it by night and though Parmenâ— advised him to prefer his Souldiers safetâ— before the glory of Arms he contemneâ— that advice and to shew that he owed aâ— his advantages to Fortune he rejected aâ— the Maxims of Prudence I do also firmlâ— believe that his confidence hath been thâ— undoing of as many Princes as have imitated him and that his guidance is more fatal to Conquerors than rocks and tempesâ— unto Mariners I know very well that Caesae adventur'd much and that he could not undertake the ruine of the Roman Common wealth without having conceived a greaâ— good opinion of his good Fortune whicâ— he was able to guide by Wrath and Virtue and we are bound to acknowledge that 〈◊〉 Victories were no less the workmanship oâ— his Wisdom than of his Fortune he sheweâ— no Audacity but upon such occasions wherâ— advice was useless and he boasted not oâ— his good Fortune but to conjure down thâ— tempests and put confidence in his Pilot Iâ— fine he made use of Hope in all his enterprizes he submitted it to Prudence and taught all Commanders that to be valiant a man must be more wise than rash The THIRD DISCOURSE Of the good use of Audacity or Boldness THough Passions be more faulty than iâ—â—ocent and that by reason of the irregularity of our nature they lean more to Vice than Virtue yet with a little help a man may make them virtuous their inclinations are good but their judgments precipitate they always seek for good and withstand evil but this is most commonly with a little too much ardency they imitate such Orators as defend a good Cause with bad Reasons or are like those unfortunate Innocents who when tortured and wanting perseverance confess faults which they never committed for in effect they become guilty through want of Patience and grow vicious by not being able to endure the absence of Good nor presence of Evil. Did not Hope pursue Honours which she cannot compass never would she bring the Ambitious to Despair and did not Boldness engage her self to fight against mischiefs which she cannoâ— overcome she would never be accused oâ— Rashness but the fault is not without remedy for if she will listen to Reason iâ— after having calmed the fury of her first motion she will suffer her self to be
had never united the soul to the body had it had a purpose to hinder their communication These Philosophers when they made their proud boasts have in my opinion imitated those Orators who making Hyperboles lead us to Truth by Falshood and assure us of that which is Impossible that they may perswade us of that which is Difficult They did certainly believe that the mind ought to have some commerce with the Body and that the sufferings of the one ought to cause Grief in the other but lest the Nobler part should become slave to the less Noble they have endeavoured to preserve her Liberty by Rigor and to make her insensible to the end that she might always keep up her Soveraignty For who could imagine that men so judicious in all things should lose their Judgment in this and that to defend Virtue they should abandon Reason All the Glory of their Discourse tended only to maintain the Soul in her Empire and lest she might faint under the Weaknesses of the Body they have authorised her Power by Terms more Eloquent than True They conceited that to reduce us to Reason we must be raised a little above it and that to afford nothing of Superfluous to our Senses we must deny them what is Necessary They believe then with us that Grief may accord with Reason and that there are occasions wherein not to be afflicted is to be Impious But I know not whether or no we can perswade them that Repentance and Mercy are glorious Virtues and that after having bewayled our own Offences we are bound to lament our Neighbours Miseries These Philosophers are austere only because they are too Vertuous they condemn not Penitency save only because they love Fidelity and if they blame Repentance 't is because it presupposeth a Fault they would have us never to forsake Vertue and that we should deal more severely with vitious men than with those who desert the Discipline of War their zeal deserves some excuse but not being accompanied with Wisdom it produceth an effect contrary to their intent for it augmenteth the number of the Guilty whilst it thinks to diminish them it makes the weak wilful and taking away the Remedy it changeth their Infirmities into incurable Diseases Man is not so constant as the Angels and when he loves what is good he is not so firmly fixed thereunto but that he may be made to forgo it neither is he so opinionated as is the Devil and when he affects evil he is not so strongly engaged thereto but that he may be taken off from it If this Inconstancy be cause of his sin 't is also the Remedy thereof and if it assist to make him Guilty it contributes also to the making of him Innocent He is nauseated with sin he is weary of Impiety and he ows these good effects to the weakness of his Nature Had he more Strength he would be more Obstinate and Grace which converts him would find more Resistance were he more firm in his Resolutions Heaven makes this Defect serve for our Advantage and its Providence husbandeth our Weakness to work our Welfare thereby for when it hath touched the hearts of sinners and that preventing their Will by its Grace it makes them detest their Wickedness they end the work of their Conversion by the ayd of Penitence and in Sorrow seek out means to appease divine Justice they punish their Bodies to afflict their Souls they sentence the slave to bewail the sin of his Master because he is accessary thereunto and knowing that all the harm which either the Master or the Slave do to themselves proceeds from the too much Love they bear unto themselves they oblige them for their own good to hate themselves they oft-times punish them both with the same punishment because their offences are Reciprocal and do justly conjoyn those in the suffering which were not separated in the Fault Thus the whole man satisfieth God and the two parts whereof he is composed do by Sorrow find pardon for their sins I am not ignorant that Libertines laugh at these duties and that they place repentance in the number of those remedies which are as shameful as unprofitable for wherefore say they do you afflict your self for an evil that hath no more a Being wherefore do you revive it by your Sorrow wherefore with a greater piece of Imprudence would you change what is past and wish in vain that what is already done had not been done These bad Reasons will not divert sinners from Repentance and if wicked men have no better weapons wherewithal to fight against Piety they will never have much advantage over her Nature authorizeth daily the tears we shed for misfortunes past a sad remembrance draws sighs from us and we cannot think upon the evils which we have either escaped or undergone without some sense either of Delight or Sorrow As the time that is past makes the more certain part of our life so doth it likewise awaken the truest Passions and afford us the most sensible motions Time to come is too uncertain to vex ones self much about it and the events which it produceth are too hidden to make any great Impression upon our desires Time past is the source of our Sorrows and we have reason to afflict our selves for a thing which we cannot help if it did only threaten us we should endeavour to defend our selves from it and if it hung over our heads we should employ our wisdom to divert it but when it hath once happened we have no more to do but to be sorry for it and of as many Passions as may serve to comfort us in present evils or such as are to come There is none but this from whence we can draw consolation in our past afflictions Could we recall our friends from their Graves and revive their Ashes by our cares we would not consume our selves in our bootless Sorrows but since there is no cure for Death and that Physick which can preserve Life cannot restore it when it is lost we have so much the more reason to complain as our loss is more certain and our tears appear to be so much the more just as the evil which we suffer is the less capable of Remedy Thus Penitence is not to be blamed if not being able to remedy a fault already committed she yield her self up to Sorrow and if finding no means how to repair her offence she witness her sensibleness thereof by sighs she is the better grounded in this belief for that she knows Tears are not unprofitable for her and that mingled with the Blood of Iesus Christ they may wash away all her offences Upon other occasions they do no miracles if they comfort the living they do not raise up the dead again if they assure the afflicted of our love they do not free them from their troubles by thinking to aid the miserable they augment their number and instead
〈◊〉 may be they believed that the knowledge â—f our evils was sufficient to cure them and â—hat the desire of health obliged us to seek â—ut remedies but they should do well to â—member that there be pleasing evils of which these that are sick covet not to be cured Others have fought with passions as with so many Monsters They have given 〈◊〉 reason to destroy them not considering that to execute the Design a man must destroy himself Others knew very well that Passions making up a part of our Soul they were not to be extirpated but by death but they knew not that good use might be made of them and tacitly blaming him who hath endowed us with them they have laboured to sweeten them not seeking out to manage them they imagined Passions were not otherwise requisite to virtue save only to exercise her courage they thought they were no otherwise useful for men save only for trial and that man could reap no other advantage by them save only patiently to bear with them or to oppose them with resolution but I pretend to defend their cause by defending Gods cause and to make it appear in the pursuit of this work that the same Providence which hath drawn our safety from our detriment or loss will have us to work out our resâ— from out of the disorders of our Passions that by his grace we may tame these wilâ— Monsters that we may reduce these Rebelâ— under obedience and that we make such Souldiers march under the Banners of Virtue as have oftest fought in the behalf of Vice The THIRD DISCOURSE Of the Number of Passions in Men. T Is a strange thing that the Soul knows all things yet knows not her self there is nothing so hidden in Nature which she discovers not she is acquainted with all its secrets and all that passeth through the bowels of this common Mother is apparent to her she knows how Metals are formed how the Elements do court and wage war one with other how Vapors ascend in the Air how they thicken in the Clouds melt into Rain and break forth in Thunder finally she knows of what parts her body is composed and by a cruel piece of Art she dissects it she takes it in pieces that she may know the properties thereof yet notwithstanding she is ignorant of what passeth within her self she cannot attain to the knowledge of her essence which is altogether spiritual and she hath weak conjectures of her most excellent qualities because she fetches her light from the senses and depends in her noblest operations upon the species which the Imagination represents unto her She doubts of her immortality and to be the more secure thereof she is bound to call in Faith to the succour of Reason and to beâ—ieve through a blind 〈◊〉 what she cannot with certain evidence comprehend But of all things that are in her there is nothing more concealed from her than 〈…〉 passions for though by their 〈…〉 they make an Impression upon the senâ—es yet do not the Philosophers agree upon their Subject nor their Number Some 〈◊〉 they are framed in the Body Some 〈◊〉 they reside in the nethermost part of the Soul others divide the Soul into two faculties which they term Concupiscible and Irascible and place the softer passions in the former and the more rigid in the second For they will have love and hatred desire and eschewing joy and sorrow to be comprehended in the concupiscible appetite that fear and boldness hope and despair choler and remisness reside in the irascible appetite To make good this difference they say that the passions of the concupiscible appetite have a regard to good and to evil as absent or as present and that those of the irascible consider them as hard and difficult that the one makes but onsets and retreats that the others give battel and either win or lose the victory that the one takes part with the Body the other with the Understanding that the one are remiss and the other generous and that considering the opposition of so many contrary qualities it must be concluded that they cannot râ—â—de in one and the same part of the Soul Were it not a error in morality to dispute this Maxim and were it not rashness to contradict an opinion generally receiv'd for so many ages I should be much inclined to believe that all these passions are lodged in one and the same appetite which is divided by the motions thereof as the understanding is divided by its opinions or as the will is parted by love and hatred And I would say with Saint Augustin that these differing conceits do not presuppose differing faculties since one and the same man doth oftentimes desire contrary things and preserveth the unity of his person in the variety of his desires He experienced this combat in himself when he would become a Convert he saw his soul divided by differing opinions and wondered that having but one Will it could form out so contrary resolutions But not to engage my self in a War wherein a man purchaseth more Enemies than he reconcileth and where both Parties think alwaies to have had the better I will content my self to have insinuated my opinion instead of staying upon the defence thereof and not concluding any thing of the Subject where the Passions do reside I wiil speak of their Number and will tell you what the Philosophers have written thereof The Academicks thought there were but four principal Passions Desire and Fear Joy and Sorrow and Virgil who in all his works appears to be of this ancient Sect when he describes the motions of the Soul mentions none but these in effect it seems these comprehend all the rest that Despair and Aversion are ranked under Fear that Hope Audacity Choler are ranked under Desire that all of them together do terminate in Joy or Sorrow But let them endeavor to colour over this division by what reasons they please it will still be defective since it comprehendeth not Love and Hatred which are the two first originals of our Passions for this reason the Peripateticks did multiply them and grounded their Number upon the divers motions of the Soul for the Soul hath say they either an inclination or an aversion to the Objects wherewith she is either pleased or displeased and this is Love or hatred or else she shuns them and this is Eschewing or she draws near unto them and this is Deâ—ire or she promiseth unto her self the fruition of what she wisheth and this is Hope or she cannot defend her self from the evil which she apprehends and this is Despair or she endeavours to withstand it and this is Audacity or she chears her self up to overcome them and this is Choler Finally she either possesseth the good and this is Joy or suffereth the evil and this is sorrow some others that are of the like opinion prove the diversity of Passions another way and affirm that good
tolerate it and by an unfortunate necessity we must give lodging to a guest we should not be able to love but Nature hath well provided for this and her providence which always watches over her children hath given us a Passion which eschews evil with as much impetuosity as desire seeks after good This keeps at distance from all that can hurt us and following the inclinations of hatred whereof she is either the Daughter or Slave she flies from all objects that displease her and fights to defend it self against her enemies 't is the first succour we have received against evils 't is the first violence the first salley which the concupiscible appetite makes to free us from them Though this Passion be almost alwayes blameless and that she cannot be made criminal but by surprizal yet ceaseth she not to have her ill use and to be every day employ'd against the design of Nature Those therefore that would make use of her are bound to consider whether that which they endevor to eschew be truly so or be but so in appearance and whether opinion which easily seizeth upon the understanding hath not perswaded them unto falshoods instead of truths For it is apparent that of two things that bear the name of evil in the world there is but one of them which may properly be said to deserve it Sin and Punishment are the two most ordinary objects of eschewing and most men do so confound them as we know not which of them is most odious Punishment being more sensible than Sin it is more carefully shunned and there are not many people who do not love rather to be faulty than unfortunate We shun the Plague and seek out sin we keep far from all infected places the bad air whereof may work an alteration in our health and we draw near to evil company which may rob us of our innocency Religion obligeth us not withstanding to believe that Punishments are the effects of Divine Justice that they have Beauties which though austere ought not to be the less pleasing that God honours himself by punishing of his enemies and that he finds as much satisfaction in chastening the guilty as in recompencing the just The greatest Saints have known that our punishments were favours which did no less contribute to the welfare of man than to the glory of his Creator they have confessed that we must adore the arm which hurts us love the wounds because of the arm that made them and teach all the world that Heavens Thunders are just since those who are therewith struck adore them but sin is a true evil which hath nothing in it which is not odious its object is a soveraign good which it offendeth and if in the behalf of the committer the malice thereof be bounded on his behalf against whom it is committed it is infinite Sin violates all the Laws of Nature dishonoureth men and Angels and all the evils which we suffer are the just punishments of its disorders 'T was then for this dreadful evil that we were endued with aversion and this aversion cannot be more justly employed than in keeping us far from a Monster the abode whereof will be hell and death the eternal punishment Next to sin nothing ought to be more carefully eschewed than those that do defend it and who to enlarge the Empire thereof endeavor to make it appear lovely and glorious As Nature is the pure workmanship of God she cannot tolerate sin and that she may banish it from the earth she hath laden it with confusion and fear it dares not appear in full day it hides it self in darkness and seeks out solitary places where it hath none but such as are complices with it for witnesses But its partakers raise it up upon a throne and play all their cunning to win it glory they cover it with the cloak of Virtue and if it hath any thing of affinity with its enemy they strive to make it pass for Virtue They change their names and by one and the same action committing two faults they bereave Virtue of her honour that they may give it to Sin they term Revenge greatness of Courage Ambition a generous Passion Uncleanness an innocent pleasure and consequently they term Humility lowness of Spirit the forgiving of injuries faint-heartedness and continency a savage humor They spread abroad these false maxims they turn evils into contagious diseases and their errors into heresies they seduce simple souls and presenting poyson in Chrystal vessels they make it be swallow'd down by innocent people Those who are most couragious have much ado to defend themselves from them the best wits suffer themselves to be perswaded by their lewd Reasons we are therefore bound to have recourse to the succour that Nature hath given us to excite this Passion which keeps us aloof from what is evil and furnisheth us with forces to fight against it But her chief employment ought to be against Incontinence and the Heavens seem to have given a being to Aversion only to rid our hands of an enemy which cannot be overcome but by Eschewing All Passions come in to the aid of Virtue when she undertakes a war against Vice Choler grows hot in her quarrel Audacity furnisheth her with weapons Hope promiseth her Victory and Joy which always follows generous actions serves instead of Recompense but when she is to set upon Incontinency she dares not employ all these faithful souldiers and knowing very well that the enemy she is to fight withal is as crafty as puissant she fears lest he may seduce them and by his cunning draw them over to his side In truth Choler agrees easily with Love and Lovers quarrels serve only to re-kindle their extinct flames Hope entertains their Affections and Joy oft-times takes its rise from their displeasures so as Virtue can only make use of Eschewing to defend her self and of so many Passions which assist her in her other designs she is only seconded by Eschewing in her combate against Impurity But she thinks her self strong enough if succour'd therewithal and there is no such charming Beauty no so strong inclination nor so dangerous occasion which she doth not promise her self to overcome provided she be accompanied by this faithful Passion She is the cause why Chastity reigns in the world 't is by reason of her wisdom that men do imitate Angels and triumph over evil spirits in the frailty of the flesh But the greatest miracle which she produceth is when being subservient to Charity she separateth us from our selves and when preventing the violence of death she divideth the soul from the body for man hath no greater enemy than himself he is the cause of all his own evils and Christian Religion agrees with the Sect of the Stoicks that man can receive no true displeasure save what he himself procures he is therefore bound to keep at distance from himself and to hold no commerce with his Body
that are Necessary he thinks himself Poor if he have not somewhat that is Superfluous Thus every one finds his Misfortune even in his Felicity and the happiest are so nice to please as Fortune who tires her self out in their Service cannot take from them pretences of Complaint The best successes are accompanied with circumstances which afflict them they are displeased with a Victory because the Chief of the Enemy hath saved himself by flight and that together with his Honour he hath not lost both Life and Liberty They are not pleased with the taking in of a Town because it hath not drawn along with it the Revolt of a whole Province and they are so ingenious in causing pain unto themselves as their desires cannot be satisfied nor can a period be put to their complaints by the greatest Prosperity Amongst such as these methinks Sorrow is a Slave to Pleasure and that to revenge her self of her Servitude she makes her mistress sigh and renders her miserable amidst all her Delights These men deserve no consolation their sufferings are too unjust to oblige Philosophy to find them a remedy it is reasonable that their wretchlesness should be their punishment and that they should languish in Misery since they know not how to live happily There are others who glory in their Misfortunes and make the sincerest of our Passions serve their Ambition they bewail the loss of their friends in whatsoever Companies they come they will have their Grief to be a mark of their Love and that men should believe that they know how to Love well since they know so well how to Lament they never dry their eyes but when they are in their Closet they think their Tears should not be well employed if they wanted Witnesses and they teach us that they are not sincere since they seek out such as may approve of them Sorrow which is lodged in our hearts accompanieth us in all places and giveth freedom to her Sighes and comforts her self in her Complaints in Solitary places where nothing can divert her But the sincerity thereof makes â—t not be the less unjust since it oft-times produceth effects contrary to our desires â—nd makes us forget those which it enforceth us to bewail for there is nothing which we are sooner tired with than Grief Having nothing lovely in it it becomes quickly odious it wearies them that serve it and to free themselves from it they endeavour to quit themselves of the Love that did occasion it they blot out of their memory the Remembrance of their friends that they may be no longer bound to Lament them and with an Ingratitude which always follows Immoderate Grief they renounce Friendship to cure themselvs of Sorrow I know very well we are permitted to bewail the loss of our Friends that Tears are the prime duties that Nature hath obliged us to render them but the current thereof must be quickly stopt and calling in Reason to our assistance we must make their memory delightful to us if we will have it be Immortal Men do not willingly think much upon that which torments them and when once they have given over those sad delights which Nature hath placed in Tears they look upon them as punishments and shun all occasions which may make them shed them But certainly of all Discontents which causelesly prejudice our Souls methinks there is none more infamous than that of Envy for Sorrow caused by the Privation of Pleasures is not so unjust but that it may have some Pretences to defend it self if it exceed the bounds of Reason it finds Excuses and we see some who find not so much trouble in withstanding Sorrow as in abstaining from Delight They are better fitted for Fortitude than for Temperance and may be sooner made Martyrs than Continent The death of Friends is a loss sufficient to be lamented and Friendship is a virtue beautiful enough to have the glory thereof sought after either by counterfeit or real Tears All these Sorrows have Evil for their Object and if their Excesses be unjust their Causes may admit of Excuse but Envy is a Sorrow as unworthy as unjust and look upon it on what side you please it can neither have Pretence nor Colour It gives against all the Virtues and maliciously declares war with all those Noble Habits which make up the purest Glory of our Souls I know that all Vices are Enemies to Virtue and that they are not to be reconciled by Morality Nature accords the Elements and tempering their qualities employs them in the composure of all her Works but humane Wisdom with all its cunning cannot reconcile the differences between Vice and Virtue nor lodge them together in the same person yet is the Hatred of other Virtues regulated they only undertake every one its contrary Virtue and when by an unjust Victory they have triumphed over this noble Enemy their fury is appeased and they leave the man in some sort of quiet Avarice persecutes only Liberality Ambition pursues only Modesty and Falshood for all its Impudence opposes Truth only but Envy more furious than all these Monsters makes war against all the Virtues as if she were a poyson compounded of all the rest she at the same time sets upon Charity Justice Mercy and Humility For if Charity make all things common Envy appropriates them and takes not so much pleasure in the enjoying of them her self as in the bereaving others of them if Justice give every one that which appertains to him Envy keeps all for her self and not willing to acknowledg any other merit than her own she thinks all rewards are due to her if Mercy be afflicted at other mens harms Envy rejoyceth at them and out of an Excess of Malice makes them her Felicity if Humility despise Nothing Envy finds fault with All things and endeavours to raise her Reputation upon the Ruines of Virtue so that she is an Universal Evil and this detestable Mischief is composed all at once of Avarice Pride and Cruelty But though she be animated against all Virtues she keeps her chief endeavors against the Noblest and assails them with most Fervor which have most lustre in them she is like those troublesome Flies which betake themselves to the fairest Flowers in the Garden or is like Thunder which chuseth out the greatest Trees and dischargeth its fury upon the fairest Mountains her courage appears only in the worth of the Enemy she undertakes she will be thought generous because she is Insolent and she glories in the Greatness of her fault From this lewd quality proceeds another which is not much less troublesome for as she hates Virtue she cannot endure any Virtuous person Her Hatred perswades her to Revenge when her Calumny cannot prevail over the Glory of the Innoâ—ent she attempts their Life after having made a tryal by Backbiting she makes Murder her main Work and sheds their Blood whose Reputation she could not blemish No