Calamities so does it promise to open to them a Door to Eternal Felicity Sometimes wefind that even good and pious men have been Timerous when they came to Dye The Endearments of Life are strong Remarks and the Considerations of Guilt and Punishment which the best of Men ought to have before their Eyes are able to shake the stoutest Courage They who suffer by the Hand of an Executioner seem in some Respects to have an Advantage over such as die a Natural Death First they dye generally with less Pain and the Pain they undergo is of less Duration than that of those who pine away by Sickness unless it be in case of Torture In the next place they retain their Senses and Faculties Entire to the last so that they can fix their Minds upon their Future State with more Strength and without Distraction They can quit the Stage of Life with good Thoughts tho the Infamy which sometimes attends such a Death as also the Calamities it entails upon Posterity cannot choose but make it Bitter We have many Examples of the Moraliz'd Heathens who suffer'd a Violent Death with all Imaginable Resolution Some out of an Heroick Bravery others upon the Apprehension they had of being in a more happy State but generally upon a Persuasion of being reduc'd to the same Condition they were in before they were born believing no other Immortality than that of Fame nor no other Rewards after Death than the Praise due from after Ages upon the Remembrance of their Vertuous Actions And certainly with Men of this Belief 't was no such Daring matter to stare Death in the Face and to Conquer all its Terrours by a Voluntary Submission to it for 't was no more but for a Man to close up all the Travails Pains and Misfortunes of Life with one Sweet and Eternal Sleep Hence came these Reasonings of theirs if there be any Sense after Death the Soul then cannot but exult and triumph for its Deliverance from the streight Imprisonment of the Body That which immediately before was a Captive is now set at Liberty 't is advanc'd on high it has a free and a full Prospect of all the Glorious Sights in Nature Here it looks down upon all humane and Mortal things with a kind of Pity and Contempt it sees all the Follies and Transactions of past Life at one View and beholds those Divine Mysteries clearly and distinctly whose Knowledge formerly it had so often sought in vain But on the other hand if there be nothing which survives the Body he cannot be miserable who ceases to be For if he has lost much 't is yet much more which he does not fear He is now at everlasting Rest the Fears and Miseries of Poverty the Anxiety of Riches the Vexations of a Process do not devoure him He is not tormented with the Furies of Lust or Anger he is not Envious at another's Felicity nor Sollicitous about his own No publick nor private Calamities disturb his â—…easures no Scenes of Blood appear before his Eyes no Dreams or Terrours of the Night discompose his Sleep He does not hang in Suspense upon the Event of future things which fall out always for the worse he does not fear the Calumnies of the Base nor the Frowns of the Great he does not fear the Assaults of the Perfidious Assassinant nor yet the more Dangerous and Mortal Wounds of a Perjur'd Tongue In a word the Evils he is delivered from are greater than the Good things he is depriv'd of and he is arriv'd to that Station of Security from which he cannot be driven by Force nor drawn off by Terrours Why therefore should any one be Sollicitous about another's Death which will either make him Happy or reduce him to his first Nothing If Happy 't is Envy to deplore him if Nothing 't is Folly 'T is Death which delivers the Prisoner from his Fetters and the Slave and Captive from his Chain 'T is Death which rescues the Servant from the endless Toyls of a Laborious Life the Poor from Oppression and makes the Beggar equal with Princes Here Desperation finds a Remedy all the Languors of Disease all the Frustrations and Tediousness of Life all the Infirmities of Age all the Disquiets of the Passions and all the Calamities of Fortune with whatsoevâ—â— can make a man Miserable vanish in these Shades Such as these were the Notions which many of the more learned Heathens had of Death But for all this we find it Natural to most men to seek the Prolongation of Life by all means possible The Poor man in the Fable when he had drudg'd all day in cutting and carrying Thorns at last spent with Heat and Labour he threw away his Burden and sitting down upon the Ground calls on Death to deliver him from his wretched Life Grim Death presently appears with his Javelin in his hand and ask'd him what he had to say Nothing replies the good Man but that you will be so kind as to help me up again with my Burden Tho we often cry out of a weary Life yet when once that ghastly Adversary appears most men desire to return to their former Burden and to toil longer amongst the Briars and Vexations of Life The best Course therefore that a Man can take to fortifie himself against the Terrours of Death is To think often of it The Wolf in the Fable when he first saw the Lyon was ready to die with Fear the next time he saw him he was afraid indeed but the third time he grew Bold to draw near and to converse with him Hence it is that Soldiers who converse always with Wounds and Dying Men are no ways concern'd at the Fall of others or at their own Danger But this kind of Hardiness proceeds rather from Custom than from a well setled Consideration Naturally speaking that which makes Men dread Death is the evil of Privation rather than of Pain The Separation of Soul and Body in which consists Death is probably without Sense and whatever Pains precede it they are short of the Dolours of many Diseases and of other Disasters which every Man meets with some time or other of his Life But to bid an Eternal Adieu to Wife Children Friends Pleasures Pomps Preferments with all the Blandishments of this World is uneasie to most Men and to this Condition must the greatest Favourite of Fortune be reduc'd The best Consideration therefore in this Case is that of Epictetus who compares the Course of Man's Life to that of a Passenger at Sea where the Patron or Master of the Vessel being to take in Fresh Water or some such necessary Provision sets his Passengers ashoar for Refreshment To pass away the time a little some fall to gathering Cockles others Reeds or some such Toyes they meet with yet so as to be always ready to leave them whensoever the Master calls his Men aboard So in this Life instead of a Shell or Bulrush thou may'st have a Wife a Child
its Kind ordaining also a seminal Power in each of them to propagate the same to new Ofsprings successively As soon as ever the Parts begin to be form'd by Nature this Animal and active Principle begins to exert its Heat and Force being lodged in the Heart as in the Centre of the Body from whence as the Vessels begin also to be form'd it distributes it self towards the extreme Regions communicating its Vital Heat by the Ministry of the Spirits which Spirits also are nothing but Particles of that Original and Ethereal Flame which is contracted and united in this Centre The boyling Heat which flows from the union of so many Spirits begets a Motion in the Heart to which the Arteries being fastned the same Pulse or Motion is communicated to them also and least the Spirits should be made too Volatile the wise Framer of Nature hath ordered the Blood to be their Vehicle being of a liquid and glutinous Substance and so most fit both to retain and to distribute them together with its self into the remoter parts of the Body all which is extreamly facilitated by the continual Operation of the Lungs whose Function 't is by attracting fresh Supplies of cool Air to refrigerate the Heart and to communicate thin and subtle Matter to make the Blood more florid and fluid Now because the Blood by reason of the great Volatility of the Spirits which are mix'd with it is continually wasting this Loss is repaired by Nutrition or a fresh supply of new Spirits from the Aliment we take in which after several percolations becomes Blood also and is then conveighed to the Heart and so into the Arteries where it becomes the Vehicle of Life and carries along with it new Spirits by undergoing the same Circulations of Nature Whosoever therefore shall duly weigh this Order and consider the Fabrick of each Part will easily be able to give a rational Account of Nutrition Respiration Motion Sensation with all the other Faculties belonging to a Sensitive or Animal Body Now because we observe in Man some Operations more refin'd and such as cannot be deriv'd from a meer Sensitive Nature we are taught to conclude that there is another Principle into which such Operations are resolv'd which we call a Rational Soul Indeed whosoever considers the curious Inventions of Wit the vast Comprehension and subtile Inferences of the Understanding the wonderful Sagacity and Prospect of Prudence the noble Endowments and Speculations of the Mind the quick Transitions and Successions of Thoughts together with the Bent and Subserviency of the Passions in relation to the Circumstances of humane Life I say whosoever thinks on these must readily conclude that the Spring from whence such Motions are deriv'd must be something more Celestial than that Etherial Spirit which gives Vigor to the Animal Faculties True it is the Rational Soul if I may speak it without a Solecisme is so incorporated into the Animal that it seems to have its Birth and Growth with it How doth Reason exert it self by little and little what Helps and Arts are there us'd to make the Flower open and shew it self to the World What Struglings and Conflicts are there betwixt the Animal Inclinations and the more masculine Dictates of Reason A sure Demonstration that they cannot proceed from one and the same immediate Impulse of Nature The Sense and Notions we have of Reputation of Justice of Commerce of Patience and Moderation with infinite other things relating to the moral Capacity have no analogy with the Actions and Sentiments of Beasts tho never so sagacious and well instructed what then shall we say of the Intellectual Operations and of the immense Capacity of the Mind But do we not see that some Men who have rational Souls and such as are reputed of as good Education as the best how they act upon the same Principles of Sense and Bestiality with other Creatures 'T is not therefore from Nature but from forreign and adventitious Helps that others make a different and more refin'd discovery of themselves 'T is true we find some Men acting at a very extravagant rate not only by following the Propensities of Sense but by transgressing even the Dictates of Nature in Beasts by their Ingratitude and Infidelity towards those they are obliged to nay sometimes in killing themselves either Gradually by Intemperance or more compendiously by the help of a Sword or of a never-failing Halter So far therefore is this Consideration from destroying my Assertion that it doth exceedingly confirm it since it establisheth that Liberty and Arbitrary Power of the Will which is incommunicable with Beasts and is one of the chiefest Prerogatives of a humane Soul The grand Instruments by which the Understanding works are Memory and Invention Now since these Faculties have their foundation in the sensitive Capacity as this Prop is withdrawn the Understanding must of Consequence be more clouded and obscure Nay tho the rational Faculties in or a little before the moment of Death seem totally extinguished because we are not sensible of any effects they make neither yet is this any Argument of the Souls mortality For when a man is profoundly asleep or what is almost as natural to some profoundly drunk their is a seeming extinction of all the rational Powers and yet for all this we find that where Nature is once deliver'd from such oppressions the Soul is the same in being as it was before As therefore the Reasonable Soul is in Nature and Operation distinguish'd from and transcendently superiour to the Animal so in the next place 't is very probable that it has not its Original from the course of Nature but from the immediate hand of God This was a great question heretofore betwixt St. Augustine and St. Hierome and was prosecuted by the later with so much heat as made him seem to transgress the bounds of Christian Charity But 't is not my business in this Discourse to make use of Theological Arguments or to interpose betwixt the Fathers in their Disputes they are at rest and let their works follow them Thus much is obvious to our Observation That in the Generation of Bruits we find every Animal does beget its like not only in specie or kind but in disposition and inclination of Nature Fighting Cocks will beget a race like themselves so will Dogs Horses c. and so constant and regular is Nature in those productions that it seldom or never varies but in the Generation of Man we oft-times experiment the contrary simple men are frepuently the Fathers of great Hero's and wise men may leave their Goods and Lands to their Sons without being able to Entail them upon the better part of their Possessions Solomon had a Rehoboam and an Achitophel may have an Ideot for his Son From whence it follows that such different dispositions must proceed from some Principle which lies not within the compass of Generation and the ordinary course of Nature 'T is true Education does
Humour and Repletion This makes them more difficult to apprehend but where they do attempt they are indefatigable in the Pursuit and Retentive of what they learn This we see most apparently in the Dutch in whom the want of more refin'd Spirits is abundantly supplied by Industry They move but flowly yet they are patient of Fatigue both in Councel and Commerce and in matters of Learning tho their Conceptions are not so gentile and polish'd they are nevertheless useful and by their great Collections and variety of Readings with which their bulky Volums swell they demonstrate to the World their invincible Constancy in what they undertake Those who inhabit the colder Clime are forc'd to supply the Defects of Heat with Drinking which cannot but expose them to Bestiality and Indiscretion and must have a great influence upon their Moral as well as upon their Natural Capacities Hence it is that tho they are generally quarrelsome and exposed to all the Effects of Sottishness and Intemperance nevertheless they are less Revengeful at once discharging both their Surfeit and their Choler That freedom and openness of Thought which accompanies their Drinking makes them uncapable to Conceal or Premeditate any thing against the Government as we see in the Germans who notwithstanding their Intemperance and the infinite number of little Principalities notwithstanding that mixture and confusion of Governments and the variety of Religions which are amongst them live in better Accord with one another and with a more regular Subjection to their Superiors than others of their Neighbours who are more refin'd which Boccatin very ingeniously observes in the Defence they made before the Tribunal of Apollo The Inhabitants of Ilands are generally more Rebellious and Unconstant than those who live upon the Continent witness Brittain Ireland and Sicily We may observe the like Diversity of others as to Morals and Politicks from the respect they have to the Heaven under which they live Those of a dry and hot Country are born with quicker Witts than others and obliged to greater regularity of Life from the Dangers and Diseases which are derivable from Heat accompanied with Excess Thus much is true in the general But if we descend to Particulars we may continue the Observation further and shew that the Bent and Inclination of every Man's Life doth hold Analogy with the individual Crasis and Constitution of his Body There are some 't is true who go farther and assert that from the Anatomy of the Brain a Man may demonstrate the diversity of the Passions and discern the subtile Springs and first resorts of the Soul but those are but Chimera's the Inventions of Impertinence or an ingenious Madness Was there ever Man that could assign the Cells of Anger or Love of Joy and Sorrow Or could he shew their different Figures and Dimensions and by any Dissection of the Brain discover which was a wise Man and which a Fool from the different Traces left upon it Nor is this Theory only ridiculous but destructive also to the fundamental Articles of Religion viz. The Souls Immortality and the Liberty of the Will For tho it be true that in Bruits all things move in a certain Tenour and as it were by Impulse as it happens in a Watch where the Wheels are set in order and the Springs wound up nevertheless so great is the variety of Actions in a Rational Soul so sublime are its Speculations and so predominant its Resolves above all the Reports and Tendencies of Sense as shews sufficiently that there is a Faculty in Man independent on it and tho it be oftentimes inclin'd by it yet is it able to disengage it self and to exercise a soveraign Authority over Nature Whereas those who assert the contrary do not only involve themselves in palpable Absurdities but do deny the very Existence of their own Souls when they define all the Faculties of it to be nothing but a Motion of the Animal Spirits proportion'd to some certain Organs and Instruments all which are annihilated by Death This then is true that every Man has a power deriv'd from his own Soul to controul the Motions of Nature but then 't is true too that this must be Understood only in Men of a Masculine and of a disciplin'd Reason Most incline to Nature and choose the Methods which Passion does propose nay even in Intellectual Operations and in matters of Opinion how willing are we to delude our selves being byassed by Interest and that Interest accommodated only to Sense and present enjoyments But to leave humane Actions whether Intellectual or Moral let us consider those which are Natural I mean the Passions of which 't is certain beyond all dispute and question that they depend entirely upon the Disposition of the Body No sooner does an Object strike upon the Eye for instance but the Image is conveigh'd immediately to the common Store-house of the Senses the Imagination and accordingly as it appears agreeable or displeasing so does the Imagination make the impression upon the Animal Spirits which with imperceptible quickness and subtlety are transmitted by the Nerves to the Parts principally concern'd and excite Motions of desire or dislike with all the Train of Actions subsequent thereto if we make an Impression on the Water by casting in a Stone or upon the Air by striking of solid Bodies together we find a kind of Undulation by which as by a succession of multiplied Impressions the Image is conveigh'd to a considerable distance faster or slower as the Medium is dispos'd 'T is the same in our Bodies as to the Images of Sense though it be perform'd after a manner which is far more quick and delicate hence it is that as men live with more or less Regularity and Temperance their Senses are more or less refin'd to receive the Images of things and in Conformity hereunto the Passions move with greater or less justness and order These Considerations being premis'd I come now to discourse upon the Actions of the Mind as they fall under these two Grand Faculties of the Soul the Will and the Understanding and because both these Faculties receive their Informations from certain Instruments I shall in the first place inquire into the Nature and Constitution of these Instruments and they are either External contain'd under the five Senses or Internal viz. Imagination and Memory CHAP. X. Of the Senses ONE who is confin'd to a close Prison in which are some few Chinks only for the conveyance of Light and Air though he may have an ability to see all the variety of Objects which are in Nature notwithstanding this can actually discern no more than what lies directly opposite to the straight passages of the Walls in which he is imprison'd Just so the Soul of Man is confin'd to the Body as to a close Chamber or Prison from whence it happens that though it be capable in its own Nature of knowing all things within the Compass or Sphere of Creatures yet it falls out
prospect they have of a durable Enjoyment Now if Health Honours and Profit can inspire us with Noble Resolutions Virtue certainly ought to have as great an Influence upon our Wills whether we consider the Pleasure which accompanies its Exercise or the Reward which follows the performance of it There is another sort of Judgment which the Mind of Man makes of things in relation to the general good of others This does not consist barely in a knowledge of what is beneficial for Mankind but it implies a Practice and Execution proportinable to that knowledge which I call Government This is of two sorts either Civil which consists in the Institution and Preservation of a Kingdom by wholsom Laws or else Military which consists in the defence of a Kingdom by strength and force for as for those who Fight for the Enlargement of Dominion for Empire and Glory as did Pompey Caesar Alexander and others how brave soever they may seem to be they are but more illustrious Robbers compar'd to them who engage to defend their Country against a forcible and forreign Invasion I shall therefore make a more particular description of the Virtues of such a one I mean a General of an Army whose charge doubless is the most weighty and Heroick of which humane Nature is capable being such as does require a constant travel of Body and Mind a vigorous Intention of every Nerve and Faculty of the Soul and a perpetual Conversation with danger What a vast Prospect ought such a one to have of the Expence and Issue of the War what diligence ought he to shew in making his Levies and what Providence in his Disbursements At the same time he thinks how he may conveigh his Provisions from remoter Parts and how he may intercept or at least hinder the Recruit of his Enemies and in order hereunto he thinks with himself what Allies are to be Embrac'd what Posts to be secur'd and what Instruments are fitted for every Attempt He Considers what Advantages or Disadvantages may arise from the Wind or Sun from Hills Woods or Rivers A small despicable Eminence or Declivity of Ground is sometimes the safety or the ruine of an Army He is swift but regular in his Marches and deliberates how to Entrench himself sometimes in one Form and sometimes in another according as the Circumstances of the Place or the Approach of the Enemy do require but above all before he begin to Fight he ought to conquer I mean himself by not suffering his Thoughts to be discover'd by any Transports of Passion or Alteration of Countenance taking heed not to lose the Affection of his Army by shewing too much Rigour nor yet their Obedience by too much Easiness and Clemency He ought to use all Address and Artifice to discover the Counsels of the Enemy and to conceal his own his Resolutions must be steddy and quick but withall they must be mature He must observe every Critical Opportunity of Action he must use a thousand Stratagems and all this must be attended with perpetual Watchings Marches and Fatigues of Hunger and Thirst of Cold and Heat besides the Miseries of Sickness Mutinies Robberies with infinite Disorders which follow a Campagne Now for a Man to sustain the whole Weight and Necessities of an Army upon his own Shoulders to strugle with all these Difficulties and at one and the same time to have his Judgement exercised on several Things of greatest Moment and such as seem destructive of one another I say all this requires a Soul as well as a Body of vast Abilities So that the danger of Death and an actual Engagement in Fight is really the least part of this Employ And yet what Art is requisite in drawing up an Army to Battle conformable to the Advantages of the Place and the Posture of the Enemy at the same time he both deliberates and executes he rallies and divides He gives Orders in the midst of Noise and Confusion and many times repells the whole Choice of the Enemies Forces and the Flight of his own by his single Conduct and Valour In fine he defies Death it self amidst all it pompous Terrors of Thunder Smoak Fire and Blood amidst Cryes and Groans amidst Noise and Confusion Now he that does all this and more than this ought he not to have a Mind of immense Comprehension ought he not to have a long foresight of all these Circumstances together with an Elevated I may say almost with an Omnipotent Sagacity by which to take his Measures amidst such a Complication of Difficulties and a suitable Courage to Execute so that if there be any Theater in Nature on which Judgement joyn'd with Practice or Reason with Experience can display themselves 't is here Such a one was Scipio the Great who when his Countrey was at the last Gasp recovered it to Life again by defeating four great Generals with their whole Armies of which one of them had the most Victorious Army and was himself one of the bravest Generals the World ever knew and this in four rang'd Battels successively and not by punick Stratagem or the Hazards of Fortune but by open Prowess and Conduct which made Hannibal confess that he was overcome not only in Battel but in the Name and in the very Military Art and Science Now if Scipio deserv'd the name of Great for his Wisdom and Heroick Actions he deserv'd that Compellation no less for the benefit deriv'd on Mankind by them if he who saves a single Person from Death ought to be remembred by him who receives the Benefit with eternal Gratitude and Honour what Altars what Pyramids must he deserve who saves Millions of People from Ravage and turns their Captivity into Triumph There are yet others who in their little Spheres are beneficial also to the Publick by managing their Actions according to the Measures and Directions of Judgement as Physicians whose Practice depends upon a Theory of the Body's Fabrick as also of the Nature of Medicines together with a just and rational Application of one to the other But the little Fees of toties quoties by which these Benefits are measured has something in it which looks mean and sordid The same also may be said of Lawyers with this further Abatement only That by virtue of their Profession they are obliged to defend the Cause of their Clients tho' never so Wrong with all the seeming Arguments of Equity and Reason by which means Oppression many times triumphs whilst Innocence is condemned As for Orators it is their Business to Commend and to Dispraise which naturaly runs them into Flattery and Invective however in this as well as in the other Functions of the Bar 't is certain that the Professors of them endeavour to insinuate their Usefulness to the Publick by having recourse to all the Topicks of Reason endeavouring also to influence the Lives of men by proposing Pleasure Profit and Honesty with such like Motives as sway and govern the Passions which cannot
cannot repel with any Armed Force And when he is sometime Inur'd to that Slavish Condition Custom by little and little makes it Supportable and Natural But whatsoever there be in this or any Dolours of Life the more Acute they are the sweeter are the thoughts of Death whereas to one who makes Pleasure his End the greater it is the more painful are the thoughts of quitting Life so that as the latter is in a Condition of making his passage into Misery the other is always in a Passage to a better State From the Evils of Pain let us go on to consider the Evils of Privation such as loss of Liberty of Riches of Friends and Relations of Reputation with the like Loss of Liberty must be Confess'd to be a great Calamity not only in its self as it causes the Name of Restraint and Confinement but in respect also of all other Comforts for it not only deprives Men ordinarily of the Benefit of Friends but does expose them to great Wants and Necessities and what is worst of all it becomes many times Destructive to Health Exile seems something more uncomfortable than Imprisonment for besides that Divorce which it makes betwixt the dearest Relations Men Naturally have an affection for their Native Country especially when they are out of it which Affection will be ever apt to beget Sorrow But for all this let us but Examine matters a little by detayl and see whether Reason does not furnish us with sufficient Remidies Loss of Liberty like all other Evils which befal us is greatest in the beginning Birds when they are at first put into the Cage do Flutter and Struggle and refuse to feed but after a little Time they return to their former Natures and Sing Then for the Exigence of Nature it is easily supplyed the Body requires no more but to be preserv'd from Cold and a little is sufficient to satisfy Hunger and to Extinguish Thirst whatsoever exceeds these Measures tends to Surfeit and makes Provision for Diseases Seneca observes well of those who Indulge their Palats that it is not so much the Tast and Relish of the Meat as the Rarity and Price which makes it Delicate Now there is not the Place scarce upon the Face of the Earth which does not afford Sustenance for Life To want that Variety of Delightful Objects with which Men daily are Refresh'd is no great Misery for 't is in a Man 's own Power to bring their Images into his thoughts which is altogether as Recreative as the External Objects themselves and if Confinement be so great a Misery then are they as unhappy altogether who by Office or any other Circumstances of Life are oblig'd to perpetual Residence and so in a manner Circumscrib'd within one constant place Then for Separation from ones Country 't is not so great a Misfortune as it at first appears for to whatsoever place a Man is Banish'd tho seemingly never so Unhospitable and Desolate he may observe great numbers of Persons resorting thither daily of their own Accords so that what is made the Subject of Mens choice cannot be so Incommodious and Intolerable Nay let a Man go into what City soever he please he shall find great numbers of Strangers who live Contentedly and happy which yet they could not do were absence from ones Native Country so great a Misery Privation of Friends and Acquaintance has been ever lookt upon as a great Misfortune and such as leaves too great a damp upon the Spirits But there is a Remedy against this too for tho some Men have been deny'd the Conversation of the Living yet there was never any man depriv'd of the Society of the Dead of those I mean whose Works and Monuments are Replenish'd with all Variety of Learning for the Entertainment of his Thoughts Here I am instructed how to behave myself under all the Calamities of Fortune here my Soul is fill'd with bright Idea 's and with Notions of true Morality and above all here I meet with Examples of the bravest Men who have endur'd the same or greater Miseries with Invincible Courage and by so doing have Consecrated their Memories to after-Ages Amongst the Greek and Roman worthies we shall meet with few but were disgrac'd by Fortune and ended their Mortality in Exile Instead of Repining at fate they employ'd their Thoughts and Pens in Writing excellent Books of Morality and by this means made themselves most Publick when they were under the greatest Restraint and when they were in the nearest approaches to Death then did they advance most towards Life and Immortality and such were Seneca and Boethius of old with infinite others of later date That Condition therefore cannot be miserable which is so familiar to the bravest Souls and which gives life to such excellent Productions 'T is too usual for men to compare themselves with others who are above them in respect of these they many times seem unhappy but let them come and measure themselves by the Majority of Mankind and such as really are more Afflicted with outward Discomforts and then they will find themselves to be truly happy For things are good and Evil only by Compaâ—â—son so that what is Evil in respect of something that is better may be styl'd good also in respect of something that is worse than it self and he that is happy in one Capacity may be Miserable in another so the contrary From whence we may take notice of the Infinite Wisdom and Providence of Almighty God who does so mix Good Evil through all Conditions of Men and carries them on in such a manner through all the Stations and Circumstances of Life as seems to reduce all Men to a certain State of Equity such as makes up an universal perfect Harmony The Great Man enjoys Titles and Honour the Poor Man Health The Great Man lives in rest and Repose of Body the Poor Man has the better rest and Repose of Mind he is never vext with Affronts nor Cracks his Brains to contrive Revenge He fears not to be degraded from his Place nor is he Solicitous to make an Interest at Court neither does he live in Jealousy of those who are about him He Rises early to his Work and merrily passes away the Day and at Night meets with a full reward of his Labour in the sweet Refreshments of Sleep If Humility depress the one so is Nobility a Burden to the other large Retinues and Numerous Dependences are but Clogs and are a real weight to him on whom they lie if one feels Hunger the other feels Surfeit if one may be despis'd the other may be Affronted so that upon a Serious and Impartial Survey the Misfortunes which attend the great are really more unsupportable than those to which meaner Persons are usually expos'd and what is yet a further Aggravation they are also more publick and lasting Now whether the Chain be of Gold or of Iron or whether it be fastned upon the right