might be done calmly and sedately as we have already said As he allows not that the Life of a Wise Man should be as a Torrent so he don't approve that it should be like a still and stinking Pool but rather like the Water of a River that glides along quietly and without Noise This is one of his Maxims That when Pain is removed Pleasure is not increas'd but only diversified and altered As if he would have said That when we have attain'd to this quiet State free from Pain there is truly nothing to be desired greater or to be compared to it but in the mean while there remain several pure and innocent Pleasures wherewith this State if not abused is Embelished in the manner of a Field which becoming Fruitful affords divers Fruits or in the manner of a Meadow which we see covered over with an admirable diversity of Flowers when the Earth is brought to be in a good Temper For this State is like a Spring out of which all the Pleasures that are Pure and Sincere are drawn For this cause therefore it ought to be esteem'd as the chief Pleasure in regard it is an universal Relish by which all the Actions of our Life are seasoned and by which consequently all our Pleasures are sweetned and become grateful And to speak all in a Word Without which no Pleasure can be Pleasure In reality What Satisfaction can there be if the Mind be troubled or the Body tormented with Pain It is a Proverb That if the Vessel be not clean it Sowers whatever is put into it Sincerum est nisi vas quodcumque infundis acescit Whoever therefore is desirous of pure sincere Pleasures he must prepare himself to receive them without any Mixture or Alloy that is By attaining as much as is possible to this State of Rest and Tranquility that we have described I add the words as much as is possible for As we have observed already The frailty of our human Nature wont suffer us to be absolutely and perfectly Happy for so compleat a Felicity altogether free from Trouble and Pain and crowned with all manner of Delights belongs to God alone and to them whom he calls to a better Life So that in this present World some have a greater some a less share of Afflictions and Pains He that will deal wisely ought to endeavour as much as the weakness of his Nature will permit to settle himself in that condition in which he may be as little sensible of Grief and Pain as is possible for by this means he will obtain these two Advantages which chiefly contribute to his present Happiness and which Wise Men have acknowledged to be almost the only solid and desirable Advantages of Life The Health of the Body and of the Mind Sunt Sanitas Mens gemina vitae bona Optandum est ut sit Mens sana in Corpore sano And that Epicurus never designed that his Pleasure should extend to a Sottishness or a privation of Sense and Action may be proved by what he was pleased with in his Retirements either in Meditating or in Teaching or in taking care of his Friends But let it suffice us here to say That from that state and condition of Life did arise certain Thoughts which of all things in the World were the most pleasing and delightful Namely when any shall call to mind the Storms that he hath couragiously weather'd in which some are yet tossed up and down he fancies himself as it were in a safe Haven possessing a calm and a serene Tranquility which Lucretius in his Second Book pleasantly sets forth 'T is pleasant when the Seas are rough to stand And view another's Danger safe at Land Not ' cause he 's Troubled but 't is sweet to see Those Cares and Fears from which our selves are free He tells us also That it is very pleasant to look from a high Tower upon two great Armies drawn up in Battel without being concerned in the Danger 'T is also Pleasant to behold from far How Troops Engage secure our selves from War But there is nothing so pleasant as to see our selves by the help of Learning and Knowledge advanc'd to the Top of Wisdom's Temple from whence as from an high Station serene and quiet we may see Men involved in a thousand Miseries without being concern'd But above all 'T is pleasantest to get The top of high Philosophy and sit On the calm peaceful flourishing Head of it Whence we may view deep wond'rous deep below How poor forsaken Mortals Wandring go Seeking the path to Happiness some aim At Learning Wit Nobility or Fame Others with Cares and Dangers vex each Hour To reach the Top of Wealth and Sovereign Power Whilst frugal Nature seeks for only Ease A Body free from Pains free from Disease A Mind from Cares and Jealousies at Peace Of the Tranquility of the Mind in particular BUt to say something more particularly of the Tranquility of the Mind let us again repeat That by this Expression we don't understand a slow and lazy Temper nor a sluggish and languishing Idleness But as Cicero Explains it out of Pythagoras and Plato Placida quietaque constantia in animi parte rationis principe A sweet and peaceable Constacy of Mind Or as Democritus says An excellent equal and sweet Constitution and Temper of Mind which makes the Man settl'd and unshaken in such a manner and to such a degree that whether he be Employed or at Leisure whether Prosperity favour him or Adversity frowns upon him he continues always Equal always like Himself and will not suffer himself to be Transported by an excess of Joy nor dejected by Grief and Sorrow In a Word he is at no time disturbed by such-like Passions Therefore this Tranquility of Mind was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies freedom from Trouble and Disquietness for in the same manner as a Ship is said to be in quiet not only when it is becalm'd in the middle of the Sea but likewise chiefly when it is driven by a favourable Gale which indeed causeth it to sail swift but nevertheless quietly and steddily Thus the Mind is said to be in Tranquility not only when it is at rest but more especially when it undertakes great and excellent Things without being disturb'd inwardly and without losing any part of its Steddiness On the contrary as a Ship is said to be disturb'd not only when it is carried away with the contrary Winds but when it is beaten by those that rise out of the very Waters thus the Mind is said to be disquieted not only when in its proceedings it is carried away with divers Passions but likewise when in the midst of Rest Care Grief and Fear are continually gnawing and fretting it and rendring it uneasy These therefore and such like are the Passions which by disturbing our Tranquility interrupt the Happiness of our Lives Cicero Speaks of them in this manner The turbulent Motions and the
means to be made strait But Aristotle answers That it is not convenient to entertain them with these kind of Discourses because when it concerns us as in the case of the Passions and Actions we give not so much credit to the Words as to the Thing it self From whence it happens that when the Words agree not with what the Senses apprehend they are despised and tho' they comprehend something that is good yet they are thereby baffled Therefore Aristotle seems to intimate That it is more reasonable not to place the Pleasures amongst the Evils seeing the Senses are of a contrary persuasion and when they are barely look'd upon as Pleasures they approve of them and judge them good but it is more reasonable to discover and lay open the Evils that frequently accompany such Pleasures which cause a prudent and considering Man to abstain from them lest he being tempted thereby should be drawn into so great Mischiefs If these Answers of Aristotle will not satisfie nothing can hinder us from exclaiming against Pleasure it self supposing those to be Pleasures which cause much more Evil than they procure Good For when it concerns us to persuade it is the same thing to say That Pleasure or the Action that accompanies the Pleasure is Wicked to conclude that we are therefore to shun it by reason of the Evils which infallibly attend and proceed from both Whether the Opinion of the Stoicks in respect of Good and Evil be Justifiable WE might here enter into a large Field of Dispute with the Stoicks who pretend That there is nothing Good but that which is Honest and nothing Evil but that which is Dishonest But hereby we should only trifle away our time in unnecessary Disputes for in short it is manifest that they have rais'd a Dispute about the bare Name when at the same time they have limited and confined the thing it self viz. the Notion of Good according to their own Fancy which all Mankind besides take in a large Sense For whereas other Men place several things besides Vertues in the number of good things as Health Pleasure Glory Riches Friends c. And besides Vices they reckon several other things amongst Evils as Sickness Pain Shame Poverty Enemies c. The Stoicks have rather named these things Indifferent or neither Good nor Evil. But this seems very absurd and contradictory to take Health and Sickness Pleasure and Pain for the same things c. They have endeavoured to feign new Words and call Health Pleasure Glory and other things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Promota Assistants As if they should say that they were not really Good but such things as did approach the nearest to Vertue and lead us to that which is the chief and only Good The same Fancy they have had of Diseases and Pain they have named them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Abducta remota As if they should say that they were things less Noble and separated from Vertue for when it concerns us to make a Choice those are preferred and these are forsaken This is their way of Discourse which I think not worth Answering any otherwise than as Cicero doth when he cries out O the great strength of Mind and the brave Subject to raise a new Doctrin O magnam vim ingenii causamque justam cur nova existeret disciplina The Stoicks argue and with their weak Reasonings would maintain That Pain is no Evil Concludunt ratiunculis Stoici cur dolor non sit malum c. As if Men were only troubled about the Word and not the Thing Wherefore must you Zeno deceive me with your subtil Niceties and new coin'd Words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for when you tell me that what looks grievous is no Evil you put me at a stand I would desire to know how that which seems to me most prejudicial and hurtful is no Evil in it self Nothing is Evil as you pretend but that which is Dishonest and Vicious These are but Words neither can you hereby remove the difficulty I understand very well that Pain and Grief are not criminal Evils You need not trouble your self to tell me that but shew me whether it be an indifferent thing to suffer Pain or to be free from it You say That it is indifferent as to the Happiness of Life seeing that consists in Vertue alone But in the mean while what you call Pain is to be reckoned amongst those things that you are to avoid and by consequence is an Evil. When you pretend that Pain is no real Evil but only something uneasie to be suffered c. It is to speak at large what all the World besides name in one word Evil. And when you say That there is nothing Good but what is Honest and nothing Evil but what is Dishonest it is to vanquish in Words but not in Sense it is to express Desires and prove Nothing Doubtless this is an undeniable Truth All that Nature hates ought to be esteem'd in the number of Evils and all that is grateful to it is to be reckoned on the contrary Whether at any time Pain ought to be preferr'd before Pleasure THE Second thing to be Examin'd before we conclude about Epicurus's Opinion is Whether we should sometimes avoid Pleasure to embrace Pain This Question depends very much upon the former for if any Pleasure offers it self of that sort which Plato calls Pure and disengaged from any mixture of Grief and Trouble that is to say such as is never to be succeeded by any future Pain neither in this Life nor in that which is to come or if any Pain offers it self such as may be stiled Pure and free from any Pleasure that is such as can never be supposed to yield any Satisfaction No Man can give any reason why such a Pleasure ought not to be accepted and such a Pain avoided But if any Pleasure offer it self which might hinder us from obtaining a greater or which will be attended by a Pain that may cause us to repent the suffering our selves to be drawn away to it or if a Pain offers it self which may turn away a greater or which may be followed by a Pleasure very great there is no Reason can persuade us the shunning such a Pleasure and embracing such a Pain Therefore Aristotle observes That Pleasure and Pain are the Criteria or distinguishing Marks by which we ought to judge whether any thing is to be accepted or avoided Now any Wise Man will decline Pleasure and embrace Pain if he sees that Repentance will follow or that by admitting a little Pain he may avoid a greater But Torquatus plainly clears the Doubt And to the end we may easily see from whence the Mistake arises among those who accuse Pleasure and approve of Pain I will briefly tell you how it is and expound unto you what that Author of Truth and Encourager of an happy Life hath said No Man despises hates or shuns Pleasure because it is
First That to the two kinds of Monarchy namely Kingly and Tyrannical they commonly add a Third which they name Despotick for the Kingly is when the Monarch Rules his Subjects as a Father his Children and that as his Subjects are Obedient to his Commands and Laws he himself is Obedient to the Laws of Nature suffering his Subjects to enjoy as well their natural Liberty as the propriety of their Goods But the Tyrannical is that where the Monarch commands his Subjects as Slaves or Brutes and trampling under Foot all the Laws of Nature he deprives them of all Liberty and Propriety which he Usurps and claims to himself as his own The Despotical they say is where the Monarch Commands his Subjects which have been overcome by War as a good Master of a Family doth his Slaves Secondly I shall observe That 't is not without Cause that the regal and tyrannical Dominions are said to be contrary for as the Regal aims at the common good of the Society and designs for its End the Security the Tranquility the Plenty and in a Word the publick Happiness So the Tyrannical aims at nothing but its own private Advantage and fills all Places with Fear Trouble Poverty and Calamity And as in the regal Government not only the Subjects are Happy but also and chiefly the Prince because of that Respect and Love which he knows that his Subjects have for him when he shews them that he fears God that he is Obedient to the Laws of Nature and that he looks upon the welfare of his People as his greatest Interest that he is wise in his Deliberations courageous in his Actions moderate in Prosperity constant in Adversity resolved in the Execution of Justice faithful to his Promises mild to good Men severe to the Wicked supporting his Friends terrible to his Enemies in a Word that he is the Father of his Country and a true Shepherd of his People Thus in the tyrannical Government all kind of Mischiefs Griefs and Anxieties oppress not only the Subjects but more particularly the Tyrant himself who is not insensible of the secret Contempt they bear him and the implacable Hatred that his Subjects harbour in their Breasts against him when he makes them sensible and feel by his tyrannical Proceedings that he values neither God Nature nor the safety of his People for every one sees that he acts nothing but by Subtilty and Violence that good Success renders him Insolent and Proud as the Evil causeth him to be Cruel that he is full of Injustice Perfidiousness and Barbarity that he hates good Men that he favours Wicked in short That he is not the Father of his Country but a publick Enemy not a Shepherd but a Wolf to his People Therefore being feared and dreaded by all the World he is himself in continual Fear and Dread which suffer him at no time to be at rest For he fears both Friends and Foes and trembles at the shaking of a Leaf yea at his very Shadow Therefore Cicero and Seneca have very well remarkt according to Epicurus that it must needs be That he whom many fear should stand in fear of many which Seneca brings in Labericus thus expressing Necesse est multos timeat quem multi timent Whether Monarchial Government is the best THe third thing that I have thought fit to observe is That of the several approved sorts of Government the Monarchical seems to be the best For tho' they have all of 'em their Inconveniences and Advantages yet the Advantages of the Monarchical are above the rest and the Inconveniences fewer For as in the Monarchical all Orders proceed from one Person and relate to one the state of Affairs is more settled and constant the necessary Orders upon all occasions more easie to be given the Resolutions more secret the Execution quicker and all opportunities of Factions and Seditions prevented Liberty likewise and Security which other Forms of Government pretend to is greater and larger and so of other Advantages which are very well known This is sufficiently proved by the Government of a Family which requires but one Master or Father of the Family or by that of an Army which ought to have but one General and by the Government of the World that acknowledgeth but one Sovereign Lord. Besides the Annals inform us That when the Affairs of a Common-wealth have been reduced to the last Extremity they have set up a Dictator as the only Remedy And tho' Aristotle in his Politicks seems to prefer Aristocracy before Monarchy he desires that we would consult the Genius of the People for some are more fit and inclinable to one Government than to another nevertheless in his Metaphysicks he concludes without any Exception That Government by many is inconvenient Of the Duties of a Monarch in General BUt as we should be too tedious and it is not convenient to treat here what belongs to the several Forms of Government it shall suffice to mention something of the Monarchical which may be applied to the rest Now as the Duty of a Sovereign hath chiefly respect to two times viz. that of War and that of Peace there are certain things among others which he ought principally to mind First To understand well and to imprint in his Thoughts this Persuasion That the Welfare the Security and Advantage of his People or as Cicero calls it the Happiness of his Subjects should be the great Design and End of his Government That for this purpose he Rules and upon this account it is that he is respected and obeyed For as the Pilate saith Cicero designs a happy and safe Navigation the Physician the Health of the Patient the General of an Army Victory so the Governour of a Common-wealth designs the Happiness of his Subjects which is secured by Riches by Military Forces by Glory Virtue and Honesty Secondly To propose to himself no other Reward of his Cares and Labours but the Glory of Governing well the Gratitude the Respect and Affections of his Subjects How well was Trojan rewarded when he heard the Applauses of all the People who cried out with a loud Voice May the Gods love thee as thou lovest us for who can be happier than we who need not wish that our Prince should love us but only that the Gods should bear us equal Affection as our Prince doth Timoleon also own'd himself sufficiently requited when walking abroad he heard the like Acclamations of the People full of Love and Veneration Therefore Princes act with little wisdom or rather very imprudently who being desirous of Glory endeavour to purchase it by any other Means than by doing good to their People and by deserving their Affections For the Applause gained by other Methods is accompanied with Contempt Hatred and Execrations of the Common People and deserves to be called Infamy Excellent and Admirable was the Speech of Xunus Emperor of China to his Son Yaiis who according to the Relation of Martinius lived Two Thousand
their Masters For this Reason I have sometimes given this Definition of a Turk An Animal Born for the Destruction of all that is Beautiful and Good in the World and even of Human Race it self Not but that the true Turks are often of a kind and good Disposition but because their mistaken Policy their Ignorance and Negligence tend to take away and banish all Property from whence proceeds as I have said the Laziness of the People the neglect of Husbandry Tyranny and the desolation of their Provinces All this is a certain Truth and not the Dreams of a fantastical Traveller all those Countries not being now what they formerly were Above half the Land lies Unmanured a Man may often Travel a whole Day without meeting one Man great Towns are generally half demolished and forsaken nay the best and most populous Cities as Grand Cairo Alexandria Babilon and several others lie the third part at least in Ruins And there is no doubt that those Princes tho very considerable because of the vast extent of their Dominions are therefore the less Wealthy and less Powerful than they would be if it were otherwise for they don't see that in grasping at all they have nothing and by making themselves the only Proprietors of all the Lands of their Empire they make themselves Kings of Wildernesses of Beggars and despicable Wretches So that if they daily get Ground and grow greater 't is through the Weakness and Discord of their Neighbours and because their Empire is as I have said of such a vast extent in comparison of others and because the Tartars besides those who are taken from the Breasts of their Mothers supply them with Slaves from several Parts as from Russia Circassia Mingrelia Armenia and other Countries Of the Duties of a Sovereign in times of Peaee BUT to return to our Author and to say something in a few Words concerning that which in some respect relates chiefly to the times of Peace and that kind of Prudence which the Latins named Togata The First and chief Duty is to have a Care that Religion and Piety towards God be inviolably observed in all parts of the Kingdom that Heaven may be propitious to him and that his Subjects being awed with the respect and dread of the Almighty Power of God who is every where and sees all Things may more readily abstain from those Crimes which he cannot hinder by his Laws Now the Experience of our latter Days hath sufficiently discovered to us the Importance and Truth of that Counsel that Mecaenas gave to Augustus concerning Religion and the Divine Worship You are said he to oppose and never let go unpunished the Innovators and Authors of new Religions not only because that the Gods will not permit such as despise them to perform any great Actions but because those who introduce some new Divinity generally persuade the People to alterations in Government from whence proceed Conspiracies Seditions and secret Associations which are doubtless very dangerous to a Monarchy Secondly To have a care that Arts be encouraged not only those that we term Liberal from which the Kingdom receives a particular Accomplishment but also such as we call Mechanick from which we reap great Advantage and Profit chiefly to have a particular regard to Husbandry and Navigation because the First is to supply us plentifully with the Necessities of Life and the Second encourages Traffick by which we communicate to Strangers the Things that they want as they return to us the Things that we stand in need of Thirdly To endeavour that the Kingdom may increase in Virtue and Riches that is to say in all Things needful to make our Lives Innocent and Happy And as Debauchery does easily and insensibly insinuate it self he ought to give a Check to it by severe Edicts and in the mean while he ought to give order that such as abound in Wealth may not suffer the Poor at their Gates to pine away for Want In short he ought to provide in such a manner for the several Indigences of his Kingdom that Happiness and Plenty may spread over all his Dominions in every Corner Fourthly He ought to provide for the security of the Peace that the Happiness of the Kingdom which ought to be the first and chief Aim of Kings and Governours may be more fixt and permanent to which purpose the particulars before mention'd will contribute namely To take care to prevent all Invasions of Strangers of home Factions and Seditions of his Subjects about making Alliances and Leagues and to observe and preserve them as much as is possible nevertheless to make the Allies privately sensible that it will be in vain for them to break them For we must always suppose of Strangers that Force and Power is rather wanting to them than a desire or a pretence to Invade our Realm and Conquering of it either in part or all Therefore he ought to keep his Garrisons well furnished and to be as careful of secret Ambuscades and private Treacheries as of open Assaults He ought likewise in the same manner to have a convenient Number of Troops and Soldiers ready in Pay and as for his Recruits and new raised Regiments he ought to cause them to be trained up with care and exactness in all Military Exercises that the old Soldiers teaching the new they may be all ready to do Service when occasion requires The Fifth respects the Subjects That is to prevent the Conspiraces and Factions of the Grandees not only by a just and prudent Distribution of Offices but also by particular Expressions of Kindness that they may have no cause to complain nevertheless he must make them know that he is their Lord and Master and that he is quick-sighted enough to see into their Designs and most secret Intentions I shall not speak here of the Advice of Periander who as Aristotle relates gave no Answer by word of Mouth to the Embassadors of Thrasibulus but only by signs for he cut off the Tops of the highest Poppies before their Faces Sixthly He ought as we have already hinted to prevent the Mutinies and Seditions of the People not only by respect and fear for there is nothing that more inclines popular Spirits to Insolency than when they see the Prince fallen into Contempt and that they are secure from all Punishment but also by an exact and regular Justice which may free the weakest from the Oppression of the most Powerful and by easing the People either by reducing their Taxes to a small Proportion or by taking them quite away for there is nothing that more stirs up the Peoples hatred and makes them more impatient than extraordinary Taxes But if the pressing Necessities of the State obliges him to great Expences and consequently to raise large Sums of Mony he ought to let his Subjects understand that such Levies are for the necessary support of the publick Security So that if they desire their own Welfare saith Cicero they are to
all parts of the Creation might yield and pay to us a Tribute 'T is by his Appointment that Rivers like Serpents do sometimes wind and turn about the fruitful Vallies for the more easie Transportation of things necessary for our Life and that others by an unaccountable wonder swell suddenly but regularly in the height of Summer to water the Grounds which otherwise would be subject to be parch'd up by the scorching Beams of the Sun What shall we say of all those Medicinal Springs both Hot and Cold which issue from out of the Bowels of the Earth in such a manner that the Hot seem sometimes to proceed from the very Bosom of Coldness it self If any Friend should bestow upon you some Parcel of Land or a Sum of Mony you would presently call this a liberal Act and think your self oblig'd And cannot you acknowledge that these vast extents of Earth and all the Mines of Gold and Silver are also Liberalities and good Deeds O ungrateful Wretch From whence comes to thee this Air that thou breathest in this Light which serves to guide thee this Blood which runs in thy Veins and contains the vital and animal Spirits these exquisite Favours and this Rest without which thou would'st perish If thou had'st the least sense of Gratitude would'st thou not say That 't is God who is the Author of this thy Rest and Ease Deus nobis haec otia fecit We have within us the Seeds of all Ages and of all Arts and God the Sovereign Lord draws them out secretly and produceth them as he pleaseth You 'll pretend 't is Nature that gives you all these things alas don't you perceive that this is only changing of Names viz. that of God into that of Nature For what can you imagin this Nature to be if not God himself and the divine Understanding which is infused and spread over all the World and in every Part You may give him what other Name you please Jupiter most Good Jupiter most Great Thundering Lightning c. You may if you please give him the Name of Destiny or Fortune seeing that Destiny is nothing else but a Concatenation of Causes that succeed one another and that God is the first cause upon which all the other depend You get nothing thefore by saying That you are not indebted to God for any thing but to Nature seeing that Nature cannot be without God nor God without Nature and that God and Nature are the same thing the very same Being for these different Names are only different Titles of the same God who exerts his Power after several manners But here let us leave Epicurus and withal let us suppose the Existence of God his Providence and all his Attributes which are the Foundation of the highest Acts of religious Worship here it seems to be proper and seasonable to demonstrate that the Holy Religion that we profess is the only true and lawful Religion But as this is a particular Subject which ought to be handled solidly and to the purpose we shall leave it to the Divines who are best able to manage it in its due Circumstances suitable to the Dignity that it requires It shall suffice here to mention only what the Light of Nature discovers God saith Lactantius hath made the Nature of Man to be such that he hath an Inclination and a Love for two things which are Religion and Wisdom But Men are deceiv'd either because they embrace Religion leaving Wisdom or because they study Wisdom alone and leave Religion Whereas the one cannot be true without the other They follow divers Religions but which are false because they have forsaken Wisdom which might direct and teach them that 't is impossible that there should be many Gods or they apply themselves to Wisdom which is false and mistaken because they have left the Religion of the Sovereign God which would have instructed 'em in true Wisdom Thus they who embrace one or t'other simply err from the right way and run on in that which is full of grievous Errors because the Duty of Man and all Truth is inseparably shut up in these two Heads After that Lactantius hath thus explained himself and afterwards taught in what manner and with what Sacrifices we must honour God he continues to tell us This Holy and Sovereign Majesty requires from Man nothing else but Innocency he who who presents it to God offers a Sacrifice Pious and Religious enough And after he hath disapproved of divers superstitious Ceremonies he adds The Celestial Religion consists not in things corruptible but in the Virtues of the Mind which proceed from Heaven The true Worship is that in which a clean Soul without blemish offers it self in Sacrifice whosoever is obedient to his heavenly Precepts he honours God truly whose Sacrifices are Meekness Innocency and good Works And as often as he does good and pious Acts so often does he perform his Sacrifices to God for God requires no Offerings of Beasts their Death and Blood but he will have the Heart and Life of Man for an Offering This Sacrifice is to be performed without Herbs without the Fat and Sinews of Beasts vain and foolish things but with Expressions that proceed from a sincere Heart God's Altar is not to be adorn'd with Man's Blood but the Heart of Man is to be adorned with Justice Patience Faith Innocency Chastity and Abstinence This is the true Worship this is the Law of God as Cicero hath said that excellent and divine Law which never Commands any thing but Just and Honest and Prohibits what-ever is Wicked and Dishonest The chief Worship of God is the Praise that is offered to him by the Mouth of a just Man but that this Praise may be pleasing to him it ought to be accompanied with Humility with Fear and with a great Devotion lest Man should rely upon his own Integrity and Innocency and fall by that means into Vain-glory and Pride and so lose the Reward of Virtue If he will be favoured of God he must have a Conscience clear from all Guilt he must implore continually his Mercy and must ask of him nothing but the pardon of his Sins If any Good befals him let him return God thanks if any Evil let him bear it patiently acknowledging that it happens because of his Sins In Calamities let him not fail to be thankful and in Prosperity humble and contented that so he may have always the same settled and unshaken Mind Neither is it sufficient to perform this in the Church let him remember to do it in his House in his Chamber in his most secret Retirements By this means he will always have God consecrated in his Heart for he himself is the Temple of God If in this manner he serves God his Father and Sovereign Lord constantly and devoutly he will attain to an entire and compleat Perfection of Justice for he who remains unshaken in Justice hath obeyed God and followed the Rules of Religion
removed the Truth is that they acknowledge no other Liberty but that which we understand commonly by this Word Libentia Nevertheless they bring this reason against them who would make use of this slothful reasoning That there is a very good cause why a Man should endeavour to do Good rather than Evil because tho the Decree is unknown to us nevertheless 't is certain that no Man shall ever be promoted to Glory if he hath not done good Works neither shall he be banished into Torments if he hath never done Evil. They say moreover that it concerns us very much to attain as much as we are able to a certainty of our Election by good Works rather than of Reprobation by Evil that so we may be able to allay the Fears and apprehensions in which we must otherwise spend our Lives and that we may act and proceed on with this assurance that while we do well we have no reason to dread any Evil from God who is most Good and most Just But in the mean while that no Person might glory that he ought to be elected because of his good Works and that none should complain because he was not comprehended in the Election and that it was none of his Fault against him that boasts they make use of this Expression O Man What is it that distinguishes thee If any one happen to complain They tell him Who art thou that darest contend with thy God Shall the Earthen-Vessel say to the Potter Why hast thou made me thus Is it not lawful for the Potter to make one Vessel of Honour and another of Dishonour And to them who are too curious to seek after the Secrets of God they make use of the Words of the Holy Doctor Judge not why he draws this Man and not that Man if thou wilt not err Noli judicare quare hunc trahat c. As for the other Opinion its Defenders seem to be better able to refute him who makes use of the unactive Argument Either I am Predestinated say you and elected for Glory or reprobated and condemned to Torments This is what must be granted but we must at the same time add That now 't is in your Power either to be Predestinated or Reprobated for now you are in that Condition in which God hath foreseen that you should be inabled with a sufficient Grace and this depends upon your Free-will whether he hath foreseen you a good Man or an Evil. So that in consideration of this foresight he hath either Predestinated or Reprobated you Thus you see that it belongs to you and concerns you to do good now and to crave assistance of the Divine Grace that God foreseeing from all Eternity this assistance that you should crave may have Predestinated you for if you act otherwise in consideration of these very wicked Actions God will have reprobated you Pretend not that God knows from all Eternity if you be Predestinated or not and therefore you must needs unavoidably be what you are or ought to 〈◊〉 be seeing that the Divine Knowledge cannot be deceived nor changed for God hath truly known it from all Eternity but consequently to his Decree and he hath not made his Decree but by foreseeing what you would do Therefore this Action of your Will preceeds God's Foresight both the Divine Decree of your Predestination or Reprobation and the Divine Knowledge of your everlasting Happiness or Misery not that these antecedent and consequential Decrees still relate to time but according to our humane way of Speaking we conceive and declare them to be so when we consider the Nature of Free-Will and the Nature of God who is Just and cannot but act justly And although we might hence infer that there is here no antecedent Will which might hinder our Will from being free nor do what it pleaseth nor be able to carry its Hand either to the Fire or Water yet you cannot therefore pretend that 't is in your Power to frustrate the Divine Decree because that Decree was made but upon this Supposition of what you were to do and its unchangeableness proceeds from a necessity of Supposition which does not in the least deprive Man of his Liberty of acting freely But possibly you may say if God in consideration of the good Works that I perform at present hath Predestinated me I shall be beholding to none for my distinction but to my self This dont follow For 't is not of your selves by the power of your own Virtues and Strength that you are thus distinguish'd but the Grace of God without which you cannot do these good Works Thus it will not be difficult to say why this Vessel hath been thus fashioned this a Vessel of Honour that of Dishonour why this Man should be drawn and that Man not seeing that sufficient Grace being allowed to all in general the Resolution and Determination pursuant to that Grace is the Cause I confess this may seem to look a little hard when we consider how God hath made some Men for Honour and others for Dishonour and that all suffer not themselves to be freely and willingly drawn nor Co-operate with the Divine Grace seeing that he might have made them all in such a manner that they might have been all designed for Honour and none for Dishonour and Contempt and that all might have Co-operated with the Grace of God And truly as the Choice of Virtue and Vice that we embrace and that God hath foreseen in Predestinating or Reprobating Men depends upon the Notions and Representations of Things which appear to us we have always a great Cause to cry out as we before did O the Depths c. because it dont depend upon us that such or such Objects appear so to us and consequently that we should be possessed with such or such Notions or Imaginations but from the Series the Concatenation and disposition of Things which God hath established according to the adorable and unsearchable course of his Wisdom 'T is therefore also that tho this Opinion seems to be the easiest it seems nevertheless to leave always some difficulty or doubt behind and we cannot so plainly discover all Things here but we are obliged again to recur to the Saying of the Apostle O Altitudo divitiarum Sapientiae c. But having Travelled through many Nations where People have been strongly possessed with the Opinion of Predestination I shall freely speak my Thoughts as to what I have seen and known That the first Opinion hath strong Consequences and that it appears to me very dangerous and pernicious to publick Society for it is either able to oblige Men to all manner of Vices or to cast them into Despair But not to insist upon the Reasons of Divines nor to listen to that Persian Author who supposing that by destroying Liberty or Free-Will you at the same time destroy all Religion for this is The Spunge as he calls it to blot out all Religions How think ye that a
THREE DISCOURSES OF HAPPINESS VIRTUE AND LIBERTY Collected from the WORKS of the Learn'd GASSENDI By Monsieur Bernier Translated out of French LONDON Printed for Awnsham and John Churchil at the Black Swan in Pater-Noster-Row MDCXCIX THE PREFACE THE Epicurean Philosophers placing the Happiness of Man in the Satisfaction of the Mind and Health of the Body assure us that those two are no otherwise to be procured than by a constant Practice of Virtue And because they have had the hard Fate to be misrepresented by most of the other Sects as well Ancient as Modern and their Principles traduced as favouring the most brutal Sensuality the Learned Gassendi who had either examined their Doctrin with more Diligence or interpreted their Sentiments with more Candour and Justice thought he could not employ his Time better than to vindicate the Morals of Epicurus and his Followers from the Slanders of Mistake and Malice and to shew that their principal Design was to lead Men by smooth and easie Paths to a just sober wise and virtuous Behaviour as the only way to true Happiness This he proved at large and illustrated with the Sentiments of many great and excellent Men among the Greeks and Romans But because these Things were diffused through the voluminous Works of that Great Man Monsieur Bernier whose Name is a sufficient Commendation in the Common-wealth of Learning took the Pains to put them together and to form them into several intire Discourses which on account of their great importance to Mankind are here presented to the Publick OF Moral Philosophy IN GENERAL MAnkind having a natural Inclination to be happy the main bent and design of all his Actions and Endeavours tend chiefly that way It is therefore an undeniable Truth that Happiness or a Life free from Pain and Misery are such things as influence and direct all our Actions and Purposes to the obtaining of them And tho' several Persons who neither want the Necessities nor Conveniences of Life possessing great Riches promoted to Dignites and Honours blessed with a beautiful and hopeful Off-spring in a word who want nothing that may seem requisite to compleat their present Happiness tho' I say we find many who have all these Advantages yet they lead an anxious and uneasy Life disquieted with Cares Troubles and perpetual Disturbances From whence the wiser sort of Mankind have concluded That the Source of this Evil proceeds from the Ignorance of the Cause wherein our true Happiness consists and of the last end which every one should propose to himself in all his Actions which being neglected we are led blind-fold by our Passions and forsake Honesty Vertue and good Manners without which it is impossible to live happily For this Reason they have therefore undertaken to instruct us wherein true Happiness consists and to propose such useful Precepts for the due regulation of our Passions whereby our Minds may be less liable to be disturb'd This Collection of Precepts Reflections and Reasonings they name The Art of Living or The Art of leading an happy Life And which they commonly call Moral Philosophy because it comprehends such Doctrins as relate to the Manners of Men that is to say the accustomed and habitual Actions of Life From hence we may understand That this part of Philosophy is not only speculative and rests in the bare Contemplation of its Object but proceeds to Action and that it is as we usually say active and practical for it directs and governs our Manners rendring them regular and agreeable with the Rules of Justice and Honesty So that in this respect it may be said to be The Science or if this Term be scrupled at we may call it The Art of doing well I only make this Supposition for let it be stiled Art or Science 't is a difference only in Name which depends upon the manner of understanding those two Words and therefore requires no further Scrutiny into the matter We will rather take notice that Democritus Epicurus and divers others of no small Eminency have had so high an esteem for Moral Philosophy that they have judged the Natural to be no further regarded than only as it was found useful in freeing us from certain Errors and Mistakes in our Understanding which might disturb the Repose and Tranquility of our Life and wherein it might be serviceable to Moral Philosophy or to the better obtaining of that Knowledge which teaches us to live happily and comfortably I shall not mention the Followers of Socrates Aristippius Anthistenes with the Cyrenaicks and Cynicks who altogether neglecting the Natural gave themselves entirely over to the study of Moral Philosophy considering with Socrates what might make for the Good or Ill of Families and what might contribute to the Grief and Disturbance of Man's Life Quid siet in domibus fortasse malumve bonumve We may also here observe That tho' Socrates is supposed to be the Inventer of Moral Philosophy this is only to be understood so far as he did cultivate and improve a new and considerable part not that he laid the first and Original Precepts of it for it is certain that before him Pythagoras had much improved this sort of Knowledge And 't is well known that he commonly asserted That the Discourser of a Philosopher that cures not the Mind of some Passion is vain and useless as the Physick that drives not away the Distemper from the Body is insignificant It is likewise very certain That the wise Men of Greece who lived a little before Pythagoras were named wise only because they addicted themselves to the Study of Moral Wisdom Therefore at this present time their famous Sentences that relate to Mens Manners are generally known all over the World We might add if we would make farther search into the Antiquity of the Heroes that we shall find Orpheus by this same Study of Moral Philosophy drawing the Men of his time off from their barbarous and savage way of Living which gave occasion of that Saying of him That he tamed the Tygers and the Lions as Horace describes Orpheus inspir'd by more than human Power Did not as Poets feign tame savage Beasts But Men as lawless and as wild as they And first disswaded them from Rage and Blood Thus when Amphion built the Theban Wall They feign'd the Stones obey'd his Magick Lute In a word it was Morality that first set a Mark of Distinction between publick and private Good setled our Rights and Authority and gave Laws and Rules for regulating Societies as the same Poet expresses When Man yet new No Rule but uncorrupted Reason knew And with a native bent did Good pursue Vnforc'd by Punishment unaw'd by Fear His Words were simple and his Soul sincere No suppliant Crowds before the Judge appear'd No Court erected yet no Cause was heard But all was safe for Conscience was their Guard However we must acknowledge our selves much indebted to Socrates as to Moral Philosophy since by his applying himself
well examin'd will settle the Mind and procure to it a real and solid Happiness Some Particulars needful to be examin'd and consider'd which will contribute very much to the Repose and Happiness of the Mind THE First Particular is the Knowledge and Fear of God And certainly this Philosopher had good Reason to recommend to us in the first place the right Ideas that we are to entertain of this Sovereign Being because he that hath a right Notion of him is so much inflamed with Love and Affection for God that he constantly endeavours to please him by an honest and a vertuous Life always trusting in his infinite Goodness and expecting all things from him who is the Fountain of all good By this means he spends his Life sweetly peaceably and pleasantly We shall not concern our selves here to shew the Existence of this Being seeing we have already done it elsewhere But shall only take notice that tho' Epicurus delivers some Notions that are very just and reasonable yet he hath others that are not to be entertained by pious Men tho' he interprets 'em after his own Fashion such are to be look'd upon as impious for he believes That God hath a Being as Lucretius makes him acknowledge in his first Book For whatsoe'er's Divine must live in Peace In undisturb'd and everlasting Ease Not care for us from Fears and Dangers free Sufficient to it 's own Felicity Nought here below nought in our Power it needs Ne'er smiles at good ne'er frowns at wicked deeds Now I say to believe such a supreme Being that exists to all Eternity is immortal and infinitely happy in it's own Nature enjoying all things within it self and stands in no need of us nor hath any Cause to fear that is not subject to Pain Anger nor other Passions are undeniable Truths and an Opinion that is Praise-worthy especially in a Heathen Philosopher but when he denies Providence as these Verses do intimate and when he thinks that it is not consisting with the highest Felicity as if God had no particular Care of Men That the Just are to expect nothing from his Goodness nor the Wicked are not to dread his Justice are such Opinions that our Reason and Religion will not permit us to entertain The second Particular relates to Death For as Aristotle observes Death is look'd upon as the most dreadful Evil because none is exempted being unavoidable Therefore Epicurus judges That we ought to accustom our selves to think upon it that we might learn by that means as much as is possible to free our selves from such Fears of Death as might disturb our Tranquility and consequently the Happiness of our Life and for that Reason he endeavours to perswade us that it is so far from being the most dreadful of all Evils that in it self it is no Evil at all And thus he argues Death saith he don't affect us and by consequence in respect of us is not to be judged an Evil for what affects us is attended by some but now Death is the privation of Sense He tells us also with Anaxagoras That as before we were capable of Sense it was not grievous to us to have no Sense so likewise when we shall have lost it we shall not be troubled at the want of it As when we are asleep we are not concerned because we are not awake So when we shall be dead it will not trouble us that we are not living He concludes with Archesilas That Death which is said to be an Evil hath this belonging to it that when it hath been present it hath never troubled any body And that it is through the Weakness of the Mind and the dismal Apprehensions that we have of Death that makes it seem so terrible to us when absent insomuch that some are struck dead with the very Fear of dying We may very well acknowledge That Death is the Privation of our External Sense or of Sense properly so called And Epicurus hath very good Reason to say That in Death there is nothing to be feared that may injure the Sight the Hearing the Smell the Tast or the Sense of Feeling for all these Senses cannot be without the Body and then the Body ceases to be or is dissolved But that which we are not to allow is what he affirms elsewhere That Death is also the Privation or Extinction of the Spirit or Understanding which is an internal Sense a Sense according to his Notion Therefore that we may not be hindred by this Impiety which has been sufficiently refuted in treating of the Immortality of the Soul let us proceed to give a Check to the extraordinary Apprehensions of Death and to those Fears that frequently disturb all the Peace and Quiet of our Life and with a sullen Blackness infect and poison all our most innocent Pleasures as Lucretius saith Those idle Fears That spoil our Lives with Jealousies and Cares Disturb our Joys with dread of Pains beneath And sully them with the black Fears of Death Let us therefore in the first place remember to give a Check to that fond Desire of prolonging our days without bounds Let us I say so remember this frail and infirm Condition of our Nature as not to desire any thing above it's Reach and Capacity Let us calmly and quietly without repining enjoy this Gift of Life whether it be bestowed upon us for a longer or a shorter time It is certain that our Maker may deprive us of it without doing us any wrong Let us thankfully acknowledge his Liberality from whom we have received it and add this to the number of those Benefits which we daily draw from his Bounty Nature favours us for a while with the use of the Prospect of those Enjoyments Be not angry that we must withdraw when the time is expired for we were admitted upon no other Terms but to yield our places to others as our Ancestors have done to us Our Bodies are naturally inclinable to Corruption and the manner of our Nativity renders our Death unavoidable If to be Born is pleasant let not our Dissolution be grievous to us to make use of Seneca's Words If the striving against this Fatality could any ways advantage us we should then perhaps approve of the Endeavours that are made but all our Strugglings are to no purpose we do but add to our pain The number of our Days is so appointed that the time of our Life slides away and is not to be recovered and we run our Race in such a manner that whether we will or not we are brought at last to the end As many Days as we pass over so many are cut off from that Life that Nature hath alotted to us So that Death being the Privation of Life we are dying continually as long as we live and that by a Death that carries not all at once but by degrees one step after another tho' the last is that unto which the Name of Death is assigned So true
which is easily contented Mea quidem sententia invitis hoc nostris popularibus dicam Sancta Epicurum recta praecipere si propius accesseris tristia Voluptatibus enim illa ad parvum exile revocatur quam nos Virtuti Legem dicimus eam ille dicit Voluptati Jubet illam parere Naturae Parum autem est Luxuriae quod Naturae satis est Will you then understand what it is He that saith that the Happiness of Life consists in Idleness in Good Cheer in Ease and Wanton Pleasures and calls that Happiness seeks a good Excuse to an evil Cause and when he comes flattering himself with the softness of the Name he follows not that Pleasure which he hears Praised but that which he brings with him and when once he begins to believe his Vices to be consistent with the Doctrines professed he freely adheres to them no longer disguising and acting them in secret but boldly and openly proclaiming them to the World Thus he concludes I don't say what many don't scruple to affirm That the Sect of Epicurus is the encourager of infamous Crimes and lewd Debaucheries But this is what I say it is ill spoken of I confess but without Cause and this cannot easily be discovered but by more narrowly prying into the very first grounds of their Opinions The meer name of Pleasure occasions the mistake and casts an odium upon it Itaque non dico quod plerique nostrum Sectam Epicuri flagitiorum Magistram esse sed illud dico male audit infamis est immerito neque hoc scire quisquam potest nisi interius fuerit admissus Frons ipsa dat locum Fabulae ad malam spem invitat We may after the Testimony of Seneca bring that of Plutarch who tho' he was an Enemy of Epicurus yet he hath done him so much right as to say That the things that were objected against him rather proceeded from vulgar Mistakes than from the Truth of the matter Besides in another place he merrily cries out upon the Pleasure of Epicurus and his Disciples O the vast Pleasure and Felicity that there is in being insensible either of Sorrow or Pain Elsewhere he saith Tho' Epicurus placeth the Sovereign Happiness in a perfect Rest and as it were in a Center of Quiet c. And in another place That young Persons will learn from Epicurus that Death doth not so much affect us that the Riches of Nature are limited that Felicity and a Happy-Life don't consist in abundance of Silver or in Large Possessions in Dominion or in Power but in a freedom from Pain in the Government of our Passions and in that Disposition of the Mind which confines all things within the limits of Nature From hence it is evident that the chief Happiness of Epicurus is not that Pleasure which is in Motion or in the pleasing of our Senses but rather that which is and appears in Rest in a freedom from trouble We might here farther add the Testimonies of Tertullian of St. Gregory Nazianzen of Ammonius of Stobeus of Suidas of Lactantius and of many others amongst the Ancients who tho' being no entire Friends of Epicurus yet some of them have declared that the Pleasure that Epicurus recommends was nothing else but a peaceable State agreeing with Nature and not a mean and sordid Pleasure Others have said That between Epicurus and Aristippus there was this difference that Aristippus placed the chief Happiness in the Pleasure of the Body but Epicurus in that of the Mind Others That the Pleasure which the Disciples of Epicurus propose to themselves for their End certainly is not a sensual and a Bodily Pleasure but a quiet Temper of the Soul which is inseparable from a Vertuous and an Honest Life Others as Lactantius after he had abated of the warmth of his Stile he saith That Epicurus maintains the chief Happiness to be in the Pleasures of the Mind and Aristippus in that of the Body I speak of the Ancients within these two hundred years that is to say towards the end of the ignorant Ages we have amongst others John Gerson and Gemistus Pletho that speak and verifie the same The first having mentioned divers Opinions concerning Happiness declares that some are of Opinion that Man's Happiness consists in the Pleasures of the Mind or in a peaceable Tranquility of Spirit such as was that of Epicurus mentioned often by Seneca in his Epistles with very much respect But as to the other Epicurus quoth he Aristippus Sardanapalus and Mahomet who placed it in the Pleasures of the Body they were no Philosophers Here we must pardon the ignorance of that Age and the common vogue if he hath imagined that there have been two of that Name The second Named Gemistus Pletho Treating of the Delight of Contemplation shews That Aristotle never taught any other Doctrin than that of Epicurus who placed the Chief Happiness in the Pleasures of the Mind Now it is not without Reason that I have insinuated that since these Men there hath sprung up an Happier and a more Learned Age that have revived Learning that lay almost Languishing for since that time an infinite number of knowing Men are risen up who have entertained better thoughts of that Philosopher as Philelphus Alexander ab Alexandro Volateranus Johannes Franciscus Picus and many more What shall we say then to those who Charge him with a contrary Opinion Nothing else but what hath been spoken in the Apology of his Life namely that the Stoicks who very much hated him for Reasons there expressed at large have not only misunderstood his Opinion but they have also forged and publish'd in his Name scandalous Books whereof they themselves were the Authors that they might the more easily gain credit to their Malicious Insinuations and fasten upon him their Calumnies without suspicion Now one of the Causes of their hatred against him was that Zenon their Principal Leader was naturally melancholy austere rude and severe and his Disciples following their Guide affected the same Air and a severe Meen This hath caused the Vertue of the Stoicks or their Wisdom to be represented as some very austere and reserved thing and in regard that caused them to be admired and respected by the Common-People and that we suffer our selves willingly to be carried away to vain-glory and to be puft up with Pride if we don't take great heed to prevent it they fancied themselves to be the only possessors of Wisdom and therefore they boasted that he alone was the Wiseman whose Soul was strengthned and fortified with the Vertue of the Stoicks that he alone was fit to be a King a Captain a Magistrate a Citizen for such were their Expressions an Orator a Friend Beautiful Noble and Rich. And that such a one never repents is not touch'd with Remorse cannot receive Affronts is ignorant of nothing never doubts of any thing is free from Passion is always at Liberty full of Joy and Content
any Grief either present or to come What State in short can we say is better and more desirable than that Is it not certain that a Man in that condition is in an unshaken Tranquility of Mind That he will not foolishly and childishly fret at the sight of Death but will consider that it is unavoidable On the contrary Suppose another Man tormented with the most exquisite Tortures both of Body and of Mind that a Human Nature is capable of without any hopes of Relief or ease or of any Pleasure either present or to come How can we represent any more Vnhappy than such a one Now if a Life full of Pain is chiefly to be avoided and consequently to live in Pain is without any question the chief of Evils it follows by the Rule of Contraries That to live in Pleasure is the chief Good for there is nothing beyond it where our Mind stops and rests satisfied as there is nothing beyond the pain either of the Body or of the Mind which can shake our Nature or undermine her Settlement I dare not declare saith Cicero whom I should prefer to your pretended Happy Man Vertue shall decide the Controversy and will no doubt prefer Marcus Regulus before him who of his own accord without any Constraint and contrary to the Faith that he had given to the Enemy returned back to his own Country to Carthage Vertue I say shall prefer this famous Man and when he shall be tired and tormented with Watchings and Hunger it will declare that he is happier than Thorius who was drinking deliciously and stretching himself upon a Bed of Roses Regulus had wag'd great War he had been twice Consul and carried in Triumph Yet he looked not upon all this so Great and Glorious As this last Enterprise to which his Faith and Constancy oblig'd him This condition when we hear it describ'd seems to be Miserable to us but to him it was a State of Pleasure and Happiness for it is not always Pleasure Delight Laughter and Sports that cause Happiness but oft times Resolution and Constancy render those Persons Happy who are in the midst of Sufferings and Sorrow Of the deceitful Vertue and deceitful Happiness of Regulus BUt to speak a word of the Examples instanc'd by way of Comparison before we yield to the Eloquence of Cicero Tho we ought not in all respects to approve of Thorius and of his too delicious manner of Living which Epicurus himself would never have allowed Nevertheless it is not easy to conceive how Regulus was really happier than Thorius In truth I perceive a specious Shew and a fine sound of Words by which it is usual to extol this so famous Vertue of Regulus yet if we will seriously examin his Story and weigh sincerely the several Circumstances we shall not find it so Plausible Polybius informs us That Regulus having fortunately Commanded in the War against the Carthaginians and fearing lest another Consul being sent from Rome in his stead should bear away the honour of his brave Exploits he advised the Carthaginians to a Peace But the Conditions that he proposed to their Deputies were so hard that they resolved rather to hazard all They therefore chusing for their General Xantippus the Lacedemonian Encounter'd with Regulus in a Battel got the Victory and took him Prisoner with Five Hundred more with whom he was Flying An undoubted Sign saith the same Polybius of Fortune's Inconstancy and of the little trust we are to put in her flattering Smiles seeing that he who but a little before could not be moved to Pity and had no Compassion of the Afflicted was soon after oblig'd to cast himself at their Feet and to beg his Life Polyaenus adds further That Regulus Swore to the Carthaginians That if they would suffer him to depart he would persuade the Romans to make Peace with them and if he could not he would return back to Carthage But that he advis'd the Senate to the Contrary discovering the Weakness of the Enemy the Means whereby they might Destroy them and that the Prisoners of the Carthaginians were Young and stout Captains whereas he was Decrepid and Old This he Whisper'd saith Appian to the Chief of the Romans His Opinion saith Cicero so much prevailed that they kept back the Prisoners there was no Peace made and he returned to Carthage 'T is true that his Departure was attended with Mournful Circumstances for Horace tells us That at his Return he fix'd his Eyes upon the Ground like a Criminal with a dejected Countenance rudely putting aside his Wife and Children as they were approaching to embrace him with Tears His Wife 's chast Kiss his prattling Boys The former Partners of his Joys Now grown a Slave thrown down by Fate And lessen'd from his former State He shunn'd with manly Modesty And on the Earth he cast his stubborn Eye Whilst thus by strange Advice he sought And fix'd the wavering Senate's Vote Then through his Weeping Friends he ran In haste a glorious Banish'd Man What Cords and Wheels what Racks and Chains What lingring Tortures for his Pains The barbarous Hang-men made he knew And hightning Fame told more than true Yet he his Wife and Boys remov'd His hindring Friends and all he Lov'd And through the Crowd he made his way That wept and begg'd a longer stay As free as if when Term was done And Suit 's at end he left the Town And did from Business and Cares retreat To the cool Pleasures of a Country Seat Nevertheless we must observe what Tuditanus Relates That when he advis'd 'em to make no Exchange of the Prisoners he inform'd 'em That the Carthaginians had given him such a slow Poison that he could only live until the Exchange was made afterwards he was to pine away and Die. We may also take notice of that which is to be found among the Fragments of Diodorus Siculus Now Who will not disapprove the Pride and Vain-glory of Attilius Regulus who not being able to support himself under so great Prosperity which seem'd to him as an heavy Burthen deprived himself of the advantage of a general Applause and brought his own Country into eminent Danger For when he might have concluded an Honourable and Advantageous Peace to the People of Rome and obtain'd the Glory of a remarkable Clemency and Renown he proudly insulted over the Afflicted and required such harsh and unreasonable Terms of Peace that he not only drew upon himself God's Displeasure but mov'd the Conquered to such an implacable Hatred whereby to renew their Courage and venture to fight afresh By his fault the Affairs were chang'd in such a manner that he and his whole Army were Routed Thirty Thousand of 'em being slain in the Field and Fifteen Thousand taken Prisoners with him c. From whence we may surmise That when Regulus considered he could never make sufficient amends for the Fault he had committed and that he would be always look'd upon in Rome as a
on a Man of Understanding as Custom hath over a Man of meaner Parts I need not mention here that it is no new or extraordinary thing for good Men to be clapt up in Prison that there are many whose Virtue never appears more glorious than in Fetters and under Confinement and when they are freed they return with so much Splendor and Advantage that their very Confinement seems to be desired Of Slavery THE same may be said of Slavery The Mind of a wise Man is too great to be brought under the Dominion of a Master His Body the meanest part may indeed be enslaved but for his Soul this noble and excellent part 't is too much at liberty and soars so high that it s out of the reach of any Fellow-Creature to catch at to subject it to his Dominion Every one knows how much Courage and Constancy of Mind Epictetus manifested when he was obliged to be a Servant And none can be Ignorant what answer Diogenes gave to those who came to Buy him and asked him what he could do Said That he knew how to command Men And turning himself immediately to the Crier he bid him cry out If any would buy a Master Afterwards when he came to Xeniades who was the Buyer he spoke to him in this manner Take heed what you do for tho I am your Slave you must hereafter obey me as the Patient obeys the Physician the Child its Governor tho the Physician be Slave to the Patient and the Governor to the Child Moreover whereas the wise Man having long since considered and meditated upon the state of Human Affairs finds that he has not the Command of Fortune but as Unhappiness befals others it may also light upon him He understands likewise that being Born a Man he is subject to â—ll Human Casualties and therefore stands always ready and prepared to receive all the Shocks of Fortune so that there is none but he can with Patience submit to and thereby render it not only tolerable but in some measure Easy and Pleasant If the Master commands he obeys willingly and as if he had undertaken the Task of his own accord it is much at one to him if he does it by another's Command or out of his own Choice He is glad he has Strength sufficient to undergo what is commanded him and an Opportunity offered of exercising a Faculty which otherwise might become benumm'd and useless He thinks himself happier than his Master being only in subjection to his Will and having nothing else to do but obey his Commands whereas his Master remains under the Tyranny of many Masters more Cruel and Troublesome his Ambition Envy Anger and other Passions so that in short he must needs be much the happier being freed from a thousand Cares and Distractions which the other is daily liable to I shall not mention how many have met with very good and favourable Masters under whom at last they have not only obtain'd their Freedom and got great Preferments but have been made Heirs of their Estates and how many having fallen into the Hands of Masters who were wise and learned Men have had cause to desire their Slavery as the Servant of Epicurus named Mus and Cicero's Slave called Tyro and several others Of Shame and Disgrace A Wise Man will still more willingly bear Shame and Disgrace when it is thrown upon him if he be satisfied of his own Innocence and that he has no way justly deserv'd it For whether it consists in being depriv'd of some publick Office Honour or Imployment even for this he may congratulate his good Fortune in having an opportunity of retiring and leading a private and quiet Life which otherwise he could not easily have obtain'd tho perhaps he earnestly desir'd it Or if it consists in the Whisperings and Reports that arise from among the People he hath too great and noble a Soul to value such Rumours He knows the Temper of the Populace to be very mutable that they will this Day applaud what they will to Morrow decry being never long pleased but as we say more fickle and unconstant than the Moon His Conscience stands him instead of a thousand Witnesses his satisfaction is that he cannot justly charge himself with any Crime with any Guilt In short if it consists in the Calumnies and Slanders of envioâ—â—â—â—d malicious Men or in opprobrious and injurious Language he is not of so mean a Spirit as to be cast down and discouraged for he does not take them as Injuries done to himself but gives them only the hearing as if they concerned him not as if they were related of some other or of him who was the first Inventer Therefore he who first unjustly rais'd em has more reason to be concerned for falsly accusing the Innocent nor will he be a little dissatisfied when he finds his mischievous Intention thus disappointed A wise Man further considers the great number of Fools there are in the World and if he should once think himself offended hereat he would be deemed one of that Number which must in no small measure disturb the quiet of his Mind Therefore he Arms himself before-hand against all such kind of Affronts by overlooking them and thinks that he ought no more to be moved at the Revilings of evil Men than the Moon is at the barking of the Dogs Of the loss of Children and Friends BUT what shall we say of the loss of Children and Friends and in one Word of all that is dear to us A wise Man will the less afflict himself because he knows that our Complaints our Sighs our Tears and our Lamentations are useless and that it is in vain to deal thus with Death who is not to be prevailed upon and never restores to us the Friends which it once snatches from us Therefore he prepares himself early for such Accidents which he knows may happen that when they do he may bear them with Courage and not be afflicted in vain Besides he observes That when wâ— are thus griev'd for the loss of our Children or Friends 't is not for their sakes but for our own that we thus lament and are troubled For to be grieved because they are safely arrived into the Haven and are no more vexed with the Evils and Miseries unto which this Life is subject this savours of Envy and Cruelty and to be troubled because they don't enjoy certain Pleasures of this Life is Weak and Ridiculous because they don't desire or stand in the least need of 'em and therefore are not at all displeased or so much as sensible of being deprived of ' em It makes therefore a very specious shew but at the same time is but a feigned and dissembling sort of Pity with which we adorn our Grief when we declare that we are grieved for their sakes seeing that in reality 't is for our own because for the time to come we shall be deprived of their Company because we shall receive no
need of any other Ground but to hinder them from doing Evil or from Transgressing But those who had not so much Ingenuity as to take notice of the importance hereof desisted from Murdering one another meerly out of the fear and apprehension of the grievous Punishments to be inflicted on Offenders which we see still at present to be our Case Between whom Right and Justice takes place AS after all that hath been said it may be questioned among whom Right and the violation of Right and consequently Justice and Injustice which are Opposites take place This in my Judgment is to be understood by comparing Men with other Animals Therefore as there is no kind of Right and Injury of Just or Unjust between the rest of Animals because it was not possible to make any agreement between them that they should do no Mischief to one another So there ought not to be between the Nations which could not or would not make any such Compact to do no wrong one to another For Just or Right the observance whereof is named Justice is only in a mutual Society therefore Justice is the Tie of that Society so that every one of its Members might live in Security and free from the apprehensions of Dangers and Disturbances that a continual fear of being Assaulted or recieving damage may raise in us So that all Animals whether Men or others who cannot or will not enter into a Society and consequently be concerned in such Agreements are deprived of this advantage and have not among themselves any obligation of Right and Justice to make them live in Security So that there remains to them no other means of Security than to prevent one another and to treat them so hardly that they may not have Power to do them any Mischief For this Cause as among those Animals that have agreed upon nothing among themselves if it happens that one injures another one may say that he who does the Evil to the other is Mischievous or hurts the other who is injured but not that it is unjust in this respect or that it does wrong because there is no manner of Right no Agreement no Law precedent to restrain 'em from doing Mischief so among Men who have made no Compact nor are not enter'd into any Society if any treats another rudely or barbarously one may say that he doth him Damage or doth him Mischief but not that he is unjust to him or that he wrongs or injures him because there is no Law to bind him to do no Mischief to such an one But between Men and other Animals can there be any Justice None at all 'T is true That if Men could with other Animals as with Men make Agreements and Contracts not to kill one another we could then between them and us demand Justice for that would tend to a mutual Security but because it cannot be that Animals that are without Reason should be obliged or tied to us by any common Laws therefore we cannot take any more security from the other Animals than from the inanimate Creatures So that to secure our selves there remains for us no other means than to make use of that Power that we have either to kill them or to force them to obey us You may perhaps here by the by ask why we kill those Creatures also which we have no reason to fear I confess we may do this sometimes through Intemperance and Cruelty as by Inhumanity and Barbarity we often abuse such sometimes who are out of our Society and of whom 't is not possible that we should apprehend any danger of Evil. But 't is one thing to offend against Temperance or any of its Species viz. such as Sobriety Gentleness or Humanity and a natural Goodness and another to offend against Justice which supposeth Agreements and Laws Besides of all Animals which are not injurious to humane Race there is no kind but may be so if we suffer 'em to increase and multiply beyond measure As to what at present concerns the pretended savage Life of the first Men 't is not Epicurus who was the first Broacher of this Fancy for the most ancient Poets make mention of it and say That it was Orpheus that sacred Interpreter of the Gods and Amphion the Founder of the City of Thebes who by their sage and eloquent Discourses withdrew those Men from their unsettled and wandring way of Living changing their cruel and barbarous Customs and Manners Orpheus inspir'd by more than Human Power Did not as Poets feign tame savage Beasts But Men as Lawless and as Wild as they And first dissuaded them from Rage and Blood Thus when Amphion Built the Theban Wall They feign'd the Stones obey'd his Magick Lute Cicero himself as if having almost forgotten that he had so highly exalted the dignity of the human Nature declaring it to be altogether Celestial and Divine yet acknowledges That there was a time when Men were wandring like Vagabonds about the Fields in some manner resembling the Brutes That neither Reason Religion Piety nor Humanity were then known among them That they were Strangers to Wedlock and a lawful Issue That they neither used natural nor civil Right That they were in a gross Ignorance and that their unbridled Lust put 'em upon exerting the Powers and Abilities of their Bodies to satiate it self every one possessing more or less according as he was able to take away and keep from another But says he afterward some Men were found to be of a better Temper and more Judgment and Reason than the rest who reflecting on this miserable way of Living and withal considering the tractableness of Mankind were resolved to represent to their Companions how advantageous it would be to joyn together in Societies And by this means by degrees they reclaimed them from their first barbarous manner of Living and reduc'd them to a civil Behaviour who inventing both divine and humane Rights gathered Men into Companies erected Towns and Cities made Laws and afterwards constituted Kings and Governours to check the Insolent and to protect the Feeble and Week against the Stronger Others are of Opinion that the first Age began with the famous Golden Age which was so happy that Men were not then bound up by any Laws nor frighted with the fear of Punishment but lived together innocently having regard to Piety Justice and Equity When Man yet new No Rule but uncorrupted Reason knew And with a native bent did good pursue Vnforc'd by Punishment unaw'd by Fear His Words were simple and his Soul sincere No suppliant Crowds before the Judge appear'd No Court erected yet no Cause was heard But all was safe for Conscience was their Guard Seneca renders it thus according to Posidonius They were not yet Corrupted nor Debauched in their Principles but followed the dictates of Nature which directed and awed them from doing ill In the Choice of their Governour they neither respected his Strength nor outward appearance but his
hurts wilfully that is to say knowing to whom in what manner and how he injures From whence it follows that because 't is one thing to suffer an unjust Act or to receive Damage and another to suffer an injury a Man may willingly suffer an unjust Act but not suffer an injury For that Reason Aristotle observes that we define a Man who doth an injury He who hurts knowing to whom in what manner and how he hurts yet that is not sufficient but we must add this particular Against the Will of him whom he hurts This being supposed in the first place 't is impossible that we should do injury to our selves or that a Man should receive an injury from himself for a Man may do a damage to himself and act against his own advantage but not do an injury because the same Person is both Agent and Patient he acts and suffers willingly But we must nevertheless remember what we have already said and shall have occasion to mention again hereafter That he who wishes Evil to himself as he who desires his own death or kills himself wishes for it not as an Evil he desires not death as it is the destruction of Life but as it is some Advantage that is to say as 't is the end of the Evils from which he desires to be delivered and so he looks upon it as a considerable Benefit It is likewise certain according to that kind of Maxim Volenti non fit injuria that no injury can be done to him who consents and approves of it For as we have already said no man can suffer an injury but against his Will because as the injury is in it self an Evil it cannot be look'd upon as Good or the cause of any Good 'T is true it may be a Crime in him who takes the Goods of another though this other by mistake may seem to be consenting to it as for Example If he be frightned into a Consent under some pretence if he be deluded into it by fair Promises if he be flatter'd into it by Craft if he works upon his Weakness or the easiness of his Temper or if he conceals from him the true Value of the thing without afterward informing him of his Error and so of the rest but as for him who knowingly and willingly gives away his Goods consents that they may be taken this Man cannot be judged to receive an injury but a damage But since both doing and suffering injury is an Evil if you inquire which of the two is the worst Aristotle will readily resolve you that it is in doing an injury for that cannot be done without Injustice Therefore Plato gives us this Advice That we should be more careful to avoid doing an injury than suffering it Besides tho' he who receives any damage tho' he receives it not against his Will he who doth the mischief or wrong if he designs to do an injury is not in such a case excusable because it was not for want of his Will that the damage did not prove an injury Seneca explains this matter very well It may happen saith he that a Man may offer me an injury and that I may not receive it as if any one should put into my House what he had taken out of my Farm he had been guilty of a Theft and yet I may have lost nothing thereby If any one lies with his own Wife and believes her to be the Wife of another he is an Adulterer though the Woman be not Some body hath given me Poison but as it happens to be mixed with other Ingredients it hath lost its Operation he who hath administred the Poison is a Murderer though no mischief is done by it All designed Crimes are in respect of the Sin done and effected before the act is accomplished CHAP. IX Of the Virtues which accompany Justice namely of Religion of Piety of Observance Love Bounty Liberality Gratitude And first of Religion THere are two main Causes or Reasons why God ought to be Worship'd and Ador'd the First is the supreme excellency of his Nature the Second his Bounty to us First they who stile him most Good and most Great Optimum Maximum had doubtless these two Reasons in view because as he is most Good he is the most liberal and sovereign Benefactor and as he is most Great he is supremly Excellent So that we may very well approve of Epicurus's Maxim and say That God ought to be Honoured purely for himself without any further Expectation but only because of his supreme Majesty and of his sovereign Nature for that that is most Excellent deserves to be Reverenced and Honoured But yet with him to acknowledge no other Cause and notwithstanding to disown his Bounty is what cannot be too much blamed for as Seneca tells him very well Thou dost not acknowledge the Favours and Blessings of God but supposest that as it were at a far Distance and out of the noise of the Affairs of the World he enjoys a profound Rest and interrupted Felicity without being concerned for the good Deeds of Men any more than for the evil He who teacheth this Doctrin does not consider the Sighs and ardent Desires of those who pray from all parts of the World and with Hands lifted up towards Heaven make Vows either publick or private which certainly would not easily be nor is it easily to be suppos'd that the generality of Mankind would of their own accord fall into such a stupid Madness as to address themselves to deaf and senseless Divinities to no purpose They ought to have understood that the Gods sometimes deny and sometimes grant our Requests out of their bountiful Goodness and that often they assist us so powerfully and so seasonably that they divert the great Mischiefs and Calamities that threatned us Where is that Man so miserable so forsaken and under such unhappy Circumstances who hath not at some time experienced this great Bounty and Liberality of the Gods If you look upon them who lament and grieve for their ill Fortune and tire themselves in complaining you will meet with none but Heaven hath bestowed upon him some Favours some Drops of that large Fountain of Goodness have fallen upon him Ay but God saith he does us no Good From whence then comes all those things that thou possessest that thou bestowest that thou refusest that thou keepest and that thou receivest From whence proceed that vast number of grateful Objects that delight thine Eyes thine Ears and thy Mind He hath not only provided things needful his Love hath proceeded farther to furnish us with things Pleasant and Delightful with many pleasant Fruits wholesome Herbs and nourishing Meats for Food which succeed one another according to their Seasons The most careless ever and anon stumble upon some of 'em without labour or toil 'T is God who hath created for us all the several sorts of Creatures either upon the Earth or in the Waters or in the Air that
leave to bury his Father sold himself purchasing that Liberty with the loss of his own The Second Duty is to comply with their Wills and be obedient to their Commands for that is the chief part of the Respect and Reverence that we owe them and on the contrary to be Disobedient is a sign of Disrespect and Contempt I confess we are not bound to obey them when they command any thing against God against the welfare of our Country and contrary to Right and Justice but 't is very seldom that Fathers or Mothers lay any such Commands on their Children Nor ought a Child rashly and inconsiderately to make an uncharitable Construction of his Father's Commands but if for plain and convincing Reasons he finds himself forced to disobey him this ought to be done with such respect and Deference as becomes him From hence it follows that Children should undertake nothing of moment against their Wills but in all Matters of the greatest Concern such as Matrimony c. they should be directed by 'em for as it is supposed they best understand so likewise they most desire their Childrens Welfare and Happiness We must also conclude from hence that if there be any thing in the Behaviour of Parents to their Children that savours of Austerity or hard Usage they ought to undergo it patiently and to be so far from aggravating or complaining of it as not to endure their Names to be reproached or ill spoken of by others The Third Duty is to help them in all their Necessities and to remember the Cares Pains and Trouble which we gave them in our Infancy and in the following course of our Life and not to forget that excellent Sentence of Aristotle That there is more Honour and greatness of Mind to think upon the Authors of our Being than upon our selves and that we are bound to Honour them as we do the immortal Gods Let us remember the Divine Commandment which promiseth a long and happy Life to Children who shall Honour their Fathers and Mothers Honora Patrem Matrem si vis esse longaevus super terram Which we may call a Commandment and a moral Precept proper to all Ages Senes Parentes nutriens diu vives 'T is not improper here to mention a Word of that Piety and Love we owe to our Country which doubtless ought to be yet dearer to us than our Parents themselves We cannot excuse our selves from speaking of it and the rather because we have already taken notice that it is even lawful to accuse our Parents themselves where they have been found guilty of betraying our Country or endeavouring to invade it and become Conquerours of it when all our Prayers and Intreaties to desist from such a wicked Purpose prove ineffectual and we cannot persuade them to right Reason 'T is not without just Cause doubtless that we have mentioned and maintain this Opinion for as the Love that we bear for our Country is named Piety because our Country is as the common Mother that brings us forth nourisheth and maintains us 't is plain that our Country which is as the Parent of our Fathers and Mothers of all our Relations and Friends ought to be dearer to us than all the rest 'T is what Cicero proves very well Can there be any Parentage nearer to us than our Country in which all Parents are comprehended If our Fathers our Mothers our Children our Relations and Friends are dear to us how much more should our Country be dearer which contains them all Is there any honest Man that ought not to venture his Life for his Country if he can render to it thereby any Service Is there any Evil more abominable than to destroy it or to endeavour to ruin it as some have attempted to do Of Observance or Respect THE Third Virtue that belongs to Justice is that which Cicero calls Observance by which we are inclined to reverence and respect those who are raised above us in Dignity exceed us in Age or excel us in Wisdom For as Dignity or Beneficence are the occasion of Reverence and Honour and that those who are promoted to Dignities are deemed worthy and seem as it were born and designed for the publick Good either by governing or conducting the People or by composing their Differences and Sutes or by defending them from the Enemy or by procuring the publick Safety or Plenty by this 't is certain that we ought to Honour and Respect them and the rather because if this were not performed there would be no body to take upon 'em the necessary Cares and Troubles of managing the publick Concerns which would be at length the cause of confusion and disorder which in this case by paying a due deference and respect may in a great measure be prevented 'T is unquestionable also that old Age is of it self Venerable because it hath the experience of Things and consequently hath that Prudence that it is able to advise young People and direct 'em for their good Young Folk saith Sopater in Stobaeus ought to Honour them who are their Elders make choice of the honestest and most experienced follow their Counsel and rely upon their Authority 'T is for this Cause that the great Captain of the Greeks had always a greater respect for Nestor than for the rest and rather wished to find out Ten like Nestor than like Ajax But old Age will be so much the more worthy of Honour and Veneration when it shall not only be adorn'd with gray Hairs but with Wisdom and Prudence when it is able to afford good Advice and that it is become commendable by its Virtues and by its good Deeds Lastly It is manifest that we ought to have Respect and Veneration for those who are Wise or Virtuous seeing that Wisdom or Virtue is the true and solid Foundation of all Honour that is rendered Indeed Virtue alone as they say is its own sufficient Reward But tho those who are Virtuous seek not to draw from thence Honour and Respect yet they who know them to be such are obliged to pay this Deference to 'em otherwise they would not do Right and Justice to their Merits and give a due estimate to that which of all Things in the World is the most valuable Potior est illa Argento Auroque purissimo This the wise Man ascribes to Virtue 't is of more worth than Gold and the finest Silver 't is more precious than all the Pearls and Jewels yea than all that is desirable There is nothing to be compared with it Of Friendship WE cannot but say something of Friendship unto which such are obliged who are reciprocally beloved Of all the things saith Cicero according to Epicurus which tend toward the making our Lives happy there is nothing more considerable and advantageous than Friendship For indeed there is nothing in the Life of a wise Man more pleasing than when like a Philosopher he may say to a Friend of whose Sincerity he is
' em What Pleasure can there be in Life when Friendship is banished and what Friendship can there be among the Ungrateful This being granted we must consequently suppose Gratitude to be our chief Duty For tho he who gives pretends to nothing else than giving nevertheless he seems to expect that he who is thereby obliged should acknowledge the Favour and if he don't he will be unjust In Truth tho the Donor expects no reward yet he who receives the Kindness is not therefore free from the Ingagement that lies upon him to recompense his Benefactor by all good Offices Certainly if Hesiod will have us return as we say with Usury the Things that have only been lent us for a time With how much greater Reason saith Cicero ought we to be thankful when we have received more signal Obligations Ought we not to imitate those fruitful Fields that return much more than they receive And if we are Officious to them from whom we expect good Deeds how much more ought we to be to them who have already been kind to us and obliged us There are two sorts of Liberality the one is to give the other to restore 't is in our Power to give or not to give but not to restore is a thing not to be allowed of in an honest Man But suppose a Person is incapable you 'l say Seneca answers That he who is willing to return a good Deed does in effect do it for his good Will is a sufficient discharge of his Obligation He saith moreover That they who are obliged may not only equal but also surpass in good Will and Generosity those who give we may reward also the greatest Princes Lords and Kings either by affording to them faithful Counsel or by a constant attendance and by a pleasing Converse free from Flattery and yet delightful or by a serious Attention to what they propose when they consult about difficult Affairs or by a constant Fidelity when they intrust any Secret Propose the richest and the happiest Man in the World I will tell you what he wants viz. a cordial Friend to whom he may impart his most secret Thoughts Don't you perceive how great Men by confining the liberty of those who attend 'em and limiting their Trust to certain slavish Offices lose and cast themselves away because no Body about 'em dares freely impart their Thoughts either to incline them to what is for their advantage or to persuade them from what tends to their hurt There is no Mischief nor Calamity but they are liable to from the very Moment that they are barr'd from hearing the Truth You may ask What good you can do to a prosperous Person Persuade him not to trust to his Prosperity Will it not be a good Office that you do him when you shall cause him to quit this foolish Confidence and let him see that this Power that he has may not always continue the same And that the Things that Fortune bestows are flitting and inconstant oftner flying away faster than they come You don't understand the value and true worth of Friendship if you don't perceive that in bestowing a Friend you bestow the most excellent Gift the World can afford and who is never more useful and necessary than where all Things are in great plenty and abundance But not to insist longer upon this Aristotle offers two or three Questions upon this Point First Whether Beneficence is to be esteemed or valued according to the advantage of him who receives or according to the Liberality of him who bestows it He Answers That in the Kindnesses that are done for advantage and which are grounded upon Profit these are to be valued by the advantage of him who receives 'em because he is in want and he who does them performs 'em but upon Condition to have the same returned But in Friendships and Kindnesses that are established upon Virtue we must measure or compute the good Deed by the good Will of the Donor because where Virtue is concerned the intention is chiefly to be considered therefore whether any gives much or little the Gift or Kindness is to be esteem'd great for the great Affection or extraordinary good Will of the Party giving The Second Question Why those who give have a greater affection for the Party they give to than the other hath for the giver To this he Answers That the cause is not as some suppose for that the Donor is as the Creditor and the other as the Debtor and because the Debtor wishes for the Death of the Creditor but the Creditor the Life and Health of the Debtor but because the Benefactor is as the Artificer who loves more his own Works than they should be otherwise beloved again if they were alive which is to be seen among Poets who love the Offspring of their Brain as tenderly as the Offspring of their Body And they who receive a good Deed are as it were the handy Work of him who gives The Third Why there is no Law to indite an ungrateful Person This Crime says he which is universal is truly punished by none tho disapproved by all But as the valuation of an uncertain Thing would be very difficult we have only condemned it to an universal dislike and hatred leaving it among those Things which we have referred to the Justice and Vengeance of the Gods Besides 't is not convenient that all ungrateful Persons should be known lest the vast number of those who are stained with this Vice should lessen the Shame of the Crime and lastly 't is no small Punishment that an ungrateful Person dares not desire a good turn from another whom he has disobliged and that he is taken notice of and condemn'd by all the World As to what remains to be treated of here concerning Affability sweetness of Temper Civility and such like Virtues they may be sufficiently understood by what hath been mentioned already about Gentleness and Mildness We shall finish this Treatise with a Passage out of Seneca which contains the Sum of all moral Duties What do we do saith he what Precepts do we enjoyn What a small matter is this not to hurt him whom we ought to serve This is a worthy business indeed for a Man to be kind and loving to his Fellow-Creature Shall we make Laws for a Man to hold out his helping Hand to one Shipwreckt and ready to sink or to direct him that is wandring and hath lost his Way or to divide our Bread to him that perisheth for Hunger To what purpose is it to reckon at large what is to be done seeing I can comprehend the whole Duties of Mankind in few Words This great All which thou seest and which contains all Things divine and human is but One we are the Members of this great Body Nature hath made us all Related and a Kin by bringing us forth from the same Principles and of the same Elements 'T is Nature hath given us a mutual Affection
knows Things well and hath a just estimate for them such as they may deserve cannot forbear Qui fieri possit ut qui de rebus recte aestimat incontinens sitâ— For 't is not without cause that Socrates said That it is not possible that in him who hath Knowledge any other thing should bear sway contrary to that Knowledge and so it is impossible but that he who knows and values Things as he ought should do that which is best to be done because if he acts otherwise this proceeds from Ignorance From whence it seems that that common Saying is taken and used in answer to the Words of Medea viz. Every Man that Sins is Ignorant Omnis peccans est Ignorans To resolve the Doubt and answer the Question Aristotle makes a good distinction For saith he we may know Things either habitually or actually Habitu aut actu For a Man may have a Knowledge that he makes no use of as when his Mind is employed about other Things than what he knows if he be asleep in a Passion or in Drink and he may have such a Knowledge which he exerciseth as when his Mind is busy about what he understands Now if a Man saith he knows a Thing actually and hath his Mind fixed on the Thing he knows and that his Thoughts are not otherwise at that time diverted it is impossible that he should act any thing contrary to his Knowledge and consequently when he percieves the excellency of Virtue for example and the folly of Vice that he should forsake Virtue and follow Vice But if he knows any Thing only habitually or if he makes no use of his Knowledge in such a case he is in the same Condition as if he had no Knowledge at all or were Ignorant of the Thing and then he may do Things contrary to his Knowledge and thus tho he knows habitually how beautiful Virtue is and how abominable and filthy Vice yet that hinders him not from neglecting Virtue and embracing Vice But you may say Doth it not often happen that he who Sins really sees and considers the beauty of that Virtue which he slights and the filthiness of that Vice which he pursues Aristotle answers That such a Man is like one full of Wine who by a certain Custom repeats some Verses out of Empedocles or like Children that read what they understand not or but very little or like Stage-Players that represent Persons unto whom they are not like for in every one that Sins there ariseth a Passion either of Lust or Anger or Ambition or Covetousness that disturbs and disorders the Mind and Knowledge in such a manner that all the good that there is in Virtue and all the evil that is in Vice is obscured and covered over with a kind of Mist so that 't is hid or scarce appears whereas all that is Evil that is to say Painful in Virtue and all that is Good that is to say Grateful in Vice is discovered and appears clear as at noon Day By this means what is good in Virtue works but feebly upon him who is viciously inclined and the evil which is in Vice does but faintly displease him who is virtuous Thus a Man that Sins may very truly say that he perceives and sees the Things that he quits are better and what he chuses are worse for that at another time according to the Habit which makes him remember but confusedly and lightly yet he was sometimes of another Opinion But yet at that very time that he Sins he cannot say so for then he holds for best what he embraces and that for worse which he leaves So that if he should say that he approves then as best the Things that he had formerly approved of he would tell an apparent untruth and would contradict himself for he certainly approves and allows as best the Things that he then pursues And tho he does this not without some kind of remorse and displeasure yet that proceeds doubtless from a Sense of the loss of some advantage thereby or of drawing upon himself some Evil. But that which nevertheless shews that this displeasure is inconsiderable in comparison of the pleasure that prevails upon him is that he does not seriously but only lightly consider the loss of the Good and the purchase of the Evil. This is so much the more easily to be understood if the Punishment the Pain the Shame and the other Evils which he neither sees nor perceives nor fears but only lightly and confusedly were more seriously and plainly considered not as at a distance or absent or to come or doubtful but ready to fall upon his Head present and certain and as if they were immediately to succeed and follow the wicked Action at the Heels he would certainly then forbear and desist from doing it and would not perish in the Vice Again tho he that Sins and chuses the worst should say that he sees and approves the best nevertheless the want of consideration or his inadvertency which hinders him from seeing or considering all the Circumstances that are in the Thing or from seeing them as they ought to be and should be is Ignorance For this Reason he that Sins is said to be Ignorant for he would not Sin if he were not so and acted in that manner We must nevertheless consider that he ought not therefore to think himself excusable when he acts ignorantly because he follows after that which appears to him Good and because 't is not in his Power to hinder it from appearing in that manner to him under a pretence that we are not the causes of the appearance of Things For tho among the common excuses for Sins Men are wont to reckon Ignorance yet that Ignorance is or ought to be a simple absolute and invincible Ignorance such as was for Example that of Cephalus when he kill'd Procris who was lurking among Brambles and Thorns I say when he kill'd Procris whom he took for a wild Beast and could not imagin that it was his dear Wife Whereas that Ignorance that is here pretended proceeds from neglect and a want of due Care and Consideration as Aristotle tells us Per incuriam negligentiamve paritur and for that reason is named a gross and willful Ignorance Affectata supina For he that Sins is ignorant either because he is himself the real cause of his Ignorance or because he never troubles himself nor endeavours to know more that is to say because he does not take sufficient care to consider every thing as he ought A drunken Man saith Aristotle is Ignorant according to the first Case for he himself is the cause of his Ignorance and of his Drunkenness and 't was in his Power not to be Drunk and so not to be Ignorant of what he doth therefore saith he this Ignorance dont excuse him but on the contrary it deserves a double Punishment First Because he made himself Drunk Secondly For Sinning when he was Drunk The
attends those who do not greatly seek it and as often flies from those who eagerly pursue and hunt after it So true is it saith he further That there is some secret hidden Power that over-rules human Affairs and seems to delight and sport it self with over-turning Crowns and Dignities and trampling 'em under Feet Vsque adeo res humanas vis abdita quaedam Obterit pulchros fasces saevasque secures Proculcare ludibrio sibi habere videtur Of Destiny AS to what concerns Destiny Homer speaks more plainly of it than of Fortune for he makes Hector say That if the Destinies don't appoint nor order it nothing is able to take away his Life beside but no Man can avoid his Destiny Nam nisi Fata vocent nemo me mittat ad Orcum At Fatum vitat nemo mihi crede virorum Now tho' Cicero fancies that Fate and Destiny is but a foolish idle and superstitious Name Anilis plenum superstitionis fati nomen and Epicurus That 't is only a fantastical Name and that nothing is done by Destiny Nevertheless as there have always been Maintainers of Destiny some taking it in one sense others in another we must here endeavour to understand the several Opinions into which they have been divided Among these Opinions there are two Principal for some will have Destiny to be Divine others a meer Natural thing The First were the Disciples of Plato and the Stoicks according to whose Opinion Plutarch Chalcidius and some others look upon Destiny or Fate in two manners First As a Substance which they took for God himself or for that eternal Reason which from all Eternity hath ordered all things and hath so joined all Causes both Superior and Inferior together that all that happens either Good or Evil happens persuant to these Causes They bestowed several Names upon this Divine Substance or Reason for sometimes they termed it as Plato The Soul of the World The Reason and the eternal Law of the Nature of the Vniverse And sometimes as Zeno and Chrysippus The moving Virtue of Matter a spiritual Virtue and the Reason of the Order that Governs and Rules all Things Sometimes God Jupiter Understanding or Intellect as Aristotle and Seneca And sometimes with Heraclitus The Reason that penetrates into all Things And sometimes as Pythagoras The governing and ruling Cause of all Things both Vniversal and Particular Secondly As an Act namely in part for the Decree it self or for the Command by which God hath established and ordained all things and partly for the Order it self that Consequence and Concatenation of Causes at first appointed in which it pursues its course without varying in the least from the Rules and Methods at first prescribed For thus they spoke of it when they called Destiny The Law of Nature The Companion of the Whole The Daughter of Necessity The Order that includes and comprehends all other Orders Or as Chrysippus saith A certain eternal and immutable sequel of Things c. Sempiterna quaedam indeclinabilis series rerum catena volvens semetipsa sese implicans per aeternos consequentiae ordines in quibus apta connexaque est To which Lucan seems to allude in these two Verses At simul à prima descendit origine Mundi Causarum series atque omnia Fata laborant And Hesiod when he speaks distinctly of the three Parcae which Spin the Life of Man the first is named Atropos because the Time past is irrecoverable which is as the Thread spun and wound in the Spindle The second is called Clotho because of the Time present that runs which is as the Thread in the hand of her who Spins The third is Lachesis because of the Time to come or the hazard which is as the Wool or Flax that is not yet twisted Lachesis in Plato is said to govern the Time past Clotho the present Atropos the future That which is added of Lachesis that she receives the celestial Actions of the two other Sisters that she joyns them together and that she distributes them here below upon the Earth shews the Opinion of the Astrologers who bind the Fate of Mankind to the Stars and make it to depend upon them and come from them according to Manilius Fata quoque vitas hominum suspendit ab Astris An Opinion among the Astrologers more certain than that of the Sybils and the Oracles which were said to utter forth the Destinies For to hear them speak they seem to be no less acquainted with the Designs and Decrees of Heaven than the Oaks which Plato tells us came forth from Voices of the Enchantresses as Virgil observes Quam comitabantur fatalia carmina quercus Moreover as the Disciples of Plato the Stoicks and the other Patrons of Destiny seem consequently to defend Necessity which Seneca stiles a Necessity of all Things and of every Action which no Violence can break or alter For the Destinies saith he exercise their Right and their absolute and uncontrolable Power without favouring any and without being moved either with Prayers or Compassion they observe their fatal course appointed and irrevocable like as the swift and furious downfal of the Waters from some steep Places which neither go back nor stop for those Waters which follow but continually thrust down the first thus the constant sequel of Destiny makes the order of Things under this first and eternal Law to submit to the irrevocable Decree As therefore they seem to maintain I say a Necessity which altogether destroys the Liberty of human Actions and leaves nothing in our Free-will for that reason these Objections are opposed proceeding from the Inconveniences that will ensue The Chief of these Inconveniences is That if our Souls as they are placed and ranked in the sequel of Things be governed by the Destinies and being deprived of all Libery they act always out of an immutable and unavoidable Necessity the Liberty and ordinary Conduct of the Affairs of human Life fails and all Consultations are useless for whatever you resolve upon there shall nothing happen but what hath been decreed by the Destinies Thus Prudence will become idle and needless the study of Wisdom frivolous Legislators and Tyrants will be equally ridiculous because they command things that we must unavoidably do or what we can by no means perform So that there will be neither Vice nor Virtue nor any thing that will deserve either Praise or Blame seeing that they alone are reputed worthy of Praise who might do ill but behave themselves well and those worthy of Blame who might do well but behave themselves ill In this case no body will deserve Reward for any good Deeds as no body will deserve Punishment for any bad because the first cannot but act well and the latter hath not the Power to forbear and abstain from what is ill Finally if all things proceeded from an unavoidable Necessity in vain should we offer up our Prayers our Vows and Sacrifices c. 'T is
Matters and is if we may so say altogether in its own Power which happens as they say chiefly in Dreams or when we are ready to die and when it begins to free it self from the Clog of the Body for these be the very Words of Plato cited by Cicero Plato therefore appoints us to prepare and dispose in such a manner our Bodies for sleep that there may be nothing to cause a mistake or disturbance for this cause the Disciples of Pythagoras were forbidden to eat Beans because this Food causeth the the Stomach to swell and begets Wind and Vapors that disturb the Tranquility of the Mind when therefore in our sleep the Spirit is disengaged from these hindrances of the Body it calls to Mind the time past sees the present and foresees the time to come for the Body of a sleeping Person is like that of a dead Man but his Spirit is living and in its full Vigour But not to stay here to refute this Persuasion because 't is a meer Fable to say that our Souls are the Particles of the Divine Substance and that there are some who can Prophecy in their Madness in their Melancholy or in their Sleep Let us only conclude with Cicero's Words That 't is very absurd to believe that God sends Dreams for that they are incident not only to Men of Sense and Honour and Wisdom but even to Men of meanest and lowest Degree Of the Oracles LAstly for the Oracles and those Predictions that are ascribed to the Sybils and to the Prophets when they were possess'd with a divine Fury that disturb'd them caused their Colour and Countenance to change their Head and Breast to swell in such a manner that they were quite out of breath and as it were ready to expire as Virgil excellently represents it Thus while she laid And shivering at the sacred Entrance staid Her Colour chang'd her Face was not the same And hollow Groans from her deep Spirit came Her Hair stood up convulsive Rage possess'd Her trembling Limbs and heav'd her labouring Breast Greater than Human Kind she seem'd to look And with an Accent more than Mortal spoke Her staring Eyes with sparkling Fury roul When all the Gods came rushing on her Soul I shall not say that this kind of Fury seems not becoming the Divine Majesty and therefore Cicero hath great cause to speak of it in these words What Reason or Authority can you produce for this Divine Fury Can it be suppos'd that what a wise Man cannot foresee a Fool or a Man depriv'd of his Senses should be able to discover I shall only observe some Particulars that will discover to us the Vanity and Folly of the thing The first is the affectation of delivering their Oracles in Verse and not in Prose We have already observed that the Disciples of Epicurus made but a sport of those Verses as being ridiculous and unworthy of the Divinity In this manner Cicero speaks of them These Verses which they say the Sybil in her fury made and pronouc'd savour more of Cunning and Subtilty than of Transport and Disturbance of Mind for the Author who compos'd them hath artificially contrived that whatsoever happen'd it will seem to be thereby foretold for they express nothing precisely nor plainly neither of Men nor Times but have designedly made them obscure that they might seem at another time to be fit for other purposes all which does not denote a Person in furious Transports but one who is sensible and cautious of what he doth or saith The Second particular is this Amphibologia or manner of delivering these Oracles with a double Signification which Savours of a Subtilty that is no greater than what belongs to Man Besides among many of those who are most Famous there are several that are forged and invented meerly for Pleasure For Example in relation to these Craesus the Halys passing shall destroy A mighty Mass of Wealth Pyrrhus thy Force the Romans shall destroy Cicero informs us that the First was never given to Croesus and that Herodotus may have invented it of his own Head as Ennius contrived the latter And especially as to the latter for that it was certainly forged at pleasure and that it was never delivered to Pyrrhus because Apollo never spoke in Latin and that in the Days of Pyrrhus Apollo had left off making Verses The third particular is the Juggling or Forgeries related at large by Eusebius which prove that the Oracles were never delivered by the Gods or by the Demons but that they were contrived by cunning Knaves Cheats and Impostors as Lucian very well observed when he tells us by what means he himself discovered all the Subtilty by which the false Prophet Alexander had made himself so famous in the Oracle He saith moreover that this false Prophet hated very much the Christians and the Epicureans because they maintained that the Oracles were nothing but meer Lies In this manner Eusebius speaks of them They have among them Promoters and Ministers of their Cheats and Tricks who walk up and down and round about to inquire diligently and ask those who came for what purpose and upon what occasion every one comes to consult the Oracle They have in their Temples a great many dark Corners and Places to retreat and hide where the People are not to enter and where they place themselves to hear what is spoken without being seen So that the Darkness of the place the Precaution the Superstition of those that come and the Authority of the Ancients who have believed in these Oracles are of great use to 'em We might add also the Folly and Stupidity of the People who never try nor examin things and the Dexterity the Cunning and Subtilty of those who manage the Business and who promise to every one pleasing Things and entertain all the World with fair Hopes c. He relates afterwards their ambiguous manner of speaking their unusual and barbarous Words and the affected composure of their Expressions how often the Oracles have been proved guilty of Falshood and how often those who by their Advice have undertaken Wars and have met with very ill Success how many Persons they have deluded unto whom they promised Health and Prosperity And after his Conclusion from hence that they were no Gods but Impostors who uttered these Oracles he continues and goes on thus But why do you think it is that they thus court Strangers and give them such great Encouragments more than the Inhabitants of the Place who are their Friends or Fellow-Citizens unto whom they should consequently endeavour to render the Gods more Propitious than to others who are no ways related to them The Reason is plain for it is much more easy to deceive Strangers who understand not their Jugglings than Neighbours who are acquainted with all their slights and cunning This shews sufficiently that there is nothing here Divine nothing that is above the Reach and Contrivance of Man Afterwards he reckons