destroy'd or profan'd by the Receiver's Fault If another will needs be wicked and act otherwise than becomes him this can never justifie my ceasing to be good But further The generous and noble Spirit distinguishes it self by Perseverance and triumphs in the Conquest of Ingratitude and Ill-nature when invincible Beneficence hath heaped Coals of Fire upon their Heads melted them down and softned them into good Temper and a better Sense of Things So says the Moralist * Optimi ingentis animi est tamdiu ferre ingratum donec feceris gratum vincit malos pertinax Bonitas A Great Soul bears the ingrateful Man so long till at last he makes him grateful for obstinate and resolute Goodness will conquer the worst of Men. The Last Direction I shall lay down upon this Occasion is That when a thing is given we should let a Man use and enjoy it quietly and not be troublesome and unseasonable with him like some who when they have put one into any Office or Preferment will needs be thrusting in their Oar and execute it for him Or else procure a Man some considerable Advantage and then make over what proportion of the Profits they see sit to themselves Receivers in such Cases ought not to endure the being thus imposed upon and any Resentments or Refusals made upon this Account are by no means the Marks of Ingratitude but a preservation of their own Rights And whatever the Benefactor may have contributed to our Preferment he wipes out the whole Score and acquits us of all our Obligations by these imperious and busie Interpositions The Story is not amiss concerning one of the Popes who being press'd hard by one of the Cardinals to do somewhat inconvenient or perhaps unjust in his Favour and as a Motive which was thought irresistible or at least a Resentment which he look'd upon as reasonable in case of refusal the Cardinal re-minding him that His Interest had been formerly at his Service and his Popedom was owing to it His Holiness very pertinently reply'd If You made me Pope pray let me be so and do not take back again the Authority you gave me After these several Rules for the directing Men in the Exercise of Beneficence it may be seasonable to observe Several sorts of Kindnesses that there are Benefits of several sorts some of them much more acceptable than others and thus some more and others less engaging Those are most welcome that come from the Hand of a Friend and one whom we are strongly dispos'd to love without any such Inducement As on the contrary it is very grievous and grating to be oblig'd by one of whom we have no Opinion and desire of all things not to be indebted to Those are likewise so which proceed from a Person whom we have formerly oblig'd our selves because This is not so much Gratuity as Justice and Payment of Arrears and so draws very little or no new Debt upon us Such again are those done in a time of Necessity and when our Occasions were very urgent These have a mighty Influence they utterly deface all past Injuries and Misunderstandings if any such there were and leave a strong Tie upon a Man's Honour as on the other Hand the denying our Assistance in Cases of Extremity is extremely unkind and wipes out all Remembrances of any former Benefits Such once more are Those that can be easily acknowledged and admit of a suitable Return as on the contrary such as the Receiver is out of all Capacity to requite commonly breed Hatred and a secret Dislike For there is a Pride in most Men that makes them uneasie to be always behind-hand and hence he who is sensible that he can never make amends for all he hath receiv'd every time that he sees his Benefactor fancies himself dogg'd by a Creditor upbraided by a living Witness of his Insufficiency or Ingratitude and these secret Reproaches of his own Mind give great Uneasiness and Discontent for no Bankrupt can bear being twitted with his Poverty Some again there are which the more free and honourable and respectful they are the more burdensom and weighty they are provided the Receiver be a Person of Honour and Principle Such I mean as bind the Consciences and the Wills of Men for they tie a Man up faster keep him more tight and render him more cautious and fearful of failing or forgetfulness A Man is Ten times more a Prisoner when confin'd by his own Word than if he were under Lock and Key It is easier to be bound by Legal and publick Restraints and Forms of Engagements than by the Laws of Honour and Conscience and Two Notaries in this Case are better than One. When a Man says I desire nothing but your Word I depend upon your Honesty such a one indeed shews greater respect But if he be sure of his Man he puts him upon a stricter Obligation and himself upon better Security than Bonds and Judgments A Man who engages nothing but his Word is always in Fear and Constraint and upon his Guard lest he should forfeit or forget it Your Mortgagee and he that is under the power of Legal Forms is deliver'd from that Anxiety and depends upon his Creditor's Instruments which will not sail to refresh his Memory when the Bonds become due Where there is any external Force the Will is always less intent and where the Constraint is less there in proportion the Application of the Will is greater * Quod me Jus cogit vix à Voluntate impetrem What the Law compels me to is very haâ—dly my own Choice for I do not properly choose but submit to it Benefits produce Obligations Of the Obligation and from Obligations again fresh Benefits spring up So that Beneficence is reciprocally the Child and the Parent the Effect and the Cause and there is a twofold Obligation which we may distinguish by an Active and a Passive Obligation Parents and Princes and all Superiours are bound in Duty and by virtue of their Station to procure the Benefit and Advantage of Those whom either the Laws and Order of Nature or the political Constitutions of Government or any other Law relating to their Post have committed to their Inspection and Care And not only so but All in general whether their Character be Publick or not if they have Wealth and Power are by the Law of Nature oblig'd to extend their Help and Bounty towards the Necessitous and Distress'd And this is the first sort of Obligation But then from good Offices thus done whether they be in some regard owing to us as flowing from the Duty incumbent upon the Benefactor by virtue of this former Engagement Or whether they be the effect of pure Choice entirely Grace and nothing of Debt there arises the Second sort of Obligation whereby the Receivers are bound to acknowledge the Kindness and to be thankful for it All this mutual Exchange and propagation of Engagements and good
Rome for a considerable time after the Founding of that City It is therefore most foolish and unjust to asperse Religion and charge That with the Vices of Men which allows and teaches nothing but exquisite Purity and strict Continence This Liberty taken in Polygamy Polygamy differently practised which hath so great an Appearance of Nature to alledge in its behalf hath yet been very differently managed according to the several Nations and the Laws of those Communities where it was allow'd and practis'd In Some Places All that are Wives to the same Man live alike and in common Their Degree and Quality the Respect and Authority is equal and so is the Condition and Title of their Children too In Other Places there is one particular Wife who is the Principal and a sort of Mistress above the rest the Right of Inheritance is limited to the Children by Her They engross all the Honours and Possessions and Pre-eminences of the Husband after his Death As for the Others they are lodg'd and maintain'd apart treated very differently from the former In some Places they are reputed Lawful Wives in some they are only stiled Concubines and their Children have no Pretension to Titles or Estates but are provided for by such annual Pensions or other precarious ways of Subsisting as the Master of the Family thinks fit to allow them As various have the Practice and the Customs of Men been with regard to Divorce Divorce differently practised For with some as particularly the Hebrews and Greeks and Armenians they never oblige Themselves to alledge the particular Cause of Separation nor are they allow'd to take a Wife to them a Second time which they have once divorc'd So far from it that they are permitted to Marry again to others But now in the Mahometan Law Separation must be appointed by a Judge and after Legal Process except it be done by the free Consent of both Parties and the Crimes alledg'd against the Woman must be some of so high a Nature as strike directly at the Root of this Institution and are destructive and inconsistent with the State of Marriage or some of the principal Ends of it such as Adultery Barrenness Incongruity of Humours Attempts upon the Life of the other Party and after such Separation made it is lawful for them to be reconcil'd and cohabit again as oft as they think sit The Former of these Methods seems much more prudent and convenient that so there may be a closer Restraint both upon the Pride and Insolence of Wives when they lie at Mercy and may be cast off at Pleasure and also upon the Humoursome and Peevish Husbands who will be more apt to check and moderate their Resentments when there is no Return nothing to be got by repenting after once Matters have flown so high as to provoke and effect a Separation The Second which proceeds in a Method of Justice brings the Parties upon the Publick Stage exposes their Faults and Follies to the World cuts them out from Second Marriages and discovers a great many things which were much better kept conceal'd And in case the Allegation be not fully prov'd and so they continue oblig'd to cohabit still after all this mutual Complaining and Disgrace What a Temptation is here to Poysoning or Murder to get rid that way of a Partner of the Bed which in Course of Law cannot be remov'd And many of these Villanies no doubt have been committed of which the World never had the least Knowledge or Suspicion As at Rome particularly before Divorce came in use a Woman who was apprehended for Poysoning her Husband impeached other Wives whom she knew to have been guilty of the same Fact and They again others till at last Threescore and Ten were all Attainted and Executed for the same Fault of whom People had not the least Jealousie till this Discovery was made But that which seems the worst of all in the Laws relating to a Married Life is that Adultery is scarce any where punish'd with Death and all that can be done in that Case is only Divorce and ceasing to cohabit Which was an Ordinance introduc'd by Justinian One whom his Wife had in perfect Subjection And no wonder if She made use of that Dominion as she really did to get such Laws enacted as made most for the Advantage of her own Sex Now this leaves Men in perpetual danger of Adultery tempts them to malicious Desires of one another's Death the Offender that does the Injury is not made a sufficient Example and the Innocent Person that receives the Wrong hath no Reparation made for it Of the Duty of Married Persons See Book III. Chap. 12. CHAP. XLVII Of Parents and Children THere are several Sorts and several Degrees of Authority and Power among Men Paternal Authority Some Publick and others Private but not any of them more agreeable to Nature not Any more absolute and extensive than that of a Father over his Children I choose to instance in the Father rather than the Mother because she being herself in a State of Subjection to her Husband cannot so properly be said to have her Children under her Jurisdiction But even this Paternal Authority hath not been at all Times and in all Parts of the World equal and alike In some Ages and Places and indeed of Old almost every where it was universal Dion Halicar lib. 2. Antiq. and without restraint The Life and Death Estates and Goods the Liberty and Honour the Actions and Behaviour of Children was entirely at Their Will They sued and were sued for them They disposed of them in Marriage the Labours of the Children redounded to the Parents Profit nay They themselves were a kind of Commodity for among the Romans we sind this Article Rom. 1. in Suis ff de lib. posth in that which was call'd Romulus his Law * Parentum in Liberos omne Jus esto relegandi vendendi occidendi The Right of Parents over Children shall be entire and unlimited they shall have Power to abdicate and banish to sell and to put them to death Only it is to be observ'd That all Children under Three Years old were excepted out of this Condition because they could not be capable of offending in Word or Deed Aul. Gel. lib. 20. Aristot Ethic. lib. 8. Caesar lib. 6. de Bell. Gall. Prosper Aquit in Epist Sigism nor to give any just Provocation for such hard Usage This Law was afterwards confirm'd and renew'd by the Law of the Twelve Tables which allow'd Parents to sell their Children Three times And the Persians as Aristotle tells us the Antient Gauls as Caesar and Prosper agree the Muscovites and Tartars might do it Four times There want not some probable Reasons to persuade us that this Power had some Foundation or Countenance at least in the Law of Nature and that Instance of Abraham undertaking to slay his Son hath been made use of as an Argument to this
Law of Moses Deut. xxi which ordered the stubborn and Rebellious Son to be stoned upon the Complaint of the Parents without requiring any farther Proof of the Charge than their single Deposition and provided the Presence and Concurrence of the Magistrate not so much for Examination and Tryal of the Cause as to prevent the Privacy and Passion which might attend Domestick Punishments and so to render the thing more publick and the Vengeance more exemplary and full of Terrour to others And thus even according to the Mosaick Institution the Paternal Authority was more arbitrary and extensive than it came to be since the Time of the Roman Emperours But if we descend a little Lower and observe its Decrease under Constantine the Great then under Theodosius and at last under Justinian we shall find it almost totally extinct Hence it came to pass that Children took upon them to decline and peremptorily deny Obedience to their Parents to refuse them a Part in their Possessions nay not to allow them so much as convenient Maintenance and Relief in their Necessities Hence they had considence to enter Actions against them and implead them in Courts of Judicature and an indecent a most scandalous Thing in truth it is to observe how frequent such Suits have been Some have been so wicked or so mistaken as to excuse Themselves from Duty upon pretence of Religion and dedicate That to God which their Parents had a Right to as we find Our Blessed Saviour reproaches the Jews for doing Matt. xv and the manner he mentions it in shews plainly that this impious kind of Devotion was a Practice customary among them before his Time Since that some have acted after their Examples even in the Profession of Christianity and many have held it lawful to kill a Father in one's own Defence or in case he became a Publick Enemy to the State But sure if such Relations deserve Death it ought to be inflicted by some other Hand and heretofore it was receiv'd as a general Maxim and admits of scarce any Exception * Nullum tantum scelus admitti potest à patre quod parricidio sit vindicandum nullum scelus rationem habet That no Wickedness could be committed by a Father the Heinousness whereof would justifie Parricide to kill a Father is wicked and no Wickedness can be reasonable Now the Generality of the World doe not seem duly sensible of how mischievous Consequence to Mankind this Abatement and Abolition of the Paternal Authority hath prov'd The Governments under which it was kept up and vigorously exerted have flourish'd and contain'd their Subjects in strict Duty If upon any Occasion it had been found by Experience too sharp and exorbitant prudent Care might have been taken to regulate and bring it under convenient Restraints But utterly to disannul and destroy it is by no means agreeable to Decency or Virtue and least of all to the Advantage of the Publick For when once the Reins are let loose and Countenance is given to Disobedience in private Families it quickly grows to a general Spirit of Faction and Disorder and Ungovernable Insolence and the casting off the Yoke of the Natural Parents is a bold and dangerous Step toward Rebellion against the Civil The Effect whereof hath been abundantly seen in the many Inconveniences which Governments have suffer'd upon the Relaxation or utter Rescinding of this Authority whereby in the Event they only clipt their own Wings and encourag'd Enemies and Insurrections against Themselves as was said just now The Reciprocal Duties of Parents and Children will be treated of Book III. Chap. 14. CHAP. XLVIII Of Lords and their Slaves Masters and Servants THE making use of Slaves and the Power of Lords or Masters over them The use of Slaves universal but unnatural tho' it hath been a thing receiv'd and practis'd in all Places and all Ages of the World excepting that it was considerably abated for about Four Hundred Years but now it hath since revived and obtain'd again Yet I cannot forbear looking upon it as a Monstrous Custom and highly reproachful to Humane Nature Since Brutes have nothing of this Kind among Them nor do They either compel their Fellows by Violence and Fraud or voluntarily submit themselves to Captivity This seems rather then to have been dispens'd with than approv'd by the Law of Moses But even this Indulgence accommodated to the Necessities of that People and the Hardness of their Hearts was not so rigorous as the Practice of other Places for neither was the Power so absolute nor the Slavery perpetual but the One confin'd to Rules and the Other terminated with the Seventh or Sabbatical Year Christianity finding the Usage Universal did not see fit to break in upon this Constitution but left its Proselytes at liberty in this Particular as it did in a Permission of serving and dwelling under Heathen and Idolatrous Princes and Masters For This and many other Things could not be abolish'd and set aside at once but by giving some little Discountenance to them Time hath worn them off gently and by degrees Slaves may be distinguished into Four several Kinds Several sorts of Slavery 1. Such as are Natural or born of Parents in that Condition 2. Such as are Slaves upon Force made so by Conquest and the Rights of War 3. Adjudged Slaves such as are made and awarded to be such either by way of Punishment for some Crime or for the Satisfaction of some Debt which gives the Creditors a Right to their Persons and of employing them to their own Benefit and Service This Slavery was limited among the Jews only to a certain Season Seven Years at the most the Sabbatical Year put an End to it all but in other Countries it continu'd till the Debt was discharged 4. Voluntary Slaves or such as are of their own making as Those who throw Dice for it or who sell their Liberty for a Summ of Money as it hath been the Custom to do in Germany Tacit. de mor. Ger. and is still in some Parts even of the Christian World or else such as freely surrender up Themselves to the Service of another and devote their Persons to perpetual Slavery And thus we read in the Law the Antient Jews did Exod xxi Deut. xv whose Ears were appointed to be bored with an Awl to the Door of the House in token of perpetual Servitude and that they rather chose this Condition of Life than to go free when it was in their Power This last sort of voluntary and chosen Captivity is I confess to Me the most asTonishing of all the rest and tho' all manner of Slavery seems to be an Incroachment and Violence upon Nature yet sure no Kind of it can be so unnatural as that which a Man covets and brings upon Himself That Thing which makes Men Slaves upon Constraint is Avarice The Cause of it and that which makes Men choose to be Slaves is
be gratified in a Desire which he cannot but entertain and indulge Where Providence confers the External Advantages of Life only the Greater and most valuable part is still behind Very few are more than half-blest and of Them who are or call themselves unhappy the Generality are miserable not from real Want of what they need but from an Incapacity of enjoying what they have Hence it is still accounted a Moot-point in Philosophy whether Prosperity or Adversity Plenty or Penury require greater management and address * Crates One of some Name we know among those Sages durst not so much as trust himself with the Temptation of Riches You Sir very justly reproach his behaviour with Rashness and Folly by shewing that not the Sea but a Soul large and diffusive as the Sea rather is necessary to deliver a man from the danger of a plentiful Fortune This does not only secure but render Him and It a publick Blessing by Acts of Goodness Munificence Hospitality By cultivating those Social Virtues whereby Mankind are sustained cemented endeared to one another and all those important and beneficial Ends accomplished to which the Giver of these Good Gifts designs they should be serviceable The Difficulties under which most Men miscarry are not avoided by abandoning the World but by using it in so masterly a manner as always to keep above it Ambition and Avarice sometimes inhabit the most retired Cloisters and are no doubt sometimes too absolute Strangers to Quality and Business and Fortune Every one is valuable in proportion as he is Useful but Useful They can be but very little who industriously decline the occasions of being so The Man of Conversation and Civil Society is therefore that Pattern of Wisdom designed and drawn by this Author And to the same purpose all perfect Systems of Morality enlarge upon the different Capacities of Men because the Offices resulting from thence make the chief part of Christian as well as Human Prudence These are the Talents peculiar to each person and his proper Business distinct from the rest of the World Now Sir when Charron accordingly treats of The true and genuine Use of Riches of a Mind capable of Stemming a full tide of Plenty of the Integrity of Magistrates in Distribution of Justice of the Fidelity and Vigilance of Wise and Worthy Patriots in the Service of their Country and Defence of its just Rights of the Tenderness and Prudence of Parents and the affectionate Deference and Duty of Children when I say These and other Descriptions passed through my hands there needed but little reflection to bring to a Relation's remembrance a very eminent Instance of these several Civil and Domestick Virtues Be pleased therefore Sir to assert your own Excellencies And what Your Example already recommends to the World proceed yet more to enforce by accepting a Treatise intended to draw Men to these Resemblances of Your self as an Argument of that respect with which I am SIR Your most Obedient Humble Servant George Stanhope THE PREFACE HAVING in the former Book explained and insisted upon the several Methods by which Man may be let into a competent knowledge of Himself and the Condition of Humane Nature which is the first part of our Undertaking and a very proper Introduction to Wisdom The next thing in order is to enter upon the Doctrines and Precepts of Wisdom it self Now That shall be done in this Second Book by laying down some General Rules and Directions reserving for the business of our Third and Last those that are more Particular and appropriated to special Persons and Circumstances according to which their Duties vary in proportion to their respective Conditions It was a very necessary Preamble in the mean while to call Mens thoughts home and fix them upon themselves to exhort and instruct them to handle probe and nicely to examine their Nature that so being thus brought to a tolerable knowledge and sense of their Infirmities and Defects and sadly convinced of the miserable Condition they are by nature in they may be put into a better Capacity of having those healing and wholsome Remedies applied which are necessary in order to their Recovery and Amendment And these Remedies are no other than the Instructions and Exhortations proper for the attaining true Wisdom But alas It is a prodigious and a melancholy thing to consider how stupid and regardless Mankind are of their Happiness and Amendment What a strange Temper is it for a Man not to be at all sollicitous to have the very Errand and Business he was sent into the World about well done Every body is infinitely fond and covetous of Living but scarce any body is concerned or takes any manner of Thought for Living as becomes him This is the very Art which should be our Chief our only Study and yet it is that which we are least Masters of least disposed to learn Our Inclinations and Designs our Studies and Endeavours are as Experience daily shews vastly different even from our very Cradles or as soon as we began to be capable of any They vary according to the Temper and Constitution of our Bodies the Company we keep the Education we are instituted by the infinite Accidents and Occasions of our Lives but still none of us casts his Eyes that way none makes it his Endeavour to manage these to the best Advantage none attempts heartily to improve in Wisdom nay we do not at all lay this most necessary Matter to heart we scarce allow it so much as a single Thought Or if at any time it comes in our way accidentally and by the by we hear and attend to it just as we would to a Tale that is told or a piece of News that in no degree concerns us The Discourse perhaps is pleasant and entertaining to some and but to some neither for many will not endure nor give it a patient hearing but even those who are contented nay delighted to hear it yet hear to very little purpose The words and sound tickle their Senses and that 's all they do For as to the thing it self That makes no impression gains no esteem kindles no desires at least in this so universally Corrupt and Degenerate Age of ours In order to the being made duly sensible of the true worth of Wisdom and how much it deserves from us there seems to be some particular Turn in our first Frame some Original Aptitude and Air in our Nature and Complexion If Men must take pains they will much more willingly employ their time and exert their Strength and Parts in the pursuit of Things whose Effects are gay and glittering external and sensible such as Ambition and Avarice and Passion propose to them But as for Wisdom whose Fruits are silent and gentle internal and unseen it hath no Attractives at all for them O wretched Men what false Measures do we take and how fatally are we deluded We prefer Winds and Storms for the sake of their Noise where
Stones and Brands in rattling Vollies fly And all the Rustick Arms that Fury can supply If then some Grave and Pious Man appear They hush their Noise and lend a listning Ear He sooths with sober Words their angry Mood And quenches their innate Desire of Blood Mr. Dryden The greatest thing this World can shew is Authority This is the Image of the Divine Power a Messenger and Deputy from Heaven If this Deputation as to Men be Sovereign and immediately under God we call it Majesty if it be subordinate to any Human Power we then call it in a more peculiar and restrained Sense of the word Authority And this is supported upon two Bases Admiration and Fear both which must go together and jointly contribute to the keeping it up Now this Majesty and Authority is principally and properly in the Person of the Supreme Governor the Prince and Lawgiver and in him it lives and moves and acts in its utmost Vigor The next Degree of it is when lodged in his Commands Orders and Decrees that is in the Law which is a Prince's Master-piece and the Noblest Copy of that Incommunicable Majesty whereof himself is the Original And by this Law it is that Fools are reduced from Evil informed in Good governed and led to know and do what is convenient for their own and necessary for the Publick Interest Thus you see in short of what Weight and Efficacy Authority and Laws are to the World how necessary and how beneficial to the present Circumstances and the greatest part of Mankind This Authority is stated fix'd and agreed upon but there is Another Custom which comes nearest of any up to it commonly called Custom a very Powerful but withal a very Positive and Imperious Mistress This Power is all gained by Encroachment and Usurpation by Treachery and Force it get footing by Inches and steals in upon the World insensibly The Beginnings of it are small and imperceptible gentle and humble and frequently owing to Men's Tameness or Neglect their Laziness and Yielding the Influenc of Example and the Blindness of Inconsideration but when it hath once taken Root and is fix'd by Time it puts on a stern domineering Look issues out its Orders plays the Tyrant and will be observed It is to no purpose then to argue for Liberty and Right no Man is suffered to speak to move to look in contradiction to such an Establishment It stops your Mouth with Possession and Precedent which indeed are its proper and only Pleas of Title grows great and more eminent the farther it goes and like Rivers enlarges its Name and Channel by rowling insomuch that even when the Mischiefs and Inconvenience of its still prevailing are manifest yet is it not safe to reduce it to its first Infant-State and Men are oftentimes better advised in suffering under it than in attempting to disuse or reverse it If now we compare these Two together it will be found Law and Custom compared that Law and Custom establish their Authority by very different Methods Custom creeps upon us by little and little by length of Time by gentle and acceptable Means by the Favour and general Consent or at least with the Approbation of the Majority and its Beginning Growth Establishment are all from the People The Law admits none of these flow Proceedings it is Born at once and in full Perfection comes to Vigor and Maturity in a Moment it marches out with Authority and Power and receives its Efficacy from the Supreme Commander it depends not always upon the good liking of the Subjects but is frequently full sore against their Wills and yet prevails and takes place though burdensome and ungrateful to them This last Consideration is the Reason why Some have compared Law to a Tyrant and Custom to a King Again Custom though otherwise never so engaging yet never proposes Rewards or Penalties But the Law propounds both and to be sure threatens Penalties upon the Disobedient at least Yet notwithstanding these Differences the matter is so order'd that these Two are frequently capable either of strengthning and mutually assisting or of destroying and overthrowing each other For Cudestroying and overthrowing each other For Custom though in strictness it be only upon Sufferance yet when countenanc'd and publickly allowed by the Prince will be still more firm and secure and the Law likewise gets ground upon the People and stands the faster by means of Possession and long Usage On the Contrary Custom will be quashed by a Law prohibiting the Continuance of it and a Law will go down the stream and be lost to all the purposes and effects of it if a contrary Custom be connived at Thus I say they may interfere to the Prejudice of each other but usually they go hand in hand and are in reality almost the same thing considered under different respects The wiser and more discerning Men considering That as a Law which the Ignorant and Vulgar who have little Notions of a Legislative Power or its Sanctions observe purely as a thing Customary and because it hath been in use without attending how it came to be so The strange Variety of Laws and Customs which have obtained in the World Different and odd Customs and the Extravagance of some of them is really prodigious It is scarce possible to think of any Imagination so whimsical and odd but some Country or other hath received it as a Custom or established it by a Law I will give my self the trouble of instancing in several upon this occasion to convince Those who perhaps cannot easily suffer themselves to be persuaded how much Truth there is in this Observation And here not to instance in Religion which in the Idolatrous and less civiliz'd Countries especially hath had grosser Deceits more abominable Absurdities and more amazing Variety of these than any other Subject whatsoever yet because it does not fall so directly within the Compass of our present Argument I shall pas it over at present and confine my self to the Head of Civil Commerce in which alone Customs properly so called are used to take place and where the Matter being exceeding obvious to every Understanding it is so much the more astonishing that Men should be carried into such Extravagances Now Those which I think most remarkable and sit to be mentioned are such as follow The Reputing it an Instance of Affection and Duty when Parents live to a certain term of Years for their Children to Kill and to Eat them In Inns and other Publick Houses of Accommodation instead of discharging the Reckoning with Money to lend their Wives and Daughters to the Host for Payment The having Wives in common The setting up Publick Stews for Young Men The esteeming it honurable for Women to be Common and wearing Tufts of Fringe at their Garments by way of Boast and Glory to signify the Number of their Gallants The suffering Single Women to abandon themselves to all manner of Filthiness and
immoderate Love of Riches Book I. Chap. 23. and the peevish and humoursom Hatred of them have been spoken to in the former parts of this Treatise And therefore all I have now left me to do is to lay down that Golden Rule which consists in the Mean between these two Extremes and that I think will be done in these Five Particulars First It consists in preferring and being pleas'd with them but not setting our Affections upon them Thus the Philosopher describes his Wise Man * Sapiens non amat divitias sed mavult One that is not fond of Riches but yet had rather have them than not A Man may be sensible of the Convenience of a Thing and know how to value it as it deserves without placing his Heart and his Happiness in it Thus for Instance a Person of low Stature and weak Limbs would be glad and well pleas'd to be taller and better built and yet it never breaks his Rest nor makes him reflect upon himself as miserable for not being so He that seeks what Nature desires without Passion and Uneasiness puts himself out of the Power of Fortune and he that is content with what Fortune cannot take away from him is the Man agreeable to this first part of the Character But Secondly If Passion and Anxiety be a Fault even in those who seek to enrich themselves by fair and honest Means only much less can we be allow'd to endeavour our own Profit by the Loss and Detriment of others For this is to feed and grow fat at their Expence No nor yet may we pursue Riches by base and pitiful and sordid Arts but should take care that all our Increase be so honourable and becoming that no Man shall have any Temptation but his own Wickedness and Ill-nature to complain of our Proceedings or grudge us our good Fortune or once to say That it is pity such Blessings should be bestowed upon us Thirdly When the good Providence of God puts these Opportunities and Advantages into our Hands and Wealth comes in upon us in an honest and creditable Way we are not to reject and disdain it but receive it with Thankfulness and Satisfaction and let it in but not let it in too far Riches should be admitted into our Houses but not into our Hearts we may take them into our Possession but not into our Affections For this is going too deep and doing them an Honour much greater than they can ever deserve Fourthly When we have them we should employ them honourably virtuously discreetly and convert them into Instruments of doing good Offices and being obliging to others That the manner of their Going out may be at least as innocent and as creditable as that of their Coming in Lastly Whenever they take their Flight and forsake us we are not to be dejected nor melancholy at the Loss but thould consider that tho' they took themselves away they did not deprive us of any thing which was properly and truly our own And therefore * Si Divitiae effluxerint non auferent nisi semetipfas if they give us the slip there is no Robbery or Wrong in the Case for we had no indeseasible Right in them before In one Word That Man ill deserves the Love and Favour of God and ought to quit all his Pretensions to Virtue and Philosophy and Religion who cannot support himself with these Comforts but allows the Enjoyments of this World the principal Place in his Esteem †Aude Hospes contemnere opes Te quoque dignum Finge Deo Dare to be Poor accept of homely Food Be more than Man and emulate a God Mr. Dryden Of Justice between Man and Man Or The Duty towards our Neighbour ADVERTISEMENT THis Duty is very comprehensive and shoots out into a great many Branches For the convenience of treating it more methodically we will make our first Division into two general Parts The First of these shall contain all such Duties as are Common and Vniversal requir'd from All and every Man to All and every Man And that whether they regard Thought Word or Deed And these are Love Fidelity Truth Freedom in Advising and Admonishing Beneficence Humanity Liberality and Gratitude The Second extends it self to all special Duties such I mean as depend upon particular Reasons and express Obligations which concern some certain Persons and Relations and not others As Those between Husband and Wife Parents and Children Masters and Servants Princes and Subjects Magistrates and Private Persons the Great and the Mean Man CHAP. VII The First Part of Justice or Those Universal Duties due from All to All in Common And first of Love LOVE is a Pure a Holy and a Generous Fire What it is kindled in our Breasts by Nature It s Primitive and Original Warmths were first discern'd in the mutual Affection of Husband and Wife Parents and Children Brothers and Sisters But then cooling by degrees as it dilated it self Art and Human Invention found means to blow it up again and supply fresh Fewel by the Institution of Alliances Societies Fraternities Colleges and other Incorporations by which the parts of Mankind are cemented and united Now in regard that These Artificial Flames underwent the same Fate with those Natural and burnt more feeble and dim as they were expanded and subdivided as also that their Heat is much allay'd by the Mixture of Profit Convenience Delight and such other Selfish Considerations therefore to cherish and recruit this Fire again Choice hath contriv'd to unite its scatter'd Forces and contract them into the narrowest compass that can be by the ferventest and tenderest of all Affections that between true Friends And This indeed is Love in Perfection as much more ardent and endearing and refin'd than any other as the Vital Heat in the Heart is more intense than than of the Liver or the Blood in the Veins Love is the very Life and Soul of the World more necessary to its Subsistence and Well-being say the Philosophers than those two Servants which we cannot want Fire and Water The Latins therefore have given a good Intimation of This in terming Friendship Necessitudo and Friends Necessarii This is the Sun the Staff the Salt of Life all is dark and comfortless without the Light of this cheering Fire all seeble and tottering without this firm Support all flat and insipid till this Seasons and gives it a grateful Relish Ecclus vi 14 16. To this purpose that Wise Man * A Faithful Friend is a strong Defence the Medicine of Lise and He that findeth him sindeth a great Treasure Nor may we suppose this Virtue serviceable and necessary to private Persons only It s Usefulness or that the Pleasures and Charms of it are confin'd to small Numbers and secret Retirements Its Joys and its Beauties are equally nay more ravishing and delightful more useful and seasonable to larger Bodies and publick Communities of Men. For This is the true Mother
they allow of no Intermission but if the Difficulties are occasion'd by the principal Persons in the Family they fret and gall and wrankle inward and scarce admit of any Rest or Remedy The Best Method of rendring this Care easie and effectual is To procure some faithful Servants in whose Honesty we can have entire Confidence and Security To buy in Provisions in their proper Seasons and wait for the best Markets To prevent all unnecessary Waste which is the Province proper to the Mistress of the House To make Necessity and Cleanliness and Order our first Care and when These are served if our Circumstances will extend farther then to provide for Plenty and Shew and Niceness a gentile Appearance and every Thing fashionable in it's Kind To regulate our Expences by cutting off our Superfluous Charge yet so as to have a Regard to Decency and Convenience and grudge Nothing which either Necessity or Duty call for from us One Shilling saved with these Limitations will do us more Credit than Ten idly squandered away But to the avoiding Profuseness we should also add the other commendable Quality of good Contrivance for it is a Mark of great Address when we can make our Peny go a great Way and appear Handsomely with little Charge But above all things a Man must be sure to keep within Compass and sute his way of Living to his present Circumstances For the most probable Prospects are still but Futurities and as such they must needs be uncertain so that there cannot be a more ridiculous Folly than to spend high in Confidence of Reversions and distant Expectations A Master's Eye must be every where and if either He or the Mistress be ignorant and unexperienced in Business they must take Care to conceal this Infirmity and pretend at least to understand all that belongs to them But especially they must never appear Negligent or Remiss but put on an Air of Diligence and Concern however For if once the Servants get a Notion of their being Careless how their Affairs are managed they will not fail to take their Advantage and in a short Time leave them little or nothing to take Care of CHAP. XIV The Duty of Parents and Children THE Duty of Parents and Children is Reciprocal and Natural on both sides Thus far they both agree But if the Obligation be somewhat stricter on the Child's Part that Difference is compensated by being more Ancient on the Parents side For Parents are the Authors and first Cause and of the Two of much greater Consequence to the Publick The Peopling the World with Good Men and Good Patriots is their Work the Educacation and Instruction of Youth is the only Method of effecting it so that here the first Seeds of Political Societies and Institutions are first laid And of the Two Inconveniencies That is much less which the State suffers from the Disobedience and Ingratitude of Children toward their Parents than from the Remisness and Neglect Parents are guilty of toward their Children Hence in the Lacedoemonian and some other very wise Governments there were Mulcts and other Penalties inflicted upon Parents when their Children prov'd Perverse and Ill-tempered And Plato declared he knew no one Instance that needed a Man's Care more or deserved it better than the endeavouring to make a good Son And Crates in great Wrath expostulated thus with his Country-men To what Purpose is all this Pains to heap up great Estates while it is no part of your Concern what manner of Heirs you leave them to This is like a Man's being Nice of his Shooe and Negligent of his Foot What should a Man do with Riches who hath not the Sense nor the Hert to make a good Use of them This is like an embroidered Saddle and sumptuous Furniture upon a Jaded Horse Parents indeed are doubly obliged to the Performance of this Duty In Kindness to themselves as they are their own Offspring and in Regard to the Publick because these young Suckers are the Hopes of the Tree the promising Shoots upon the thriving and kindly cultivating whereof the Strength and Succession of the Body Politick depends So that this is killing Two Birds with One Stone serving one 's own private Interest and promoting the Welfare and Honour of one's Country at the same time Now this Duty consists of Four Parts each of which succeed in order to the other and these are proportion'd to the Four Advantages which Children ought to receive from their Parents in their proper Seasons Life and Nourishment Instruction and partaking of the Advantages of Life with them The First respects the Time of a Child's Existence till his Birth inclusively The Second his Infancy The Third his Youth and the Last his riper Age. Concerning the First of These I shall only say that though it be very little attended to yet is it of mighty Consequence and of strict Obligation For no Man who hath any the least Insight into Nature can be ignorant how hereditary Constitutions and Complexions are And therefore we may be good or ill Parents even before our Children are born And I am sure among other Inducements to the care of Health and a regular Way of living This ought not to be the least that Those who derive their Being from us do depend upon this Care for a great part of their Happiness For by what hath been largely discoursed in the first Book it may plainly appear that the Capacity and Turn of Men's Minds and the Soundness and Vigour of their Bodies are in great Measure owing to a Parents good Constitution And certainly To Men of any Conscience it should be an Eternal Sting and Reproach to reflect what Rottenness and Diseases they entail upon their Posterity by abandoning themselves to Lewdness and Debauchery how dearly those Innocents pay for their Ancestor's Excesses and what a Barbarity it is to send poor Wretches into the World to languith out a Life of Misery and Pain and suffer for Sins which they never committed So Necessary so Important a Virtue is Temperance to Successions and Families as well as to Mens own Persons So Mischievous is Vice and so Subtilly does it propagate its dismal Effects even to those that are yet unborn The Second of these Heads I leave to Physicians and Nurses and having thus briefly dispatch'd the Two First because somewhat foreign to our present Design and necessary to be mention'd only for the rendring this Division compleat I shall proceed to the Third which concerns the Instructing of them and is a Subject more worthy our serious Consideration So soon as the Child begins to move his Soul and the Faculties of That as well as the Organs of his Body shew that he is a Rational and not only a Living Creature Great Application should be used to form him well at first And this Care may be allowed to take Place about Four or Five Years Old for by that time The Memory and Imagination and some little Strokes
Proverb That he who never asks Questions will never be a Wise Man that is If a Man's Mind be not kept stirring it will rust and mould and nothing but constant Use and Exercise can cleanse and brighten it Now whatever of this Kind falls under his Consideration should be managed to the best Advantage applyed and brought home to himself discoursed and advised upon with others and that whether it be somewhat already past to discover what Defects there were and which were the false Steps in it or whether it be somewhat future that he may govern himself regularly be warned of any Hazards and Dangers that attend what he goes about and prevent Miscarriages and Inconvenience by growing wise in Time Children should never be left to their own idle Fancies to dare and trifle alone For their Age and Capacity not being of it self able to furnish Noble Matter of Thought will certainly dwindle into Vanity and feed upon Impertinencies and Whimsies of a Size with their Imaginations They should therefore be kept in constant Employment to exercise and give them a Manly Way of thinking and particularly to beget and excite this inquisitive Humor and eager Appetite of Knowledge which will be sure to keep their Souls always awake and busie and by inspiring them with a Noble Emulation be Eternally putting forward to fresh and larger Attainments And this Curiosity if qualified as I have here described it will neither be Vain and Fruitless in it self nor Troublesome or Unmannerly to any they converse with Thirdly Another necessary Care in the Instructing of Children is To frame and mould their Minds after the Model of Universal Nature taking the World at large for our Pattern to make the Universe their Book and whatever Subject lies before them to draw it in sull Proportion and represent the several Opinions and Customs which do or ever have prevailed with regard to it The Greatest and most Excellent Persons have always had the freest and most enlarged Souls For this indeed strengthens and confirms the Mind delivers it from Wonder and Surprise and fixes it in Reason and Resolution which is the highest Point of Wisdom This Particular and the Benefits of it as well as the Absurdity and great Uneasinesses of the Contrary hath been so largely insisted upon heretofore See Book II. Ch. 2. that I shall omit what might be said more upon it here adding only this Observation That such a large and universal Spirit must be the Business and Acquest of early Application and Diligence in the Master before the Prepossessions of his Native Country and Customs have taken too fast Hold upon his Scholar and when he is ripe for Travelling and Conversation that which will contribute most to the perfecting him in this Disposition is going abroad conferring much with Foreigners or if that cannot be yet informing himself at Home by reading such Books as give Account of Travels into remote Parts of the World and contain the Histories of all Nations Lastly Children ought to be taught betimes not to swallow things at a venture nor receive any Opinions upon Trust and the bare Authority of the Person who delivers them but to seek and expect all the Evidence that can be had before they yield their Assent The contrary Easiness of Mind is to suffer one's self to be led about hood-winked to renounce the Use of Reason quite and submit to the Condition of Brutes whose Business is only to know their Driver and go as they are directed Let every Thing therefore be fairly propounded let the Arguments on each Side be stated and set in their true Light and then let him choose as Judgment shall determine him If he be at a Loss which Side he should incline to let him deliberate longer and doubt on such a distrust and uncertainty of Mind is an excellent Sign more Safe more Promising than a rash Confidence which resolves Right or Wrong and thinks it self always sure though it can give no reason why The Perplexities and Dilemmas of a cautious and considerate Person are much to be preferred before even the true Determinations that are made in a Heat and by Chance But then as the Youth should be taught always to practise upon his own Judgment so should he learn likewise to have a Modest Diffidence of his Abilities and when any Difficulty interposes or the Resolution is of great Consequence to consult those who are proper to be advised with and never venture to come to a peremptory Determination merely upon the Strength of his own reasoning For As the being able to examine and compare Things is One Argument of Sufficiency so is the calling in Help Another and the refusing to rest upon one's own single Opinion is no Reflexion upon our Wisdom No Disparagement to what we think alone but rather the quite contrary Next after the Soul of Children Parents are obliged to take Care of their Bodies Advice for the Body and this is not to be deferr'd any more than the other It hath no distinct and separate Seasons but must go along with the Former and only differs in This that tho' we ought to express a constant Care and Concern for both yet we are not obliged to have that Concern equal for both But since Nature hath united these Two into One and the same Person we must contribute to the Good of each by our joynt Endeavours Now the Care of the Body will be most profitably Exprest not in the Indulging its Appetites or treating it tenderly as the Generality of those who pretend to resined Education do but by utterly abandoning all Softness and effeminate Nicety in Cloths and Lodging Meat and Drink to give it plain and hearty Nourishment a simple and wholesome Diet considering the Convenience of Health and Digestion more than the Pleasures and Delicacy of the Palate To support it in a Condition of Strength capable of supporting Labour and Hardship and accordingly inure it to Heat and Cold Wind and Weather That so the Muscles and Nerves as well as the Soul may be fortified for Toil and by That for Pain For the Custom of the Former hardens us against the Latter In a Word to keep the Body Vigorous and Fresh and the Appetite and Constitution indifferent to all forts of Meats and Tasts For the several Parts of this Advice are by no Means so insignificant as they may seem It were enough to say that they conduce mightily to the preserving and confirming our Health but That is not all for the Benefit extends beyond our own Persons and the Publick is the better for them as they enable and qualifie Men for the enduring Fatigues and so fit them for Business and the Service of their Country It is now Time to apply our selves to the Third Branch of this Duty Directions for Manâ—ners which contains a Parents Carey of his Childrens Manners in which Soul and Body both are very highly concern'd Now this Care consists of Two
Horace takes notice of him as a Person so debonnaire and well-fashion'd that every thing he did became him and he was never at a Loss * Omnis Aristippum decuit color status res c. Hor. Ep. xvii All Fortune sitted Aristippus well Aiming at Greater pleas'd with what befel Creech Let your young Charge be so much a Master of Conversation as to be capable of keeping all manner of Company but let him choose and frequent none but such as are virtuous and good Let him abstain from Vice not upon Compulsion only out of Fear or Ignorance but out of Inclination and Choice For †Multum interest utrum peccare quis nolit aut nesciat There is a great deal of difference between refusing to be Wicked and not daring or not knowing how to be so The Fourth Virtue I desire to have early ingrafted into the Minds of young People is Modesty Book II. Chap. 9. This will preserve them from that Forwardness which puts them upon Contradiction and Dispute and attacking all they come hear With some Persons it is never proper for us to engage at all as those particularly whose Quality is much above or very much below our own whether the Difference lie in Birth or Riches or Honour or Parts or Characters These can never be a fit Match for us at any time But indeed Those that are so shou'd not be encounter'd at All Times nor upon All Occasions not for a trifling Circumstance an improper Expression in short What is of little Moment in it self or little or no Concern to Us will not justifie our wrangling for it To let nothing go without putting in an Exception to it is ill-manner'd impertinent and troublesome Bur even in those things that are worth a Dispute to be opinionative and peremptory warm and violent clamorous and loud is as much a Breach of this Virtue for Modesty teaches Men to be Meek and Gentle Moderate and Condescending it cannot be reconcil'd with a positive dogmatical way of Talk with an abounding in our own Sense and a Resolution not to be convinc'd But it yields the Point when it is no longer defensible and As it never disputes for Ostentation or Disputing's sake so it hath a just Deference to the Person and his contrary Opinion it preserves Decency and good Manners allows all that can possibly be granted and takes Care to soften the Opposition of that which Judgment will not suffer it to allow But of This I have spoken in another Part of this Treatise already and therefore shall dismiss the Subject at present and with it Three parts of that Duty which Parents owe to their Children The Fourth and Last part of this Duty concerns the Affection they ought to bear towards their Children Paternal Affection and the manner of treating and conversing with them when they are grown up and the former Rules have had their desir'd Effect Now we need not be told that the Affection between Parents and Children is natural and reciprocal But it is stronger and more natural on the Parent 's side because This is the streight Course of Nature carrying on the Life and promoting the Succession of Mankind by the Descent of a right Line whereas That of Children is only by way of Rebound and Reflection and consequently cannot move so vigorously back again as the former does forward This indeed seems rather to be the Paying of a Debt and the Sense and Return of Kindnesses receiv'd than free and natural and pure Love Besides He that first does the Kindness loves more than the Person who is passive and receives it And therefore the Parent who is the first Mover loves more vehemently than he is belov'd again Of this Assertion there are many Arguments to assure us Every Thing is fond of Existence and Existence proves it self by Exercise and Action Now whoever does Good to another does after some sort exist in that Person and he who gives Being manifestly lives and acts in That Being which is propagated by him He that does a Kindness does a noble and generous Thing but he who receives it hath not the same to alledg For the Virtue is the proper Quality of the First but the Prosit and Advantage is peculiar to the Second Now Virtue we know is rooted in the Nature of the Thing and consequently is a more worthy and amiable a more firm and permanent Quality than that of Advantage can possibly be for This is additional occasional and accidental only it may quickly vanish into nothing and take it self away Again We are fond of those Things that are obtain'd with Difficulty and Expence That is dear to us which costs us dear says the Provetb But the Bringing Children into the World the Cherishing Maintaining and Educating them are infinitely more troublesome for Parents to bestow than it is possible to be to Children to receive these Advantages But this Love of Parents is capable of a very just Distinction and tho' there be two different sorts of it Of two kinds yet thus far they agree that both are Natural The First is purely and entirely so little if at all remov'd from that which we commonly call Instinct in Brutes for they partake of it as well as we This disposes Parents to a strange Tenderness for their Children even at the Breast and in the Cradle and gives the first Infant-Cries and Complaints a wondrous Power of moving Compassion and piercing their very Souls This likewise inspires an unaccountable Fondness and Delight in them while as yet they are only capable of diverting us and as meer Play-things as those Wax and Plaister-Babies which themselves are shortly to be entertain'd withal Now This Affection is not strictly and properly Humane Nor ought a Man enrich'd with an Endowment so noble as Reason to suffer himself to be thus enslav'd to Nature after the manner of Beasts that know no better but rather he shou'd be led by these Motions of the Soul and follow them freely with all that Temper and Evenness which Judgment and Consideration shou'd inspire For these shou'd preside over Nature and moderate its Affections reducing all to the Measures and Guidance of Reason But now the other sort is more agreeable to These and consequently more Humane and worthy of us This inclines us to love our Children more or less as they are more or less attractive and deserving our Affection to rise in This as these tender Plants of ours Blossom and Bud and in proportion to the early Dawnings and brighter and stronger Shinings of Wit and good Sense Virtue and Goodness in them Some Parents there are who seem wonderfully transported with the first Appearances of this kind but lose the Satisfaction soon after because the Charge of maintaining them at first is no great Matter but That of the Education which must improve and finish them and bring Credit to their Natural Gifts is grievous and insupportable This looks as
if they grudg'd their Children the Honour and Happiness of growing wiser and better and were sorry that they answer the End of their Creation A Folly so absurd so infinitely unreasonable that we may justly call them brutish and inhumane Fathers who are guilty of it Now in pursuance of this Second and properly Paternal Affection Parents shou'd by all means admit their Children so soon as they are capable of it to keep them Company They shou'd make them a competent Allowance fit for the Rank and Condition of them and their Family shou'd enter them into Business and let them see the World confer and consult with them about their own Private Affairs communicate their Designs their Opinions to them not only as their Companions but their Friends and not keep them in Darkness and Strangers to things which they have so great an Interest in These shou'd consent to and even condescend to assist in their becoming and innocent Diversions as Occasions shall offer and so far as any of these things can conveniently be done but still so as to preserve all due regard to their own Authority and the Character of a Parent For certainly such prudent Reserves may be us'd in this Case as wou'd in no degree diminish That and yet abundantly condemn that stern and austere that magisterial and imperious Countenance and Carriage which never lets a Child hear one mild Word nor see one pleasant Look Men think it now below them to hear of the Relation and disdain to be call'd Fathers when yet God himself does not only condescend to but delight in that Title above all others whatsoever They make it no part of their Endeavour or Concern to win the Love of their Children but prefer Fear and Awe and respectful Expressions of Distance before all the Endearments and Testimonies of a dutiful and tender Affection And to contain them in these Sentiments the better and to confirm them the more they shew their Power by holding their Hands and denying the Supplies that are necessary and sit for them make them as the Term is bite of the Bridle and not only live like Beggars or Scoundrels at present but threaten to keep them so by leaving their Estates from them when they die Now what Stuff is all this how sottish and ridiculous a Farce do such People act What is this but to distrust the Efficacy of that Authority which is real and natural and of right belongs to the Relation they stand in that so they may usurp a foreign and unjust Jurisdiction and frame an artificial and imaginary Authority to themselves An Authority which all serious and good Men do but pity or contemn nay which crosses and contradicts the very End of all this foolish Project for they destroy that very Reverence they would maintain and render themselves despicable in their own Families a Jest and Scorn even to those Children But if it have not this Effect which it too often hath of drawing such Contempt upon them yet is it a mighty Temptation to young People thus us'd to take to Tricks and little dishonest Shifts and without the least Remorse to cheat and impose upon such Parents Whose Business indeed shou'd have been to regulate and inform their Minds and shew them the Equity and Reasonableness of their Duty but by no means to have Recourse to such kind of Treatment as is much more agreeable to the Arbitrary Violence of a Tyrant than the Affectionate Regards and kind Care of a Father What says the wise Comedian to this purpose * Errat longè meâ quidem Sententiâ Qui imperium credit esse gravius aut stabilius Vi quod fit quam illud quod amicitiâ adjungitur Truly in my Mind that Man thinks much amiss Who believes that Government purely by Force Shou'd have more Authority and a better Foundation Than when 't is accompany'd with Tenderness and Respect As to the final Disposal of the Estate The best and wisest way all notable and extraordinary Accidents excepted will be to take our Measures from the Laws and Customs of the Country where we dwell For it ought to be presum'd that the Laws are wiser than We and that the Makers of them consider'd things more maturely than private Men are likely to do And if any Inconvenience shou'd afterwards happen from such a Distribution it will be much more excusable to Posterity that we have err'd in going by the common Road than if it had been by any particular Whimsie of our own But sure there cannot be a greater abuse of the Trust repos'd in us and the Liberty we have to dispose of our Fortunes as we please than to let little foolish Fancies and frivolous Quarrels or private Resentments weigh down the Obligations of a higher Nature and either endite or alter Articles in our Will And yet how many Instances do we see of Men who suffer themselves to be transported by a most unreasonable Partiality and are wrought upon either by some little officious Diligence or the Presence of one Child when the rest are Absent to make a mighty Difference where Blood and Duty have never made any at all who play with their Wills as if it were a jesting-matter and gratifie or chastise such Actions as do not deserve such an Animadversion for it ought to be something much more than common which excludes those who have a just Pretence to share in what we leave or that disposes us to a Division so unequal as should very much affect the Fortunes of our Children in prejudice to one another and leave no Mark whereby to know that they were Brothers and Sifters And if the Acting thus be a Fault the Threatning at a distance or promising such an Inequality is highly Wicked and Foolish and of most pernicious Influence in the Family And therefore I say still in despight of any supportable Defects in our Children the Flatteries and Officiousness of some or the pardonable Provocations of others let us sit down and consider that This as it is one of the last so it is one of the most important and serious Actions of our Lives and therefore Reason and Law and common Usage ought to take place in it For these are the wisest Guides we can follow and in conforming to Them we take the surest Gourse to answer the Obligations of our Character to vindicate our Proceedings to the World and to quiet and satisfie our own Consciences We are now come to that other general Division of this Chapter The Duty of Children toward their Parents Duty of Children than which there is not any more plainly and visibly writ in the Book of Nature or more expresly and positively enjoyn'd by Religion A Duty which ought to be paid them not as mere and common Men but as a sort of Demy-Gods earthly and visible Deities in this Mortal Flesh Upon this Account Philo the Jew tells us that the Fifth Commandment was written half of it in the First and
the other half in the Second Table of the Decalogue Because it in part regards the Duty we owe to God and in part That which we owe to our Neighbour This is likewise so self-evident and acknowledg'd a Duty so strictly and indispensably requir'd at our Hands that No other Duty no other Affection can supersede it even tho' our Affection to other Persons may and is allow'd to be more intimate and tender For put the Case that a Man hath a Father and a Son both involv'd in the same Distress and that he have it in his Power to relieve but one of them it hath been the Opinion of very wise Men that he is bound to assist his Father notwithstanding his Affection to the Son according to what hath been lately urg'd upon that Occasion be the greater and stronger The Reason of which Resolution seems to be That the Son's Debt to the Father is of longer standing and the Obligation bore Date and was in Force before that to his own Son and that therefore it is in this as in other Cases of like Nature where no antecedent Tie can be cancell'd by any Engagement or Debt contracted afterwards Now this Duty principally consists in Five Particulars All of which are comprehended under that significant Expression of Honouring our Father and Mother The First is Reverence by which we are to understand not only those External Respects of the Looks or Gestures or Behaviour but the Inward and Respectful Sense of the Mind and This indeed chiefly as the Source and Foundation of the other Now This consists in a high Esteem and prosound Veneration for them looking upon them as the Authors and Original of our Being and all the Comforts of it The Instruments and Immediate Causes which the Universal Father of all things was pleas'd to make choice of for the bringing us out of Nothing and making us what we are and therefore in that Quality bearing a very great Resemblance to God himself The Second is Obedience Which provided the Matter of the Command be lawful cannot be dispens'd with upon the Pretence of any Rigour or Hardship that it is encumber'd with And thus we find the Rechabites commended by God himself for complying with the Severities of Life Jer. xxxv imposed upon Them and their Posterity by Jonadab their Ancestor The Third is Succouring them in all their Exigencies and Distresses maintaining and cherishing them in their Wants and Weaknesses Old Age and Sickness Infirmities and Poverty must be so far from Provoking our Scorn and Contempt that they are but so many louder Calls and more engaging Ties to Love and Duty to Assistance and Respect aiding and advising them in their Business and exerting our utmost Power to do them Service Of This we have some wonderful Examples in the other Parts of Nature and Brutes themselves have set us a noble and almost inimitable Pattern particularly the Stork which St. Basil so elegantly extols upon this account For the young Storks are said to nourish and feed the old ones to cover them with their Feathers when the Shedding of their own exposes them to the Injuries of Cold and Weather to fly in couples and join Wings to carry them on their Backs Nature it seems inspiring them with this Artificial Contrivance of shewing this Piety and Affection This Example is so lively so very moving that the Duty of Parents to their Children hath been express'd in some Translations by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is acting the Part of a Stork And the Hebrews in cohsideration of this eminent Quality call this Bird Chasida which signifies Kind Charitable Good-Natur'd Some very remarkable Instances of this kind among Men we read in ancient History Tymon Son to the Great Miltiades when his Father was dead in Prison and so poor that he had not wherewith to bury him tho' some say it was for the Payment of his Debts for failure whereof his Corpse was arrested and kept above-ground sold himself and sacrific'd his Liberty for a Summ of Money to be expended in defraying the Charges of the Funeral This Man did not contribute to his Father's Necessities out of his own Abundance or his actual Possessions but parted with his Freedom a Juying dearer to him and esteem'd more valuable than either Fortune or Life it self for his Father's Sake He did not relieve him alive and in distress but when he was dead no longer his Father no longer a Man What a Brave what an Heroick Act was this What may we reasonably imagine so gallant a Son would have done what indeed would he not have done for a living and a necessitous Father One that had asked or that had needed his Assistance This is a generous and a glorious Instance of the Duty now under Consideration We are likewise told of Two Examples in the weaker Sex Women who suckled the One her Father and the Other her Mother when they were Prisoners under Sentence of Condemnation and to be famished to Death which is said to have been heretofore a Punishment very commonly inflicted in Capital Cases It looks a little Unnatural for a Mother to Subsist upon her Daughter's Milk This is turning the Stream back again up to the Fountain-Head but sure it deserves to be considered by the Ladies of Our Age how very Natural indeed how Fundamental and Primitive a Law of Nature it is for Mothers to suckle and give that Sustenance which Nature hath provided on purpose to their own Children The Fourth Duty is To be governed and directed by them in all Matters of Moment to attempt no considerable Thing without taking their Advice and asking their Consent and being confirmed in our Intentions and Designs by the Parents Approbation and good Liking This is a general Rule extending to all the important Affairs of Humane Life All that are fit to trouble and consult them about but it hath a special Regard to the Disposing of themselves in Marriage which is of all others the most Weighty and Serious and such as Parents have a particular right to be well informed of and perfectly satisfied in The Fifth is Covering their Vices and Imperfections submitting to their Humors and Passions their Severity and hard Usage and bearing all their most unreasonable Peevishness and angry Rebukes with Patience and Temper Of This we have a notable Instance in Manlius Pomponius The Tribune had accused the Father of this Manlius to the People of several grievous Crimes among the rest of horrible Barbarity to his Son and among other Indignities that he forc'd him to dig and drive the Plough This Son went to this Tribune's House found him in Bed and putting a Knife to his Throat made him swear that he would withdraw the Indictment and prosecute his Father 10 farther declaring that he had rather submit to the most Slavish Drudgery his Father could impose upon him and toil at it all the Days of his Life than see him prosecuted and exposed for any
rigorous Carriage to him These Five Duties at first Sight may perhaps seem too Rigid but there is no Child who would not allow them to be very reasonable and becoming him to pay did he but give himself the Trouble of considering seriously how much he hath stood his Parents in What Pain and Anxiety what Tender Care and Concern what Trouble and Expence and what a World of Affection went to the bringing of him up But This in Truth is a Computation which no Man is capable of making justly till he come to have Children of his own Then Matters will appear to him quite otherwise than now they do And therefore as the Philosopher who was found riding upon a Hobby-Horse with his little Boy desired that his Friend would forbear to expose that Levity of his till he was a Father himself So in the Case before us whoever shall imagine that the Duty to Parents is carried beyond Equity and Reason or Their Merits to their Children over-rated here we must beg that he will be content to suspend his Final Determination of this Matter till that Time come which alone can make him a competent Judge of it CHAP. XV. Duties of Masters and Servants THere remains now only the Third and Last Part of Private and Domestick Justice to be spoken to which consists of the mutual Duties of that lowest Relation between Masters and Servants Now in Order to a right Understanding of this Matter we must remember that there are different Sorts of Servants and more especially these Three that follow The First are what we call Slaves in which all the World abounded heretofore and the greatest Part of it does so still for except one Quarter of Europe they are still reckoned as part of their Masters Riches and Estate And accordingly they have no Right in any Thing not so much as in their Goods their Children or their own Bodies but their Patron hath an absolute Power to buy and sell them to give them or barter them away and to deal by them in as Arbitrary and Uncontrouled a Manner as We do with our Horses or Cattel or any Beasts of Service Of these we have delivered our Opinion at large in the first Book The Next are Book I. Chap. 43. what we commonly call Servants or Attendants These are Free-Men and have a Right Inviolable in their own Persons and Possessions nay they have such an indefeasible Liberty that it cannot be taken away from them by any Voluntary Compact of their own or any other Means used in Prejudice of it But they are bound to Pay Honor and Respect Obedience and Service for so long a Time and upon such Conditions as have been covenanted for and their Masters accordingly have a Power of commanding correcting and punishing them within the Bounds of Moderation and Discretion The Third Sort are what we may term Hirelings or Workmen which are still less in Subjection than the Former For they are not obliged to Attendance nor Obedience in general but only to the Performance of that Particular Work we take them for and so they only make an Exchange of their Labour and Industry for so much of our Money for those that Hire them have no Authority either to correct them for doing amiss or to command them at large in any other Thing Now The Duty of Masters towards their Servants whether in the Quality of Slaves or of Attendants is Not to use them Barbarously but always to remember that These too are Men of the very same Species withthemselves made up of the same Materials cast in the same Mould descended from the same Ancestors That it is not Nature which hath put any Difference but only Fortune and Fortune is a very Humorsom and changeable Thing for the seems to make her self great Diversion with her Wheel and to triumph in turning those that were at the Bottom up to the Top and tumbling those that sat at the Top down to the Bottom Consequently that the Distinction is not so great as they are willing to imagine nor what can bear them out in keeping their Fellows at so vast a distance and expecting such wonderful Submissions from them For * Sunt homines contubernales humiles amici conservi aequè Fâ—rtunae subjecti these says Seneca are Men and our poor Friends and humble Companions but withall our Fellow-Servants for we are all equally at the Disposal of the same Providence Our Servants then should be treated with Courtesie and Condescension not with proud Disdain and impious Contempt we should rather make it our Business that they may love us than that they may be afraid of us But to deal Roughly and use them Hardly discovers great Inhumanity and Cruelty of Disposition and plainly declares that we should use all Mankind just so if we had them as much at our Mercy and that it is not want of Will but want of Power which hinders us from the Execution of our Barbarous Inclinations We are also obliged to have Regard to their Health to be Kind and Tender of them in Sickness and sad Accidents to Provide for their Instruction and take special Care that they be taught their Duty especially such Things as are Necessary to be known for the Good of their Souls and which their everlasting Salvation may be promoted by The Duty of Servants is to Honour and fear their Masters with regard to this Relation between them whatsoever they may be or how little soever they may deserve such Deference in any other respects To obey them Faithfully and Diligently to be true to their Trust to serve not only in Appearance and while the Master's Eye is upon them but Sincerely Seriously and Cordially out of a Principle of Conscience and without the least mixture of Hypocrisie and Dissimulation To sow no Discord or foment Jealousies and Discontents in the Family to keep Secrets not to turn Whisperers or Hearkeners or busie Bodies not divulging what is done at Home to the Prejudice of their Master but advancing his Interest and vindicating his Reputation as well as assisting and defending his Person so far as lies in their Power And indeed there are several very Noble and Generous and Brave Instances upon Record of eminent Things done by Servants for their Masters nay some of them have gone so far as to hazard their own for the saving their Masters Life or the doing Right to their Honour CHAP. XVI Duty of Princes and Subjects COncerning Princes and their Dignity the Different Measures of their Power the Humors to which this Elevation disposes them the Miseries and Inconveniences of so important a Trust we have had Occasion to speak already in the Forty Sixth Chapter of the First Book as we likewise have done very largely in the Second and Third of this Book concerning their Duty and how they ought to Govern But all this notwithstanding we will just touch upon the main Strokes and general Heads of their Business in this Place
Sun and Moon for their Excellencies and the good influences they shed When we enjoy this Beauty and have made it our own property by fair and honest means let us even then remember that this is a very low and mean satisfaction so far from being peculiar to the dignity of Humane nature that Brutes all partake and are most of them supposed to exceed us in it That the immoderate use of Pleasure wastes the Body softens and effeminates the Soul enfeebles and darkens the understanding That a world of people have fallen miserable Sacrifices to their inordinate Lusts some in the loss of their Lives others of their Fortunes and others of their Senses but the Reputations murdered by it are innumerable Consider again that there is more honour nay I will add more pleasure too in vanquishing these desires than in complying with them And all the transports of fruition are flat and dull nauseous and insipid in comparison of those ravishing satisfactions which overflow in our Souls when we have gained a virtuous and noble Conquest over our selves And this is the general Sense of Sober Mankind for there is no one Action in the Life of Alexander or Scipio in which their Historians so justly glory as that of the treatment they gave to their beautiful Captives and the tenderness for their Honour which the Fortune of War was generally thought a privilege to violate This Continency and Conquest of themselves is more highly commended than all their successes and hath more engaging Charms than the fairest of their Prisoners could ever boast of These I say are Considerations pertinent and proper enough but it cannot be expected they should have a constant efficacy For this Vice abounds with Sophistry and cunning and as it will not be reasoned with sometimes so at other times it will not be safe to go about it And therefore in cases of violent Assaults the best course will be to betake our selves to our heels and get loose from the Temptation And it is very observable that the Holy Ghost which bids us in all ordinary cases Resist the Devil Jam. 4.7 with a promise that he shall flee from us yet when he mentions Youthful Lusts the advice is that we would flee from them 2 Tim. 11.22 Debates as well as delays are dangerous here the Cause must be referred to a Judge under shrewd suspicions of Corruption and therefore the safest Issue we can make is to throw it out and never give it the hearing Business Recreation Company any thing to divert this stream of our Thoughts and Affections into another Channel There can be no difficulty in the Choice for in such cases the worst Company a Man can possibly be in is to have none but his own Now we are to observe that both the Virtue of Continency and its contrary Vice is of several kinds and different degrees The chief and that which I shall speak to at present is the Conjugal sort that mutual and inviolable Fidelity between Man and Wife which as it was the first and highest Obligation so is it the most sacred the most important and that which both Publick Society and Private Persons are deeply and inevitably interested in And therefore this ought to be held in the most Profound Veneration and Esteem and not suffered to become the Jest and common scorn of profligate Lewdness the Diversion of a Theatre or the boasted Triumph of a Man of the Town The Parties concerned in these holy Engagements must have no Affections nor cherish any desires beyond the Chast Embraces of each other but utterly Abandon the very wishes of stollen and unlawful delights and be content to Drink the Waters of their own Cistern Prov. 5.15 and the running Waters of their own Well that is pure and innocent unpolluted and untroubled delights of a faithful and lawful Marriage as the Wise Man expresses it according to the usual significancy and extraordinary decency of the Scripture Stile They that allow themselves in other liberties fall into the blackest and most complicated guilt imaginable they violate and Sin against their own Bodies by making them Vessels and Instruments of Uncleanness and Dishonour they transgress against all manner of Laws which any Man can be bound by The Laws of Revealed Religion which forbid us to prostitute our selves to silthiness and shame and have commanded the strictest purity of Conversation the Law of Nature which forbids the invading another Man's property and the tenderer the right is to him the more detestable is the injustice the Law of Reason and Equity which enjoyns fidelity and stedfastness to promises and mutual Contracts the Laws of the Land which have Established Marriages as the only conveyance of Right and giving a Title and Propriety in such cases the undoubted Rights of Families by grafting in a foreign growth upon the natural Stock injuring the other Children and transferring the fruit of a Man's Industry his Acquisition or his Inheritance to Strangers and Interlopers the Laws of Justice and Charity by starting difficulties and Disputes among Friends and Relations alienating the Affections of Parents from their Children and dissolving in great measure the Duty of Children to their Parents when there are these Jealousies among them and leaving a lasting and indelible stain upon the Unfortunate though innocent Posterity of so suspected a Race As to the other parts of this Vice I add only in one word that though Adultery be the highest yet it is not the only Violation of it Men would therefore do well to see how many Aggravations of this kind just now mentioned concur in any of those allowances they make to themselves to lay aside the byass of their present Passion and even in cases of simple Fornication ask their own Consciences how they should like to have the honour of a Sister or a Daughter so injured by another person and if they think but scurvily of such a blemish in a near Relation this at least makes the gratification an offence against Reason and Equity and natural Justice nor is it in such circumstances for a Man to alledge that the partner of the crime is no other Man's it is enough to Condemn him that She is not his own CHAP. XLII Of Ambition and Temperance with regard to the Desire of Honour and Fame THat this is a Desire which stands in great need of being tempered and restrained no Man can suffer himself to doubt who at all considers the inordinacy of the Affection the injurious courses it pushes the Patient upon and the infinite mischief it does to society when the Reins are let loose and we give it its head But though the free Range of this Affection be so pernicious yet we ought to take notice that according to what hath been formerly delivered upon the same occasion all Ambition all thirst either of Honour or of Reputation is not to be condemned without any distinction but that as it may be ordered and managed there
we may observe how very careful Men that went to Sea used to be that no Blasphemer or profane Person should embark in the same Vessels no profligate wicked Wretch to endanger their Safety or render their Voâ—age Disastrous or Unsuccesful One single Jonas you see whom God was Angry with had like to have lost all the Ship 's Crew And Bias when some wicked Wretches call'd upon their Gods in a Storm made them this ingenious Reproof by way of Raillery Hold your Peace that they may not discover such vile Wretches as you are on board Albuquerque who was Viceroy of the Indies under Emanuel King of Portugal when in extreme Danger laid hold on a young Boy and clung fast to him that so his Innocence might be a Shelter and Sanctuary to him against the Wrath of God So beneficial hath Virtue been esteemed and so destructive Vice not only to the Guilty or the Vitious Persons themselves but to all that are concerned with them or come within the Reach of their Influence But yet to esteem a Life thus retired and at a Distance from Evil absolutely the Best and most Excellent to think it better qualify'd than any other for the Exercise and Perfection of Virtue to call it more Difficult and Unpleasant more Laborious and Painful than any other as some who extol a voluntary renouncing the World would fain persuade us to believe is a mighty Error in themselves or a gross Cheat upon other People For quite contrary it is the most effectual Expedient of throwing off the Cares and troublesome Incumbrances of Life and rendring it light and easie and to say the very Best of it is but a very mean and moderate Attainment an imperfect Beginning or rather a mere Disposition to be Virtuous It is not to meddle with Business to abandon Difficulties and Troubles But how is this done It is not by engaging with and bravely overcoming them but by cowardly running away declining the Combate and hiding ones self from them It is to play least in Sight and be buried alive for fear we should not live well when we are seen No Doubt is to be made but a Prince a Magistrate or Parochial Priest are more perfect more valuable when Good in their kind than Monks and Hermits For in truth such Societies and Seminaries were only design'd to prepare Men for Dignities and Business to qualifie them for Society and the World And Colleges and Cloisters do not give but only lead Men to Usefulness and Perfection He that maintains his Post in the World and satisfies the Duty which the several Relations and Capacities he stands in require from him that converses with Wife and Children and Servants and Neighbours and Friends that manages his own Estate and engages in Business fit for his Condition He I say that undertakes to act so many different Parts and to answer the several Characters as becomes him hath incomparably more Work upon his Hands and is infinitely more Valuable if he perform it than the Recluse who is determined to one single thing and hath only the Duty to himself to take care of For Company and Variety of Conversation is infinitely more hazardous than Solitude and Plenty much harder to manage than Want In a State of Abstinence and Freedom from Business a Man hath but one Pass to guard in the Use and Management of several Things many Considerations must be attended to many Duties discharged and he lyes open to Attacks from several Quarters at once And there is no Doubt in the World to be made but a Man may much more easily conquer Himself to disclaim and refuse Riches and Honours great Offices and gainful Preferments than he can govern himself in the Use or come off with Virtue and just Commendation in the Discharge of them It is no very difficult Matter to live without a Wife but to live with a Wise and behave ones self in all Respects as a Husband ought to do to order and educate Children and bear due Regard and make fit Provisions for a Family and all its Dependencies is a Task Men seldom give themselves the trouble to consider But They that do and make a right Judgment of it will be very far from extolling Caelibacy as some do or think it an Argument of higher Virtue or a State of greater Difficulty than Marriage 2. Nor are Men less mistaken when they suppose that Solitude is a safe Shelter from all manner of Vice and that He who takes Sanctuary in it and sequesters himself from the World rides in Harbour and is out of the Reach of Tempests and Temptations for These find a way to pursue and overtake us even There This is indeed a Convenient Retreat from the Corruptions of ill Company from the Clutter and Crowd of Cares and Business and the Mischiefs that threaten and come upon us from Without but there are other Enemies and Dangers from Within which we always carry about us and cannot run away from Spiritual and Internal Difficulties Domestick and peculiar Evils and the Scripture takes express Notice that the Wilderness was the Place where our Saviour was Assaulted and Tempted by the Devil Retirement is a dangerous Weapon in the Hands of Young Men such as are Hot and Imprudent Rash and Unskilful and there is great Reason to fear that what Crates said to a Young Man whom he found walking all alone is generally true of such Persons and that such when they are by Themselves are in very bad Company This is the Place where Fools lay their wicked Projects here they find Leisure and Opportunities for contriving their own Ruine here they cherish and indulge unlawful Desires file and polish and refine upon their own Passions without Observation without Controul A Man had need be very Wise to know how to make the best Use of Privacy watchful and well fortify'd before he is fit to be trusted with Himself For many times ones Own Hands are the very Worst he can be put into It is an excellent Petition which the Spaniards use even to a Proverb * Guarda mi Dios de mi. Nemo est ex imprudentibus qui sibi relinqui debeat Solitudo omnia persuadet O Lord I beseech thee preserve me from My Self Very few indeed have discretion enough to be left to Themselves and nothing is so bad but Secrecy and Solitude are powerful Temptations to comply with it But for Men to take up their Heels and skulk in a Corner upon any Private and Personal Consideration though it be a lawful and commendable one in it self which yet is the best and not always the Truth of the Case for very often Cowardice and Weakness of Spirit Peevishness and Pets or some other discontented or vicious Passion is at the Bottom of all this pompous and pretended Contempt of the World is to turn Deserter and not dare to stand to our Arms. There is a mighty Difference between forsaking the World and falling out with
with thy Grace and take me for thy own that I who am of my self miserable and poor and naked and blind and weak may be able to do even all things through Christ who strengtheneth me These are proper Addresses upon such an occasion but the properest and most probable method to obtain them that is to incline the Compassion of God and dispose him to gratify such Desires will be strict Moral Honesty and a Conscientious Observation of the Law of Nature to the best of our power For this though it be not an absolutely Meritorious Cause is yet a Conditional one and a good Preparation for the receiving Supernatural Assistances as Matter ready disposed is cloathed with the Form and the Vegetative and Sensitive Soul derived from our Parents lead the way and put all things in readiness for the Accession of the Rational and Intellectual one which proceeds from God Thus Human Wisdom is the Introduction to Divine Philosophy the Handmaid to Religion the Natural and Moral Duties of a Man subservient and Instrumental to the Liberty of a Christian the Light and Favour of the Children of God He who does his best in the matters of Reason and Morality gives God an occasion of exercising his Bounty and bestowing larger and nobler Virtues upon him It being an equitable Method and such as our Blessed Saviour assures us God himself proceeds by to trust that Man with more and greater Talents who hath approved himself diligent and faithful in the good management of less To this purpose are all those Holy Aphorisms Thou hast been faithful in a very little be thou ruler over much God giveth the Holy Spirit to all them that ask him To Him that hath shall be given and He shall have abundance God denies no man Grace who does his utmost God is wanting to no Man in necessary Supplies and the like On the other hand To live in Contradiction and Defiance to Men's Natural Light is to put one's self out of all Capacity of God's Favour and as much as in us lies to make it impossible for Grace to be given us Since He who gives it hath expresly declared upon what Conditions Men are allowed to expect it and if He exceeds those Measures and bestows it upon persons wholly unqualified This is beside the Common Method and an excepted Case from his regular Dispensations This obstinacy and perverseness is expresly mentioned as the Reason why our Saviour refused to preach in some particular places and since the Evangelists St. Cyril St. Chry oslem St. Augustin and other of the Fathers have largely discoursed upon that matter to this purpose By all which it appears evidently that Grace and Nature are not contrary Principles for in the Sense I have all along used the Term in this Chapter Grace is so far from forcing or destroying Nature that it is a gentle and seasonable Relief to it nay it strengthens and crowns and perfects Nature We must not therefore set these two in opposition to each other but join both together and put on the One as the Ornament the Fulness and just Finishing of the Other Both proceed from God though after different manners and therefore we must neither put them at variance nor confound them for want of duly distinguishing them asunder for each hath its proper Springs and peculiar Motions They neither set out together nor operate alike though both came from the same place and lead to the same End at last Nature may be without Grace and when duly followed hath its commendation even then in regard to those Circumstances which admitted of no more Thus it was with the Philosophers and Great Men heretofore Persons whose Proficiency under this First and General Law and their Attainments in all sorts of Moral Virtue may be allowed to excite our Wonder as well as challenge our Praise Such likewise is the Case of all Infidels at this day because the Grace we speak of is a Gospel-Blessing and They who are not under the Evangelical Covenant have no Title to it But Grace cannot be without Nature because This is the Matter for it to work upon for the business of Grace is to reform and perfect and therefore This as necessarily supposes Nature as the raising of a Roof supposes a Foundation to be laid and Walls already carried up The Organist may exercise his Fingers 't is true upon the dumb Keys and make his Hand but the Harmony must come from the Breath or if it could sound yet would it be but like St. Paul's tinkling Cymbal of no worth or significancy at all But all the Air in the World will never make Musick of the Instrument without a Hand to strike the Keys In This I have been the more particular and descended to familiar Comparisons because Some I find have suffered themselves to be led into very gross Mistakes upon the matter Persons who have never conceived a right and worthy Notion of that true Probity and entirely Honest Principle we have been recommending but are blown up with strange Romantick Conceits of Grace which they doubt not to attain and practise eminently well without any regard to Morality and by a Scheme of Pharisaical Accomplishments some easy lazy sormal Performances which carry a great appearance of Sanctity to the World but as for the real Substance and inward Power of Goodness and Integrity they give themselves no trouble at all about it I see great store of these Men in the World every day but alas I can find but very few such as Aristides Phocion Cato Regulus Socrates no Epaminonda's no Scipio's no Strict and Conscientious Professors I mean of stanch and solid Virtue and Philosophical or if you please common Justice and downright Moral Honesty The Reproaches and Complaints so liberally bestowed by our Saviour upon the Pharisees and Hypocrites will never be out of season for the persons obnoxious to these always abound and even those who set up for the Great Censors of Manners the Zealous Railers at Vice and Grave Reformers of the World are not all exempt from this Charge themselves But enough of this I have spoken largely of the Virtue it self now before I close this Chapter I must take leave to add one word concerning the disposition of Mind contrary to it Now Wickedness or Evil Practices and Temper is against Nature it is deformed odious Wickedness and offensive all that can judge and discern must needs detest and loath it which gave occasion for some to say That it is a monstrous Birth the Product of Brutality and Ignorance It does not only provoke the Dislike and Aversion of others but raises the Indignation of a Man 's own Mind who is guilty of it Repentance and Self-condemnation are its certain Consequences It gnaws and corrodes and frets the Soul like an Ulcer in the Flesh makes one restless and uneasy out of Countenance and out of Conceit with himself and is ever busy in contriving and inflicting fresh Torments