Subtilty of Foxes and Religion of Divines Planets Mars War Luna Hunting Jupiter Emperours Mercury Oratours Satur. Contemplation Venus Love  Arts and Manufactures Prudence and Knowledge of Good and Evil. Speculative Wisdow and Knowledge of True and False Parts and Offices in the Commonwealth Labourers and Artisans and Soldiers Magistrates discreet and provident Persons Prelates Divines and Philosphers Qualities of different Ages Young Men Aukward and Unapt Grown Men good Managers and Men of Business Old Men Grave Wise and Thoghtful These are the peculiar Excellencies and most remarkable Distinctions which may be attributed to this general Division of North and South The Nations that lie Westward and the People that dwell upon the Mountains approach and have a great Affinity to the Northern Climates because of the Cold to which those Situations are more expos'd which is also the Case of Them who live at a great distance from the Sea They are Warlike and Fierce Lovers of Liberty and have more Honesty and Simplicity in their Tempers And so again the Eastern Countries resemble the Southern as do also Those that dwell in the Champaign and great Valleys and the Borderers upon the Sea They are more Tender and Effeminate by reason of the Fruitfulness of their Soil for Fertility inclines Men to Softness and Pleasure And your Islanders are commonly Subtle and Cunning and Deceitful by reason of that Commerce and Correspondence they hold with Men and Nations of different Tempers abroad From this whole Discourse we may conclude in general that the Privilege of the Northern Climates lies chiefly in the Qualifications of the Body Strength and a Robust Constitution is their peculiar Excellence and Portion The Southern have the Advantage in the Mind Subtilty and Penetration and Quickness of Parts is Their Talent The Middle Regions have somewhat of Both and partake of all These Excellencies but of Each in less Degrees and moderate Proportions From hence likewise we may understand that the Manners and Original Dispositions of Men simply consider'd are not Vices or Virtnes in their own Nature but Necessary and Natural Effects And the absolute renouncing or devesting our selves of These nay the perfect Reformation of them is something more than difficult it is in some Cases out of our Power But the sweetning and moderating and reducing these Natural Extremes to Temper and a due Medium the watching over them carefully and restraining their Motions This is properly our Duty and the Business of Wisdom and Virtue CHAP. XLIII The Second Distinction and nicer Difference which regards the Souls of Men or the Internal Qualifications and Capacities of their Minds THis Second Distinction which concerns the Minds of Men Three Sorts and Degrees of Men in the World and their inward Accomplishments is by no means so manifest as the former It is not obvious to Sense at all nor does it fall within the compass of every one's Notice and Observation The Causes of it are likewise compounded for it depends partly upon Nature and partly upon Industry and Art and so extends to our Acquir'd Excellencies as well as to Those that are born and bred with us According to this Distinction there are as was observ'd before Three sorts of Men which divide them into Three Classes or Degrees of Souls In the First and lowest of these Ranks we may place those weak and mean Souls which are almost of a Level with Body and Matter of slender and narrow Capacities almost perfectly passive and such as Nature seems to have made on purpose to Endure and Obey to live under Subjection and Management and tamely to follow their Leaders In a Word such as are but just Men and no more In the Second and middle Row are Those of a tolerable Judgment and Understanding and such as make some Pretensions to Wit and Learning Management and Address These Men know Something but they are not sufficiently acquainted with Themselves They are content to take up with Opinions commonly receiv'd and stick fast to their first Impressions without troubling Themselves or indeed being judicious enough to enquire into the Truth and Bottom of Things nay were they capable of finding their deep and most abstruse Causes they think this an unlawful Curiosity and so make the Submission of their Judgments a Principle of Duty and Conscience They look no farther than that little Spot of Ground where they stand Themselves and take it for granted that Matters are or ought to be all the World over exactly the same with what they see them at home and all that differ from them in Customs or Opinion they look upon with Pity or Disdain and allow no better Names to than Ignorant and Unciviliz'd Wild and Barbarons They live in perfect Slavery to local Laws and the Vogue of that Village or City where they have dwelt ever since they were hatch'd and this they do not only in a quiet Complyance and orderly Obedience to them which it is the Duty of every Man even the ablest and most judicious to do but they conform their Sense and their Soul to them and are verily persuaded that what is believ'd and practis'd in their own Town is the infallible Standard of Truth the Only or the Best Rule of Virtue and that all Men's Notions of Right and Wrong ought to be measur'd by Theirs These sorts of Men belong to the School and District of Aristotle They are Positive and Peremptory abounding in their own Sense and impatient of Contradiction They look more at Convenience than Truth and consider what will make most for the Benefit of the World and turn to best Account rather than make it their Business to find Things as they really are and recommend what is Best in it self This Class consists of infinite Subdivisions great Variety of Attainments and Degrees the Uppermost and most capable among them are such as sit at Helm and govern the World Those that hold Empires and Kingdoms in their Hand and either give Commands or counsel those that do In the Third and Highest Order are the Men blest with a lively clear and penetrating Wit a sound solid and stable Judgment that do not content Themselves with bare Hearsay nor set up their Rest in general and receiv'd Opinions that suffer not their Minds to be prepossest and won over by the publick Vogue nor are at all kept in Awe or afraid to oppose and diffent from the common Cry as being very well satisfy'd how many Cheats there are abroad in the World and that some Things no better than Falshood and Jest at the bottom have been entertain'd approv'd extoll'd nay even reverenc'd and ador'd For such were the greatest part of the old Philosophy and Physick such the Divinations and Oracles and all the Idolatry and Trumpery of the Pagan Worship which prevail'd even in the most refin'd Countries for many Generations together and kept Mankind in slavery to most wicked and miserable Delusions These Men therefore are for bringing every
Opinion or to urge what is really Argument and Good Sense as to shew their Talent in opposing what any Body else shall say From hence it comes to pass that the Mind obstructs it self in its Business like Silkworms that are intangled in Webs of their own spinning For while it reaches forward and expects to attain some distant Truth and is led on in this Hope by I know not what imaginary Probabilities in the midst of his Course up start some fresh Difficulties and these multiply and cross the way upon the Man and so by putting him upon a new Scent carry him off from his first Design till he is quite intoxicated and bewildred in the Maze of his own Thoughts The End of all this anxious Pursuit is two-fold That which is more general Truth its End but not attainable and more natural indeed is Truth For of all the Desires that we feel our selves moved with there is not any of them more closely interwoven with our Nature than the Desire of Truth It is with great Eagerness and Diligence that we try all the Means capable of leading us to the Knowledge of it but alas our utmost Attempts are short and insufficient for Absolute Certainty is not a Prize allotted to us nor does it condescend to be taken and possessed by any the most assiduous Humane Soul Truth lodges in the Bosom of God there is its Retreat and proper Apartment Men understand not any thing in its utmost Perfection We know in part and here we see through a Glass darkly says the Fountain of all Truth We turn and tumble Objects about and grope like Men in the Dark for probable Reasons but these are to be found every where and Falshood as well as Truth hath somewhat to be alledg'd in its behalf We are born indeed to search and seek for Truth but the Enjoyment of it seems to be a Blessing reserv'd for some greater and more exalted Powers than any that Mortals are endu'd with That is the Happiness of Beings above us at present and is reserv'd for Mankind in a future State till he be purify'd from the Dross of Matter and Flesh and Infirmity and the Clouds that now hang before us and dim our Sight be scatter'd by Clear and Everlasting Day At present the Difference between one Man and another is not who reaches the Goal and gains the Prize and who not but who is distanced and who not who runs best and makes the nearest Approaches to that which none of us All can come up to If at any time it happens that a Man in the study of Nature fixes upon Truth This is more by a lucky Hit than otherwise and his good Fortune is to be extoll'd as much as his Industry and when he hath it 't is odds if he can keep it for many times a Man suffers it to be wrested out of his Hands again by Sophisms and Delusions and contrary Appearances for want of being Master of his Point and able to distinguish Truth from Falshood and Reality from the Counterfeit Errours are entertain'd by the same way that Truth is the Passage by which both enter our Souls is one and the same The Methods made use of for discovering it are Reason and Experience And both These are extremely weak and defective floating and uncertain hard to fix and changeable upon every slight occasion when we think they are sixed The great Argument of Truth is That of Universal Consent But what will all this amount to when a Man hath consider'd what a vast Majority of Fools there are and how very few Wise Men in the World And again To any one that observes how Opinions spread and become general Men take them from one another as they do Diseases by Infection And Applause is that Breath that corrupts the Air and bears about the Venom This Applause again is given commonly blindly and inconsiderately by them who never examine into the true Merits of the Cause and by them too who if they do pretend to examine are not capable of judging in the Case And thus when some few have begun the Dance the rest have nothing to do but to fall in with the Tune and follow them that lead it up of Course The other End aim'd at by the Mind is Invention Invention which if it have less of Nature yet hath more of Ambition and bold Pretension in it This is aspir'd to as its highest Point of Honour that which makes most Shew to the World and contributes most to its Reputation That which it looks big with and thinks the liveliest Image of the Divine Nature It is this particular Accomplishment to which all those noble Works have owed their Original which have fill'd the World with Transport and Wonder And those that have been of Publick Use among them have even Deify'd their Authors and immortaliz'd their Names What Renown have some gain'd that were mere Curiosities only for being eminent in their Kind though no Benesit at all accrued to Mankind by their means Such as Zeuxis's Vine Apelles's Venus Memnon's Statue the Colosse at Rhodes Archytas's Wooden Pigeon the Sphere of Sapores King of Persia and infinite others Now the Excellence of Art and Invention seems to consist not only in a good Imitation of Nature but in outdoing it This often happens in particular Instances for no Man nor Beast seems ever to have been so exquisitely formed in all its Parts nor the Proportions of any one and the same Body to have met together of Nature's Composition so exact as these Artists have delineated and represented them in Their Pieces There are likewise several Improvements and Exaltations of Nature in producing and compounding those things by Art which Nature alone never produces This is plain from the Mixtures of Simples and Ingredients which is the proper Business for Art to exercise it self in the Extraction of Spirits and Oyls and Distillation of Waters and compounding of Medicines more refin'd more powerful and efficacious than any Nature furnishes us with And yet after all These things are not so wonderful nor do they commend Humane Wisdom and Industry so highly as the generality of the World are apt to imagine For if we will pass that Judgment in this Matter which is agreeable to Truth and Duty and pay a just Deference and Acknowledgment to the First Author These are but Imitations and not properly Inventions They are Improvements but they only promote and perfect what God hath first revealed And what we commonly value and extol as our own Original Contrivance is nothing more than observing the Works of Nature arguing and concluding from what we find there and then reducing those Observations into Practice Thus Painting and Optiques were first rude and imperfect Hints taken from Shades and the Perfection they are now in consists only in a due and proper and beautiful Mixture of Colours which makes those Shades The Art of Dyalling comes from the Shadows cast by
a thousand other such Sayings by which they remarkably argued a distrust of their own Judgments The rest of them though upon some occasions they have proceeded somewhat dogmatically and delivered their Minds boldly and positively yet seem rather to have dissembled their Doubts than not to have had any and to put the best face they could upon the matter that the World might see how far their Wit would carry them in the Search of Truth a Thing * Quam Docti fingunt magis quà m nôrunt which Learned Men seem rather to have framed an Idea of to themselves than to have known her as she is For after all their boasts of attaining her their Courage fails them at last and the Things uttered by them they dare not venture to bestow any more honourable Titles upon than that of Probabilities and Appearances of Truth and while they represent them variously sometimes in one prospect and form and sometimes in another by Questions and Problems and Ambiguous Disputes as if their design was rather to enquire than to teach and that they sought Information themselves while they pretend to give it to others from all this I say and the whole current of their Style we may reasonably gather that they wrote and spoke not so much with a design to establish a Notion or render it unquestionable as for Diversion and to Exercise their Wits as one says We cannot be sure what their opinions were or that they really believed their own Writings for indeed * Noâ—â—â—â—m id sensiffe quod dicerent quà m exercere ingenia maâ—â—â—â—â—â—â—â—â—cultate voluisse videntur they seem not to have designed we should gather their Sense of things so much as that we should observe and admire their Parts and Skill by those Trials which the nicety and difficulty of their Subject put them upon And who can ever persuade himself that Plato intended his Republick and fanciful Ideas should ever pass for Current Doctrine or that Pythagoras in advancing his Numbers and Epicurus his Atoms spoke their own real Opinions and such as they thought were weighed and measured Truths They pleased and entertained their own Minds with these nice Speculations but †〈…〉 singuntur non ex Scientiae vi the Notions were owing more to the Fruitfulness of their own Inventions than to any strength of Proof or force of Knowledge And indeed they may seem sometimes to have gone out of the common road on purpose and with great Industry to have sought somewhat of Difficulty the better to amuse the world by thus concealing the Vanity of the Subjects they were upon and to furnish matter for the gratifying their Reader 's Curiosity How wretchedly is Aristotle the very Idol of these Dogmatists confounded and at a loss How inconsistent with himself and forced sometimes to confess the Impotence of Human Nature and how short the most inquistive come of the Truth Those that afterwards signalized themselves by a more positive and magisterial way of Writing and from thence got the Title of Dogmatists were Men of a Pedantick and presumptuous Temper They it is true condemn and detest this Rule of Wisdom and were fonder of a Hot-headed peremptory Fellow though contrary to their own Party and Judgment than of a peaceable sedate and modest Man who contents himself with Doubting and declines the pronouncing any thing definitively that is in plain English they esteem a rash Fool more than a Cautious Wise Man Like Women who take it ill not to be contradicted and had rather be answered rudely than not at all Because they think the Coldness and Indifference of Silence argues greater Contempt and Disdain than it is possible for the most injurious Language to express In which they betray great perverseness and injustice For what reason can be given why a Man should not be allowed to suspend his Judgment and still to deliberate upon things as Doubtful without venturing to affirm on either side when They at the same time take a privilege of determining as They see fit Is not there the same Equity at least the same Right for the one as for the other and what mighty Crime is it frankly to confess one's self Ignorant when he is really so and to say nothing when he cannot speak with good Assurance and full Satisfaction It is certain that all Philosophers are agreed so much to our disadvantage as to pronounce that we are Ignorant of a great deal more than we know nay that our Knowledge is not comparable not fit to be mentioned in competition with our Ignorance The Causes of which are infinite for we may be mistaken in the Objects of our Enquiry by reason of their being too near or too distant too great or too small of too long or too short duration and in perpetual Flux and Uncertainty These Causes of Error proceed from the Object but then there are infinite Others owing to our Selves and our Manner of Perception which in truth is not yet universally agreed upon nor perfectly well understood What we think our selves sure of we do not really know nor can we be secure of continuing in our present Opinion any time For how often do we see fresh Arguments extort it from us or if our Obstinacy will hold it fast in despight of all Reasons to the Contrary yet at least they raise a dust and disturb us in the Possession of it Now I would be glad to know which way a man shall ever be capable of improving his Judgment if he fasten himself down to some certain notions resolving to look and examine no farther nor enduring to hear any thing offered in prejudice of an Opinion which he fancieth himself abundantly satisfied in already The plain Truth is Men are asham'd of this Suspense I am treating of because they have a wrong Notion of it They look upon it as a Sign of Want of Judgment whereas in reality the Greatest and most judicious Philosophers that ever lived were the most frank in this Point The Idea of Positiveness and Presumption hath taken such fast hold of them and they think Dogmaticalness and Learning so inseparable that they are out of Countenance in any case to own their Ignorance lest This should be thought a Reflection upon their Parts and Attainments There is no persuading them that there is a sort of Ignorance and Doubt more Learned more Generous and consistent with better Assurance and more accurate Knowledge than all Their boasted Science and Certainty This gave that great renown to Socrates and entitled him to the Character of the Wisest Man of his Age This is the Fruit of Study and deep enquiry it is a modest candid innocent and hearty acknowledgement of the sublime mysterious Nature of Truth and the Defects and Poverty of our own Understanding so weak within so beset with Mists and Darkness without and from Both so uncertain and unsteady in its Resolutions The Lord knoweth the Thoughts of Man that they are but
among Unbelievers or Preserving a due Reverence of it where it is already received Divinity and especially that part of it which is Mysterious and Revealed tells us plainly that the Mind must be cleansed and purified in order to receive those Heavenly Truths and the Impressions of the Holy Spirit That God will not inhabit our Souls till all Corrupt Opinions as well as Affections are cast out for with regard to both we shall do well to understand those Commands of Purging away the old Leaven and putting off the Old Man From whence we may collect that the most compendious and successful method of planting the Christian Religion among Infidels would be first to establish them in the Belief of these following Propositions That all the Knowledge of this World hath a large embasement of Vanity and Falshood attending it That the Generality of Mankind are deluded with fantastical Notions the Forgeries of their own Brain That God created Man to the End he might acquaint himself with the Divine Nature and Dispensations and employ his Soul and sind his Happiness in these noble Contemplations But that in this decayed and declining State Man is not capable of discovering Truth by his own Strength That there is consequently a Necessity of God who is Truth manifesting it to him That God hath in much Mercy vouchsafed to do this by particular Revelations That it is He who inspires Men with a Desire of Truth as well as he provides for the Gratifying that Desire That in order to dispose and qualify our selves for being instructed in the Divine Revelations we must abandon all worldly and carnal Opinions and as it were bring our Minds a pure blank for God to write his Will in When these Points are gained and Men are in such preparation to resign themselves to Truth then it will be time to lay the foundations and instil some of the first and plainest Principles of Christianity To shew them That these Doctrines came down from Heaven That the Person who vouchsafed to bring them was a faithful Ambassador and entire Confident of God One who knew his whole Will exactly That his Authority was abundantly confirmed by infinite Testimonies such as were miraculous supernatural and so authentick proofs because capable of coming from no other Hand but God's only Thus this Innocent and candid Suspense and Unresolvedness of Mind would prove a happy Instrument toward the creating and first begetting a Knowledge and Belief of the Truth where it is not Nor would the Essicacy of it be less in preserving it where it is planted and hath taken root already For such a Modest Caution and Deference would undoubtedly prevent all manner of Singularity and Daring Extravagance in Opinions but to be sure it would absolutely put a Stop to Heresies and Publick Divisions You will answer me perhaps that the Temper I am describing As it is too full of Indifference to make any Hereticks So is it too to make any good Catholicks and that the Danger of it is At last degenerating into Scepticism and want of Zeal for all Religions Were the Condition of Religion the same in all points with That of other Notions and Philosophy in general I allow there would be force in this Objection But as it is this is not to argue from my Rules but to pervert them I have already said That Religion stands upon a firm undoubted bottom of its own That God in this differs from all his Creatures that whatever He says is exempted from the Common Rules of Enquiry and there can but one Question lye before us which is Whether he hath said it or no When once this appears to us there is no room for suspending our Judgments any longer no pretence for Neutrality or Liberty of Thought nor a questioning How these things can be God cannot lye and we cannot err in believing Him but for all things else the more cautious and curious and the more loose and disengaged we keep our Mind with regard to Them the Safer and Easier we shall be I have made a sort of Digression here in Honour of the Rule I am recommending that those who profess themselves Enemies to it may find their great Objection obviated In which if I have trespassed upon my Reader 's Patience I ask his pardon And now to our Business again After these two Qualities of Judging all things and fixing our Minds obstinately upon Nothing follows the Third Qualification which is a Largeness or Universality of Soul By Virtue of This the Wise Man casts his Eyes expands and stretches out his Thoughts over all this vast Universe with Socrates becomes a Citizen of the World and takes in all Mankind for his Neighbours and Countrey-men Looks down like the Sun with an equal steady and indifferent Eye upon the Changes and Vicissitudes here below as things that cannot reach nor have the power to change Him This is the Security the Privilege of a Wise Man That which resembles him to the Powers above and renders him a sort of God upon Earth * Magna generosa res animus humanus nullos Tibi poni nisi communes cum Deo terminos patitur Non idem sapientem qui caeteros terminus includit omnia ilâ—i saecula ut Deo serviunt Nulium Saeculum magnis ingeniis Clâ—usum nullum non cogitationi pervium tempus Quam natutale in immensum mentem suam extendere hoc à Naturâ formatus homo ut paria Diis velit ac se in spatium suum extendâ—t The Mind of Man says Seneca is a great and generous Being and is bounded no otherwise than the Divinity it self The Wise Man is not confined to the same narrow compass with the rest of the World No Age no Time no Place limit his thoughts but he penetrates and passes beyond them all How agreeable is it to Nature for a Man to stretch his Mind infinitely For Nature hath formed him to this very purpose that he should emulate the Gods and like Them fill his own Infinite Space This I confess is a sort of Stoical Rant But thus much is strictly true That the Bravest and most capacious Souls are always most of this Universal Temper as on the Contrary the meanest and most incapable are most cramped have the narrowest Notions and are always particular in their Judgments of Men and Things aptest to be positive themselves and to condemn all that dissent from them It is in Truth great Folly and Weakness to imagine that all Nations are bound to think and act just as we do and that none live as they ought who do not comply and agree in every point with what obtains in our own little Village or our Native Countrey to think that the Accidents which happen to Us are general and in common and must needs affect and extend to the whole World equally This Sensless Wretch when you tell him of Opinions and Customs and Laws directly opposite to those he hath been
and so he can see to the End of his Grievance For in this Case he will be render of his Honour and wait with Patience till he be absolved of Course and can come off without any Blemish And thus you have seen what those Seven Heads are which I thought necessary for the Provisionary part of Civil Prudence CHAP. III. The Second Part of Policy or Prudence in Government which consists in the Administration and good Conduct of the Prince HAving thus insisted at large upon the Provision a Prince ought to make and instructed him what Ornaments and Furniture what Defence and what Securities if I may so term them are necessary for the Honour and Safety of his Person and his Government and not only so but likewise what Courses are proper to be taken for the acquiring and furnishing out such Suplies Let us now proceed to Action and observe after what manner these things ought to be made use of and employ'd to be best Advantage But before we come to treat of this Matter distinctly and with reference to the several Branches of the former Division respectively we may venture to say in general That This whole Matter consists in governing well and again That a good Administration with regard both to the Welfare and Obedience of the Subject and the Security of the Prince will depend chiefly upon such a sort of Conduct as shall acquire him Two things hearty Good-Will I mean and Authority The Former is That Affectionate Concern and Kindness which Subjects should retain for their Sovereign and his Government The Latter is a good and great Opinion an honourable Esteem of Him and his Government With respect to the Former of These it is that a Prince is belov'd and by virtue of the Latter he is fear'd and stood in awe of Now These two Affections of Love and Fear tho' they be very distant yet are they by no means contrary to or destructive of one another and consequently neither are those Regards so which in the present Case flow from and are the Result of those Passions Both of them are likewise of general Extent in the Matter before us and both Subjects and Strangers are concerned in each Tho' indeed if we look strictly into the Thing and speak more properly the Good-Will seems to be the Quality of Subjects and the Authority that which hath the Principal Influence upon Strangers And accordingly Tacitus distinguishes them when he advises Persons in this Eminent Post to order Matters so * Amorem apud Populares Metum apud Hostes quaerat that their own Country-Men may be sure to love and Foreigners and Enemies may be sure to fear them And if we would deliver our Judgment freely and fully upon the Matter though both are of great Efficacy yet it must be acknowledged that Authority is the stronger and more vigorous Principle of the Two the more Venerable and of longer Continuance But when there is a just Temper and exact Harmony of both together this Matter is then brought to its utmost Perfection A thing not always practicable because the different Constitutions of Government and yet more different Humors and Dispositions of People according to their several Climates or Countries or Complexions make a mighty Difference in the acquiring these and incline Some to the One of those Afflictions of the Mind and Others to the other So that some are easily brought to Love and are scarce susceptible of Fear Others as easily awed into Respect but not without infinite Difficulty to be won over to Kindness and Love for their Prince What Methods are most Proper and Advisable for the acquiring both these Advantages we have already been inform'd for the several Heads of Provision so largely explain'd are but so many Means for the compassing this End though of Them the most effectual and insinuating seem to be Those comprehnded under the Heads which touch upon the Virtues and the Manners or Deportment of a Prince But however it may not be amiss now we are fallen upon the Matter more directly to say one Word or two more with regard to each of these powerful Advantages expresly This Good-Will and Hearty Affection is of infinite and excellent Use Good Will acquir'd by Gentleness it is in a manner absolutely necessary in so much that This by its own single Strength is able to do a great deal and gives amighty Security but all the rest without this is very seeble and unsafe The Methods of obtaining it are principally Three First Moderation and Gentleness not in Words and Actions soft Language and courteous Behaviour only but also in the very Temper of the Commands issued out and the whole Administration For the generality of Mankind are of such a Disposition as will neither endure to have their Hands ty'd behind them nor absolutely loose and at their own disposal * Nec totam servitutem pati nec totam libertatem They are impatient says Tacitus of an Arbitrary Yoke and perfect Slavery and yet at the same time every whit as unable to bear perfect and uncontrouled Liberty They make a shift to obey well enough and are contended to live in the Qualty of Subjects but the Chains and Captivity of Slaves they can never away with and therefore he says of them that they are tamed and †Domiti ut pareant non serviant subdued not to serve but to obey And the very Truth is ₠Remissius imperanti melius paretur Qui vult amari languidà regnet manu Every Man finds himself more inclin'd to comply with a Superiour who uses his Power tenderly And the greater the Command the readier and more hearty is commonly the Observance paid to it He that will be well carried must take care not to ride with too stiff a Rein. Caesar who was very expert and a perfect Master in Matters of this kind used to say that Power when moderately exercised kept all safe and tight but when a Man once came to let himself loose and commanded things without any regard to the Reasonableness or the Decency when he was set upon making himself absolute and resolv'd to be obey'd Right or Wrong such a One could never be belov'd by his Subjects nor did he sit fast in his Throne In the mean while give me leave to add that by this Gentleness and Moderation I do not mean such a tame and easie Negligent and Effeminate Softness as lets the Reins of Government perfectly loose For This will expose a Prince to Reproach and Contempt and degenerate into an Extreme Ten thousand times worse than that of Fear In all these Cases therefore a Commander must observe how far he can go Decently * Sed incorrupto Ducis honore Tacit. and what Indulgences are consistent with his Honour And the proper Province as well as the Excellence and Commendation of Prudence in Matters of this Nature will be to make so just a Mixture of Justice and
certain Opinions and these are to be found in all Robes and all Conditions as in truth there is a World of Mobb in the Pit and Boxes as well as in the Upper-Gallery Vulgum tam chlamydatos quam coronam voco Let these Objectors but find me another Word as expressive of those Qualities and I will most readily consent to the Exchange In the mean while after this Declaration I think I may justly say that whoever shall still be peevish and have any resentment upon this account does but injure Me and accuse Himself 'T is true there are other Terms of Opposition to the Wise Man but not any I think so extensive and significant as This. The Vulgar the Ignorant and Others which I frequently take occasion to make use of These are opposed more directly like Low to High Weak to Strong Common to Scarce a Servant to his Master Prophane to Sacred Thus likewise Fool is set the most directly in opposition to Him but then This is as Crooked is opposed to Streight Vain-glorious to Modest Constraint to Freedom Sickness to Health But now Pedant includes all this and a great deal more in the Sense which I apply it to For it gives us an Idea of a Man not only different from and contrary to a Wise Man as the rest of them do but a Fellow that hath the Impudence to oppose and make Head against him that comes armed Cap-a-pe sawcily challenges him to Combat and talks magisterially and dogmatically And because in the midst of all this Vanity and sierce Arrogance he hath some sort of Misgivings and thinks himself discover'd therefore he bears an inveterate Spight to this Person who checks his Follies is eternally censuring condemning running him down esteeming and behaving himself as the only Person who has any Right to that Character of Wisdom tho' in reality he infinitely exceed all others in the exquisiteness and troublesomness of his Folly Having thus given my Reader a short Account of the Argument and Design of the following Treatise it may not be unseasonable to premise one Word or two concerning the Order and Method observed in it He must know then that it consists of Three Books The First directs the Knowledge of a Man's Self and the Condition of Human Nature in general This is laid as a necessary Preparation to Wisdom and largely illustrated under Five General Considerations each of which is subdivided into several Particulars The Second contains the principal Lines and general Rules of Wisdom The Third descends to particular Instructions and Circumstances branched out under the Four Cardinal Virtues of Prudence Justice Fortitude and Temperance and here every Part and Relation of Human Life hath some provision made for the Duties it engages us in I add too that I write and treat my Subject not after a Pedantick manner and in set Forms according to the Methods of the Schools nor with regular Arguments in Mood and Figure nor with Pompous Eloquence nor any other Artifice whatsoever I am verily persuaded what Tully says is most true That Wisdom could she but render her-self visible to Human Eyes would charm our Souls and ravish our Affections and make every Creature strangely in Love with her De Offic. Lib. 1. Quae si oculis ipsis cerneretur mirabiles excitaret amores sui And therefore she need only discover her native Beauties and is too noble too glorious to use any of those little modish Garbs to adorn and set her off but this I do too with a Liberty which all perhaps will not be well pleased with The Propositions and Truths are compact and close but ofientimes very dry and served up crude and coursely like Aphorisms Overtures or short Hints of Discourses Some Persons I am sensible may be apt to think me too bold with some commonly-receiv'd Opinions and take offence that I pay them no greater Deference To these Persons and the Fault they sind with my free way of expressing my Thoughts I answer First That Wisdom when above the common Standard hath a Right to this Liberty It is the Privilege and Jurisdiction of a Wise Man to call Matters before him to examine and try them to censure and condemn vulgar Notions which indeed for the most part are no better than vulgar Errors And who shall pretend to bar this Privilege Why should he who hath it decline the Exercise of it though he knows at the same time that this cannot be done without incurring the Envy and Displeasure of a great part of the World Nay Secondly I cannot but think the juster ground of Complaint lies on my side and must therefore reprove Them for this foolish and feminine Niceness as a thing that is infinitely too squeamish and tender to bear necessary Truth or attain to sound Wisdom The boldest Expressions and Truths are most becoming a truly great Soul and a Man who hath at all study'd the World will not think any thing strange or shocking For this proceeds from Weakness of Judgment only which ought to be corrected and a Man must harden his mind and accustom himself to consider patiently even the oddest and most uncouth things in order to giving them a fair Tryal There is nothing so extravagant but the Mind of Man you see is capable of thinking it and consequently nothing so extravagant but that a Man may and will do very properly and well to give it the hearing All the Care to be taken upon this Occasion is that we be not wanting to our Selves That while we endure to examine every thing tho' never so generally exploded yet we yield our Assent to nothing but what is good and decent tho' never so universally commended or receiv'd For the Wise Man gives instances of his Courage and Greatness of Soul in both these Cases whereas these nice Persons betray an Effeminate Weakness and Delicacy and are manifestly defective in them both Thirdly Whatever I propose here it is only with an Intention to have it considered I pretend not to oblige Others to think as I do I Offer my Thoughts but I do not Impose them If They differ in Judgment from Me it breeds no Quarrel I should injure my self extremely if it did because this is one of those detestable Qualities that concur to make up a Pedant Passion is generally an Argument that Reason is defective and He that is disposed to any Opinion upon One of these Motives hath seldom any great Mixture of the Other with it Wherefore then are these Gentlemen Angry Is it because I am of another Opinion Let them give me fair Quarter at least for I am not in any Degree displeased with Them for differing from me Is it for saying some things not agreeable to their Tast and that of the World Alas 'T is for this very Reason that I mention them I hope at least there is nothing said without Reason for it if they can relish it and discern the Force of that Reason 't is well If
Years together converted and establish'd many He never took any Degree or Title in Divinity but satisfy'd himself with deserving and being capable of the Highest and had therefore no other Title or Character but That of Priest only He never saw Paris in Seventeen or Eighteen Years and then resolv'd to come and end his days there but being a great lover of Retirement he had obliged himself by Vow to become a Carthusian and was absolved of it about the end of the Year 1588. He went from Bourdeaux coming by Xaintes and Anger 's where he made several learned Sermons and arriv'd at Paris at the time the States were conven'd at Blois Then he presented himself to the Prior of the Carthusians one John Michel a Person of great Piety who since dy'd Prior-General of the great Carthusian Monastery in Dauphiné To Him he communicated his Intention but it was not accepted by reason of his Age which was not less than Seven or Eight and Forty And all the most pressing Intreaties he could use were ineffectual for the Excuse was still this That That Order required all the Vigour of Youth to support its Austerities Hereupon he addrest himself to the Provincial of the Celestines in Paris but there too with the same Success and upon the same Reasons alledged for repulsing him Thus after having done his utmost to fulfil his Vow and himself not being in any degree accessory to its not taking effect he was assured by Faber Dean of the Sorbon Tyrius a Scotch Jesuite and Feuardent a Franciscan all very learned and able Divines that there lay no manner of Obligation upon him from that Vow But that he might with a very safe and good Conscience continue in the World as a Secular and was at large and at his own Disposal without any need of entring into any other Religious Order Hereupon in the Year 1589. he returned back by Anger 's where he preached the whole Lent to the great Admiration and Benefit of the People From thence he went back again to Bourdeaux where he contracted a very intimate Acquaintance and Friendship with Monsieur Michel de Montagne Knight of the Order of the King and Author of the Book so well known by the Title of Montagne's Essays For him Monsieur Charron had a very great Esteem and did from him receive all possible Testimonies of a reciprocal Affection For among other things Monsieur Montagne order'd by his last Will that in regard he left no Issue-Male of his own Monsieur Charron should after his decease be entituled to bear the Coat of Arms plain and as they belong'd to his Noble Family The Troublesome Times detaining Monsieur Charron at Bourdeaux from the Year 1589. to that of 1593. he composed his Book called Les Trois Veritez The Three Truths and published it in 1594. but without his Name to it This was received with great Applause of Learned Men and they printed it after the Bourdeaux Copy two or three times at Paris and afterwards at Brussels in Flanders under the Sham-Name of Benedict Valiant Advocate of the Holy Faith because the Third Part of that Book contains a Defence of the Faith in answer to a little Tract concerning the Church written formerly by the Sieur Plessis de Mornay The Publication of this Book brought him into the Acquaintance of Monsieur Antony d' Ebrard de S. Sulpice Bishop and Count of Caors who upon perusing and liking the Book sent for Monsieur Charron tho' he had never seen him before made him his Vicar-General and Canon-Theologal in his Church which he accepted and there he put out the Second Edition with his own Name to it in 1595. enlarging it also with a Reply to an Answer printed at Rochelle and written against what he called his Third Truth While he was at Caors the King was pleased to summon him to the General Assembly of all the Clergy of France held the same Year 1595. Hither he came in the Quality of a Deputy and was chosen first Secretary to the Assembly As he was in this Attendance an Invitation was sent him to preach at St. Eustache's Church the most populous Parish in the whole City of Paris which he did upon All-Saints-Day 1595 and two Days after As also the Six Sundays in Lent 1596. In 1599 he returned to Caors and in that Year and 1600. he composed Eight Discourses upon the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper as many others upon the Knowledge and Providence of God the Redemption of the World the Communion of Saints And likewise his Books of Wisdom While he was thus employing himself and enjoying that Retirement at Caors my Lord John Chemin Bishop of Condom presented him with the Chantership in his Church to draw him over into that Diocess But having at the same time an Offer from M. Miron Bishop of Angiers and being courted by Him to reside at Anjou this was most agreeable to his Inclination The making a determinate Resolution was a Work of Time for his Affection and Convenience drawing several Ways kept the Balance long in suspense Anjou he looked upon as the sweetest Dwelling the most delightful Retreat that France could give him but that Province being then embroyl'd in Civil Wars for Bretany was not then reduced and so like to make a very troublesome Neighbour Condom carry'd the Point It happen'd too that the Theologal Chair at Condom was just then void and this being tendred him by the same Bishop he accepted that and resolved to set up his Staff there To this purpose he bought a House which he built new and furnished to his own Fancy and Convenience resolving to give himself all the Ease and Diversion he could and make the best of his growing Years the Infirmities whereof would be soften'd at least by good Humour and a pretty Dwelling After he was setled at Condom he printed those Christian Discourses mention'd just now which were Sixteen in all and also his Books of Wisdom at Bourdeaux in the Year 1601. which gave him a great Reputation and made his Character generally known So that Monsieur Charron began from that time to be reckon'd among the Glories and topping Wits of France Particularly Messieur Claude Dormy Bishop of Bologne by the Sea and Prior of St. Martin's in the Fields at Paris wrote him several Letters upon that occasion expressing the great Esteem he had for Him and his Writings and as a Testimony of his Value and Opinion of him offer'd him the Theologal's Place in his Church These Letters made Monsieur Charron desirous to see Paris once more that so he might contract a Personal Acquaintance with and express his Acknowledgments for the Favours of this great Prelate and at the same time in hope to get an Opportunity of reprinting his Books and Discourses with the Addition of some new Tracts For indeed the Impression at Bourdeaux he thought wanted correcting and upon a Review was not at all to his Satisfaction In pursuance of this Design
the Humane to the Divine Nature as some interpret that Passage From hence perhaps it was that Apollo who among the Heathens was esteemed the God of Knowledge and of Light had this Inscription KNOW THY SELF engraven in Characters of Gold upon the Front of his Temple as a necessary Greeting and Advertisement from the God to all that should approach him intimating that this was the first Motion from Ignorance and Darkness the most necessary Qualification for gaining Access to such a Deity That upon these Terms only they could be admitted to his Temple and fit for his Worship and that all who were not acquainted with themselves must be excluded from that Place and Privilege Cant. 1.8 * 〈…〉 O pulcherrima egredete abi post hoedos tuos If thou know not who thou art O thou fairest among Women go thy way forth and follow thy Kids Would a Man make it his Business as every Man sure ought to do to lead the most regular It disposes Men to be wise composed and pleasant Life that can be we need go no further to fetch Instructions for it than our own selves Had we but the Diligence and Application as we have the Capacity and the Opportunity to learn every Man would be able to teach himself more and better than all the Books in the World and all his poring there can ever teach him He that shall remember and critically observe the extravagant Sallies of his Anger to what Furies and Frenzies this raging Fever of the Mind hath formerly transported him will more distinctly see the Monstrous Deformity of this Passion and conceive a juster Abhorrence and more irreconcilable Hatred against it than all the fine things that Aristatle and Plato have said upon the Point can ever work him up to And the same in Proportion may be expected from a Reflection in all other Cases where there is a vicious Excess or violent Concussion of the Soul He that shall recollect the many false Conclusions which an erroneous Judgment hath led him into and the Slips and Miscarriages which an unfaithful Memory hath been guilty of will learn to be more Cautious how he trusts either of these for the future And especially when a Man calls to mind how many Cases he is able to quote to himself wherein he thought all Difficulties sufficiently considered that he was a perfect Master of his Point how assured and peremptory he hath been how forward to answer to himself and to all he conversed with nay to stake his Reputation for the Truth of an Opinion and yet Time and After-Thought have demonstrated the direct Contrary This bold confiding Man I say will be taught from hence to distrust such hasty Arrogance and abandon all that unreasonable and peevish Positiveness and Presumption which of all Qualities in the World is the most opposite most mortal Enemy to better Information and Discovery of the Truth The Man that shall reflect upon the many Hazards and Sufferings in which he hath been actually involved and the many more that have threatened him how slight and trifling Accidents have yet given great Turns to his Fortunes and changed the whole Face of his Affairs how often he hath been forc'd to take new Measures and found Cause to dislike what once appeared well design'd and wisely manag'd This Man will expect and make Provision for Changes hereafter will be sensible how slippery Ground he stands upon will consider the Uncertainties of Humane Life will behave himself with Modesty and Moderation will mind his own Business and not concern himself with other People to the giving them any Offence or creating any Disturbance and will undertake or aim at nothing too big for him And were Men all thus disposed what a Heaven upon Earth should we have Perfect Peace and Order and Justice every where In short the truest Glass we can consult the most improving Book we can read is Our own selves provided we would but hold our Eyes open and keep our Minds fixed with all due Attention upon it so bringing to a close and distinct View and watching every Feature every Line every Act and Motion of our Souls so narrowly that none may escape us But alas this is the least of our Care and the farthest thing in our Thoughts Against those who know not themselves * Nemo in sese rentat descendere Into himself none labours to descend And hence it is that we fall so low and so often To this must be imputed our perpetual Relapses into the same Fault without being ever touched with a Sense of our Errour or troubling our selves at all about the matter We play the fool egregiously at our own vast Expence For Difficulties in any case are never rightly understood except by such as have measur'd their own Abilities And indeed as a Man must thrust at a Door before he can be sure that it is shut against him so there is some degree of Application and good Sense necessary in order to the perceiving the Defects of ones own Mind And we cannot have a more infallible Demonstration of the universal Ignorance of Mankind than this that every body appears so gay so forward so undertaking so highly satisfy'd and that none can be found who at all question the Sufficiency of their own Understanding For were we throughly acquainted with our selves we should manage our selves and our Affairs after quite another manner We should be ashamed of our selves and our Condition and become a new kind of Creatures He that is ignorant of his Failings is in no pain to correct them and he that knows not his Wants takes no manner of care for Supplies and he that feels not his Disease and his Misery never thinks of repairing the Breaches of his Constitution or is solicitous for Physick †Deprehendas te oportet priusquam emendas sanitatis initium sentire sibi opus esse remedio You must know your self before you can mend your self the first Step to Health and Recovery is the being sensible that you need a Cure And this very thing is our Unhappiness that we think all is safe and well We are highly contented with our selves and thus all our Miseries are doubled Socrates was pronounc'd the wisest Man not for any Excellencies of natural or acquir'd Parts which render'd him superiour to all the World But because he understood himself better behaved himself with Modesty and Decency and acted like a Man Thus Socrates was a Prince among Men as we commonly say He that hath one Eye is a King among them that have none Such as are doubly blind and have no Sense at all left For so are the Generality of the World Nature makes them weak and wretched at first but they make themselves doubly so afterwards by their Pride and lofty Conceits of their own Sufficiency and an absolute Insensibility of their Wants and their Miseries The former of these Misfortunes Socrates shared as well as
him to the bottom going into him with Candles searching and ransacking every Hole and Corner every Maze and Labyrinth every Closet and false Floor and all the subtil Windings of his Hypocrisie And all this Niceness little enough God knows for he is the cunningest and most dissembling the closest and most disguised Creature alive and indeed almost incapable of being perfectly known Upon this account we will attempt the Consideration of him under the Five Heads represented by the Table here annexed which sets before you at one general View the Substance and the Method of this First Book Five Considerations of Man and the Condition of Human Nature taken as follows I. Natural consisting of the Parts whereof he is compounded with their several Appurtenances II. Natural and Moral by stating the Comparison between Him and Brutes III. By giving a Summary Account of his Life IV. A Moral Description of his Qualities and Defects under Five Heads 1. Vanity 2. Weakness 3. Inconstancy 4. Misery 5. Presumption V. Mixt of Natural and Moral resulting from the Differences between some Men and others in 1. Their Temper 2. Their Minds and Accomplishments 3. Their Stations and Degrees of Quality 4. Their Professions and Circumstances 5. Their advantages and disadvantages and these again either Natural Acquired or Accidental THE First Consideration Which is purely Natural consisting of the several Parts whereof Man is compounded CHAP. I. Of the Formation of Man THIS is twofold and therefore capable of a double Consideration For the First and Original Formation was the immediate Work of God's own Hand and this was Supernatural and Miraculous The Second is the Work of ordinary Generation and lineal Descent according to the common and established Course of Nature According to that Image given us by Moses of the Creation of the World which for the Nine first Chapters of Genesis wherein we have an account of the first and second Birth of the Universe is without dispute the boldest noblest and most satisfactory System that ever was publish'd we may observe several Preferences and Privileges peculiar to Man For he was made by God not only after all other living Creatures as the most exquisite and compleat the Master and Superintendent over the rest so runs his Original Commission Gen. 1. Let him have dominion over the Fishes of the Sea and over the Fowls of the Air and over the Beasts of the Field made the same Day with Land-Animals and Four-footed Beasts which bear the nearest resemblance to him of any other Animals But made after all the rest was ended as the last and finishing Stroke the Seal with which it pleas'd Almighty God to close up the whole Creation And accordingly he hath given him such a Bearing and Impress as plainly speak how nobly he is descended * Signatum est in nos lumen vultûs tui The Brightness of the Divinity strongly reflected upon him †Exemplumque Dei quisque est in Imagine parva So that each Man is a sort of God in Miniature expresly said to be formed in His own Image and after His Likeness Man is likewise not only the Creator but the whole Creation in Little the Universe in one small Volume Whence it is that Man is sometimes styled a Little World and by the same reason the World might be called a Great Man He is as it were the Mediator of the different parts of Nature that Link of this long Chain by which Angels and Brutes Heaven and Earth the Spiritual and Corporeal Creation are ty'd together and that void Space supply'd which wou'd make a wide and most unseemly Gap in the Universe if not fill'd up and the Series thus continu'd by a Creature partaking of both Extremes In a word This was the last Touch the Master-piece the Honour and Ornament nay the Prodigy and miraculous Production of Nature Hence it is that God is represented to us as entring into Consultation and making this Noble Creature with Deliberation and Thought God said let us make Man Gen. 2 And when he had formed Man he is said to have ended all his Work and to have rested Nay even that Rest it self and the perpetual Commemoration of it was for His Sake and Bensit The Sabbath was made for Man Mark 2. and not Man for the Sabbath says Truth it self After this there was no New thing form'd till that most stupendous Miracle of Mercy when God made himself Man And this too as we most truly confess in one of our Creeds was for Us Men and for Our Salvation From whence it is most evident that God in all his Actions and Dispensations hath a constant and more particular regard to Mankind that They have a Concern in the greatest Works of Providence and that almost all God's Doings and Administrations are begun and ended with great Respect to Man's Advantage and so as that the promoting of this shall be the best and most effectual means of accommodating and reducing all things at last to himself and Our Happiness be made the proper Instrument of His Glory Man was created Naked as being more beautiful than all the rest The Smoothness and Delicacy of his Skin the nice tempering of his Humours and Complexion making a very advantagious Distinction in this respect above any other Creature whatsoever The Body of Man is erect and touches the Ground with but a very little part of it but is set streight upright toward Heaven where he may contemplate his Great Original view and take Knowledge of his own Perfections as in a Glass fitted for that purpose The Plants are just the very Reverse of all this Their Head and Root is buried in the Ground and there they spread and thence they get Improvement Brutes are in a Position between these Two But some of them approach nearer to the One and some nearer to the Other of those Extremes As to the true Cause of this upright Figure it is plain the Rational Soul cannot be It For the Crooked the Lame the Deformed are so many living Instances and undeniable Proofs to the Contrary Nor can it be the Back-Bone form'd in a direct Line for Serpents have the same Nor is it surely the Excess of Natural and Vital Heat above other Creatures for many other Animals equal and some excell us in this Respect tho' I will not deny but each of these may contribute somewhat toward it And that of the Serpent is the less Objection against the Form of the Back-Bone because the Crawling of that Creature upon his Belly is expresly declar'd to be a Punishment and lasting Reproach for the Tempter's having assum'd this Form in working the Seducement and Ruin of our first Parents But the very Truth is Our great and mighty Maker and Master thought this the most convenient Posture and such as best agreed with the Dignity and Preeminence of Humane Nature particularly upon two Accounts Partly as a Mark of Distinction due to the Excellencies of
of those Faculties he hath given us to distinguish things by Again If we observe the manner how these Operations are perform'd that it is by External Impressions by which the Object strikes upon the proper Organ and that Impression is continu'd till it be carry'd on to that which is called the Common Sensory or the inward Seat of Sense All this must depend upon the same necessary Laws of Matter and Motion by which Bodies in general act upon one another And therefore supposing the same Object the same force of Impression the same Situation the same Disposition of the Organ the same Medium and the like the Report of the Sense cannot but be the same But where there is a Variation in any of these the Perception is under a necessity of Varying too Thus to use the Instance mention'd by Charron When part of the Eye-Lid is press'd down by the Finger the Rays are differently admitted into the Pupil and fall upon two several places of the Tunica Retina which consequently creates a twofold Impression of the Object And This Duplicity is as natural and necessary in such a Disposition of the Eye as truly agreeable to all the Rules of Matter and Motion as a single Representation wou'd be in the usual Posture so far from a Reflexion upon the Truth of Sense that our Senses could not be true if the thing were otherwise represented A proportionable Difference must needs follow in the different Modifications of Light and Shades which is the Reason of that Appearance taken notice of here of Pieces in Relief the dextrous Management whereof makes the great Secret of the Art of Painting So it is again if there be any thing uncommon in the Medium through which the Rays pass from the Object to the Organ of Sense which is the Case of Prismes or of Eyes either distorted in their Situation or discolour'd in any of the Humours And as These make a Change in the represented Colour of the Object so does the Contraction or Dilatation of the Pupil in the Magnitude or Figure of it And the Eye and other Organs of Sense varying by Age Sickness Nature or Accidents unavoidably require different Sensations in Persons of different Years and Conditions The Matter coming much to one whether the Object be variously represented through Distance or its own Posture and Form or through some Change and Defect of the Organ which receives the Impression All Which sufficiently accounts for the differing Sensations of Children Grown-Men and Aged Persons the different Tastes of the Sick and the Healthful and indeed the vast Diversity of Palats among Mankind in general For here is a mighty Diversity in the Organ of Sense and the making one and the same Report is therefore impossible For our Senses are like Messengers and all their Business is To be Faithful and True in delivering their Errand as they have receiv'd it If it were not given as it ought to be at first that is if there be any accidental Defects to change the Appearance This they are not responsible for but they are to tell what they feel and hear and see and in This they are faithful and may be depended upon For That they may be trusted even in Matters of the greatest Consequence is beyond all reasonable Contradiction not only from the most necessary and important Matters of Humane Life being carry'd on upon the Confidence of this Testimony but which to a Christian is much more considerable from all the External Evidences of Religion being put upon this Issue The Life and Death the Resurrection and Ascension of our Blessed Saviour the Doctrines he taught and the Miracles he did in Confirmation of them being so many Appeals to the Senses of those with whom he convers'd and the great Motive to Persuasion which the Apostle urges is that he deliver'd That to his Proselytes concerning the Word of Life of which they had had all possible Demonstrations since it was what He and his Fellow-Preachers had heard what they had seen with their Eyes what they had looked upon 1 John I. 1. and their Hands had handled All which was certainly a very weak and impertinent Allegation if the Senses are so liable to Mistakes and so uncertain a Foundation of Knowledge that we cannot with safety fix any Conclusions from the Reports they make to us And yet it cannot be deny'd but Men do very frequently err by too easie a Credulity in this respect which ministers sufficient ground for our Second Enquiry II. Whence those Errours do really proceed which we find sometimes charged upon the Deceiveableness of our Senses In This as well as some Other Particulars Epicurus seems to have been very unfairly dealt withal by the Stoicks and some other Philosophers of a contrary Party who because he asserted the Truth of the Senses and vindicated their Fidelity in Reporting have charg'd him with affirming that a Man cou'd not possibly mistake in forming Judgments according to those Appearances Whereas in Truth Epicurus only places the Senses in the Quality of Evidence whose business it is to relate bare Matter of Fact but does by no means deny the Jurisdiction of the Court to which those Accounts are given to pass Sentence as shall seem just and equal To this purpose is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Diogenes Laertius in his Tenth Book mentions and Gassendus in his Comment upon it so rationally enlarges upon By which is meant that Men ought to avoid Precipitation and not rashly pronounce that things are in reality as they are represented but calmly and slowly examine Circumstances and observe the Causes of such Representations Thus likewise Lucretius in his Fourth Book after having instanc'd in several Appearances which when strictly enquir'd into are found to differ from the Nature of the things themselves closes his Account with these very significant Verses Caetera de genere hoc mirando multa videmus Quae violare fidem quasi sensibus omnia quaerunt Nequicquam Quoniam pars horum maxima fallit Propter Opinatus animi quos addimus ipsi c. Which the English Reader may take from Mr. Creech thus Ten Thousand such appear Ten Thousand Fees To Certainty of Sense and All oppose In vain 'T is Judgment not the Sense mistakes Which fancy'd Things for real Objects takes If then One Light appear to be Two when the Eye-Lid is press'd if a Square Building at a Distance seem Round if a Piece in Perspective seem a Cloyster or a Portico a Man is not presently to conclude that these are really such nor can he be excus'd if he do so For Reason and Considederation wou'd convince him that these Idea's must be so and cou'd not be otherwise That the unnatural Disposition of the Eye must needs double the Image in the first Instance That the Distance of the Object will naturally cut off the Angles and render the Perception less distinct in the second and that Shades artificially cast and
the help of this Sense but though it lays the first Foundations and gives the Hints yet it brings nothing to Perfection It is farther to be consider'd that Sight is capable of Perception in nothing but what is Corporeal and it gives no Knowledge of Universals Individuals and Bodies are its proper Object and it cannot penetrate into these any deeper than the Shell or Surface It is the proper Instrument of Ignorant and Unlearned Men who look no farther than that which is just before them and makes an Impression upon the outward Senses Hearing may be term'd an Inward and Spiritual Sense Hearing 〈◊〉 It is the Agent and Conveyer of Intelligence to the Understanding the Instrument of Learning and Thought and receives not only Individuals as Sight does but dives into their most secret and abstruse Parts nay it hath a Capacity so large as to comprehend General Spiritual Abstracted and Divine Truths such as Sight is so far from giving us any assistance in that it rather disturbs and confounds us in the Disquisisition of them Accordingly there have been many Instances of Great Men who have been blind and yet singularly eminent for Wisdom and Knowledge and some of Persons who have depriv'd themselves of Sight in order to the becoming more exquisite Philosophers but no one Example of either of these Kinds can be produced in Deaf Persons This is the Gate by which we enter and storm the Castle By This we bend the Mind to Good or Evil. So Profane Story tells us of Agamemnon's Queen whose Chastity was preserv'd by Musick And so Sacred Story relates that Saul's Evil-Spirit was charm'd by David's Harp and so the Roman History observes that Graechus the famous Orator sweetned his Voice by the help of one that play'd to him upon the Flute and taught him such Tones as were most moving and for his purpose In short This is the Only Passage that Learning and Truth and Vertue have found to our Souls and the Gospel it self enters by it Rom. x. 17 For the Apostle hath told us That Faith cometh by Hearing and Hearing by the Word of God And that they who obstinately stick to the Report of their Sight will find it rather an Obstruction than an Informer in the highest Mysteries of Religion Heb. xi 1. That Faith is the Evidence of things not seen and the Belief of Testimonies that are heard And accordingly the Primitive Christians had a Class of Believers to whom they gave the Title of Audientes Hearers To all This I may add that This Sense is of great Use in the Dark and when Men are asleep by giving them seasonable Alarms and awakening them to provide for their Defence and Preservation Upon all these Accounts the Philosophers are so profuse in their Praises of Hearing recommending the diligent use of it advising us to purge our Ears and keep them clean from Prejudice and Corruption This being the best Security the surest Guard of our Souls as a Commander in Garrison would make it his first and chief Care to keep strict Centry and line the Gates and Walls well for fear an Enemy should rush in and surprize him Speech is a particular Favour of Nature to Mankind The Power of Speech and a very useful necessary and excellent Gift it is Consider it with respect to the Speaker and it is the Image and Interpreter of the Soul the Messenger of the Heart the Door by which all that lies within comes out and shews it self abroad Whatsoever is born in Darkness is thus brought forth into the Light the Mind discovers and displays it self most clearly this way which gave occasion to that Saying of one of the Ancients * Eloquere ut videam Speak that I may know what you are Thus Men are like Vessels which by the Sound are quickly distinguish'd whether they be broken or whole full or empty and Speech to Them is like the Touchstone to Metals the Counterfeit and the true Standard are immediately known by it But if we consider it with regard to the Persons to whom it is directed thus it is a powerful and an imperious Master enters the Castle seizes the Governour it moves and stirs him it animates and encourages it provokes and appeases it raises and dejects him it overwhelms him with Grief and transports him with Joy makes what Impressions inspires what Passions it pleases manages and moulds the Soul into any Form and bends it all manner of ways Nay it extends its Dominion over the Body too makes that Red with Blushes and Pale with Fear provokes Laughter and Tears forces it to start and shiver to tremble with Anger leap for Joy swoon and faint away with Violence of Passion Consider it with regard to the World in general and Speech is as it were the Hand of the Soul which This uses as the Body does the Natural one for taking and receiving for asking and for giving Assistance This is the great Goer-between the Carrier of Intelligence the Factor for Trade †Merx à Mercurio as the Latin Etymologists tell us that the Word which signifies Traffick and Commerce derives it self from Mercury the God of Eloquence By It Treaties of Peace are made War proclaim'd all manner of Business publick and private negotiated and dispatched Learning and all the hidden Treasures of the Mind uttered and distributed For This in Truth is the Original and the Instrument of all Communication the Band and Cement of Humane Society provided the Language be perfectly understood for as one of the Ancients said A Man had better be in the Company of a Dog that he knows and is acquainted with than in that of another Man who cannot make himself understood by us So that one Foreigner to another does by no means answer the †Ut externus alieno non sit hominis vice Character of his Nature and is in effect as no Man In short The Tongue is a Tool converted to all manner of Uses an Instrument of Good and Evil Prov. xviii 21. as Wisdom it self hath taught us Life and Death are in the Power of the Tongue The Advantages and the Inconveniences that proceed from it are never to be exprest a prudent or an incautious a wicked or a conscientious use of it disposes our own and sometimes other Peoples Fortunes or draws down infinite Dangers preserves or destroys Reputation Of a good and ill Tougue Prov. x. 20. xii 18. xv 4. So that nothing is of better or worse Consequence than the Tongue The Tongue of the Wise and Just says the same Divine Wisdom is as choice Silver it is Health it is a Tree of Life enriching healing reconciling a Preservative and a Happiness It is as the Door to a Royal Cabinet upon the opening whereof we immediately see a Thousand precious Rarities more beautiful more valuable than all the Wealth of both the Indies more fragrant and refreshing than all the Gums and Spices of Arabia The
entertains Arguments for the widest and most distant Contrarieties Nothing so extravagant nothing so absurd but hath found its Assertors and Abettors And this not only in the fanciful Conceits of private Persons but in the more general Sense and Agreement of large Societies and Communities Thus History tells us that what is detested as Impious Unjust and Unnatural in one Country hath been receiv'd with Veneration and practised as highly Decent and a Duty nay even esteem'd an Act of Religion in another And there are not many Laws or Customs or Opinions which we can say have universally obtain'd or have been every where rejected The Marriages of near Relations Some condemn as Incestuous but Others have not only allow'd but recommended nay in some Cases even enjoyn'd them The Murdering of Infants and of Parents when old and decrepid and the having Wives in common are now and in our parts of the World lookt upon as barbarous and execrable but the Worshippers of Moloch we know thought their Children the most acceptable Sacrifice and if Herodotus and some other Historians say true the Scythians thought the other not only innocent but a Mark of Tenderness and Respect and never pretended to any Propriety in a Marriage-Bed When Dionysius offer'd Plato a rich Embroider'd Robe he refus'd it with this Reason for his denyal That it was not fit for a Man to be so effeminately clothed And yet Aristippus another Philosopher accepted it and he had his Reason for That too which was That no External Habit cou'd corrupt the Mind and that the Soul might still be Masculine and Chaste though the Body were attir'd in Clothes never so Soft and Effeminate The Dialogue between this last Philosopher and Diogenes each vindicating his own manner of Living and reflecting upon the others that differ'd from him is thus represented by Horace * Si pranderet olus patienter Regibus uti Nollet Aristippus Si sciret Regibus uti Fastidiret olus qui me notat Diog. If Aristippus patiently cou'd dine On Herbs he wou'd the Courts of Kings decline Arist If He that censures me knew how to use The Courts of Kings He wou'd his Herbs refuse Creech Epist XVII When Solon was mourning and full of lamentation for the Death of his Son a Friend advised him to moderate his Passion since Tears upon that occasion are unprofitable and to no purpose That very Consideration says Solon excuses my Excess of Grief for what can justifie a Man's Concern what can provoke Tears so much as the Thought that all our Sorrow is Fruitless and Vain Socrates his Wife pretended this Aggravation of her Grief that the Judges had condemn'd him unjustly Nay sure reply'd he if a Man must suffer it is infinitely more eligible to die innocent than to deserve Condemnation One Philosopher tells you That a Man is truly possest of nothing which he is not prepared to lose †In aequo enim est Dolor amissae rei Timor amittendae For the Fear that a thing may be lost is a Passion every whit as tormenting as the Concern for it when actually lost Another who passes for as Wise a Man as He comes and tells you quite contrary That the Uncertainty of what we have and the Apprehension of its being taken away from us heightens and gives a Relish to our Enjoyments by disposing us to hold the Blessings faster and closer to our Hearts and rendring us more affectionate and tender of them A Cynick begged of Antigonus that he wou'd bestow a Drachm of Silver upon him No says the King So small a thing is not a Present fit for a Prince to give Then Sir be pleased to give me a Talent Nor that neither says Antigonus For a Talent is a Summ as much too great for a Philosopher to receive A certain Person was extolling a King of Sparta for his exceeding great Goodness and Clemency and the Instance he gave of it was That he was kind even to the Wicked and Unworthy And this argu'd a great Degree of Goodness in him So far from that says another that according to this Account he is no Good Man for no Prince can be so who is not severe to the Wicked Thus you may observe how many different Faces Reason puts on and what a Two-edg'd Sword it is which with dextrous Management will cut both ways * Ogni Medaglia ha il suo riverso Every Medal hath its Reverse says the Proverb There is nothing said but hath somewhat to be said against it says the soundest Philosophy and a Man might demonstrate the Truth of it upon any Subject in the World Now this great Variety and Flexibility may be imputed to several Causes It may come from that perpetual Flux of Humours and variable Constitution of the Body which is so great so constant that a Man is never exactly the same in this respect at any two times of his whole Life It may be charg'd upon that infinite Variety of Objects that offer themselves to his Contemplation It may proceed from the Temper of the Air the Difference of Weather of Climates and Seasons for as was observ'd before †Tales sunt hominum mentes quali pater ipse Jupiter auctiferà lustravit lampade terras In each Man's Breast that Weathercock the Mind Moves with the Rack and shifts with every Wind. And a Thousand other external Causes may contribute to it But if we come nearer home and look within much may be laid upon the several sorts of Motion which the Mind is put into both by its own natural and constant Agitation and by the different Impressions which the Passions make upon it Much also may be argu'd from the different manner of the Object 's being represented to it according to the different Prospects taken of them For in this respect it happens to the Eye of the Mind as it does to that of the Body that no two Persons see the same thing exactly and in all respects alike Their Situation their Organs and infinite other little unobserv'd Accidents there are that make some though perhaps not so great a Diversity as to be discern'd in the Act of Vision Besides every thing we know hath different Glosses and Faces and is capable of being consider'd under different respects which was Epictetus's meaning when he said That every thing hath two he might very truly have said a great many Handles But after all nothing adds more to this Ambiguity and variety of Opinions than that Spirit of Contradiction and Dispute and a vain Affectation of Wit generally predominant in the World which lets nothing pass quietly in Conversation and accounts it a Reflexion upon one's Parts not to have somewhat to say by way of Repartee and Objection though never so contrary to Truth and sometimes even to the Person 's own Judgment too And hence it is frequent for such People to take contrary Sides for their Business is not so much to advance an
created To This one may reply with Reason enough What do you make of all the Happiness you have enjoy'd What would become of This if you had had no Being And would it not have been some Matter some Hurt never to have enjoy'd it For certainly tho' the loss of the Good which we have and know the worth of be a more sensible Evil yet the mere privation of Good and never having it at all is One sort of Evil too even tho' that Good be such as we shou'd never have missed nor such as was necessary to us These Extremes are too wide they overstrain the Point on both sides and degenerate into Vice tho' they are not equally vicious and erroneous neither I confess speaking in the Quality of a Philosopher and with regard to the present State of Assairs only I do not think That Wise Ancient much out of the way who acknowledged †Vitam nemo acciperet si daretur scientibus Life to be Good but such a Good as no Man would accept of if it were left to his own free Choice and he were fairly inform'd beforehand what Incumbrances lay upon it It is not at all amiss that we are engaged in it before we know what it is We come into the World blindfold but That is no reason why Men shou'd afterwards put out their own Eyes or hoodwink themselves For the Mischief is that when we are got hither we run into different Ways Some cheat themselves into so extravagant a Fondness for Life that they wou'd not part with it again at any rate Others fret themselves into so ill an Opinion of it that they grumble eternally are discontented at every thing and pretend to be weary and sick of Living But Wise Men have juster Notions of the Matter They consider that this was a Bargain made without their Knowledge or Consent for no Man lives or dies assoon or as late or in such Manner and Circumstances as he pleases himself But still it is a Bargain we are bound to stand to and if it be a hard one we must try to make the best of it Sometimes we shall meet with Rough Ways but the whole Passage is not so And therefore Philosophers agree that the best Course is to create no Disturbance nor struggle and flounder unprofitably but for Men to suit their Tempers and comply with their Circumstances as well as they can to carry it off with Evenness and Moderation and make a Virtue of Necessity for That is the Character of Wisdom and Good Management And when they have fixed themselves in this Method then to live as long as is Fit for them consistent with their Duty and Decency Not as long as is Possible for them which is the Principle of foolish and profligate People For there is a Season proper for Dying as well as one for Living and a Virtuous Honourable Death is a Thousand time rather to be chosen than a Wicked and Infamous Life Now a Wise and Good Man makes it his Business to live just so long as Life is better than Death and no longer For as we observed before that They are in the Wrong who esteem the shortest Life best so is that common Opinion a Mistake too which raises the Value by Computation of Years and accounts that Life best which lasts longest The Shortness of that Term allow'd us in this World is a great and a general Complaint Of the 〈◊〉 of Life We meet it in every Mouth not from the Ignorant and Vulgar only where we cannot expect better than that They should be willing to live always but which may be allow'd a little to surprize us even Great Souls and Wise Men reckon it among their very greatest Unhappinesses Now to say the very Truth as Men usually manage the Matter and indeed as Nature hath in some measure contriv'd it Life is very short For the greatest part of it is employed and diverted otherwise and a very small Proportion left for the true Uses and Ends of Living The Time of our Infancy and Ignorance the Decays and Infirmities of Old Age the necessary Intervals of Sleep the Diseases of our Bodies and our Minds and the infinite other void Spaces of it wherein we are incapable of doing Good run away with a great deal of our Time And when the Whole is summ'd up and these Abatements made the Remainder is not much But yet without troubling our selves with the Contrary Opinion which asserts the Shortness of Life to be greatly for our Advantage we shall find Reason enough to accuse this Complaint of Injustice and to think it more the effect of Inconsideration and Ill-Nature than of good Arguing and Virtuous Disposition For what Advantage would a longer Life be to us Shall we wish for it to no other purpose but merely to Live in to take our Ease to Eat and Drink and Sleep to Look about us and see more of the World What need is there of so much Time for this We have already seen and known and tasted what we are capable of in a very little time and when we are got to the End of our Curiosity This is sufficient What Good will it do us or wherefore should we wish to act the same things over and over again and be always beginning afresh Who would not be cloyed with eating upon the same Dish every Day If this be not nauseous and troublesome yet to be sure it is superfluous and unnecessary This is but One Circle which is perpetually rolling and brings the same things uppermost again sometimes they remove to a little distance and then they quickly return back upon us T is but a spinning the same Web and That which may serve a Child to play with but can never be a sit Entertainment for grown Men. Shall we then wish it for nobler Ends that we may grow Wiser and Better and aspire to higher degrees of Virtue and Perfection that we may do more Good and be more useful in our Generations This indeed carries the Appearance of an excellent Disposition but They that know us will not be imposed upon by it For Who shall teach Who shall improve us Alas That Little which is committed to our Trust is so ill used that we cannot have the Confidence to ask for more We neglect what we have already and suffer the greatest part of it to slip thro' our Fingers We squander it away profusely upon Vanity and Trifles nay we abuse and misemploy it upon Wickedness and Vice And yet after all this Unfaithfulness and Folly we cry and complain for more and think our selves ill dealt with that we have not enough Enough for What For the same insignificant and ill purposes to be sure for That wou'd be the Consequence of a more liberal Allowance too But supposing Men serious in this Matter and that they wou'd really do as they pretend yet of what Use wou'd this vast Treasure of Knowledge and Experience prove
at a Shadow he Worships the Wind he sweats and toils all Day and in the Evening when his Gains come to be computed a Mote is all the Wages he receives for his Work CHAP. XXXVII II. Weakness WE are now advancing to the Second Head under which Humane Nature is to be considered and This cannot be any Surprize after what hath been said already For how should so much Vanity be otherwise than Feeble and Frail Accordingly this Frailty is frankly confessed by all People and several Instances of it reckoned up which are too Plain not to be discerned But then it is not observed in its due Proportion nor in all Cases where it really hath a Part as in those for Instance which seem to have more of Strength and a less Mixture of Weakness such as Desire The Use and Enjoyment of what a Man is possest of In his Good and his Evil in short such as Man takes a Pride in and values himself upon And yet even These supposed Glories and Excellencies of his Nature are undeniable Arguments of his Weakness This may possibly seem a Paradox at first Sight but a few particular Reflexions will give us a clearer and more distinct View of the Thing First As for Desires It is manifest a Man cannot fix upon any Thing In desiring and choosing not even in Wish and Imagination so as to sit down with That and rest himself contented We have it not in our Power to Chuse what is necessary and sit for us nor to say in Particular what This would be And if Providence in Wisdom and Kindness bestow what we desire and what really is fit upon us yet it does not satisfie We are Eternally gaping at somewhat what Future and Unknown and find that what is present never fills never contents but what we have not is ever esteemed above it Could we suppose a Man so far indulged that a Blank should be put into his Hands to write his own Terms yet even That Fortune of his own Carving would not be so to his Palate but that in a short Time he would retract it some Alterations and Amendments something to be added or taken away In short he desires he knows not what How well soever the Particulars may please yet when the Account comes to be summed up nothing contents him for to say the Truth he is Uneasie and discontented with his own self His Weakness is still Greater and more conspicuous in the Use and Enjoyment of what he hath In Using and Enjoying than in the Desire of what he hath not and that in several Respects First in that he cannot manage nor reap the Benefit of Things as they really are and in their Native Purity but there is a Necessity of disguising and adulterating them that they may be accommodated to our Purpose Elements Metals and other Things in their Primitive Simplicity are perfectly useless to us Pleasures and Delights and never to be enjoyed without a Mixture of Pain and Inconvenience * Medio de fonte leporum Surgit amari aliquid quod in ipsis floribus angat Lucret. L. 4. For still some bitter Thought destroys Our fancied Mirth and Poisons all our Joys Creech Extremity of Pleasure carries with it an Air of Melancholy and Complaint and the highest Gratifications of Sense are Weakness and Faintings And that which gives True and Perfect Contentment hath much more Solidity and a severe Satisfaction than of Gayety and Transport in it †Ipsa felicitas se nisi temperat premit Even Happiness it self if it do not moderate it self oppresses and destroys it self Which gave occasion to one of the Antients to say That God sold us all the good Things we receive from him meaning that none of them are Pure and Unmingled and we cannot be said to have That gratis for which we pay the Price of that Evil and Uneasiness which attends it The Case is directly the same with Grief too for This is never without some sort of Pleasure annexed to it ‖ Labor voluptasque dissimillima naturà societate quadam naturali inter se sunt juncta est quaedam flere voluptas Pleasure and Pain tho' in their Natures the most unlike that can be are yet so contrived by Nature as to be constant Companions and go Hand in Hand Even Tears are shed for Pleasure and Relief And Humorous Man turns Epicure in Grief Thus all Things in this World are mingled and tempered with their Contraries and it is not amiss to Observe what Masters in Painting teach us That the very same Motions and Muscles of the Face are employed both in Laughing and Crying And common Experience shews us that excessive Laughter brings Tears There is no good Quality in us without some Tincture of Vice as shall be shewn in its proper Place hereafter nor is there any Evil without some abatement of Good * Nullum sine authoramento malum est Every Misfortune is capable of being turned to Advantage there is no Good without Evil no Evil without Good in Man every Thing is a Mixture and nothing comes to our Hands sincere and unmingled Secondly All that happens to us is mismanaged and taken by the wrong Handle Our Palats are humorsom and uncertain and know not how to relish Things as they ought and from This variety of Tasts it is That the endless Disputes and Inreconcileable Opinions concerning the Chief Good have proceeded The very best Things oftentimes decay and die upon our Hands are corrupted by our Weakness or our Wickedness or are lost and come to nothing for want of Ability to make the Best of them nay sometimes they do not only turn to No Account but to a very Ill One and what is Good in it self proves to Us a mighty Evil and manifest Disadvantage But the Weakness of Humane Nature is most copiously display'd In Good and Evil. with regard to Good and Evil to Virtue and Vice My Meaning is That a Man with all his Industry and Endeavours cannot be entirely Good nor entirely Wicked He is Master of nothing Virtue and Vice in short Upon this occasion we will consider Three Points The first is That it is not possible to exercise every kind of Virtue The Reason is See Advertisements at the End of the Chapter that some of them are incompatible and can never dwell together the same Persons and the same Circumstances are not capable of them As for Instance The Chastity of a Virgin and that of a Widow the Virtues of a Single and those of a Married Life These Latter in each Kind Widowhood and Marriage being Conditions of much more Encumbrance and Trouble more Difficulty and therefore more Virtue than the quiet and undisturbed State of Celibacy and Virginity though Those on the other Hand have the Advantage in Purity and Grace and Freedom from Business and Care The Constancy and Greatness of Mind which exerts it self in Poverty and Want in
perfectly impracticable and such as if once receiv'd could never have lasted and besides it appear'd evidently that tho' they had been practis'd and approv'd yet even These were loaded too with a great many Inconveniences and sore Difficulties The Truth is Men create their Own Uneasiness and make all the Hardship to Themselves Their Vices and Intemperances the Violence and the Contrariety of their Passions are their Tormentors and then they blame the State in which they feel and suffer those Torments But That is clear and free from Guilt and so is every Thing but Man himself who turns every Thing against Himself and knows not how to use any Condition as he ought and to the best Advantage But Those that are Philosophers indeed will go a great deal farther They will tell you These very Difficulties recommend Marriage the more as rendring it a School of Virtue an Apprenticeship to learn it a daily and Domestick Exercise to perfect and render it familiar to us And Socrates that great Oracle of Wisdom when People reproached him with the peevish and imperious Humour of his Wife declar'd that it was an Advantage to him for by that means he learnt at home to behave himself with Constancy and Patience in all Accidents and Companies abroad and to make all the Uneasinesses of Fortune go down very glibly But This tho' it want not a great deal of good Sense at the Bottom and may be very useful to Men of good Dispositions and Capacity enough to serve themselves of it is yet such an Argument as I do not expect many Converts from Admitting then that They who continue single do best consult their Own private Ease and Satisfaction Admit it better and more prudent thus to reserve one's self for Piety and Devotion and eminent Degrees of Virtue by preventing all those Avocations and Interruptions which the Cares of a Married Life unavoidably expose us to And it is in this Sense and for these Purposes only that St. Paul prefers a State of Celibacy which those that make use of and pretend to be directed by his Authority would do well to consider Yet after all with what Face can any Christian speak in disparagement of Marriage who remembers at all what the Faith he makes profession of hath taught him to believe in Honour of it For when all is done these are unanswerable and they ought to be esteem'd very Sacred Arguments such as should command our highest Veneration and Respect That it is of God's own Institution That it was his first Ordinance That he appointed it in Paradise in a State of Innocence and Perfection when Humane Nature was in all its Glory These are Four weighty Considerations and ought to recommend at least to deliver it from diminishing Reflections when they are not capable of a sober Reply After this we find that the Son of God himself was pleas'd to Honour and Approve it with his Presence to work his first Miracle in favour of it and the Persons engag'd in it nay that he hath condescended to make use of This as a Figure of that most Sacred and Inviolable Union betwixt Him and his Church and upon that Account Ephes v. given it the Privilege of being styled a Mystery a Great and Divine Mystery It must be acknowledg'd indeed that Marriage is by no means an Indifferent Thing It is a Great God or a Great Evil It admits of no Middle State but is apt to run into Extremes and is generally the greatest Happiness or the greatest Calamity of Humane Life a State of much Tranquillity or of insupportable Trouble a Paradise or a Hell If well and wisely undertaken it is full of Sweetness and Pleasure if ill and unsuccessfully it is a grievous Burden a bitter and fatal and most painful Yoke For this Covenant and Coming together does above any other Instance make good the Truth of that Proverb That * Homo Homini aut Deus aut Lupus Men are either Gods or Brutes to one another Marriage is a Work compos'd of a great many Parts When Good it is exceedingly so and a great many Qualities must meet together to render it Beautiful and Uniform Abundance of Considerations are necessary in order to it more than respect merely the Persons of those to be concern'd in it For tho' it be commonly said Men Marry for Themselves alone yet there ought to be great regard had to Posterity the Family we go into the Alliances we make the Circumstances and Condition of the People are of great weight And These and other Respects must be carefully attended to But above all the Temper and the Virtues which ought to be the principal Objects and Motives of our Affection The want of proceeding in this manner is the very Reason why we see so few happy Matches And the extreme Scarcity of such is a sign that Marriage is highly valuable For it is a Fate common to all great Posts that they are difficult and very seldom discharged as they ought to be Kingly Power and Government is beset with Cares and Difficulties and very few that aspire to it are strictly Virtuous and Successful in the Administration But the true Ground of Failing so frequently in this Point is to be fetch'd from the Licentiousness and Debauchery the Unruly Passions and Exorbitant Humours of Mankind and not from any thing in the State and Institution it self From hence it is that we sind experimentally Such as are of good and quiet and virtuous Dispositions plain and mean Persons taste more of the Comforts and enjoy themselves more in it than others of higher Quality and Attainments Sensual Desires and the Delights of the World have taken less hold of such they are less Nice and Curious and have not so much leisure to teaze and torment Themselves Men that are debauch'd and love to live at large corrupt in their Manners troublesome in their Conversation whimsical and particular in their Humours are not cut out for this Condition of Life nor can ever expect to be tolerably Easie under it Marriage is a Wise and Prudent Bargain a Holy and Inviolable League an Honourable Agreement A general Description of it If this Knot be well ty'd there is not in the whole World any thing more beautiful more lovely more desirable It is a sweet and noble Society full of Constancy and mutual Trust full of infinite good Offices and reciprocal Obligations most excellent in their own Nature most useful to the Parties Themselves and of general Service and Benefit to Mankind This is a Conversation Amorous not of Love and Sensual Delight but of chaste Affection and entire Friendship For Love in these Two Senses is a very different Thing and the One as distant from the Other as the feverish and diseased Heat of a sick Man is from the natural Warmth of a good Temper and healthful Constitution Marriage challenges to it self Affection and Advantage Justice and Honour Constancy and
Their Wills are as liable to Levity as Ours but their Power and the Effect of what they will is incomparably greater But still Nature is the same in the Fly as in the Elephant and both are actuated by the same Appetites and Passions Nay let me take leave to add that besides those Passions and Defects and Natural Qualifications and Abatements which they share in common with the least and meanest of their Servants and Adorers there are some Vices and Inconveniences in a manner peculiar to Them alone such as the Eminence of their Condition and the vast Extent of their Power inspires them with a more than ordinary Tendency with vehement and almost unavoidable propensions to The Manners and Temper of Great Persons have been commonly observed by the Wisest and most Discerning Persons to be Invincible Pride The Manners and Dispositions of Great Persons and Self-conceit * Duâ—â—â—s veri insolens Ad recta flecti regius non vult tumor An abounding in their own Sense which is Stiff and Inflexible incapable of Truth and disdaining better advice Licentiousness and Violence †Id esse regni maximum pignus putant si quicquid aliis non licet solis licet which looks upon a Liberty of doing what no body else may do as the particular Distinction and most Glorious Privilege of their Character So that their Favourite Motto is * Quicquid libet licet My Will is a Law Suspicion and Jealousie for they are †Suapte Naturâ Potentiae anxii Naturally tender and fearful of their Power nay fearful sometimes even of their own Children and nearest Relations ‖ Suspectus semper invisusque dominantibus quisquis proximus destinatur adeo ut displiceant etiam civilia Filiorum ingenia The next in Succession is always look'd upon with an Evil and Jealous Eye by the Person in present Possession of the Throne so that any the least Genius of Government or interesting themselves in Publick Affairs is very unacceptable in the Sons of Princes And hence it is that they are so often in Fears and mighty Consternations for * Ingenia Regum prona ad formidinem it is usual and natural to Kings to live under continual Apprehensions The Advantages which Kings and Sovereign Princes have above Those of meaner Condition seem indeed to be Marvellous Great and Glorious but when nicely consider'd they are in Truth but very Thin and Slight and little more than mere Imagination But were they much above what really they are it is certain they are dearly bought at the Expence of the many Weighty Solid and Substantial Troubles and Inconveniences that constantly attend them The Name and the Title of Sovereign the Splendor and Formalities of a Court and all the Pomp and Parade that draws our Eyes and Observation carry a Beautiful and Desirable Appearance such as raises our Wonder and kindles our Wishes and Desires but the Burden and the Inside of all this Shining Pageantry is Hard and Knotty Laborious and Painful There is Honour in Abundance but very little Joy or Ease It is a Publick and an Honourable Servitude an Illustrious Misery a Wealthy Captivity The Chains are of Gold but still they are Chains And it is worth our While to observe the Behaviour and the Reflections of Augustus Marcus Aurelius Pertinax Dioclesian upon this Occasion and the wretched End of most of the Twelve Caesars and many Others of their Successors in the Empire But now in Regard these seem Words of Course only such as very few will give any Credit to because they suffer Themselves to be imposed upon by a gay and deceitful Face of Power I shall think it worth while to clear this Matter by giving a distinct and particular Account of some Inconveniences and Miseries with which the Condition of Sovereign Princes is constantly incumbred First The mighty Dissiculty of acting their Part well In the Discharge of their Office and acquitting Themselves of so weighty a Charge For if it be so very Hard a Thing as we find by sad Experience it is to govern ones self well what infinite Hardship must we in reason suppose there is in governing a Multitude of People It is certainly much more Easie and Pleasant to follow than to lead to have no more to do than only to keep a plain beaten Road than to beat out a Path for Others to obey than to direct and command to answer for one's single self than to be responsible for one's Self and a great many More besides * Ut satius multo jam sit parere quietum Quam regere imperio res velle Lucret. lib. V. And thus 't is better than proud Scepters sway To live a quiet Subject and obey Creech To all This we may add that it is highly Necessary for the Person whose Duty it is to Command to be more excellent and exemplary than Them who are commanded by him as that Great Commander Cyrus very truly observed And this Difficulty we cannot be better made sensible of by any Argument than Matter of Fact which proves to us Experimentally how very few Persons History makes mention of in this Character who have in all Points been what they ought to be Tacitus says that of all the Roman Emperours till that Time Vespasian was the only true good Man and another antient Author hath taken the Confidence to affirm that the Names of all the good Princes that ever were might be engraven within the Compass of a Ring The Second Difficulty may be fixed very Reasonably upon their Pleasures and Delights In their Pleasures and Actions of their Lise of which Men usually think but they think very much amiss that They have a greater Share and more perfect Enjoyment than the rest of Mankind For in truth their Condition in this Respect is insinitely Worse than that of Private Men. The Lustre and Eminence of great Persons gives them great Inconvenience in the Fruition of what it furnishes them with Power and Opportunities for They are too much exposed to Publick View move openly and in check and are perpetually watch'd controul'd and censur'd even to their very Thoughts which the World will always take a Liberty of guessing at and censuring tho' they are no competent Judges nor can possibly have any Knowledge of the Matter Besides this Restraint there is likewise some Disadvantage in the very Easiness they feel of doing whatever their Inclination leads them to and every Thing bending and yielding to their Pleasure for This takes away all that Relish and pleasing Sharpness which is necessary to render a Thing Delightful and Nothing is or can be so to us which hath no Mixture or Dissiculty to recommend and heighten it A Man that never gives himself time to be Dry will never be sensible what Pleasure there is in quenching one's Thirst and all Drinking will be flat and insipid to him Fulness and Plenty is one of the most troublesome
Things in the World and instead of helping forward does but provoke us to nauseate our Happiness * Pinguis amor nimiumque potens in taedia nobis Vertitur Stomacho dulcis ut esca nocet Ovid. Amor. L. 2. Eleg. 19. Gross easie Love does like gross Diet pall In squeasie Stomachs Honey turns to Gall. Dryden The greatest Interruption to our Enjoyments and the most distasteful Thing that can happen to us is Abundance To be cloy'd is to lose All. And therefore we may say that Princes are not capable of such a thing as Action for this cannot be lively and vigorous without some Degree of Difficulty and Resistance Other Men may be said to live and move and act who meet with Obstruction and Opposition but They who meet with none may more truly be said to dream or walk in their Sleep or to glide along insensibly thro' the whole Course of their Lives The Third Particular in which they find Themselves aggrieved above others is in their Marriage In their Marriage The Matches made by Persons of inferiour Quality are infinitely more free and easie the effect of Choice the result of Affection more void of Constraint and full of Satisfaction One great Reason no doubt of this Difference is that Common Men have greater Choice and may find great Variety and Numbers equal with Themselves to take a Wife out of But Kings and Princes are but few and therefore if They resolve to marry suitably to Themselves there can be no great picking and choosing in the Case But the other Reason is and indeed the more considerable of the Two That Private Persons have nothing farther to aim at beyond their own particular Concerns They consult their own Comfort and Convenience but Princes are often confin'd and ty'd up by publick Considerations Their Marriages are vast Intrigues of State and design'd to be instrumental in securing the Happiness and Peace of the World in general Great Persons do not Marry for Themselves but for the common Good of Nations and Kingdoms And this is what they ought to be more in love with and tender of than of their Wife and Children Upon this Account they are frequently obliged to hearken to Proposals where there is neither Affection nor Delight to invite them they often engage themselves to Persons whom they are so far from being taken with that sometimes they never know nor see them till it is out of their Power to retreat There is no such thing as Love or Liking between the Parties but the short of the Matter is Such a great Prince marries such a great Princess which if he had been in another Capacity he would never have chosen or consented to But the Publick was concern'd and is served by it and he is content to enslave Himself for his whole Life because that Alliance was necessary to be contracted for the strengthening his Interest and the security of his Kingdoms and the mutual Benefit and Ease which Nations may receive by such a convenient Union I may reckon this for a Fourth Disadvantage that They can have no part in those Tryals and little Emulations which other Men are continually exercised in towards one another by the Jealousie they express of their Honour or signalizing their Valour their Wit or their Bodily Strength which after all is one of the most sensible Pleasures Men enjoy in Conversation with one another The Reason is obvious because every Man thinks himself bound in good Manners to yield to Them to save a Decency and not suffer them to be outdone and had rather balk their Own Honour and abate of what they could do upon these Occasions than give Offence to a Prince whom they know Ambitious of being thought the Conqueror of all that contend with him Now the Bottom and Truth of all this Matter is that upon pretence of Deference and Respect such Great Men are abus'd and treated with great Scorn and secret Contempt which gave occasion to a wise Man to say that the Children of Princes were in a very ill way of Education for they learnt nothing as they should do except the Art of Riding a Manag'd Horse because in all other Cases Men yield and adjudge the Prize to them but this Beast who is not capable of Flattery nor hath learnt the Arts of Courtship and Complaisance makes no difference between the Prince and his Groom and throws either of them without distinction Several great Men have therefore refused the Applauses of Spectators and scorn'd their formal Commendations saying I should take this kindly and be proud of it if it came from Persons that durst say otherwise and who would take that generous Freedom of finding Fault with Me when I gave them a just occasion of doing so The Fifth Inconvenience is Their being debarr'd the Liberty of going Abroad Incapacity of Travelling and the mighty Advantages of seeing the World For they are perfectly Imprison'd within their own Country and generally cooped up within the Precincts of their Court and there they are hedg'd in as it were with their own Creatures expos'd to the View of Spectators and the Censure of Impertinent Tattlers and Busie-bodies that watch and dog them every where even in their most secret Actions Which made King Alphonso say that in this Respect the very Asses had more Liberty and were in a better Condition than Kings The Sixth Topick of their Miseries is As also of mutual and cordial Friendship the being shut out from all sincere Friendship and mutual Society which is the very sweetest and most valuable Advantage of Humane Life but such a one as can never be enjoy'd except among Equals or such at least between whom there is no very great Inequality Now the Elevation of a Prince is so high and the Distance at which his Subjects stand below him so very great that it makes any intimate and free Correspondence impracticable All the Services and Compliments and humble Formalities paid them come from such Hands as must do what they do and dare not do otherwise They are by no means the effect of Friendship but of servile Submission and Interest and Design All their zealous Professions are not for His sake but their Own to ingratiate and to raise Themselves or else they are a Matter of Custom and Shew only Which we see plainly they often are from the vilest and most wicked Kings being serv'd and reverenc'd and addrest to in the very same manner with the best and most truly deserving those Honours and even Them whom the People hate and curse with Those whom they cordially love and adore But still whether a Prince be the One or the Other of these no body can make any Conjecture at all from outward Forms and Appearances The Pomp the Ceremony the Complement and the whole Face and Behaviour of a Court is always alike Which Julian the Emperour was so sensible of that when some of his Courtiers commended his Justice he
Bias which is to set out and undertake things coolly and considerately but when we are well satisfied of the Justice and Reasonableness of our Enterprize then to prosecute it warmly and vigorously It is in this manner that those foolish Men expose themselves who out of a vicious Easiness and Complaisance are ashamed to deny any request made to them but after this mighty Liberality in promising are every whit as apt and easy to break their word again and prostitute that Honour vilely which was engaged with so much Levity And therefore in all our Affairs in all our dealings and Conversation with men nothing is more requisite than to look before us to make true steps at first and be well advised before we begin The Fourth and infinitely the Best Remedy of all is a stanch and Vigorous Virtue Virtue a Resolution and Firmness of Mind by which a man is qualified to look any Accidents in the Face to meet and come up close to them without Starting or Disorder or Confusion to enter into the Lists and encounter them gallantly This is a brave a noble a glorious Impassibility indeed which sets the Mind above Trouble directly contrary to the first of these Remedies which consisted in an impenetrable Temper a heavy sottish sensless Stupidity And there is nothing will Contribute more to the working us up into this generous Gallantry of Spirit than the furnishing and forming our Judgments with good Instructions digesting them thoroughly and applying them Seasonably but especially the fortifying our selves with Thought and Deliberation that so we never fall under the Terrors of Surprize but be prepared to defend our Post whenever they attack us For Reasoning and Discourse masters the Passions and Premeditation is the thing which hardens the Soul and renders it proof against all the Evils that would soften and subdue it And one great help towards the preserving us impregnable will be a serious Reflection upon what hath already been delivered in the foregoing parts of this Book For the proper method of calming and sweetning the Passions is to get well acquainted with the nature of them to examine them nicely and know exactly what Influence they have upon Us and what Command we have over them But especially we should guard our selves against too easy a Credulity and not suffer any rash Surmise or Opinion to foment or inflame our Passions for Falshood and Folly and Uncertainty transport Fools only a Wise Man will weigh things calmly and coolly and suffer himself to be carried no farther than mature Judgment and measured Truth lead him For Reason is his only Guide and every Impression is brought to this Standard and strictly examined by it But of This besides the light given us already we shall be more fully and particularly qualified to make a Judgment both from what follows in this Second Book and from the Instructions to be added in the Third when we come to enlarge there upon the Virtues of Fortitude and Temperance But above all other Passions That of Self-Love and Presumption and inordinate Fondness of our own Imaginations Opinions and Actions requires a strict and watchful Eye and the strongest guard we can possibly set over it For this is the very Pest of Mankind the most mortal and irreconcilable Enemy to Wisdom the very Corruption and Gangrene of the Soul by which it mortifies and grows absolutely incurable This swells us with vain Conceits and false Satisfactions and Confidences we make undue estimates of our selves and are marvellously pleased with our own supposed Sufficiency nay we perfectly Idolize fall down and worship our Selves and neither believe nor hear any body but our Selves Now indeed we can never be in worse hands than our own and that Prayer of the Spaniards is a very significant and sensible one O God preserve me from my self Such Presumption and foolish Self-Love proceeds from mistake and Ignorance is not so truly the Mother of any Devotion as of this Were men but duly sensible how weak and wretched how impotent and little how full of Infirmities and Errors Human Nature is in general and were each Man duly so of his own personal Defects and Frailties in particular Rom. 12.16 that Divine Counsel of not being wise in our own Conceits would be much better obeyed And obeyed it is necessary it should be for till we are free of this Vanity we can never arrive at true and sound Wisdom It stops our Ears against all Advice and Instruction and suffers us not to see our own Wants nor the Abilities of others to direct and improve us Honesty and Integrity Modesty and Diligence a meek and teachable Temper a serious and hearty and humble acknowledgment of our Deficiency These are not only the first and surest Steps to Virtue but the greatest Evidence of a solid Judgment a clear Understanding a rightly-disposed Will and unbiassed Affections and consequently a most hopeful and promising as well as it is an indispensably Requisite Preparation to the Study and Attainment of Wisdom and Goodness CHAP. II. An entire Liberty of the Mind The Second Predisposition requisite in order to Wisdom THE other Disposition to Wisdom which is in truth a natural Consequence and Improvement of the former is after we have delivered our selves from the Bondage and Captivity of Popular Opinions from without and our own Passions from within to attain to a full entire and generous Liberty of Mind and this is of two sorts according to the two great Faculties concerned in the Pursuit of Wisdom implying First a Liberty of Judgment and then a Liberty of the Will The Former of these which regards the Judgment consists in considering judging and examining all things yet not Tying ones self up to any but remaining still free and at ones own disposal of a large universal Spirit open and ready to hear any thing that shall be offered This is the highest pitch of Soul the most peculiar and distinguishing Priviledge of a truly Great and Wise Man but such a one I confess it is as all People are not capable of understanding and much less still of attaining to it Upon which account I think my self obliged to establish this Point against the Objections of those Vulgar Souls which are not of Capacity large enough for true Wisdom And first of all to prevent all Mistakes and unreasonable Cavils upon Words I will explain the Terms made use of here and give the true meaning of them Now this Description consists of Three things which mutually Produce and Support one another And these are Judging every thing being Wedded or tied up to Nothing and preserving a Largeness of Soul and being ready to hearken to any thing that shall be offered By Judging in the first of these Particulars it is plain I cannot mean Resolving Determining or Positively Affirming because this would imply a direct Contradiction to the Second Branch of the Description And therefore no more can possibly be understood by it
and more noble that Fire is more respectful than Putrefaction and Stench an Element which even Religion hath given some Countenance to by commanding the Remainders of the Paschal Lamb heretofore to be burnt But what can we do worse than to cast our Friends to rot in the ground and be eaten by Vermine and Insects an Indignity which to Me seems fit to be offered only to those Scandalous Wretches who dye by the Hands of Common Executioners but the Remains of Persons of Honour and Virtue in my poor Apprehension should be otherwise treated For of the five several ways by which dead Bodies are capable of being disposed of the committing them to the mercy of the four several Elements or suffering them to be devoured by Beasts that of Burning seems to me much the most eligible Once more I am well enough pleased to have the Wise Man of my forming look out of Countenance and take care to decline and conceal every thing that passes for Immodest in the Esteem of the World and must have a very ill Opinion of him should he do otherwise But then I desire he should be satisfied that this is due from him in regard to the Customs and common Sentiments of other people not to any shame in the Nature of the Things themselves For Nature that is the God of Nature never made any thing which was reproachful and these Ignominies are purely accidental the product of Sin which is the Greatest Enemy and Corrupter of Nature Even Religion it self which is much more Chaste and Reserv'd than Philosophy assures us that while Man continued in his Original Innocence and Perfection there was no such thing as Shame but That and Guilt entred the World at once I comply with the Mode of my own Countrey in point of Cloaths and Dress and so I would have gone Naked too if my Lot had cast me in a Countrey where it is usual to do so But to Me both these Fashions appear so inconvenient that were I left to my own Choice entirely I should do neither The manner of those Nations which use some One slight Garment plain and light without Constraint or Ceremony or Great Expence is much the best in my apprehension For the multitude of Cloaths and the different Sorts of them but especially the Vanity and abominable Extravagance the World is guilty of in them is a thousand times worse than going Naked These Instances I content my self with the mention of at present my Reader may multiply them to himself at pleasure upon Occasion of the infinite Variety of Laws and Customs and Modes and Matters of Fact and the as great Variety in Opinions too and contests in Matter of Right and what is fit to be done as well as what is actually done If any shall suppose me in the wrong as to the foregoing Instances or object against this Liberty in general as an Indulgence of dangerous Consequence That by this means mens minds will never settle but they will be eternally lost in a Wood and fill their heads with idle and phantastical Notions I answer as to the former part which relates more immediately to my self that it is very possible I may lye under a mistake in some or all of those Cases but then it argues great Confidence thus to charge any man with being in the wrong for such a one does in effect assume to himself the knowledge of Exact Truth and seems to say that He is Master of it though others be not Nor should I much be mortified though the Charge were true for the not hitting upon the Right is no certain Argument that a man judges amiss For This consists in not giving Arguments their due weight not confronting them fairly nor holding the Scales even not measuring by the Level and Standard of Universal Reason and Nature in her primitive Perfection Now a man may discharge the examining part very faithfully and diligently and yet he may not attain to the Truth notwithstanding But to deal plainly I give no Credit to any thing till it be proved to me If the Objector brings me stronger and more weighty Reasons against my Opinion than any I have to urge in defence of it I bid him heartily welcome and shall thank him for the opportunity which his Contradiction gives me to exercise this Judicial Authority with so much greater accuracy I only take up with my present Thoughts till better Information give me Cause to change them and therefore they are only upon good liking ready to be dismissed when more rational ones may succeed in their stead But as to the more general part of the Objection which regards the dangerous Consequences and pernicious Effects of such a Liberty besides what hath been urged already and will be more at large hereafter That the Rule by which our Judgments are to be directed is Nature and Universal Reason which so long as we keep close to we are secure from Error the Second Branch of this Judicious Liberty will provide us with Remedies against this supposed Mischief and That is what I shall now apply my self to treat of particularly and fully The Other branch then of this Absolute Liberty of Soul consists in a sort of Indifference and a Suspending one's Judgment and Final Resolution By This the Wise Man preserves his Temper his Affections are not engaged and so he can consider every thing without Heat or Passion He is not at all provoked by Opposition not staked down to any one Notion but keeps an Ear always open for the Contrary Party and is ready to receive either the Truth or that which seems to make a nearer Approach and carry greater Resemblance to it than the Ideas he hath entertain'd already When he seems most determined his secret Sense goes no farther than This is my present Opinion and I have reason to embrace it above any other but still he can hear it contradicted without any Disorder and satisfy himself to know all that can be said against it and if what is offered preponderates he makes no scruple to change his Mind and constantly even of That Opinion which stuck last by him he goes no farther in vindication than that possibly there may be some other better grounded but this is the Best that he hath met with Now this Suspension and Indifference I speak of is built upon several famous Maxims entertained and propagated by the Greatest Philosophers and likewise upon the Freedom they used in their Writings and Behaviour For this Quality must be confess'd to have been the concurrent Practice and avowed Principle of Wise Men in all Ages the Most and most conspicuous among them have made no scruple openly to confess their Ignorance and their Doubts saying That all Nature was full of Difficulties and Dilemma's That nothing was more certain than Uncertainty That there was scarce any thing so plain but an Ingenious Man might bring plausible and almost equal Arguments for Either side of the Question and
at the bottom and however beautiful the Front may be the Foundation is rotten and stark naught Sometimes very great and surprizing things are the Result of nothing better than mere Stupidity and Brutishness which gave occasion for that Reflection That Wisdom and Insensibility met together in the same Point and both of them felt and hardened themselves alike under Accidents and Misfortunes From all which and a great deal more that might be said it appears how exceeding dangerous and uncertain a method those men take who look no further than the outward Face of things and from the actions as we see them form a peremptory Judgment of the Probity or the Disingenuity of the Person Whereas for a right understanding of this matter we ought to take a distinct view of the Inside examine the whole Movement and mark well what Springs they are that set it on going For it often happens that very ill men do very good and commendable and beneficial Actions And both Good and Bad men restrain themselves and avoid Evil but though both abstain alike yet they do it out of very different Principles as Horace hath observed pertinently enough to this purpose * Crutus enim metuit foveam Lupus Accipiterque Suspectos laqueos opertum Milvins hamum Odernnt peccare Boni Virtutiâ— amore Tu nihil admitres in Te formidine poemae Sit Spes failendi miseobis Sacra profanis Hor. Epist xvi L. 1. So Crafty Foxes dread the secret snare The Kite and Hawk although the Bait be fair Yet never Stoop where they Suspect a Gin. The Good for Virtue 's Sake abhor a Sin 'T is fear of Pumshment restrains Thy Will Give leave How eagerly wouldst Thou be ill Horace by Creech To make a just discovery of the Man and inform our selves what is Honesty and Sincerity indeed the Actions are too weak an Evidence and he that goes no farther can know nothing These are only the gross Substance a Copy of his Countenance and the Counterfeit Lustre of a False Stone The Jewels cannot be distinguished with so superficial a view it is not enough to hear the Sound we must judge the Harmony and know what Hand it is that moves the Strings For the Motive and Cause is the Life and Soul of all and gives both Being and Denomination to the whole Action This is the only Mark we have to judge by and every Man is chiefly concerned to take care that This be pure and good and in every regard what it ought to be All which depends upon the Uprightness of the Intention and Unblemish'd Honesty of the Heart and that is the very Quality we are now looking after That Integrity which passes in common Estimation for the True What notiens the world have of it and is generally recommended and extolled a nd which indeed is all that those who have the Character and Commendation of Just and Honest and Fair-dealing men pretend to is at the best but a mean and formal and pedantick Virtue Such as is a Slave to Laws and takes its Measures from thence is check'd and kept under by Hope and Fear is acquired learned produced and practiced upon the account of and in submission to the Religion we profess the Government we live under the Customs of our Country the Commands of our Superiors the Examples of Them we converse with bound up in Forms and limited by the Letter of the Law an effeminate poor-spirited Honesty perplexed with Doubts and Scruples and Terrors of Conscience For some People never think themselves innocent and as they should be when their Minds are quiet and easy and void of Fear Now such an Honesty as this must not only be mutable and manifold in several parts of the World and vary as the Religion and Laws and Examples and Forms and Modes of the Countries where men happen to converse shall vary For where the Springs of Action change the whole Movement must needs change proportionably But which is yet more to its disparagement it must needs be irregular and unequal inconsistent with it self floating and unsettled full of Ebbings and Flowings Intervals of Heat and Cold inconstant and precarious depending on the Events and Successes of Affairs the Offering of Occasions and Interposition of sudden Emergencies the Difference of Persons and Circumstances and a thousand other unforeseen Accidents which move this Man and his Virtue as a Boat is moved by Sails and Oars by sudden strokes and spurts and gusts and pusss of Wind. In a word These Men are good purely by Chance by fits and starts by external and very distant motives and not in reality and by virtue of a fix'd and governing Principle This Defect of theirs is what not only standers by but even themselves are insensible of they never observe nor discover their own imperfections but it were easy to shew them to themselves and make the thing plain to them by holding a stiff Rein observing them more nicely and distinctly and quickning their attention a little And indeed nothing would be a more effectual Conviction of their Deficiency than the mighty inequality of their Actions and Tempers and their own Disagreement with themselves For in one and the same case you shall find them coming to quite different resolutions and determinations and acting in direct contradiction to what they have done before Sometimes they are so heavy and dull that neither Whip nor Spur can get them forward and presently upon the full speed that no Bit can stop them Now this prodigious unevenness and difference of Behaviour is occasioned by the difference of those external Motives by which they are governed and managed And as These sometimes agitate and heat them violently swell and multiply or grow lukewarm and cold and flag and droop again so must Their Virtue and Zeal needs increase and abate accordingly and thus it distinguishes it self from Real and Substantial Virtue by that Property natural to all Accidents which is the being capable of Augmentation and Diminution and so of no better Extract than all those Qualities whose dishonour it is according to the Terms of the Schools Recipere magis minus Now That True and Substantial Integrity which I insist upon at present as a necessary qualification What it is in Truth in order to Wisdom is free and easy void of Affectation and Constraint masculine and generous pleasant and chearful equal and uniform constant and steady magnanimous and brave keeping on its own course and never looking to the right hand or to the left never standing still or slackning or quickning its pace upon the account of Wind or Weather Accidents and Occasions may change but This continues always the same It is not in the power of any thing to alter or shake it my meaning is that the Man's Judgment and Will are fixed and immutable and the Soul where this Integrity hath taken up its Residence is never to be corrupted or diverted to dishonest purposes For
happen that a Man be obliged to struggle with his own Inclination and must conquer and commit a violence upon his Nature to make it serviceable to his purpose and capable of discharging the Employment he hath taken upon him Or on the other hand if in obedience to Nature and to gratify our Inclination we are either with our own consent or insensibly and against our Wills trapann'd into a Course that falls short of our Duty or runs counter to it what miserable Confusion and Disorder must here needs be How can we ever expect Evenness under so much Force Constancy from so much Constraint or Decorum where every thing is against the Grain For as is well oberved * Si quicquam decoium nihil profecto magis quam aequabilitas Vitae universae singularum actionum quam conservare non possis si aliorum imitans Naturam omittas tuam If there be such a thing as Decency in the world it is seen in nothing more than in an easiness and consistency both of one's whole life in general and of each particular Action in it And this Decorum can never be maintain'd if you live in conformity to other people's dispositions and have no regard to the following your own There cannot be a vainer Imagination than to suppose any thing can last long or be well done and eminently good in its kind or that it can become a Man or sit easy upon him if there be not somewhat of Nature and Inclination in it †Tu nihil invitâ dices faciesve Minervâ Hor. Art Poet. Discern which way your Talent lies Nor vainly struggle with your Genius Lord Roscom * Id quemque decet quod est suum maximè Sic est faciendum ut contra naturam universam nil contendamus eâ servarâ propriam sequamur That which is most a Man 's own is always most graceful And we must always take care so to order matters as first to offer no Violence against Nature in general and then to follow our own Genius in particular But now if it should so fall out that a Man either through Misfortune Imprudence or any other Accident should perceive himself entred into a Profession and course of Life full of Trouble inconvenient and improper and that he is so deeply engaged too that there is no possibility of changing or getting quit of it in this case all that Wisdom and good Conduct hath to do is to resolve upon supporting and sweetning it keeping one's self easy and making the most of it Like skilful Gamesters who when they have an ill Throw mend it in the playing For Plato's Counsel is best upon these occasions the bearing our Chance patiently and managing it to all the Advantage an ill Bargain is capable of You see what a Knack of this kind Nature hath given to some sort of Creatures when the Bees out of an Herb so rough and harsh and dry as Thyme is can extract so sweet a Substance as Honey And this is such an Excellence as all those wise and good Men Imitate who manage Difficulties dextrously and as the Proverb expresses it make a Vartue of Necessity CHAP. V. The First Act or Office of Wisdom The Study of and serious Endeavour after True Piety THE necessary Preparations to Wisdom being thus explained in the former Chapters which are in the manner of laying our Foundation it may now be seasonable to proceed to the Building it self and erect upon this Ground-work the Rules and Precepts of Wisdom And here the First both in Order and Dignity which offers it self to our Consideration concerns true Religion and the Service of Almighty God For certainly Piety ought to have the precedence of all Virtues and is the highest and most honourable in the Scale of Duties But the greater and more important it is the more we are concerned to have a right notion of it especially when to the insinite consequence of the thing we add the danger of being mistaken and withal how very common and easy it is to deceive our selves in this point Great need therefore we have of Caution and good Adâ—ice that we may be truly informed how the Man who makes Wisdom his Aim and Business ought to manage himself upon this weighty occasion And the giving Directions of this nature is the design of my present Discourse after I have first made a short Digression concerning the State and Success of several sorts of Religion in the World Of which I shall chuse to speak but briefly here and refer my Reader for farther Satisfaction to what I have said more at large to this purpose in another Treatise of mine called the Three Truths And first of all Difference of Religions I cannot but take notice how dismal and deplorable a thing the great Variety of Relgions is which either now do or formerly have obtained in the World And which is yet a greater misfortune and reproach the Oddness of some of them Opinions and Rites so fantastical so exorbitant that it is just matter of wonder and astonishment which way the Mind of Man could so far degenerate into Brutality and be so miserably besotted with Frauds and Folly For upon examination it will appear that there is scarce any one thing so high or so low but it hath been Deified and even the vilest and most contemptible parts of the Creation have in some quarter of the World or other found People blind enough to pay them Divine Honours and Adoration Now notwithstanding this Difference be really as vast and as horrid as I have intimated or my Reader can imagine yet there seem to be some General Points in common which like Principles or Fundamentals are such as Most if not All of them have agreed in For however they may wander from one another and take different Paths afterwards yet they set out alike and walk hand in hand for some Considerable Time At least they appear and affect to do so the Devil transforming himself into an Angel of Light and undermining the Truth by Mimicking it as knowing that the most effectual Art to seduce Men is by contriving fair and plausible Lies and dressing up Wickedness in its most engaging Attire To this purpose it is observable that the most prevailing Persuasions have sprung from the same Climate and first drew breath in almost the same Air. Palestine I mean and Arabia which are Countries contiguous to one another Some of their First and main Principles are very near alike such as the Belief of one God the Maker and Governor of all things All own the Providence of God and his Particular Love and Favour for Mankind the Immortality of the Soul a Reward in Reserve for the Good and terrible Punishments which await the Wicked even after this Life some particular Profession and set Form of Solemn and External Worship by which they put up their prayers invoke the Name of God and think that a decent Honour and acceptable
prevailed But now as to the Observance and living up to the Precepts of Religion Those who are True and Pious Professors besides the external Profession of the Truth they have the Advantage of the Gifts and Graces of God the Assistance and Testimony of the Holy Ghost common to all and from which even the mistaken are not utterly excluded This indeed is a Privilege which blessed be God is capable of being very usual and frequent and many great Pretensions and pompous Boasts are made of it But yet I vehemently suspect notwithstanding all the fair shew and plausible pretences Men make of this kind This Grace and Spirit is not so largely and so commonly enjoyed nor so strong in its Influences and Effects as Some would have us believe For surely were This so powerful in us and were Religion our own free Choice and the Result of our own Judgment the Life and Manners of Men could not be at so vast a distance and manifest disagreement from their Principles nor could they upon every slight and common occasion act so directly contrary to the whole Tenor and Design of their Religion And this Inconsistence of Faith and Manners is also a Proof that our Faith is not from God for were this planted and fasten'd in our Minds by so powerful a hand as His it could not be in the power of any Accident or Temptation to shake or unsettle us so firm and strong a Band could not so easily be broken or burst through Were there the least Touch the smallest Ray of Divine Illumination This Light would shine in every action of our lives and dart it self into every corner of our Souls The Effects of it would appear in all our behaviour and not only be sensible but wonderful and amazing too according to what Truth himself said upon occasion to his Disciples Matth. xvii 20. If ye had faith but as a grain of mustard-seed ye shall say to this mountain Remove hence and it shall remove and nothing shall be unpossible to you But alas if we look abroad and consider the behaviour of the World what proportion what correspondence can we find between the Belief of the Soul's Immortality and a future Judgment and the Practices of Mankind Would Men Could Men indeed lead the lives they do and at the same time be persuaded in good earnest that a Recompence awaits them hereafter so glorious and happy on the one hand or so full of misery and shame on the other One single thought and the bare Idea of those things which Men profess so firmly to believe would perfectly confound and scare wicked Men out of their Wits There have been instances of very strange effects wrought upon Persons only by the apprehension of publick Justice the Fear of dying by the hands of a Common Executioner or some other Accident full of misfortune and reproach and yet What are all these Calamities in comparison of those Horrors which Religion tells us will be the Sinner's portion hereafter And is it possible that these things should be entertained and believed indeed and Men continue what they are Can a Man seriously hope for a Blessed Immortality make This the Object of his Expectations and Desires and yet at the same time live in a slavish dread of Death which he knows is the Necessary the Only passage that can lead him to it Can a Christian fear and live under the apprehensions of Eternal Death and Punishment and yet indulge himself in those very Vices which that very Hell he believes is ordained to avenge These are most unaccountable Stories and things as incompatible as Fire and Water Men tell the World that they believe these Doctrines nay they persuade themselves that they do really believe them and then they endeavour to proselyte others and make Them believe so too but alas there is nothing in all this nor do They who talk and act thus inconsistently know what it is to Believe Such Professors as these are what an Ancient Writer called them Liars and Cheats or as another express'd himself very well upon the like occasion who reproached the Christians with being the gallantest Men in the World in some respects but the pitifullest and most contemptible wretches in others For says he if you consider the Articles of their Belief you will think them more than Men but if you examine their Lives and Conversations you will find them worse than Brutes more filthy than the very Swine Now certainly if we were wrought upon by such becoming Impressions of God and Religion as are the Effects of Grace and an Engagement so forcible as Those of a Divine Power nay were we but persuaded of these matters by a bare simple and common Assent such an historical Faith as we credit every Vulgar relation of matters of Fact with did we but allow the same Deference to what we call the Word of God which we pay to the advice and exhortations and common discourse of our Friends and Acquaintance the Doctrines of the Gospel could not but be preferred by us infinitely above any other advantages whatsoever for the sake of that incomparable Goodness and Excellence so illustriously visible in every part of them But sure the least we can be imagined capable of in this case would be to admit them into an equal share of our Affection and Esteem with Honours or Riches or Friends or any kind of Allurements this World can pretend to seduce us by And yet all this notwithstanding there are but very few who are not more afraid to offend a Parent or a Master or a Friend than they are of incurring the displeasure of an Almighty God And who would not rather chuse to act in contradiction to an Article of Religion and so forfeit Heaven hereafter than to break the measures of worldly Interest and Prudence at the expence of what they stand possess'd of in present This is indeed a Great Wickedness and Misfortune but for Persons who consider things impartially Christianity will not suffer in Their Esteem The Honour and Excellence the Purity and Sublime Powers of Religion are no more Impaired or Polluted by it than the Rays of the Sun contract Defilement from the Dunghils they shine upon For Principles are not to be tried by their Professors but the Professors by their Principles But we can never exclaim sufficiently against those vile Men who profane the Truth by their Vicious Lives and against whom that very Truth it self hath denounced so many Woes and such dreadful Vengeance Now the first step towards informing our selves What the nature of True Piety is The Difference between true and false Religion will be to distinguish it from That which is False and Counterfeit and only the Mask and Disguise of Religion Till this be done we shall but confound our selves with equivocal and ambiguous Terms and prevaricate both in Expression and in Practice as indeed the greatest part of Mankind it is to be feared do upon this
less evil * Tantum Religio potuit suadere malorum mdash Illud in his rebus vereor ne forte rearis Impia te Rationis inire elementa viamque Endogredi sceleris Quod contrà saepius olim Religio perperit seclerosa atque impia facta Lucret. Lib. 1. Such Devilish Acts Religion could persuade If you shall start at these bold Truths and fly Such Lines as Maxims of Impiety Consider that Religion did and will Contrive promote and act the greatest Ill. Creech To lay aside all manner of Affection and Common Humanity for all Sects and Parties but our own To look with Scorn and Indignation upon them as if every Man of a different Persuasion from our selves were perfect Brutes and Monsters To suppose our selves disparaged and defiled with their Company and Conversation These are some of the mildest and most moderate principles and actions of such furious Zealots He that professes himself a good and an honest Man merely for the Check and Restraints which Religious Fears have upon him and hath no other motives of Virtue no scruples of doing ill but such as depend upon Revealed Promises and Threatnings is a Man of less noble Principles more hardly to be trusted and less to be esteemed or admired I will not call such a Man wickeder but sure there is more danger in him than if he had no Virtue nor Religion neither Such People would tempt one to think that Religion whets their Passions and enflames them with Pretences of Zeal John XVI 2. as it did the Jews of old Whosoever killeth you shall think that he doth God service Not that I mean by all This to cast the least Aspersion upon Religion as if It Taught or warranted or countenanced any kind of Evil as some who from hence take occasion to argue and rail at Religion in general would pretend For this is not to shew their reason but to betray their extreme Folly or their extreme Malice The falsest and most absurd of all Persuasions that ever were will not own any such Intention But the bottom of all this Mischief seems to lie here That such Men have no taste or sense no Idea or distinct Notion of Sincerity and Honesty but merely as it retains to Religion and is entirely in its service and devotion and withal they know no other Definition of a Good Man but One who is extremely diligent and warm in the propagating and promoting the Religion himself professes From which two Imaginations joined together they easily and naturally slide into a Third and presently persuade themselves that any the blackest and most barbarous Enormities Treachery and Treason Seditions and Murthers are not only lawful and allowable when sheltered under the Colour of Sanctity and the protection of a Zeal for the advancement of one's Religion but they are even Sanctified by this pretence so far from deserving Punishment or Reproach that they commence Commendable and Meritorious and think nothing less than a Canonization their due if their own Party and Persuasion reap any advantage or their Adversaries suffer any damage or defeat from them Thus the Jews we read were most unnatural and barbarous to their Parents unjust to their Neighbours they neither Lent nor Gave to those in want and were so far from contributing towards supplying the Necessities of the Poor that they refused to pay their own just debts and all this because they contributed to the Temple Matth. XV. St. Hier. Corban was thought an answer sufficient to stop the mouths of all the World and He that could make this reply look'd upon himself discharged from all Duties and Demands whatsoever Let Parents starve or Creditors be cheated yet all was well so long as the Money that should have paid the one and fed the other was devoted to pious Uses And now to conclude what I have to say upon this Subject I will shew you very briefly Conclusion how I would have my wise Man qualified with regard to Piety and Probity which is in one word by a strict union and inseparable alliance of them both and that in such a manner that like Persons in a conjugal State each should subsist and be able to act upon its own natural and proper Strength but yet neither of them should ever part or be destitute of the other And then to make the Union compleat and the Virtue as Christian and Noble as it is capable of being I desire that both the Former Qualifications may be crowned with the Grace of God which as I have observed before he is not sparing in to Them who do their utmost but will be sure to give his Holy Spirit sufficiently and liberally to all Them that sincerely and devoutly ask Him THE Advertisements thought necessary to be inserted here being not so much in the nature of Remarks upon little occasional Passages as Dissertations upon Distinct Arguments both here and in the Eleventh Chapter the Reader will find them at the End of this Second Book It appearing more Convenient to allow them a separate place by themselves than to make such very large Interruptions in the Body of this Treatise CHAP. VI. Of a due Regulation of a Man's Pleasures and Desires ONE very considerable effect of Wisdom is the Teaching and Qualifying a Man to be moderate in all his Pleasures and attain a perfect Mastery over his Desires For as for renouncing all our Pleasures and utterly extinguishing all Inclination I am so far from expecting any such thing in that Pattern of Wisdom I am now endeavouring to form that I look upon This not only as a fantastical and extravagant but which is a great deal worse I verily believe it to be a Vicious and an Unnatural Notion The first thing therefore requisite to be done at present is to confute that Opinion which absolutely condemns and would fain exterminate all Pleasures and then after the vindication of the thing in general to lay down some directions how Men ought to govern Themselves in the Use and Enjoyment of them There is scarce any Opinion more specious and plausible more admired by the generality of Mankind Of the Contempt of the World and more affected by those who pretend to be and would fain pass for the best and most knowing part of them than the Contempt of the World No Man sets up for extraordinary Wisdom and Sanctity but One of his solemn and most pompous Professions is the Neglecting and absolutely Despising all sorts of Pleasure a perfect Disregard of the Body an Abstraction of the Mind and retiring within himself so as to cut off all correspendence with the World and the Body raising and refining his Mind by the Contemplation of noble and sublime Subjects and thus contriving that his life shall pass away in a State of Insensibility without so much as ever descending to taste or take notice of its Enjoyments And indeed the common expression of Men's passing away their Time is in a peculiar manner
this Little or to express the thing in terms every whit as true though more acceptable A moderate Proportion and Sufficiency of Mind is the thing that brings Wisdom and Satisfaction This is what will content a Wise Man and keep him always in a State of Ease and Tranquillity Upon the full Conviction of this Truth it is that I have chosen for my Motto those two significant words Paix Peu Quiet and a Little A Fool thinks nothing enough he is sickle and irresolute knows not what he would have nor when to have done and consequently can never be contented because he never knows what would satisfy him Such a Man is well enough represented by the Story Plutarch tells of the Moon which came to her Mother and begged she would give her some New Cloaths that would sit her but received this Answer That such a Garment was impossible to be made for she was sometimes very Big and at other times very Little and continually Increasing or Decreasing and how then could she expect to be sitted with a Garment which must always be the same when her own Body was so changeable that its Bulk was never two days together the same 2. The next Point is That our Desires and Pleasures be Natural and this in truth carries great Affinity and Resemblance to the former For we cannot but observe that there are Two sorts of Pleasures Some of which are Natural and These are Just and Lawful They have a foundation in our very Temper and Frame and are imparted not to Men only but are exactly the same in Brutes These Appetites and the Gratifications of them are short and bounded in a narrow compass it is an easy matter to see to the End of them Now with regard to such no Man is or can be poor because all Circumstances and all Places furnish enough to satisfy these Inclinations For Nature is Regular and Abstemious a very little contents her and not only so but she is very well provided too and puts into every Man's hand as much as will suffice to support him Thus Seneca observes * Parabile est quod Natura desiderat expositum Ad manum est quod sat est That the Sustenance Nature requires is always ready and any-where to be had and it is very easy to come at enough for the supply of our Necessities For that which Nature requires for the preservation of its Being is in reality as much as we need and sure we ought to acknowledge it a particular Happiness and a special Favour that Those things which we stand in need of for the support of Life as they must be had or we perish so they are easy to be had and no body need perish for want of them and that the matter is so contrived that whatever is hard to be obtained we can be without it and suffer no great Prejudice If we lay aside Fancy and Passion and follow Nature and Necessity we are always rich and always safe for these will direct us to such pursuits as all the malice of Fortune cannot defeat To this sort of Desires we may add too those others which regard the Customs of the Age and Place we live in and the Circumstances and Quality of our Persons and Fortunes For I can easily allow that They should be comprehended under this Head too though it must be confess'd that they do not come up to the same degree of Necessity with the former If we will speak strictly and consider things according to their utmost rigour These are neither Natural nor Necessary but if they be not absolutely so yet they follow close in order and are next to Those that are They do indeed exceed the bounds of Nature which hath done her part when she maintains us in Any Condition but yet we are not tied to all that Exactness but are permitted to enlarge our Desires farther and may without any breach of Virtue desire a Competency in proportion to the Rank Providence hath placed us in We may I say desire and endeavour this fairly and reasonably but yet with this Reserve that it is against Justice and Reason both to murmur and be discontented if we be disappointed in our Hopes or deprived of the Possession of it For These are Additional Advantages and the Effect of Bounty all that Nature hath bound her self to is the Subsistence of our Persons and we have no Right to depend upon more But we must not omit to observe that there are as I hinted before another sort of Pleasures and Desires which we may truly call Unnatural because they are quite beside and beyond the Bounds already mentioned With These Nature hath nothing at all to do she knows them not They are of a Bastard Race Fancy and Opinion give them birth Art and Industry Cherish and Improve them They are superfluous and studied Follies and must not be allowed so mild a Term as Appetites but are most truly and in the worst sense of the word Passions I know not well indeed what Title to distinguish them by they are so fantastical that it is not easy to find a Name for them but call them if you will Lustings Longings Any thing that expresses the Whimsy and Impatience of a wild and wanton Mind These we have therefore spoken to already when in the First Book we treated of the Passions at large all that is necessary to be added here concerning them is only That the Greatest part of what Men call Desires are such as These and that They are the proper source of that Misery and Fretfulness we see Mankind so generally disquieted by and That a Wise man will think himself concerned to distinguish his Virtue in no one Instance more than in keeping himself absolutely and entirely clear from any Vanities of this kind 3. See Book III. Ch. 40. The Third Qualification requisite upon these Occasions is That all our Pleasures and Desires be Moderate by which I mean that they should be guilty of no Excess in any respect whatsoever Now This is a Rule of a very large Extent and capable of being parcelled out into a great many subdivisions but I think All of them may be reduced to these Two That neither first our Neighbour nor secondly our Selves suffer by them When I mention other People's Sufferings I design by it that we should indulge our Selves in nothing that may any way give any person disquiet by scandalizing him or ministring just cause of Resentment nothing that may contribute to his loss or prejudice by hurting his Person Estate or Reputation By Our Own suffering I mean that we should have all due regard to our Health our Leisure our Business and particularly the Offices of our Calling and Capacity our Honour and above all our Duty And He that is content with being subject to these Restraints and takes care not to break in upon any of the forementioned Boundaries I admit to be such a one as exercises what
with such as we never knew nor saw before And This is a Correspondence and Conversation wholly owing to Fortune and Formality our own Choice hath nothing to do with it nor did we seek or take pains to procure or contract it The Other sort of Conversation may be called Particular because consisting of such Companions as we like and love Acquaintance of our own desiring such as we either industriously sought and chose to recommend our selves to or else such as when offered to Us was most willingly embraced and that with a prospect of Advantage to our selves either for the improvement of our Minds or the advancing our Interest or some other Profit or Pleasure which we hope to reap from an Intimacy with them And here we are not to consider such a supersicial Commerce as before but that which is stricter and more endearing close Conferences mutual Communication secret Confidences and great Familiarity Each of which require distinct Rules and shall have Directions apart But before we enter upon either of these Considerations I beg the Readers leave to lay down One general Rule which regards them both and is in truth a Fundamental Principle in the Case before us for which reason I chuse to place it here as a necessary Introduction to every part of the subsequent Discourse One very great Vice which the Wise-man I am all this while forming Easiness of Humour must be sure to keep himself clear of and indeed a most Unseasonable and Troublesome ill Quality it is both to ones self and to all he converses with is the being particularly addicted to some certain Humours to keep always in the same road of Conversation This brings a man into slavery to himself to be so inseparably wedded to his own Inclination and Fancy that he can upon no occasion be prevailed with to comply nor be agreeable to other People and 't is a certain sign of a perverse and unsociable Disposition the Effect of ill-nature and ill-breeding of unreasonable Arrogance Partiality and Selfconceitedness The Men of this Temper have a rare time on 't for whereever they come they are sure to meet with Objects enough either to try their Patience or to raise a Controversy On the other hand It argues great Wisdom and Sufficiency when a Man hath an absolute command of his Temper so that he can accommodate himself to all Companies and is of such a flexible and manageable Spirit that he can rise and fall with the Company be pleasant or serious keep pace and constantly make one with what he finds the rest disposed to And indeed the best and bravest Men have always the largest and most general Souls and nothing argues Greatness of Mind more than this universal Temper the being always in good humour free and open and generous in Conversation This is a Character so beautiful that it in some measure resembles God himself and is a Copy of his Communicative Goodness And among other things said in Honour of Old Cato this is one Noble Commendation * Huic versatile ingenium Sic pariter ad omnia suit ut natum ad id unum dicâ—es quodcunque agereâ— That he was of a Disposition so dextrous and easy that nothing ever came amiss to him and whatever you saw him engaged in at that time he was so perfectly Master of it that you would imagine this the very thing which Nature had cut him out for Having premised this general Consideration which is of use in both the following Branches of the Subject First part And Advice upon it I am now upon let us return to the former part of the Division which concerns what I called Simple and General and Common Conversation in distinction from that other which is Chosen and Intimate and Particular Now for Our Behaviour in this Point there are several things very proper and necessary to be observed and the First thing I would advise is To be very Reserved and Modest in our Discourse The Second is Not to be out of humour with every foolish or indiscreet thing every little Indecency or Levity which want of better Sense or better Breeding or some unthinking Gaiety of mind may betray Men to For we are to consider when in Company that we are in some degree disposed of to Others and no longer entirely our Own so that allowing the Thing to have been otherwise than it ought and better let alone yet it is troublesome and impertinent in Us to take offence at every thing which is not just as we would have it or think it ought to be The Third is Not to be too profuse of speaking all we know but to play the good Husbands and manage the Stock of our Understanding prudently For Reservedness is not unbecoming even the wisest and best provided for Discourse so far as it argues a Deference to the rest of the Company and declines that Assuming way of talking All. But generally it is adviseable that Men should be more inclined to hear than to speak and converse rather with a prospect of informing Themselves than with an Intention to teach the Company For indeed 't is a very great sault to be more forward in setting ones self on and Talking to shew ones Parts than to Learn the Worth and to be truly acquainted with the Abilities of other Men He that makes it his business not to Know but to be Known is like a foolish Tradesman that makes all the haste he can to fell off his old 〈◊〉 but takes no thought of laying in any new The Fourth is Not to lie upon the Catch for Disputes nor to shew our Wit by perpetually entring into Argument and even when it is proper to do so with regard to the Subject yet to make a difference as to the Persons with whom we are to engage We ought not to contest a Point with Persons of Honour and those that are much above us it is a breach of the Deference and Respect due to their Character Nor will it become us to do it with those that are much below us either in Quality or in Parts for neither of these are an equal Match for us To the One we are restrained by Good Manners and the Other is to Triumph where we ought rather to be ashamed of the Victory The Fifth Rule is To be Modestly Inquisitive For there is a decent and very commendable Curiosity such as with great Innocence and Temper and genteel Address endeavours to be informed of all things sit to be known and when a Man hath attained to this his next care must be to manage his Knowledge to the best advantage and make every thing turn to some account with him The Sixth and most important Direction is To make use of his Judgment upon all occasions for the examining and considering Matters well is the Master-piece of a Man 'T is This that acts and influences and finishes All. Without the Understanding every thing is void of Sense and
for other external Significations of this especially any so foreign as that of Sacrificing Men were not likely nor was it fit they should venture to do any thing of their own Heads Nor was it probable they would attempt it for fear of mistakes and such indecent Expressions as might be very dishonourable to the God they Worshipped and rather provoke his Justice by rash and superstitious Affronts than incline his Mercy by their indiscreet Intentions to please him And therefore considering the Confusion Adam was in after the Fall and the Circumstances of that time it seems most agreeable to believe that he waited God's directions and was fully informed by Him in such a Service as might at once excite both the Fear and the Love of God enforce the Offerer's Sorrow and Repentance and increase his Faith and Hope While my Thoughts were upon this Subject it came into my mind that possibly the Tradition of a Redeemer to come and that God would one day reconcile himself to the World by the Sacrifice of a Man and his own Son That this Tradition I say darkned confounded and perverted by the Increase of Idolatry and the Cunning of the Devil might be abused to the putting Men upon Humane Sacrifices and particularly those of their own Children I know there are other accounts to be given of this matter and I propose this as a meer Conjecture not otherwise fit to trouble the Reader withal but that I believe if strict inquiry were made it would be found that most of the Heathen Abominations in Divine Worship were some way or other at a distance by Mistake Imperfect Report Perverse Interpretations or by some Cunning Stratagem of the Devil or other fetched originally from the Revelations and Institutions of the true Religion And I cannot but think that it would be great Service to the Truth if the Falshoods that have corrupted and were set up in Opposition to it could be well traced and set in the best Light which this distance will permit But that must needs be a very laborious Undertaking and where a great deal will depend upon Probable Conjecture will require a very Judicious hand I have thus given the Reader my rough Thoughts upon the Point of Sacrifices omitting such Proofs for the Opinion I incline to as seem to me not conclusive but not any that I am conscious of on the Other side There is no danger in either Opinion considered in it self but ill Insinuations may be raised from that of Humane Invention if Men from thence shall pretend to draw Consequences to the Prejudice of Natural Religion and argue either against the Certainty of or the Regard due to it from an Imagination that Extravagances so wicked so odd or so barbarous as the Heathen Rites of Worship and the Wild Superstitions and unbecoming Notions of God upon which they were grounded resulted from Humane Nature and were the Product of Reason Rather than the Horrible Depravations of a Supernatural Institution highly proper and significant serviceable to excellent purposes and adapted to those Ages of the World And in hope of preventing any Consequences of this kind it is that I thought these Remarks might not be unseasonable And for the Usefulness and Light which this Account of Sacrifices brings with it provided we will follow it in its Natural Consequences how wise an Institution how reasonable to be incorporated into the Jewish Law how providentially dispersed over the whole World and how preparatory of the Doctrine of the Redemption of Mankind by predisposing the Gentiles also to believe the Sacrifice of Christ my Reader may if he please be informed to his great Satisfaction by that Short but Excellent Account of this Matter given by Dr. Williams the now Reverend Bishop of Chichester in his Second Sermon at Mr. Boyle's Lecture for the Year 1695. II. After so long and particular Enlargement upon the First of those Things wherein I endeavour to prevent any Mistakes that may arise from this Passage there will need but very little Addition to clear the Other For if the Arguments for a Divine Institution of Sacrifices cast the Scale the Business is already done to our hands and if they be admitted of human Invention yet according to all the Schemes of this Matter laid down by the Asserters of it Sacrificers at first were moved by Apprehensions of God very different from that of his taking Delight in the Sufferings of his Creatures For they Represent Sacrifices as the effects of Gratitude a Mind impatient to make some sort of Return and pay back such Acknowledgments at least of His Goodness who gave All as the dedicating the Best of his Gifts to him could amount to And accordingly This Circumstance of chusing the Best for Sacrifice seems to have been as universally observed as the Duty of Sacrificing it self This is the Reason alledged by some for slaying Beasts as being the Best of all their Substance and upon the same account too those kinds which were esteemed best for Food This perhaps was one Motive abused afterwards even to the introducing that Abomination of sacrificing Men and Children Virgins and First-born And even in Expiatory Sacrifices could these possibly have been invented by Men yet 't is plain the Persuasion of a Beast being accepted as a Ransom for the Owner must include an Idea of Mercy and Condescension at least in the Deity which was content with such a Compensation It argued I confess very gross Notions of God to suppose that such things could be Presents fit for a Pure Spirit and the Majesty of Heaven and Earth which every Superior among Men would disdain and detest But This grew by degrees and the Other of his being a Sanguinary Being delighted with the Fumes of Reaking Altars and drinking the Blood of Goats was owing to the Superstition and Idolatry of later and degenerate Times and is a Thought which Those who first practised this way of Worship whether by Instruction or their own mere Motion were never supposed guilty of by any that have undertook to consider the Nature and Original of the Patriarchal Sacrifices Nay I add too upon this occasion That the Notions mentioned in this Chapter which it is to be feared are but too commonly entertained of Severities and Satisfactions as they are called owe themselves to the same Causes and are the Genuine Extract of Hypocrisy Superstition and formal Devotion That Fastings and voluntary Mortifications are of excellent Use in Religion no sober Man ever doubted They are Prositable in many Cases and in some Necessary They assist us in conquering our Appetites and Passions and subdue the Man by beating down the Outworks They express a very becoming Indignation against our selves in the Exercise of Repentance and are oftentimes instrumental in heightening and inflaming our Devotion But that they are Good and Meritorious in themselves or any farther valuable than as they serve to promote our Improvement in some Virtues or Graces that are Substantially
Places and Persons And each of these is of so considerable Importance that the Change of one single Circumstance even such as may seem least and of no account produces a very great Alteration and sets quite another Face upon the whole Matter This Difficulty is likewise greater and more evident upon account of the Office in which this Virtue is employ'd which consists in mustering together Contraries and then tempering them in just proportions with one another so as to qualifie the whole at last in the best manner the Case will admit Another part of this Office is Distinguishing aright between things that are like and making a wise Choice by discerning Real from Seeming Good and preferring a Greater to a Less of the same Kind Now all these things are puzzling and full of Confusion for Contrariety and Resemblance both agree in this that either of them is a great Impediment and creates Doubt and Irresolution And as the Executive Part of Prudence is exceeding difficult Obscure so the Discerning part is subject to great Obscurity by reason the first Causes and Springs of Things from whence they arise and by which they are moved and carryâ—d on are secret and unknown and like the Seeds and Roots of Plants lie deep in the Ground and far out of sight so deep that Human Nature cannot dive to the bottom of them and some of them so mysterious too that it is as criminal to enquire into them as it is impossible to satisfie our selves by such Enquiry * Occultat corum semina Deus plerunque benerum malorumque causa sub diversa specielatent Providence hath thought fit to conceal the Seeds of these things and it often happens that the Causes of Good and Bad Effects lie hid and disguise themselves under very different Appearances And besides all this there is that strange Turn of Chance that unaccountable Fatality call it what you please that Supreme Secret Unknown Power which always maintains its Authority and gives the finishing stroke in despight of all the properest Methods and wisest Precautions we can use From hence it comes to pass that the best-laid Designs and most regular Proceedings are very frequently most unfortunate in the Event The very same Course taken by One Man succeeds according to his heart's Desire and with Another crosses all his Expectations and yet the Case to all Human appearance is the same in both and no reason can be given for such contrary Issues Nay the same Man found those very Methods successful yesterday which when he tries again to day baffle all his Designs and Dependencies and he who was a Winner but just now plays the same Game over twice and the second time loses all This Lottery of Fortune gave just occasion for that received Rule That no Man's Counsel or Capacity can be rightly measured by his Success And He was certainly in the right who told some of his Friends that stood amazed at his ill Fortune when they observed a more than common Wisdom in all his Discourse and Behaviour Look you Gentlemen this does not mortifie me at all I am Master of my Methods and capable of judging what is proper and convenient but Events are what no Man alive can govern or insure to himself This is Fortune's doing which seems to take a kind of envious Joy in defeating our subtlest Projects and diverts her self with our Disappointments She in an instant blasts our Hopes and overturns the most regular Schemes which have cost the Study and Care of many Years to draw and design and when all the matter is duly consider'd and resolv'd when we have advanced so far that nothing remains but the last Act when all is brought to Bear as we call it she nails up all our Cannon and puts a full stop to all the Execution we intended And in truth This is the only way Fortune takes to make her self great and maintain her Credit in the World thus she exerts her Power over the Affairs of Humane Life or to speak more truly and in language more besitting the mouth of Christians 'T is Thus that Providence takes down our Pride and mortifies our Presumption Fools cannot be made Wise by Chance and of a sudden but then to check the Vanity of those who have the advantage in Parts They are frequently successful even to a degree that may provoke the Envy of Virtue and Wisdom it self Accordingly we may often observe that Persons of very indifferent Capacities and small Attainments have been able to accomplish vast Undertakings both publick and private while others of more Masterly Judgments have been defeated in matters of less difficulty From all which Reflections my Reader plainly perceives that Prudence is a boundless and a bottomless Sea never to be limited by positive Preceps or reduced to certain and standing Rules because the Subject it is concerned with is fickle and inconstant like the Sea too and all our Measures must be changed all are liable to be broke as oft as the Winds change One cross Blast blows us back again or dashes us to pieces upon the Rocks and neither the best Vessel nor the best Pilot can be proof against this Stress of Weather All then that Prudence can engage for is to be circumspect and consider every Circumstance in the several lights it is capable of but still the most discerning Man is in the Clouds The greatest Judgment and Application finds all its Endeavours frivolous and vain and that when he thought he saw all things clearly he was all the while groping and blundering in the dark And yet notwithstanding we cannot arrive to a commanding and infallible Certainty Necessary this Virtue must be acknowledged of exceeding great weight and absolute Necessity For thus much is her just due that what is possible to be effected must be compass'd by her assistance that though she cannot do All she can do a great deal and that however Men are not constantly successful with her yet without her all their Attempts are frivolous and perfectly insignificant Not only Riches but Power and Opportunities and Strength for Action are impotent and vain if destitute of Wisdom to use them * Vis consilì expers mole ruit suâ c. Hor. Lib. 3. Od. 4. Rash Force by its own weight must fall But prudent Strength will still prevail For such the Gods assist and bless †Mens una sapiens plurium vincit manus One good Head is better than a great many Hands â‚ Multa quae naturâ impedita sunt consilio expediuntur Liv. Many things that Nature hath made intricate and difficult are made easie and very feasible by good Consideration and Advice Nor does what I urged in the former Paragraph at all invalidate the Truth of these Observations because though Prudence be not the never-failing Cause yet it is the usual Cause of Success God does not always prosper Mens wisest Projects To convince us that the World is
unbecoming their Character and if They do a thing it must needs be excellent and good And on the other hand Governours are so sensible of the Force of this Motive too that they think their Subjects indispensably obliged to those Rules which they are content to be governed by themselves and that their own doing what they would have done by others is singly a sufficient Inducement to bring it into Practice and common Vogue without the Formality of a Command to enforce it From all which it is abundantly manifest that Virtue is exceeding necessary and advantageous to a Prince both in point of Interest and in point of Honour and Reputation All Virtue is so in truth without Exception though not All equally neither for there are four Species of it Four Principal Virtues which seem to have greater and more commanding Influence than the rest and those are Piety Justice Valour and Clemency These are more properly Princely Qualities and shine brightest of all the Jewels that adorn a Crown of the Excellencies I mean that even a Prince's Mind can be possibly endued with This gave occasion to that most Illustrious of all Princes Augustus Caesar to say That Piety and Justice exalt Kings and translate them into Gods And Seneca observes that Clemency is a Virtue more suitable to the Character of a Prince than to persons of any other Quality whatsoever Now the Piety of a Prince consists and must exert it self in the Care and Application which he ought to use for the Preservation and Advancement of Religion of which every Sovereign ought to consider himself as the Guardian and Protector And thus indeed he should do for his own sake for this Zeal and pious Care will contribute very much to his own Honour and Safety For they that have any regard for God will not dare to attempt no not so much as to contrive or imagine any Mischief against that Prince who is God's Image upon Earth and who plainly approves himself to be such by his zealous and tender Concern for the Glory and the Institution of his great Original And in effect this tends no the Security of the People too and the Quiet of the Government in general For as Lactantius frequently urges Religion is the common Band that links Communities together Society could not be supported without it Take off this Restraint and the World would immediately be overrun with all manner of Wickedness Barbarity and Brutality So great an Interest hath every Government in Religion so strong so necessary a Curb is the Sense and Fear and Reverence of it to unruly Mankind Thus on the other hand even Cicero who does not appear to have been any mighty Devote makes it his Observation That the Romans owed the Rise and Growth and flourishing Condition of their Commonwealth to their Exemplary Respect for Religion more than to any other Cause whatsoever Upon this account every Sovereign is very highly concerned and strictly oblig'd to see that Religion be preserv'd entire and that no Breaches be made upon it That it be encourag'd and supported according to the establish'd Laws in all its Rights Ceremonies Usages and Local Constitutions Great Diligence should be used to prevent Quarrels Divisions and Innovations and severe Punishments inflicted upon all who go about to alter or disturb or infringe it For without all Controversie every Injury done to Religion and all rash and bold Alterations in it draw after them a very considerable damage to the Civil State weaken the Government Dion and have a general ill Influence upon Prince and People both as Moecenas very excellently argues in his Oration to Augustus Next after Piety Justice is of greatest Consequence and Necessity Justice and Fidelity without which Governments are but so many Sets of Banditi Robbers and Invaders of the Rights of their Brethren This therefore a Prince ought by all means to preserve and maintain in due Honour and Regard both in his own Person and Conversation and in the Observance of those under his Jurisdiction 1. It is necessary to be strictly observed by the Sovereign Himself For nothing but Detestation and the utmost Abhorrence is due to those Barbarous and Tyrannical Maxims which pretend to set a Prince above all Laws and to complement him with a Power of Dispensing at Pleasure with Reason and Equity and all manner of Obligation and Conscience which tell Kings that they are not bound by any Engagements and that their Will and Pleasure is the only Measure of their Duty That Laws were made for common Men and not for such as They That every thing is Good and Just which they find most practicable and convenient In short that their Equity is their Strength and whatever they can do that they may do * Principi Leges nemo scripsit Licet si libet In summâ fortunà id requius quod validius nihil injustum quod fructuosum Sanctitas â—ietas Fides privata bona sunt quà juvâ—t Reges eant No Man ever presumes to prescribe to Princes or include them within the Verge of any Laws but their own Inclinations In the highest Post Justice is always on the stronger side That which is most profitable can never be unlawful Holiness and Piety Faith and Truth and common Honesty are the Virtues of private Men Princes may take their own Course and are above these vulgar Dispensations So say Pliny and Tacitus But against this false Doctrine too apt to be liked by Persons in Power I entreat my wise Prince to oppose the really Excellent and Pious Sentences and Directions of Grave and Good Philosophers They tell you That the greater Power any Man is invested with the more regular and modest he should be in the Exercise of it That this is one of those Things which must always be used with a Reserve and the more one could do the less it will become him to do That the more absolute and unbounded any Man's Authority is the greater Check and more effectual Restraint he hath upon him That every Man's Ability should be measured by his Duty and what he may not that he cannot do †Minimum decet libere cui nimium licet Non â—as potentes posse sieri quod nefas He that can do what he will must take care to will but a very little And Great Men should never think they have a Liberty of doing what ought not to be done The Prince then ought to lead the way and be first and most eminent for Justice and Equity and particularly he must be sure to be very punctual to his Word and to keep his Faith and his Promise most inviolably because Fidelity and Truth is the Foundation of all manner of Justice whatsoever whether to all his Subjects in general or to each Person in particular How mean soever the Party or how slight soever the Occasion be still this Word must be Sacred When he hath thus provided for his own Behaviour
Aulae Regii Liberi My want of Heirs says he is despised because I have no Children to succeed Me. For the Children of a Prince are the Honour and the Strength of the Court. Thirdly Princes often draw Contempt upon themselves by their Manners and way of Living particularly if they be dissolute and debauch'd sensual and effeminate Slaves to Vice and abandon'd to Luxury and Pleasure especially to Sottishness and Drinking and Gluttony the lowest and most despicable of all Pleasures Also their Behaviour exposes them to it if this be churlish and morose their Discourse when childish and impertinent their Persons when nauscous and notoriously deform'd And thus we are got to the End of what I thought convenient to be premised with relation to the Active part or Administration of a Prince in general We proceed now to handle it more distinctly and particularly But in order hereunto it must be remembred that this as was observ'd in the beginning of this Chapter consists of Two parts the One Civil or that which concerns a State of Peace and publick Tranquillity The Other Military and proper for a State of War For by the former I understand the common and ordinary Methods of Goverment which are of constant and daily use whether in a time of Peace or War By the Latter I mean those Methods which are proper to Martial Discipline and the practice whereof is peculiar to the Time of War only The peaceful and ordinary Administration of a Government is a Province of such vast Comprehension The Peaceable Administration and the Accidents and Occurrences of it so various and unforeseen that it is impossible to reduce it to any general Rules And besides The Prudence of it consists oftentimes as much in forbearing to act as at other times in acting But however I will venture to lay down here some few Heads of Advice which are necessary to be consider'd and may be of some Advantage perhaps when the Duties they prescribe are observ'd duly and improv'd by applying the Substance of those general Intimations to particular Actions and Circumstances First then the Prince is concern'd above all things to take care that he be faithfully and diligently inform'd of all Matters which any way concern him to know The Matters I mean here may be comprehended under Two Heads and consequently the Informations themselves and the Persons made use of in them are of two different Qualities And to render those of each sort what they ought to be these Qualifications are absolutely necessary and in common to both Sincerity and Confidence Secresie and Prudence But tho' these be requisite to both kinds yet they are not so to both equally For the One have occasion for much greater Liberty and Openness and Plain-dealing than the Other The One of these are the Persons whose business it is to put him in Mind of his Duty what he is obliged to and what becomes his Character and not only so but to make him duly sensible of his Faults and Failings and to speak bold Truths to him concerning himself There are no sort of Men in the World who stand in so great need of such Friends as Princes do For they have no Senses of their own nor any other Direction but what is receiv'd from seeing with other People's Eyes and hearing with other People's Ears They sustain a publick Character and have a World of People to satisfie so that every Word and Action of Theirs is the Matter of Censure or Commendation and expos'd to the critical Malice of all Mankind And as they have in this respect more Humours to please so are they less capable of doing it than common Men because they are industriously kept in the Dark and very little of what concerns them is suffer'd to come to their Knowledge And thus for want of better Instruction they do things which prove inconvenient and disgusting and so with all the undesigning Innocence imaginable expose themselves to the Hatred and Resentments of their Subjects All which had certainly been prevented or very easily remedy'd had they been fairly and freely dealt with in time But then it must be said on the other hand that they are in some degree destin'd to this Ignorance or accountable for it Themselves because Matters are so order'd that Frankness of Humour and Home-Truths by way of Admonition or Reproof tho' the best Offices and surest Marks of Friendship and Affection are yet seldom well taken and especially to Princes they are not only unacceptable but sometimes extremely dangerous to the Person who hath Courage and Houesty enough to venture at them And yet this cannot in reason but appear a very criminal Nicety and an Argument of great Weakness when such Persons cannot bear having their Ears grated and made to glow a little for their Good For this Harshness of the Sound is all they can endure They are above Compulsion or Restraint and have the whole Management of themselves left still entirely in their own Disposal The Other sort of Informers are such as are employ'd to bring what we properly call Intelligence by representing all the considerable Actions and Occurrences not only within the Compass of his Dominions and by his own Subjects but by discovering the Projects and Intrigues of neighbouring Courts I say of All that is doing at Home or Abroad wherein either his Own or his Allies or Borderer's Government is either immediately or but remotely concern'd These Two distinct kinds of Correspondents do in some degree answer the Character of those two Friends to Alexander Hephestion and Craterus One of which is said to have loved the King and the other Alexander That is One of them was fond of his Person the Other of his Government One regarded him in his Private the Other in his Publick Capacity * The Description given of this personal Dearness betwixt Alexander and Hephestion hath that among other Circumstances mention'd in it Secretorum omnium arbiter Libertatis quoque in admonendo non alius jus habebat Qu. Curt. Lib. III. 12. but the tenderer Friend dealt most freely with him In the Second place The Prince should always have by him a private Book of Memorandums consisting principally of Three Heads First An Abridgement of all Matters of Publick Concern then depending That by recourse to This he may imform himself at one View what is fit to be done in the present Juncture of Affairs what Matters are already in Motion and want to be compleated that so every thing may be attended to in its proper Season and nothing done out of time or by halves The Second is a List of Persons Names whose Merits may recommend them to his Favour either upon the Account of past Services which call for Rewards and Gratifications or of extraordinary Abilities which qualifie them for Preferments and Places of Trust The Third A Memorial of Gifts and Grants already conferred to whom and upon what Considerations For without a distinct and particular
account of these Three things it is scarce possible to avoid the being frequently at a loss and making a great many false Steps And accordingly we find that Princes of the justest Renown and most celebrated in Story for their Wisdom and Policy have constantly taken this Method and felt the Convenience of it as Augustus and Tiberius for instance Vespasian and Trajan Adrian and the Antonines A Third Rule may be This That in regard One of the most material Parts of the Royal Character consists in distinguishing the deserts of Men and assigning Rewards and Punishments accordingly and in consideration That the One of these is extraordinary graceful and recommends him to their Affection The Other naturally disgusting and what will be sure to draw a great Odium upon the Instrument of it Therefore the Distribution of Rewards thou'd be reserved to himself Honours and Estates Offices and Preferments Privileges and Pensions Exemptions and Immunities Restitutions and Pardons and in a word every thing of Grace and Favour should come immediately from his own Hand But every thing that is grievous and grating should be turn'd over to some other Hand And therefore inferior Officers are more properly made use of for pronouncing Sentences of Condemnation imposing Fines levying of Forfeitures making Distresses and executing all manner of Penalties For tho' it be true that all Matters of this Nature depend upon the same Authority and it is virtually the Prince that does them yet it is certain from Experience and the common Sense of Mankind that This is not so duly consider'd but that it leaves a particular Grudge behind and creates angry Resentments against that very Person who is the next and immediate Actor tho' he be in reality never so passive in the thing In the Distribution of Rewards and Gratuities and other Marks of Favour of the like Nature this farther Intimation may not be unseasonable That a Prince upon such Occasions should shew himself forward and free he should if it be possible even prevent the Receiver's Expectations and give unasked and not defer the matter so long till he bring himself under a necessity of denying any Applications made to him for them He should likewise give in Person when that can be done conveniently or order them to be given in his Presence and with some particular Expressions of his Favour and Esteem For all these Circumstances are wonderfully engaging they add to the intrinsick value of the Gift make it more welcome and more effectual to all the purposes it can be capable of serving Besides that in observing this Method Two mighty Inconveniences will be avoided which do really diminish in a great measure if not quite defeat absolutely the Acknowledgments due to Persons of Honour and Desert One is that of a tedious Attendance the Difficulty and intollerable Expence they are forced to be at in obtaining the Advantages which are really intended them and thought to be very justly conferred and This to Men of Eminence and Spirit is a great Grievance and grates very hard The Other is That after the Prince hath actually bestowed the Gift and declared his Pleasure in it the Forms of the Grant and the Delays and indirect Dealings of the Officers thro' whose Hands it must pass do so inflame the Reckoning that before a Man can be dispatched and come into actual Possession of his own it costs him at least half what the thing is worth nay sometimes the full value or more and when all Charges come to be computed he hath the Name only but receives nothing or something he had better have been without than have spent his Interest and Money and Time for that which turns to so very poor Account We come now to that part of the Administration which is Military and This every Man easily sees to be necessary for the Defence and support both of Prince and People and preserving the Order and Honour of any Government And therefore I shall treat of it with all the Brevity that the Subject will bear Now the whole of what is Proper to be said upon it may be reduc'd to Three Heads The engaging in a War at first the Carrying it on when begun and the Putting an End to it 1. For the engaging in a War Two Preliminaries are Necessary Of Military Affairs Justice and Prudence and consequently the Two Vices opposite to These by all Means to be avoided which are Injustice and Rashness First of all It is necessary that the War be Just for Justice ought to march in the Head and lead Courage on to Actions as Counsel and Deliberation ought to go before the Execution of the Design And therefore such Maxims as these though common in every Bodies Mouth are yet most Wicked and Abominable That Right is always on the strongest Side That the Success will determine the Cause That the longest Sword will carry it For certainly the Goodness of any Cause is not to be measur'd by the Event but by the Equity and the Reasonableness that is at the Bottom of it And though War be a Thing of Violence and Force and the Decisions of it very distant from the Method of determining civil Controversies yet even War it self is not utterly Lawless but hath its Rules and Measures to be observed as well as Peace Almighty God who calls himself the Lord of Hosts and God of Battles does favour just Wars in a peculiar Manner it is He who disposes of Victories and casts the Scale as he in his infinite Wisdom sees fit But it is the Duty of every Prince to qualifie himself for that Favour and as much as may be to engage Providence on his Side and the first of those Qualifications is the Justice of the Undertaking To pick Quarrels therefore and * Non ex omni occasione quaerere triumphum commence a War upon every Occasion is what can never be answered The Itch of Honour and Triumph will bear no Monarch out in it And therefore such ought to take good Heed that Ambition and Avarice and Passion be not too busie upon these Occasions which yet if a Man may be allowed to speak the Truth freely are it is to be feared the great Incendiaries of the World and generally at the Bottom of such Undertakings †Una ea vetus causa bellandi est profunda cupido Imperii divitiarum maximam gloriam in maximo Imperio putant Rupere foedus impius lucri furor ira praeceps One and that indeed the unusual and ancient Cause of War is the insatiable Thirst of Riches and Dominion That Abyss of Avarice and Ambition which measures the Greatness of a Prince's Glory by the Extent of his Territories and Enlargement of his Conquest The Raging Desire of Gain and the Rash Heat of Anger are the Disturbers of Peace and Violaters of Leagues and Treaties Now to make a War just and in all Points what it ought to be A just War what Three Things
much more numerous indeed but then they an not perpetnal nor devoted to War and 〈◊〉 else They have other Professions to subsist upon And These they follow till the Service and Necessities of their Country draw them off When this happens and there is occasion for their Assistance they are called in by Beat of Drum listed and muster'd led on and taught their Military Exercises And when the Service is over Their Business is so too they are dismist again return to their Trades and work to maintain their Families at home You have now heard the Differences and Distinctions between Men of Arms the next thing that requires good Advice and Direction Choice of Men. is the Choice of them And this in truth is of mighty consequence and will ask great Prudence and Care It signifies but very little to draw together so many thousand Men for Armies are not to be valu'd by Tale nor does Victory attend upon the greatest Numbers but the bravest Fellows And commonly That part which turns the Day and is in the Hottest of the Action consists but of a sew Squadrons in comparison A wild tumultuous Rout does more hurt than good * Non vires habed sed pondus potius impedimentum quam auxilium It is not a strengthening but a Burden and deserves rather to be called the heavy Baggage that retard a Prince's March than a Relief or Protection to him So perfectly insignificant are Multitudes void of Courage and †Manibus opus est bello non nominibus The Goodness of the Hearts and Hands is a better Security than the exorbitant length of a Muster-Roll And thus you see how great and how fatal an Error it is for Commanders to press or pick up the next Men they meet or hire them at so much a Month without any distinction Whereas they ought to be rather nice and curious in making this Collection And as it is always the Reproach so it sometimes proves the Destruction of a Nation to have an Army composed of the next Chance-Comers perfectly ignorant of the thing they undertake the Sweepings of Goals the Scumm of the Nation Lewd and Vicious to the last Degree Bullies and Braggadochio's bold in Plunder and when no Enemy is in sight but timorous and swift of Foot assoon as Danger makes its Appearance Or if you please take that ancient Description ₠Assueti latrociniis bellorum insolentes galeati Lepores Purgamenta urbium quibus ob egestatem flagita maxima peceandi necessitudo Men trained up to no part of War but the Rapine and Robbery of it Insolent and Big Hares in Armour the Dirt and Dregs of the Town Rakehells whom Want and Wickedness hath brought intimately acquainted with Debauchery and made exquisite in Impudence and Villany of every kind Now in order to making a good Choice the Ends they are to serve ought to be duly consider'd which will require some Judgment and Application of Mind And to do this effectually and with Address Five things ought to be taken into our regard First The place of their Nativity and Dwelling and the manner of their Education suitable to it For they should be taken principally out of the Country from mountainous barren and rugged Situations or else from Sea-Coasts in all which places People are usually brought up to all sorts of Labour and hard Fare So says Vegetius * Ex Agris supprendum praecipuè robur exercitûs aptior Armis Rustica plebs sub dio in laboribus enutrita ipso terrae suae solo coelo acrius animantur The Levies ought chiefly to be made out of the Country for such Men will be a Strength indeed They are fitter to bear Arms after being accustomed to endure all manner of Weather and to live by Drudgery Their very Soil and Climate hardens and gives them Courage And the less easie and delightful any Man's Life hath been the less he will be afraid to die But now your People in Cities and great Towns are more nice and tender they run to cool and artificial Shades and know not what it is to endure either a scorching Sun or a cold Winter Blast Profit and Pleasure are all They are intent upon and this makes them soft and idle and effeminate †Vernacula multitudo lasciviae sueta laborum intolerans Bred up by their own Fireside and good for nothing used to Delicacy and Luxury Slothful and incapable of any laborious Vndertaking or hardy Vsage Secondly The Age of the Men is of great consequence for the best Season of taking them is in their Youth about Eighteen or Twenty Years old when they have not only Vigour and Strength but are teachable and pliant fit to learn as well as able to perform their Duty For Vice and Stubbornness grows upon them with Years There is scarce any reforming old Fellows the bad Habits of their former Days stick by them and besides they are so Head-strong and Self-conceited that it is next to impossible to bend them to Instruction and Discipline A Third Consideration is their Body which according to the Opinion of some ought to be very tall and thus Marius and Pyrrhus particularly desired their Soldiers But the Stature does not seem to be of that mighty importance for a moderate Size will do very well provided the Body be dry and sirm vigorous and strong So says Tacitus ₠Dura corpora stricti artus minax vultus major animi vigor Their Bodies should be clean and well set their Limbs tight their Countenance stern for these are good Indications of a Qualification most requisite of all a brisk and couragious Mind Your huge over-grown fat flabby Fellows with loose and washy Bodies are good for nothing at all In the Fourth place They should look out for Men of lively Tempers brave and resolute Spirits bold and daring and valuing themselves upon their Abilities such as are greedy of Praise impatient to be out-done and afraid of nothing so much as Dishonour and Reproach Lastly Their Condition is likewise of very great Consequence For those that are the very Lees and Dregs of the People of a scandalous Character or brought up in Lewdness or Infamy or such as have follow'd lazy and sedentary Trades or never knew any Business but following Pleasures and Women In a Word All manner of sauntring and disgraceful Prosessions render a Man extremely unfit for This which must engage him in Activity and all manner of Hardship The next thing after the making a good Choice of proper Men for our purpose Discipline is to qualifie them for Service by good Discipline For it is by no means enough that Persons capable of making good Soldiers are procurd of that Capacity be not improv'd and they actually made such and to as little effect is it that they are once made so except they be kept so by habitual Practice afterwards There are but very few Men in the World who
other But if Men had all these Accomplishments yet it is to be question'd whether they would put them in practice So that the Difficulty is double For very few undertake this ungrateful Office for fear of displeasing and of those who have Sincerity enough to attempt few have Skill enough to perform it as it should be Now This is an extremely nice Undertaking and if ill done like a Medicine improperly given tho' never so Sovereign in its own Nature it puts the Patient to a World of Uneasiness and is sure to do more hurt than good The Effect of it is only to harden him the more and thus Reproof hath the same Operation that Flattery would have only with this Difference that the One gives Pain and Resentment and the Other Pleasure and Self-Satisfaction For as excellent and noble as Truth is yet hath it not the Privilege of being always seasonable and becoming but requires a great many favourable Circumstances to soften and recommend it For let a Man's Intention and Meaning be never so Holy and the Substance of his Advice never so excellent yet there may be Faults in the applying it and such as that it were as well and perhaps much better let alone Now Rules for it That we may know how to govern our selves in so very ticklith a Point I shall take the Liberty to offer these following Directions Which yet are to be lookt upon as calculated for such Persons and Circumstances where something of Distance and Ceremony and a Fear of being offensive may be expected For in case there be any intimate Familiarity or particular Confidence any Power or Authority in the Person reproving that may set them above such Formalities then all the necessity of observing these following Rules is quite superseded But They who cannot pretend to the Privilege of an open and unrestrain'd Freedom will do well 1. To have a due regard to Time and Place for a great deal depends upon the Nicking of these Two For Instance It should not be done at a Publick Entertainment nor amongst Persons met together for Mirth and Diversion for This is to be very impertinent and to spoil good Company Nor is it seasonable when we see the Party in some more than ordinary Trouble Melancholy and out of Humour or under some very sore Affliction This looks like an Act of Hostility and barbarous Insulting as if we took the Advantage of his Misfortunes or Dejection of Mind and only waited for an Opportunity to grieve and teaze and quite oppress him when his Condition calls rather for our Comfort and Encouragement and Assistance It is an Act of great Cruelty to chide Men in Distress and Perseus King of Macedon was so incens'd at this ill Treatment that he killed two of his particular Friends for presuming to make this Addition to his Calamity 2. It must not be done for all Faults indifferently Not for such as are inconsiderable and of no very ill Consequence for This savours of Peevishness and Ill-nature and betrays too much of Eagerness and Delight in this at best ungrateful Office A Man will be apt to tell himself that such a Man is fond and glad of such Opportunities and makes use of them more to gratisie his own Spleen than with any Design of prositing his Friend Nor yet should it be done for very gross notorious and dangerous Actions such as cannot but leave a Sting behind them and the Enormity whereof he must needs be affected with without our awakening his Conscience or taking the trouble of working him up to a Sense of them For he will be sure upon such Occasions to dread the Reproach and the Uneasiness of an Admonition and will fancy that we lie upon the Catch for his Fall and labour to put him quite out of Conceit with himself 3. This Admonition and Reproof ought to be private that there may be no Witnesses of his Disgrace for it is very grievous to be publickly expos'd We are told of a Young Man who was so overwhelm'd with Shame and Confusion at a Rebuke given him by Pythagoras that he could not bear to out-live it but immediately went and hang'd himself And Plutarch delivers it as his Opinion that the Provocation which enrag'd Alexander and transported him to the killing his old Friend Clytus was not so much any Offence he took at what he said as the Rudeness of saying what he did before Company More particularly yet We must be sure to forbear all Liberties of this kind before those Persons whose Approbation and Esteem either the Person is ambitious and tender of or the Character he bears renders necessary to him And therefore it is not to be done to either Husband or Wife before each other nor to a Parent before Children nor to a Master before his Servants nor to a Minister or Teacher before his Parishioners or Scholars 4. It should be deliver'd with a plain easie unaffected Freedom somewhat that looks unstudy'd and as it were by the bye And to be sure without any regard to private Interest or the least Appearance of Passion and Disorder 5. This is capable of being sosten'd a little by including our own selves and not seeming to confine the Blame to Him alone as if it were a strange or particular thing expressing our Sense likewise in general Terms as thus We are all apt to forget our selves upon these Occasions One would wonder what Men think of when they do such things or the like 6. A Man should always begin with the Commendations of something that is good or well-done in his Friend and close all with Tenders of Service and Assistance This sweetens and takes off very much from the Smart and Severity of the Correction and makes the necessary bitter Pill go down more glibly And then by comparing these things together we may shew the Miscarriage more evidently as thus Such a Thing becomes you and you do mighty well in it I wish I could say as much of this Or Good lack what a difference there is between such an Action of Yours and such an one Who could ever imagine that Pieces so unlike could ever be done by the same Hand 7. It is likewise advisable to express the Fault in Phrases as soft and gentle as we can and such as fall very much short of the Enormity and real Proportion of the thing For instance instead of You have done very ill to say Sure you did not consider what you did you were mistaken or not well aware or the like Instead of Have nothing to do with this Woman why should you ruine your self upon her Account Pray never think of entertaing a Woman who will certainly be the Ruin of you Instead of desiring him not to bear such an one a Grudge to beg that be would engage in no dispute nor concern himself with him 8. Lastly When the Business is over a Man must not immediately leave the Party with uneasie Impressions upon his Mind
and Amendment These are soft and smooth but full of Treachery and Mischief and the End of all those kind Caresses is to keep us unacquainted with our selves and so to lead us hoodwink'd into Ruin Since therefore it so highly concerns us not to be mistaken upon this Occasion and since the knowing these two so very contrary Qualities asunder is no such obvious and easie Matter I shall endeavour to draw off the Vizor and draw if not the whole Face yet so many of the Features and principal Lines of it as that by these Strokes my Reader may be able to distinguish Flattery and Friendship from each other 1. First Flattery is always follow'd close at the Heels by private Interest and Advantage This is the Scent it follows and you may know it by the manner of Hunting and the Game it pursues But a Friend is generous and undesigning hath no By-Ends nor is Self at the bottom of what he does continually 2. A Flatterer is perpetually veering and changeable in his Judgment and Opinion of Things like a Looking-Glass that readily reflects all Faces or Wax prepar'd to receive any manner of Impressions He is a Camelion a Polypus never of one Colour and Complexion longer than you determine and encourage him to it If you appear to commend and love a Man he admires and exalts him to the Skies pretend Dislike or Resentment or Aversion He tacks about streight and is in with you There too he censures condemns aggravates as he finds You stand affected For You are the Principal the Substance the Original and He your Image your Representation the Shadow the Copy the constant Attendant and Mimick of all you are and say and do affecting every Motion and putting on every Shape as he sees his Pattern alter Whereas a Friend is firm and uniform and consistent with himself For Truth and Reason are the Compass he steers by and these are fix'd and unchangeable 3. Another Mark to distinguish him by is his Carriage which is always eager and officious to a great excess and especially in such things as he is sensible will be observ'd or otherwise like to come to the Knowledge of the Person he addresses to and as in all other respects so is he particularly forward in his Commendations in proffering his Service and doing every little thing that may look like Deference and Zeal In all his Behaviour there is nothing of Steadiness or Moderation and yet as fair a Shew as all this makes outwardly to the World there is not any solid Bottom not one Grain of cordial Affection within Now a Friend is the very Reverse of all This an Enemy to Ostentation and large Pretences and content that the Sincerity of his Kindness should prove it self by solid and substantial Testimonies Not at all the less disposed to act as becomes his Character tho' he were sure that he should never be taken notice of or thank'd for it And therefore the Integrity of his Heart and Intentions often puts him upon studying secret ways of obliging and provided his own Duty be done and his Conscience satisfy'd he can very well abate the publishing his Endeavours to serve his Friend 4. The Flatterer constantly yields the Prize to his Patron declares him in the Right in all he says applauds his Prudence in all he does and this without any other Design but only to please and render himself agreeable Hence it is that he over-shoots the Mark so much commending All without Distinction and All extravagantly and in excess Nay sometimes he will not grudge to do it at his own expence and to lessen his own Desert that he may magnisie his Patron 's Like Wrestlers that stoop and bend only to shew the Cunning of their Play and mend their Hold that so they may gain the Advantage of throwing the Adversary a fairer Fall Now a Friend goes to work plainly and bluntly Preference and Esteem are of small Consideration with Him nor is his Design so much to please and minister Delight as to bring substantial Prosit and to do much Good and what way this is done is of little concern to him he is not nice and scrupulous in the Choice of Methods but like a good Physician considers the Case and the Necessities of his Patient and prepares his sharp and painful or his gentler Remedies not according as they sute the Palate but the Exigencies of his Friend Recovery and Amendment is his End and Business and all things else are indifferent to him except so far as they may prove subservient to this Great Design 5. Sometimes he will needs take upon him to rebuke his Friend but he does it so very aukwardly that a Man may easily discern This to be only a Copy of his Countenance and that at the same time he puts on the Hardiness of a Friend his chief Care is not to incur Displeasure by handling Matters too roughly To this purpose he will be sure to six upon light and trivial Faults only or some very excusable Defect pretending himself blind all the while to those that are grosser and much more obnoxious to Censure and Reproach He will express himself with great Severity and Bitterness against Relations or Acquaintance or Servants as if They were wanting in the Diligence and Respects due from them Or else he will introduce the Liberty he takes with a Pretence of some idle Stories he hath heard and profess great Sollicitude to be inform'd of the Truth from his own Mouth that so he may be capable of doing him Service in a just Vindication of his Innocence And when his Patron either denies the Fact or excuses himself he will not fail to catch at this Opportunity of exspatiating in his Praise I confess Sir says he this was a wonderful Surprise to me and what I could not prevail with my self to give Credit to I was satisfied I knew you better for how is it possible you should be guilty of any such Thing I told your Enemies who taxed you with Injustice that they must pardon me if I was peremptory to the Contrary For who could imagine that you should invade another's Right who are so far from insisting Rigorously upon your own One who to my Knowledge is so Generous so Bountiful so Charitable could never you may be sure pass upon me for a griping or covetous Man Such Jealousies I said might find Entertainment with Strangers but with me who have the Honour to be so well acquainted with your Virtues they would all go for nothing Or else he takes Occasion to chide him kindly for having no more Care of himself and exposing that Person so much which is of such infinite Importance to the Publick as one of the Senators particularly is said to have curried Favour with Tiberius in a full Senate after a very nauseous and fulsome manner of Complementing 6. In a Word I shall need to add but this One Mark of Distinction more A true Friend always
Questions and putting Cases informing themselves and opening their own Way If we never allow them to come in for a Share of the Discourse all we say to them will be to little Purpose Our Scholar only gives us the Hearing and that sometimes but Coldly and Negligently neither but as to any Application or Improvement he troubles not himself nor is at all Zealous about it because This is a Matter which he is not called upon for nor concern'd to bear a Part in the Conversation Nor is it enough in this Case that we make them Deliver their Opinions except we moreover require them to alledge their Reasons and oblige them to argue in Defence of it For this is the Way to prevent their talking without Book and by Rote This will make them Heedful and Attentive Cautious what they say and considerate before they speak and for their better Encouragement to confer with us freely we must commend and make the best of what they say and where the Performance falls short we must accept the Endeavour very graciously This Method of Instruction by way of Questions was admirably put in Practice by Socrates who was indeed the greatest Master in it of all the Philosophers and we see all along in Plato by what a Chain and Mutual Connexion of Enquiries he led Men gently up to the Truth and by insensible Degrees gain'd his Point upon the Objectors But indeed a much Greater than Socrates hath set us a Pattern in it Even our Blessed Lord who with inimitable Prudence appealed to Men's own Sense and Judgment and as he sometimes taught his Disciples so did he at others confute his Adversaries out of their own Mouths Now these Questions and Conferences need not always be confin'd to such Subjects as the Attainments of Memory or Fancy or what we call acquired Knowledge are concern'd in but may indeed they ought much rather to be extended to such as are Tryals of the Judgment and sound Sense So that no sort of Subjects will be excluded for all even the least and most Inconsiderable are capable of being employed to very good Purpose The Negligence of a Servant the Folly of a Child the Moroseness and Ill-nature of a Clown the Sports or Plays of Boys the Talk at Table for the Excellency and Business of Judgment does by no Means consist in the Management or Determination of Weighty or Sublime Matters only but in passing a true and Right Decision and setting a just Value upon all Manner of Things be they Great or Small Trivial or Important It is not the Condition of the Subject but the Truth and Pertinency of what is resolved and said upon it that proves the Person to be Judicious It will be very convenient therefore to let him deliver his Opinion of Men and Actions but to be sure always to say somewhat in Justification of his Opinion and to let nothing pass without some Reflexion and the Inducements which move him to think thus rather than otherwise For This will have a wonderful Influence in the directing his Conscience and practical Judgment which is of all other Faculties most necessary to be cultivated and set Right because if This Happen to go amiss all our Actions which result from its Determination must consequently be Irregular Cyrus his Tutor in Xenophon took this Course and propounded the following Matter of Fact for an Exercise and Lesson to his Pupil A great Boy having a short Coat gave it to one of his Playfellows who was less than himself and took away his Coat in Exchange which was Larger and too Big for the right Owner Now the Thing required of Cyrus was to deliver his Judgment upon this Matter Cyrus his Opinion was that the Matter was very well ordered and much better than before for now both the Boys were fitted to their Turn whereas till that Exchange was made neither of them was so His Tutor rebuked him very sharply for so rash and unjust a Judgment for that he had only considered the Convenience of the Thing and not the Right and Merits of the Cause since Justice is of so much greater Consequence that the other ought not to be put into the Balance with it nor must a Man's Property be invaded upon the Pretence of giving somewhat that its sitter for his Circumstances in the stead of it This now is an excellent Way of informing them Again When they repeat or quote any Thing out of their Books as Cicero or Aristotle or the like This Task should be imposed not merely for the Sake of retaining it in their Memories but to fasten it in their Minds and give them a true Tast of it and enable them to judge of it themselves And in order to this he should take it under all its different Appearances turn and examine it every way and be taught to apply it to several Subjects It would be a Matter of very small Consequence for a Youth to tell a Story of Cato's killing himself for Fear of falling into the Hands of Caesar or how Brutus and Cassius engaged in the taking Caesar off This is the least Part of the Improvement such Historical Narrations are Capable of furnishing The Main Point is To call these Men before him to Arraign and Try and Sentence them for these Actions Whether they did Well or Ill whether they consulted the Publick Good and behaved themselves like true Patriots what Prudence and Justice and Courage there was in these Instances and wherein these Excellencies exerted or their Contrary Qualities betrayed themselves Lastly In all the Questions and Conferences he ought to take Care that his Charge proceed according to Truth that he be taught to express himself Properly and Pertinently to reason justly and to exercise his Practical Judgment of Things which is an Excellence and Accomplishment infinitely to be preferred before any the nicest Subtilties of the most refined speculative Knowledge And in such Exercises as these No Doubt should be left unsatisfied no Point suffered to pass off Imperfectly discuss'd no Connivence given to lame and superficial Accounts of Things the little Shiftings of an Argument or the calling of an other Cause but the Scholar must be prest home carried to the Bottom of all that is propounded kept close to the Matter in Hand that so he may be a perfect Master of what he undertakes and have solid and substantial Grounds for the Opinions he entertains Secondly He ought to train his Pupil up to a becoming Curiosity and a Desire to know every Thing his Condition is capable of That so he may always have his Mind intent and his Wits about him applying himself to weigh and consider Critically all that is said or done in his Company taking nothing at first View without Reflection and a Second Examination of it privately in his own Thoughts And not only so but with Modesty and Temper to inform himself and consult others in Matters both of Right and of Fact It is a common
like seed for a plentiful and joyful harvest at the general Resurrection the considence in the promises of him who cannot lye These inspired the noble Army of Martyrs and these are able to support all their followers who have a title to the same expectations and are heirs through hope to the same Kingdom And all the Stoical Philosophy put together cannnot minister the hundredth part of that Consolation which those two short Sentences of S. Paul do No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous Heb. 12.11 Nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of Righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby And We know that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle be dissolved 2 Cor. 5.1 we have a building of God a house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens CHAP. XXIII Of Captivity or Imprisonment THis Affliction is very inconsiderable in comparison of the former and the conquest of it will prove exceeding easie to them upon whom the prescriptions against Sickness and Pain have found their desired effect For Men in those circumstances have the addition of this misfortune confined to their houses their Beds tied to a Rack and loaded with fetters and this very consinement is a part of their complaint though the least part But however we will say one word or two of it Now what is it that Captivity or Confinement imprisons The Body that which is it self the cover and the Prison of the Soul but the Mind continues at large and at its own disposal in despight of all the World How can it indeed be sensible of any inconvenience from a Prison since even there it ranges abroad as freely as gaily takes as noble as sublime as distant slights if not much more so than it does in other circumstances The Locks and Bars and Walls of a Prison are much too remote to have any power of fastening it down or shutting it in they must needs be so since even the Body it self which touches upon is linked to and hangs like a Clog fastened to it is not able to keep it down or six it to any determinate place And that Man will make a jest of all these artisicial and wretched these slight and childish enclosures who hath learnt how to preserve his native liberty and to use the privilege and prerogative of his condition which is to be confined no where no not even in this World Thus Tertullian derides the cruelty of the Persecutors and animates his Brethren by relling that a * Christianus etiam extra carcerem saeculo renunciavit in Carcere etiam carceri nihil interest ubi siris in saeculo qui extra sacalam estis Auseramus carceris nomen secessam vocemus â—â—si corpus includitur caro detinetur omnia Spiritui patent totum hominem animus circumfert quo vult transfert Christian even when out of Prison had shaken hands with the World that he desied and was above it and that when under Confinement the case was the same with his Gael too What mighty matter is it in what part of the World you are whose principle it is not to be of the World Let us change that name of so ill a sound and instead of a Prison call it a retreat where when you are shut up the slesh may be kept to a narrow room but all doors are open to the Spirit all places free to the Mind this carries the whole Man along with it and leads him abroad whithersoever it will Prisons have given very kind entertainment to several valuable and holy and great Men to some a Gaol hath been a refuge from destruction and the Walls of it so many fortifications and entrenchments against that ruine which had certainly been the consequence of liberty nay some have chosen these places that there they might enjoy a more perfect liberty and be farther from the noise and clutter and confusion of the World He that is under Look and Key is so much safer and better guarded And a Man had better live thus than be crampt and constrained by those Fetters and hand-cuffs which the World is full of such as the places of publick business and concourse the Palaces of Princes the conversation of great Men the tumult and hurry of Trade the vexation and expence of Law-suits the envy and ill-nature the peevishness and passions of common Men will be continually clapping upon us * Si recogiâ—emus iâ—sum magls mundum carcerem esse exisse nos è carcere quam in carcerem introisse intelligemus Majores tenebras habet mundus quae hominum praecordia excaecant graviores caâ—enas induit quae ipsas animas coustringunt pejores immunditias expirant libidines hominum plures postremo reos coutinet universum genus hominum If we do but reflect says the same Author again that the World it self is no better than a Prison we shall imagine our selves rather let out of a Gaol than put into one The darkness by which the World blinds Man's minds is thicker and grosser the chains by which it clogs and binds their affeclions heavier the silth and stanch of Men's lewdness and beastly conversation more offensive and the Criminals in it more numerous for such in truth are all Mankind There have been several instances of persons who by the benefit of a Prison have been preserved from the malice of their eâ—emies and escaped great miseries and dangers Some have made it a studious retirement composed Books there or laid a foundation of great vertue and much learning so that the uneasiness of the flesh hath been a gain to the spirit and the confinement of the body was well laid out in a purchase so valnable as the enlargement of the mind Some have been disgerged as it were by a Prison thrown up when it could keep them no longer and the next step they made hath been into some very eminent dignity as high as this World could set them this remark the Psalmist hath left us of the wonderful dispensations of providence Psal 113. He taketh the simple out of the dust and lifteth the needy off from the dunghill That he may set him with Princes even with the Princes of his people And he indeed who was an Israelite might well make this reflection since even among his own Ancestors they had so eminent an instance as Jeseph of the mighty alteration we are now speaking of But others have been advanced yet higher exhaled as it were and drawn up into Heaven from thence But thus much is certain that there can be no such thing as perpetual Imprisonment general Gaol-deliveries are unalterably established an Article of the Law of Nature for no Prison ever yet took in a Man whom it did not shortly after let out again CHAP. XXIV Of Exile or Banishment EXile is in reality no more than changing our Dwelling and this hath nothing of substantial Evil in it If we are afflicted upon the account our
give a lively Image of the Affections within For the Orator is the Representative of his Audience and must first of all in his own Person put on the several Passions which he labours to infuse into others * Si vis me flere dolendum est Primum ipsi tibi tunc tua me infortunia laedent Telephe Hor. de Arte Poet. â— We weep and laugh as we see others do He only makes me sad who shews the way And first is sad himself then Telephus I feel the weight of your Calamities And fancy all your Miseries my own Ld. Roscom It is in such cases with the Standers by as it was with Brasidas and his Enemy who drew the Dart out of his own Wound with which he stabbed him to the Heart Thus Passion is first conceived and formed in our own Mind then born and brought into the World by apposite Expression and afterwards by a subtle and quick Contagion conveyed into others and begets its likeness there By this short Reflection it sufficiently appears that Men of soft and gentle Tempers are not cut out for Orators Their Spirits are too sedate and sluggish to communicate any powerful Impressions They want the Force and Fire the Sprightliness and Activity that is necessary to animate what they say And when such Persons would display the most masterly beauties of Eloquence they languish and faulter by the way and drop short of the Mark. Thus Cicero reproached Callidius who accused Gallus with a sneaking Voice and languishing Action by telling him that his Coldness and Indifferency betrayed the falseness of his Charge But when a Man hath all that Vigour and Ornament touched upon before his Words will be as strong and compulsive as the Commands of a Tyrant with all the Pomp and Terrour of his Guards about him They will commit an irresistible Violence upon the Soul not only perswade and draw but drag his Auditory whether they will or no lead them in Triumph and establish to themselves an Absolute and Arbitrary Dominion over the Minds of Men. It may perhaps be objected in prejudice of Eloquence that all this Skill is needless since Truth alone is sufficiently powerful and perswasive and stands in need of no studied and artificial Practices to vindicate or to recommend it And indeed were the Minds of Men free and pure unprepossest with Passion or Interest or any other prejudicate Opinion the Objection must be allowed to have a great deal of weight in it But we are to consider and deal with Men according to the state we find them in a state of Corruption and Prejudice in which Art or Nature Misinformation or ill Habits have bribed and byassed their Affections and made them draw the wrong way and bent them violently against the Truth And thus they come to require a sort of Treatment very different from that which is most agreeable to their original Constitution As therefore we are forced first of all to soften and open the pores of the Steel by Fire that it may afterwards receive that Liquor which tempers it and grow harder in the Water so the warmths of Eloquence are necessary to put the Spirits in motion and by rendring the Minds of Men more supple and pliable to give them a stronger and more lasting tincture of Truth This is the true and proper design of Eloquence and the end it should constantly aim at is to fortifie and protect Virtue against Vice Truth against Falshood and Innocence against Calumny and false Accusation The Orator says Theophrastus is the true Physician of Souls and his business must be to Cure the Venomous Bitings of Serpents by the Charms of his Musick that is The poysonous Slanders and false Insinuations of wicked Men by the harmony of Reason set out to the best advantage But since there is no possibility of cutting off ill Men from the use of this advantage too since they will be sure to seize and usurp the Weapon for the more effectual Execution of their mischievous Designs we are the more concerned not to go into the Field Naked but to beat them at their own Weapon and with equal Industry and Skill to Counter-work them that so Virtue and Truth may not be circumvented or tamely lost for want of proper Preparations to defend it Several indeed have abused their attainments of this kind to very villainous purposes and made Eloquence the instrument of Ruin and Oppression to private Persons and whole Communities of Men. This is a melancholy Truth too manifest to be denied But then the Consequence of grancing it must be not to despise or set aside the thing upon the account of any ill Effects that have followed upon the misemployment of it No This is a Misfortune common to every thing that is useful and excellent for none of these are so necessarily confined to Goodness but that they are capable of being perverted to very great Evil. Nature hath provided them with an Aptitude and Efficacy but it will depend upon the Disposition of the Person that manages those Powers what sort of Effects those natural Abilities shall be applied and determined to For even that Reason and Understanding which is the peculiar Prerogative of Humane Nature and sets us above Brutes is most miserably abused turned against God and our selves and made the occasion of our more inexcusable Ruin but this is only an accidental Misfortune far from the natural tendency of so noble a Privilege And he who would argue from hence that Mankind had better want these Faculties may justly seem to have degenerated into Brute and to be forsaken of all that Reason which he so wildly and so rashly condemns FINIS ERRATA PReface Page 6. line 11. read Probity p. 23. l. 10. r. as well as In the Account of the Author p. 2. l. 15. r. improving Lib. 1. p. 97. l. 8. r. dipos'd p. 209. l. 9. r. the. p. 227. l. 5. r. deforms and defaces p. 315. l. 21. r. washing p. 332. in Note r. mers est binocentes