he said There was no Torment could make him discover his Accomplices altho' he acknowledged he had such Pompeius shewed by holding his Finger to the Candle in sight of the King that there was no hopes of wresting any thing from him IV. Quintilia a little Woman being suspected to be of the Conspiracy against Caligula and Racked with great torment confessed nothing and was therefore set at liberty as Innocent What should I speak of St. Barbara with divers others the number of which is incredible and their Constancy so marvellous as they seemed not only patiently to have suffered Torments but also to have wished for them V. The end of all Grief either by Death or Recovery becomes pleasant 'T is also to be considered that all such as suffer great Torments being persuaded of the Immortality of the Soul ought therefore were there no other reason to be comforted It is too much to punish both Body and Mind at one time VI. In short Sickness puts us in mind of another life it renders us sober and thoughtful and capable of hearkning to that good counsel which when in Health we could not abide Were it not for Sickness a Man would become more hard-hearted than a Tyger and more cruel than a Lioness CHAP VI. Of general Calamities LET us consider whether in common Miseries we ought to lament as in times of Pestilence Famine and destruction of Countries which being General make Men suffer them with less impatience For nothing seems dishonorable that is common But you 'll say our Country is falling into Ruine and therein our Friends Relations and Estates be it so But dost thou account only those thy Neighbours that inhabit thy Country Surely we are all descended from one Line and if we look back to our great Grand-fathers our Assinity is the same And as to the losing of our Estates perhaps they are but our hinderances to Vertue There is nothing in this World can hurt any man but Vice I am he says Diogenes upon whom all misfortunes are fallen I have no House no Town a Banished Man a Vagabond and Beggar But he had a great Mind which he thought of far more value II. Man's condition is like to a Garment which the more rich and beautiful it is the more do's a Spot fully it 'T is also to be remembred that no Man is miserable all his life-time for Sleep causeth forgetfulness of Sorrow and is as pleasant to those in Affliction as those that live at ease Likewise the delights of our Senses be to all men the same as Taste Sight Hearing and Smelling So that all things which be delightful do not fail a Man at the same instant Were all Mortals asleep at the same time then would none of them be more happy than his fellows But we are certain not only all of us to sleep but to dye and how soon is to us unknown Being once entred into the World we are to expect and be prepared against all Chances but not dismayed at the thoughts of any seeing there is none of 'um that can be truly said to be against us And therefore Homer feign'd Aten the Goddess of Calamities to be bare Footed as one that could not touch any thing sharp or hard but walk'd lightly over the heads of Men Meaning that Adversity dared not come near any but mean-spirited People Wherefore lift up thine Eyes towards Heaven where an everlasting Rest is prepared for thee IV. Men in this world are like Trees some slender some great some flourishing some bearing Fruit some withering some growing some blown down and some fruitful which in one Harvest are brought together and laid upon one Stack Neither is there afterwards any difference seen amongst them all being cut down never more to grow again So all Pride Ambition Riches Authority Children Friends and Glory do in short space grow old and Perish Neither will it signifie any thing whether thou wert Irus or Galba or Artaxerxes or Noble Hercules Only Vertue and Honesty can make a Man happy only a guilty Conscience can make him miserable The worst that good Men can fear is the best that Evil can wish for which is the destruction of the Soul in Death But God has given us a sufficient proof of our Immortality by raising up his Son from the Dead Were it not for this hope our Lives would not be worth our care So fluctuating and foolish a thing is Life But our Creator has put us into this World in order to our translation to a better and secretly observes how we acquit our selves towards our Senses how we resist the torrent of bad Examples and what daily progress we make towards the Heavenly Canaan which is our native Country for here we are but Pilgrims and Strangers FINIS
but even Homer affirms those to be short-lived that do not render their Parents the respects due for their Education But as t is the temper of an ungracious Son to wish the death of his Parents so it is the part of a wise Son patiently to bear it And in like manner the loss of other Relations hast thou lost thy Brother experience shews us that most brothers be quarrelsom cumbersom envious captious and disdainful The Poet was wont therefore very wel to resemble Brethren to the winds because they ever disagree and live as if they were born for no other end in respect of each other but to quarrel Cain gave us an early Specimen of what Brotherly Love would be Then Jacob deceived Esau Absalom kills his Brother Amnon Abimelech the Son of Gideon murdred his Threescore and Nine Brethren leaving only One alive It would be an endless Task to recite all the Mischiefs which one Brother has done another I knew one man that killed his Two Brethrne at several times Another the Year before was Beheaded for having murdred Three of his Brethren But admit thy Brother be a good Man yet what benefit canst thou expect from him more than others if thou wantest Assistance a Friend as Solomon says is better than a Brother if thou expects Love it must be from thy Parents if Obedience from thy Son if Flattery and Obsequiousness from thy Servant VIII But thou wilt Reply I loved my Brother dearly but did he love thee Alexius was Brother to Isaac Emperour of Germany by whom he was not only redeemed out of Slavery from the Turks with a considerable Sum of money but also admitted to share with him in the Government of the Empire notwithstanding which great kindness he not only a while after his return deposed Isaac from his Kingdom but put out his Eyes and kept him in perpetual Imprisonment Thou mayest boldly say thou lovest and not be deceived but canst not know how thou art beloved thy self Thou weepest for him who had he survived would not have shed one Tear for thee If thou wert unwilling to dye before him why dost thou lament that he is first dead Is it not sufficient for thee to believe he is gone to Heaven or art thou sorry he has obtained liberty and everlasting life IX The death of Children seems indeed a sad Affliction and in a manner insupportable especially if a man has none left and all hope of having more cut off Yet let us consider whether he is more happy that is barren and has no Children or the other The Childless man has only to lament his want of Posterity which if thou desirest in respect of perpetuity thou foolishly hopest that amongst so many thousands of men thy Posterity should remain tho' the world were never to end But that the World will end all Authority grants unless it be that of Aristotle But if thy Posterity do always remain art thou ever a whit the happier for that So subtil a thing is this pleasure of Posterity as indeed it may be called nothing for after a few years all memory of our Ancestors is worn out Who is he that ever knew almost his great Grandfather Whereas on the contrary to so small a pleasure how great care is joyned Hence comes danger of death charge of their education fear of want care for their learning wantonness in childhood rashness in youth stubborness disobedience and pride especially in those whose Parents are rich Compare the life of those that have not Children with those that have and thou shalt soon find a vast difference The former live comparatively without care free jocund and lively fear neither Poverty nor Riches publick nor private Calamity In times of Famine War or Pestilence a good natured Man's mind is wholly concerned for his Children and Relations In time of Plague thou hast no place to flee to in times of War thou canst not remove In times of Famine unprovided whither to go Consider well these incumbrances and see whether they are comparable to the want of Children X. Again Why art thou troubled at the loss of Children As for thy Childes part thou hast no reason to lament who either feeleth nothing or else is in inexpressible felicity And as to thy self thou hast changed danger for security labour for rest bondage for liberty and yet complainest Not long since I heard some poor Women lamenting and wishing the death of their Children Had it not been better for them to have had none than thus to wish their deaths Take this for a certain truth if thou art poor thou canst have no comfort in Children and he that is Rich what security hath he of continuing so But thou hast lost thy Child And cannot that loss be supplied t is true the death of thy Father or Brother cannot be repaired XI Thou wilt say perhaps My Son was now become like unto me I had spent much money care and pains upon him and probably might have hapned to be a brave Fellow But these complaints better become the Women for if thou bewailest thy loss of Money then thou hadst more need be cured of thy covetousness than comforted for the loss of thy Son Besides the better he was the fitter for Heaven and the greater reason hast thou to be comforted at his departure for had he staid longer here in the world so great and bewitching are the temptations thereof that thou hast great reason to fear his being struck with the contagion of bad examples Whereas now he has escaped the Vices of the age and gone to the place of innocent Souls to enjoy those divine pleasures which are too big to be described unto which felicity he could not arrive but by death He has paid that debt which is due to Nature and gone to the Grave where thou must soon follow Weep for thy self then not for him for his misery is over whereas thine is to come I must confest Nature do's strongly impose upon us in this case otherwise we could not forget so much as we do the love of our selves our Country and duty both to God and Man So dotingly fond are we of 'em as shews in effect we rather hate them We indulge them in wilfulness ease and wantonness revenge pride and covetousness XII Nature cannot be blamed as enduing us with this foolish care and immoderate love for the appetites she has implanted in us are modest and limited and if we pass the bounds t is not Her fault Other creatures eat and drink only when necessity urges them whereas Man do's this unseasonably and wantonly Being guilty of the same immoderation herein as in the love of his Off-spring not valuing what becomes of his own Body or Soul provided he can leave them rich XIII This extreme affection is not according to Nature but a Vice Behold other living Creatures when they have brought forth their young into the world and find them able to shift for themselves
Life is many times in danger for his Riches whereas the Poor man fears neither the losing of his Life nor his Estate One only fear the Poor man has and that is lest he should lack whereon to subsist but yet without cause for being honest and industrious should he meet with any misfortune there 's no man but will be ready to help him for such a one cannot want Friends the charity of Good men and the assistance of Hospitals I could never hear of an Honest man that was any considerable time in want It s certain that Riches have killed more than Hunger I have known an hundred persons my self whose great Estates have occasioned their ruine some prison'd by their Relations others stabb'd hang'd robb'd and murdred as they were travelling but I never knew above four that died of Hunger and that by their own fault Seeing then so few persons perish through Poverty and so many by Riches I pray which condition is most eligible A Rich man is laden with unnecessary Apparel Houshold-stuff which require care in preserving and daily reparation Gold is no more wholsom to drink in than Glass nor Silver more cleanly than Stone Garments the more simple they be the more convenient and less burdensom Man is born Naked he needs a covering but no burden XVI Socrates beholding great variety of Merchandises to be sold in a Fair how many things says he are there here of which I have no need He esteemed them likest the Gods that wanted fewest things Costly Apparel is spoyled by Dust and Moths Water rots it and Thieves steal it or Neighbors borrow it What is fine Attire but a burdensom and troublesom Bravery In short what has a Rich man more than a Poor The latter has Life Health Children Meat Sleep Friends Liberty Security Pleasure and Rest with all other things needful Lord says the Prophet give me neither Poverty nor Riches And were a wise man left to his choice he would certainly prefer the former before the latter Riches are more dangerous than Poverty for Poverty is relieved by art and industry but there is no remedy against the discommodity of Riches Also the fall from Riches is great and without recovery whereas Poverty differs little from Sufficiency and keeps a man out of danger of falling In Poverty at farthest the Body can be only endanger'd whereas Riches endanger the loss of both Body and Soul Finally if Poverty be removed all the inconveniencies wherewith 't is attended be taken away But such as love Riches if they lose them do notwithstanding keep still those vices and imperfections which they caus'd whilst they possest them Poverty is certainly worthy of great honour for we are beholding to it for the inventions of Arts whereas Rich men never deserved this praise Socrates Plato Aristotle Epictetus and Cleanthes were all poor men the latter of which was fain all day to draw Water to get his living and to Study in the night Socrates was little better than a Beggar Plato became rich by his second Voyage into Sicily Aristotle lived a long time poor and when an Old man was enriched by Alexander Homer that famous Greek Poet was but a poor blind Harper And Virgil the Prince of Latine Poets was far from being over-rich The whole rout of Grammarians and Orators were such kind of men Pompilius Andronicus Orbilaus Valerius Cato Laenius Julius Higinus Plinius Caecilius reports that Quintilian was not overstockt with wealth Juvenal mocking Statius the Fam'd Poet tells us he begged his Bread XVIII Paul Aemilius that Famous Captain could not make his Wife a Joynture Also Marius and Sextorius came but of mean Parentage yet one of them was the Terror and the other the Safeguard of Rome Scipio Africanus had lain in Prison for debt had not Gracchus assisted him Arator Cincinatus Calatinus Fabricius that fought with Pyrus Valerian Publicola Menenius Agrippa Q. Aemilius Aristides Photion Meltiades Cimon Spartacus Viriatus all the Dukes of Lacedemonia even the bravest of them as Lisander came but of a mean Family And whom can you alledge against these the desperate Alexander or Cesar the destroyer of his Countrey or Scylla with his Proscriptions XIX But to return to the Point in hand what greater misery can God lay upon a man than to suffer him to covet Riches 'T is Labour without end and like the turning of Sisyphus's Stone who is said for revealing the Secrets of Heaven to remain in Hell and there continually to roll up a heavy Stone to the top of a steep Hill which presently rolls down again and he without ceasing follows and brings it up upon his shoulders For to what end dost thou labour for more than will buy thee necessaries depriving thy self of the comforts of what thou mayst enjoy Thou shortenest thy days and hindrest thy helth Some men I have known live miserably to the end they might have a stately honorbale Burial XIX But thou perhaps desirest not Riches upon this account but to leave thy Son a fair inheritance so that thou labourest studiest watchest hazardest the health of thy Soul and Body dost violence to thine own Conscience and destroyest the peace of thine own Mind that thy Son may spend consume make havock Whore Drink Game and Live in Riot and Idleness To make him Proud Soft Ridiculous Foolish Mad and good for nothing Again How oft have we seen a great Fortune left to a Son or Daughter make 'em a Prey to some greedy and perfidious Villain In short Riches have been the cause of the most Bloudy and Tragical Events which we meet with in all Relations Most of those I ever heard of that by inheritance arriv'd to great Estates have spent and consumed 'em in a short time How can it but trouble thee when thou lyest upon thy death-bed to think that what thou hast gotten by great toyl will serve only as a means to debauch thy Son The Son of Ruinus having received from his Father a rich inheritance fell into such a frenzy as cost him his Life How many ways are Laws violated How many Rebellions happen How many Treasons wherein such as are of mean fortune are almost never concern'd Besides thou wilt leave thine Estate to a Son or Brother who probably will not part with one Farthing of it to redeem thy Life from the Grave Yet such is thy madness as with loss of thine own quiet thou seekest to make them Rich. Wherefore seeing Riches procure neither Glory nor Felicity to our Selves or Posterity there can be nothing more pernicious to us than to desire 'em and anxiously pursue the search of them But here the Example of all the World will be objected against what I say for every man seeks Riches but no man wishes to be Poor I shall not here set my self to refute this Objection only say in short that the Multitude are ill Judges of things that they are the great Masters of Error and Enemies to all Philosophy