of the publick Liberty and the Infamy of Servitude would not permit this generous Person to deliberate Whether he ought to chuse the Pain of dying gloriously to avoid the Pleasure of living after a manner which to him seem'd unworthy of a Roman It was this Maxim that obliged Regulus to deliver himself into the hands of his Enemies where the cruelty of his Executioners was less sensible to him than the remorse for having broke his word would have been It was this Maxim which as it made Fabricius despise the Treasures of the King of Epirus so it made him despise those evil desires which attend the possession of Riches to preserve the repose of his Mind and the chief Pleasure In fine it was this Maxim which compell'd Cicero to declaim against Anthony and to devote himself for the preservation of the Republick at a time when he might have lived peaceably at his own House and enjoyed all the ease of Life and the diversions of Study There is nothing commendable in the World which cannot be reduced to this Maxim and whatever Heroick Actions these great Men have done you will find that if they chose one Pain it was to avoid a greater and on the other hand if they have not practised certain Pleasures it was only to acquire by this abstinence others that were more satisfactory and solid For to what other cause can you assign their illustrious Actions Do you imagine that they parted out of this World with so much Indifference That they rejected the possession of Gold That they drew dangerous Enemies upon their Heads and did not at the same time think that what they did was either for their Profit or Pleasure Don't let us do them this Injustice Don't let us impute the effects of their Wisdom to the efforts of their irregular Minds Let us believe that in all these things they acted with Deliberation and let us not represent them in a worse Condition than the most savage Animals which are never so strangely transported but that we may easily to conclude whither the impetuosity of their Motion tends Cato parted with his Life it was become a Burthen to him He found much less Pain to quit the World than to submit to Cesar whom he did not believe to be an honest Man and much more Pleasure in not Living at all than in Living under an ignominious Servitude Regulus returned back to Carthage had he not done so he had been accused of Perfidiousness Fabricius could not be corrupted by Pyrrhus in this he testified his Integrity he served his Country and with the bare pleasure of refusing Riches satisfied himself infinitely more than if he accepted them In short Cicero publickly reproached Antony and declared himself his capital Enemy If he had no reason to do so he deserves indeed to be blamed but if he designed to establish the tranquillity of the Republick though it were at the expence of his own if he endeavoured to ruin Anthony that he might save Rome besides that by this Conduct he contributed to the Safety of his Fellow Citizens wherein his own was in a manner wrapt up so much more did he deserve the praises of all the World and the love of the Roman People These great Men in Truth of History were not of the Family of Epicurus nay one of them in some of his Writings has attempted to confute his Opinions but 't is sufficient that the Authority of their Examples is to be found in the Doctrine of this Philosopher and that the World should be informed that Virtue alone was not their chief Motive or at least that what they call Virtue ought to be named Pleasure Not but that several Persons of the greatest Bravery have been bred up in this School who in a degenerate corrupt Age have done Actions full as vigorous and noble as those of the antient Romans in the most Flourishing days of their Republick Under Nero's Empire the World no less admired the Death of Petronius than they had done that of Seneca The Emperour's Tutor did not purchase any Glory by dying which his Master of the Revels did not afterwards acquire And the common opinion was That this Stoick who had all along preached up a contempt of Life did not quit it more generously than Petronius who studied all the Pleasures of it I am obliged for the honour of Epicarus to enlarge somewhat upon the Life and Death of this Courtier who was one of his greatest Disciples and it will be impossible for me to handle this Subject without giving you a sensible Entertainment Since you are not at this time of day to be made acquainted with the Qualities of illustrious Men I am sure you will not be unwilling to allow Petronius a place in this number and to observe en passant the marks of his Generosity and Wisdom This famous Epicurean far from resembling our modern Debauchees that eat and drink away their Estates made profession of a cultivated polite Luxury and minded nothing but refined Pleasures And as Industry and Diligence give a Reputation to the rest of Mankind he was the only Person in the World that acquir'd it by his ease and sitting still His Words and Actions were very free and negligent and as they show'd the candor and sweetness of his Temper and carried an air of Simplicity they were always received with a great deal of Satisfaction and Delight Nevertheless this excellent Man very well knowing that there is a time when a wise Man ought to quit the repose and tranquillity of his Life to serve the Publick abandon'd this happy way of Living when he was elected Proconsul of Bithynia and afterwards Consul and by acquitting himself worthily in these illustrious Employs he demonstrated by his vigour and by his conduct that he was capable of managing the greatest Affairs At his leaving these Offices he betook himself to his old way of Living and afterwards happening to become one of Nero's greatest Friends although this Prince had none but vitious Inclinations yet he was so strongly enchanted by his merit that he made him the Arbitrator or Comptroller of all his Pleasures and believed that amidst all his Affluence and Plenty he ought not to esteem any thing as sweet and agreeable unless Petronius first approved it I speak here only of Lawful Pleasures and Virtuous Delights for our Epicurean was so far from having any Share in Nero's brutal Excesses that this Prince was in a strange Confusion when he knew they were arrived to the knowledg of Petronius who reproached him with them in some Writings and caused Silia to be punished because he suspected that she had revealed them to him From that moment Tigellinus looked upon him as his Competitor and fearing least by the means of this wise and honest Pleasure whereof he made Profession he might effect what Seneca could not by the Authority of his Sect that is recal Nero from the disorders of his Life he resolved to destroy him
foolish Action in endeavouring to set himself at rights with his Mistress He knows she 's a Coquette and that himself is miserable This gives him disturbance this makes him uneasie But to what purpose he does not amend his Condition He still suffers his love to controll him and at that very instant when he sees himself ready to perish at that very instant he perishes deliberately 'T is certain that Phaedria does not want Wisdom he only want Temperance He knows well enough what measures he ought to take to be at ease but does not put them in execution He sees what is best for himself and approves it but for all that follows what is worse Behold now the manners of those Men whom we describe admirably well exprest Behold an image of their Thoughts and Infirmities Behold how for want of true Wisdom it is impossible for them to find Pleasure You loose your labour when you tell them that the Pleasure they pursue is unreasonable that it is not necessary that the privation of it does not cause any pain In vain do you represent to them the Sicknesses the Losses the Infamy that attend the enjoyment of it In vain do you threaten them with the punishments of the Laws and the severity of the Magistrates You can tell them nothing but what they know and what they are able to say upon occasion What are they the better for all this They are Slaves to that very Folly they detest as well as you and resemble the Greek Philosophers who were allowed the liberty to make a great Parade of those very Virtues they never practised Besides these there is another race of Men who in truth are not Philosophers but for all that manage their Cause with a world of Spirit and Vivacity These People whom we may properly call the Prophaners of the Pleasure of Epicurus will by no means be perswaded to acknowledg Temperance for a Virtue but after their imperious way pretend that all happiness depends on mere fancy It is not worth the while to enter into a solemn dispute with such unreasonable Creatures as they are The severest return one can make them is to leave them at liberty to do as they desire 'T is sufficient for us to know that their Opinion is false and that true felicity consists only in those desires which flow from Temperance For 't is not only a miserable thing to desire what is dishonest but 't is infinitely more advantageous not to obtain what we desire than to obtain what we cannot desire without shame In this view 't is better to be of the Opinion of that Antient who passing his Judgment of Camillus that was banished out of Rome while Manlius was Master there preferr'd the Exile of the virtuous Refugee to the Splendor of the dishonest Citizen Now in truth those that study Temperance and manage the fruition of Pleasure with that discretion that they find no After-claps those certainly may call themselves happy and deserve the title of wise Men. Their Pleasures are durable because they are regular and all their Life is calm and serene because it is innocent They have no inclination to run after forbidden Pleasures nay their felicity consists in abstaining from them They sometimes embrace Pain but then 't is done with a design to avoid a greater The use they make of Wisdom is by her means to attain to a state of Tranquillity and this makes it clear that there is no other way to enjoy this Pleasure wherein Epicurus supposes the sovereign Good to consist but by the means of Virtue You would be amazed and perhaps angry if examining the rest of the Virtues and bringing them to the Touchstone of Pleasure I should maintain that Valour depends upon her no less than Wisdom and Temperance and that this Virtue that dares encounter Lions that despises danger and that without any concern or emotion could behold the entire ruin of the World produces nothing illustrious but only as it regards Pleasure and flows from no other source than it For in the first place we ought to take it for granted that the Fatigues we undergo and the Pains we sustain have nothing in them to induce us to court them if we view them simply and separate them from other Considerations That Industry and Diligence so much commended in affairs of Life and that Valour itself of which we are now talking are never put in execution but for some design and motive This is not all we may affirm that these things have been introduced merely for the ease of Life and that the only reason we follow them is that we may live without trouble and fear that we may free as much as in us lies our body and our mind from those Maladies and Vexations which may afflict it and to taste with greater serenity that indolence which makes one part of Epicurus's Pleasure And indeed how can you expect a Man should live happy when he perpetually fears death How can you imagine the famous Sicilian whose Name is upon record should taste any Pleasure in the midst of his Feasting and Musick if he everlastingly dreads the falling of the Sword that threatens his Head and his Diadem Is it not an aggravation of misery to faint under our Pains and not to have courage enough to suffer those Misfortunes which 't is not in our power to avoid This weakness of mind has it not led abundance of People to those Extremities that are a disgrace and scandal to humane Nature What was it in your Opinion that gave occasion to the Poets to turn Hecuba into a mad Bitch but the Grief that overcame her and constrained her to imitate the fury of those Creatures Had she supprest and conquered her Grief or had she at least endeavoured to forget those subjects that occasioned it without question she had never passed from tears to despair and from despair to rage Listen I pray to the Complaints she makes Observe how by representing to herself the miserable Condition she finds herself in at present and from what a heigth she is fallen how by this conduct I say she feeds her sorrow upon the Stage and of her own accord provokes the motions of that Rage which is ready to seize her Oh the severe Oppressions of my Grief What Place can give me refuge or relief To what far distant Region shall I run The wild disorders of my Soul to shun Unhappy Troy our late delight and pride By Grecian fraud and malice lies destroyed Tell me ye Gods where I my steps must bend Who will a poor despairing Queen befriend Prest by my Wants wandring from place to place While meager Famine stares me in the Face See how th' insulting Argive Flame devours Those Shrines that once receiv'd the heavenly Powers If the proud Flames their Temples will not spare But sacred Piles the common Fate must share After this she remembers herself of the Beauty of these Structures and the Riches of
Example of all those who Mourn to prove that privation is but an occasion of Grief I can use for my own justification the example of all those who are Comforted Is it not true that those who are comforted are in a state of Privation as well as those who are Afflicted 'T is therefore probable that Privation is not precisely a cause of pain and that we must admit some other which suffers degrees and variations I am of opinion Madam it would not be improper here to discover to you this Cause and to let you see why it doth not act upon some particular minds Why it acts upon others Why it ceases or continues to act and in a word why it acts with more or less Violence But as this Discussion would engage me in too large a Field so it would put you to the expence of too intense an Application which perhaps in your present condition you are not capable of making I would treat you as a Lady of Resolution and Learning and also as a languishing or a curious Person I am for leaving to your She-Friends the care of sweetning your Affliction by their Tears and for reserving to my self the employment of engaging it with my Reasons But as I pretend to consine my self to useful things I will apply my self only to what may be proper for your cure To which end Madam you need only make a short Reflection upon the Causes of Grief You know that all Grief immediately proceeds from Separation and that there are two kinds of Separation For one relates to things continued and t'other to things united But you are perhaps still to be informed that the Separation of continued things occasions the pain of the Body and that the Separation of things united causes the pain in the Mind In the mean time 't is of no great importance to dwell longer upon this cause by reason it is not possible to hinder Separation from producing Pain and that it is even impossible to hinder Separations We must ascend somewhat higher and in that imitate the Conduct of the Physitians who seldom have any regard to the nearest Cause but always apply themselves to that which is remote because 't is that which seeds the Distemper and is the cause of ill Humours and 't is chiefly against this that their Remedies exert their Vertue The remote cause of the pain in the Mind is Opinion But what is this Opinion Some say that it is an undertermined Iudgment As for my self I take it to be the evil Choice of our Iudgment At least I don't apprehend how indetermination agrees with what one ordinarily calls Opinion There is nothing less indeterminate than that For does it not principally proceed from the force of Opinion that we expose our selves to Dangers to Vexations and to Death it self Wou'd we incur so many Hazards for real Benefits What likelihood then is there that Opinion would engage us so far if it was nothing but an undetermined Iudgment I have here great Discoveries to make to you did I rather propose to my self to satisfy your Mind than to calm your Heart I would then endeavour to shew you after what manner Opinion is formed and how it moves the Mind and the Body But when you have well considered that Opinion is the remote cause of Grief you will have almost all the Knowledg which is necessary for your Cure Pleasure and Pain are the Sentiments which our Soul has of what is agreeable or offensive to us But because nothing can feel if it doth not touch nor be felt if it is not touched it follows of necessity that what produces pleasure and pain must touch the Soul it is certain then that all sensible Beings necessarily touch it But all Beings are not necessarily sensible There are none but those which are delightful or prejudicial to us in themselves that are so and these are the Goods or Evils of Nature The rest which are called indifferent are not so but when they lose their indifference and they never lose it but when Opinion fastens to them the Idea of Good or Evil and then they become the Goods or Evils of Opinion But the Idea of Good or Evil is no sooner fix'd to an Object but the Soul unites it self with it or separates from it This Vnion is made by a kind of touch which gives pleasure to the Soul and this Separation is made by a motion which gives pain to it and which cannot be better expressed than by the word Divulsion which Physick has appropriated to its own use You see then Madam that the separation of the Soul from its Objects is the immediate Cause of Pain and that Opinion must be the remote Cause of it since it is the cause of this separation This Principle being once established it is easie to explain all the degrees and differences of Pain by the greater or lesser violence which the Soul endures in disengaging it self from those objects to which it was fastened But we must pass to a more useful consideration and observe after what manner Opinion acts against us that we may know how to act against Opinion I find then that Opinion cheats us three ways Sometimes it gives us an Idea of Good and Evil altogether false oftentimes it gives us one that is false in part and almost always misapplies their real Idea to objects It gives us an Idea of good and evil altogether false when it makes them pass with us for what they are not It gives us an Idea partly false when it makes us conceive them to be less or greater than they really are It misapplies their real Idea to Objects either when it applies it to an object from which it disagrees or to an object with which it agrees less than with another or to an object with which it agrees no more than all other objects of the like nature Thus although Existence and Nothing Life and Death are neither Goods not Evils yet Opinion has made them pass for the greatest Goods and the greatest Evils in the World Notwithstanding Health is the most valuable Gift of Nature yet the Covetous prefer the Gifts of Fortune to it and fear less to become indisposed than to become poor After that Opinion has given us these Ideas either absolutely false or false in part or misapplied as to the Objects it wholly puts the Soul upon possessing the Good or avoiding the Evil which it presents to it It prepossesses it so much that it hinders it from disposing it self to the contemplation and enjoyment of other Goods and leaves it no leisure to beware of other Evils and to avoid them Insomuch that it seems the Soul knows but one Single Good and one single Evil or at least but one great Good and one great Evil. This state of prepossession is a kind of divorce that the Soul makes from all other Goods in order to unite it self more strictly to the Good it espouses This Good which
the grossness of our days which certainly would near bear so irregular a freedom in any Author whatsoever I wish with all my heart I could excuse Ausonius that illustrious Consul of Gaul but the consequence of this remark carries me in spite of my self to speak of him nay and to speak ill of him What can be finer than his Thanksgiving to the Emperor upon the subject of his Consulship Pliny the 2d would have envied him this work What can be more ingenious than the Punishment of Cupid in the Elisian Fields and those sufferings and reproaches which the Heroines made him undergo who had all of them some cause to make their complaints of him He must for the misfortune of his Reputation amuse himself in that employment which of all things in the World is most unworthy of a Learned Man Judge what time he lost in busying himself to pick up sometimes a beginning of a verse in Virgil sometimes an end and tack all these different parts together in order to compose a poor wretched Cento What shall I say of those expressions of Virgil which tho they were innocent as they lay in him yet as Ausonius has managed and sorted them they are conscious of all the indecencies that imagination can possibly form to it self Behold now a strange description of this Man He that was Author of a serious Work which he Addresses to a great Emperour who has Wit and Learning as we may sufficiently see in many other places of his Books is notwithstanding the same that prostitutes his Muse and composes an infamous Poem out of several pieces of Poetry very harmless in themselves To condemn all these insolences doth not argue too great a sowrness of Spirit many persons would be pleased to see even Virgil himself condemned for the interview of Eneas and Dido in that cave of the 4th of the Eneids Speluncam Dido Dux Trojanus eandew Deveniunt Nor would they be less willing to condemn Homer for what passed between Iuno and Iupiter upon the Mount Olympus These two great and illustrious Authors have avoided a thousand occasions wherein any other person would have lost himself If Paris and Helena converse together in the Iliad 't is only to reproach one another Calypso Circe the Syrens of the Odysses contain nothing that offends Modesty Vlysses doth not abuse the Favours of the Princess Nausicaa A Man who has a truly great Soul Elevated and Noble a vast genius and an imagination clear and well disposed will never stoop and descend to that meanness which I here condemn or any Method I will tell you with all sincerity what the Desire to satisfie you rather than Study or Experience suggested to me upon this Subject The first step that a Man makes into the World generally determines all the rest and is the Foundation of his Reputation and best Presage of his Fortune and from the first Marches that he makes those that have had Experience will tell you how far he will advance 'T is then very necessary to make this first step with a great deal of caution and to signalize ones Entry by something that is glorious and great There is a great deal of Art in gaining the publick Esteem and to make ones Talents appear so to advantage that the World shall never disgust or be glutted with ' em The means to preserve ones Reputation is to produce something more and more excellent and to provide a fresh Nutriment for the general Admiration which seems always to grow up equal with our Merit The great Actions we do promise something greater and the good ought to be follow'd by better A Great man ought not then to suffer the depth of his Capacity to be sounded if he will be always esteem'd by the Vulgar He ought on the contrary to behave himself after such a manner as never to discover all that he knows and that no man may have it in his power to assign Limits to his Learning For let a Man be never so learned the Opinion we have of him when we know him but by halves goes always farther than the Idea we conceive of him when we are wholly acquainted with him Therefore let him take care not to discover his Ability all at once but make an absolute use of his Cunning. He should always to manage himself with caution that he may be able to disengage himself from the Inconveniencies he may fall into and to have a hidden Reserve where he may command suitable Succours to repair his greatest Mistakes and to retrieve him from his greatest Oversights As the Success of the most Judicious Undertakings depends upon the meeting of a multitude of Conjunctures many of which Chance can only reconcile an excellent man ought not ever to commit his Reputation to the risque of a Conversation a Dispute or an Interview for if it does not succeed with him he never recovers it And no man can be sure not to fail in an Essay or a Tryal since nothing is more common than to find ones first Projects disappointed He ought then to expose his Reputation to the hazard of the Enterprize whatever Advantage he may promise himself from its Success On the contrary the great Art of all consists in not discovering all one knows at once but to unfold it if I may speak so by degrees and always to nourish and excite Curiosity The Magazine should always answer the Occasions and the Piece should not belie the Pattern In fine a Man ought always to keep exactly to what he promises 'T is upon this consideration only that great Masters never discover the whole Mystery of their Art in their Lessons to their Schollars and by that means they remain always the Masters the Source of their Instructions never dries away and as 't is not communicated but by proportion and measure they never exhaust that Fund of Knowledge whence they draw continually both to satisfie the expectation of others and to keep up their own reputation There is one thing more that I would recommend to an ingenious Man and that is To be seen as seldom as may be for as his presence diminishes the Esteem one has of him so his absence and distance augments it Fame every day encreases Objects and the Imagination goes much beyond the Sight We ought not then to be lavish of our selves we ought to make ourselves expected to be truly welcome The desire any one has for us is commonly the measure of the Esteem they have of us Happiness is better tasted when it has been a long time expected and the Pleasure that costs one something is much more ardently sought after than that which is easie so the nicest People find in Hunger a sauce that all the ragouts could not give to their Victuals and 't is a refining of Epicurism not to satisfie our senses and Appetites but by halves A Man should never make himself familiar with the Vulgar least he lose that Air of Dignity
have made it serve as a Veil to their Debaucheries and that they quoted the Authority of so great a Man to support the Disorders of their Life So that instead of profiting by the sage Counsels of this Philosopher or correcting their vitious Inclinations in his School they have lost the only good quality they had left them and that is the shame of sinning They have arrived to such a pitch as to commend those very Actions they blushed at formerly they take a Pride in those Vices they had the Discretion to conceal before and at last without the least remorse or shame they blindly followed the Pleasure they brought along with them and not that which he would have taught them In the mean time the World has passed judgment by these Appearances and observing that a sort of People who called themselves Philosophers were extremely debauched that they made a publick Profession of their Crimes that they cited Epicurus to authorise their Idleness their Impurity and their Lewdness they made no difficulty to pronounce the Doctrine of this Philosopher to be pernicious and to compare his Disciples to the uncleanest Animals in nature Epicuri de grege porci The Affairs of Epicurus had been in a very ill condition of some disinterested Persons had not taken care to do him justice and freed themselves from the prejudices of the Multitude whose Opinions are generally opposite to those of the wise For some generous Persons have been found who have throughly informed themselves of this Philosopher's way of living who scorning to be determined by the common Belief have penetrated farther into the matter and after a due Inquiry have produced very authentick Testimonies both of the Probity of his Person and the Purity of his Doctrine These Gentlemen have published in the face of the World that his Pleasure was as severe as the Virtue of the Stoicks and that a Man who had a mind to be as debauched bauched as Epicurus must also for his Comfort be as sober as Zeno. And to say the truth it is highly incredible that a Man to whom his Country erected several Statues whose Friends inhabited all the Cities of Greece who loved the worship of the Gods and the Prosperity of his Country who was celebrated for his Piety to his Parents his Liberality to his Brothers and his sweet Carriage to his Slaves whose Modesty hindred him from medling with State-Affairs and whose ordinary Sustenance was nothing but Bread and Water It is highly incredible I say that such a Man should ever give Precepts of Debauchery or teach his Disciples the Practice of those Vices which he naturally abhorred On the contrary as if this excellent Person had been apprehensive that the Title he gave his Philosophy might be so far abused as to encourage wicked Inclinations and that Men in after Ages might calumniate this Pleasure wherein he placed the Sovereign good as if he had foreseen the unjust Aversion of the following Ages and the Irregularities of some Libertines that would abuse his Doctrine he took care himself to make an Apology for it and satisfied the World that the Pleasure he speaks of was austere and sober I am not so vain as to believe that my bare Word will be taken for this and therefore will produce one of his Letters wherein any one may be able to read his true Sentiments It is addressed to one Meneceus and now pray observe after what manner he explains himself Although my dear Meneceus we say that Pleasure is the end of Man we would by no means be supposed to speak of infamous lewd Pleasures that proceed from Intemperance and Sensuality This ill Inference can only be made by those Persons who are wholly ignorant of our Precepts or else combat them who absolutely reject them or pervert the true meaning of them By this single Fragment one may perceive how careful he was to preserve the Innocence of his Doctrine against Calumny and Ignorance that he well foresaw that only these two things were capable to decry it and in effect as we have already observed they have ruined his Reputation with the greatest part of the World His Life as sober and innocent as it was could not escape censure or free him from an infinite number of Lies and Invectives But those that have written it after having recounted the several Calumnies of his Enemies have immediately refuted them and at the same time that they published our Philosophers History have likewise published his Apology As it is not my Design to entertain you with a Narration of his Actions but only to defend his Pleasure I shall send you back to Diogenes Laertius for the Account of his Life and shall content my self to Philosophize upon the nature of this Pleasure that has created him so many Enemies and examine whether it is of such a hainous Character that we ought to cashier those Persons from the number of honest Men that defend and follow it To live according to Nature and not to feel any Pain is what Epicurus calls living voluptuously Now I am of opinion that there is nothing in this that deserves to be condemned that such a Life as this does not merit censure that no Republick in the World was ever so severe as to disapprove it To live according to Nature is to follow right Reason The bounds she prescribes us are those of Innocence There is nothing in her but what is equitable and equal 'T is not along of her that Avarice came into the World She industriously conceal'd Gold in the entrails of the vilest Element and we have dug it from thence She is not the cause of that Ambition that torments us she brings us all equal into the World and so she takes us out of it We don't differ one from another any farther than we corrupt her Do you think it is she that excites us to Pleasures The Poets themselves that have lodged all manner of Extravagancies in Heaven that so they might sin with Authority and who have represented Iupiter weak and vitious out of a design to copy a God in their own irregular Lives were never guilty of the Presumptien to do it They have preserved its Purity whole and entire and in describing her Age have not taken notice of the Luxury that became so rampant in the following ones Hear what they say and they will tell you that Acorns were then the nourishment of Mankind that Rivers quench'd their Thirst that they dwelt in Caves that they had no Apparel to defend them from the Cold and that they followed Nature in all their Actions I know very well that things did not pass after this manner and that the first Inhabitants of the earth never lived in this strange simplicity which is more proper to the stupidity of Beasts than the politeness of Men. The Poets have carried Matters too far but their meaning was that our Extravagancies don't proceed from Nature that she never recommended them to
rather on the contrary give 'em some marks of our Esteem And as Contempt is it may be one of the greatest misfortunes of Poverty we may sweeten in some manner their troubles by declaring without affectation that we do not esteem 'em less however unhappy they be One must be affable and courteous to one's Domesticks and by this behaviour comfort 'em in their conditions 'T is the work of Fortune that they are so low and that we are above'em We must not be rigorous in what regards our own interests Nothing becomes a Man better than to release a little of his priviledge One must avoid great Play 't is a Divertisement too dangerous Anger Heat and Quarrels accompany it always it procures a Man often times bad nights and at long run it perpetually incommodes him Nor is this all he must be always upon his gard lest he be cheated and 't is but an uneasie condition to be always as in an Enemy's Country A Man ought not to have any thing remarkable or too gay in his Habit Discourse or Manners It seems to me that the modest Air becomes one better than that which they call the Bel-air 't is good to have in one's Countenance something great that procures both Esteem and Respect but the Courteous and Honest Air does not create less good Effects 't is from thence that we make our selves belov'd For the fierce Air that is so much esteem'd in my Opinion is only proper for War We ought to learn not to disquiet our selves and to study well this Lesson The Court if I may say so is an Epitome of the whole Kingdom whatever is most Exquisite and Pure is there met with The manner of speaking the the Modes the Air and the Customs are there excellent The greatest part of these things are not learnt but by the Success as Physick is not well understood but by Experience However it seems to me that one ought to endeavour to know them by their Causes which would be the best and surest way And to this end we ought to know the nature of those things which please and be skill'd in the Hearts of Men. There is no other Study but how to please in the Courts of Princes because there a Man makes his Fortune by rendring himself agreeable Hence it comes that Courtiers are so Polisht On the contrary in Towns and Republicks where Men manage their Affairs by Labour the the last of their Cares is to Please and 't is that which renders them so Clownish That which we call the Last in a Figurative Sence is a very rare thing and is found but in very few People One can scarce learn it or teach it but it must be born with us Exquisite Knowledge seems to be above it and carries a greater Latitude but in truth for the Commerce of the World and most affairs of Life a true Judgment equals its Worth and possesses its place When we have got this Advantage we ought not to despise those which have it not To be agreeable and good Company a Man ought to think discreetly and readily upon all that is said in Conversation and this cannot be if one has not an excellent Wit a great deal of Memory and an Imagination suitable One ought also to be Master of one's Language by knowing all the Niceties Beauties and Delicacies of it We ought to suit ourselves to the Capacities of those we converse with and to take in some manner the Heighth and the Degree of their Wit We ought to take a great deal of care not to affect the Vanity to be the head of the Company One makes himself more agreeable when one hears willingly and without Jealousie and susters others to have Wit as well as himself There is no Subject so barren upon which there may not be something well said but even when the Subject affords nothing a Man of sense has always in Reserve some agreeable manner of speaking of which he is an absolute Master and which can never fail him Apt Words are rare and depend upon Time and Chance Narratives and Stories do not always succeed we ought not to make use of them often but when we find ourselves engaged in them we must take care that they be not long and that there be always something particular and diverting to surprize the Company One must avoid Repetitions We care not to hear what we know already and we can reap no more benefit by Things that are New Great Universal and those which have the Air of great Persons are always pleasing because Men are Curious because they despise those things that are limited and of small consequence and are commonly very much affected with Grandeur 'T is for this Reason that what comes from the Country from little Towns and private Quarters is but indifferently received We are apt to imagine that Politeness and a good Tast is not to be found there The same Reason occasions also that Figures dâ—â—wn from War Hunting and the Sea are so well receiv'd and that we cannot endure those that are taken from mean Professions of which the World makes but small account One must not expect that Conversations should be always equal they depend upon Chance as well as other things A Man can't become Learn'd or Agreeable if he does not love Reading without it the best natural Parts are commonly dry and barren He ought to behave himself so that in his Actions Discourse and Manners there may be always a certain Air of Politeness that never forsakes him Nothing is more shameful than to be Ignorant Politeness is a mixture of Discretion Civility Complaisance and Circumspection accompanied with an agreeable Air scatter'd throughout whatever one says or does And as so many things are Essentially necessary to acquire this Politeness it is no wonder if it is uncommon Whether it is that Women are naturally more Polite or that to please them the Spirit raises and embellishes itself 't is principally from them that this Politeness is learnt A Letter to Monsieur Justel By Mr. Savage I Am over-joy'd to see you in England The Conversation of a Man so Knowing and so Curious as you will give me a great deal of Satisfaction But permit me to disapprove of the Resolution you have taken to quit France so long as I see you maintain for her so tender and so loving a Memory When I see you doleful and desolate on the shoar of our Thames wishing for Paris you put me in mind of the poor Israelites bewailing their Jerusalem upon the Banks of Euphrates Either live happy in England in an entire Liberty of Conscience or accommodate your self to the Catholick Religion in your own Country to enjoy the advantages you thirst after Is it possible that Images Ornaments Ceremonies and other such like things upon which you establish so many ill grounded Disputations and which you make so unreasonably the Subject of Separation should trouble the Quiet of Nations and be the
freedom of a Soldier I commended very much the new Liberty which his last Profession had made him take and it seem'd to me that the commendation pleas'd him I had continu'd it longer but as Night began to approach we were oblig'd to separate the Father being as much contented with my proceeding as I was satisfied with the confidence he reposed in me Motives for a general Peace in the Year 1678. IF it be a difficult matter to discover the Origine of Winds and Subterranean Fires 't is no less very often to dive into the hidden Causes of the greatest part of our Wars sometimes Ambition and Avarice keep those designs long conceal'd that the least pretence discovers The Declarations of the pretended Cause for the most part are only calculated to amuse the People and oftentimes so dexterously that the true Reasons of State and Policy are covered with some appearance of Justice They never scruple to ruin the Foundation and violate the most Sacred Rights of Nature Don't let us look for any fresh Instances of this in the unhappy War which at present oppresses all Countries of Christendom let us conceive for the Princes who are the cause of it a Respect which perhaps Posterity will not subscribe to let us suppose that they do all out of a good meaning and that Justice is the rule of so many destructive Actions It seems at least that they have not forgot all impressions of Equity since they have agreed to chuse Mediators to decide their Differences and that those who are chiefly concerned seem willing to accept his Intervention whom the God of Peace hath made his Lieutenant upon Earth But as it may happen that these Princes are not all equally dispos'd to accept of a speedy Peace 't will be necessary to remember them that they are obliged to it by the Motives of Glory Interest and a good Conscience Glory is nothing else but an high Esteem which is acquired amongst Men and which passes down to Posterity We may say that there is nothing more glorious for a Prince than to make his People happy The glory of storming Towns and acquiring Victories is common even to Barbarians But to conquer one's self and renounce one's own Interest to give Repose and Peace to the World is the proper Character of an Hero The People of France will never cease to give a thousand Benedictions and a thousand Praises to the Memory of Philip the Good Duke of Burgundy his Hate and his Vengeance appeared just since he armed against the Murtherer of his Father Glory and the Reasons of State seemed to forbid him to think of a Peace since he might promise himself assured Conquests by the Union which he had made with a puissant Monarch Yet for all this out of a pious Consideration of the Publick Calamities he stifled his Resentments and by one so great a Mercy he rendred himself a thousand times more glorious than his Son who was so terrible and who fought so many Battels Many Conquerours have thought to gain immortal Glory by their Arms who in the next Age have been treated as Robbers and Pyrates War is never truly glorious but when it is founded upon Justice which also ceases when one may have a reasonable Satisfaction without it and when the Interest of the State demands a Peace It would be no difficult matter to prove that even those Princes who are at present most concern'd in this War will find their truest Interest in a Peace if they have any regard to that of their own Subjects which is the only true Interest of State Misery is general we are a alike ruin'd by Friends and Enemies To take any Place you must shed the Bloud as it were of all the People who being seduc'd to the last Extremities mourn secretly amidst the Songs of Triumph that are publickly commanded In effect they are so far from being the better for the Conquests of their Prince that they are more burthen'd with Taxes and Imposts than ever The Towns and conquer'd Provinces do not afford for the most part half the necessary Expence to fortifie and desend them They must pay Contributions to their Enemy furnish free Passage and Quarter to Souldiers who almost every-where live like Licencious Robbers The present posture of Affairs seems to give us some indications of the approach of the day of Judgment whose knowledge God hath reserved wholly to himself that it will be the last War of the World foretold us by the Scripture and which will for ever take away the Power from Princes and People of Insuring and Supporting each other Yet this is not all they must either receive Souldiers or pay Winter-Quarters which destroys all they saved from the Pillage of the Campaign perhaps they commit all these Excesses to teach the People not to fear Death in robbing them of all they have to keep them alive But it is to be feared that this Despair in the end may produce some ill effects that it may set the People upon looking for ease from their Burthens elsewhere or at least that in this Conjuncture when the Pope labours for a Peace they will second his good Intentions in spite of their Masters who would oppose them When the Popes heretofore made use of the Ecclesiastical Thunder for their temporal Interest the greatest part of the World never heeded it because their Power ought to be employed to edifie and not to destroy But if at this day the Holy Father would make use of the Church Censures against the most obstinate Opposers of Peace which is the Source of all Impieties 't is to be presumed that so holy an Action would draw down the Blessing of Heaven and procure the Applause of all Mankind It may be objected perhaps That the Interest of State and Prudence does make Princes defer Peace in order to weaken a growing Enemy whose Power unless prevented may occasion a common Disadvantage As for example the Allies seem to have some reason not to accord so soon with France hoping that time may give them some Advantages to reduce her to such a condition that she may not be in a capacity to hurt them But this reason alone is not sufficient to continue the War no more than it would be to begin it 't is from Divine Providence and not from Violence we must expect a Remedy against the fear of an uncertain Evil Whatever Interest we may have in a War and whatever Justice we have to take Arms We ought seriously to desire Peace out of a pure Principle of Conscience though we are employed in the justest War 'T is indeed the last Reason we have mentioned but it would be the the first and strongest were it not for the universal Depravity of the World Heretofore it was a Doubt whether Christians might make War but not to raise any difficulty upon the Argument it is certain they may not but upon those conditions which