Grace at the bottom but by the Figure and all the outward appearances they make they very much resemble the Persons mentioned before who are so immoderately zealous for Religion that they have little or no concern for any thing besides marvellously satisfied with Themselves and merciless Censurers of all the World besides And these are the Men that make all manner of Probity and Good Actions to be a consequent and attendant upon Religion wholly to depend upon and entirely to be devoted to it and so they acknowledge no such thing as Principles of Natural Justice or Probity of Mind and otherwise than they are derived from and moved by the Springs of Considerations purely Religious Now the Matter is far otherwise for Religion is not only after it in Time but more limited and particular in its Extent This is a distinct Virtue and not the Comprehension and Sum of all Virtues and as the Instances of Pharisees and Hypecrites here prove may subsist without Them or that general good Disposition of Mind which we call Probity And so again may They be independent of Religion as the Examples of Philosophers and good Moral Heathens who we cannot say had ever any Religion properly so called shew on the other hand This is also according to the common Schemes of Theology a Moral Virtue a Branch of Justice which we know is one of the Four Cardinal Virtues and teaches us to give to All their Due according to their Quality and respective Claims Now God being Supreme the Maker and Master of the Universe we are bound to pay him the most profound Honour the most humble Obedience the most punctual and diligent Service This now is properly Religion and consequently it is a division under the General Topick of Justice Again These Persons as they mistake the Nature so do they likewise invert the Order of things for they make Religion antecedent to Probity But how can this be since as the Apostle says Faith cometh by Hearing and Hearing by the Word of God how I say can That which is the Effect of Revelation and Instruction be the Cause of a Thing originally rooted in Nature born with us and inseparable from us For such is that Law and Light of God kindled in every Man's Breast and interwoven with the Constitution of the whole Species This therefore is plainly disturbing the true Order of these matters and turning them out of all method They would have a Man Virtuous and entirely Good merely for the Prospect of Heaven to allure or the Terrors of Hell to affright and awe him into his Duty But methinks those Expressions carry a very ill sound and speak a mean and vulgar Virtue ' If the Fear of the Divine Vengeance and Everlasting Damnation did not restrain me I would do thus or thus O pitiful cowardly Wretch what Sense what Notion hast thou of thy Duty what Inclinations dost thou cherish all this while what Motives dost thou act upon what Thanks dost thou deserve for all that is done upon such constraint and against thy own Will Thou art not wicked because thou darest not be so for fear of the Rod. Now I would have thee so perfect as not to want the Courage but the Inclination to do amiss I would have thee so resolutely good as not to commit the least Evil though thou wer 't sure never to be chidden never to be called to an account for it Thou playest the part of a Good Man that thou may'st be thanked and rewarded for thy pains I would have thee be really so without any prospect of hire or gain nay though none but thy self should ever be conscious of thy Virtue I would have thee so because the Laws and Dictates of Nature and Reason direct and Command thee to be so For Nature and Reason in this case are but another word for God and These Principles and That Light and the Original Distinctions of Good and Evil are his Will and his Laws issued in a different manner Because the Order and Good Government of the World whereof thou art a part require this at thy hands because thou canst not consent to be otherwise without acting against thy self in contradiction to thy Being to thy Interest to the End of thy Creation And when thou hast thus satisfied thy duty and acted upon these motives never be solicitous for the Event but persevere in Virtue in despight of any Sufferings or Dangers that may threaten thee When I urge This as the best Principle of doing well I do not wholly disallow all others nor utterly condemn that Probity required and cherished by the external motives of Recompence and Punishment as if These were unlawful to be proceeded upon Doubtless they have their Use and Efficacy are very proper for the reducing of Ill Men who must be treated in a more slavish and mercenary way and the Foundations thus laid at first come frequently to noble Improvements But still I call this a poorer and meaner Principle and would have my Wise Man aspire to something sublimer and more worthy his Character For This requires a brighter stronger and more generous Probity than the Common sort of Mankind may be allowed to take up with And even Divines have generally represented such a Piety as Servile Imperfect accommodated to the weaker and more ignorant and fitter for Babes and Beginners than for Strong and Masterly Christians This farther is very certain that the Probity wholly depending upon a Spirit of Zeal and Religion and having no regard to the Principles of Natural Light besides that it must needs be accidental and unequal in its Operations and want that Evenness and Constancy which was there largely shewn to be one of its Properties I add that This is a very dangerous Principle and does frequently pruduce horrid and scandalous effects for it makes all the Rules of Common Honesty subservient to Zeal for Religion and opens a Door for all those execrable Villanies which the dear-bought experience of all Ages hath too sensibly convinced us are capable of being committed under the fair Shew and Colour of Piety And These are really so dreadful and detestable that we have reason to question whether any other occasion or pretence in the World have done more mischief than those false but specious professions of Religion The Cause and Honour of God is indeed the Greatest the Noblest and most worthy our Zeal and if it were not all this in its own nature the abuse of it could never be so fatal as it is For Brave and Valuable things only are subjects for Hypocrisy and what is little and despicable as the right use of it does no great good so the perverting it to wrong purposes can do no mighty harm It is not therefore any Disparagement to Religion but the confess'd Excellency of it above any other Subject whatsoever that the Corruption and false Pretences of it are so pernicious Were it less good the abuse of it must have been
easily loses them again A Second which quickly remembers and seldom or never forgets and a Third where the Impression is hard to be made and yet is presently worn out again The Sciences proper to this Faculty are Grammar and the Theory of the Civil Law Dogmatical Divinity Cosmography and Arithmetick The Imagination abounds in Distinctions and Differences are occasioned by it much more than either the Memory or the Understanding is capable of To this belong after a more peculiar manner Fanciful Inventions Pleasant Conceits Witty Jests Sharp Reflections Ingenious Repartees Fictions and Fables Figures and Comparisons Propriety and Purity of Expression and in a Word All that Quaintness and Elegance and Easiness which adorns Conversation and becomes the Character of a Man of Sense and Good Breeding And therefore we may range under this Division Poetry Eloquence Musick Correspondence Harmony and Proportion Now from hence it appears that Sprightliness The Properties of the several Faculties Subtilty Readiness of Parts and all that which commonly goes by the Name of Wit is to be imputed to the Warmth of Imagination Solidity Mature Judgment and Truth to the Dryness of the Understanding The Imagination is Active and Blustering and Busy keeps all about it awake and sets the other Faculties on work The Understanding is a grave sedate and severe Action The Memory acts not at all but is purely Passive and the manner of these Operations seems to be thus In the First Place the Imagination collects together the Idea's and Figures of Things not only such as are present by the conveyance and ministry of the five Senses but those that are absent too by the Assistance of that Inward and Common Receptacle called the Sensorium commune where the Forms of them lie deposited The Next thing in Order is to represent these to the Understanding if that be thought fit and then this Faculty takes them into Consideration examines digests and makes a Judgment of them When That is over the Imagination lays them up carefully to be preserved in the Memory as a Man takes down a Memorandum in his Table-Book that so they may be consulted and made use of again when any future Occasion shall call for them Or if the Imagination be not so disposed then she commits these things into the Memory's Custody without referring them to the Understanding at all and so the Second Branch of this Operation is wholly Superseded Now this Account informs us that the Acts of Recollection Representing to the Intellectual Faculty laying up in the Memory and drawing out those Stores again for Use are all of them Operations of the Imaginative Faculty So that That Common Repository the Internal Sense Reminiscence as it is called and Fancy come within the Compass of This and are not as some pretend Powers of the Mind distinct and separate from it And consequently there is nothing in those Operations that shou'd oblige us to quit the former Division or allow more Faculties of the Reasonable Soul than the Three already insisted upon The Common People who to give them their due are very seldom in the right have an high Esteem The Faculties compared together and make a marvellous to do with Memory extolling This insinitely above the other Two The only Reason whereof seems to be that this hath more of Shew is more pretending and forward and makes a greater Noise in Conversation Hence it is that a Man whose Memory is well stored is usually reputed a great Scholar and that to pronounce one a Person of good Parts you look no farther than his having a good Memory as if Learning were to be preferr'd before Wisdom which indeed comes infinitely short of it and this Faculty from whence it is furnish'd is the least valuable of all the Three For it is consistent with great Folly and insufferable Impertinence and very rarely to be met with in any great Degree where the Person excels in Understanding and Wisdom for the Temperaments indeed from whence they result are contrary to one another From this vulgar Errour I suppose the improper Methods of teaching Children to have taken their Rise it being the Custom of Country-Schools almost every where to follow them close with Tasks to be got by Heart as they call it that so they may be able to repeat and quote things readily out of Books Thus they stuff their Memories full and load them with the Riches of other Men without taking any care to awaken and whet the Understanding to form or to refine the Judgment Which after all is the most necessary part of Instruction to shew them the true worth of their Natural Faculties to draw out the Stores and Abilities of their own Mind and by the Exercise and Improvement of their Home-Growth to render them considerate and wise and qualify'd for all manner of Business Accordingly we see that many of your Scholars which carry all Aristotle and Cicero in their Heads are mere Prigs and Puts and incapable of any management at all and that generally speaking the World is led by the Nose and all the weightiest Affairs of Governments entrusted with Men of little or no Learning Which yet no doubt is of infinite Advantage and wou'd render even the prudentest and cunningest Politicians yet more capable than they are if wisely instill'd and well us'd But then they must not as the way of the World is value themselves upon Other Men's Wisdom nor think it their Own because they remember it but make it so by digesting what they read incorporating it with their own Thoughts refining and improving upon it and knowing how to convert it to the Use and Benefit of themselves and others But to return All Wise Men have given the Preference to the Understanding and admit it to be the most excellent and choicest Piece of Furniture belonging to the Mind If this moves right all the rest goes true and the Man is wise and if this be false the whole Movement is out of Course Imagination is the Second in Dignity and Memory is the Last and Lowest The following Similitude may perhaps contribute something to our apprehending the true State of these Faculties and the different Circumstances and Relations they are in more perfectly An Image of the Three Faculties The Reasonable Soul then cannot be more painted to the Life than by forming an Idea of it to our selves as a Court of Judicature Now in every such Court there are Three Degrees and Orders of Persons concern'd The Uppermost and most Honourable Order is the Bench of Judges and here there is little or no Noise but a World of Business and Dispatch For they proceed calmly and quietly and without any Hurry or Passion try Causes decide Controversies and Claims make Decrees and give the Final Determination to all Matters brought before them This carries a very lively resemblance to the Understanding which is the highest the most honourable and the judging Faculty of the Soul The Second
is the Bar where the Council and the Attorneys are plac'd and here is a world of Clutter and Bawling and Noise but nothing done for they can bring nothing to an Issue They make no Orders nor Awards pronounce no Sentences All Their Business is only to discuss Matters to plead the Cause and to lay it before the Judge This is a lively Picture of the Imagination which is a loud a blustering and a restless Faculty never lies still not even then when the Soul seems perfectly bound up in the profoundest Sleep but is eternally buzzing about the Brain like a boyling Pot and this can never six or come to a peremptory Resolution in any thing The Third and last Degree is that of the Notaries and Registers and Clerks where there is neither Noise nor Action It is no part of their Concern which way things go they are purely Passive and all they have to do is to make Entries of what passes in Court and to take Care that the Records be faithfully kept and ready to be produc'd upon occasion This gives us no ill Idea of the Memory and its Office The Action or Employment of the Soul is Knowledge or Understanding It s Operations and this is of Universal extent For the Mind is a House open to every Guest a Subject ready to receive any Impression As the Philosophers say the Primitive Matter is disposed to be moulded into any Forms or as a Looking-Glass receives and reflects all Faces so this Soul is capable of considering all things indifferently be they Visible or Invisible Universals or Particulars Objects of Sense or not the Understanding is in at All. But if we may be allow'd to argue from the vast and almost infinite Diversity of Opinions and the still growing Doubts upon this Matter it is acquainted with it self the least of any thing This Knowledge is but dim and indirect It is attained by Reflection only and the Knowledge of other things brought home and apply'd to it self By which it feels that it does understand and thence infers a Power and Capacity of this kind This seems to be the Method by which our Minds attain to the Knowledge of Themselves Almighty God who is the Sovereign Mind knows Himself first and all things else in Himself But Man who is the last and lowest of all the Intellectual World inverts that Order quite and discerns other things before he can come to any Knowledge of Himself for His Mind is in Contemplation of Other Objects like the Eye in a Looking-Glass which cannot work upon it self without the help of a Medium and sees nothing at Home while the Vision is continu'd in a streight Line but can do it by Reflection only But the great Difficulty to be enquir'd into upon this occasion The manner of it concerns the Manner of Operation and by what Method the Soul attains to the Knowledge of Things The most receiv'd Opinion is that deriv'd from Aristotle importing That the Mind understands and is instructed by the Senses That it is naturally and of it self a perfect Blank a clean White Paper and that whatever is written in it afterwards must be dictated by the Senses and cannot be convey'd thither any other way But first of all This is far from being Universally true for as was hinted before and the Point referred hither for a farther Disquisition there have been great Authorities of Philosophers that the first Seeds of all Sciences and Vertues and necessary Knowledge are originally sown in our Minds and grafted there by Nature so that Men may if they please live very comfortably and grow Rich out of their own Stock and provided they take but a little care to cultivate and cherish the kindly Beginnings the Harvest will not fail to be plentiful and abundantly to reward their Pains Again That Opinion seems highly injurious to God and Nature and taxes them with unreasonable Partiality For upon these Terms the Rational Soul is more sparingly dealt with and left in a much worse Condition than either the Vegetative or Sensitive or any other Creature whatsoever For all These as hath already been observ'd exercise their Functions readily and are sufficiently instructed by their own Native Endowments in all things necessary for their Purpose Thus Beasts apprehend several Things without Experience and the Discipline of Sense They make Inferences so far as their Case requires and conclude Universals from Particulars From the sight of One Man they know the Humane Shape wheresoever they see it again See Adv. upon Chap. XXIV they are forewarn'd to avoid Dangers even while invisible and to follow after That which is agreeable and beneficial to Themselves and their Young And wou'd it not be a Reproach or scandalous Blunder and Absurdity in Nature if this Noble this Divine Faculty shou'd have no Provision at all of its own but sent about a begging and depend for mere Necessaries upon so mean so frail Relief as what the Senses are able to give Once more How can we perceive that the Understanding shou'd go to School to the Senses and be taught by Them who are not able to teach themselves What precious Masters are these whose utmost Knowledge goes no deeper than barely the Accidents and Outsides of Things For as to the Natures Forms and real Essences of them they know nothing at all of the Matter And if This be the Case of Individual Substances much less are they capable of penetrating into Universals the dark and profound Mysteries of Nature and all those things which do not affect the Sense at all Besides If all Knowledge were deriv'd from the Senses the Consequence of this one would think shou'd be That They whose Senses are the quickest strongest and most discerning wou'd always be the Persons most conspicuous for Ingenuity and Learning and Skill in Reasoning But we frequently see it happen just contrary that such People are the dullest most stupid and most incapable of all others Nay some Persons have thought their Bodily Senses rather an Obstruction than any Advantage to their Improvement And upon that Account have wilfully depriv'd themselves of them that so the Soul might be more expedite and free and do her Business without Distraction when the Avocations and Disturbance of Sensible Objects were taken out of the way Now if this Matter be as I have represented it you will ask perhaps Why these things are not always perform'd by the Soul and why not by every Man alike What hinders that all should not be equally Wise and Knowing but especially why it shou'd lie dormant without being reduc'd into act Or if it do act how comes it to pass that its Operations are not always equal that it goes about its Duty feebly and performs its Functions much more lamely and imperfectly at one Season than at another This is the Case even of the Wisest and most Capable Persons and some are so miserably stupid that the Intellectual Soul seems never to
entertains Arguments for the widest and most distant Contrarieties Nothing so extravagant nothing so absurd but hath found its Assertors and Abettors And this not only in the fanciful Conceits of private Persons but in the more general Sense and Agreement of large Societies and Communities Thus History tells us that what is detested as Impious Unjust and Unnatural in one Country hath been receiv'd with Veneration and practised as highly Decent and a Duty nay even esteem'd an Act of Religion in another And there are not many Laws or Customs or Opinions which we can say have universally obtain'd or have been every where rejected The Marriages of near Relations Some condemn as Incestuous but Others have not only allow'd but recommended nay in some Cases even enjoyn'd them The Murdering of Infants and of Parents when old and decrepid and the having Wives in common are now and in our parts of the World lookt upon as barbarous and execrable but the Worshippers of Moloch we know thought their Children the most acceptable Sacrifice and if Herodotus and some other Historians say true the Scythians thought the other not only innocent but a Mark of Tenderness and Respect and never pretended to any Propriety in a Marriage-Bed When Dionysius offer'd Plato a rich Embroider'd Robe he refus'd it with this Reason for his denyal That it was not fit for a Man to be so effeminately clothed And yet Aristippus another Philosopher accepted it and he had his Reason for That too which was That no External Habit cou'd corrupt the Mind and that the Soul might still be Masculine and Chaste though the Body were attir'd in Clothes never so Soft and Effeminate The Dialogue between this last Philosopher and Diogenes each vindicating his own manner of Living and reflecting upon the others that differ'd from him is thus represented by Horace * Si pranderet olus patienter Regibus uti Nollet Aristippus Si sciret Regibus uti Fastidiret olus qui me notat Diog. If Aristippus patiently cou'd dine On Herbs he wou'd the Courts of Kings decline Arist If He that censures me knew how to use The Courts of Kings He wou'd his Herbs refuse Creech Epist XVII When Solon was mourning and full of lamentation for the Death of his Son a Friend advised him to moderate his Passion since Tears upon that occasion are unprofitable and to no purpose That very Consideration says Solon excuses my Excess of Grief for what can justifie a Man's Concern what can provoke Tears so much as the Thought that all our Sorrow is Fruitless and Vain Socrates his Wife pretended this Aggravation of her Grief that the Judges had condemn'd him unjustly Nay sure reply'd he if a Man must suffer it is infinitely more eligible to die innocent than to deserve Condemnation One Philosopher tells you That a Man is truly possest of nothing which he is not prepared to lose †In aequo enim est Dolor amissae rei Timor amittendae For the Fear that a thing may be lost is a Passion every whit as tormenting as the Concern for it when actually lost Another who passes for as Wise a Man as He comes and tells you quite contrary That the Uncertainty of what we have and the Apprehension of its being taken away from us heightens and gives a Relish to our Enjoyments by disposing us to hold the Blessings faster and closer to our Hearts and rendring us more affectionate and tender of them A Cynick begged of Antigonus that he wou'd bestow a Drachm of Silver upon him No says the King So small a thing is not a Present fit for a Prince to give Then Sir be pleased to give me a Talent Nor that neither says Antigonus For a Talent is a Summ as much too great for a Philosopher to receive A certain Person was extolling a King of Sparta for his exceeding great Goodness and Clemency and the Instance he gave of it was That he was kind even to the Wicked and Unworthy And this argu'd a great Degree of Goodness in him So far from that says another that according to this Account he is no Good Man for no Prince can be so who is not severe to the Wicked Thus you may observe how many different Faces Reason puts on and what a Two-edg'd Sword it is which with dextrous Management will cut both ways * Ogni Medaglia ha il suo riverso Every Medal hath its Reverse says the Proverb There is nothing said but hath somewhat to be said against it says the soundest Philosophy and a Man might demonstrate the Truth of it upon any Subject in the World Now this great Variety and Flexibility may be imputed to several Causes It may come from that perpetual Flux of Humours and variable Constitution of the Body which is so great so constant that a Man is never exactly the same in this respect at any two times of his whole Life It may be charg'd upon that infinite Variety of Objects that offer themselves to his Contemplation It may proceed from the Temper of the Air the Difference of Weather of Climates and Seasons for as was observ'd before †Tales sunt hominum mentes quali pater ipse Jupiter auctiferà lustravit lampade terras In each Man's Breast that Weathercock the Mind Moves with the Rack and shifts with every Wind. And a Thousand other external Causes may contribute to it But if we come nearer home and look within much may be laid upon the several sorts of Motion which the Mind is put into both by its own natural and constant Agitation and by the different Impressions which the Passions make upon it Much also may be argu'd from the different manner of the Object 's being represented to it according to the different Prospects taken of them For in this respect it happens to the Eye of the Mind as it does to that of the Body that no two Persons see the same thing exactly and in all respects alike Their Situation their Organs and infinite other little unobserv'd Accidents there are that make some though perhaps not so great a Diversity as to be discern'd in the Act of Vision Besides every thing we know hath different Glosses and Faces and is capable of being consider'd under different respects which was Epictetus's meaning when he said That every thing hath two he might very truly have said a great many Handles But after all nothing adds more to this Ambiguity and variety of Opinions than that Spirit of Contradiction and Dispute and a vain Affectation of Wit generally predominant in the World which lets nothing pass quietly in Conversation and accounts it a Reflexion upon one's Parts not to have somewhat to say by way of Repartee and Objection though never so contrary to Truth and sometimes even to the Person 's own Judgment too And hence it is frequent for such People to take contrary Sides for their Business is not so much to advance an
virtuous Behaviour and generous Actions of other Men Hence we study and invent Causes and Intentions for them and of our own Malice assign vain and wicked Motives and Occasions for what they do This is a most abominable Vice and an evident Proof of great Malignity in our Nature and of a diseased Mind There is no great Matter of Wit or Judgment shewn in such Proceedings but they betray a World of Baseness and Ill-Nature For whence can all this Misconstruction spring but either from that Envy which our Neighbours Honour and Reputation provokes in us or from a measuring of others by our selves and so taking that for granted in Them which we are Conscious of in our selves or from a Weakness and Distemper in the Mind which like some Sicknesses in the Body alters and vitiates the Palate confounds and blinds the Sight that we neither see nor taste Things as they are and that Virtue in its native Purity and Lustre is too Strong for us to bear or conceive From the same Cause it is that we are so officiously Spightful in publishing other Mens Vices and Failings that we aggravate these beyond what they deserve but take good Care to extenuate their Virtues as much hence from single Actions and particular Circumstances we draw general Inferences and fix standing Characters upon Men Hence comes our Partiality in judging and our Regards not to the Thing but the Person If he be a Friend or of Our Opinion or in Our Interest then all he does is justified or applauded and every Thing becomes him and his very Vices are Virtues But if he be an Enemy if he have disoblig'd us Personally or be engag'd in a Contrary Faction he is stark naught and nothing is as it should be Thus we are content to wrong and disgrace our Judgment provided we may but gratify our Passions But alas we are not come to the End nor to the worst Part of it yet For most of the Impieties and Heresies the Errours in point of Belief and Controversies of all Sorts in Religion if we examine them strictly and trace them up to their first Head will appear to be so many noisome Streams of this bitter Fountain a polluted and wicked Will inordinate Passion and senfual Pleasure which by Degrees bribes and debauches the Understanding and wins it over to its own Side The People sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play As the Scripture observes of the Israelites Idolatry and St. Augustine very well to this purpose * Quod vult non quod est credit qui cupit errare Lib. 2. de Civ Dei That when a Man feels an Errour agreeable to him he does not believe what is True but what he would gladly have to be True Thus by Degrees it hath come to pass that the Wickednesses which at first were committed with many Doubts and Misgivings and great Reluctancies have not only out-worn all Scruple in time but been asserted and maintained for Divine Truth and Express Revelation What was at first in the Sensual Appetite only hath made its Way higher and got the upper Hand of the Understanding What was meerly Passion and Pleasure hath been advanced into a Principle of Religion and an Article of Faith So dangerous a thing is it for any part of the Soul to be diseased So Strong the Infection and so quickly does it spread from one Faculty to another And thus you have had an Account what those Three Causes of Our Mental Defects and the Errors in our Judgment are which were said to be external and foreign to the Mind it self For it appears that the Understanding may be wanting or impaired by Means of Sickness or Bodily Indisposition more especially any Disease or Hurt in the Head or any inconvenient Shape of the Skull From the prejudicate Opinions of the World and taking up groundless Whimsies for measur'd and certain Truths And Lastly from any Disorder in the other Faculties of the Rational Soul which are plac'd below and ought by Nature to be under the Governance of the Mind Those whose Failings proceed from the first of these Causes deserve our Pity not our Censure or Blame and of them some are curable and others incurable The Second are not wholly Innocent but yet Faulty in such a Degree that we may pardon and excuse them But the Third sort are altogether Guilty They deserve both Censure and Punishment for suffering the Order of their Creation to be so inverted that those which were born Subjects and ought to submit should usurp the Throne and presume to give Laws to their Natural Sovereign But besides these outward and accidental Failings there are others It s Natural Defects Natural and Internal such as take their first rise from and are born and cherished in the Mind it self The greatest of All and indeed the Source and Root of all the Rest is Pride and Presumption The First and the Original Sin of Mankind the Bane of every Soul and the Cause of all manner of Evil 'T is This that puffs Men up with Sufficiency and Self-Satisfaction This will not suffer us to yield to any body or think others Wiser or Better than our selves This makes us despise the good Counsel of our Friends and place an entire Confidence in our own Opinions This calls the Judgments of other People into Question arraigns and condemns them nay sometimes such as we understand nothing of nor are capable of examining or comprehending the Reasons of them 'T is most truly observ'd that Judgment and Wisdom is not only the Best but the Happiest Portion God Almighty hath distributed among Men. For tho' this Distribution be made with a very uneven Hand yet no body thinks himself stinted or Ill dealt with but he that hath never so little is contented in this Respect however and thinks he hath a Child's Share at least Now This Distemper is owing to no Cause so much as the want of being more intimately acquainted with our selves for by this means we are Strangers to our Wants and Weaknesses and not at all sensible of our greatest Misfortunes So that the Root of all our Diseases is Ignorance not That which is opposed to Skill in Arts and Sciences and conversing with the Writings of Learned Men but Ignorance of our own Affairs and Condition the Removal and Cure whereof was proposed in the Beginning as the Design of this whole First Book CHAP. XV. Of the Memory MEmory is very often mistaken by the Vulgar for Understanding and Good Sense but in truth they are very different Things For both Reason and Experience tell us as hath been observed formerly that it is very possible and usual for a Man who is Excellent in one of these respects to be wretchedly weak and wanting in the other This indeed is a Faculty very Serviceable and Useful to Mankind but it comes far short of the Understanding and is much the Tenderest and most Feeble of all those Parts
Progress toward Virtue as to quit all other Vices yet there is but very little Hope or Appearance of its ever renouncing it self It pushes Men to Brave and Illustrious Actions I confess it and the Benefit of these Actions to the Publick is unspeakable but though Others may reap the Fruit and be the better for such Actions yet it will not follow that the Person who does them is one whit the Better for them These may be the Effect of Passion and not of Virtue or Principles and if they be so this Excuse is vain For at present it is not the Profit but the Intrinsick Goodness of such Exploits that we are inquiring into I know indeed this Passion shelters it self under that very excellent Maxime That We are not born for our selves alone but for the General Good of Mankind But how good a Sanctuary this is the Methods made Use of for rising in the World and Mens Behaviour after their Promotions and Successes must shew And These if they be nicely observ'd will give us Cause to suspect that the Men who talk at this Rate speak against their own Consciences and that private Interest is at least an equal if not a stronger Motive to the Generality of Mankind than the Good of others Men look nearer Home in all they do and That how large soever the Pretensions to it may be for we cannot wonder that Men should pretend at least to One of the best and most valuable Qualities in the World yet a truly Publick Spirit is very rarely to be found See Advice and Remedies against this Passion in particular Book III. Chap. 42. CHAP. XXI Of Avarice and the Passions opposite to it BY Avarice is to be understood an inordinate Love What it is and vehement Desire of Riches Tho' indeed it is not only the Love and Fondness for them that deserve this Name but all Sort of over-curious Niceness and sollicitous Concern about Riches will bear it very justly even the Care of distributing them and Liberality it self if it take up too much of our Time and Pains in ordering and making it exact In short All manner of Anxious Thought with Relation to Riches savours strongly of this Passion for they ought to be entertain'd and used with a becoming Negligence and to be looked upon as they really are not worth any earnest Attention of the Mind nor a sit Object of our Care and Trouble The vehement Desire of Riches and the mighty Pleasure of Possessing them is merely Fantastical a Creature of our own Imagination and hath no Being no Foundation in Nature at all 'T is a Canker or Gangrene in the Soul that spreads and mortifies and with its Venom corrodes and quite consumes all Our Natural Affections and fills us with noxious and virulent Humours in their stead No sooner hath This taken up its Dwelling in our Hearts but immediately all those Tendernesses and kind Concerns are banished thence which either Nature inspires or Virtue recommends and improves in us All the Duties and Regards we owe to our Relations to our Friends nay to our very Selves are no longer of any Consideration with us All the World when set in competition with Interest and Profit goes for Nothing and at last we come to that pass as even to over-look and despise our own Persons our Ease our Health our Bodies our Souls All are sacrificed to this Darling this adored Wealth and as the Proverb expresses it We sell the Horse to get the Provender Avarice is a mean sordid Passion the Temper The Folly and Misery of it or rather the Disease of Fools and Earth-Worms who esteem Riches as the Supreme Good and most exquisite Attainment Humane Nature is capable of and dread Poverty as the Last of Evils who cannot content themselves with a bare Competency or such Provisions as are necessary for their Subsistence which indeed are so small that very few want them They measure their Riches by the Bags and Weights of Bankers and Goldsmiths whereas Nature teaches us to make a different Judgment and directs us to the Standard of our own just Occasions Now is not this the very Extremity of Folly to fall down and worship That which Nature hath taught us to despise by casting it under our Feet and hiding it in the Bowels and dark Caverns of the Earth as a thing not fit for publick view but to be trampled and trod upon as a just Object of our Neglect and an Intimation of its own Worthlessness There it was Originally and there it had remained to all Eternity had not the Vices of Mankind ransack'd those dark Cells and with great Difficulty and Violence drawn it up And great their Reward of such Industry hath been For what have they gain'd by it but the Ground of Insinite Controversies and Quarrels and Blood-shed and Rapine a Fatal Instrument of devouring and destroying one another * In lucem propter quae pugnaremus excutimus non erubescim us summa apud nos haberi quae fuerunt ima Terrarum We take unspeakable Pains to fetch up that above Ground says one which when we have it serves us only to fight for Nay we are not out of Countenance to have those very Things in highest Esteem which God and Nature had made lowest and thought the deepest Mines of the Earth a Place Good enough for Nature indeed seems in some Measure to have given sure Presages how Miserable those Men should be who are in Love with Gold by the manner of its Growth and the Quality of the Soil that produces it For as That Ground where the Veins of this Metal are found is Unprofitable for other Uses and neither Grass nor Plants nor any other Thing of Value and Service to Mankind will grow there it is in this Respect a most lively Emblem of the Minds of Men which are enamour'd with it They being in like manner the most sordid and abject and abandoned Wretches cursed and condemned to Barrenness void of all Honour lost to all Virue and no kind of thing that is Good in it self or Beneficial to the World is to be obtained or expected from them What a horrible Degradation is this and how do we lessen and disparage our selves when we give up that Dominion and Liberty to which we were born by becoming Servants and Slaves to the very meanest of our Subjects * Apud Sapientem Divitiae sunt in Servitute apud Stultum in Imperio For Riches as is most truly observ'd are the Wise Man's Servants and the Fool 's Masters And in Truth the Covetous Man cannot be so properly said to possess Wealth as That may be said to possess Him He hath it indeed but he hath it in such a Sense only as he hath a Fever or some violent Disease which hath got an absolute Mastery over him and preys upon his Vitals and all his Faculties How extravagant is it to dote upon That which neither hath any Goodness of
to Religion but employ and delight themselves chiefly in War and Hunting For the Manners and Dispositions of Men in general look upon the First in Regard to War and it is most evident that Numerous Armies Military Arts and Discipline Engines and Instruments and Inventions of this Kind are Originaly deriv'd from the North. The Nations which set out from thence Scythians and Goths and Vandals and Hunns and Tartars and Turks and Germans These have fought and subdued all other Nations and ravag'd the whole World The Devastations they made and the Barbarities they exercised gave Occasion to that Proverb That all Evil came out of the North. Duels and set Combats are deriv'd from Them Solinus says the Northern Nations Worship the Blade of a Sword stuck down into the Earth Other People have not been able to Conquer them Not even the Romans who vanquished the rest of the World but were Themselves overcome and destroy'd by Them It is remarkable that the South Wind makes them Weak and Faint and that in Proportion as they advance nearer the South they Degenerate and grow Feeble and so just contrary The Southern Nations when they move Northward improve their Constitutions and feel themselves grow much more Hardy and Strong Upon the Account of this Courage and Warlike Spirit it is that the Northern People cannot endure to be Insulted and Tyrannized over They are Enemies to Arbitrary Power and Absolute Dominion are great Lovers of Liberty and submit most willingly where the Governments are Elective As for Chastity and Jealousie In the North One Man hath but One Wife as Tacitus observes and he thinks One Wife sufficient too They are by no Means inclin'd to Jealousie says Munster as one may guess by Men and their Wives Bathing together in the Company of Strangers Polygamy is practised all over the whole Southern Tract All Africa says Solinus is devoted to the Worship of Venus Southern Men have a strange Propension to Jealousie and even die with the Rage of it and therefore they get Eunuchs for their Security and set Them as a Guard upon their Women Thus the Grand Seignior does in his Seraglio where he keeps vast Numbers of Ladies like a Stable of Mares to breed upon In Cruelty both Extremes resemble one another but though the Effect be the same the Cause is not so as will be explain'd presently when we come to consider the Causes of these Differences The most Barbarous Methods of Punishment such as Breaking upon the Wheel and Impaling Men alive came from the North. The Merciless Cruelties of the Muscovites and Tartars are abundantly Notorious The Germans Tacitus tells us never punish Malefactors by Legal Process but fall upon them and cut them to Pieces like Enemies The Southern Nations too flay their Criminals alive and their Desire of Revenge is so Eager and Impatient that sometimes they run Stark-Mad if they cannot find Means to satisfie it Between these Most Distant Regions the Nations are full of Kindness and Good-Nature The Romans usually inflicted no greater Punishment than that of Banishing their most grievous Offenders The Greeks mingled a Stupifying Draught of Hemlock and other Poysonous Drugs yet so that it should be Sweet upon the Palate and This they gave their condemned Persons to drink and die with And Cicero says That Humanity and Courtesie seem to be the Portion and peculiar Qualities of the Lesser Asia and to have been from thence diffused over the rest of the World Now the True Cause from whence all these Differences The Cause of these Differences both in the Persons and the Dispositions of Men proceed is no other than the inward Natural Heat being distributed among the People of these several Climates so very unequally as it is For each Country differs from the other according as these Proportions differ The Northern Nations have it in a very great Degree by Reason of the great Coldness of their Air which keeps this Heat and shuts it up close as we find Cellars in Rocks and deep Wells Hottest in Winter and to go no farther from Home so are our own Breast and Stomach because of the Strength and Abundance of inward Heat at that Time Now This must needs be much Weaker in Southern People because the exceeding Vehemence of the Scorching Heat without and the Force of the Sun-Beams scatters and draws it outward As our Stomachs and Places under Ground are coolest in Summer and we feel our inward Burnings abated by Sweating From this Difference I say and unequal Degrees of Natural Heat arise the several Differences already mentioned not such only as the Body is concern'd in for These are Visible and Obvious but Those that make a Change in the Minds of Men too For the Southerly People being Colder in their Constitutions are from hence disposed to Melancholy and this makes them Staid and Solid Constant Contemplative Ingenious Wise Religious and Devout For Wisdom and Docility is most eminently Visible in Beasts of a Cold Temperament as Elephants particularly which are more Melancholick than any other Animals and are manifestly the most Apprehensive and apt of any all which I impute to the Coldness of their Blood From the same Superfluity and Predominance of Melancholy in their Temper the Southern People seem to be more Lascivious and Lustful than others this being a sharp and fretting Humour and apt to provoke such Inclinations as we see it in Hares particularly From the same sharp fretting Melancholy they are Barbarous and Cruel for That Whets the Passions and urges them to Blood and Revenge Now The Northern People in whose Constitution Phlegm is most predominant and who abound in Blood and Spirits are just opposite to the Former and have the direct contrary Qualities excepting that they agree in that single Point of Cruelty But This in these Parts of the World proceeds chiefly from a very different Reason and that seems to be Want of Judgment so that like Beasts They are Strong in their Passions and Weak in those Faculties that should controul and keep them in The Countries of the Middle Division abound in Blood and Choler and so are delivered from the Ill Effects of both Extremes Phlegm and Melancholy and accordingly These are Moderate in their Passions Good-Humour'd Cheerful Nimble and Apt and Active It were Possible to represent the different Temper and Spirit of these Three Sorts of People after a yet more Nice and perfect Manner by making the Application and Comparison to extend to all kind of Things whatsoever A short Scheme whereof this little Table will present you with and by That you will perceive what are the particular Qualities Influences Improvements and Actions of each of them For according to what hath been already observ'd upon this Head we must assign to the  Northern Middle Climate Southern Qualities of the Soul Common Sense Discourse and Ratiocination Intellect  Force and Courage like that of Bears and Beasts The Reason and Justice of Men. The
Subtilty of Foxes and Religion of Divines Planets Mars War Luna Hunting Jupiter Emperours Mercury Oratours Satur. Contemplation Venus Love  Arts and Manufactures Prudence and Knowledge of Good and Evil. Speculative Wisdow and Knowledge of True and False Parts and Offices in the Commonwealth Labourers and Artisans and Soldiers Magistrates discreet and provident Persons Prelates Divines and Philosphers Qualities of different Ages Young Men Aukward and Unapt Grown Men good Managers and Men of Business Old Men Grave Wise and Thoghtful These are the peculiar Excellencies and most remarkable Distinctions which may be attributed to this general Division of North and South The Nations that lie Westward and the People that dwell upon the Mountains approach and have a great Affinity to the Northern Climates because of the Cold to which those Situations are more expos'd which is also the Case of Them who live at a great distance from the Sea They are Warlike and Fierce Lovers of Liberty and have more Honesty and Simplicity in their Tempers And so again the Eastern Countries resemble the Southern as do also Those that dwell in the Champaign and great Valleys and the Borderers upon the Sea They are more Tender and Effeminate by reason of the Fruitfulness of their Soil for Fertility inclines Men to Softness and Pleasure And your Islanders are commonly Subtle and Cunning and Deceitful by reason of that Commerce and Correspondence they hold with Men and Nations of different Tempers abroad From this whole Discourse we may conclude in general that the Privilege of the Northern Climates lies chiefly in the Qualifications of the Body Strength and a Robust Constitution is their peculiar Excellence and Portion The Southern have the Advantage in the Mind Subtilty and Penetration and Quickness of Parts is Their Talent The Middle Regions have somewhat of Both and partake of all These Excellencies but of Each in less Degrees and moderate Proportions From hence likewise we may understand that the Manners and Original Dispositions of Men simply consider'd are not Vices or Virtnes in their own Nature but Necessary and Natural Effects And the absolute renouncing or devesting our selves of These nay the perfect Reformation of them is something more than difficult it is in some Cases out of our Power But the sweetning and moderating and reducing these Natural Extremes to Temper and a due Medium the watching over them carefully and restraining their Motions This is properly our Duty and the Business of Wisdom and Virtue CHAP. XLIII The Second Distinction and nicer Difference which regards the Souls of Men or the Internal Qualifications and Capacities of their Minds THis Second Distinction which concerns the Minds of Men Three Sorts and Degrees of Men in the World and their inward Accomplishments is by no means so manifest as the former It is not obvious to Sense at all nor does it fall within the compass of every one's Notice and Observation The Causes of it are likewise compounded for it depends partly upon Nature and partly upon Industry and Art and so extends to our Acquir'd Excellencies as well as to Those that are born and bred with us According to this Distinction there are as was observ'd before Three sorts of Men which divide them into Three Classes or Degrees of Souls In the First and lowest of these Ranks we may place those weak and mean Souls which are almost of a Level with Body and Matter of slender and narrow Capacities almost perfectly passive and such as Nature seems to have made on purpose to Endure and Obey to live under Subjection and Management and tamely to follow their Leaders In a Word such as are but just Men and no more In the Second and middle Row are Those of a tolerable Judgment and Understanding and such as make some Pretensions to Wit and Learning Management and Address These Men know Something but they are not sufficiently acquainted with Themselves They are content to take up with Opinions commonly receiv'd and stick fast to their first Impressions without troubling Themselves or indeed being judicious enough to enquire into the Truth and Bottom of Things nay were they capable of finding their deep and most abstruse Causes they think this an unlawful Curiosity and so make the Submission of their Judgments a Principle of Duty and Conscience They look no farther than that little Spot of Ground where they stand Themselves and take it for granted that Matters are or ought to be all the World over exactly the same with what they see them at home and all that differ from them in Customs or Opinion they look upon with Pity or Disdain and allow no better Names to than Ignorant and Unciviliz'd Wild and Barbarons They live in perfect Slavery to local Laws and the Vogue of that Village or City where they have dwelt ever since they were hatch'd and this they do not only in a quiet Complyance and orderly Obedience to them which it is the Duty of every Man even the ablest and most judicious to do but they conform their Sense and their Soul to them and are verily persuaded that what is believ'd and practis'd in their own Town is the infallible Standard of Truth the Only or the Best Rule of Virtue and that all Men's Notions of Right and Wrong ought to be measur'd by Theirs These sorts of Men belong to the School and District of Aristotle They are Positive and Peremptory abounding in their own Sense and impatient of Contradiction They look more at Convenience than Truth and consider what will make most for the Benefit of the World and turn to best Account rather than make it their Business to find Things as they really are and recommend what is Best in it self This Class consists of infinite Subdivisions great Variety of Attainments and Degrees the Uppermost and most capable among them are such as sit at Helm and govern the World Those that hold Empires and Kingdoms in their Hand and either give Commands or counsel those that do In the Third and Highest Order are the Men blest with a lively clear and penetrating Wit a sound solid and stable Judgment that do not content Themselves with bare Hearsay nor set up their Rest in general and receiv'd Opinions that suffer not their Minds to be prepossest and won over by the publick Vogue nor are at all kept in Awe or afraid to oppose and diffent from the common Cry as being very well satisfy'd how many Cheats there are abroad in the World and that some Things no better than Falshood and Jest at the bottom have been entertain'd approv'd extoll'd nay even reverenc'd and ador'd For such were the greatest part of the old Philosophy and Physick such the Divinations and Oracles and all the Idolatry and Trumpery of the Pagan Worship which prevail'd even in the most refin'd Countries for many Generations together and kept Mankind in slavery to most wicked and miserable Delusions These Men therefore are for bringing every
cannot run always if you draw too fast it will soon be drain'd dry * Liberalitate Liberalitas perit By being Liberal says St. Jerom Man makes it impossible to be so For a farther Prevention whereof as well as upon other very good Considerations it will be convenient to spin out ones Liberality to let it come gently and by degrees rather than to give all we intend at once For that which is done on the sudden and at a heat be the thing never so considerable in it self yet passes off as it were insensibly and is quickly forgotten All things that have a grateful Relish should be contriv'd to be as slow and leisurely in the Passage as can be that so the Palate may have time to tast them but on the contrary all those Dispensations that are harsh and severe when Occasions call for any such should be dispatch'd with all possible Convenience that so like bitter Potions they may be swallow'd at once Thus you see that the Giving as becomes one is an Act of Prudence and the Exercise of Liberality to the best Advantage requires great Address and Skill To which purpose Tacitus hath this notable Remark †Falluntur quibus Luxuria Specie Liberalitatis imponit pordere multi sciunt donare nesciunt Those Persons says he are under a mighty Errour who know not how to distinguish between Liberality and Luxury abundance of Men know how to squander that do not know how to give And to speak the very Truth Liberality is not a Virtue peculiar to King 's and milder Governments only but very consistent even with Tyranny it self And surely the Tutors and Governors of young Princes are much in the wrong when they labour to possess their Minds with such strong and early Impressions of Giving of refusing nothing that is ask'd of them of thinking nothing so well employ'd as what they give to their Friends This is the Jargon usual in such Cases But either This seems to proceed from some Advantage these Instructors design to make of such a Principle hereafter or for want of due regard to the Person they address themselves to For a too governing Notion of Liberality is of very ill Consequence in a Person whose Fortunes are so plentiful as to supply the Expences of others at what rate himself shall think fit And of the Two Extremes though either of them are very far from Good yet a Prodigal or a Giving Prince he that spends upon his own Vanities or he that seeds those of his Servants and Favourites without Discretion and due Measure is a great deal worse than a Stingy One that keeps his Hand shut to all And whereas these frequent Boons are pretended of Use to make Friends and secure the Service and Affection of those who are obliged by them There is very little or nothing of Substance in this Argument For immoderate and undistinguishing Liberality encourages every body to ask and to expect and so for One Friend makes Ten Enemies in Proportion as the Repulses must needs be more frequent than the Grants But indeed if it be wisely and well regulated it is undoubtedly as I said before exceeding Graceful and Commendable in a Prince and may prove of Excellent Advantage both to Himself and to the State Another very becoming Virtue is Magnanimity That I mean more peculiarly Nagnanimity which consists in a Greatness of Spirit not easily to be provoked such as despises and can pass over Injuries and Indecencies and moderate his Anger when it begins to fly out * Magnam Fortunam magnus Animus decet Injurias Offensiones superne despicere Indignus Caesaris irâ A Great Fortune and Dignity should have a Noble Mind such as can look down upon Wrongs and Provocations as Matters a great way below it and not worth its Notice and Majesty should consider that there are not many Offences which will justifie a Prince's being angry Besides to fret and be concerned is often interpreted for Consciousness of Guilt and that which a Man makes slight of blows quickly over and seldom sticks long So says the wise Roman †Convitia si irascere agnita videntur spreta exolescunt If Reproaches put you in a Passion the World will look upon this as a sort of Confession But if you disregard them they vanish and die without doing any manner of Prejudice But then if any Provocation be given which ministers just and sufficient Cause to be angry let those Resentments be express'd openly without labouring to conceal or to dissemble them that the People about him may have no reason to suspect any thing of a Secret Grudge or a Mischievous Design in him For these are Qualities for the meanest and basest sort of People and Symptoms of a Malicious Devilish and Incurable Dispesition â‚ Obscuri irrevocabiles reponunt odia Saevâ—e Cogitationis indicium secreto suo satiari Pitiful Fellows and Vnreclaimable Wretches keep Malice in their Hearts says Tacitus and to feed upon a Grudge is an evident Mark of Baseness and Barbarity Of the two the giving Offence and doing an Ill thing is less disagreeable to the Character of a Great Man than the Hating and Maligning of others for doing so to Him And thus I have done with the Head of Virtue the other Branches of it in general being not so properly distinguishing Properties and peculiar Ornaments of the Royal Dignity as Excellencies lying in common between Princes and the rest of Mankind The next thing that comes under our Consideration after the Prince's Virtue is what they call his Manner that is The third Head Behaviour his Behaviour and Way of Living the Mien the Port the Address that sute with the Majesty of a Prince and all those profound Respects so necessary to be kept up Upon this I shall not insist at all only by the way as it were touch upon it Now though Nature contribute a great deal to this in the Form and Temper and Person yet all that Nature does is capable of Amendment and Improvement both by the additional Helps of Industry and Art Under the Head we are now upon may be reckoned the Air of his Face the Composure of his Countenance his Fashion and Behaviour his Gate his Tone and manner of Speech his Clothes and Dressing The general Rule to be observed in all these Particulars is such a Mixture of Sweetness and Moderation of Stayedness and Gravity as may win upon Mens Minds and move their Affections pleasingly such as may keep the middle Way between Familiarity and Fear engage their Love and yet command their Honour and Respect His Court and Conversation are likewise worth taking notice of For the former it is convenient that it should be very publick that the Palace he dwells in should be Noble and Magnificent sit for Resort and Correspondence and if that can be well contriv'd not far from the Middle of his Country or at least the most
to entertain must receive Satisfaction from the Second Question I insert this Caution by the way because it frequently falls out that a Man is staked down as it were to one party almost whether he will or no. For though he may not make it any part of his Choice and Design nay though in his own Private Judgment he cannot but disapprove it yet in despight of Intention Inclination and Good Sense he may find himself involved and intangled by some Considerations so Powerful that he cannot with any Decency break through them And these being such Bands as Nature hath ty'd him up in or such as Counterbalance all Motives to the contrary will at least carry a sufficient Excuse for his doing as he does Now this first Question hath several Arguments pro and con and abundance of eminent Instances might be produced of Persons who have behaved themselves directly contrary to each other with regard to it So that differing Judgments and Authorities as well as different Reasons minister just ground of Scruple in the Case The Resolutions which seem to me most convenient to be come to according to the different Circumstances of the Persons concern'd in this Debate are such as follow On the one Hand Nothing seems more agreeable to the Character of a Wise and a Good Man than to have nothing at all to do with the Follies and Factions of the World and therefore such a one cannot do better than to stand by and let them try it out by themselves Especially too if we consider what Account hath already been given of these Divisions how irregular and unlawful they are in their own Nature and first Causes what Wickedness Barbarity and Injustice of all sorts they engage Men in That these are inseparable Attendants of such practices and it is not possible to have any hand in them and continue Innocent I say If all these Considerations be fairly laid together it scarce looks any longer like a Matter of free Choice what a Man may or may not do but seems rather a Point of Duty than of bare Allowance and Permission absolutely to decline any Concern in them And accordingly it appears that several excellent Persons have had so great an abhorrence of these Things and such a Sense of the Personal Obligations they violate that no Considerations could prevail with them to come in particularly Asinius Pollio who the Historian tells us Velleius lib. 3. excused himself for these very Reasons to Agustus when he entreated his Company and Assistance in the Expedition against Mark Anthony But then on the other Hand What shall we say to those Reasons which enforce our Obligation to take part with good Men to protect and strengthen such as much as in us lies and to defend Equity and Right against all that oppose and encroach upon it The Great Solon was so strongly possess'd in Favour of these Engagements that he is for inflicting very severe Punishments upon Them that affect Ease and Obscurity and refuse to appear and act openly in such Exigencies of State And that rigid Professor of Virtue Cato govern'd himself by this Rule for he did not only declare and come into One Party in the Civil Wars of Rome but took a Command among the Malâ— contents under Pompey Now if we would know what Measures are fit to be taken where Judgments are so divided and Reasons probable and plausible enough for each to alledge in his own Justification my poor Opinion is This For Persons of Eminence and Character in the World such as are in publick Trust or great Reputation or extraordinary Abilities and are known to be leading and significant Men in the State These I conceive not only may fall into that Side which they in their Conscience think the best but so far as I am able to discern they are bound to do it For he is a very ill Pilot that steers the Ship in calm and favourable Weather and runs away from the Helm when it grows Foul and Stormy What shall become of the Vessel if the best Hands let her drive when there is the greatest Need of Working her and keeping her tight These Gentlemen ought in Extremities especially to stand in the Gap and act like Men of Honour the Care of the Government is upon them and its Safety or Ruine lyes at the Door But then for Persons in a private Capacity such as make none at all or but very inconsiderable Figure in the Government These are more at their own Liberty For as their Condition supposes all the Assistance they can contribute to be of no mighty consequence so the with-holding that Assistance can do no great Damage And therefore they may be allowed to retire into some Place of Security and seek their own Ease and Quiet at a Distance from the Noise and Clutter of the contending Parties But then both these kind of Men those that do and those that do not declare lie under an Obligation to demean themselves in such manner as I am going to prescribe In the mean while I add thus much only upon the present Subject concerning those who are disposed to come in and act That in the choosing what Party they should side with sometimes the Case is so plain that it is almost impossible they can be mistaken For where the Injustice of the Cause and other Disadvantages are so evident that they look one full in the Face and forbid him no Man of common Sense will go in thither But it often happens that there are Reasons on both Sides Each pretends Right and Justice and each hath Advantages to invite us and then the Difficulty of coming to a Resolution is very great because a Man must not only weigh the Arguments on both Sides and settle the Point of Right and Wrong first but he hath several other Considerations to attend to such as may and ought to carry some Weight with them though they have not immediately respect to the Justice of the Cause And now it may be Seasonable to proceed to the other Part of this Advice which relates to the Behaviour of the Persons under these several Capacities To all which I might satisfie my self with prescribing in one Word Moderation and Temper that they would particularly take Atticus for their Pattern whose Name hath been so much celebrated for his Prudence and Modesty in the midst of that boisterous Age in which he lived One who was always believed in his Judgment to favour the right Side and respected by all good Men for doing so but yet one who behaved himself so Prudently and Inoffensively that he never involved himself in the Common Confusions nor drew down the Displeasure of ill Men or any Inconvenience from that Party who were sensible enough he did not approve their Proceedings But to be a little more particular and first for Them who openly declare themselves It is certain that These ought by no Means to be violent or betray indecent Heats and
and Offences for indeed they are no small advantages which these put into our hands particularly they are capable of turning to very good account two ways with regard to each of the parties concerned in them For first with regard to the person who did the Injury this hath discovered the Man to us we have seen a little more of the World we know such a one two well to trust him another time and have fair warning to avoid him ever after But then Secondly they help us to know our selves too shew us our own infirmities our breaches and blind sides where the Foe may get within us and what we cannot hold out against and this gives us warning to work upon those breaches and put them in a defensible condition against the next attack upon us Let us learn to amend that fault too which occasion'd the abuse that no other Man may have the like provocation to reproach us hereafter This is the true way of defeating the malice of others and doing right to our selves for what nobler Revenge can a Man take upon his Enemies than to turn their injuries and affronts to his own Prout and to learn more Prudence and Conduct and to grow the wiser and better more cautious and inoffensive by being ill used The World at this rate is an excellent School and the more unreasonable Men are the more a Man of good fense and temper may improve himself under their even unjust Corrections CHAP. XXI Of External Evils with regard to their Fruits and Effects HAving thus consider'd the Causes let us now enquire into the effects of our evils and what fruits they produce where again we shall meet with very powerful Antidotes and substantial remedies against them Now these effects are many and great general and particular The general effects are such as concern the good the support the order and improvement of the Universe The World would be quire stified and choak'd up it would Stagnate and putrifie if it were not sometimes stirred and changed and put into a new form by such important and alterative accidents as Plagues and Famines and War and Mortality these are the things that prune and purge it and throw down that product which overburdens the soil and by so doing they preserve the rest and give them elbow-room for were there no such evacuations we should not be able to move and live by one another But then consider the grateful Varieties and Vicissitudes the regular Successions and alternate Changes by which the World is thus adorned and beautified every part of the world finds some convenience by these alterations For from Nations and Men coming to be transplanted by such means the barbarous and wild and savage part of Mankind are polished and civilized Arts and Sciences Learning and Policy are spread wider and communicated to every part of the habitable Earth so that we are to look upon the Universe as one large Plantation where some Trees are removed to a more convenient Soil others are grasted and inoculated others cut down to the root that they make more regular shoots by the loss of superfluous suckers others quite plucked up but all this done in such order by the skillful Cultivater that every thing tends to thâ— profit and beauty of the ground These enlargements of our Thoughts and considerations of Universal advantage ought to content every Wife and good Man and prevent irreverent reflections upon those wonderful works of God which Men are too apt to accuse for barbarous and disorderly or to look upon with amazement as strange and unaccountable It is enough that they are the ordinances of God and nature and ought to satisfie us that how odd soever they may appear with regard to that little spot of ground which is commanded by our own Eye yet they do great and signal service to the whole For would we extend our prospect we should quickly discern that what is lost in one place is gained in another or rather indeed to speak more properly that nothing is lost any where but all conduces to the just variety and convenience of the World in general * Vir sapiens nihil indignetur sibi accidere sciatque illa ipsa quibus laedi videtur ad conservationem universi pertinere ex his esse quae cursum munch officiumque consummant A Wise Man says one will take nothing amiss that happens to him for he will observe that those very things by which his particular Interests seem to suffer are expedient and greatly contribute to the preservation of the whole and that these are the methods by which the course of the World is continued and every part of it brought to its just and necessary perfection The particular and personal effects of these evils are different according to the various tempers and conditions of the Men to whom they happen To the good they are an exercise and trial to those that are fallen a relief and recovery a warning and call to them that go astray and to the obstinately wicked a dispensation of Punishment and Vengeance Of each of these uses I shall say but one word or two very briefly And first these external evils provide the good Men excellent opportunities of exerting and improving their Virtue which would otherwise want matter to work upon and lie idle and undiscerned A good Man under affliction is in the same circumstances with Fencers in their Schools or Mariners in a Storm or Soldiers in an Action or Philosophers in their Academy that is he is upon his proper duty attending the business of his profession and shewing his skill in it for these are the very methods that instruct and enter and sorm and finish him in Virtue that establish him in Constancy and Courage and enable him to conquer and triumph over Fortune and the World They bring him acquainted with himself make him know his own strength by frequent experiments tell him what he may depend upon and promise himself from it nor do they only give him a true representation of his past and present condition but they help to amend it too they encourage and confirm his resolutions of doing well harden and accustom him to suffering fix and determine his mind secure his past conquests and render him invincible for the time to come Whereas on the contrary a long calm of prosperity is exceeding apt to soften and enervate Men's minds and to corrupt them by ease and leisure carelessness and sloth inactivity and long disuse Demetrius for this reason used to say that of all Men living he thought none so truly miserable as those who had never met with disappointments and crosses and trying afflictions and compared their life to the dead sea where there is a perpetual Stagnation and noxious vapours breed and reign for want of winds and a vigorous commotion of the waters to break and disperse and drive them away To Delinquents and inconsiderate Offenders these afflictions are a check and
done in a fair and honourable way by disdaining the thing and the Person that is guilty of it or if you please advancing the Conquest higher still and reclaiming him Caesar was remarkable for both these good Qualities No Victory is so desireable none so triumphant as that which makes your Enemy buckle under you by kindness undeserved That which lays him with his mouth in the Dust and strikes him dumb at his own Baseness and so shames his Spight into Friendship For what can melt him if this will not What can deserve Laurels so justly as the being thus invincible and not suffering any Aggravations an Injury is capable of to stop our hands or get the better of Virtue and Reason This indeed is a Resolution we should settle to our selves as considering that the more grievous the Crime and the bitterer and more implacable the Spight the more fit it is for us to pardon it And the better we could justifie taking a severe Revenge the more it makes for our Honour and Commendation to take none at all Remember how great a Contradiction it is to all Equity and Reason that the same Person should be Judge and Party both in the same Cause and yet this is an Absurdity which every one that undertakes to revenge his own Quarrels unavoidably runs upon This ought therefore constantly to be left to the Arbitration of a third Person or at least a Man should never take it into his own hands without advising with his Friends following such measures as they who are calm and indifferent Judges think proper and not leaning to the rash and hot determinations of our own disordered Minds The Old Poetical Fables have given us a beautiful Representation of this Matter in their accounts of the Heathen Deities and the Limitations of their respective Provinces and Powers Jupiter they tell you hath a right to cast such Thunderbolts as are favourable to Mankind and portend good Events by vertue of his own Despotick Authority But when any Thunder is to be discharged upon wicked Men and those Bolts are let fly which carry Devastation and Ruin and any sort of mischievous Effects This he hath no right to do of his own head nor without the advice and assistance of twelve Gods met in Counsel This was a very significant Thought and shewed the importance of the Occasion That even the Supreme of all the Heavenly Powers who had unlimited Commission to do good to all the World of his own head should yet have it restrained and his hands tied up from hurting so much as one single Person till the matter and merits of the Cause had been solemnly debated But the Reason couched at the bottom deserves our attention Kindness and Beneficence there can be no danger in no mistakes no excesses of this kind are pernicious But when Revenge and Punishment come under Deliberation this is so nice a point that even the wisdom of Jupiter himself was not secure from all possibility of Errour and therefore an assembly of dis-interested Persons was requisite to direct and moderate his Anger And this Moderation and Temper is what every Man should make it his Business to acquire and be well fixed in Which with respect to the case now before us is but another name for Clemency For by that I mean such a mildness and sweetness of Spirit such an inclination to forgive and be kind as curbs and holds in the violent Careers of Passion and makes us move coolly and regularly This will arm us with Patience will convince us that we cannot be injured in reality except from our own selves and that for the wrongs others maliciously intend us so much and no more will stick as we fasten and bind upon our selves by resenting the Provocation This will secure us the good will and affections of all Mankind and will season all our Behaviour with that Modesty and Decency that cannot fail to render our Conversation innocent courteous and agreeable and universally desired CHAP. XXXV Remedies against Jealousie THe only method of any Efficacy for avoiding this Passion is to take care to deserve the advantage we desire For Jealousie is little else at the bottom but the distrust and misgiving of ones own Mind and an Argument that we are conscious of our own want of merit When the Emperour Aurelius was asked by his Wife Faustina what he would do if his Enemy Cassius should win the Field his answer was I do not serve the Gods so ill that they should have such an Affliction in reserve for me So they that partake of another's Affection and are tempted to any suspicion of losing it will do well to silence such uneasie Suggestions by telling themselves The Regard I have for him is so sincere that I dare be confident he will not rob me of a treasure I value so highly An assurance of our own faithfulness and deserving better usage is the best pledge of our Friend's kindness and fidelity to us in return He that pursues a Prize virtuously will be content that others should seek it in the same way For this does but serve to awaken and illustrate and exalt his worth Weakness only creates fear of Rivals because this suspects that when we come to have our merits laid in the balance with those of other Competitors our Imperfections will be more distinctly seen and we shall suffer by the Comparison Whereas otherwise if you take away Emulation you eclipse the honour of Virtue and quench the most powerful Incentive to good and gallant actions As to that particular kind of Jealousie between Married Persons the Counsel expedient to be given on the Man's part seems to be this That if any reproach happen to them from the disloyalty of their Wives they should recollect what great and renowned Fellow-sufferers they have had in this Calamity who yet bore it with exemplary patience and made no words of their Misfortune Such were Lucullus Caesar Pompey Cato Augustus Antony and a great many besides But you will say the World hath discovered your shame and it is grown common talk And pray who is there that the World does not talk of to their prejudice more or less whether they have any ground for such Discourse or no How many Persons of Honour and Virtue have you your self heard branded with the infamous Title If you make a bustle and blaze abroad your Disgrace the Ladies will only have the advantage of the better Jest And the commonness of this Affliction one would think should long ago have worn out all the uneasiness of it But however put the worst of the Case that you are in reality the thing you suspect yet how is this a just Calamity it is no reflection upon your Virtue or your Wisdom the World is most unreasonable and absurd in loading the innocent Person with Infamy and rendring that ridiculous which is in no degree a Fault But if they will proceed by wrong measures your own breast should follow
those that are right and equitable Nay even in respect of others there is some remedy left still For it is in your own power to render your Virtue so illustrious that it shall stifle and swallow up this Misfortune and make your name never mentioned among Wise and Good Men at least with one whit the less Esteem They will cover your Infamy by their just Commendations and curse the wicked occasion of it who is so much the more profligate and abandoned despicable and detestable for using a Good Man ill As to the Women they are not so easily satisfied because their very Nature seems more disposed to Suspicion and Curiosity But the best Advice I can give them is to dissemble any apprehensions of this kind which is the true and prudent Medium between two very vicious and foolish Extremes The one that silly tormenting of themselves which devours their Spirits destroys all their satisfaction and flies out into transports of Fury and Rage The other that tame Negligence practised in the Indies and some other Eastern Countries where Wives use their utmost endeavours to advance the honour of their Husbands which is there thought to consist in the number of Wives and Mistresses or their satisfaction or the increase of Posterity by turning Bawds and Procurers This is a piece of service which I think they might very well be excused But when all is done the only cure for this Evil on both sides is such an affectionate and discreet such a modest and reserved Carriage as shall minister no manner of occasion for calling the fidelity of either Party into question CHAP. XXXVI Temperance the fourth Cardinal Virtue Of Temperance in General TEmperance is capable of a double Signification Sometimes it is taken in a general Sense for Moderation and that Temper which we commonly say should be preserved in all manner of things whatsoever In this comprehensive Interpretation it does not denote any one Virtue in particular but the Complex of them all in common and is that quality which seasons and gives a relish to good actions of every sort In this Latitude we are under perpetual obligations to it but chiefly so in those matters that admit of Controversie and engage us in Differences and Disputes For the due observance of it thus understood there needs but this single Direction of laying aside all personal and self-ended Considerations and make it our entire business to stick close to our Duty For all lawful and commendable Affections are temperate Hatred and Anger and Cruelty are excesses much beyond the limits of Justice and Duty and are only second-hand Remedies necessary to be used upon them who refuse to be kept to their Duty by the power of Reason and the softer arts of Perswasion But when this Term is used in a more restrained Signification then it imports a check and regulation of things pleasant and delightful to Sense and such as our natural and carnal Appetites eagerly long after and are gratified by At present we extend it a little farther for the Rule and Measure of a Man's Duty in all kinds of Prosperity as Fortitude was said to be in every sort of Adversity So that Temperance supplies the place of a Bridle and Fortitude that of a Spur this checks our Carcer of Gayety that quickened our sluggish Fears and rouzed us out of Despondency With these two in Conjunction we are able to manage that brutal and restiff and wild part of us which consists of the Passions and shall not fail to demean our selves well and wisely in every condition and change of Fortune Which is in truth the very summ and substance of Wisdom and the very perfection I desire my Reader should aspire to The general Object then of Temperance is all manner of Prosperity every thing that is pleasurable and gay but especially and more peculiarly Pleasure which this Virtue regulates and retrenches All that part which is superfluous and unnatural and vicious it pares quite away and that which is natural and necessary it keeps within due measures Thus we find it described by an Old Author * Voluptatibus imperat alias odit abigit alias dispensat ad sanum modum redigit nec unquam ad illas propter illas venit scit optimum esse modum cupitorum non quantum velis sed quantam debeas Pleasures are her Province and proper Dominion over these she presides and exercises her Coercive power Some she detests and utterly discards others she corrects and distributes in their just proportions She never chooses any meerly for their own sakes and the best measure of gratifying our Appetites she declares to be the taking not so much of any of these Objects as we have an inclination to but so much only as is fit for us This is the authority and superintendance of Reason over those eager and violent Affections which carry our Wills towards Pleasures and sensual Delights The curb of our Soul the instrument to scumm off those Ebullitions which by the Heat and Intemperance of the Blood are apt to boyl over that so the Mind may be preserved uniform and in consistence with Reason And not debase it self by submitting and accommodating its measures to sensible Objects but preserve its rightful Superiority and force them to serve and sute themselves to the Dictates of the Mind By this we wean our Souls from the childish delights of the World and qualifie them for a more substantial and generous sustenance In short it is a Rule that squares all things by the proportions of Nature Necessity Simplicity Ease Health and Strength and Hardiness For these are things that commonly go together and they are the measures and bounds which Wisdom sets out As on the other hand Art and Luxury Superfluity Variety Multiplicity Difficulty Sickness a weak and tender Constitution bear one another company and are the usual attendants of Intemperance and Folly * Simplici curâ constant necessaria in delicijs laboratur Ad parata nati sumus nos omnia nobis difficilia faciliam fastidio facimus The Necessaries of Life come cheap and easie all the Labour and Toil is about the Delights and Entertainments of it Nature intended we should take up with such things as she hath made ready at hand and designed to free us from trouble but we have created it to our selves and made Life one perpetual difficulty by nauseating and disdaining every thing that is easie CHAP. XXXVII Of Prosperity and Advice thereupon THat Prosperity which comes to us leisurely and regularly in the usual Course of the World and a common concurrence of visible Causes and Effects as particularly by our own Industry or Frugality Prudence and good Management or by eminent Accomplishments and Deferts is abundantly more stable and safe and less exposed to the Envy of other People than that which drops as it were into a Man's mouth and is let down from Heaven upon him to the surprise of