before-hand and how paâ—iently they endure it when it comes and can we suppose God â—as endow'd them with greater gifts of fortitude than our sevles A good Man is always ready to lay down his life Callicratides the Lacedemonian Captain hearing the Soothsayer foretel Victory to the Lacedemonians and death to himself answered Sparta in losing me will not be at all weakned IX What great acts have been performed by such who feared not death how happy have been their Lives how glorious their ends In fine why shall we refuse to yield to that equality which makes the Beggar a Prince and the Tyrant simple and harmless dust X. Neither the vast Army of Xerxes nor Treasure of Tyberius or Cruelty of Antonius could any whit prevail against Death We shall all be equal and harmless there and except Vertue there will be no difference No man can be ignorant of â—his journey 'T is a fond and silâ—y opinion that renders this so â—yful and advantagious a matâ—er unpleasant and terrible Upon what light causes have some slain â—hemselves I knew a Scholar a Countrey-man of ours in Padoa who being slighted by a Gentlewoman with whom he was in Love Poyson'd himself Anoâ—her in our City for vexation â—hat the price of Corn fell Hangâ—ed himself Another and he â—ikewise an Italian finding he could not conveniently pay his Debts Drowned himself I saw a Woman who for mere sorrow that she had committed Adulâ—tery asking God forgiveness for what she had done immediately drank Poyson Cleopatra altho' she might have liv'd in honor yet to prevent her being carried about in Tryumph caus'd a Serpent to sting her to death Porcia the Daughter of Cato and Wife to Brutus a most heroick spirited Woman hearing her Husband was slain eat burning Coals and died Damocles a beautiful Boy beloved by King Demetrius being watch'd when he should enter naked into the Bath and knowing the King design'd to abuse his body div'd down to the bottom of the Water and drowned himself 'T is endless to relate Instances of those that for Fear Love Grief Anger and other occasions of no weight have sought their own deaths We read moreover of whole Legions that offered themselves to apparent destruction As they that were with Leonida in the Persian Expedition What would not these People have ventured on a great occasion when for so small a matter they did not refuse to dye XI But perhaps thou wilt reply I do not fear Death for not being an Evil 't is necessary and to fear that which cannot be avoided were vain cowardly and hurtful Yet would I dye easily and such a death as Augustus desir'd and obtained for by living till I am Old I shall not only gain a longer life but also an easier death XII 'T was Aristotle's opinion that Old men dyed not only without pain but also without any seeling of death because the heat of their bodies was quenched Which may be illustrated by this Example If you go about to draw a Tooth that is not loose you feel great smart but if 't were loose of it self before it s drawn without any trouble So green Youth with extreme reluctancy yields to death whereas old Folks in dying feel almost no grief at all In India men are said to live commonly an hundred and thirty years by reason of the goodness of Air and the Peoples being without cares Whereas we continuing in cares luxury and immoderate labours choosing Air for profit not for health bring upon our selves diseases and untimely death and yet lay the fault on Nature How much better were it to know how to use the benefit of Nature if thou esteemest Life to be such a pleasant and desirable thing How have Hermites lived so long but by living temperately and void of care The longest life is short because death will certainly put an end to it Only Vertue and worthy actions can extend it and Idleness and Vice shorten it XIII Alexander tho' he lived not above 33 years died an Old man by means of his great Exploits Whereas Argantonius may be said to have died young tho' he lived an hundred and twenty years because he was remarkable only for his Age. T is likewise to be noted that commonly all notable men have died in their youth Hercules Achilles Castor Pollux Ajax Jason Lucan Catullus Tibullus Virgil Demosthenes Cicero Julius Cesar Severus Alexander Probus Aurelian Claudius died all of 'em young Who were too great and too good for this World and therefore the Gods took 'em to themselves XIV But put case thou livest to be old how many vexations must thou expect what infirmities Weakness Maladies Rhumes Catarrhs besides the seeing of thy self avoided and loathed by every body Thou art tiresom even to thine own Children burthensom to thy self troublesom to thy Friends and contemptible to thy Servants Thy Taste is gone rest thou canst not and being burdensom to thy self how canst thou but be burdensom to others We read that Zeno the Philosopher when he could not get rid of his life by Age Strangled himself What pains and art was Tully fain to use to persuade people to bear their Old age Whereas no man thinks it necessary to exhort men patiently to endure Health or Riches I am extremely taken with that saying of Theraminis who only escaping out of a ruin'd House and his Friends congratulating his good hap cries out O Fortune for what sadder chance dost thou reserve me What he said was not without reason for not long after he suffered a painful death by the cruelty of Tyrants What man that has lived to be Old if proffered to live over again his past time would accept of the condition And seeing Old men can expect nothing but Craziness Coughs Consumptions Cares and uneasiness I see no cause why they should desire to live And if when we are young and enjoy the full use of our senses beauty strength wit and authority we are oft weary of our life what shall we do when we hear if we have any hearing left our selves called Old-doating-fool and be made the subject of mens laughter and pity XV. Art thou troubled to dye alone and leave so many behind thee Remember to what a great company thou art going and that those whom thou hast left alive must of necessity follow thee and that so speedily that they may be said to dye with thee and bear thee company The Fates are always at work suffer none to transgress their limits This is an unalterable Law T is appointed for all men once to dye XVI And as amongst Condemned persons those that have been less Criminal are first dispatched whereas the others who have been guilty of greater crimes are reserved last to behold the terrors of death So God first takes away those whom he loves to prevent their being the sad witnesses of others Miseries I remember when I was but a Child my Mother Clara Michera then a Young Woman was notwithstanding
wont to wish she had dyed in her Infancy when Older she still continued to say the same I Askt her the reason whereto she replyed I live in expectation of Death which could not have been so troublesome in my Infancy being then unsensible what it was to live or dye XVII There is nothing but brings greater sorrow with it than joy for pleasure when gone is succeeded by sadness What do we Live for to Eat and Drink and talk of News and do the same things over and over again What is there in this Life that can delight daily trouble to dress and undress a mans self Whereas the dead feel neither Cold in Winter nor Heat in Summer Cares and Fears come not near them for in the Grave the wicked cease from troubling and there the weary be at rest XVIII T is said of the Galatians that they so little regarded death that they chose to fight Naked The Gymosophist answered Alexander very ingeniously who being askt by him which was strongest Life or Death replyed Life because it bears so many Calamities XIX Were it not for death what a Cage of ravenous birds would this World be men would only meditate and improve their Arts of Violence and Oppression seeing in this short time they Live and within sight of Death they are guilty of such Enormities Again how needful is it that good men may thereby receive the reward of their vertues and live amongst such blessed Spirits as inhabit above the moon and stars So that Death can be only terrible to wicked men who are to be tormented in dark and solitary places XII Some men are troubled about the manner of their Burial a foolish care and not to be compared to that pleasant humor of good Diogenes who lying Sick and like to dye under a Tree Answered them that askt him how he would be Buried that they should let him lye where he was to which they replyed the Beasts would tear him in pieces prithee says he then lay a stick by me that I may drive 'em away Nay say his Friends that will be to no purpose when you shall be senceless to whom he again replys What harm can they then do me CHAP. II. The death of Parents Children and Relations not to be Lamented Remarkable Examples of such as have born them patiently I. HAving said thus much touching our own deaths come we now to consider what reason we have to Lament the death of others whom we Love We mourn either in respect of our selves or them if for them we believe their Souls are mortal or immortal if mortal then we thus Complain O Alass henceforth thou shalt be no more thirsty hungry cold hot naked sick lyable to injuries and vexations yea that which is more thou art no longer lyable to death as I am Or if thou believest the Soul to be immortal then must thou thus Lament Alass my dear Friend or Child thou art of a mortal Creature become an immortal Spirit of a miserable Wretch an happy Soul thou hast passed from death to Life from a Vale of Tears to a Place of Inexpressible Joy Who can hold his sides in hearing thee thus Complain But if thou say I Lament my own Loss then thou shewest thy self an Envious and Narrow Soul in desiring to detain him in Misery and deprive him of those Joys he possesses on Account of some little Advantages thou receivest by his Company II. Besides consider tho' thou hast lost thy good Friend yet has he left behind him him as good men as himself But supposing thou shalt never light of the like yet remember what pains thou hast taken for him when living how burdensome he has been to thee and how uncertain thou art of his good will towards thee and what he might at length shew'd himself to thee had he lived longer How commonly have men been injur'd yea ruin'd by their own kinsmen brethren and relations by whom heretofore they have been assisted Cassius and Brutus helped Julius Cesar to fight against his Countrey but being made Emperour they slew him Alexander while he Lived was faithfully serv'd by his Soldiers but when dead his children kindred and friends were all destroyed by them and yet at the death of one of them he felt such grief that he scarcely could ever forget it III. The Thracians at the death of their friends were wont to rejoyce and make good cheer because they considered them as delivered from all wordly misery and arrived at felicity And on the contrary when any Child was born they wept and lamented its entrance into a troublesome world which custom a Citizen of ours follow'd who dying desired that with musick and dancing he might be carried forth to his Burial IV. Wise and discreet Law-makers in complyance with Popular Folly appointed limits to Mourning Lycurgus gave leave for a man to Lament Eleven Days but after that he must be no longer seen to Lament V. When thou Lamentest the Death of thy Friend tell me whether thou hadst rather dyed thy self Thus it must needs be either Children must dye before their Parents or Parents before their Children or else all together But to dye all together is esteemed a great Calamity Do'st thou mourn because thy Friend or Child is delivered from Old Age Or do'st thou Lament that in others which in thy self thou thinkest ought patiently to be endured Or wilt thou weep like the Old Woman I knew who coming to the Gate where we were begg'd Alms and the more to move us to Compassion alledged She was without Father or Mother whereupon we asked what Age she was of she Answer'd a Poor Old Woman of above Fourscore which made us all burst out into Laughter for although we pity'd her Age yet we could not be much concern'd at the loss of her Parents VI. 'T is reported that in the Island of Coius the Old Men being past Threescore are wont to be carryed in Triumph thro' the City and afterwards slain in the sight of all the People Because after that Age they being unprofitable their deaths in respect of the want of Provision may greatly benefit the Common-wealth The Country of the Caspians abounding with men but scarce of Provision their Custom is after their Parents be passed Threescore and Ten to shut 'em up and starve them with hunger which is indeed Cruel and Barbarous but when Natural Death happens to our Parents we ought patiently to bear their Loss in as much as they have run through their Course of Misery whereas we are to abide the troublesom Assaults of it VII Yet would I not Counsel thee to do as a Young Man did who claimed Kindred of us for he when he was told his Father was dead fell a dancing in the presence of several People and cryed out 't was pity he dyed not sooner but the wretch escaped not unpunished for his impiety and breach of the precept for he dyed of a Consumption soon after Not only Moses
'T is said of that Fish that she first craftily and yet foolishly enough with her Tail beats the Bait from the Hook but if that will not do bites it Whereas we more senseless run on without either fear or wit III. Perhaps thou wilt say I would have Pleasure without Pain 'T is contrary to nature for Joy is continually attended by Sorrow Glory with Envy Wisedom is not gotten without labour Wealth is not obtain'd without care Children are kept with trouble Banquetting is attended by Sickness Ease with poverty Power with envy Quiet with weariness Every man has something to complain of Some be afflicted with Poverty others want Children this man is Sick that man wants a Wife and this man would be rid of his But that which is most strange is that to be happy and liable to no misfortune is also a calamity 'T is said of Polycrates that having never met with any calamity he greatly desired to experience some mishap and therefore threw into the Sea a Ring of great value on purpose to have cause to complain But Fortune it seems having sworn his happiness restored it again in a Fish IV. But least I be thought to argue with Fables Pray what pleasure do Princes receive at their Meals when continual eating of Delicacies has taken away their Taste 'T is Coarse and Homely Fare that makes Finer Meats Rellish Or how can he be happy that never felt Grief This is certain that without Adversity a man cannot Live comfortably nor take delight in Mirth without some Sorrow And is it not a comfort in our Calamity to have not only one Man for a Companion but all Mankind What 's more seemly than a Common-wealth well Govern'd yet what 's more hard than to Live in it The Romans by their Severity to themselves Conquer'd the whole World But what is more Slavish than living under such Laws when Men are constrained to Marry Labour with their own Hands Educate Children and follow the Wars The bringing up of Children especially many to a poor man seems to surpass all Sorrows What is more Dangerous and Laborious than War wherein Men toyl Night and Day sleeping in Winters Snow and marching in Summers Sun Watching continually climbing Mountains and sayling the Seas afflicted with hunger and thirst and reduced to those Extremities as to kill or be killed So that it is no wonder to see how willingly Soldiers behold the displayed Ensigns and receive the News of Battel seeing they shall by a happy Victory be either eased of their travail or by death terminate a painful Life The Lacedemonians lived so hardly at home that it never grieved them to serve abroad in the Wars Neither be Kings whom Men respect as Happy exempt from Common Calamities but rather more Unfortunate than other Men. T is observable that Poets have ever laid the Scenes of Tragedies in Kings Pallaces and on the contrary Comedies and pleasant Entertainments in private Houses Princes Pallaces are continually inhabited by such foul Monsters as Envy Hatred Lust and Oppression Even the Princes mind is the seat of all these whereby he is never suffered to sleep quietly by Night nor rest by day Sometimes the thoughts of his gross Enormities terrifie his mind otherwhiles his quiet is disturbed with Jealousies and Suspicions studying Day and Night to weaken the force of Neighbouring Princes and keep himself secure from his own Subjects Encroachments Supposing in short a Prince never so Just and Prudent yet is it almost impossible for him to be void of Cares and Fears Seeing then all mortal men be subject to some kind of vexation who art thou that seekest to live free from that Law to which all others are subject Why dost thou not complain that thou art not made immortal winged and King of the whole world and free from all misfortunes VI. T is storyed of the Hares that considering how they were persecuted they became desperate and resolved to drown themselves in the next River for which cause being one morning assembled on they went to effect their determination The Frogs that happened to be upon the bank hearing a noise for fear leapt into the water which when the Hares heard and finding it was for fear of them they changed their minds because the Frogs more unhappy than they yet sought to preserve their Lives Truly the Adversity of others never made my Misfortunes seem the less But the unavoidableness of Troubles to which all naturally are subject has much mitigated my private Griefs For who but a mad man will lament that which cannot be helped A wise man considering the course of sublunary things will expect any kind of mishap and be prepared against the worst CHAP. IV. Time a certain Remedy of all Troubles Death makes all equal I. 'T IS also to be remembred that Time is a medicine for all manner of Troubles Who grieves for his Grandmother that dyed fourscore years ago or Goods lost thirty years since Such is the nature of time that first it lessens our extream sorrow or joy secondly wears out our Affections and lastly works in us forgetfulness of what is past Why cannot we then have that influence â—ver our selves by which we may effect a speedy cure A great argument it is of wisdom to bear that with patience immediately which others cannot do till a great deal of time be past Set we before us the Examples of several worthy men that have patiently undergone the utmost of Fortunes Malice Be modest in prosperity as well as in Adversity And pluck up a good heart persuading our selves that our unhappy days be past and better times will succeed Make not thy Life a burden to thee whosoever thou art that has light into this Valley of Tears Consider the Life of man compared with Eternity is less than nothing That the whole World will pass away and thou with it and never after return again so that it matters not what thy present Circumstances may be II. What will it avail thee 300 years hence whether thou hast been an Emperour or a Cobler Whether thou hast been Lucullus or Iris Xenophon or Cleon a Slave or a Free-man happy or unhappy Whether thou hast dyed in thy Bed or at the Gallows How does this our time pass away how speedily how forcibly what a good fancy was that of him that cut in one Stone three Faces a Childs a young mans and an old mans admitting as it were no difference Imagine that now which will really happen the transition of time and thou shalt find all things nothing We ought to behave our selves like men in Prison that are in hopes of deliverance who altho attended with weariness at present yet especially if men of courage yield not themselves up to Grief III. Seeing then we all expect equality in death the rich may be sorrowful but not the poor Were it now proclaimed as 't was in the times of Lycurgus that all Goods should be Equally divided which would be
but even Homer affirms those to be short-lived that do not render their Parents the respects due for their Education But as t is the temper of an ungracious Son to wish the death of his Parents so it is the part of a wise Son patiently to bear it And in like manner the loss of other Relations hast thou lost thy Brother experience shews us that most brothers be quarrelsom cumbersom envious captious and disdainful The Poet was wont therefore very wel to resemble Brethren to the winds because they ever disagree and live as if they were born for no other end in respect of each other but to quarrel Cain gave us an early Specimen of what Brotherly Love would be Then Jacob deceived Esau Absalom kills his Brother Amnon Abimelech the Son of Gideon murdred his Threescore and Nine Brethren leaving only One alive It would be an endless Task to recite all the Mischiefs which one Brother has done another I knew one man that killed his Two Brethrne at several times Another the Year before was Beheaded for having murdred Three of his Brethren But admit thy Brother be a good Man yet what benefit canst thou expect from him more than others if thou wantest Assistance a Friend as Solomon says is better than a Brother if thou expects Love it must be from thy Parents if Obedience from thy Son if Flattery and Obsequiousness from thy Servant VIII But thou wilt Reply I loved my Brother dearly but did he love thee Alexius was Brother to Isaac Emperour of Germany by whom he was not only redeemed out of Slavery from the Turks with a considerable Sum of money but also admitted to share with him in the Government of the Empire notwithstanding which great kindness he not only a while after his return deposed Isaac from his Kingdom but put out his Eyes and kept him in perpetual Imprisonment Thou mayest boldly say thou lovest and not be deceived but canst not know how thou art beloved thy self Thou weepest for him who had he survived would not have shed one Tear for thee If thou wert unwilling to dye before him why dost thou lament that he is first dead Is it not sufficient for thee to believe he is gone to Heaven or art thou sorry he has obtained liberty and everlasting life IX The death of Children seems indeed a sad Affliction and in a manner insupportable especially if a man has none left and all hope of having more cut off Yet let us consider whether he is more happy that is barren and has no Children or the other The Childless man has only to lament his want of Posterity which if thou desirest in respect of perpetuity thou foolishly hopest that amongst so many thousands of men thy Posterity should remain tho' the world were never to end But that the World will end all Authority grants unless it be that of Aristotle But if thy Posterity do always remain art thou ever a whit the happier for that So subtil a thing is this pleasure of Posterity as indeed it may be called nothing for after a few years all memory of our Ancestors is worn out Who is he that ever knew almost his great Grandfather Whereas on the contrary to so small a pleasure how great care is joyned Hence comes danger of death charge of their education fear of want care for their learning wantonness in childhood rashness in youth stubborness disobedience and pride especially in those whose Parents are rich Compare the life of those that have not Children with those that have and thou shalt soon find a vast difference The former live comparatively without care free jocund and lively fear neither Poverty nor Riches publick nor private Calamity In times of Famine War or Pestilence a good natured Man's mind is wholly concerned for his Children and Relations In time of Plague thou hast no place to flee to in times of War thou canst not remove In times of Famine unprovided whither to go Consider well these incumbrances and see whether they are comparable to the want of Children X. Again Why art thou troubled at the loss of Children As for thy Childes part thou hast no reason to lament who either feeleth nothing or else is in inexpressible felicity And as to thy self thou hast changed danger for security labour for rest bondage for liberty and yet complainest Not long since I heard some poor Women lamenting and wishing the death of their Children Had it not been better for them to have had none than thus to wish their deaths Take this for a certain truth if thou art poor thou canst have no comfort in Children and he that is Rich what security hath he of continuing so But thou hast lost thy Child And cannot that loss be supplied t is true the death of thy Father or Brother cannot be repaired XI Thou wilt say perhaps My Son was now become like unto me I had spent much money care and pains upon him and probably might have hapned to be a brave Fellow But these complaints better become the Women for if thou bewailest thy loss of Money then thou hadst more need be cured of thy covetousness than comforted for the loss of thy Son Besides the better he was the fitter for Heaven and the greater reason hast thou to be comforted at his departure for had he staid longer here in the world so great and bewitching are the temptations thereof that thou hast great reason to fear his being struck with the contagion of bad examples Whereas now he has escaped the Vices of the age and gone to the place of innocent Souls to enjoy those divine pleasures which are too big to be described unto which felicity he could not arrive but by death He has paid that debt which is due to Nature and gone to the Grave where thou must soon follow Weep for thy self then not for him for his misery is over whereas thine is to come I must confest Nature do's strongly impose upon us in this case otherwise we could not forget so much as we do the love of our selves our Country and duty both to God and Man So dotingly fond are we of 'em as shews in effect we rather hate them We indulge them in wilfulness ease and wantonness revenge pride and covetousness XII Nature cannot be blamed as enduing us with this foolish care and immoderate love for the appetites she has implanted in us are modest and limited and if we pass the bounds t is not Her fault Other creatures eat and drink only when necessity urges them whereas Man do's this unseasonably and wantonly Being guilty of the same immoderation herein as in the love of his Off-spring not valuing what becomes of his own Body or Soul provided he can leave them rich XIII This extreme affection is not according to Nature but a Vice Behold other living Creatures when they have brought forth their young into the world and find them able to shift for themselves
Right to admit of Minutius to be his Master of Horse and Equal and in the Army who did several things contrary to Fabius his Desires and his own Honour yet did the former forget all Animosities Joyned with him against Hannibal and saved him from exceeding great danger which wrought so upon Minutius that he confessed before all the People his unworthiness to Govern and desired Fabius to take upon him the Conduct of the whole Army XII Cicero followed not this Example when with cruel Invectives he persecuted Clodius but for his pains was himself Bannished XIII We disdain the injuries done us by bruit Beasts but revenge the wrongs offered by our Fellow-Creatures We also patiently endure the injuries which Time do's us and yet cannot bear the wrongs offered by Men whereas we have greater reason to bear with the former because Man is our Companion in Life and many times tho' we do not observe it provoked by us XIV What a Noble Act was that of Lucius Murena who threw his Gown over Cato and saved him from Death who a little before had accused him Publius Pulcher being by the three Lentuli charged with Incest did notwithstanding save one of them from eminent Danger The King Archelaus when upon a time one threw Water upon him and being persuaded by them about him to inflict a grievous Punishment upon him that did it answered I know he did not intend to cast it upon me but some body else A Servant of Antius Restio's being long kept in Prison by his Masters command and often burnt with hot Irons not only followed his Master in a day of Triumph but also rescued him from imminent Danger There is no readier way to Honour Safety and Quiet than to contemn Injuries Altho the Dog be of far less use than the Ox or Horse yet is he more beloved of his Master because he patiently suffers from him all kinds of wrong if you strike them they Fawn if you drive them away they return if you chide they flatter And shall not we Men bear Injuries upon a better account be patient a while and thou shalt see thy wrongs revenged by Nature by Chance or by some other means and he that with such perplexity and hazard of thy self thou soughtest to harm shall without any danger on thy part be destroy'd For the Lives of all such as are disturbers of publick Peace are usually of short continuance XV. But that which most troubles Men is the injury they receive from their Wives a grievous misfortune 't is true but very common Pompey put away his Wife for Adultery and Cesar likewise his The consideration of which great Peoples mishap may serve to mitigate the sowrness of thine Septimius Severus and Marcus Aurel. Antoninus had also dishonest Wives which did not at all diminish their Authority among the People or hinder them from living Vertuously XVI For in reference to this matter the fault lying in others the dishonour and infamy cannot redound to thee A Citizen of Sparta finding a Man in Bed with his ill-favour'd Wife cryed out Alas unhappy Man what necessity has drove thee to commit this wicked deed Salethus Prince of Crotona made a Law that Adulterers should be burnt alive yet when afterward himself was taken defiling his Brother's Wife he made such an ingenuous Oration that the People were content to punish his offence only with Banishment yet being sensible of the greatness of his fault he cast himself into the Fire and dyed Whereby we see he desired not Pardon tho' his words seemed to require it but rather sought to shew that no offence could be so great but might deserve it CHAP. III. Of Imprisonment BUT we have said enough of Injuries Speak we now of Imprisonment which seemeth the chief of all other Calamities For in a Prison is darkness filthiness solitariness fetters and all other kind of Miseries But pray what is this life but an imprisonment of a Man's mind much worse than that of the Body This would never seem any great Calamity to me which so many excellent Men have as it were desired Demosthenes to the end he might be forced to keep the House cut off one side of his Beard A solitary life do's greatly advance Contemplation whereas Company hinders it What place so fit for Study as that where there is quietness Boetius wrote nothing better than what he wrote in Prison Did not Diogenes lurk a long time within a Tub Democritus separated himself a great while from all Company and voluntarily chose remote corners for the conveniency of Knowledge Plato tells us that Anaxagoras while he remained in Prison wrote his Book de Circuli Quadratura To whom could Imprisonment be more grievous than to Socrates when it was to end in Death yet did he sleep quietly studied Philosophy and wrote Verses St. Paul also sent the greatest part of his divine Epistles from Prison CHAP. IV. Of Servitude SErvitude ought patiently to be born seeing Nature has not more liberally bestowed her gifts on the Master than the Servant they are equally Wise Beautiful and Healthful As to Contentment it is the Servant's fault if in this particular he do's not outstrip his Master for he has only one to serve for which he has Meat Drink Apparel and all other necessaries Whereas a Master has not only himself to take care of but also all others Every Loss is a hinderance to the Master but none to the Servant We are all Servants to one common Master namely God Almighty and shall be equally rewarded by him What are Princes Favourites but Servants tied to him by Ambitious hopes Servitude can be no hinderance to vertuous and honourable actions for Plato Xenocrates Calcedonius Diogenes Phaedrus Epictetus and Aesop were sometime Such CHAP. V. Of Sickness I. WHen Sickness is come upon thee consider that even this condition is not without its advantages for hereby thou learnest thy self that is to say what a weak poor and silly Creature thou art who in health art ready to say with him in the Psalms tush I shall never be moved II. Now if thy Pains be moderate they may be the more easily born if extreme they cannot last long Sickness is as necessary as Food or Rayment or any other of the things of this Life which we cannot be without 'T is like Sawce making us rellish the benefits of health As to the Pains and irksomeness thereof they are not comparable to what Women endure in Child-birth for neither Stone nor Gout nor Cholick are like them and yet do they soon forget ' um III. Possidonius the Philosopher being extremely Sick said unto one that came to visit him That the greatness of Pain should never make him confess Sickness to be an Evil. For that which is without us cannot hurt us If bodily pains do not conquer our Minds they do us no harm I remember when Antonius Cribellius was condemned to be Torn in pieces in preparing himself to be Executed
most troubled Forasmuch then as those that be rich must one day be poor and they that be poor one day rich be thou contented IV. Our folly hinders us from setting a due estimate on things It makes Pygmies become Gyants hides our happiness from us and makes us afraid of our own shadows If there be any thing to be fear'd or desir'd in this life 't is moral Good or evil a guilty or a quiet Conscience CARDAN OF CONSOLATION BOOK II. CHAP. I. The folly of our unwillingness to dye And vanity of such as are solicitous about their Funerals Misery of Old Age. I. HItherto we have discours'd of Human Calamities and their remedies in general Come we now to Particulars And first of the fear of death Consider what happiness thou hast found in life to make thee so much in love with it Dost thou alone possess any delight which we have not experienc'd We have seen the Stars the Heavens Mountains Seas Rivers Lakes Fields Gardens Cities and pleasant Villages had Musick Songs Banquets Love intrigues and Dalliances with all sorts of earthly delights nor have we wanted Learning to judg dispute make Verses and Orations born Offices and acquitted our selves honorably of them satisfied the necessities of our Children Friends and Kindred and lived together with them in good reputation wanting neither Food nor Rayment and abounded in all the conveniencies of this life and yet cannot but unfeignedly say with Solomon Vanity of vanity and all is vanity II. As to other mens experience let them speak for themselves as to my own part I have felt more Grief than Pleasure in this World Seeing then this love of life availeth nothing nay tho it were desirable t is better to cast off this burthen of Cares and like an honest man restore that which thou hast borrowed Whereas if thou torment thy self what dost thou get thereby but to consume in dying that small time which is remaining seeing whatsoever time is spent in thinking of death may justly be so called I am much taken with the saying of Agathius who tells us that Death does not only remove sickness and all other vexations but whereas these happen often that comes but once Neither can Death be accounted a great Evil seeing it comes upon so light occasions and is so ready at hand Such things as are hurtful to our natures are not common and soon found whereas there 's nothing more common or sooner found than death Death is to be met with every where and in all things in Fire and Water Air Wind Thunder Earth-quakes wild Beasts Fishes and Fowls in Meat and Drink Bed Trees Sleep Sorrow Joy Laughter Company Discord Concord and finally in all Circumstances Philomenes seeing his Ass eat Raisins bid his Boy give him some Wine to drink and fell into such a fit of laughter that he kill'd himself Coma being apprehended and examined for Robbery by Rutilus the Consul required time to make his defence and putting down his Head between his Knees he stopped his own breath and died so quietly that his Guard knew nothing of it till they saw him dead 3. Seeing then men die with such ease what can Death be better compared to than a Dream Socrates dyed with a Jest in his month Do we think then that he felt any great grief Certainly no for men cannot jest in extreme pain the mind being taken up with far greater matters This is also be to admir'd that men should with the greatest aversation dread Death and yet earnestly use those means that bring it The lustful person preferreth his pleasure before it the injur'd his revenge the Eater his gluttony the Ambitious his honor the Covetous his riches the Soldier his spoyl the Mother her children the Merchant his traffick and the Student his learning They are to be esteemed most valiant that scorn to dye unless a weighty cause requires it IV. Some perhaps be of Aepicarnus his mind Dye says he I would not but to be dead I care not Pray what hurt is it to want hunger thirst grief labour sadness fear and in short all those Evils in general which the Soul must of necessity want being parted from the Body and seeing it dies not but in lieu of these troubles partakes of heavenly joys why should we not willingly accept of this change It was the saying of Socrates that Death may be fitly compared to a sound sleep V. I remember my Father Faucius Cardan was wont to say he continually desired death because when he slept he tasted the pleasures of it meaning I suppose that all sensual delights contain more pain than pleasure and therefore it was better being without ' em Diogenes being sick and found by his Physician asleep was asked how he did well answered he for one Brother envyeth another Cosmas Medices a wise and vertuous man in our times being at the point of death closed his own eyes which his Wife seeing demanded the reason I do it says he because it is customary Socrates being by Crito persuaded to escape out of Prison as well for his Friends sake as his own refused to do it answering wisely I am going into those parts where I shall certainly find as good or perhaps better friends that those I leave behind And you will also bear me company in a short space In fine Death doth certainly take away more Evils than it bringeth If Death be an Evil to be dead is to escape it but if it be a Good thou hast no cause to lament That it is one of these no man doubts VI. I remember that being much afflicted with a Tertian Ague the seventh Fit of it laid me for dead In which time altho ' every Member was almost deprived of its use yet felt I nothing worse than a certain kind of tickling throughout my whole body accompanied with no small pleasure Possessed I was indeed with fear I should dye Which made me enquire of others who had been at the point of death whether they felt any great smart or not who told me that in the Head or Tooth-ach or such like distemper they endured greater pain I have observed that altho' Women and Children be most fearful to take Medicines and yield to cutting of Veins yet when at the point of death they neither complain nor lament but are rather offended if we seek to preserve their lives VII What is our life but a continual toyl perpetually attended with Labour Suspicions and Dangers What delight is there that is not followed by Repentance Thou art revenged then look to thy self Hast thou eaten thy fill then Satiety will offend thee Hast thou lightly â—ined then thy appetite is not â—atisfied Dost thou give way â—o Lust expect sadness and in â—he end sickness In short either â—hy desire is not satisfied and art â—hereby still discontented or else â—ormented with Satiety and Reâ—entance VIII Observe how bruit Beasts â—ield to death how little they â—re tormented with the thoughts â—f it
take no farther care of them In this far happier than Men. Let the examples of the Wise moderate thy grief Alexander made a Funeral Oration for his own Son wherein he prais'd him for his vertues and so buried him Demosthenes the 7th day after the death of his only Daughter put on his white Garment was Crowned and Sacrificed an Ox. Dion fitting in Council upon publick affairs and informed his only Son had fallen from the House-top and broke his Neck gave order for his Burial and continued on his business The Constancy of Pericles is to be admir'd for having lost within eight days his two Sons young men of exceeding great hopes did notwithstanding put on his white Garments was Crown'd made Orations to the Athenians and coming from his House where his Children lay dead delivered his advice upon sundry weighty matters and discoursed at large touching the art of War So Anaxagoras whilst he was disputing with his Scholars word was brought that his Son was dead whereat he paus'd a while and returned answer to the Messenger he consider'd he had begotten a Mortal Creature When Brutus openly punished his two Sons what terror did this strike into his Citizens what fear into his Enemies and admiration into his Neighbours For that instance of his Justice and Severity did mightily advantage the Empire and stir up all Counties round about it to the emulation of so great a virtue XIV Neither doth Story only furnish us with instances of Mens heroick courage in this particular but also of Womens Cornelia the Mother of the Gracchi of many Sons having only two left and they both slain besides the reciting the worthy deeds of them and their Father did not make any other shew of sorrow Argilon the Mother of Brasides the Lacedemonian King hearing her Son was slain gave no sign of Grief but Askt whether he Nobly and Worthily Dyed Another when word was brought her of her Sons being Slain Was it not necessary says she that he should slay others or be slain himself I could give a Thousand instances of this kind were it necessary CHAP. III. The unprofitableness of Riches A brief Account of the Authors Life Poor men more happy than Princes No man poor that has whereon to Live I. MOst mens minds are so greatly set on Riches that till Death comes they think of nothing else For every man fancies he has a long time to live and puts the Evil Day far from him as if the forgetfulness of that time were a means to escape it And not contented with this they esteem all men fools that pursue not the same Ends. As if Riches could deliver from Death or were of any value to a Man in the Grave Rather ought we to consider we are to pass over into those parts whither we can carry nothing with us but our Vertues or Vices for whensoever thou shalt dye will come into thy remembrance not thy wealth but thy grievous offences not thine honor or pleasures but thy faith and hopes of mercy For at that instant all things will seem to thee to be annihilated and thy disturbed fancy will imagine the whole world to be sinking into its former confusion And as the Land seems to move in the sight of such as sail on the Sea in a Ship so in the hour of death will all things seem to pass away when thou shalt for ever take leave of this earthly life never more to return to thy friends wealth or pleasures in which thou hast so greatly trusted Therefore if thou expectest any other life after this why dost thou not spend thy time in Vertue But lest I be thought to give that counsel to others which I never had occasion to use my self know that I also have been in misery and therefore expect to be the more credited II. I was born in a time of Pestilence when my Mother being big with Child of me was forced to leave the City half dead came I into the world in the year 1501 when all men despairing of my life by vertue of a Bath made of Wine I was recovered Within three months after I lost two of my Brethren and one Sister The Plague continuing in our City took away my Nurse whereupon I was charitably received into the house of Isiodorus Resta a noble Gentleman and friend of my Father where after a few days I fell sick of a Dropsy and Flux of the Liver yet nevertheless preserved whether through the wrath or mercy of God I know not There was no kind of distemper which I did not undergo till I attained eight years of age At which time I became Servant to my Father and so continued till I was eighteen III. Thus did I pass the flower of my youth both without delight and study At length perceiving I could not compel nor persuade my Father to give me Learning I intended for love of it to enter into some Religious house My Mother seeing her want of Children intreated my Father to put me to School where I remembring my time already lost and the shortness of Mans life earnestly applyed my self to my Book ever in fear lest my Father hearing some bad report should take me away I was not a little perplexed with the difficulty of the Latine Tongue but having with much labour mastred the uneasy part thereof my Father gave me leave to study Geometry and Logick in which I made some proficiency Then distance from my Father making him begin to love me he died having newly begun to affect me At that time the Wars began in our Country when being poor and void of all other help through the great care and diligence of my Mother I was maintained when my small Patrimony was not sufficient for such as it was I spent it in the office of Rector in the University Nor had I any other way of getting my living but by playing at Chess IV. At length after I had rub'd through several straights I setled my self and Family in the Town of Pavia where by practice of Physick tho' poorly I made a hard shift to maintain my self and Family for I had contracted debts by my vain-glorious office Then my Mother sends for me home to the City where I found all things in disorder as to my private affairs no friends or assistance my Kinsmen sued me at Law and was refused in our College of Physicians being suspected a Bastard because my Father used me so ill Neither can I boast of any favour from the Physicians of Padoa where having twice deserved to be made Doctor they denied me my Grace But at length through the earnest suit of the President I took that degree This might well shame me to relate were not their injustice the cause not my want of Learning Not long after this I fell into a Consumption a distemper which many Physicians hold incurable Yet it pleased God I escaped it after seven Months without help of any Physician and beyond all
that their Examples are in no wise to be imitated they being continually in the wrong For whatsoever is profitable or necessary to any Creatures that is naturally desirable in which desires bruit beasts who are guided only by Sense do not transgress Whereas man who has most Reason in his Understanding has least in his Actions for he Eats Drinks and Sleeps more than either Conveniency or Necessity require whatsoever more than necessary is desired is not only not good but contrary to Nature All men naturally desire Riches as Meat or Drink not because Excess of them is natural but because somewhat in them is natural that is to say so much of them as serve to purchase Necessaries which what man is he that does not get For to have nothing nor know which way to get any thing is contrary to Nature But it may be Objected against the Advantage which I alledged Poor men enjoy such as Labour Exercise Industry Patience and Abstinence that these also may be enjoyed by them that be Rich and the choice of these being in the Rich Man he is consequently the most Happy For if we willingly want pleasure the want of them cannot seem grievous Yet herein is a great mistake because that Man who has been gentily brought up his mind is made effeminate his body tender and unable to endure Labour He that has accustom'd himself to sundry meats his digestion becomes delicate and squeamish And if a man so Educated changes his dyet to poor mens fare he soon becomes diseased full of obstructions and subject to consumptions Or if he betakes himself to Labour he grows thereby unhealthy falls into feaverish distempers and in a short space dyes If such kind of People I say as these apply themselves to hard study they commonly shorten their days as did John Picus Mirandula 'T is rarely seen that a Man born to a great Estate becomes Excellent in Learning unless he at first liv'd meanly or in his youth fell into some Frenzy Again the Rich have more need of the Poor than the Poor of the Rich. For the Rich Man needs a Physician a Barber a Groom a Plow-Man a Cook and which of them needs a Rich Man XX. So great are the vexations which attend Power and Authority as will endear Poverty to a Considerative Man Charles the Fifth tho' he Govern'd well and happily yet how did the thoughts of preserving his Empire disquiet him Sometimes he was afraid that Sultan Solyman would invade the confines of his Empire otherwhiles he was perplexed how to preserve the Islands of Baleares Then he fears Sicily and Pulia were not able to hold out against the Infidels each Province called for his Care so that his thoughts were never at rest And shall we call him happy who was tormented with such Anxieties for my part I should wish my self rather a Carthusian Monk and undergo all the Severities of that Order than to wear his Crown stuft with those Cares will any man say Francis the French King might be called happy or Sultan Solyman Alass which of 'em liv'd not in Fear which of 'em lived free from misfortunes And tho perhaps they never met with any great mishaps yet considering what has befel others and might befal them they likewise may be said to have spent their days in fearful expectations XXI Polycrates who in his whole Life never met with any misfortune was at length taken by the King of Persia and hang'd It were endless to recount the number of Kings whom Fortune has laughed at to scorn Thou who admirest the Life of Princes and Great Men standing gazing at their outsides could'st thou but look into their breasts would'st heartily pity them when thou complainest of Poverty do but consider how many are poorer and miserablie than thy self in comparison of whom thou art Happy How many be Sick How many Deaf Blind How many in Prison How many in Exile How many condemned to dye cruel and ignominious Deaths than all which without doubt thou art more happy Moreover if thou complainest only of Poverty unless thou wouldst be a King thou hast no cause to lament Behold how many live miserably in the City how many beg in the Suburbs how many spend their days in the Countrey in extream want yet burdened with Families and Children How many poor Villages are there that pass joyfully their days in a mean condition because they see none near 'em richer than themselves when as the same persons if they resort to the City where they see the Riches and Bravery of others then they repute themselves miserable and lament their hard fate But this may be rather called Envy than Poverty Should it come to pass now as it did in the time of Noah that all money provision Cattel and other commodities were carried away in a universal Floud I believe then no man would think himself injured by Poverty Why then dost thou complain having whereon to live This plainly evidences t is not Poverty but Envy that molests thee Why dost thou not desire the Treasures of Kings and the Riches of India How many Countries and People has Poverty subdued and preserv'd Alexander possessing nothing but Bodies and Weapons Conquered all Asia The poor Common-wealth of Rome subdued the proud Gauls the stately Italians the crafty Carthaginians the numerous Greeks and the disdainful Jews And by the same means the Germans Persians and Scythians maintained their Rights and kept their Liberties But as soon as Scylla became Great and introduced the Love of Riches the Glorious Liberty of the Roman People melted away like Ice against the Sun then followed Sedition Civil Wars and all manner of injustice and cruel Murthers and in a short time the whole Empire wasted to nothing XXII Great Estates are seldom preserved long in a Family For we rarely see the Grandchild of a wealthy man dye Rich which makes me the less marvail at so many great mens disdaining Riches Crates the Theban so little valued them that he cast 'em into the Sea Zeno having lost his Estate thanked God for that happy mishap which made him a Philosopher Diogenes not only patiently suffered Poverty but being Askt by Alexander what he wanted replyed Nothing refusing the bountiful offers of that great Prince Which made him say that if he were not Alexander he would choose to be Diogenes CARDAN OF CONSOLATION BOOK III. CHAP. I. Of Banishment or Confinement I. THE next Calamity to Poverty is Banishment and in this matter 't is only Opinion that makes a man Miserable For how many men have meerly for Pleasure spent the greatest part of their Lives in Travelling and viewing strange Countries as Plato Berosius Galen and Dioscorides and how many Foreigners amongst us do the same for Profit There was an Italian a Citizen of ours who in Threescore Years had never travelled farthur than the Suburbs of the Town which being told the Prince he commanded that henceforward he should not pass those bounds