can this shorten the long state of Death For tho' thy Life shall numerous Ages fill The State of Death shall be Eternal still And he that dies to day shall be no more As long as those who perish'd long before If Nature saith he again should in anger speak to us in this manner What Cause hast thou O Mortal to Weep and to Complain of Death If thy former Life hath been easie and pleasant and if thou hast known how to make use of the good things and delights that I have afforded thee why dost thou not as a Guest depart when thou art full and satisfied with Life and why dost thou not accept fond Creature of the agreeable Repose that is offered thee But if otherwise thy Life hath been to thee a burthen and if thou hast suffered my Bounties to perish why desirst thou more to mispend them after the same manner for I can give thee no new thing And if thou shouldst live thousands of years thou wilt but still see the same things repeated over again If Nature should speak to us in this Language should we not have reason to approve of this Discourse and own that it hath cause to Reproach us in this manner Fond Mortal what 's the matter thou dost sigh Why all these Tears because thou once must die And once submit to strong Necessity For if the Race thou hast already run Was pleasant if with joy thou saws't the Sun If all thy Pleasures did not pass thy Mind As thro' a Sieve but left some Sweets behind Why dost thou not then like a thankful Guest Rise cheerfully from Life's abundant Feast And with a quiet Mind go take thy Rest But if all those Delights are lost and gone Spent idly all and Life a burthen grown Then why fond Mortal dost thou ask for more Why still desire t' increase thy wretched store And wish for what must wast like those before Not rather free thy self from Pains and Fear And end thy Life and necessary care My Pleasures always in a Circle run The same returning with the yearly Sun And thus tho' thou dost still enjoy thy Prime And tho' thy Limbs feel not the rage of Time Yet I can find no new no fresh Delight The same dull Joys must vex thy Appetite Altho' thou coud'st prolong thy wretched Breath For numerous Years much more if free from Death At least we must acknowledge that a Wise Man who hath lived long enough to consider the World ought of his own accord to submit himself to the Course of Nature when he perceives that his time is come and cannot but suppose that his Race is Run and that the Circle that he hath finish'd is compleat and if this Circle is not to be compared to Eternity it is however with the continuance of the World As to what relates to the whole Prospect of Nature he hath often beheld the Heavens the Earth and other things included in the World He hath often seen the rising and the setting of the Coelestial Bodies He hath taken notice of several Eclipses and many other Phaenomenas or unusual Appearances in the Skye the constant succession of the Seasons and in a word many particular Generations many Corruptions and Transmutations And as to those things which relate to Mankind he hath seen or at least hath heard and understood from History the Transactions that have happen'd from the beginning of Peace and of War of Faith kept and violated of a Polite Life and of a rude and barbarous Behaviour of Laws Establish'd and Abolish'd of Kingdoms and Commonwealths in their first Birth and Declension and generally all other things that he hath any knowledge of or which have been told him and with which he is in any wise acquainted as if he had been present when they first happen'd So that he ought to consider that all the time that is gone before him relates to him as if his Life were begun with the things themselves And because we must judge of the future by the time past he ought also to think that all the subsequent time relates to him in the same manner and that there shall be nothing hereafter but what hath been already that there is nothing but the Circumstances of things that alter and that all things in general steer the same common Course and make the like appearances so that Holy Writ hath reason to say The thing that hath been it is that which shall be and that which is done is that which shall be done again and there is no new thing under the Sun Is there any thing whereof it may be said see this is new From whence we may conclude that a Wise Man ought not to fancy his Life short for by casting his eye upon the time past and foreseeing the time to come he may extend it to as great a length as the duration of the Universe Moreover tho' Epicurus had cause to say That it is ridiculous to assert that there is no evil in Death when it is present and yet to dread it and be troubled when it must come as if there were any reason to be disturbed for that which is absent which when present never gives us the least sorrow Nevertheless because other Considerations represent Death dreadful as the Evils and Pains that Usher it and those that we think will be its necessary Attendants Seneca therefore makes it his business to recommend divers Considerations wherein he shews that tho' Death in it self is no Evil yet it appears so much in that Notion that it ought not to be lookt upon as an indifferent thing for as he expresseth himself Death is not indifferent in the same manner as it is indifferent whether the Hairs of my head be of one length or not for Death is to be reckon'd amongst those things which tho' they be no real Evils yet they appear to be so for we love our selves and naturally desire to subsist and preserve our selves and we have an innate aversion from a dissolution because it seems to deprive us of many advantages and draws us away from that plenty of Enjoyments unto which we are accustomed There is yet one thing more which causeth us to dread Death We know the things present but we are altogether Strangers to those unto which we are a going and therefore we fear that which is unknown Besides we have a natural dread of Darkness into which we imagin that Death is leading us So that tho' Death is indifferent yet it is not of the number of those things that are easily to be despised we ought to inure and harden our Minds by a long accustomed Habit to enable us the more willingly to undergo and encounter with the dismal approaches of Death The Third Particular relates to the abominable Opinion of the Stoicks who were perswaded that in some Cases Men had the liberty to kill themselves for thus you see Seneca represents them arguing It is certainly a great
shall hear what he saith next When we say that Pleasure is the main End we mean neither the Pleasures of Debauchery nor the other sensual Delights which terminate in the very moment of enjoyment and by which the Senses are only gratified and pleased as some ignorant Persons and who are not of our Opinion or who being enviously bent against us do thus Interpret But we only understand this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To feel no pain in the Body and to have no trouble in the Soul for 't is not the Pleasure of continual Eating and Drinking nor the Pleasure of Love nor that of Rare Dainties and delicious Bits of large and well-furnish'd Tables that make a Pleasant Life but a sound Judgment assisted by Sobriety and consequently by a serenity and tranquility of Mind which throughly enquires into the Causes why we ought to embrace or avoid any thing and that drives away all mistaken Opinions or false Notions of things which might raise much perplexity in the Soul I might add another Passage which I shall only mention Venereorum usus nunquam prodest praeclareque agitur nisi etiam noceat That the Delights of Venus are not only unprofitable but it is very rare if they be not mischievous But this ingenuous and plain Declaration of his meaning is sufficient to justifie him from the slanderous Accusations of his Enemies Let us nevertheless take notice of the difference and contrariety that Laertius puts between Epicurus and Aristippus for this difference or antithesis shews clearly that Epicurus believed no other Pleasure to be the End but that which consists in a constant Repose namely a freedom from pain of Body and trouble of Mind But Aristippus would have it consist in that Pleasure of the Body which is chiefly Communicated to us by action or by which our Senses are actually pleased and gratified This contrariety I say discovers Epicurus's Opinion to have been misrepresented and taken in a wrong sense such as Aristippus's deserved So that all the Reproaches that were due to Aristippus have been cast by this mistake upon Epicurus and the other hath escap'd unblemish'd The Famous Dispute of Torquatus in Cicero plainly discovers this Truth Hear his words I will explain saith Torquatus what that Pleasure is that I may prevent all cause of mistake in them who understand not the matter and that I may make them apprehend that this Doctrin which they fancy to be loose and debauch'd is Grave Chast and Regular We do not pursue that Pleasure which gratifies Nature with a little seeming sweetness and that is relish'd by the Senses with a haut-gust But we esteem that to be the chief Pleasure that is taken without any sense of Pain for as Thirst and Hunger are allayed by Eating and Drinking this deliverance freedom or privation from that which is troublesom and uneasie causeth Pleasure so in all other things a deliverance from Pain begets Pleasure Epicurus therefore admits of no Medium between Pain and Pleasure for he maintained that what appear'd to some to be a Medium namely the privation from all Pain was not only a Pleasure but the chief Pleasure In truth he that rightly understands himself and knows what ails him or what Condition he is in he must needs be either in Pleasure or in Pain Now Epicurus was of Opinion that the chief Pleasure consisted in a privation from all Pain and by Consequence that Pleasure may be diversified and distinguished but not augmented and encreas'd We might here produce some Witnesses of this matter Certainly Seneca may be heard and credited before all others as being without doubt a Person of great worth unspotted Reputation of an Exemplary Life and Manners and addicted to a Sect which had chiefly drawn upon Epicurus all the shame and disgrace that is commonly cast upon him instead of Aristippus being thereunto encouraged by the evil sense and meaning that they have given to his words According to Epicurus saith Seneca there are two Advantages required to the compleating the Sovereign Good or Chief Happiness of Man The First is That the Body may be without Pain The Second That the Mind may be calm and sedate These advantages don't increase if they be compleat for how can that which is full increase When the Body is free from Pain what can be added to that Freedom when the Mind enjoys it self and is quiet what may be added to this Tranquility Like as the Serenity of the Heavens is perfect and can't admit of any other new degrees of Light when it is absolutely clear and without the least shadow or mist Thus the Condition of Man is perfect when he hath taken care of his Body and Soul making his chief Happiness to consist in the advantages of both together in a Freedom from all trouble of Mind and from all pain of Body for we may then say that such a Man is arrived to the full accomplishment of all his Desires And if beside all this there happens to him an additional Repose it don't increase his chief Good but it only seasons it for this compleat Happiness the perfection of the Human Nature is comprehended in the quiet of the Body and the Mind In which words we may take notice that Seneca expresseth clearly and plainly Epicurus's Opinion as it is related by Laertius Moreover because that Epicurus gave the Name of Chief Good or Compleat Happiness to a freedom from Bodily Pain and a perfect Tranquility of Mind the loose and Debauched Persons of his time took incouragement from thence mistaking the word Pleasure and boasting that they had a Philosopher to countenance their Debaucheries For this Reason Seneca argues with them in this manner in his Book of a Happy-Life 'T is not Epicurus that forces or perswades them to Luxury and Debauchery but being accustomed to these Vices they endeavour to conceal their Vices under the Covert of Philosophy and they flock together when they hear Pleasure mentioned with Praise Non ab Epicuro impulsi luxuriantur sed vitiis dediti luxuriam suam in Philosophiae sinu abscondunt eo concurrunt ubi audiunt laudari Voluptatem Without doubt it is not the Pleasure of Epicurus which is esteem'd and sought after I know how sober and innocent that Pleasure is But they skip at the Name of Pleasure seeking some protection and veil from their Lasciviousness and filthy Delights Nec aestimatur Voluptas illa Epicuri ita enim me Hercules sentio quam sobria ac sicca sit sed ad nomen ipsum advolant quaerentes libidinibus suis patrocinium aliquod ac velamentum My Opinion saith he again is for I will speak it in despight of the Vulgar The things that Epicurus teacheth are fair and just and have something of solid and serious if we consider them exactly for his Pleasure is reduc'd to very few things He prescribes to it the very same Rules that we do to Vertue and appoints it to be Obedient to Nature
part act in the same manner as if they had only a great care of the right Hand and neglected the Left Because Vertue as all the World acknowledges holds the first and chief Place in Man and we esteem those who are Wise to have attain'd a great degree of Perfection will you admire nothing but Vertue dazle your Eyes only with its Splendor and Glory Truly Vertue is the best and most excellent thing in Man but you dont seem to consider your self enough we dont desire that Vertue should forsake Nature but that it should keep and preserve it But according to your direction it preserves one part and leaves the other If the first Institution of Man could speak it would tell us that the first beginnings of its Desire were to preserve it self in that State that it appear'd in at the beginning c. Besides we are not ignorant of what we are wont to say when we declaim against Pleasure That it is the capital Plague of Man the mortal Enemy of Reason that it puts out the Eyes of the Understanding and that it hath no correspondency with Vertue that it is the source of Treasons the ruine of Common-wealths the origin of all Crimes that it wasts our paternal Estates blasteth our Reputation weakens the Body and makes it subject to Diseases and that in short it hastens old Age and Death Not Heaven's high Rage nor Swords or Flames combind Can bring such Plagues as Pleasure to the Mind On 's mad with Dice one melts in vicious Love But when the knotty Gout forbids his Joynts to move How sweet an evil Luxury appears Which drown'd in Flesh and deaf to Heavenly Cares The sluggish Senses of their Force disarms And worse transforms the Limbs than Circe's Charms Without it chears the Man within destroys Bears Serpents in its Gold and Torments in its Joys But as we have often explain'd our selves concerning Pleasure and as often declar'd that when we say Pleasure is the End the Happiness and the chief Good we mean not hereby brutish and sordid Pleasures but only a calm and sedate Temper of the Mind and the freedom of the Body from Pain It is plain therefore that these Objections do not affect us CHAP VI. What Vertue and Advantage accrues by being contented with a little IT is not without Cause that we have already declared That the true and most general means to obtain and preserve that Pleasure which makes an happy Life is to incourage Temperance by which we may so moderate our Desires as to resist and cut off all unnecessary and useless Things and may reduce our selves only to such as are needful and natural whereby we may accustom our selves to be content with a little for by this means we may preserve that Tranquility of Mind which makes up the principal part of our Happiness there being no need that he who hath reduced himself only to the things necessary for Nature should disquiet and torment himself so much as is usual for such things are to be found every where and are easily to be obtain'd Whereas the cares and disturbances of the Mind torment only such as are not content with things necessary but are always so eager in the pursuit of things superfluous that if they meet with Disappointment in obtaining of 'em they are very much disquieted If they have acquir'd 'em they fear losing 'em When they lose 'em they pine away with Grief and if they continue with them they are still dissatisfied So that they deal with their Mind as with the Tunn of the Danaids they never give it any rest but being provoked by some fresh Appetite as by some kind of Fury they always seem to undertake new Labour This is also the sure way of obtaining and preserving that grateful Repose which makes up the second part of our Happiness for he who is content with things necessary will never trouble himself with those unnecessary Pains and Fatigues which such are obliged to undergo who eagerly tho vainly pursue Things superfluous he acts nothing to undermine his Health he draws not upon himself those incumbrances which usually attend a voluptuous Life for such as live Frugally and on plain Diet are rarely subject to Distempers but rather such who either Eat to excess or else feed upon Meats which are not natural or else corrupted by provoking Sauces or other Artifices of the Cooks Epicurus no doubt had a true Sense of the necessity and excellency of this Vertue of Moderation when he cried out That the way to be truly Rich is to be satisfied with Things necessary That Poverty proportioned to the Law of Nature is a great Fund or Treasury of Riches Now if you would be rightly inform'd what those just Bounds and Limits are which this Law of Nature prescribes they are these viz. Not to Hunger not to Thirst not to be Cold Non Esurire non Sitire non Algere 'T is what he had experienced in himself if we will refer our selves to the Testimony of Juvenal If any ask me what would satisfy To make Life easy thus I would reply As much as keeps out Hunger Thirst and Cold As much as made wise Epicurus bless't Who in small Gardens spacious Realms possess 't This is a commendable Thing saith he in Seneca viz. a pleasant and contented Poverty but if it be Pleasant 't is not Poverty for whosoever is satisfied with Poverty is Rich for he is not Poor who enjoys but little but he who desires more In short as Riches are to be valued for the sake of their End which is nothing else but Contentment and Pleasure so on the contrary Poverty appears by the want of this End It is certain that a pleasant Poverty is no Poverty but great Riches and sorrowful Riches are not Riches but great Poverty The Traveller who sings on the Road is in effect Rich and he really Poor who being loaden with Wealth dreads the Pistol or the Sword and shakes for fear at the meer shadow of a Reed which he perceives to move in a moon-shiny Night The Tradesman while he is without Mony yet pleaseth his Neighbourhood with his musical Ditties but stumbling on a Purse of Gold at the same time that he becomes Rich he becomes dumb being possess'd with the fear of losing it In short I pray tell me which of these two dies the Richer who depart this World at the same time he who never had those things which we usually term Riches and nevertheless hath lived very contentedly or he who being loaden with 'em hath led a life full of Vexation and Discontent Cicero seems to be much delighted with this Vertue and Moderation of Temper which obliges us to live and be content with little for after he had instanced in the Examples of Socrates and Diogenes That the Burden of Poverty may be made more easie he alludes to the Words of Epicurus O what a little doth Nature desire what a small matter suffices
Two Hundred and Fifty Eight Years before the Birth of Christ Take said he when he was dying this Scepter due to your Virtue and Merits Remember that you are the Father of your People that you are to deal with them as with your Children that the People are not born to serve you but that you are born and designed to serve them and that a King is alone raised up above all the rest that he might alone be able to serve all Seneca's Expression is likewise very admirable The greatness of a Prince saith he is settled firmly grounded and unshaken when all the People understand that he is as much for them as he is above them and find by experience that he watcheth daily and takes care as well of the Welfare of every particular Person as of the general Safety of the State They look upon him then not as a wild and dangerous Beast that comes out of his Den but as a beautiful Star full of Divine Influence they all strive to turn towards him ready to hazard themselves in a thousand Dangers and sacrifice their Lives to save his Life Thirdly To excel all others in Virtue as he excells them in Dignity For doubtless 't is not without Reason that Cyrus in Xenophon judgeth That it is not proper that he who is not more Virtuous than those over whom he is to Command should have Power to Command them Truly he is obliged to encourage Virtue for his Peoples sake for it is certain that the Example of Kings is the Pattern and Rule of the whole Kingdom Componitur Orbis Regis ad exemplum And the Condition of Princes in the Opinion of Quintilian Seneca and Cicero is such that being in view of all the World they can no more be concealed than the Sun they therefore if they are vicious expose their Vices to publick View and do more Mischief by their Examples than by their wicked Actions Now as he is bound to encourage Virtue for his Peoples sake so likewise for his own that so he may gain the Esteem and Veneration of the World which he can never obtain if he be reputed Vicious And among all the other Virtues he ought chiefly to encourage Piety and Religion as well that he may be blessed with Rewards from Heaven and Abilities necessary to bear up the weight of so heavy a Burthen as the Government of the State is as also to make his Subjects the more Faithful more Respectful and Obedient to him for they believe that he whom they see addicted to Piety and Religion is beloved and favoured of God and that when they are govern'd by such a one who is beloved of God they are governed by the very Spirit of God He must also have a special regard to the execution of Justice for this purpose as it hath been observed since the days of Hesiod Kings were first appointed namely for the Chastisement of the Wicked and for the Rewarding of those who deserve it and to end the Differences that arise among his Subjects by causing every Man to receive his own Therefore when a Prince devests himself of this Virtue he seems to profane the true and natural Duty of a Prince for of all the Titles of Honour the most glorious and splendid doubtless is to be stiled Just There is also nothing that he ought more to heed than the keeping of his Word which he hath once given and to observe punctually his Promises and the plighting of his Faith for the violation of this is more unworthy in him because he hath the Power in his own Hand so that there is nothing that can easily excuse his breach of Promise nay further he is obliged as far as in him lies to hinder others from doing so This quality is so much the more excellent because it is rare among Men and requires a firm Resolution Constancy and a greatness of Mind chiefly when the Concerns are weighty and considerable we shall pass over Dissimulation in silence which is too common I know some Politicians do permit of some kinds of Deceits in a Prince if they tend to the Advancement of the Publick good Plato among others maintains That they who Rule are often obliged to lie and deceive for the Advantage of their Subjects But this is a difficult Question which we shall examin hereafter Fortitude and Clemency are also Regal Virtues and every one knows that a Prince cannot be excused from practising them for as Fortitude is needful to strike an Awe and prevent any suddain Rebellion or Disturbance of the publick Peace So Clemency is proper to beget in us a Love for the Prince because of his Readiness to pardon Offenders This also creates an opinion of his Goodness in us when we find him naturally inclinable to observe that excellent Rule which advises a Prince to be merciful to the Submissive but to correct the Stubborn Parcere Subjectis debellare superbos As to what relates to Modesty it highly concerns him to know how to temper it with Majesty for fear that forgetting his human Condition and being puff'd up with Glory and Pride he should become Insolent and should draw upon himself unavoidably the hatred of his People or on the contrary by abasing himself below his Dignity he should fall into Contempt There is no need that we should speak of Liberality every one knows that it is a Virtue which ought to be familiar to Princes and the rather because there is nothing that procures more the good Will and Approbation of the World than liberal and bountiful Actions To this end the great abundance of Riches seems to arise from all Parts and at last to Center in the Treasury of the Prince and thence to issue forth again as from a plentiful Fountain But these Liberalities are to be bestowed prudently with a regard to the Quality and Merit of the Persons whom he intends to gratify and also to his own Treasure lest by stirring up Emulation and Envy he give too great opportunity to abusive Tongues As for Continency Sobriety and other Virtues the more he is endowed with them and practises 'em the more glorious they will certainly render him The fourth particular that a Monarch ought to apply himself to is to understand well the Nature and State of the Kingdom if he comes to it by Election or by Succession if it be Ancient or Modern what are the Fundamental Laws of the State what Evils and Mischiefs have happened either from the Observance or not Observance of those Laws what relation it hath with the Aristocratical or Democratical Governments what Power the Grandees have what is able to stir up or to move the common People and consequently what are the Manners and Customs of both He ought not to be ignorant of the Extent of his Dominion of its Confines Situation and Riches and whether the Traffick be within or without his Realm He must also know his Castles and Fortifications and the Neighbours
their Masters For this Reason I have sometimes given this Definition of a Turk An Animal Born for the Destruction of all that is Beautiful and Good in the World and even of Human Race it self Not but that the true Turks are often of a kind and good Disposition but because their mistaken Policy their Ignorance and Negligence tend to take away and banish all Property from whence proceeds as I have said the Laziness of the People the neglect of Husbandry Tyranny and the desolation of their Provinces All this is a certain Truth and not the Dreams of a fantastical Traveller all those Countries not being now what they formerly were Above half the Land lies Unmanured a Man may often Travel a whole Day without meeting one Man great Towns are generally half demolished and forsaken nay the best and most populous Cities as Grand Cairo Alexandria Babilon and several others lie the third part at least in Ruins And there is no doubt that those Princes tho very considerable because of the vast extent of their Dominions are therefore the less Wealthy and less Powerful than they would be if it were otherwise for they don't see that in grasping at all they have nothing and by making themselves the only Proprietors of all the Lands of their Empire they make themselves Kings of Wildernesses of Beggars and despicable Wretches So that if they daily get Ground and grow greater 't is through the Weakness and Discord of their Neighbours and because their Empire is as I have said of such a vast extent in comparison of others and because the Tartars besides those who are taken from the Breasts of their Mothers supply them with Slaves from several Parts as from Russia Circassia Mingrelia Armenia and other Countries Of the Duties of a Sovereign in times of Peaee BUT to return to our Author and to say something in a few Words concerning that which in some respect relates chiefly to the times of Peace and that kind of Prudence which the Latins named Togata The First and chief Duty is to have a Care that Religion and Piety towards God be inviolably observed in all parts of the Kingdom that Heaven may be propitious to him and that his Subjects being awed with the respect and dread of the Almighty Power of God who is every where and sees all Things may more readily abstain from those Crimes which he cannot hinder by his Laws Now the Experience of our latter Days hath sufficiently discovered to us the Importance and Truth of that Counsel that Mecaenas gave to Augustus concerning Religion and the Divine Worship You are said he to oppose and never let go unpunished the Innovators and Authors of new Religions not only because that the Gods will not permit such as despise them to perform any great Actions but because those who introduce some new Divinity generally persuade the People to alterations in Government from whence proceed Conspiracies Seditions and secret Associations which are doubtless very dangerous to a Monarchy Secondly To have a care that Arts be encouraged not only those that we term Liberal from which the Kingdom receives a particular Accomplishment but also such as we call Mechanick from which we reap great Advantage and Profit chiefly to have a particular regard to Husbandry and Navigation because the First is to supply us plentifully with the Necessities of Life and the Second encourages Traffick by which we communicate to Strangers the Things that they want as they return to us the Things that we stand in need of Thirdly To endeavour that the Kingdom may increase in Virtue and Riches that is to say in all Things needful to make our Lives Innocent and Happy And as Debauchery does easily and insensibly insinuate it self he ought to give a Check to it by severe Edicts and in the mean while he ought to give order that such as abound in Wealth may not suffer the Poor at their Gates to pine away for Want In short he ought to provide in such a manner for the several Indigences of his Kingdom that Happiness and Plenty may spread over all his Dominions in every Corner Fourthly He ought to provide for the security of the Peace that the Happiness of the Kingdom which ought to be the first and chief Aim of Kings and Governours may be more fixt and permanent to which purpose the particulars before mention'd will contribute namely To take care to prevent all Invasions of Strangers of home Factions and Seditions of his Subjects about making Alliances and Leagues and to observe and preserve them as much as is possible nevertheless to make the Allies privately sensible that it will be in vain for them to break them For we must always suppose of Strangers that Force and Power is rather wanting to them than a desire or a pretence to Invade our Realm and Conquering of it either in part or all Therefore he ought to keep his Garrisons well furnished and to be as careful of secret Ambuscades and private Treacheries as of open Assaults He ought likewise in the same manner to have a convenient Number of Troops and Soldiers ready in Pay and as for his Recruits and new raised Regiments he ought to cause them to be trained up with care and exactness in all Military Exercises that the old Soldiers teaching the new they may be all ready to do Service when occasion requires The Fifth respects the Subjects That is to prevent the Conspiraces and Factions of the Grandees not only by a just and prudent Distribution of Offices but also by particular Expressions of Kindness that they may have no cause to complain nevertheless he must make them know that he is their Lord and Master and that he is quick-sighted enough to see into their Designs and most secret Intentions I shall not speak here of the Advice of Periander who as Aristotle relates gave no Answer by word of Mouth to the Embassadors of Thrasibulus but only by signs for he cut off the Tops of the highest Poppies before their Faces Sixthly He ought as we have already hinted to prevent the Mutinies and Seditions of the People not only by respect and fear for there is nothing that more inclines popular Spirits to Insolency than when they see the Prince fallen into Contempt and that they are secure from all Punishment but also by an exact and regular Justice which may free the weakest from the Oppression of the most Powerful and by easing the People either by reducing their Taxes to a small Proportion or by taking them quite away for there is nothing that more stirs up the Peoples hatred and makes them more impatient than extraordinary Taxes But if the pressing Necessities of the State obliges him to great Expences and consequently to raise large Sums of Mony he ought to let his Subjects understand that such Levies are for the necessary support of the publick Security So that if they desire their own Welfare saith Cicero they are to
be condemn'd because he laughed at that too great Credulity and Superstition of the Heathens as well in Relation to Divination as in Relation to the Demons but it is to be blamed in that at least he hath not believed in general the being of Spirits seeing that not only Religion but Reason assures us of their Existence as it did really perswade those Philosophers amongst whom Plutarch reckons principally Thales Pythagoras Plato the Stoicks besides Empedocles and some others who affirmed that there were Demons who are living Substances and there are also Heroes who are Souls either Good or Evil freed from their Bodies For tho' they have erred as well in Relation to their Substance as to the Qualities that they attributed to their Demons yet however they judged aright when they believed that there were such But seeing we are to discourse of Divination perhaps it will not be amiss to speak first something of the Demons unto whom it was commonly ascribed Of Demons or Spirits according to the Opinion of Antiquity LET us suppose that they are those unto whom the Holy Writ gives usually the Titles of Angels and sometimes Demons Devils or Satan when it speaks of the Apostate Angels The Heathens call them not only Demons but also Genii tho' amongst them they were reputed to be of a Divine Nature or of a Nature little lower than the Divine They were also named Gods and Demi-Gods and Sons of Gods but yet Bastards as being born of Nymphs c. Not to insist upon the saying of Aristotle that they were separated Substances because not Corporeal and according to his Disciples Intelligences because they have Understandings Intelligences in Latin signifying the same as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greek if what Lactantius and Macrobius after Plato have taught us is really true This being premised now that we may the better understand what notion Pythagoras Plato and the rest of 'em had of Demons we must call to Mind what hath been said of the Soul of the World For they who have received this Opinion have fancied that these Demons as well as our Souls were nothing else but Particles or small parcels of the Soul of the World And because they believed also that the Soul of the World was the same as God they imagin'd that the Demons were Particles of the Divine Nature and from them seveveral Heretick have taken occasion to discourse of Angels in the same manner in the infancy of the Christian Church for they fancy them to be taken out of the Divine Substance These Philosophers therefore thought the Soul of the World to be like a vast and bottomless Ocean from whence proceeds Angels and the Souls of Men upon Condition to return back again and reunite at last after a time as so many little Streams that run into the Sea Plotinus seems to compare them to the Body of a Tree whereof Demons and Souls were as the Branches the little Twigs the Leaves the Flowers and the Fruits Thus they fancied that in the same manner as the Water that runs through the Earth carries with it something of the Substance of the Minerals through which it passeth so the Particles of the Soul of the World clothed it often with the Substance of the most subtil Bodies unto which they remained chiefly fixed and tied And as they judged that this Soul though it is diffused through all the World it resided nevertheless more particularly in the upper Region and consequently amongst the Stars and chiefly in the Sun So they believed that when the Celestial Bodies spread abroad their Influences to revive and entertain the earthly Beings that they proceed from Heaven as so many Beams from this Soul that revives all things and that they Incorporate or become Bodies in a differing manner in their Passage clothing themselves with a kind of Airy Habit and remaining afterwards some in the Air and the others proceeding as far as the Earth So that they have believed that these kind of Substances which are thus composed of a thin Body such as is the Air and of a Particle of the Soul of the World are the Demons and the Souls Demons when they continue free from any mixture of the grosser Bodies of this Earth I shall not examin their other Fancy That if the thin Body with which the Particles of the Soul of the World is clothed be found to be of a sweet kind and favourable Composure then in their Opinion they happen to be good Demons or Spirits but evil when it is sharp and malicious Neither shall I take notice of their other Imagination That when our Souls are departed out of our Bodies they become again Demons not immediately nor equally because retaining some Relicks of the Human Body they could not be Demons until they were entirely stript but only Heroes or demi-Gods Let these be mention'd only in reference to the Opinion of those who chiefly follow Hesiod who as Plutarch relates hath made mention of four sorts of Beings that are endowed with Reason the Gods the Demons the Heroes and Men I say those who follow Hesiod for Plato Pythagoras and others who believe these last to be the greatest Protectors of Demons have divided Rational Beings into three sorts namely Gods Demons and Men. Moreover we may shew by several Passages that they fancied these Demons to be of a certain middle Nature between the Gods and Men or as they speak upon the Confines of Immortals and Mortals But no Man better explained this Opinion than Apuleius for after that he had said that 't is by their Means and Mediation that there is a Correspondence between the Gods and Men and as the other Regions of the World have their Beings to inhabit and live there so the Superiour Region hath the Stars the Fire the small Animals mentioned by Aristotle the Sea Fish the Earth all our Terrestrial Animals So the Air ought not to be without its Inhabitants which are the Demons In this manner he explains himself The Bodies of the Demons saith he have very little weight which hinder them from ascending to the highest Regions nor are they so light as to fall down to the lowest They are Creatures of a third Nature suitable to the middle Region where they dwell They are between the Gods and Men being immortal as the Gods but subject to Passions as Men for as they are as we subject to Anger and to Mercy and like us suffer themselves to be overcome by Prayers and Intreaties by Gifts and Honours so they are like us stir'd up to Wrath by Injuries and Contempt In a Word saith he Daemones sunt genere animalia ingenio rationabilia animo passiva corpore aeria tempore aeterna Where you may observe what he saith of Eternity cannot agree with the Opinion of others who make them subject to Generation and Corruption unless we understand a long time for Eternity For as these last say Man is said to be Mortal because of the