for this particular Number of Five Senses Whether enough of them and to prove that These are suflicient by comparing and distinguishing them and the Uses they serve All Bodies say they without us which are Objects of our Senses are either very near and close to Our Body or they are at some distance from it If they be close to us and still remain without us then they fall under our Touch If they approach and come into us then they are the Objects of our Taste If they are more remote and stand before us so that their Distances are measur'd by a Right Line then the Sight discerns them If the Line be Oblique and the Motion Reflex then the Hearing does it Now methinks the Distinction were better thus Of the Five Senses accommodated for the Service of the whole Man as he is compounded of Body and Soul some are appropriated to the Use of the Body only and These are the Touch and the Taste the One for all that enters within the Other for that which continues still without it Some again are first and chiefly design'd for the Benefit of the Soul and those are Sight and Hearing the Former to assist Invention the Latter for Improvement and Instruction and all manner of Communication And One more in the midst of these Extremes sitted to those Spirits and Avenues that belong to Soul and Body both which is Smelling Again They answer to the Four Elements and their respective Qualities The Touch to the Earth Hearing to the Air Taste to Water and Moisture Smelling to Fire and Sight to a Compound of Water and Fire because of the Brightness of the Eye It is likewise pretended that there are as many Senses as there are General Divisions of sensible Objects and these are Colours Sounds Scents Relishes and a Fifth sort which wants a Name to express it adapted to the Touch and comprehending all the Tactile Qualities as Hot Cold Hard Soft Rough Smooth Sharp and the rest of them But This is evidently a Mistake for the Number of the Senses is by no means adjusted according to the Number of the Objects they are capable of Nor are these Objects the Cause of their being just so many and no more Were this a good Account it wou'd follow that we must have been endu'd with a great many more than we now have whereas now one and the same Sense entertains Objects of different Kinds and one and the same Object creates a Perception and impresses it self upon several Senses at once The most probable Account of this Matter seems rather to be That the Senses were intended for Means and Instruments of conveying Knowledge to us and that Nature which as she is not niggardly so neither is she profuse hath given us as many Senses as are suflicient for this purpose and that when she had supply'd us with enough for our Use she did not think sit to give us any more Of These the Sense of Seeing does surpass all the rest in the Quickness of its Operation A Comparision of them For it reaches the very Heavens in an Instant and acts in the Air which is full of Light and Images without any Trouble or Motion whereas all the rest of the Senses receive their Impression by the Motion of those Bodies which make it And all Motion requires Time to be perform'd in so that all the other Senses must needs proceed more slowly than This which need but open its Organ and is sure to find Light and Colours stand always ready to be discern'd by it All the Senses are likewise capable of Pleasure and Pain but This is observable of the two grossest of them That the Touch is capable of abundance of Pain and but very little Pleasure and the Taste just contrary feels a great deal of Pleasure and little or no Pain The Weakness and Uncertainty of our Senses is the Great Cause of our Ignorance and Errour The Weakness and Uncertainty of them and all sort of Misapprehension For since Knowledge is attain'd by the Mediation of the Senses only if these make a false Report what can we do but receive and stick to it But after All who can tell what Reports they make or how can any Man accuse them of Falshood since we learn all from Them and consequently even That which gives us this Jealousie and is the Ground of the Accusation Some indeed affirm That the Senses are faithful in all their Messages and represent the very Truth That when we imagine they deceive us the Fault is not in Them but in something else and that we ought rather to lay it at any other Door for no other thing is so free from so incapable of imposing upon us Some again run into the contrary Extreme cry out upon the Senses as downright infamous Lyars and tell you that nothing at all of Certainty can be had from them * See Advertisement But the Truth lies between these Extremes Now Whether the Senses themselves are deceiv'd or not thus much at least is evident The mutual Deceits of the Mind and the Senses that they put a Cheat nay sometimes a Constraint upon Reason and that by an unhappy Vicissitude Reason pays them back in their own Coin and returns the Cheat upon Them And is not Man think you like to be wonderful Wise and Knowing when the outward and the inward Instruments of Instruction are Eternally tricking one another and his whole Composition is full of Falshood and Weakness in the most necessary and essential Parts of it Now that the Senses deceive and commit a Violence upon the Understanding we see plain enough in those Instances where Some of them immediately put us in a Rage Others sweeten and appease the Soul and Others again tickle and please it exceedingly And why shou'd Men turn their Heads away when they are let Blood or lanced or suffer Incisions and Burnings but from their Consciousness of the Power the Senses have to disturb their Reason and that the same thing is better born when the Eyes do not observe the Operation The Looking down a Pit or vast Precipice disorders and confounds a Man though he knows at the same time that he stands safe himself and cannot reasonably apprehend any danger of salling into it And to instance in no more 't is evident that Sense of Pain and Pleasure both does every Day vanquish and utterly confound the best and bravest Resolutions of Virtue and Temperance and Patience Again It is no less evident that the Senses on the other hand are cheated by the Understanding This is demonstrated by those Agitations of Anger and Love and Hatred and other Passions which impose upon us and make us see and hear things quite otherwise than they really are Nay sometimes our Senses are not only deceived but perfectly stupify'd and bound up from all power of Action by violent Disorders of the Soul as if the Soul retir'd inwards and were entirely taken
Opinions are true as it may happen and that Prosperity is more difficult to some and Adversity to others according to the different Dispositions and Complexions of the Persons concerned in making the Experiment But if we look at the Thing it self and the Usefulness of it in general the Advantage seems to lie on the side of Adversity For this is the seed and occasion of great Virtues the Field in which the Bravest Heroes have signalized themselves For Wounds and Hardships provoke our Courage and when our Fortunes are at the lowest our Wits and Minds are commonly at the best Now the Directions which Wisdom gives upon this occasion are Both in common To preserve an Evenness of Temper and Behaviour through the several occurrences of Life and to meet them all with the same serene composed Countenance A Wise Man is Master of his Trade and knows how to manage his Matters so as to make every Thing turn to Account Let the Accident be what it wiil still Virtue shall be the result of it as the Painter Phidias shewed his Skill in making the same Figure represented what form or prospect soever you put the Piece into Thus Events are his Materials and whatever comes to hand he will not fail to convert into an occasion of doing good and how different soever the Aspects of Fortune may be to Him yet his own face always keeps the same Air. * Ad utrosque casus Sapiens aptus est Bonorum Rector Malorum Victor In Secundis non confidit in Adversis non deficit Nec avidus periculi nec fugax prosperitatem non expectans ad utrumque paratus adversus utrumque intrepidus nec illius tumultu nec hujus fulgore percussus Contra calamitates fortis contumax Luxuriae non adversus tantum sed infestus Hoc praecipuum in humanis rebus erigere Animum supra Minas Promissa Fortunae Seneca A Wise Man says Seneca is provided for occurrences of any kind the Good he manages the Bad he vanquishes In Prosperity he betrays no Presumption in Adversty he feels no Despondency He neither rashly courts danger nor cowardly runs away from it and for Prosperity he sets not his heart upon it but stands well appointed for any thing that happens He fears no attack in any kind the hurry and disorder of the one does not confound him nor the splendor of the other dazzle or transport him Calamities find him gallant resolute and inflexible Luxury and Ease he is not only no Friend but an Irreconciable Enemy to And in short this is his greatest Excellence and the Just Commendation and Character of a Good Man in all the variety of human Chances to raise the Soul and get above the Promises and Threats of Fortune Thus Wisdom equips us for the Fight She puts proper Weapons into our Hands teaches us to handle the Arms she gives and when we are well disciplin'd leaves us to engage as the Laws of Combat and the present Exigence of Affairs require When we are to encounter with Adversity She provides us a Spur to quicken us raises and whets our Courage calls up our Resolution and hardens our mind against it and thus She inspires us with the Virtue of Fortitude When Prosperity engages us She puts a Bridle into our Hand to curb and contain us that our Flights may not be too bold but all regulated by Prudence and Modesty and thus She qualifies us with the Virtue of Temperance These are the two great Cardinal Virtues which enable us to manage the Two Extremes of Fortune and are a Preparation sure and sufficient against any kind of Accident that can possibly befall us All which the brave Epictetus intimated his sense of when he summed up the whole System of Moral Philosophy in those two significant and most comprehensive words * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bear and Forbear Applying the former to what the World uses to repute Evil all manner of Misfortune and Distress for These things as Burthens are to be sustained with Patience and Constancy The latter of Forbearing to all those which in common esteem pass for Good things the Plenty and Pleasures and prosperous Successes of our Lives all which require Moderation and Restraint As for any particular Directions suited to the particular Favours or Unkindnesses of Fortune The Reader must give me leave to beg his Patience till the Third part of this Treatise where I shall have occasion to treat of this Subject more at large under the Topicks of Fortitude and Temperance At present I shall only lay down some general Rules and Remedies against Prosperity and Adversity taken in the gross the design and business of this Second Book being to extend no farther than general Instructions to Wisdom without entring into respective Cases which call for the exercise of such Rules for This you may remember was the Scheme and Method of this whole Undertaking laid down in my Preface at our first setting out All the general Instruction Of Prosperity which I think necessary in this place with regard to Prosperity consists of these Three Considerations First That it is a great Mistake nay a great Injustice which those Men are guilty of who esteem Honours and Riches and other Gifts and Advantages of Fortune Good things and reckon them among the most substantial Happinesses of Human Life For with what pretence can they be called Good They can neither impart nor improve Goodness they reclaim no Man who lives amiss nor can they reform one vicious Habit nor are they peculiar to or any distinguishing Character of Good Men but distributed promiscuously and at least in equal Proportions to the Wickedest and worst part of Mankind And He that calls them Good in the notion of Happiness and places his Hopes and his Felicity in them hath committed his Treasure to a Rotten Cable and anchored his Vessel upon a Quicksand For what is there in the whole World so sloating and unfaithful as the Possession of such slippery Advantages They go and come at randome no body knows how nor why flow in upon us and Ebb off again like a sudden Tide of Water Like That they come on with noise and observation are violent and fierce in their motions troubled and foul in themselves And like That too they presently disappear leave us drawn dry of all our overflowing Comforts and Joys and nothing but Mud and Stench and Filth left behind at low Water The Second part of this Advice is To entreat Men that they would remember what the Nature of Prosperity is That nothing better resembles it than a Poyson given in Honey which though it be sweet and pleasing upon the Palat yet is fatal in the operation and Certain Death at the Stomach and therefore that Men ought to be constantly upon their Guard against its treacherous Flatteries When Fortune smiles upon us and every thing falls out to our hearts desire then is the season especially for
up there For thus it often happens when our Mind is very intent upon somewhat else the Eye never sees nor takes the least notice of those Objects that stand directly before it and present themselves to our View And Reason and Sense judge very differently of the Magnitude of the Sun and Stars and of the Shape of a Stick in the Water Other Living Creatures have a Share in this Gift of Nature as well as We These Senses are common to Men and Brutes and sometimes are more liberally dealt with in it For Some are quicker of Hearing than Men Others have a stronger and clearer Sight Others a nicer Smell and Others a more distinguishing Taste The general Opinion is that a Stag excells all other Creatures in Hearing an Eagle in Seeing a Dog in Smelling an Ape in Tasting and a Tortoise in Feeling But yet the Pre-eminence in this last hath been allow'd to Man which is not much for our Credit since This of all the Senses is reckon'd the grossest and most Brutal In the mean while this Reflexion upon what hath gone before may not be unseasonable That if the Senses are the Means and Instruments of Knowledge and Brutes have Senses too nay frequently more acute and penetrating than Ours there may a fair Argument be drawn from hence for Their partaking in Knowledge with us as well as they partake of the Helps and Means that convey it to us But though the Senses be the Instruments of Knowledge yet are they not the only Instruments It is hard to trust our Senses much less are our own Senses alone to be consulted or depended upon in the Case For if it happens that Brutes have from Their Senses a Report different from that which Ours make and the Judgment given upon that Evidence do consequently disagree with the Notions we form to our selves as in sundry Instances 't is plain it does happen which of these two Testimonies shall we believe Our Fasting-Spittle cleanses and heals our own Wounds and yet it kills a Serpent Now from Two so different Effects what Conclusion can be made concerning the true Nature of Humane Spittle Shall we say that it is of a Drying and a Cleansing or of a Poysonous and Killing Quality To make any certain Determination of the Operations of Sense we shou'd do well methinks to agree with the Brutes who have the same Faculties as well as We. But the least that can possibly be requir'd in order to it is That we shou'd be consistent with our own selves and that the same Judge and the same Evidence shou'd always concur in the same Sentence And yet even This we are not come to Shut your Eye and put your Finger upon part of the Lid and this Eye so press'd sees things after another manner than it does in the Natural and Common Posture Stop your Ear and the Sound is vastly different from what it is in the ordinary Impression These Disserences every Man when he will may make for himself But some there are which Nature hath made to our Hand A Child Tastes and Hears and Sees much otherwise than a Grown Man and a Man in his full Strength dislers no less from an Old Man One in perfect Health from a sick Person a Wise Man from a Fool. Now where the Diversity and Distance is so great nay where there is even a Contrariety of Perceptions where shall we fix or what can we depend upon for Truth Even One Sense contradicts and gives the Lye to another for a Piece of Painting which seems Raised and in Relief as they term it to the Eye when we come to feel it with the Hand is perfectly flat and smooth ADVERTISEMENT IN order to giving the Reader a right Notion of the Matter treated of in this Chapter I shall beg leave to detain him a little with the Consideration of these Three Particulars First What dependence may be had upon the Evidence of Sense Secondly Whence those Mistakes do really proceed which we find sometimes charg'd upon the Deceivableness of our Senses Thirdly Whether All our Knowledge depends upon our Senses so as that we can know nothing but by Their means I. As to the Evidence of Sense This is what all Mankind who have ever allow'd any thing of Knowledge or Certainty at all constantly look'd upon as the surest and most irrefragable in all those Cases which are the proper Objects of it And therefore He that went about to evacuate or weaken this was esteem'd a Man not fit to be disputed with Because one must needs despair of producing any better and more convincing Proofs and so he must continue in incurable Ignorance unless we cou'd suppose so absurd a Process in arguing as that a Man shou'd be persuaded of a thing more manifest by a Medium which is less so It were an Assront to Humane Nature to endeavour the establishing this by Arguments since none ever disclaim'd the Truth of it but They who wou'd not allow us to be sure that any Thing was true and consequently cou'd no more depend upon their own Objections against it than they cou'd upon the Thing they brought them against Therefore Lucretius hath very deservedly expos'd the Folly of such perverse Scepticks in his Fourth Book Denique nil sciri siquis putat c. He that says Nothing can be known o'erthrows His own Opinion for He Nothing knows So knows not That What need of long dispute Those Maxims kill Themselves Themselves confute But grant This might be known and grant He knew Yet since he hath discover'd nothing true What Mark and what Criterion then can show Or tell what 't is to know or not to know Or how cou'd He what 's Truth what 's Falshood learn How what was Doubt what Certainty discern From Sense all Truth and Certainty inferr In vain some strive to prove that Sense can err For that which wou'd convince which wou'd oppose The Senses must be surer far than those So that upon these Terms it is evident all Knowledge must be given up because if our Senses be false we can have no stronger Conviction than what arises from Them that any thing is true nor that there is such a thing as Truth or Falshood in the World But besides if it were proper to argue in such a Case any reasonable Person wou'd find no difficulty in the Belief of this Matter For if he only allow the Being of a God and considers the mighty consequence of our Senses to us in all our Affairs whatsoever it can never enter into one's Head that a Being of such Perfections wou'd leave his Creatures in perpetual Ignorance and Uncertainty and give them such Organs and Instruments as shou'd only deceive and confound them For God indeed is the true Efficient Cause of all our Sensations and the Foundation of our Certainty and his Goodness and Truth are our Pledges that we are not mistaken staken and always in the wrong in the due Use
Opinion or to urge what is really Argument and Good Sense as to shew their Talent in opposing what any Body else shall say From hence it comes to pass that the Mind obstructs it self in its Business like Silkworms that are intangled in Webs of their own spinning For while it reaches forward and expects to attain some distant Truth and is led on in this Hope by I know not what imaginary Probabilities in the midst of his Course up start some fresh Difficulties and these multiply and cross the way upon the Man and so by putting him upon a new Scent carry him off from his first Design till he is quite intoxicated and bewildred in the Maze of his own Thoughts The End of all this anxious Pursuit is two-fold That which is more general Truth its End but not attainable and more natural indeed is Truth For of all the Desires that we feel our selves moved with there is not any of them more closely interwoven with our Nature than the Desire of Truth It is with great Eagerness and Diligence that we try all the Means capable of leading us to the Knowledge of it but alas our utmost Attempts are short and insufficient for Absolute Certainty is not a Prize allotted to us nor does it condescend to be taken and possessed by any the most assiduous Humane Soul Truth lodges in the Bosom of God there is its Retreat and proper Apartment Men understand not any thing in its utmost Perfection We know in part and here we see through a Glass darkly says the Fountain of all Truth We turn and tumble Objects about and grope like Men in the Dark for probable Reasons but these are to be found every where and Falshood as well as Truth hath somewhat to be alledg'd in its behalf We are born indeed to search and seek for Truth but the Enjoyment of it seems to be a Blessing reserv'd for some greater and more exalted Powers than any that Mortals are endu'd with That is the Happiness of Beings above us at present and is reserv'd for Mankind in a future State till he be purify'd from the Dross of Matter and Flesh and Infirmity and the Clouds that now hang before us and dim our Sight be scatter'd by Clear and Everlasting Day At present the Difference between one Man and another is not who reaches the Goal and gains the Prize and who not but who is distanced and who not who runs best and makes the nearest Approaches to that which none of us All can come up to If at any time it happens that a Man in the study of Nature fixes upon Truth This is more by a lucky Hit than otherwise and his good Fortune is to be extoll'd as much as his Industry and when he hath it 't is odds if he can keep it for many times a Man suffers it to be wrested out of his Hands again by Sophisms and Delusions and contrary Appearances for want of being Master of his Point and able to distinguish Truth from Falshood and Reality from the Counterfeit Errours are entertain'd by the same way that Truth is the Passage by which both enter our Souls is one and the same The Methods made use of for discovering it are Reason and Experience And both These are extremely weak and defective floating and uncertain hard to fix and changeable upon every slight occasion when we think they are sixed The great Argument of Truth is That of Universal Consent But what will all this amount to when a Man hath consider'd what a vast Majority of Fools there are and how very few Wise Men in the World And again To any one that observes how Opinions spread and become general Men take them from one another as they do Diseases by Infection And Applause is that Breath that corrupts the Air and bears about the Venom This Applause again is given commonly blindly and inconsiderately by them who never examine into the true Merits of the Cause and by them too who if they do pretend to examine are not capable of judging in the Case And thus when some few have begun the Dance the rest have nothing to do but to fall in with the Tune and follow them that lead it up of Course The other End aim'd at by the Mind is Invention Invention which if it have less of Nature yet hath more of Ambition and bold Pretension in it This is aspir'd to as its highest Point of Honour that which makes most Shew to the World and contributes most to its Reputation That which it looks big with and thinks the liveliest Image of the Divine Nature It is this particular Accomplishment to which all those noble Works have owed their Original which have fill'd the World with Transport and Wonder And those that have been of Publick Use among them have even Deify'd their Authors and immortaliz'd their Names What Renown have some gain'd that were mere Curiosities only for being eminent in their Kind though no Benesit at all accrued to Mankind by their means Such as Zeuxis's Vine Apelles's Venus Memnon's Statue the Colosse at Rhodes Archytas's Wooden Pigeon the Sphere of Sapores King of Persia and infinite others Now the Excellence of Art and Invention seems to consist not only in a good Imitation of Nature but in outdoing it This often happens in particular Instances for no Man nor Beast seems ever to have been so exquisitely formed in all its Parts nor the Proportions of any one and the same Body to have met together of Nature's Composition so exact as these Artists have delineated and represented them in Their Pieces There are likewise several Improvements and Exaltations of Nature in producing and compounding those things by Art which Nature alone never produces This is plain from the Mixtures of Simples and Ingredients which is the proper Business for Art to exercise it self in the Extraction of Spirits and Oyls and Distillation of Waters and compounding of Medicines more refin'd more powerful and efficacious than any Nature furnishes us with And yet after all These things are not so wonderful nor do they commend Humane Wisdom and Industry so highly as the generality of the World are apt to imagine For if we will pass that Judgment in this Matter which is agreeable to Truth and Duty and pay a just Deference and Acknowledgment to the First Author These are but Imitations and not properly Inventions They are Improvements but they only promote and perfect what God hath first revealed And what we commonly value and extol as our own Original Contrivance is nothing more than observing the Works of Nature arguing and concluding from what we find there and then reducing those Observations into Practice Thus Painting and Optiques were first rude and imperfect Hints taken from Shades and the Perfection they are now in consists only in a due and proper and beautiful Mixture of Colours which makes those Shades The Art of Dyalling comes from the Shadows cast by
Pain and Anxiety upon our Account That They only watch for our Safety and Preservation and This makes us look upon Calamitous Accidents with Surprise but especially to be perfectly astonish'd at Death as if it were a most strange Thing how That should break in upon us notwithstanding so many Guards that keep Centry about our Persons and are all as we imagine concern'd to secure us from it For this among other Reasons few People ever persuade themselves that any Hour is their last but almost every Body suffers himself to be cheated with false Hopes at the very Instant of expiring And what is all This but Presumption We think our selves too significant and fondly fancy that this whole Universe must bear a part in our Death that some great and general Revolution will happen upon it that all things decay in proportion with our own Bodies and fail one another in the same Degrees They fail Us That there is no avoiding it but They must all undergo the same fatal Shock the same Dissolution that We do And in this Universal Delusion Mankind live like People upon the Water who when their own Vessel moves seem to draw Houses and Towns and Heaven and Earth along with them No Body considers that he is single and but One a very small and inconsiderable Part of the Creation One out of many Millions whom few have any Interest in and perhaps fewer yet are the worse for losing and the Matter is so far from every Body's going along with him that scarce any Body will so much as miss him when he is gone no more than a Grain of Sand diminishes the Sea-shore or the falling of a Star changes the Face of the Sky Then again Man pleases himself that the Heaven the Stars and all that Glorious Movement over our Heads and indeed the whole Frame and Order of this Material World was thus created and constituted merely for his Sake As if that Description of the Heathen were his due That * Tot circa unum caput tumultuantes Deos. so many Gods were perpetually Ambitious and contending about his single Person And this is a very extravagant Imagination indeed He is lodged here in the last and lowest Story of the World at a great distance from the Aetherial Roof a place that in comparison of the purer Regions above us may be call'd the Sink of the World where all the Lees and Dregs settle with Creatures of the meanest Condition and liable to receive all those Evacuations of Rain and Vapours which fall down upon his Head nay from These he receives his very Subsistence he lies open to Accidents that beset and oppress him on every Side and yet this poor Wretch looks upon himself as the Master and Commander in Chief of the Universe 'T is true indeed Almighty God hath given him a Dominion over some of his Fellow Creatures and it is likewise true that the rest over which he hath not the same Dominion are contriv'd for his Mighty Benefit and Covenience but it will not follow from hence that the whole Creation had no other End than his Service nor that those vast Globes of Light and so many Pure Incorruptible Bodies whose least Virtue is not distinctly known and which he must be content to gaze at with Wonder and Astonishment were fram'd and are continued in this Regularity and Perpetuity of Motion for Man only From hence it is confest this Indigent Wretch derives his Food his Maintenance and unspeakable Conveniences The Rays the Beauty the Heat of the Sun The Rain and Dew and other Distillations from Heaven cherish and sustain him and This no doubt was one Intent of the bountiful God that made them But shall we presume to determine from hence that this was the Sole Intent and Use of them Shall we call the Heavens and the Elements our Own and pretend that Their Motions are only so many Tasks for Our Profit This were as if the Begger should call himself Proprietor of the Wealth out of which he is reliev'd and the Benefits in this Case are so general so far from being confin'd to Man alone that the meanest Fowl of the Air may as well make the same Pretensions Nay in some Sense these Creatures may make them better For Man who receives Conveniences hath some Inconveniences too from the Bodies above him he hath none of them at his own Disposal he cannot understand how far their Efficacy will extend nor make any certain Conclusions what will be hereafter and this puts him into perpetual Uneasinesses and Fears and Amazements lest these Bodies should not keep their Course nor shed propitous Influences but occasion Barren and sickly Seasons and so every thing should prove Unkindly and in Confusion and under the Weight of these Apprehensions he lies and trembles for what shall fall upon him from Those very Bodies of which he vainly thinks himself Lord and Master Whereas Beasts as they receive the same Advantages of Life and Substance with our Selves so they receive it without any Disturbance of Mind or disquieting Presages of the Future yea and without any of those discontented Murmurs and Complaints at what is Past too which restless and ungrateful Man is ever bewailing himself in I conclude this Observation with that Passage of Seneca * Non nos causa mundo sumus hypemem aestatemque referendi suas ista leges habent quibus divina exercentur nimis nos suspicimus si digni nobis videmur propter quos tanta moveantur Non tanta coelo nobiscum societas est ut nostro fato sit ille quoque siderum fulgor We are not the Proper Cause of the World 's enjoying the several Seasons and their Vici ssitudes Those Things are order'd by Laws peculiar to themselves in the observance whereof the Will and Purposes of God are executed We think too highly of our selves if we suppose we are of such Worth and Consequence that such and so many Glorious Motions should be contrived merely for our sakes nor is our Correspondence with Heaven so intimate that all the use of the Stars should be to direct or to declare our Fortunes Note Some Persons since the Improvement of Astronomy have given us juster Notions of the Magnitude of these Heavenly Bodies That several of them equal and some very much exceed the Proportion of this Earthly Globe have entertain'd Notions of a Plurality of Worlds furnish'd with Inhabitants as different from Those we know as the Regions they inhabit are A Notion which I only mention upon this Occasion to hint that there may be many Uses unknown to us served by the Heavenly Bodies And because the Opinion seems to carry no Impiety at all in it but pretends to consult the Glory of God by exciting Men to a greater Admiration of his Infinite Power and Wisdom and Goodness exerted in so much a greater Variety of Creatures than what we are or can be acquainted with I thought it not amiss
it between conquering and not hazarding our Persons in the Engagement And when Men are in a Capacity of becoming beneficial to Others and may be Instruments of Great and General Good to excuse Themselves from serving the Publick and abandon all Society when they might adorn and be useful in it is to betray their Trust to bury their Talent in a Napkin to hide the Candle which God hath lighted under a Bushel when the setting it on a Candle-Stick might enlighten others and do great Service to all that are in the House It requires then much Deliberation and many uncommon Circumstances to give Men a Right thus to dispose of Themselves And they who presume to do it merely out of private Considerations and make the Publick no part of their Concern are so far from deserving to be applauded for their Virtue and Resignation that they are guilty of a great Fault and liable to very just and severe Censure CHAP. LV. A Life in Common compared with That of distinct Properties SOme Persons have been of Opinion that a Life where all Things are in Common and there is no such Distinction as Mine or Thine hath the greatest Tendency to Perfection and is best accommodated for the cherishing and maintaining of Charity and Concord and Union among Men. But Experience shews us daily that whatever Conveniencies it may really have of this kind yet are they not so great nor so effectual to the Purposes before-mention'd as those Persons have imagined For in the first Place whatever Appearance there may be outwardly of Kindness and good Agreemeent yet there is no such Thing as an entire and hearty Affection nor the same tender Regards for That which is in Common as a Man finds where he alone is concern'd To this purpose it is that we have two Proverbs The College Horse is always ill saddled and Every Body's Business is No Body's Business Men consider that Others are equally concern'd in the Care and in the Damage that the Loss is not immediately their own and that each Member of the Society stands in that respect equally related to them and that begets a Coldness and Indifferency among them But which is a great deal worse this State does naturally produce Quarrels and Discontents Murmuring and mutual Hatred every Community is but too full a Demonstration of it and the very Holiest and Best that ever was the Primitive Church it self could not you see be exempted from the Misfortune For though the Institution design all Things should be equal yet unless you could make the Desires of the Persons so too they will always be full of Complaints and Jealous that some are preferred and others neglected Acts vi like the Grecians and their Widows in the Daily Distributions The Nature of Love is like that of Great Rivers which while they continue united in one Stream are Navigable and carry Vessels of Vast Burden but if you cut them into fresh Channels and divide the Water they are no longer Serviceable in that kind and thus when Men's Affections are divided and parted as it were among a great many Objects not any one of those Persons or Things is of very tender Concern for all the Force and Vigor of the Passion is scattered and broke to Pieces Now in a Life of Community there are several Degrees To live that is to eat and drink together at a common Table is very decent and well Thus we find it practised in some of the best and most ancient Commonwealths as Lacedemon and Crete particularly such publick Meals are very useful for the teaching Men to be Modest and reserved and keeping up Dicipline Society and Good Order and they do also minister occasion for great variety of very useful and improving Discourse But to think of pulling up the Fences and Inclosures and lay all in Common is a wild Imagination Plato was once of this Opinion but he thought better of it afterwards And indeed the Project would be so far from reconciling and uniting All that the certain Consequence of it would be to overturn and confound All. CHAP. LVI A Town and a Country Life compared together THis is a Comparison very easie for any Man who is a true Lover of Wisdom to make for almost all the Advantages lie on one side The Pleasures and Conveniences both of Body and Mind Liberty Contemplation Innocence Health and Delight In the Country a Man's Mind is free and easie discharg'd and at his own Disposal But in the City the Persons of Friends and Acquaintance one 's own and other People's Business foolish Quarrels ceremonious Visits impertinent Discourse and a Thousand other Fopperies and Diversions steal away the greatest part of our Time and leave no Leisure for better and more necessary Employment What infinite Perplexities Avocations Distractions of the Mind and which is worst of all what abominable Debaucheries and Depravation of Manners does such a Life expose Men to Great Towns are but a larger sort of Prisons to the Soul like Cages to Birds or Pounds to Beasts This Celestial Fire within us will not endure to be shut up it requires Air to brighten and make it burn clear which made Columella say that a Country Life is Cousin-German to Wisdom For a Man's Thoughts cannot be idle and when they are set loose from the World they will range and expatiate freely in noble and profitable Meditations But how shall a Man hope to command his Thoughts or pretend to call them his Own in the midst of all the Clutter and Business the Amusements nay the Confusions of the Town A Country Life is infinitely more plain and innocent and disposed to Purity and Virtue In Cities Vice assembles in Troops the very Commonness of it makes it unobserv'd it hardens and reconciles us to the Practice Example and Custom and the meeting with it at every Turn makes the thing familiar and thus the Disease seizes us strongly and presently and we are gone all on the sudden by living in the midst of the Insection Whereas in the Country those things are seen or heard with Abhorrence and Amazement which the Town sees and does every Day without Remorse or Concern As for Pleasure and Health the clear Air the Warmth and Brightness of the Sun not polluted with the Sultry Gleams and loathsome Stenches of the Town the Springs and Waters the Flowers and Groves and in short All Nature is free and easie and gay The Earth unlocks her Treasures refreshes us with her Fruits feasts every Sense and gives us such Entertainment as Cities know nothing of in the stifling press of Houses so that to live there is to shut one's self up and be banish'd from the World Besides all this a Country Retirement is more active and sit for Exercise and this creates an Appetite preserves and restores Health and Vigour hardens the Body and makes it lusty and strong The greatest Commendation of the Town is Convenience for Business and Profit It is