at once but Self-love is mistaken for we are so far from losing all our five Senses that 't is certain we do not really lose one of them we don't become uncapable of Seeing Hearing and Speaking 'T is not the Nature of Things but the free Institution of God that hath affix'd these Perceptions of our Soul to the Organs of our Body to which they had naturally no more Relation than to the Matter which is hidden in the Center of the Earth howsoever Men may be prejudic'd in this Matter Would we say such a Man has lost his Sight the natural Disposition of whose Faculties God should have so chang'd as to have order'd that his Eyes should have no more Priviledge than the rest and that all the parts of his Body should be capable of Seeing This is the Idea of a Man that loses one way of perceiving and sees this infinite Abyss of Sensibility which is naturally in him adequately fill'd These Losses which prejudic'd Nature imagines it is at by Death become so much the more sensible as they are unavoidable and impos'd by a fatal Necessity which cannot be resisted Men have always look'd upon â—his Necessity as a dreadful Misery the irâ—egular Inclination they have to love forbidâ—en Things with so much the greater arâ—our which caused One to say Define vitiae â—rritare vetando augments and encreases â—heir Love of Life by the Impossibility they â—nd themselves under of extending its Liâ—â—its and makes 'em look upon Death with â—o much the more horour as they are uncaâ—able of avoiding it But had the Wisdom â—f God impos'd upon Men the necessity of â—iving as it has the necessity of Dying we â—ay be almost assur'd that in time they would â—e as much afflicted and troubled at the â—houghts of their Immortality as now they â—re at those of their Mortality Now the neâ—essity of Dying makes them attend more to â—â—e Pleasures than the Crosses of Life but â—â—en the necessity of Living would cause â—â—em to apply more regard and attention to â—â—e Evils than to the Agreements and Pleaâ—â—res of Life Our Soul assuredly owes a great part of its Repugnancy and Unwillingness to leave the Body to Custome and Prejudices to see this we need only reflect upon our past Life remark and muster up together all its Pleasures and seriously ask our selves whether all that countervails our past Grief and Trouble On one side what if it pleas'd the Author of Nature to endow a Soul which is form'd to animate a Body with a most distinct Knowledge of the Dignity and Perfections of its Nature the Grandeur of its End and the Nobility of its Extraction and on the other it were inform'd distinctly of all the Infirmities of all the base and painful Dependances which it goes to espouse by espousing this Body pray would not the very first Moment of its Life certainly seem the beginning of Death So for this reason 't was necessary that the confus'd Sensations of Nature which alligate and fasten us to Life should precede the distinct Ideas which are proper enough in themselves to free and loosen us from it and that the former should be naturally of greater Force and Activity than the latter For tho' God would not have us be excessively fond of Life yet the Author of Nature was oblig'd to interess and engage us in the Preservation of Corporeal Nature without which there would be no Society Death has two very different and also very opposite Aspects as we consider it with reference to the Soul For Life and Death may both be said to make the Debasement and Glory of Man Life makes the Glory of the Body and the Debasement of the Soul 't is by Life that the Body is extended to the just and natural Proportion of its Parts Life gives it Health Strength Agility Beauty and makes in a word all its Perfections But Life causes the Debasement of our Soul it confines it to such Objects as are no ways related to its natural Excellency it makes this Mind buisy it self in trivial Affairs and place its whole Concern in the management of a Family a Field a Vineyard and the most abject and sordid necessities of the Body as if this immortal Mind was made for no higher and nobler Imployment but to prolong for some Moments the Duration of this frail Machine to which it is united If Life makes the Glory of the Body and the Debasement of the Soul Death may be said to make the Glory of the Soul and the Debasement of the Body The Body falls but the Soul rises up and soars as it were to its native Heaven The Body consumes and in process of time relapses into Dust but the Mind extends and enlarges it self like a Divine Sphere which becomes greater and greater proportionably to the nearness of its Approach to God The Body is depriv'd of its former Motion the Soul acquires such Knowledge as it had not before The Body mingles it self with the Earth the Soul is re-united to God The Debasement which ensues upon Death lights upon an insensible lump of Matter A Carcass gnaw'd by devouring Worms endures no Pain it smells not those noisom Odours it exhales is not terrify'd with the surrounding Darkness nor is out of Conceit with it self even when 't is nothing else but an horrid Miscellany of Blood and Dirt of Bones and Putrefaction 'T is an Illusion and Cheat of prejudic'd Nature that makes us affix our proper Ideas and Perceptions to such Objects as do only occasion them Matter when depriv'd of Life and Sense is plac'd in its natural State this is no Imbasement or Degradation to it all the seeming Dishonour and Turpitude is meerly in our Fancy But the case is not the same in respect of that Imbasement and Degradation to which Life exposes us This is not the natural State of such a Soul as ours and doubtless the Author of Nature had never abandon'd it to such a Condition but upon the account of Sin Man indeed would have liv'd but his Life would have been more Noble and Excellent 'T is a great mistake to pretend that Man's Death commences the Punishment of his Corruption Life has already punish'd criminal Man by those sad Dependances which alligate and confine the Thoughts Cares Desires and Affections of so great and noble a Soul to the support and preservation of this sordid Mass of Clay which we term our Body Yet such is the Imbecillity and Weakness of Man that he would needs fancy himself Debased where really he is not and is not willing to perceive himself Debas'd where really he is so An imaginary Debasement frightens and terrifies him and yet he cannot see a proper and real Debasement But what if the Body be truly Degraded so the Gain of the Soul does infinitely preponderate the Losses of the Body Are we so weak as to think that our Happinessness is so confin'd and fix'd to certain Affairs Possessions Offices Housholds and a
too little to Matter And here I durst advance a Maxim which will seem a very great Paradox Namely That altho' according to the confus'd Notion we have of these things Death be more capable of humbling us than Life yet according to the distinct Notion and in the reallity of the Thing it self Life is a more humbling and debasing Object than Death Death humbles the Grand Seignior the Prince the Monarch but Life humbles the Man which is more than all that Death snatches from us the props and supports of our Vanity but Life in the Debasement to which it pulls us down suspends in us most of the Sense of our true Grandeur Death brings the Body down into the Grave but Life as it were calls down our Soul from Heaven Death puts a Period to our secular Commerce with Men but Life suspends that natural Commerce we ought to have with God and which our Heart perceives to be the End for which it was made The Pursuivants of Death are Darkness Worms and Putrefaction whereof we are not sensible Life is totally made up of Weakness Baseness Infirmities Disgraces of which we are sensible Wherefore we are certainly prejudic'd and mistaken when we terrify our selves with the Ideas of Desertion Necessity Solitude Destruction which are not really included in the Image of Death but herein indeed we do not mistake when we dread the Judgment of God which accompanies Death for certainly this cannot but seem terrible to a Conscience that feels it self laden with the Weight of a multitude of Sins and pray where is there a Man that finds not himself in this Condition if he reflect but never so little upon his past Life This Moment truly is dreadful upon which we conceive all Eternity to depend but 't is certain that even in this the Heart of Man suggests to it self many Cheats and Illusions It fancies the Moment of Death to be the Price of Eternal Life And considers not that 't is not this Instant but its whole Life which God requires that this moment hath nothing more pleasing to God than any other and that its whole Importance consists simply in this That it is the concluding Moment of Life And Lastly That 't is not this Moment that contracts and covenants with the Divine Justice but all the Time we past in our Impenitence The Sentiments therefore of our Immortality our Perfections and our End will harmonize and agree together admirably well and with the other Sentiments and Inclinations of Nature and the Principles of Religion which God has given us for our Consolation against all the seeming Frightfulness and Horrour of this King of Terrors CHAP. VIII Where we continue to shew what Effect the Sentiment of our Immortality can work upon our Heart CErtainly the Idea of our Immortality can never be too present to our Mind for our Comfort and Consolation amidst this eternal Circle of those sad and dismal Objects which compass us about and those publick and private Calamities which the Severity of God has vary'd so many ways to give Occasion to the sweet Variety of His Deliverances and Consolations After all what signifies it that we are infirm and mortal in our Bodies This State cannot last long Why should we embarass and perplex our selves with Cares and Sollicitude for the short Futurity of this transient Life Have we not another Futurity in View which very well deserves the principal Care and Occupation of our Heart and Mind What need we value the Menaces and Threats of the World What can it do to us It may indeed crush our Body into Atomes but cannot destroy us What if the Frame of the World perish Nature decline and shake the Elements corrupt and decay what if our Body be converted into Dust Worms or Vapour what if it descend again into the Womb of its Mother Earth or be dispers'd into the fluid Air the Ruines of the World will not crush and destroy our Soul nor dissolve that Divine Principle which is in its own Nature uncapable of a Dissolution We think the Body which cloaths us is Our-self This is a mistake this Clay is not Our-self nor ever will be God indeed will re-establish and raise it in Honour to serve for a Tabernacle of that Spirit which was its original Guest and Inhabitant but this Union will not be with the same Submission and Dependance The Soul will not then follow the Condition of the Body but the Body will be adjusted as far as is possible to the State and Nature of the Soul and as the Soul was once debased even to the mean Condition of the Body so as to fly God and bend its Inclinations to Earthly Things the Body will now be desirous to elevate it self to the State of the Soul so as to decline and quit all Earthly Cares and to betake it self to a joyful Celebration of the Glory of God in the Heavenly Choir Certainly 't is not to be wonder'd That the Gospel administers more Comfort to us I will not say than Humane Wisdom has ever done but yet much more than the Law as Divine as it was This is because it clearly reveals to us Life and Immortality which are the only Objects that are capable of satisfying such a Mind and Heart as ours and so have Divine Relations to our Nature But as this Objâ—ct affords us all imaginable Comfort under the sense of so many Miseries that continually surround us so it yields us whatsoever may elevate and truly raise us The Sentiment of our Immortality joyn'd with the Consideration of that Glory and Happiness which Religion promises elevates us more than the World more than the so much boasted Wisdom of Philosophers and even more than all those Vertues which have fallen within the Verge of Humane Knowledge Here we discover the Grandeur of the Passions the Grandeur of the Mind to whose Empire they are Subject and the Grandeur of Vertue which regulates the Mind I say we do in this View discover the Grandeur of the Passions and no Man need be offended at this Expression For tho' the Passions be in some sense great Infirmities yet may they truly be said to be ingrafted upon the natural Dignity and Excellency of Man Hatred Fury Anger which are such criminal Passions and by which we equally contradict the Rules both of Humanity and Christianity proceed if you observe from an Opinion of our proper Excellency ill-directed and accompanied with the Illusions of Self-love which makes us conceive an Excellency in our selves exclusively to those that have offended us as if our Enemies were not Men as well as we That this Sense of our natural Excellency is in all Men appears from hence That even those Persons who are least of all esteem'd in the Minds of Others do notwithstanding this esteem and value themselves and so receive a kind of Domestick Consolation at their publick Infamy and Disgrace from their own Conceit We don't here pretend to justify all
certain Circle of Persons with whom we have Society as that we cannot be Happy without all these things We have almost the very same Notions of Death as Children have when they fancy they shall be weary with abiding in the Grave and not dare to be alone in the Abyss of surrounding Darkness We terrify our selves with our own Phantomes and Chimaera's we make such a Confusion of our proper Perceptions with the Grave which is their Object that we are ready to imagine and resent that Horrour in the Sepulchre which is meerly a Creature of our own Fancy and exists no where else but in our own Soul We should not fear this pretended Solitude and apparent Privation which attend Death if substituting the distinct Ideas of Reason instead of the confused Perceptions of Nature we would consider that by Death we are not depriv'd either of the Subject or the Cause of those Delights which this World may have afforded us For the Subject is our Soul which still remains and the Cause is GOD who is immortal and immutable The reason why we regret and bemoan the loss of the Sky Earth Elements Society is because we invest these Things with those agreeable Sensations which they occasion'd not considering that we carry away with us the Colours Cloth Paint and Pencil which are necessary for drawing this admirable Picture and that if God fail us not we can nevâ—r want any thing Nor ought the Idea of Destruction which is included in Death to trouble us any more than this Idea of Solitude which we have been speaking of 'T is true Death seems to destroy Man several ways In his account it destroys the World it being certain that the Sun Moon Stars Air Earth Sea although they be not absolutely Annihilated in themselves may yet be said to be annihilated in respect of him seeing that he cannot enjoy any longer Use of them Man is not annihilated in himself but in the Nature which he admires and which perishes as to him in the Society he has been us'd to and which ceases to be any longer in his Account in his Body the Instrument of his Pleasures which perishes and moulders away in the Dust of the Grave Let us see whether there be any thing Real in either of these Three kinds of Destruction First then external Things cannot be said to be annihilated both in themselves and in respect of thei Use for how do we know but the same Institution in kind may still remain and be in Force tho' the manner of it cease Indeed there is no great likelyhood of our having such kind of Sensations after Death as we had during our Life for 't is no longer necessary that these Sensations should be proportion'd to the Condition and Preservation of a Body which in respect of us ceases to subsist The design which the Author of Nature hath had of engaging us in the Preservation of this Body by the Pleasure which the Aliments excite in us being accomplish'd and come to its intended Period we easily conceive that there being no longer Pleasure to be excited in us by Aliments Tasting has no place after Death and is not a proper Faculty for the Enjoyment of the other World unless God affix it to other Objects for different Ends. But methinks Hearing and Seeing being not only design'd for the Preservation of the Body but also for the Search and Pursuit of all that may nourish the Admiration and Gratitude we bear to the Creatour we have no reason to believe that these Sensations are terminated by Death Indeed I own we shall not see by the Motion of the Optick Nerve but yet we may be said to see for all that For pray what has the shaking of the Optick Nerve common with the Perception of Light These things have no natural Relation to each other and if we see Light and visible Things by the occasion of the Optick Nerve mov'd after a certain manner nothing hinders but we may have the same Sensations by the occasion of the Aethereal Matter which us'd to agitate the Optick Nerve which may be said proportionably of Hearing But suppose we should not have these very Sensations what does that signify since we shall certainly have Others and those of a more noble and elevated Kind For as by losing the Body we shall not be depriv'd of any thing but what confin'd and degraded us we ought not to fear that our Soul will lose any thing of the Purity and Excellency of its Operations by disentangling it self from the Embraces of Matter 'T is neither our Duty nor Interest to meddle and spend our Conjectures about those things which God thought fit to conceal from our Knowledge but I believe 't would not be a piece of too great Boldness and Presumption to conjecture That as the Imbasement and Vileness of Man during this Life consists in having his Reason subjected to Sense so the Glory that will follow Death consists in a perfect submission of Sense to the Empire of Reason Indeed at present as the Soul is descended from Heaven to inhabit a Tabernacle of Clay it buisies not it self in enlarging its Views or extending its Lights but on the contrary 't is employ'd in â—â—cking and confining 'em that it may not diâ—dain to use them in preserving the Body But then as the Soul will take its flight from these lower Regions to its Heavenly Station where it will have no longer need to care for the Support and Preservation of the Body but its whole Business will be to glorify God 't will no longer bestir it self to limit and confine but to purify and enlarge its Knowledge in order to render it more worthy of God about whom it will be conversant The second Destruction we apprehend in Death is no less Imaginary for tho' we see the Links which ty'd us to Society dissolve and break yet we ought not for all that to think we shall be exempted from all manner of Friendly Obligations The Society of Spirits does very well countervail the Society of Bodies whatever weak and prejudic'd Nature may think of it And when we shall put off these Eyes and Ears which are design'd for our Commerce and Conversation with Men we solace our selves with this Lenitive That we shall undoubtedly acquire other ways of Sensation and Knowledge by vertue of another Institution proportion'd to our future Condition Lastly I grant that One who still lives in this World and is depriv'd of the Members of his Body is to be pitty'd But when a Man is transported into another World sees another Oeconomy of Objects what should he do with these Senses which have indeed some Relation to this present World but not to his glorify'd State The Mischief arises from hence That in the ordinary Idea we have of our selves we attribute too much to the Body and too little to the Soul whereas following the distinct Ideas of Things we cannot ascribe too much to a Spirit nor
of Extravagance to say that this Intellect hath for its Principle a natural Motion that it is nothing but a meer Congeries of Atomes which agitated after a certain manner obtain a new Situation Does any Man clearly conceive that an Atom without going beyond the Confines of the Body runs thro' the Earth and Heavens in a moment that it goes every where without being moved in a more noble and wonderful manner than if it were mov'd Can one Portion of Matter have the Knowledge of others and afterward know it self Act upon it self reflect not only upon it self but also upon its manner of Acting upon the Manner of this Manner and upon the Reflection which it makes upon this manner in Infinitum Can a parcel of Atomes included in I know not what little Pipe judge of the Model of the Universe the Design of the World and understand the Wisdom of the Creatour Is it a property of this Thinking Motion not only to put these Atomes into Motion but also to represent that of the Celestial Bodies which are only in the order of possible Things Have these Atoms whose jumbling and clashing is a Thought this admirable Faculty of being able as often as they meet and justle to hit only the general Degree of Being or Substance without hitting the Individual in this Motion which Thought we term Precision Did we ever hear of a Motion properly so call'd without a proper Translation of one Body from another like Thought which goes from the Time past which is no more to the future which is not yet come and from that Nothing which preceded our Being to that Annihilation which terminates the Hopes of the Incredulous The Mind of Man is not only above the Condition of Matter but which is Admirable it hath a kind of Infinity in its Actions for it flies from Object to Object and multiplies them in Infinitum 'T is never wearied with Knowing and altho' its Perfections be really limited since it does not know all Things yet certainly its Excellency is in some Sense unlimited since it can know all Things successively As the Mind of Man is never wearied with Knowing so his Heart is never wearied with Desiring and such as is our Abyss of Knowledge such is the Abyss of our Desire This Ambitious Prince whose Heart was greater than the Universe of which he was Master had not in the Bottom more vast and elevated Inclinations than are hidden in the secret Dispositions of every One of us and the Heart of an Heroe is not different from any other Man's He that dwells in a Cottage wants nothing but Prosperity and great Occasions to inspire him with Wishes for new Worlds to Conquer When a Man is opprest with Poverty a Supply of Things necessary is the utmost Term of his Wishes After he has possession of those Things which Nature requires he demands Things necessary to State and Quality when he has arrived to that Pitch of Grandeur he has obtain'd all that his Heart seems capable of Desiring Yet still against the Dictates of Reason he forms new Desires Behold the Masters of the World who after having been at a Height of Greatness above other Men wish for the Condition of Beasts this they cannot but desire tho' they are never like to obtain it Such is the Excellency of Man that it shews it self even in his most shameful Irregularities For I do not imagine that this insatiable Desire of our Heart does originally spring from our Corruption Men are to be blamed for applying themselves with too great Earnestness to the Research of Worldly Goods but they have good Reason for not placing their Contentment in finite Enjoyments who are designed for the Possession of the Supream Good It must needs fall out thus For we see that in Nature every Thing is satisfy'd with those Goods that are proper to its species The Fish are contented with the Water they swim in Birds are satisfy'd with flying in the Air the Beasts of the Field obtain the End of their Desire when they have met with such Grass as serves for their Nourishment whence then does it come to pass that Man has so little satisfaction in Temporal Advantages if these be all that fall to to his share Shall we believe that the Wisdom of the Creatour is inconsistent with it self precisely in this Has it not had a competent Knowledge either of the Nature of Worldly Goods as uncapable of yielding us Satisfaction or of the Nature of our Heart as uncapable of being satisfy'd with ' em Or rather does it not proceed from this that having known the Goods of the World our Heart and the natural Disproportion between them both GOD has fram'd things after this manner because he reserv'd our Soul to himself that he might fill it satisfy it and answer by his Excellency and infinite Beatitude the infinite succession of our Thoughts and Desires Or if you will the infinite Enquiries of a Mind which searches for the Knowledge of all Things because 't is design'd for the Knowledge of GOD and the infinite Desire of an Heart which is not satisfy'd with the Possession of any particular Good because it is design'd for the Possession of the supream Good which includes all the others The Nature Perfections and End of Man do make up what we call his Natural Dignity but all this depends upon the Eternity of his Duration We should reap but little Profit from being Spiritual in our Essence did not this Idea include that of Immortality But 't would be extravagant to imagine that because whatsoever is dissolv'd perishes therefore what is uncapable of Dissolution doth perish also What do I say Extention is not lost tho' it acquire other manners of Being and the Body of Man after Death doth not cease to be a Body by being turn'd into Ashes Flesh Clay Worms Vapour or Dust Death in its proper Noâ—ion is a Destruction of the Organs or â— Dissolution If therefore it does not anniâ—ilate the Body whose parts it separates one â—rom another how shall it annihilate this Mind this Intelligence which is neiâ—her Extension nor Motion nor Union of â—arts and evidently bears no relation or â—imilitude to any of those things that are â—usceptible of Dissolution The Perfections of Man do also depend â—pon his Immortality In vain should we â—nd a kind of Infinity in the Sensations of â—he Soul diversify'd in Infinitum according â—o the Diversity of outward Things which â—ccasion them in our Imagination capable â—f assembling innumerable Images for giving â—s a representation of Objects in our Mind â—hich is never wearied with Knowing and â—n our Heart whose Desires are boundless â—f being made only for Time and to endure â—ut for the space of some Years we could â—ave but a limited Number of Sensations â—ould exercise our Imagination but during a â—ery short time could have but a succession â—f Thoughts proportion'd to the brevity of â—ur Life and at last possess but a
up with the frightful and melancholy Thoughts of our going to lose the Foundation of an infinite Joy the Latter would be supported by a Comfortable Hope which connecting together an Infinity of Ages would make up that Deigâ—ht in the Duration of these Goods which they wanted in Quality Nothing is finer in Speculation than this Description which a Latin Poet gives of Temporal Happiness Res non parta Labore sed relicta Non ingratus Ager Focus perennis Lis nunquam Toga rara Mens quieta Vires ingenuae salubre Corpus Prudens simplicitas pares Amici Conâ—ictus facilis sine Arte Mensa Nox non ebria sed soluta Curis Non tristis Thorus attamen pudicus Somnus qui faciat breves Vmbras Quod sis esse velis nihilque malis Summum nec metuas Diem nec optes Mart. L. 10. Epig. But tho' this Definition of Happiness appear so reasonable as it had been Dictated by the Oracle of Wisdom her self yet but an indifferent Knowledge of Man's Heart and his natural State would suffice to shew its Faultiness in many Respects In the first Place 't is made up of such Goods as for the most part are not in our Power Res non parta Labore sed relicta non ingratus Ager Focus perennis Lis nunquam â—ires ingenuae salubre Corpus somnus qui faciat breves Umbras For who can give himself an Estate and cause it to descend from Father to Son or render his Field fruitful or avoid Brangles with injurious Persons 'T is not in our Power to sleep securely to have a healthy and vigorous Temper of Body and yet Nature it self teaches us that Happiness is in some measure in our Power For why should it have engraven upon the Heart of Man a Desire to be Happy if he were uncapable of arriving to that End But Men mistake in this Point because they don't understand a double Language which Nature speaks to 'em in this respect For on one Hand by shewing 'em so many Goods which they naturally desire and which are not in their Power it plainly declares to 'em that Happiness is not in their own Breast and on the Other by inspiring into 'em so natural a Desire of Happiness as that they can never deface or put it off in what State soever they be it teaches 'em that they are notwithstanding capable of obtaining that End But to return to our Poet I add that this Description of Happiness is not made up of Goods sufficiently noble and excellent certainly 't is not much above the Condition of Beasts of which it may be truly said that their Goods come by Succession that their Riches are not got by Labour that the Earth is fruitful to 'em and that they fail not of Cloaths agreeable to their State made by the Hand of Nature that they want not Health Strength and Rest that their Simplicity is prudent and tho' they seem uncapable of Reflection yet we see 'em most Ingenious and Discreet in the Sphere of those Objects which their Interest obliges 'em to know namely for the Propagation of their Species and Self-preservation that their Life is pleasant and sedate that they live without Trouble and Disquietude that their Cups are not mingled with the Wormwood of Suspicions and Jealousies that they are not troubled with Law-suits and which is most of all considerable that they neither fear nor hope for Death So that Beasts come very near to the Enjoyment of that Happiness which is represented to us as the most perfect and compleat of all Strange What a Misery then is it that we are born capable of Reason that the Quality of Rational should bar us from pretending to that of Happy that the Degree of our Perfection should make the Degree of our Misery that Beasts should be happy for not being Men and Men should be miserable because they are not Beasts Certainly this can never be true Nature is too Wise in all other Things for being so imprudent in this Particular and unless Men are willing to degrade themselves and to disparage the Excellency of their Nature they must needs acknowledge a Soveraign Good which may be found and does not cheat our Desires but is not to be met with in the Objects of this Life which will always deceive our craving Appetite Moreover the finest Strokes in the Poets Description of Humane Felicity are contradictory For if a Man be so far Happy as to be satisfy'd with his Condition and not to desire a better how can he choose but fear Death which puts a fatal Period to this Beatitude And if what it Deprives us off be so trivial and inconsiderable as that we neither desire nor fear to Die how is it possible we should be contented with that Condition This Fellow spoke at random He thought there was nothing in these Verses Quod sis esse velis nihilque malis Summum nec metuas diem nec optes A Man content with his Condition and not fearful of Death is the Philosopher's Stone in Morality Besides these Ideas destroy one another they annihilate the Naâ—ure of Man who as we have seen before necessarily loves himself beyond all Limits His Love of Happiness stays not at a Mediocrity and consequently he cannot be satisfy'd but in the Possession of an Infinite Good He dreads Misery above all Things and for that Reason cannot but fear Death till he is assur'd of his Immortality Also this is one of the greatest Defects of that Happiness which Men search after or the Pleasure which they so ardently pursue that the Foundations of it are uncertain it depends upon a Thousand Causes which are not in your Power What Reliance can you have upon the Health of a Body which every thing threatens with Ruine and Destruction and what Tranquillity can you build upon this if you behold the Image of its Death in every outward Object in the Aliments that nourish you in the Air which you breath in the Contagion of a sick Person whom you visit in an Insect that stings it and in a multitude of other secret Causes which we can neither prevent nor avoid who 'll assure me of the Possession of my Riches who 'll secure me of the Preservation of those Friends whom I love and delight in who 'll protect me and mine from the Accidents that are so ordinarily incident to Society The Fourth Defect of this Humane Felicity is that 't is not only corruptible but also transient and fading 'T is of a much shorter Duration than the Term of our Life Sleep which locks up our Senses exhausts a good part of it nor does it last so long as this Moiety of Life which we pass in Reflection and Awake for we are not continually buisy'd with tasting Pleasure Nay it subsists not so long as the Presence of those Objects which first give it Birth it lasts but for the momentany Passage from Privation to Enjoyment We perceive some Delight indeed in the
which is not so easily seduc'd Wherefore because the Author of Nature was so pleas'd that other Men's Reason should be in some sort our Law and Judge as to moral Honesty and the Decorums of reasonable Nature Upon this very account he form'd us with a natural Desire of raising an Esteem of our selves in the Minds of others a Desire which assuredly precedes the Reflections of our Mind For tho' the Utility Pleasure and Desire of finding Confirmations of the Opinion we have of our selves c. may be capable of satisfying the Love of Esteem yet we have shewn that they are not the Cause of it And here we might distinguish Three Worlds which the Wisdom of the Creatour has founded upon Three natural Inclinations The Animal the Rational and the Religious World The first is a Society of Persons united by Sense the second of Persons united by Esteem the third of Persons united by natural Religion The first has for its Principle the Love of Pleasure the second the Love of Esteem the third Conscience All these three Principles are Natural and the Grounds of 'em is not elsewhere to be search'd for than in the Wisdom of the Creatour The first of these Worlds relates to the second the second to the third and the third to the last Wherefore these things are thus subordinated to each other Esteem regulates the Love of Pleasure and Religion ought to regulate the Love of Esteem and this Subordination is no less natural than these Inclinations The Love of Pleasure may truly be attributed to Nature But the Irregularities of Voluptuousness are to be reckon'd to another Account The Love of Esteem may be said to be Natural but yet we are not to suppose that the Extravagancies and Enormities of Pride arise from the Womb of Nature To this we may ascribe the Fear of God and the Love of Vertue But we ought not to give it an Appennage of all those Superstitions which Men have been pleas'd to ingraft upon the Principles of Nature and consequently 't is necessary that the Love of Pleasure of Esteem and Conscience should have their natural Law Rules and Limits But 't will not be amiss to insist upon the Love of Esteem CHAP. XV. Where we examine all those Irregularities which are the Ingredients of Pride IT seems that hitherto we have not had a very perfect Knowledge of Pride and doubtless the reason was because we have not throughly distinguish'd its several Parts nor with sufficient Attention examin'd all its Characters Pride in general may be reduc'd to Five principal Branches Namely to the Love of Esteem to Presumption Vanity Ambition and Haughtiness For tho' Men are wont to confound these Terms and use 'em indifferently to signify the same Thing 't is certain that these Expressions have somewhat different Significations The Love of Esteem is Natural and Lawful in it self as we before observ'd but 't is Vicious and Disorderly when it rises to Excess This is the most general Irregularity of Pride for when our Desire of Esteem is excessive 't is natural to romage in our selves for some estimable Qualities and finding we have none our Imagination presents us with some in Complaisance to the Inclinations of the Heart from whence arises Presumption Moreover this immoderate Love of Esteem makes us value our selves upon any Endowment whether good or bad and for want of real Sources of Glory to aim at an Esteem upon the account of those things which are in no wise Estimable unless in our own Fancy this is properly our Vanity For this Expression originally signifies the Emptiness of those Objects wherein we erroneously seek for Esteem and which are naughty Sources of Vain-glory. From this excessive Love of Esteem arises the Desire we have to raise our selves above other Men having a Perswasion that we can't attract a publick Esteem and Consideration whilst we are confounded with the Vulgar Rabble and this produces Ambition Lastly The Desire we have to make a great Show by distinguishing our selves from the common Rank makes us despise other Men seeking all possible means to degrade and pull 'em down that we may stand upon their Heads All the Irregularities of Pride being reduc'd to the excessive Love of Esteem as their first and original Principle we can't use too much Diligence in considering this latter The two general Faults of this Inclination are Excess and Irregularity the First consists in this That we love Esteem too much the Second That we love false Esteem as well as true In order to understand what is the Excess of thâ— Love of Esteem we must consider the Design of God in placing this Inclination in our Heart He gave it to us for the Preservation of the Body the Good of Society and the Exercise of Vertue I say for the Preservation of the Body seeing that the Love of Esteem defends us from those Extravagances of corporeal Pleasure which would presently tend to our Destruction and Death For who doubts that the Desire of raising an Esteem of our selves is a powerful Motive to stave us off from that excess of Debauchery and Sensuality to which we are drag'd by the Love of Pleasure and which is of so fatal Consequence even to our Body He plac'd in us this Inclination for the Good of Sciety for 't is this Desire to obtain an Esteem in the World that renders us Affable and Complaisant Obliging and Civil that makes us love Decency and Sweetness of Conversation And yet all this while who does not know that the finest Arts the most lofty Sciences the wisest Governments the most just Establishments in general most that is Admirable in reasonable Society proceeds from this natural Desire of Glory Let us not fancy that our own Corruption and Concupiscence brought this excellent Benefit to Mankind doubtless the wise Instructions of the Author of Nature had the chiefest Hand in this Matter Lastly 't is certain that the Design of God was to steer and incline us to honest and laudable Actions by giving us for the Judge of our Conduct not only our own Reason which is oftentimes brib'd by the Enticements of Pleasure but also the Reason of other Men who are not so partial in our Favour as we our selves Indeed God may be consider'd either as the Author of Society or Religion As the Author of Society he thought fit Men should enter into mutual Commerce during some Time and with this Intent he endow'd 'em with such Inclinations as were necessary to the Good and Preservation of Society Among these are to be reckon'd the Love of Pleasure and the Desire of Esteem This latter is the Spring of Humane Vertues which ought not to be so much cry'd down as usually they are for if they are not inservient to eternal Salvation yet are they design'd for the Good of temporal Society they proceed from the Intention of the Author of Nature they are a part of his Model and Platform Love of Esteem being