they act out of Integrity and not out of any desire to be Honor'd and esteem'd of Men. To which we answer with St. Thomas That there are some Men so happy in their compositions that their very Temper of Body enclines 'em to Uprightness In the next place he who performs acts of Integrity tho he conceal his Actions from the knowledge of the World performs 'em out of a real desire to be applauded by all the World And to make the Paradox out we must understand that Men are so Vain-glorious and Covetous of Praise that the most excellent parts of Knowledge and the most excellent Vertues please them only proportionably to the Esteem and Applause which they bring them And therefore we may say that in the Breasts of all those that are endu'd with extraordinary Vertues there is one sort of Ambition resembling that of Victorious Captains and that both the one and the other aim in their way at the Conquest of Human Kind with this difference That Conquerors labour to subdue all Men to be Masters of their Estates and Liberties Whereas they who are endu'd with rare and singular Vertues study to possess the first place in the esteem of the Vanquish'd But the Philosophers who were the First in whom this Ambition appear'd deeming it impossible to gain the approbation of all the World because the most part of Men have very little judgment and are moreover Capricious and Unjust they bounded the pretences of Wisdom to be content with the Approbation of Men Judicious Equitable and Vertuous Afterwards observing that it was a difficult thing to gain the Appobation of Many in regard the Variety of Judgments is as various as that of Tasts they thought it enough for a Wise Man to have the Approbation of one single Person provided he be a Person of a clear and solid Judgment and in Credit with all honest Men. One single Person said Democritus is worth a multitude We flatter our selves more said Epicurus writing to one of his Friends with the esteem which we have one for another then with all the Acclamations of the People This Opinion seem'd best to the Philosophers even till Seneca's time who best understanding what was most proper to gratify the Pride of Man pronounc'd That a Wise Man being capable alone to judge of the Merit of Actions was the only person fit to be Judge of himself and that he had no need of any other Approbation A Wise Man said he ceases not to be perfectly contented tho he has no witness of his Actions for what mony of himself and to be the Object of his own Admiration All which clearly demonstrates that he who performs Acts of Integrity unknown to the World performs 'em out of a real desire of applause seeing that his strongest Passion being to be approv'd by himself he seeks after that Approbation which is to him most grateful and which he prefers before all publick Applauses Althô Glory consists not in the praise of a single Person said Salust Yet there are certain Persons said St. Thomas that establish their own Honor upon their own Esteem 'T is true these Persons are very scarce and if they do perform any private acts of Integrity they nourish a conceal'd Hope that some favourable Hazard will bring 'em to light 'T is not then Integrity but the Encomium's given to Integrity which Men affect nor do evil Actions displease 'em but they dislike 'em because they ruine their Reputation And therefore when they are accus'd to have committed any ill Act to the prejudice of Integrity tho they know in their Consciences that they are guilty they implore the assistance of their Friends and try all the ways imaginable to justify themselves We hear of several Magistrates says Plato who sell Justice and privately take Bribes but we shall never find one that will confess he has taken a Bribe or that being accus'd of it can patiently endure his accusation Let us then confess to the Glory of God That it is he alone that infuses Honâ—sty into Men and that he alone is the only Caelestial Fountain of Integrity For He uniting 'em in the Bonds of Charity puts 'em into such a Condition that it is impossible they should falsify their Word and Fidelity or not acquit themselves of the several Duties which they owe one to another And there is no doubt but the softness and force of this Tye can restrain and hinder 'em from Deceit and Treachery The Bands of Human Friendship are too weak to resist the violence of his Passions and too often we meet with ambitious Men that underhand cross the designs of their best Friends and who after they have promis'd 'em the utmost of their assistances for the obtaining an Employment use all their Endeavours and employ all their Craft and Cunning to deprive 'em of it There is no solid Integrity says Plato but that which is accompanied with Piety and Holiness Perfect Honesty says Aristotle is that which we practise out of a consideration of things Divine and Eternal CHAP. XIII Loyalty of Subjects towards their SOVERAIGN HOW wonderful are thy Works O God the Prophet cry'd out in the Transports of his Admiration when he beheld the several Wonders and Master-pieces of the Deity that adorn'd the spacious World In his Extasie to view so great a number of Creatures their Beauty their Riches and their different Qualities But their Magnificence was not the sole cause of his Admiration For what he adds Thou hast made all these things in Wisdom shews that he was equally ravisht with that wonderful Order which God had setl'd among ' em Seeing that after he had Created those various Beings if he had not regulated their Motions the World which was to be a perfect piece of Workmanship to make known to us by its own the Perfection of the Creator would have prov'd nothing but Disorder and Confusion If Order then without which the World would have been a Chaos appear'd so Lovely and so Admirable the Secret which the Wisdom of God found out to establish it was no less worthy of Admiration For he made the Creatures unequal in their Perfection to the end the less Perfect might depend upon the more Excellent and appointed to every one a Place suitable to the Degree of its Perfection To this end he plac'd the Sun in the midst of the Heavens that he might diffuse his Light over all parts of the World that his enliv'ning Heat might contribute to the Birth the Growth and the Preservation of Plants of Animals and Men and that the Earth might every year be renew'd by his Influencies God has observ'd the same Method in respect of Men he has ordain'd 'em to be Born different in their Condition he has rais'd some to a degree above others and has order'd the Repose the Preservation and the Happiness of those whom he has plac'd in subjection to depend upon the continual Cares and Vigilance of those whom he
to be the visible Cause of all the happy Events of Human Life 'T is our Ignorance says a certain Poet which makes us imagine that blind Chance governs all Human Affairs 'T is our mistake ô Fortune that has plac'd Thee in Heaven which has made us believe that thy capricious Decrees regulate our Actions Whâ—re Prudence Reigns no Deity From that same Breast can absent be Prudence deprives thee of thy Power and destroys thee of thy Divinity 't is she alone that has the power to make us happy and her Laws alone observ'd or violated are the causes of our Good or Evil Destiny Nothing so clearly shews us the ridiculous vanity of men as that same pleasure which they take to be undeceiv'd from popular Opinions and yet at the same time they are undeceiv'd to deceive themselves after another manner For certainly 't is a great absurdity to refer all Events to a Cause so irregular and blind as Fortune But on the other side it is as great an error to look upon Prudence as the insallible source of our Happiness and the prosperity of Families Common-wealths and Empires as we shall shew in due place To make it therefore evidenâ— That the good Opinion which Men have of Prudence is ill grounded we need no more then to examin the Nature of Men without prejudice and consider that it is always full of distrust timorousness and uncertainty which proceeds from the obscurity and inconstancy of the matter For she has to do with Men whose Hearts are impenetrable and who are continually subject to change thro the lightness of their humour thro the succession of their passions and the diversity of their interests So that as Heraclitus assur'd us that he could have no natural Knowledg because the Object of the Sciences ought to be constant but that Nature was in a perpetual motion still gliding along like a stream where we can never consider the water because it passes away before we can well look upon it so we may affirm in like manner that Prudence can assure her self of nothing seeing that Man is never in the same posture but varies in his Disposition and Affections thro an infinite number of Causes both internal and external I admire with the rest of the world the ways that Aristotle has discover'd to facilitate perswasion by rousing the pasons that are predominant in men In a word it frequently happens that Submissions will move the most inhuman and cruel to Pity and Compassion that with Menaces we force the Timorous to yeild and that with Money we obtain our desires from persons uninteressed But I cannot see how Prudence can safely make use of these no more then upon the Avarice of one in whom desire of Revenge upon his Enemy may be more powerful at the very time that I promise my self to corrupt him with the offer of a large Sum. But a Person of vast Natural parts who is of great experience and who is otherways Learned and compleatly read in History Shall not he act with security Yes if he meet with subjects and occasions altogether like to those which he has seen or observ'd in History But it is as rarely possible to meet with this Resemblance as to find out two Men of the same Complexion and Features 'T is no true Consequence in Physic that a Medicine that has been given with success to that Choleric person will cure another For Choler says Galen is not only different from all other Humours but varies also from it self And this difficulty to encounter subjects and occasions altogether alike is the reason that Prudence and Physic are much indebted to Hazard and that Prudent Men and wise and wary Physitians proceed with so much caution and take so much care before they determine How did uncertainties fill the Soul of Alexander with restless trouble and inquietude the Night before the Battel of Arbela So that we cannot imagine a greater confusion at Sea between contending Surges and mountainous Billows when agitated by tempestuous Winds then in the Breast and Soul of Alexander where so many various thoughts and passions at that time strugled together It is clear then that Human Prudence is erroneous and uncertain and that there is no secure reliance upon it for any true success or prosperity But it is not enough to have shewn that it is unprositable we must also prove it to be hurtful Which is a Truth we may be easily convinc'd of after we have freed our selves of all manner of prejudice if then we do but examine whether Prudence does not frequently do much mischief with her circumspection her scruples and her cautions How many has she not perplex'd How many grand Affairs has she not caus'd to miscarry How many Families has she not undone How many great Fortunes have been made how many Treaties have been advantageously concluded how many Victories won contrary to the Rules of Prudence The Battel which Alexander won not far from the Banks of Granicus which made way for all his succeeding Renown was it not lookt upon by the Romans as a piece of Rashness that deserv'd to be severely punish'd And that River which as I may so say was the Cradle of his Glory might it not as well have prov'd his Tomb It is impossible for us to have other perswasions then these when we remember that the Enterprize of Lucullus against Tigranes attended with Victory and the Defeat of an hundred thousand men was nevertheless both censur'd and blam'd at Rome when we remember I say that the Equity of that grave and judicious People did not think it a thing fit to applaud the daring Temerity of the General of an Army because it had prosper'd nor to approve a Success that had advanc'd the Glory of the Empire since it was from a Cause that might have been its Ruin If you would see an Example of a Battel lost thro the Councels of Military Prudence and after all the care imaginable taken to secure the Victory cast but an eye upon the Battel of Poitiers and there behold King John inexorable and haughtily refusing to the Prince of Wales the Peace which he sought with so much earnestness and upon Conditions so advantageous Doubtless the Assurances which the King then had of Victory were both probable and rational For he found himself at the Head of four and fifty thousand Men accompanied with his four Sons the Duke of Orleans his Brother two Marshals of France five and twenty Dukes Counts and Great Lords and all the Nobility of France yet notwithstanding all this Force he was defeated and taken Prisoner by the Prince so weak at that time that he had scarce Ten thousand fighting men in the Field and those so ill provided with Victuals that they had but for one day a scant remainder left and so far advanced into the heart of the Kingdom that to all outward appearance it was impossible for him to retreat The Battels thus gain'd and lost
contrary to all probable Expectation afford us frequent occasions to observe that there is not in that same judgment which men make of Human Actions a merit and solidity sufficient to weigh down the Ballance but that it is only their Success that has the power to advance their Fame In a word a Great Personage in their Opinion is not He who is endued with all the Qualities of such an one tho he perform upon all occasions what ever becomes a Great Person but they delay to form their judgments till Fortune has declar'd her self And then it is that they debase a Wise and Valiant Captain below the Vulgar sort and extol a Successful Rash Commander for an Illustrious General But this is that which deserves our Admiration that after all the Earth has resounded with the noise of the Atchievements of Famous Captains and that all the World has applauded to Heaven Wonders of their Valour and their Prudence God himself by the mouth of one of his Prophets thus instructs us Learn where is Wisdom learn where is Valour Giving us thereby to understand that it is only to his Wisdom and his Soveraign Power that all the Effects of their Valour and Prudence belong and that the Force and Industry of men avail no farther then 't is His pleasure they should be serviceable So that we may say to all these glorious Conquerors It never would have been within your Power to subdue the Vniverse had it not been Bequeath'd ye from above You are only the Ministers to execute the severe Decrees of Gods Justâ—ce and the Arms which he makes use of to punish the haughty Rebellion of Men. It is he says the Scripture who dispensing Fear as well as Victory confounds with ovâ—rsights and errors all your Enemies and overturns whatever opposes your March It is he that delivers your Adversaries into your hands and revenges at length the public Violation of his Laws by the Ruin and utter Extirpation of your Opposers Verum Inclementia Divum Has evertit opes sternitque à Culmine Trojam The loss of the Battel of Pharsalia is a convincing proof of the Truth of this Pompey had beaten Caesar at Dyrrachum he had two great Armies in the Field his Navy so strong that it was supposed invincible His Army at Land much more numerous then Cesars His Cavalry the Flower of all the Roman Gentry consisting of seven thousand Horse whereas Caesar had no more then five thousand His Infantry five and forty thousand strong Caesars but two and twenty Pompey abounded with Money and Provision he had the Sea his Friend all the Ports all the strong Places freedom to range every where and the whole Country for his Retreat On the other side all the Cities shut their Gates against Caesar he was reduced to that necessity and in that dire want of Provisions that he was forc'd to dislodge his Camp every day to find Victuals for his Men. Pompey's Army was encouraged by their Number and the Grandeur of their Party For all the Senators all that were Illustrious by Descent famous for their Merit or considerable for their Power had sided with Pompey Insomuch that Rome seem'd to be remov'd to the Plains of Pharsalia and Pompey's Pavillion lookt like the Senate-House More then all this the Kings and Princes in Alliance with the Romans had all taken his part Caesar so abandon'd that the Commanders and Officers of the Army which he brought out of Spain daily deserted him Lastly Pompey seem'd to be animated by the Justice of his Cause which encourag'd him to hope for the Protection of Heaven besides that he had the Prayers and good wishes of all the People Whereas Caesar was the object of the Curses and Hatred of all the World as being lookt upon as the odious Oppressor of the publick Liberty However notwithstanding all these Advantages Pompey lost the Battel and that after such an ignominious manner that when we compare what he did to what he ought to have done to what other great Captains do and to what himself had done we hardly know him again but are forc'd to seek in Pompey for Pompey the Great For had he been the Great Pompey Would he have taken a Fright at the very first Disorder of his Army Would he have despair'd as soon as ever he saw his Cavalry give ground Or instead of putting a stop with his Sword in his hand to those that fled as Caesar did at the Battel of Dyrrachum Would he have retir'd to his Tent and sate down there without speaking so much as one word as if he had been immoveable astonish'd and Tunder-struck Why did we not behold him in the midst of his Troops like Alexander at the Battel of Arbela when the Chariots of Darius arm'd with Sythes had broken and much endammag'd his Cavalry encouraging his Captains and Soldiers rallying their disorder'd Ranks returning first himself to the Charge renewing the Fight by his Words and his Example too and doing the Duty as well of a private Soldier as of a Commander Why did he not fight on to the last and receive whole flights of Arrows thro his Breast like Epaminondas at the Battel of Mantinea that if Valour could not overcome and force his Destiny it might at least have serv'd him to save his Honour Doubtless he would not have fail'd in any of these Attempts nay he would have acted magnanimously in every one had he been still himself But he was no more the same Great Pompey who at the Age of Four and twenty years Vanquish'd Domitius with the Slaughter of twenty thousand of his men and who in forty days reconquer'd Africa This is no longer that Captain under whose Conduct the Roman Arms had been Victorious during so long a series of Years and who by the incredible number of his Atchievements had extended the Limits of the Empire in Africa and Europe as far as the Ocean and in Asia to the Provinces lying upon the Hyrcanean and Red Sea This is a Person heartless without judgment careless of Glory a slothful Spectator and ignominious of the Ruin of his own Army who when he saw the Victor enter his Camp quitted his very Armour and shifting himself into a Habit agreeable to his bad Fortune betook himself to his Heels True it is that Caesar blam'd Pompey for commanding his formost Ranks to stay and receive the first Charge of the Enemiés and attributed to that part of Pompâ—y's Orders the Loss of the Battel For says he a Great Captain ought never to deprive himself of the Advantages of the first Attacks which are usually most vehement and vigorous But the Justice of this Accusation does not so clearly appear For if it be such an advantage to Assail the formost Ranks as Caesar alledges it may be deem'd as well no less a piece of Policy to ward off the first Blows and then to fall in upon the Enemy when their first fury is almost spent He also
kill her self giving her self the Stabb had before her Eyes the perpetuity of her Honour And this is the general Reason of these sorts of Deaths which we call Illustrious for which some other particular Causes are always also alleadged As the usual additional Reason of these Ladies Self-murder beside their vanity to Immortalize themselves was their dread of being exposed to the indignities of an inhuman Tyrant abandoned to his own Lusts This same Dread it was that had a share in the Death of Arria for she had reason to fear lest the Emperor Claudius so enrag'd as he was against those who had taken part with Scriboniances should put her Husband to some cruel Death and there make some further attempt upon her Honour And it is as visible rhat Paulina had the same jealousies for no sooner had Seneca her Husband receiv'd orders to dye but she offered to be his Companion in Death and cut her own Veins at the same time that he open'd his Yet when Nero had assur'd her that he had no enmity against her but that he had a high value for her Vertue and the Grandeur of her Descent she suffer'd her Wounds to be bound up and her Conjugal Amity permitted her to live The Opinion of the World saies Tacitus was That Paulina was desirous to have shar'd with her Husband the Honour of a Death so magnanimously undergon so long as she thought Nero's resentment would not stop there but when the Tyrant had assur'd her and that she hop'd for better usage at his Hands then she expected she easily surrender'd to the persuasions of those that exhorted her to live But Montaigns greatest shame is That hardy Ignorance which emboldens him to reprove those that condemn the expressions of Blosius who vow'd he would have burnt the Capitol had his Friend Gracchus desired it These words which seem to him so wonderful are however censured by Cicero as the Expressions of a Villain and to the end it may appear to have been deservedly done I will confirm those words with what Brutus said to the Romans Tarquinus Collatinus my Collegue in the Consulship is my intimate Friend but because the name of Tarquin is detested by you all and for that it might raise a just suspition of me I advise ye to Depose him from the Consulship If therefore we are oblg'd to Sacrifice the Particular Interests to the Publick good which according to Aristotle is a Celestial Good what are we not oblig'd to do for the sake of God or how can we believe that human Considerations should be more predominant then our Reverence of his Temples so that indeed it is a hard matter to apprehend how a man in his Witts could imagine that perfect Friendship was an engagement to commit any Crime and justify the Act. Friendship says Cicero is a bad excuse for Miscarriages for the first Law that it imposes upon Persons when first united is neither to require or act any thing to wound the justice of the Laws Common sence would have taught Montaign this sound Doctrine had he not affected a particular Philosophy by himself or rather had not his Judgment been perverted by his Vanity and indeed it appears That all his Hyperbolical yet weak and sickly Discourse concerning Friendship proceeded from hence that he had an iâ—ching desire to let the World know what rare Qualities he was endow'd withal and that he was capable of a sort of Friendship not to be parallel'd by any Example True it is That altho it be impossible that his Friendship with Stephen of Boetia should be such as he represents it nevertheless we find and agree that it was no common Amity but such a one that we may do him justice as ought to be ranked with that of Pliny the younger and Corellius or Cicero and Scipio that is among those Friendships that are contracted without any design to advantage our Estates and which is not to be found but among persons of Worth and Merit whom the Vulgar believe to be unbyass'd However they are not so in regard there is no greater profit or which they whose Interests are nice and delicate more passionately desire than what men of surpassing parts when link't together in Friendship reap from the conversation of each other For that which engages 'em in this sort of Friendship is the eager desire which they have to be esteem'd by a person whom all the World admire and to find in a Friend a competent judge of his Worth I have lost Corellius said Pliny the younger and I bemoan his loss for the love of my self as having lost a worthy Testimony of my Life and Conversation Scipio said Cicero was touch'd with that Love which I had for Vertue and I was an admirer of his Therefore to define aright the Friendship of two men both endued with extraordinary Qualities it is a certain League which they make one with another reciprocally to observe whatever is valuable in each and to esteem each other according to their deserts Ordinary Friendships are civil intercourses of which we expect to make several Advantages correspondent to our different pretensions or to say better to our different Passions So that our Passions are the visible causes of all the Friendships which we contract Seeing then our desire of Wealth is a Passion most vigorous and impatient and that there are a number of people who have either no Estates at all or not sufficient to support their Quality hence it comes to pass that Interest is the occasion of all our ties and Friendships hence it comes to pass that men fast'n themselves upon Kings their Favourites and Ministers make use of all manner of advantages and take upon 'em all manner of shapes to perswade them into a belief how much they are devoted to their Service This is the reason that men crow'd in heaps to the Courts and Palaces of great Personages as men run to the Publick Springs for according to the saying of Euripides When the Earth is parch'd with Drowth then it most earnestly covets Rain The Passion of pleasure associates and links young People together and because they do not always find it in one place by reason of the several obstacles which they meet with and for that they frequently take distast and grow weary they often change Friends as Aristotle has observ'd There is also a conceal'd Ambition which is a third cause of Friendship This we meet with in a sort of people who devote all their time and make it their sole business to attend upon some person in high Employment whose favour and approbation renders 'em considerable in the World There is another sort of Ambition more easy to be discover'd and more common which engages several people to signalize themselves in all the affairs of their Friends on pupose to make a noise in the World and to put a value upon their Friendship But Men are not only deluded by their Passions which are the occasion many
take then it is that they fall upon subjects wherein they know the Great Personage to be concern'd as the Disgrace of his Enemies and the Fall of those great Officers who have obstructed his Fortunes at Court or some other piece of news that he believes will nearly concern him and then he opens his Heart and perhaps talks more then he would have done at another time Therefore they have no reason to look upon themselves as men of any great Importance for it is not out of a desire to please them or to do justice to their merit that they are thus entrusted with the secret thoughts of great men but only to discharge themselves of their present cares or transports of joy which they cannot contain within themselves So that they never make any reck'ning of the secresie of such people but for their private occasions True it is those great Personages are kind to the people in whom they repose such a Confidence out of respect to the necessity which they have of them but they value them no farther then they have occasion for their seeming fidelity And therefore there are no sorts of Confidents that men manage with more care then such as may become their Accusers or injure their reputation or put a stop to their affairs Which is apparent from hence that bad Subjects who have been designing against the Government have always born a respect for those to whom they have been forced to communicate their Intrigues and that they are much more kind to their Domestics where they have been constrained to hold their secret Meetings and who have testimonies of their private Conferences Therefore says Juvenal Quis nunc diligitur nisi Consâ—ius cui fervens Aestuat accultis animus semperque tacendis Carus erit Verri qui Verrem tempore quo vult Accusare potest So that if the Causes of Dependencies procure contempt and disesteem the very Subject of these Reliances must be much more contemptible For what is it that men talk with so much caution and recommend to the Bosom of their Confident but certain vain stories which the world calls Affairs What is it that men that have the best intelligence are so impatient to communicate to their most intimate Friends Either that there has been a new Quarrel between two prime Ministers that have always had a peek one at another That a Courtier who expected some great Preferment at Court would be strangely surprized to hear that the King had declared himself in favour of another person That there has been a discovery made of a Ladies Intrigue who was always lookt upon as a person of great vertue and reserv'dness Can there be any thing more frivolous then such stories as these or less able to satisfie the curiosity I will not say of a Christian but of a person never so meanly capacitated But if those Trusts which we repose in men are to be blam'd because they are frivolous and dangerous what shall we think of the false Confidences and Reliances of those that are engaged in the Intrigues of Courts reciprocally to discover or conceal their Designs to raise in one another Distrusts of their best Friends wherein they have no other aim but to deceive each other The only Confidence therefore most worthy of applause is that when laying all Trifles aside we discourse of that which is only profitable for our Salvation and instead of deriding and sporting at the miscarriages and defaults of others we humbly acknowledg our own and study real Reformation and Amendment CHAP. V. COMPLAISANCE THey who consider complaisant Persons how they seem to forget themselves on purpose to sympathize with the humours of other men make use of Complaisance as a powerful Argument to shew the falshood of that Maxim That Self-Love is the Fountain of all Vertues purely Human. For say they how can Complaisance derive it's original from Self-Love that rises out of its Destruction and as it were Built upon its Ruins But after serious Consideration we shall find that altho Complaisance appears so opposite to the inclinations of Self-Love and seems to sacrifice it every hour yet she serves it with an entire Fidelity and is more beneficial to it than all the most excelling parts and rarest qualities of men Complaisance is a Quality very common and ordinary yet very proper to bring about the designs of the most Ambitious in somuch that frequently it proves a most apparent piece of Fraud and yet always pleasing and agreeable a Snare which all the world perceives and yet catches the most â—â—fin'd and subtil Politicians So that we may say to Complaisance what the Marshal D'Ancre said to one of his Flatterers Tu m' aduli ma tu mi paci Thou Flatters yet thou Pleases me But the Complaisance which Men always observe to great Personages in never opposing their Wills but humouring 'em without contradiction is a Flattery in Action much more delicate and pleasing then that of Words For they who conform themselves to all the humours of the person observ'd seem perpetually to encourage 'em andpprove whatever they say or do Which sort of Complaisance in time brings great effects to pass as being that which seems to hold a correspondence with Self-Love and to apprehend its real Intentions that we should please her in all things There is also a Politic and Preventive sort of Complaisance which I call so in regard that by means of this preventive Complaisance we approve the sentiments of those whom we desire to please before they have declar'd their thoughts which we meet with in persons grown old in Court Services and that are also men of piercing and judicious understandings Which being join'd with their experience give 'em a quick apprehension how the Prince his Favourite or his prime Minister are inclin'd upon all occasions and affairs that present themselves so that they can easily foresee and divine where their determinations will stop which they no sooner div'd into but they presently propound the very way which they forsee he intends to take which pleases him beyond all the praises and commendations that could have been attributed to him This clear-sighted Complaisance is of so high a value and so beneficial that when it is in absolute perfection it is sufficient of it self to make a compleat Courtier and to advance his Fortune above his expectations or his very wishes There is another sort of Complaisance generally very displeasing of which they that make a profession speak well of all sorts of people and excuse the proceedings and actions of men for which no excuse can be given This sort of Complaisant persons signalize themselves when they extenuate the saults of their Friends And some of them will carry their Complaisance to that degree that they cannot endure that any great Personage for whom they have an esteem should fail of any Quality not so much as of those that are no way necessary for so great a Man and which
are Men of parts is no more than a politick Mildness Such was that of Philip of Macedon who suffer'd himself to be revil'd even in his own Palace and when he had in his Power Arcadian who cry'd him down all over Greece was so far from putting him to death as his Courtiers importun'd him to do that he entertain'd him civilly and loaded him with Presents so that Arcadian publish'd his Encomiums in all places with more zeal than before he had defam'd him Which being told Philip by the same Câ—urtiers that before had solicited his death Do you not see said He What an excellent Physician I am to cure a rayâ—ing Tongue Augustus also would never suffer any enquiry to be made after the Authors of those scandalous Libels that were dispers'd in the Senate full of Reproach and Calumnies against him For which Tiberius blaming him he made answer Thou argu'st like a young Man let 'em alone to talk as much evil of me as they please 't is sufficient that I have reduc'd 'em to such a condition that they are able to do me none Besides these sorts of Mildness there is also a vertuous Mildness for they who are naturally inclin'd to Mildness are always so whereas they whose Mildness is a quality acquir'd by Study are frequently transported with the vertue of their Passion Nevertheless we do not observe that natural Mildness is no hindrance to those that are Masters of it but that they are sensible of the injury which they receive from the hatred of those that seek their disturbance and are desirous of Revenge so that they are carried away with the â—artness and malignity of Choler thô they are able to bridle their Transportments Which is manifest from hence that persons who are of a cold and moist Complexion and never subject to anger yet notwithstanding all their reserv'dness cannot forbear tart and biting expressions against those from whom they receive abuses and to take smart revenges upon those that offer the injury So that natural Mildness is only the peaceable and quiet behaviour of the outward Man And therefore Christian Mildness alone has the only priviledge to calm and pacifie the Minds of those that are provok'd by Injuries and Affronts For that is it which prevents the Insurrections of Choler and Revenge which makes a considerable difference between Mildness and Patience For a patient Man strives with all his might to support with muâ—muring the injuries done him but he that exercises Mildness according to the Rules of the Gospel does no wrong nor does he believe that others do him any when they persecute him perswading himself that being a sinner he deserves the harshest and most rigorous vexations that can befall him in somuch that we may say That Mildness is the perfection of Patience Now that we may understand how Mildness operates these wonderful Effects in the Soul we must enquire into the causes of Choler Plutaroh who perfectly understood this Passion observes that it draws its Original from Pride and Self-Love Pride furnishes it with fierceness its Inflation and impetuosity of Motion and Self-Love supplies it with a Million of occasions that give it growth and nourishment Pride causes those sorts of Choler which are rare but cruel implacable and sanguinary Those sorts of Choler which are kindl'd by Self-Love are less malicious and more easily appeas'd but they are more troublesome and more frequent There is saith Soneca a nice sort of Anger which proceeds from a sower and difficult Humor Now altho this sower and difficult Humor be in some persons an effect of Bodily Temperament in others as Plutarch has observed it derives it self from Self-Love very nice and very dainty For as it causes an infinite number of inconveniences as it requires much care and observance so is it very difficult to be satisfied which is the reason that it is continually bemoaning and vexing it self Therefore that Vertue which encounters and utterly defeats Choler must first assail and destroy our Pride and Self-Love And this is that which begets Christian Mildness because it is an effect of Humility not of that Humility which consists in modest Looks and postures of the countenance which is no more than Hypocrysie and a continued Lye but of Humility and lowliness in Heart as our Saviour calls it For that Humility is the cause that Christians acknowledging themselves to be sinners are so convinc'd that they deserve the scorn of the World that tho they should be trampled under foot they would not think they had any reason to complain It disposes 'em likewise to suffer chearfully the Privation not only of all their Comforts and Conveniencies but of things necessary for the support of Life So that whatever befalls 'em to their damage or disquiet they are contented in all conditions CHAP. X. AFFABILITY LOwness of Fortune is such a Shame to Human Pride that there is nothing a Man will not invent or do to retrieve himself from the Imbasement of a mean Condition Therefore we find that they who are born of obscure Parents labour to exalt themselves by Places and Employments or make use of all manner of Addresses to have a share in the Favour and Confidence of Great Men that they may be taken notice of and that having no Greatness of their own they may be aggrandiz'd by the Grandeur of another This is that which hurries such infinite Numbers of People to the Palaces of Princes 't is not their Love nor their Affection to those Grandees to whom they sacrifice their Service and Attendance But because the high Quality of Men in the first station of Grandeur renders them inaccessible to the Ambitious that are of mean Extraction who neither dare or can approach their awful Presence either out of fear or respect they are overjoy'd when some paces are advanc'd to make an approach easie But that Vertue which enclines Princes and great Noblemen to be kind courteous and generous and so well regulates their Civility that it corresponds with their Dignity That Vertue which is call'd Affability is the most powerful Allurement which they call employ to gain the good Will of all the World especially when in such persons it is maintain'd to its full perfection For then they not only give free Access to all that seek for their Protection but prevent the Petitions of their Suppliants and spaâ—◠〈◊〉 that Modesty to which they are oblâ—â—â—â— as often as they make their Addresses they embrace the Interests of the People and encourage 'em to bethink themselves what may be for their Advantage True it is that Affability is a Charm whose Force it is a difficult matter to withstand but as true it is on the other side that the Use which is now made of it plainly demonstrates it to be no real Vertue For the Grandees that practise it most innocently or to say better least criminally exercise it only out of a lofty Pride that is to fill their Palaces with their