"Beatus ille qui procul negotiis Paterna rura bobus exercet suis."

Happy he, in that he is [3727]freed from the tumults of the world, he seeks no honours, gapes after no preferment, flatters not, envies not, temporiseth not, but lives privately, and well contented with his estate;

"Nec spes corde avidas, nec curam pascit inanem Securus quo fata cadant."

He is not troubled with state matters, whether kingdoms thrive better by succession or election; whether monarchies should be mixed, temperate, or absolute; the house of Ottomans and Austria is all one to him; he inquires not after colonies or new discoveries; whether Peter were at Rome, or Constantine's donation be of force; what comets or new stars signify, whether the earth stand or move, there be a new world in the moon, or infinite worlds, &c. He is not touched with fear of invasions, factions or emulations;

[3728] "Felix ille animi, divisque simillimus ipsis, Quem non mordaci resplendens gloria fuco Solicitat, non fastosi mala gaudia luxus, Sed tacitos sinit ire dies, et paupere cultu [3729] Exigit innocuae tranquilla silentia vitae.

"A happy soul, and like to God himself, Whom not vain glory macerates or strife. Or wicked joys of that proud swelling pelf, But leads a still, poor, and contented life."

A secure, quiet, blissful state he hath, if he could acknowledge it. But here is the misery, that he will not take notice of it; he repines at rich men's wealth, brave hangings, dainty fare, as [3730]Simonides objected to Hieron, he hath all the pleasures of the world, [3731]in lectis eburneis dormit, vinum phialis bibit, optimis unguentis delibuitur, "he knows not the affliction of Joseph, stretching himself on ivory beds, and singing to the sound of the viol." And it troubles him that he hath not the like: there is a difference (he grumbles) between Laplolly and Pheasants, to tumble i' th' straw and lie in a down bed, betwixt wine and water, a cottage and a palace. "He hates nature" (as [3732]Pliny characterised him) "that she hath made him lower than a god, and is angry with the gods that any man goes before him;" and although he hath received much, yet (as [3733]Seneca follows it) "he thinks it an injury that he hath no more, and is so far from giving thanks for his tribuneship, that he complains he is not praetor, neither doth that please him, except he may be consul." Why is he not a prince, why not a monarch, why not an emperor? Why should one man have so much more than his fellows, one have all, another nothing? Why should one man be a slave or drudge to another? One surfeit, another starve, one live at ease, another labour, without any hope of better fortune? Thus they grumble, mutter, and repine: not considering that inconstancy of human affairs, judicially conferring one condition with another, or well weighing their own present estate. What they are now, thou mayst shortly be; and what thou art they shall likely be. Expect a little, compare future and times past with the present, see the event, and comfort thyself with it. It is as well to be discerned in commonwealths, cities, families, as in private men's estates. Italy was once lord of the world, Rome the queen of cities, vaunted herself of two [3734]myriads of inhabitants; now that all-commanding country is possessed by petty princes, [3735]Rome a small village in respect. Greece of old the seat of civility, mother of sciences and humanity; now forlorn, the nurse of barbarism, a den of thieves. Germany then, saith Tacitus, was incult and horrid, now full of magnificent cities: Athens, Corinth, Carthage, how flourishing cities, now buried in their own ruins! Corvorum, ferarum, aprorum et bestiarum lustra, like so many wildernesses, a receptacle of wild beasts. Venice a poor fisher-town; Paris, London, small cottages in Caesar's time, now most noble emporiums. Valois, Plantagenet, and Scaliger how fortunate families, how likely to continue! now quite extinguished and rooted out. He stands aloft today, full of favour, wealth, honour, and prosperity, in the top of fortune's wheel: tomorrow in prison, worse than nothing, his son's a beggar. Thou art a poor servile drudge, Foex populi, a very slave, thy son may come to be a prince, with Maximinus, Agathocles, &c. a senator, a general of an army; thou standest bare to him now, workest for him, drudgest for him and his, takest an alms of him: stay but a little, and his next heir peradventure shall consume all with riot, be degraded, thou exalted, and he shall beg of thee. Thou shalt be his most honourable patron, he thy devout servant, his posterity shall run, ride, and do as much for thine, as it was with [3736]Frisgobald and Cromwell, it may be for thee. Citizens devour country gentlemen, and settle in their seats; after two or three descents, they consume all in riot, it returns to the city again.

[3737] ———"Novus incola venit; Nam propriae telluris herum natura, neque illum. Nec me, nec quenquam statuit; nos expulit ille: Illum aut nequities, aut vafri inscitia juris."

———"have we liv'd at a more frugal rate, Since this new stranger seiz'd on our estate? Nature will no perpetual heir assign, Or make the farm his property or mine. He turn'd us out: but follies all his own, Or lawsuits and their knaveries yet unknown, Or, all his follies and his lawsuits past, Some long-liv'd heir shall turn him out at last."

A lawyer buys out his poor client, after a while his client's posterity buy out him and his; so things go round, ebb and flow.

"Nunc ager Umbreni sub nomine, nuper Ofelli Dictus erat, nulli proprius, sed cedit in usum Nunc mihi, nunc aliis;"———

"The farm, once mine, now bears Umbrenus' name; The use alone, not property, we claim; Then be not with your present lot depressed, And meet the future with undaunted breast;"

as he said then, ager cujus, quot habes Dominos? So say I of land, houses, movables and money, mine today, his anon, whose tomorrow? In fine, (as [3738]Machiavel observes) "virtue and prosperity beget rest; rest idleness; idleness riot; riot destruction from which we come again to good laws; good laws engender virtuous actions; virtue, glory, and prosperity;" "and 'tis no dishonour then" (as Guicciardine adds) "for a flourishing man, city, or state to come to ruin," [3739]"nor infelicity to be subject to the law of nature." Ergo terrena calcanda, sitienda coelestia, (therefore I say) scorn this transitory state, look up to heaven, think not what others are, but what thou art: [3740]Qua parte locatus es in re: and what thou shalt be, what thou mayst be. Do (I say) as Christ himself did, when he lived here on earth, imitate him as much as in thee lies. How many great Caesars, mighty monarchs, tetrarchs, dynasties, princes lived in his days, in what plenty, what delicacy, how bravely attended, what a deal of gold and silver, what treasure, how many sumptuous palaces had they, what provinces and cities, ample territories, fields, rivers, fountains, parks, forests, lawns, woods, cells, &c.? Yet Christ had none of all this, he would have none of this, he voluntarily rejected all this, he could not be ignorant, he could not err in his choice, he contemned all this, he chose that which was safer, better, and more certain, and less to be repented, a mean estate, even poverty itself; and why dost thou then doubt to follow him, to imitate him, and his apostles, to imitate all good men: so do thou tread in his divine steps, and thou shalt not err eternally, as too many worldlings do, that run on in their own dissolute courses, to their confusion and ruin, thou shalt not do amiss. Whatsoever thy fortune is, be contented with it, trust in him, rely on him, refer thyself wholly to him. For know this, in conclusion, Non est volentis nec currentis, sed miserentis Dei, 'tis not as men, but as God will. "The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich, bringeth low, and exalteth" (1 Sam. ii. ver. 7. 8), "he lifteth the poor from the dust, and raiseth the beggar from the dunghill, to set them amongst princes, and make them inherit the seat of glory;" 'tis all as he pleaseth, how, and when, and whom; he that appoints the end (though to us unknown) appoints the means likewise subordinate to the end.

Yea, but their present estate crucifies and torments most mortal men, they have no such forecast, to see what may be, what shall likely be, but what is, though not wherefore, or from whom, hoc anget, their present misfortunes grind their souls, and an envious eye which they cast upon other men's prosperities, Vicinumque pecus grandius uber habet, how rich, how fortunate, how happy is he? But in the meantime he doth not consider the other miseries, his infirmities of body and mind, that accompany his estate, but still reflects upon his own false conceived woes and wants, whereas if the matter were duly examined, [3741]he is in no distress at all, he hath no cause to complain.

[3742] ———"tolle querelas, Pauper enim non est cui rerum suppetit usus,"

"Then cease complaining, friend, and learn to live. He is not poor to whom kind fortune grants, Even with a frugal hand, what Nature wants."

he is not poor, he is not in need. [3743]"Nature is content with bread and water; and he that can rest satisfied with that, may contend with Jupiter himself for happiness." In that golden age, [3744]somnos dedit umbra salubres, potum quoque lubricus amnis, the tree gave wholesome shade to sleep under, and the clear rivers drink. The Israelites drank water in the wilderness; Samson, David, Saul, Abraham's servant when he went for Isaac's wife, the Samaritan woman, and how many besides might I reckon up, Egypt, Palestine, whole countries in the [3745]Indies, that drank pure water all their lives. [3746]The Persian kings themselves drank no other drink than the water of Chaospis, that runs by Susa, which was carried in bottles after them, whithersoever they went. Jacob desired no more of God, but bread to eat, and clothes to put on in his journey, Gen. xxviii. 20. Bene est cui deus obtulit Parca quod satis est manu; bread is enough [3747]"to strengthen the heart." And if you study philosophy aright, saith [3748] Maudarensis, "whatsoever is beyond this moderation, is not useful, but troublesome." [3749]Agellius, out of Euripides, accounts bread and water enough to satisfy nature, "of which there is no surfeit, the rest is not a feast, but a riot." [3750]S. Hierome esteems him rich "that hath bread to eat, and a potent man that is not compelled to be a slave; hunger is not ambitious, so that it have to eat, and thirst doth not prefer a cup of gold." It was no epicurean speech of an epicure, he that is not satisfied with a little will never have enough: and very good counsel of him in the [3751]poet, "O my son, mediocrity of means agrees best with men; too much is pernicious."

"Divitiae grandes homini sunt vivere parce, Aequo animo."———

And if thou canst be content, thou hast abundance, nihil est, nihil deest, thou hast little, thou wantest nothing. 'Tis all one to be hanged in a chain of gold, or in a rope; to be filled with dainties or coarser meat.

[3752] "Si ventri bene, si lateri, pedibusque tuis, nil Divitiae poterunt regales addere majus."

"If belly, sides and feet be well at ease, A prince's treasure can thee no more please."

Socrates in a fair, seeing so many things bought and sold, such a multitude of people convented to that purpose, exclaimed forthwith, "O ye gods what a sight of things do not I want?" 'Tis thy want alone that keeps thee in health of body and mind, and that which thou persecutest and abhorrest as a feral plague is thy physician and [3753]chiefest friend, which makes thee a good man, a healthful, a sound, a virtuous, an honest and happy man. For when virtue came from heaven (as the poet feigns) rich men kicked her up, wicked men abhorred her, courtiers scoffed at her, citizens hated her, [3754]and that she was thrust out of doors in every place, she came at last to her sister Poverty, where she had found good entertainment. Poverty and Virtue dwell together.

[3755] ———"O vitae tuta facultas Pauperis, angustique lares, o munera nondum Intellecta deum."

How happy art thou if thou couldst be content. "Godliness is a great gain, if a man can be content with that which he hath," 1 Tim. vi. 6. And all true happiness is in a mean estate. I have a little wealth, as he said, [3756]sed quas animus magnas facit, a kingdom in conceit;

[3757] ———"nil amplius opto Maia nate, nisi ut propria haec mihi munera faxis;"

I have enough and desire no more.

[3758] "Dii bene fecerunt inopis me quodque pusilli Fecerunt animi"———

'tis very well, and to my content. [3759]Vestem et fortunam concinnam potius quam laxam probo, let my fortune and my garments be both alike fit for me. And which [3760]Sebastian Foscarinus, sometime Duke of Venice, caused to be engraven on his tomb in St. Mark's Church, "Hear, O ye Venetians, and I will tell you which is the best thing in the world: to contemn it." I will engrave it in my heart, it shall be my whole study to contemn it. Let them take wealth, Stercora stercus amet so that I may have security: bene qui latuit, bene vixit; though I live obscure, [3761] yet I live clean and honest; and when as the lofty oak is blown down, the silky reed may stand. Let them take glory, for that's their misery; let them take honour, so that I may have heart's ease. Duc me O Jupiter et tu fatum, [3762]&c. Lead me, O God, whither thou wilt, I am ready to follow; command, I will obey. I do not envy at their wealth, titles, offices;

[3763] "Stet quicunque volet potens Aulae culmine lubrico, Me dulcis saturet quies."

let me live quiet and at ease. [3764]Erimus fortasse (as he comforted himself) quando illi non erunt, when they are dead and gone, and all their pomp vanished, our memory may flourish:

[3765] ———"dant perennes Stemmata non peritura Musae."

Let him be my lord, patron, baron, earl, and possess so many goodly castles, 'tis well for me [3766]that I have a poor house, and a little wood, and a well by it, &c.

"His me consolor victurum suavius, ac si Quaestor avus pater atque meus, patruusque fuissent."

"With which I feel myself more truly blest Than if my sires the quaestor's power possess'd."

I live, I thank God, as merrily as he, and triumph as much in this my mean estate, as if my father and uncle had been lord treasurer, or my lord mayor. He feeds of many dishes, I of one: [3767]qui Christum curat, non multum curat quam de preciosis cibis stercus conficiat, what care I of what stuff my excrements be made? [3768]"He that lives according to nature cannot be poor, and he that exceeds can never have enough," totus non sufficit orbis, the whole world cannot give him content. "A small thing that the righteous hath, is better than the riches of the ungodly," Psal. xxxvii. 19; "and better is a poor morsel with quietness, than abundance with strife," Prov. xvii. 7. Be content then, enjoy thyself, and as [3769] Chrysostom adviseth, "be not angry for what thou hast not, but give God hearty thanks for what thou hast received."

[3770] "Si dat oluscula Mensa minuscula pace referta,"

"Ne pete grandia, Lautaque prandia lite repleta."

But what wantest thou, to expostulate the matter? or what hast thou not better than a rich man? [3771]"health, competent wealth, children, security, sleep, friends, liberty, diet, apparel, and what not," or at least mayst have (the means being so obvious, easy, and well known) for as he inculcated to himself,

[3772] "Vitam quae faciunt beatiorem, Jucundissime Martialis, haec sunt; Res non parta labore, sed relicta, Lis nunquam," &c.

I say again thou hast, or at least mayst have it, if thou wilt thyself, and that which I am sure he wants, a merry heart. "Passing by a village in the territory of Milan," saith [3773]St. Austin, "I saw a poor beggar that had got belike his bellyful of meat, jesting and merry; I sighed, and said to some of my friends that were then with me, what a deal of trouble, madness, pain and grief do we sustain and exaggerate unto ourselves, to get that secure happiness which this poor beggar hath prevented us of, and which we peradventure shall never have? For that which he hath now attained with the begging of some small pieces of silver, a temporal happiness, and present heart's ease, I cannot compass with all my careful windings, and running in and out," [3774]"And surely the beggar was very merry, but I was heavy; he was secure, but I timorous. And if any man should ask me now, whether I had rather be merry, or still so solicitous and sad, I should say, merry. If he should ask me again, whether I had rather be as I am, or as this beggar was, I should sure choose to be as I am, tortured still with cares and fears; but out of peevishness, and not out of truth." That which St. Austin said of himself here in this place, I may truly say to thee, thou discontented wretch, thou covetous niggard, thou churl, thou ambitious and swelling toad, 'tis not want but peevishness which is the cause of thy woes; settle thine affection, thou hast enough.

[3775] "Denique sit finis quaerendi, quoque habeas plus, Pauperiem metuas minus, et finire laborem Incipias; parto, quod avebas, utere."

Make an end of scraping, purchasing this manor, this field, that house, for this and that child; thou hast enough for thyself and them:

[3776] ———"Quod petis hic est, Est Ulubris, animus si te non deficit aequus."

'Tis at hand, at home already, which thou so earnestly seekest. But

———"O si angulus ille Proximus accedat, qui nunc denormat agellum,"

O that I had but that one nook of ground, that field there, that pasture, O si venam argenti fors quis mihi monstret—. O that I could but find a pot of money now, to purchase, &c., to build me a new house, to marry my daughter, place my son, &c. [3777]"O if I might but live a while longer to see all things settled, some two or three years, I would pay my debts," make all my reckonings even: but they are come and past, and thou hast more business than before. "O madness, to think to settle that in thine old age when thou hast more, which in thy youth thou canst not now compose having but a little." [3778]Pyrrhus would first conquer Africa, and then Asia, et tum suaviter agere, and then live merrily and take his ease: but when Cyneas the orator told him he might do that already, id jam posse fieri, rested satisfied, condemning his own folly. Si parva licet componere magnis, thou mayst do the like, and therefore be composed in thy fortune. Thou hast enough: he that is wet in a bath, can be no more wet if he be flung into Tiber, or into the ocean itself: and if thou hadst all the world, or a solid mass of gold as big as the world, thou canst not have more than enough; enjoy thyself at length, and that which thou hast; the mind is all; be content, thou art not poor, but rich, and so much the richer as [3779]Censorinus well writ to Cerellius, quanto pauciora optas, non quo plura possides, in wishing less, not having more. I say then, Non adjice opes, sed minue cupiditates ('tis [3780]Epicurus' advice), add no more wealth, but diminish thy desires; and as [3781]Chrysostom well seconds him, Si vis ditari, contemne divitias; that's true plenty, not to have, but not to want riches, non habere, sed non indigere, vera abundantia: 'tis more glory to contemn, than to possess; et nihil agere, est deorum, "and to want nothing is divine." How many deaf, dumb, halt, lame, blind, miserable persons could I reckon up that are poor, and withal distressed, in imprisonment, banishment, galley slaves, condemned to the mines, quarries, to gyves, in dungeons, perpetual thraldom, than all which thou art richer, thou art more happy, to whom thou art able to give an alms, a lord, in respect, a petty prince: [3782]be contented then I say, repine and mutter no more, "for thou art not poor indeed but in opinion."

Yea, but this is very good counsel, and rightly applied to such as have it, and will not use it, that have a competency, that are able to work and get their living by the sweat of their brows, by their trade, that have something yet; he that hath birds, may catch birds; but what shall we do that are slaves by nature, impotent, and unable to help ourselves, mere beggars, that languish and pine away, that have no means at all, no hope of means, no trust of delivery, or of better success? as those old Britons complained to their lords and masters the Romans oppressed by the Picts. mare ad barbaros, barbari ad mare, the barbarians drove them to the sea, the sea drove them back to the barbarians: our present misery compels us to cry out and howl, to make our moan to rich men: they turn us back with a scornful answer to our misfortune again, and will take no pity of us; they commonly overlook their poor friends in adversity; if they chance to meet them, they voluntarily forget and will take no notice of them; they will not, they cannot help us. Instead of comfort they threaten us, miscall, scoff at us, to aggravate our misery, give us bad language, or if they do give good words, what's that to relieve us? According to that of Thales, Facile est alios monere; who cannot give good counsel? 'tis cheap, it costs them nothing. It is an easy matter when one's belly is full to declaim against fasting, Qui satur est pleno laudat jejunia ventre; "Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass, or loweth the ox when he hath fodder?" Job vi. 5. [3783]Neque enim populo Romano quidquam potest esse laetius, no man living so jocund, so merry as the people of Rome when they had plenty; but when they came to want, to be hunger-starved, "neither shame, nor laws, nor arms, nor magistrates could keep them in obedience." Seneca pleadeth hard for poverty, and so did those lazy philosophers: but in the meantime [3784]he was rich, they had wherewithal to maintain themselves; but doth any poor man extol it? "There are those" (saith [3785] Bernard) "that approve of a mean estate, but on that condition they never want themselves: and some again are meek so long as they may say or do what they list; but if occasion be offered, how far are they from all patience?" I would to God (as he said) [3786]"No man should commend poverty, but he that is poor," or he that so much admires it, would relieve, help, or ease others.

[3787] "Nunc si nos audis, atque es divinus Apollo, Dic mihi, qui nummos non habet, unde petat:"

"Now if thou hear'st us, and art a good man, Tell him that wants, to get means, if you can."

But no man hears us, we are most miserably dejected, the scum of the world. [3788]Vix habet in nobis jam nova plaga locum. We can get no relief, no comfort, no succour, [3789]Et nihil inveni quod mihi ferret opem. We have tried all means, yet find no remedy: no man living can express the anguish and bitterness of our souls, but we that endure it; we are distressed, forsaken, in torture of body and mind, in another hell: and what shall we do? When [3790]Crassus the Roman consul warred against the Parthians, after an unlucky battle fought, he fled away in the night, and left four thousand men, sore, sick, and wounded in his tents, to the fury of the enemy, which, when the poor men perceived, clamoribus et ululatibus omnia complerunt, they made lamentable moan, and roared downright, as loud as Homer's Mars when he was hurt, which the noise of 10,000 men could not drown, and all for fear of present death. But our estate is far more tragical and miserable, much more to be deplored, and far greater cause have we to lament; the devil and the world persecute us, all good fortune hath forsaken us, we are left to the rage of beggary, cold, hunger, thirst, nastiness, sickness, irksomeness, to continue all torment, labour and pain, to derision and contempt, bitter enemies all, and far worse than any death; death alone we desire, death we seek, yet cannot have it, and what shall we do? Quod male fers, assuesce; feres bene —accustom thyself to it, and it will be tolerable at last. Yea, but I may not, I cannot, In me consumpsit vires fortuna nocendo, I am in the extremity of human adversity; and as a shadow leaves the body when the sun is gone, I am now left and lost, and quite forsaken of the world. Qui jacet in terra, non habet unde cadat; comfort thyself with this yet, thou art at the worst, and before it be long it will either overcome thee or thou it. If it be violent, it cannot endure, aut solvetur, aut solvet: let the devil himself and all the plagues of Egypt come upon thee at once, Ne tu cede malis, sed contra audentior ito, be of good courage; misery is virtue's whetstone.

[3791] "—serpens, sitis, ardor, arenae, Dulcia virtuti,"

as Cato told his soldiers marching in the deserts of Libya, "Thirst, heat, sands, serpents, were pleasant to a valiant man;" honourable enterprises are accompanied with dangers and damages, as experience evinceth: they will make the rest of thy life relish the better. But put case they continue; thou art not so poor as thou wast born, and as some hold, much better to be pitied than envied. But be it so thou hast lost all, poor thou art, dejected, in pain of body, grief of mind, thine enemies insult over thee, thou art as bad as Job; yet tell me (saith Chrysostom) "was Job or the devil the greater conqueror? surely Job; the [3792]devil had his goods, he sat on the muck-hill and kept his good name; he lost his children, health, friends, but he kept his innocency; he lost his money, but he kept his confidence in God, which was better than any treasure." Do thou then as Job did, triumph as Job did, [3793]and be not molested as every fool is. Sed qua ratione potero? How shall this be done? Chrysostom answers, facile si coelum cogitaveris, with great facility, if thou shalt but meditate on heaven. [3794]Hannah wept sore, and troubled in mind, could not eat; "but why weepest thou," said Elkanah her husband, "and why eatest thou not? why is thine heart troubled? am not I better to thee than ten sons?" and she was quiet. Thou art here [3795]vexed in this world; but say to thyself, "Why art thou troubled, O my soul?" Is not God better to thee than all temporalities, and momentary pleasures of the world? be then pacified. And though thou beest now peradventure in extreme want, [3796]it may be 'tis for thy further good, to try thy patience, as it did Job's, and exercise thee in this life: trust in God, and rely upon him, and thou shalt be [3797]crowned in the end. What's this life to eternity? The world hath forsaken thee, thy friends and fortunes all are gone: yet know this, that the very hairs of thine head are numbered, that God is a spectator of all thy miseries, he sees thy wrongs, woes, and wants. [3798]"'Tis his goodwill and pleasure it should be so, and he knows better what is for thy good than thou thyself. His providence is over all, at all times; he hath set a guard of angels over us, and keeps us as the apple of his eye," Ps. xvii. 8. Some he doth exalt, prefer, bless with worldly riches, honours, offices, and preferments, as so many glistering stars he makes to shine above the rest: some he doth miraculously protect from thieves, incursions, sword, fire, and all violent mischances, and as the [3799]poet feigns of that Lycian Pandarus, Lycaon's son, when he shot at Menelaus the Grecian with a strong arm, and deadly arrow, Pallas, as a good mother keeps flies from her child's face asleep, turned by the shaft, and made it hit on the buckle of his girdle; so some he solicitously defends, others he exposeth to danger, poverty, sickness, want, misery, he chastiseth and corrects, as to him seems best, in his deep, unsearchable and secret judgment, and all for our good. "The tyrant took the city" (saith [3800]Chrysostom), "God did not hinder it; led them away captives, so God would have it; he bound them, God yielded to it: flung them into the furnace, God permitted it: heat the oven hotter, it was granted: and when the tyrant had done his worst, God showed his power, and the children's patience; he freed them:" so can he thee, and can [3801]help in an instant, when it seems to him good. [3802] "Rejoice not against me, O my enemy; for though I fall, I shall rise: when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall lighten me." Remember all those martyrs what they have endured, the utmost that human rage and fury could invent, with what [3803]patience they have borne, with what willingness embraced it. "Though he kill me," saith Job, "I will trust in him." Justus [3804]inexpugnabilis, as Chrysostom holds, a just man is impregnable, and not to be overcome. The gout may hurt his hands, lameness his feet, convulsions may torture his joints, but not rectam mentem his soul is free.

[3805] ———"nempe pecus, rem, Lectos, argentum tollas licet; in manicis, et Compedibus saevo teneas custode"———

"Perhaps, you mean, My cattle, money, movables or land, Then take them all.—But, slave, if I command, A cruel jailor shall thy freedom seize."

[3806]"Take away his money, his treasure is in heaven: banish him his country, he is an inhabitant of that heavenly Jerusalem: cast him into bands, his conscience is free; kill his body, it shall rise again; he fights with a shadow that contends with an upright man:" he will not be moved.

———"si fractus illabatur orbis, Impavidum ferient ruinae."

Though heaven itself should fall on his head, he will not be offended. He is impenetrable, as an anvil hard, as constant as Job.

[3807] "Ipse deus simul atque volet me solvet opinor."

"A God shall set me free whene'er I please."

Be thou such a one; let thy misery be what it will, what it can, with patience endure it; thou mayst be restored as he was. Terris proscriptus, ad coelum propera; ab hominibus desertus, ad deum fuge. "The poor shall not always be forgotten, the patient abiding of the meek shall not perish for ever," Psal. x. 18. ver. 9. "The Lord will be a refuge of the oppressed, and a defence in the time of trouble."

"Servus Epictetus, multilati corporis, Irus Pauper: at haec inter charus erat superis."

"Lame was Epictetus, and poor Irus, Yet to them both God was propitious."

Lodovicus Vertomannus, that famous traveller, endured much misery, yet surely, saith Scaliger, he was vir deo charus, in that he did escape so many dangers, "God especially protected him, he was dear unto him:" Modo in egestate, tribulatione, convalle deplorationis, &c. "Thou art now in the vale of misery, in poverty, in agony," [3808]"in temptation; rest, eternity, happiness, immortality, shall be thy reward," as Chrysostom pleads, "if thou trust in God, and keep thine innocency." Non si male nunc, et olim sic erit semper; a good hour may come upon a sudden; [3809] expect a little.

Yea, but this expectation is it which tortures me in the mean time; [3810] futura expectans praesentibus angor, whilst the grass grows the horse starves: [3811]despair not, but hope well,

[3812] "Spera Batte, tibi melius lux Crastina ducet; Dum spiras spera"———

Cheer up, I say, be not dismayed; Spes alit agricolas: "he that sows in tears, shall reap in joy," Psal. cxxvi. 7.

"Si fortune me tormente, Esperance me contente."

Hope refresheth, as much as misery depresseth; hard beginnings have many times prosperous events, and that may happen at last which never was yet. "A desire accomplished delights the soul," Prov. xiii. 19.

[3813] "Grata superveniet quae non sperabitur hora:"

"Which makes m'enjoy my joys long wish'd at last, Welcome that hour shall come when hope is past:"

a lowering morning may turn to a fair afternoon, [3814]Nube solet pulsa candidus ire dies. "The hope that is deferred, is the fainting of the heart, but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life," Prov. xiii. 12, [3815]suavissimum est voti compos fieri. Many men are both wretched and miserable at first, but afterwards most happy: and oftentimes it so falls out, as [3816]Machiavel relates of Cosmo de Medici, that fortunate and renowned citizen of Europe, "that all his youth was full of perplexity, danger, and misery, till forty years were past, and then upon a sudden the sun of his honour broke out as through a cloud." Huniades was fetched out of prison, and Henry the Third of Portugal out of a poor monastery, to be crowned kings.

"Multa cadunt inter calicem supremaque labra,"

"Many things happen between the cup and the lip,"

beyond all hope and expectation many things fall out, and who knows what may happen? Nondum omnium dierum Soles occiderunt, as Philippus said, all the suns are not yet set, a day may come to make amends for all. "Though my father and mother forsake me, yet the Lord will gather me up," Psal. xxvii. 10. "Wait patiently on the Lord, and hope in him," Psal. xxxvii. 7. "Be strong, hope and trust in the Lord, and he will comfort thee, and give thee thine heart's desire," Psal. xxvii. 14.

"Sperate et vosmet rebus servate secundis."

"Hope, and reserve yourself for prosperity."

Fret not thyself because thou art poor, contemned, or not so well for the present as thou wouldst be, not respected as thou oughtest to be, by birth, place, worth; or that which is a double corrosive, thou hast been happy, honourable, and rich, art now distressed and poor, a scorn of men, a burden to the world, irksome to thyself and others, thou hast lost all: Miserum est fuisse, felicem, and as Boethius calls it, Infelicissimum genus infortunii; this made Timon half mad with melancholy, to think of his former fortunes and present misfortunes: this alone makes many miserable wretches discontent. I confess it is a great misery to have been happy, the quintessence of infelicity, to have been honourable and rich, but yet easily to be endured: [3817]security succeeds, and to a judicious man a far better estate. The loss of thy goods and money is no loss; [3818] "thou hast lost them, they would otherwise have lost thee." If thy money be gone, [3819]"thou art so much the lighter," and as Saint Hierome persuades Rusticus the monk, to forsake all and follow Christ: "Gold and silver are too heavy metals for him to carry that seeks heaven."

[3820] "Vel nos in mare proximum, Gemmas et lapides, aurum et inutile, Summi materiam mali Mittamus, scelerum si hene poenitet."

Zeno the philosopher lost all his goods by shipwreck, [3821]he might like of it, fortune had done him a good turn: Opes a me, animum auferre non potest: she can take away my means, but not my mind. He set her at defiance ever after, for she could not rob him that had nought to lose: for he was able to contemn more than they could possess or desire. Alexander sent a hundred talents of gold to Phocion of Athens for a present, because he heard he was a good man: but Phocion returned his talents back again with a permitte me in posterum virum bonum esse to be a good man still; let me be as I am: Non mi aurum posco, nec mi precium[3822]—That Theban Crates flung of his own accord his money into the sea, abite nummi, ego vos mergam, ne mergar, a vobis, I had rather drown you, than you should drown me. Can stoics and epicures thus contemn wealth, and shall not we that are Christians? It was mascula vox et praeclara, a generous speech of Cotta in [3823]Sallust, "Many miseries have happened unto me at home, and in the wars abroad, of which by the help of God some I have endured, some I have repelled, and by mine own valour overcome: courage was never wanting to my designs, nor industry to my intents: prosperity or adversity could never alter my disposition." A wise man's mind, as Seneca holds, [3824] "is like the state of the world above the moon, ever serene." Come then what can come, befall what may befall, infractum invictumque [3825] animum opponas: Rebus angustis animosus atque fortis appare. (Hor. Od. 11. lib. 2.) Hope and patience are two sovereign remedies for all, the surest reposals, the softest cushions to lean on in adversity:

[3826] "Durum sed levius fit patientia, Quicquid corrigere est nefas."

"What can't be cured must be endured."

If it cannot be helped, or amended, [3827]make the best of it; [3828] necessitati qui se accommodat, sapit, he is wise that suits himself to the time. As at a game at tables, so do by all such inevitable accidents.

[3829] "Ita vita est hominum quasi cum ludas tesseris, Si illud quod est maxime opus jactu non cadit, Illud quod cecidit forte, id arte ut corrigas;"

If thou canst not fling what thou wouldst, play thy cast as well as thou canst. Everything, saith [3830]Epictetus, hath two handles, the one to be held by, the other not: 'tis in our choice to take and leave whether we will (all which Simplicius's Commentator hath illustrated by many examples), and 'tis in our power, as they say, to make or mar ourselves. Conform thyself then to thy present fortune, and cut thy coat according to thy cloth, [3831]Ut quimus (quod aiunt) quando quod volumus non licet, "Be contented with thy loss, state, and calling, whatsoever it is, and rest as well satisfied with thy present condition in this life:"

"Este quod es; quod sunt alii, sine quamlibet esse; Quod non es, nolis; quod potus esse, velis."

"Be as thou art; and as they are, so let Others be still; what is and may be covert."

And as he that is [3832]invited to a feast eats what is set before him, and looks for no other, enjoy that thou hast, and ask no more of God than what he thinks fit to bestow upon thee. Non cuivis contingit adire Corinthum, we may not be all gentlemen, all Catos, or Laelii, as Tully telleth us, all honourable, illustrious, and serene, all rich; but because mortal men want many things, [3833]"therefore," saith Theodoret, "hath God diversely distributed his gifts, wealth to one, skill to another, that rich men might encourage and set poor men at work, poor men might learn several trades to the common good." As a piece of arras is composed of several parcels, some wrought of silk, some of gold, silver, crewel of diverse colours, all to serve for the exornation of the whole: music is made of diverse discords and keys, a total sum of many small numbers, so is a commonwealth of several unequal trades and callings. [3834]If all should be Croesi and Darii, all idle, all in fortunes equal, who should till the land? As [3835]Menenius Agrippa well satisfied the tumultuous rout of Rome, in his elegant apologue of the belly and the rest of the members. Who should build houses, make our several stuffs for raiments? We should all be starved for company, as Poverty declared at large in Aristophanes' Plutus, and sue at last to be as we were at first. And therefore God hath appointed this inequality of states, orders, and degrees, a subordination, as in all other things. The earth yields nourishment to vegetables, sensible creatures feed on vegetables, both are substitutes to reasonable souls, and men are subject amongst themselves, and all to higher powers, so God would have it. All things then being rightly examined and duly considered as they ought, there is no such cause of so general discontent, 'tis not in the matter itself, but in our mind, as we moderate our passions and esteem of things. Nihil aliud necessarium ut sis miser (saith [3836]Cardan) quam ut te miserum credas, let thy fortune be what it will, 'tis thy mind alone that makes thee poor or rich, miserable or happy. Vidi ego (saith divine Seneca) in villa hilari et amaena maestos, et media solitudine occupatos; non locus, sed animus facit ad tranquillitatem. I have seen men miserably dejected in a pleasant village, and some again well occupied and at good ease in a solitary desert. 'Tis the mind not the place causeth tranquillity, and that gives true content. I will yet add a word or two for a corollary. Many rich men, I dare boldly say it, that lie on down beds, with delicacies pampered every day, in their well-furnished houses, live at less heart's ease, with more anguish, more bodily pain, and through their intemperance, more bitter hours, than many a prisoner or galley-slave; [3837]Maecenas in pluma aeque vigilat ac Regulus in dolio: those poor starved Hollanders, whom [3838]Bartison their captain left in Nova Zembla, anno 1596, or those [3839]eight miserable Englishmen that were lately left behind, to winter in a stove in Greenland, in 77 deg. of lat., 1630, so pitifully forsaken, and forced to shift for themselves in a vast, dark, and desert place, to strive and struggle with hunger, cold, desperation, and death itself. 'Tis a patient and quiet mind (I say it again and again) gives true peace and content. So for all other things, they are, as old [3840]Chremes told us, as we use them.

"Parentes, patriam, amicos, genus, cognates, divitias, Haec perinde sunt ac illius animus qui ea possidet; Qui uti scit, ei bona; qui utitur non recte, mala."

"Parents, friends, fortunes, country, birth, alliance, &c., ebb and flow with our conceit; please or displease, as we accept and construe them, or apply them to ourselves." Faber quisque fortunae suae, and in some sort I may truly say, prosperity and adversity are in our own hands. Nemo laeditur nisi a seipso, and which Seneca confirms out of his judgment and experience. [3841]"Every man's mind is stronger than fortune, and leads him to what side he will; a cause to himself each one is of his good or bad life." But will we, or nill we, make the worst of it, and suppose a man in the greatest extremity, 'tis a fortune which some indefinitely prefer before prosperity; of two extremes it is the best. Luxuriant animi rebus plerumque secundis, men in [3842]prosperity forget God and themselves, they are besotted with their wealth, as birds with henbane: [3843] miserable if fortune forsake them, but more miserable if she tarry and overwhelm them: for when they come to be in great place, rich, they that were most temperate, sober, and discreet in their private fortunes, as Nero, Otho, Vitellius, Heliogabalus (optimi imperatores nisi imperassent) degenerate on a sudden into brute beasts, so prodigious in lust, such tyrannical oppressors, &c., they cannot moderate themselves, they become monsters, odious, harpies, what not? Cum triumphos, opes, honores adepti sunt, ad voluptatem et otium deinceps se convertunt: 'twas [3844]Cato's note, "they cannot contain." For that cause belike

[3845] "Eutrapilus cuicunque nocere volebat, Vestimenta dabat pretiosa: beatus enim jam, Cum pulchris tunicis sumet nova consilia et spes, Dormiet in lucem scorto, postponet honestum Officium"———

"Eutrapilus when he would hurt a knave, Gave him gay clothes and wealth to make him brave: Because now rich he would quite change his mind, Keep whores, fly out, set honesty behind."

On the other side, in adversity many mutter and repine, despair, &c., both bad, I confess,

[3846] ———"ut calceus olim Si pede major erit, subvertet: si minor, uret."

"As a shoe too big or too little, one pincheth, the other sets the foot awry," sed e malis minimum. If adversity hath killed his thousand, prosperity hath killed his ten thousand: therefore adversity is to be preferred; [3847]haec froeno indiget, illa solatio: illa fallit, haec instruit: the one deceives, the other instructs; the one miserably happy, the other happily miserable; and therefore many philosophers have voluntarily sought adversity, and so much commend it in their precepts. Demetrius, in Seneca, esteemed it a great infelicity, that in his lifetime he had no misfortune, miserum cui nihil unquam accidisset, adversi. Adversity then is not so heavily to be taken, and we ought not in such cases so much to macerate ourselves: there is no such odds in poverty and riches. To conclude in [3848]Hierom's words, "I will ask our magnificoes that build with marble, and bestow a whole manor on a thread, what difference between them and Paul the Eremite, that bare old man? They drink in jewels, he in his hand: he is poor and goes to heaven, they are rich and go to hell."

MEMB. IV. Against Servitude, Loss of Liberty, Imprisonment, Banishment.

Servitude, loss of liberty, imprisonment, are no such miseries as they are held to be: we are slaves and servants the best of us all: as we do reverence our masters, so do our masters their superiors: gentlemen serve nobles, and nobles subordinate to kings, omne sub regno graviore regnum, princes themselves are God's servants, reges in ipsos imperium est Jovis. They are subject to their own laws, and as the kings of China endure more than slavish imprisonment, to maintain their state and greatness, they never come abroad. Alexander was a slave to fear, Caesar of pride, Vespasian to his money (nihil enim refert, rerum sis servus an hominum), [3849] Heliogabalus to his gut, and so of the rest. Lovers are slaves to their mistresses, rich men to their gold, courtiers generally to lust and ambition, and all slaves to our affections, as Evangelus well discourseth in [3850]Macrobius, and [3851]Seneca the philosopher, assiduam servitutem extremam et ineluctabilem he calls it, a continual slavery, to be so captivated by vices; and who is free? Why then dost thou repine? Satis est potens, Hierom saith, qui servire non cogitur. Thou carriest no burdens, thou art no prisoner, no drudge, and thousands want that liberty, those pleasures which thou hast. Thou art not sick, and what wouldst thou have? But nitimur in vetitum, we must all eat of the forbidden fruit. Were we enjoined to go to such and such places, we would not willingly go: but being barred of our liberty, this alone torments our wandering soul that we may not go. A citizen of ours, saith [3852]Cardan, was sixty years of age, and had never been forth of the walls of the city of Milan; the prince hearing of it, commanded him not to stir out: being now forbidden that which all his life he had neglected, he earnestly desired, and being denied, dolore confectus mortem, obiit, he died for grief.

What I have said of servitude, I again say of imprisonment, we are all prisoners. [3853]What is our life but a prison? We are all imprisoned in an island. The world itself to some men is a prison, our narrow seas as so many ditches, and when they have compassed the globe of the earth, they would fain go see what is done in the moon. In [3854]Muscovy and many other northern parts, all over Scandia, they are imprisoned half the year in stoves, they dare not peep out for cold. At [3855]Aden in Arabia they are penned in all day long with that other extreme of heat, and keep their markets in the night. What is a ship but a prison? And so many cities are but as so many hives of bees, anthills; but that which thou abhorrest, many seek: women keep in all winter, and most part of summer, to preserve their beauties; some for love of study: Demosthenes shaved his beard because he would cut off all occasions from going abroad: how many monks and friars, anchorites, abandon the world. Monachus in urbe, piscis in arido. Art in prison? Make right use of it, and mortify thyself; [3856] "Where may a man contemplate better than in solitariness," or study more than in quietness? Many worthy men have been imprisoned all their lives, and it hath been occasion of great honour and glory to them, much public good by their excellent meditation. [3857]Ptolomeus king of Egypt, cum viribus attenuatis infirma valetudine laboraret, miro descendi studio affectus, &c. now being taken with a grievous infirmity of body that he could not stir abroad, became Strato's scholar, fell hard to his book, and gave himself wholly to contemplation, and upon that occasion (as mine author adds), pulcherrimum regiae opulentiae monumentum, &c., to his great honour built that renowned library at Alexandria, wherein were 40,000 volumes. Severinus Boethius never writ so elegantly as in prison, Paul so devoutly, for most of his epistles were dictated in his bands: "Joseph," saith [3858]Austin, "got more credit in prison, than when he distributed corn, and was lord of Pharaoh's house." It brings many a lewd, riotous fellow home, many wandering rogues it settles, that would otherwise have been like raving tigers, ruined themselves and others.

Banishment is no grievance at all, Omne solum forti patria, &c. et patria est ubicunque bene est, that's a man's country where he is well at ease. Many travel for pleasure to that city, saith Seneca, to which thou art banished, and what a part of the citizens are strangers born in other places? [3859]Incolentibus patria, 'tis their country that are born in it, and they would think themselves banished to go to the place which thou leavest, and from which thou art so loath to depart. 'Tis no disparagement to be a stranger, or so irksome to be an exile. [3860]"The rain is a stranger to the earth, rivers to the sea, Jupiter in Egypt, the sun to us all. The soul is an alien to the body, a nightingale to the air, a swallow in a house, and Ganymede in heaven, an elephant at Rome, a Phoenix in India;" and such things commonly please us best, which are most strange and come the farthest off. Those old Hebrews esteemed the whole world Gentiles; the Greeks held all barbarians but themselves; our modern Italians account of us as dull Transalpines by way of reproach, they scorn thee and thy country which thou so much admirest. 'Tis a childish humour to hone after home, to be discontent at that which others seek; to prefer, as base islanders and Norwegians do, their own ragged island before Italy or Greece, the gardens of the world. There is a base nation in the north, saith [3861]Pliny, called Chauci, that live amongst rocks and sands by the seaside, feed on fish, drink water: and yet these base people account themselves slaves in respect, when they come to Rome. Ita est profecto (as he concludes) multis fortuna parcit in poenam, so it is, fortune favours some to live at home, to their further punishment: 'tis want of judgment. All places are distant from heaven alike, the sun shines happily as warm in one city as in another, and to a wise man there is no difference of climes; friends are everywhere to him that behaves himself well, and a prophet is not esteemed in his own country. Alexander, Caesar, Trajan, Adrian, were as so many land-leapers, now in the east, now in the west, little at home; and Polus Venetus, Lod. Vertomannus, Pinzonus, Cadamustus, Columbus, Americus Vespucius, Vascus Gama, Drake, Candish, Oliver Anort, Schoutien, got, all their honour by voluntary expeditions. But you say such men's travel is voluntary; we are compelled, and as malefactors must depart; yet know this of [3862]Plato to be true, ultori Deo summa cura peregrinus est, God hath an especial care of strangers, "and when he wants friends and allies, he shall deserve better and find more favour with God and men." Besides the pleasure of peregrination, variety of objects will make amends; and so many nobles, Tully, Aristides, Themistocles, Theseus, Codrus, &c. as have been banished, will give sufficient credit unto it. Read Pet. Alcionius his two books of this subject.

MEMB. V. Against Sorrow for Death of Friends or otherwise, vain Fear, &c.

Death and departure of friends are things generally grievous, [3863] Omnium quae in humana vita contingunt, luctus atque mors sunt acerbissima, the most austere and bitter accidents that can happen to a man in this life, in aeternum valedicere, to part for ever, to forsake the world and all our friends, 'tis ultimum terribilium, the last and the greatest terror, most irksome and troublesome unto us, [3864]Homo toties moritur, quoties amittit suos. And though we hope for a better life, eternal happiness, after these painful and miserable days, yet we cannot compose ourselves willingly to die; the remembrance of it is most grievous unto us, especially to such who are fortunate and rich: they start at the name of death, as a horse at a rotten post. Say what you can of that other world, [3865]Montezuma that Indian prince, Bonum est esse hic, they had rather be here. Nay many generous spirits, and grave staid men otherwise, are so tender in this, that at the loss of a dear friend they will cry out, roar, and tear their hair, lamenting some months after, howling "O Hone," as those Irish women and [3866]Greeks at their graves, commit many indecent actions, and almost go beside themselves. My dear father, my sweet husband, mine only brother's dead, to whom shall I make my moan? O me miserum! Quis dabit in lachrymas fontem, &c. What shall I do?

[3867] "Sed totum hoc studium luctu fraterna mihi mors Abstulit, hei misero frater adempte mihi?"

"My brother's death my study hath undone, Woe's me, alas my brother he is gone."

Mezentius would not live after his son:

[3868] "Nunc vivo, nec adhuc homines lucemque relinquo, Sed linquam"———

And Pompey's wife cried out at the news of her husband's death,

[3869] "Turpe mori post te solo non posse dolore, Violenta luctu et nescia tolerandi,"

as [3870]Tacitus of Agrippina, not able to moderate her passions. So when she heard her son was slain, she abruptly broke off her work, changed countenance and colour, tore her hair, and fell a roaring downright.

[3871] ———"subitus miserae color ossa reliquit, Excussi manibus radii, revolutaque pensa: Evolat infelix et foemineo ululatu Scissa comam"———

Another would needs run upon the sword's point after Euryalus' departure,

[3872] "Figite me, si qua est pietas, in me omnia tela Conjicite o Rutili;"———

O let me die, some good man or other make an end of me. How did Achilles take on for Patroclus' departure? A black cloud of sorrows overshadowed him, saith Homer. Jacob rent his clothes, put sackcloth about his loins, sorrowed for his son a long season, and could not be comforted, but would needs go down into the grave unto his son, Gen. xxxvii. 37. Many years after, the remembrance of such friends, of such accidents, is most grievous unto us, to see or hear of it, though it concern not ourselves but others. Scaliger saith of himself, that he never read Socrates' death, in Plato's Phaedon, but he wept: [3873]Austin shed tears when he read the destruction of Troy. But howsoever this passion of sorrow be violent, bitter, and seizeth familiarly on wise, valiant, discreet men, yet it may surely be withstood, it may be diverted. For what is there in this life, that it should be so dear unto us? or that we should so much deplore the departure of a friend? The greatest pleasures are common society, to enjoy one another's presence, feasting, hawking, hunting, brooks, woods, hills, music, dancing, &c. all this is but vanity and loss of time, as I have sufficiently declared.

[3874] ———"dum bibimus, dum serta, unguenta, puellas Poscimus, obrepit non intellecta senectus."

"Whilst we drink, prank ourselves, with wenches dally, Old age upon's at unawares doth sally."

As alchemists spend that small modicum they have to get gold, and never find it, we lose and neglect eternity, for a little momentary pleasure which we cannot enjoy, nor shall ever attain to in this life. We abhor death, pain, and grief, all, yet we will do nothing of that which should vindicate us from, but rather voluntarily thrust ourselves upon it. [3875] "The lascivious prefers his whore before his life, or good estate; an angry man his revenge: a parasite his gut; ambitious, honours; covetous, wealth; a thief his booty; a soldier his spoil; we abhor diseases, and yet we pull them upon us." We are never better or freer from cares than when we sleep, and yet, which we so much avoid and lament, death is but a perpetual sleep; and why should it, as [3876]Epicurus argues, so much affright us? "When we are, death is not: but when death is, then we are not:" our life is tedious and troublesome unto him that lives best; [3877]"'tis a misery to be born, a pain to live, a trouble to die:" death makes an end of our miseries, and yet we cannot consider of it; a little before [3878]Socrates drank his portion of cicuta, he bid the citizens of Athens cheerfully farewell, and concluded his speech with this short sentence; "My time is now come to be gone, I to my death, you to live on; but which of these is best, God alone knows." For there is no pleasure here but sorrow is annexed to it, repentance follows it. [3879]"If I feed liberally, I am likely sick or surfeit: if I live sparingly my hunger and thirst is not allayed; I am well neither full nor fasting; if I live honest, I burn in lust;" if I take my pleasure, I tire and starve myself, and do injury to my body and soul. [3880]"Of so small a quantity of mirth, how much sorrow? after so little pleasure, how great misery?" 'Tis both ways troublesome to me, to rise and go to bed, to eat and provide my meat; cares and contentions attend me all day long, fears and suspicions all my life. I am discontented, and why should I desire so much to live? But a happy death will make an end of all our woes and miseries; omnibus una meis certa medela malis; why shouldst not thou then say with old Simeon since thou art so well affected, "Lord now let thy servant depart in peace:" or with Paul, "I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ"? Beata mors quae ad beatam vitam aditum aperit, 'tis a blessed hour that leads us to a [3881]blessed life, and blessed are they that die in the Lord. But life is sweet, and death is not so terrible in itself as the concomitants of it, a loathsome disease, pain, horror, &c. and many times the manner of it, to be hanged, to be broken on the wheel, to be burned alive. [3882]Servetus the heretic, that suffered in Geneva, when he was brought to the stake, and saw the executioner come with fire in his hand, homo viso igne tam horrendum exclamavit, ut universum populum perterrefecerit, roared so loud, that he terrified the people. An old stoic would have scorned this. It troubles some to be unburied, or so:

———"non te optima mater Condet humi, patriove onerabit membra sepulchro; Alitibus linguere feris, et gurgite mersum Unda feret, piscesque impasti vulnera lambent."

"Thy gentle parents shall not bury thee, Amongst thine ancestors entomb'd to be, But feral fowl thy carcass shall devour, Or drowned corps hungry fish maws shall scour."

As Socrates told Crito, it concerns me not what is done with me when I am dead; Facilis jactura sepulchri: I care not so long as I feel it not; let them set mine head on the pike of Tenerife, and my quarters in the four parts of the world,—pascam licet in cruce corvos, let wolves or bears devour me;—[3883]Caelo tegitur qui non habet urnam, the canopy of heaven covers him that hath no tomb. So likewise for our friends, why should their departure so much trouble us? They are better as we hope, and for what then dost thou lament, as those do whom Paul taxed in his time, 1 Thes. iv. 13. "that have no hope"? 'Tis fit there should be some solemnity.

[3884] "Sed sepelire decet defunctum, pectore forti, Constantes, unumque diem fletui indulgentes."

Job's friends said not a word to him the first seven days, but let sorrow and discontent take their course, themselves sitting sad and silent by him. When Jupiter himself wept for Sarpedon, what else did the poet insinuate, but that some sorrow is good

[3885] "Quis matrem nisi mentis inops in funere nati Flere vetat?"———

who can blame a tender mother if she weep for her children? Beside, as [3886]Plutarch holds, 'tis not in our power not to lament, Indolentia non cuivis contingit, it takes away mercy and pity, not to be sad; 'tis a natural passion to weep for our friends, an irresistible passion to lament and grieve. "I know not how" (saith Seneca) "but sometimes 'tis good to be miserable in misery: and for the most part all grief evacuates itself by tears,"

[3887] ———"est quaedam flere voluptas, Expletur lachrymis egeriturque dolor:"

"yet after a day's mourning or two, comfort thyself for thy heaviness," Eccles. xxxviii. 17. [3888]Non decet defunctum ignavo quaestu prosequi; 'twas Germanicus' advice of old, that we should not dwell too long upon our passions, to be desperately sad, immoderate grievers, to let them tyrannise, there's indolentiae, ars, a medium to be kept: we do not (saith [3889]Austin) forbid men to grieve, but to grieve overmuch. "I forbid not a man to be angry, but I ask for what cause he is so? Not to be sad, but why is he sad? Not to fear, but wherefore is he afraid?" I require a moderation as well as a just reason. [3890]The Romans and most civil commonwealths have set a time to such solemnities, they must not mourn after a set day, "or if in a family a child be born, a daughter or son married, some state or honour be conferred, a brother be redeemed from his bands, a friend from his enemies," or the like, they must lament no more. And 'tis fit it should be so; to what end is all their funeral pomp, complaints, and tears? When Socrates was dying, his friends Apollodorus and Crito, with some others, were weeping by him, which he perceiving, asked them what they meant: [3891]"for that very cause he put all the women out of the room, upon which words of his they were abashed, and ceased from their tears." Lodovicus Cortesius, a rich lawyer of Padua (as [3892] Bernardinus Scardeonius relates) commanded by his last will, and a great mulct if otherwise to his heir, that no funeral should be kept for him, no man should lament: but as at a wedding, music and minstrels to be provided; and instead of black mourners, he took order, [3893]"that twelve virgins clad in green should carry him to the church." His will and testament was accordingly performed, and he buried in St. Sophia's church. [3894]Tully was much grieved for his daughter Tulliola's death at first, until such time that he had confirmed his mind with some philosophical precepts, [3895]"then he began to triumph over fortune and grief, and for her reception into heaven to be much more joyed than before he was troubled for her loss." If a heathen man could so fortify himself from philosophy, what shall a Christian from divinity? Why dost thou so macerate thyself? 'Tis an inevitable chance, the first statute in Magna Charta, an everlasting Act of Parliament, all must [3896]die.

[3897] "Constat aeterna positumque lege est, Ut constet genitum nihil."

It cannot be revoked, we are all mortal, and these all commanding gods and princes "die like men:"[3898]—involvit humile pariter et celsum caput, aquatque summis infima. "O weak condition of human estate," Sylvius exclaims: [3899]Ladislaus, king of Bohemia, eighteen years of age, in the flower of his youth, so potent, rich, fortunate and happy, in the midst of all his friends, amongst so many [3900]physicians, now ready to be [3901] married, in thirty-six hours sickened and died. We must so be gone sooner or later all, and as Calliopeius in the comedy took his leave of his spectators and auditors, Vos valete et plaudite, Calliopeius recensui, must we bid the world farewell (Exit Calliopeius), and having now played our parts, for ever be gone. Tombs and monuments have the like fate, data sunt ipsis quoque fata sepulchris, kingdoms, provinces, towns, and cities have their periods, and are consumed. In those flourishing times of Troy, Mycenae was the fairest city in Greece, Graeciae cunctae imperitabat, but it, alas, and that [3902]"Assyrian Nineveh are quite overthrown:" the like fate hath that Egyptian and Boeotian Thebes, Delos, commune Graeciae, conciliabulum, the common council-house of Greece, [3903]and Babylon, the greatest city that ever the sun shone on, hath now nothing but walls and rubbish left. [3904]Quid Pandioniae restat nisi nomen Athenae? Thus [3905]Pausanias complained in his times. And where is Troy itself now, Persepolis, Carthage, Cizicum, Sparta, Argos, and all those Grecian cities? Syracuse and Agrigentum, the fairest towns in Sicily, which had sometimes 700,000 inhabitants, are now decayed: the names of Hieron, Empedocles, &c., of those mighty numbers of people, only left. One Anacharsis is remembered amongst the Scythians; the world itself must have an end; and every part of it. Caeterae igitur urbes sunt mortales, as Peter [3906]Gillius concludes of Constantinople, haec sane quamdiu erunt homines, futura mihi videtur immortalis; but 'tis not so: nor site, nor strength, nor sea nor land, can vindicate a city, but it and all must vanish at last. And as to a traveller great mountains seem plains afar off, at last are not discerned at all; cities, men, monuments decay,—nec solidis prodest sua machina terris, [3907]the names are only left, those at length forgotten, and are involved in perpetual night.

[3908]"Returning out of Asia, when I sailed from Aegina toward Megara, I began" (saith Servius Sulpicius, in a consolatory epistle of his to Tully) "to view the country round about. Aegina was behind me, Megara before, Piraeus on the right hand, Corinth on the left, what flourishing towns heretofore, now prostrate and overwhelmed before mine eyes? I began to think with myself, alas, why are we men so much disquieted with the departure of a friend, whose life is much shorter? [3909]When so many goodly cities lie buried before us. Remember, O Servius, thou art a man; and with that I was much confirmed, and corrected myself." Correct then likewise, and comfort thyself in this, that we must necessarily die, and all die, that we shall rise again: as Tully held; Jucundiorque multo congressus noster futurus, quam insuavis et acerbus digressus, our second meeting shall be much more pleasant than our departure was grievous.

Aye, but he was my most dear and loving friend, my sole friend,

[3910] "Quis deciderio sit pudor aut modus Tam chari capitis?"———

"And who can blame my woe?"

Thou mayst be ashamed, I say with [3911]Seneca, to confess it, "in such a [3912]tempest as this to have but one anchor," go seek another: and for his part thou dost him great injury to desire his longer life. [3913]"Wilt thou have him crazed and sickly still," like a tired traveller that comes weary to his inn, begin his journey afresh, "or to be freed from his miseries; thou hast more need rejoice that he is gone." Another complains of a most sweet wife, a young wife, Nondum sustulerat flavum Proserpina crinem, such a wife as no mortal man ever had, so good a wife, but she is now dead and gone, laethaeoque jacet condita sarcophago. I reply to him in Seneca's words, if such a woman at least ever was to be had, [3914]"He did either so find or make her; if he found her, he may as happily find another;" if he made her, as Critobulus in Xenophon did by his, he may as good cheap inform another, et bona tam sequitur, quam bona prima fuit; he need not despair, so long as the same master is to be had. But was she good? Had she been so tired peradventure as that Ephesian widow in Petronius, by some swaggering soldier, she might not have held out. Many a man would have been willingly rid of his: before thou wast bound, now thou art free; [3915]"and 'tis but a folly to love thy fetters though they be of gold." Come into a third place, you shall have an aged father sighing for a son, a pretty child;

[3916] "Impube pectus quale vel impia Molliret Thracum pectora."

———"He now lies asleep, Would make an impious Thracian weep."

Or some fine daughter that died young, Nondum experta novi gaudia prima tori. Or a forlorn son for his deceased father. But why? Prior exiit, prior intravit, he came first, and he must go first. [3917]Tu frustra pius, heu, &c. What, wouldst thou have the laws of nature altered, and him to live always? Julius Caesar, Augustus, Alcibiades, Galen, Aristotle, lost their fathers young. And why on the other side shouldst thou so heavily take the death of thy little son?

[3918] "Num quia nec fato, merita nec morte peribat, Sed miser ante diem"———

he died before his time, perhaps, not yet come to the solstice of his age, yet was he not mortal? Hear that divine [3919]Epictetus, "If thou covet thy wife, friends, children should live always, thou art a fool." He was a fine child indeed, dignus Apollineis lachrymis, a sweet, a loving, a fair, a witty child, of great hope, another Eteoneus, whom Pindarus the poet and Aristides the rhetorician so much lament; but who can tell whether he would have been an honest man? He might have proved a thief, a rogue, a spendthrift, a disobedient son, vexed and galled thee more than all the world beside, he might have wrangled with thee and disagreed, or with his brothers, as Eteocles and Polynices, and broke thy heart; he is now gone to eternity, as another Ganymede, in the [3920]flower of his youth, "as if he had risen," saith [3921]Plutarch, "from the midst of a feast" before he was drunk, "the longer he had lived, the worse he would have been," et quo vita longior, (Ambrose thinks) culpa numerosior, more sinful, more to answer he would have had. If he was naught, thou mayst be glad he is gone; if good, be glad thou hadst such a son. Or art thou sure he was good? It may be he was an hypocrite, as many are, and howsoever he spake thee fair, peradventure he prayed, amongst the rest that Icaro Menippus heard at Jupiter's whispering place in Lucian, for his father's death, because he now kept him short, he was to inherit much goods, and many fair manors after his decease. Or put case he was very good, suppose the best, may not thy dead son expostulate with thee, as he did in the same [3922]Lucian, "why dost thou lament my death, or call me miserable that am much more happy than thyself? what misfortune is befallen me? Is it because I am not so bald, crooked, old, rotten, as thou art? What have I lost, some of your good cheer, gay clothes, music, singing, dancing, kissing, merry-meetings, thalami lubentias, &c., is that it? Is it not much better not to hunger at all than to eat: not to thirst than to drink to satisfy thirst: not to be cold than to put on clothes to drive away cold? You had more need rejoice that I am freed from diseases, agues, cares, anxieties, livor, love, covetousness, hatred, envy, malice, that I fear no more thieves, tyrants, enemies, as you do." [3923]Ad cinerem et manes credis curare sepultos? "Do they concern us at all, think you, when we are once dead?" Condole not others then overmuch, "wish not or fear thy death." [3924] Summum nec optes diem nec metuas; 'tis to no purpose.

"Excessi e vitae aerumnis facilisque lubensque Ne perjora ipsa morte dehinc videam."

"I left this irksome life with all mine heart, Lest worse than death should happen to my part."

[3925]Cardinal Brundusinus caused this epitaph in Rome to be inscribed on his tomb, to show his willingness to die, and tax those that were so both to depart. Weep and howl no more then, 'tis to small purpose; and as Tully adviseth us in the like case, Non quos amisimus, sed quantum lugere par sit cogitemus: think what we do, not whom we have lost. So David did, 2 Sam. xxii., "While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept; but being now dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him again? I shall go to him, but he cannot return to me." He that doth otherwise is an intemperate, a weak, a silly, and indiscreet man. Though Aristotle deny any part of intemperance to be conversant about sorrow, I am of [3926]Seneca's mind, "he that is wise is temperate, and he that is temperate is constant, free from passion, and he that is such a one, is without sorrow," as all wise men should be. The [3927]Thracians wept still when a child was born, feasted and made mirth when any man was buried: and so should we rather be glad for such as die well, that they are so happily freed from the miseries of this life. When Eteoneus, that noble young Greek, was so generally lamented by his friends, Pindarus the poet feigns some god saying, Silete homines, non enim miser est, &c. be quiet good folks, this young man is not so miserable as you think; he is neither gone to Styx nor Acheron, sed gloriosus et senii expers heros, he lives for ever in the Elysian fields. He now enjoys that happiness which your great kings so earnestly seek, and wears that garland for which ye contend. If our present weakness is such, we cannot moderate our passions in this behalf, we must divert them by all means, by doing something else, thinking of another subject. The Italians most part sleep away care and grief, if it unseasonably seize upon them, Danes, Dutchmen, Polanders and Bohemians drink it down, our countrymen go to plays: do something or other, let it not transpose thee, or by [3928] "premeditation make such accidents familiar," as Ulysses that wept for his dog, but not for his wife, quod paratus esset animo obfirmato, (Plut. de anim. tranq.) "accustom thyself, and harden beforehand by seeing other men's calamities, and applying them to thy present estate;" Praevisum est levius quod fuit ante malum. I will conclude with [3929]Epictetus, "If thou lovest a pot, remember 'tis but a, pot thou lovest, and thou wilt not be troubled when 'tis broken: if thou lovest a son or wife, remember they were mortal, and thou wilt not be so impatient." And for false fears and all other fortuitous inconveniences, mischances, calamities, to resist and prepare ourselves, not to faint is best: [3930]Stultum est timere quod vitari non potest, 'tis a folly to fear that which cannot be avoided, or to be discouraged at all.

[3931] "Nam quisquis trepidus pavet vel optat, Abjecit clypeum, locoque motus Nectit qua valeat trahi catenam."

"For he that so faints or fears, and yields to his passion, flings away his own weapons, makes a cord to bind himself, and pulls a beam upon his own head."

MEMB. VI. Against Envy, Livor, Emulation, Hatred, Ambition, Self-love, and all other Affections.

Against those other [3932]passions and affections, there is no better remedy than as mariners when they go to sea, provide all things necessary to resist a tempest: to furnish ourselves with philosophical and Divine precepts, other men's examples, [3933]Periculum ex aliis facere, sibi quod ex usu siet: To balance our hearts with love, charity, meekness, patience, and counterpoise those irregular motions of envy, livor, spleen, hatred, with their opposite virtues, as we bend a crooked staff another way, to oppose [3934]"sufferance to labour, patience to reproach," bounty to covetousness, fortitude to pusillanimity, meekness to anger, humility to pride, to examine ourselves for what cause we are so much disquieted, on what ground, what occasion, is it just or feigned? And then either to pacify ourselves by reason, to divert by some other object, contrary passion, or premeditation. [3935]Meditari secum oportet quo pacto adversam aerumnam ferat, Paricla, damna, exilia peregre rediens semper cogitet, aut filii peccatum, aut uxoris mortem, aut morbum filiae, communia esse haec: fieri posse, ut ne quid animo sit novum. To make them familiar, even all kind of calamities, that when they happen they may be less troublesome unto us. In secundis meditare, quo pacto feras adversa: or out of mature judgment to avoid the effect, or disannul the cause, as they do that are troubled with toothache, pull them quite out.

[3936] "Ut vivat castor, sibi testes amputat ipse; Tu quoque siqua nocent, abjice, tutus eris."

"The beaver bites off's stones to save the rest: Do thou the like with that thou art opprest."

Or as they that play at wasters, exercise themselves by a few cudgels how to avoid an enemy's blows: let us arm ourselves against all such violent incursions, which may invade our minds. A little experience and practice will inure us to it; vetula vulpes, as the proverb saith, laqueo haud capitur, an old fox is not so easily taken in a snare; an old soldier in the world methinks should not be disquieted, but ready to receive all fortunes, encounters, and with that resolute captain, come what may come, to make answer,

[3937] ———"non ulla laborum O virgo nova mi facies inopinaque surgit, Omnia percepi atque animo mecum ante peregi."

"No labour comes at unawares to me, For I have long before cast what may be."

[3938] ———"non hoc primum mea pectora vulnus Senserunt, graviora tuli"———

The commonwealth of [3939]Venice in their armoury have this inscription, "Happy is that city which in time of peace thinks of war," a fit motto for every man's private house; happy is the man that provides for a future assault. But many times we complain, repine and mutter without a cause, we give way to passions we may resist, and will not. Socrates was bad by nature, envious, as he confessed to Zophius the physiognomer, accusing him of it, froward and lascivious: but as he was Socrates, he did correct and amend himself. Thou art malicious, envious, covetous, impatient, no doubt, and lascivious, yet as thou art a Christian, correct and moderate thyself. 'Tis something, I confess, and able to move any man, to see himself contemned, obscure, neglected, disgraced, undervalued, [3940]"left behind;" some cannot endure it, no not constant Lipsius, a man discreet otherwise, yet too weak and passionate in this, as his words express, [3941]collegas olim, quos ego sine fremitu non intueor, nuper terrae filios, nunc Maecenates et Agrippas habeo,—summo jam monte potitos. But he was much to blame for it: to a wise staid man this is nothing, we cannot all be honoured and rich, all Caesars; if we will be content, our present state is good, and in some men's opinion to be preferred. Let them go on, get wealth, offices, titles, honours, preferments, and what they will themselves, by chance, fraud, imposture, simony, and indirect means, as too many do, by bribery, flattery, and parasitical insinuation, by impudence and time-serving, let them climb up to advancement in despite of virtue, let them "go before, cross me on every side," me non offendunt modo non in, oculos incurrant, [3942]as he said, correcting his former error, they do not offend me, so long as they run not into mine eyes. I am inglorious and poor, composita paupertate, but I live secure and quiet: they are dignified, have great means, pomp, and state, they are glorious; but what have they with it? [3943]"Envy, trouble, anxiety, as much labour to maintain their place with credit, as to get it at first." I am contented with my fortunes, spectator e longinquo, and love Neptunum procul a terra spectare furentem: he is ambitious, and not satisfied with his: "but what [3944]gets he by it? to have all his life laid open, his reproaches seen: not one of a thousand but he hath done more worthy of dispraise and animadversion than commendation; no better means to help this than to be private." Let them run, ride, strive as so many fishes for a crumb, scrape, climb, catch, snatch, cozen, collogue, temporise and fleer, take all amongst them, wealth, honour, [3945]and get what they can, it offends me not:

[3946] ———"me mea tellus Lare secreto tutoque tegat,"

"I am well pleased with my fortunes," [3947]Vivo et regno simul ista relinquens.

I have learned "in what state soever I am, therewith to be contented," Philip, iv 11. Come what can come, I am prepared. Nave ferar magna an parva, ferar unus et idem. I am the same. I was once so mad to bustle abroad, and seek about for preferment, tire myself, and trouble all my friends, sed nihil labor tantus profecit nam dum alios amicorum mors avocat, aliis ignotus sum, his invisus, alii large promittunt, intercedunt illi mecum soliciti, hi vana spe lactant; dum alios ambio, hos capto, illis innotesco, aetas perit, anni defluunt, amici fatigantur, ego deferor, et jam, mundi taesus, humanaeque satur infidelitatis acquiesco. [3948]And so I say still; although I may not deny, but that I have had some [3949] bountiful patrons, and noble benefactors, ne sim interim ingratus, and I do thankfully acknowledge it, I have received some kindness, quod Deus illis beneficium rependat, si non pro votis, fortasse pro meritis, more peradventure than I deserve, though not to my desire, more of them than I did expect, yet not of others to my desert; neither am I ambitious or covetous, for this while, or a Suffenus to myself; what I have said, without prejudice or alteration shall stand. And now as a mired horse that struggles at first with all his might and main to get out, but when he sees no remedy, that his beating will not serve, lies still, I have laboured in vain, rest satisfied, and if I may usurp that of [3950]Prudentius,

"Inveni portum; spes et fortuna valete, Nil mihi vobiscum, ludite nunc alios."

"Mine haven's found, fortune and hope adieu, Mock others now, for I have done with you."

MEMB. VII. Against Repulse, Abuses, Injuries, Contempts, Disgraces, Contumelies, Slanders, Scoffs, &c.

I may not yet conclude, think to appease passions, or quiet the mind, till such time as I have likewise removed some other of their more eminent and ordinary causes, which produce so grievous tortures and discontents: to divert all, I cannot hope; to point alone at some few of the chiefest, is that which I aim at.

Repulse.] Repulse and disgrace are two main causes of discontent, but to an understanding man not so hardly to be taken. Caesar himself hath been denied, [3951]and when two stand equal in fortune, birth, and all other qualities alike, one of necessity must lose. Why shouldst thou take it so grievously? It hath a familiar thing for thee thyself to deny others. If every man might have what he would, we should all be deified, emperors, kings, princes; if whatsoever vain hope suggests, insatiable appetite affects, our preposterous judgment thinks fit were granted, we should have another chaos in an instant, a mere confusion. It is some satisfaction to him that is repelled, that dignities, honours, offices, are not always given by desert or worth, but for love, affinity, friendship, affection, [3952]great men's letters, or as commonly they are bought and sold. [3953]"Honours in court are bestowed not according to men's virtues and good conditions" (as an old courtier observes), "but as every man hath means, or more potent friends, so he is preferred." With us in France ([3954]for so their own countryman relates) "most part the matter is carried by favour and grace; he that can get a great man to be his mediator, runs away with all the preferment." Indignissimus plerumque praefertur, Vatinius Catoni, illaudatus laudatissimo;

[3955] ———"servi dominantur; aselli Ornantur phaleris, dephalerantur equi."

An illiterate fool sits in a man's seat, and the common people hold him learned, grave and wise. "One professeth" ([3956]Cardan well notes) "for a thousand crowns, but he deserves not ten, when as he that deserves a thousand cannot get ten." Solarium non dat multis salem. As good horses draw in carts, as coaches. And oftentimes, which Machiavel seconds, [3957] Principes non sunt qui ob insignem virtutem principatu digni sunt, he that is most worthy wants employment; he that hath skill to be a pilot wants a ship, and he that could govern a commonwealth, a world itself, a king in conceit, wants means to exercise his worth, hath not a poor office to manage, and yet all this while he is a better man that is fit to reign, etsi careat regno, though he want a kingdom, [3958]"than he that hath one, and knows not how to rule it:" a lion serves not always his keeper, but oftentimes the keeper the lion, and as [3959]Polydore Virgil hath it, multi reges ut pupilli ob inscitiam non regunt sed reguntur. Hieron of Syracuse was a brave king, but wanted a kingdom; Perseus of Macedon had nothing of a king, but the bare name and title, for he could not govern it: so great places are often ill bestowed, worthy persons unrespected. Many times, too, the servants have more means than the masters whom they serve, which [3960]Epictetus counts an eyesore and inconvenient. But who can help it? It is an ordinary thing in these days to see a base impudent ass, illiterate, unworthy, insufficient, to be preferred before his betters, because he can put himself forward, because he looks big, can bustle in the world, hath a fair outside, can temporise, collogue, insinuate, or hath good store of friends and money, whereas a more discreet, modest, and better-deserving man shall lie hid or have a repulse. 'Twas so of old, and ever will be, and which Tiresias advised Ulysses in the [3961] poet,—Accipe qua ratione queas ditescere, &c., is still in use; lie, flatter, and dissemble: if not, as he concludes,—Ergo pauper eris, then go like a beggar as thou art. Erasmus, Melancthon, Lipsius, Budaeus, Cardan, lived and died poor. Gesner was a silly old man, baculo innixus, amongst all those huffing cardinals, swelling bishops that flourished in his time, and rode on foot-clothes. It is not honesty, learning, worth, wisdom, that prefers men, "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong," but as the wise man said, [3962]Chance, and sometimes a ridiculous chance. [3963]Casus plerumque ridiculus multos elevavit. 'Tis fortune's doings, as they say, which made Brutus now dying exclaim, O misera virtus, ergo nihil quam verba eras, atqui ego te tanquam rem exercebam, sed tu serviebas fortunae. [3964]Believe it hereafter, O my friends! virtue serves fortune. Yet be not discouraged (O my well deserving spirits) with this which I have said, it may be otherwise, though seldom I confess, yet sometimes it is. But to your farther content, I'll tell you a [3965]tale. In Maronia pia, or Maronia felix, I know not whether, nor how long since, nor in what cathedral church, a fat prebend fell void. The carcass scarce cold, many suitors were up in an instant. The first had rich friends, a good purse, and he was resolved to outbid any man before he would lose it, every man supposed he should carry it. The second was my lord Bishop's chaplain (in whose gift it was), and he thought it his due to have it. The third was nobly born, and he meant to get it by his great parents, patrons, and allies. The fourth stood upon his worth, he had newly found out strange mysteries in chemistry, and other rare inventions, which he would detect to the public good. The fifth was a painful preacher, and he was commended by the whole parish where he dwelt, he had all their hands to his certificate. The sixth was the prebendary's son lately deceased, his father died in debt (for it, as they say), left a wife and many poor children. The seventh stood upon fair promises, which to him and his noble friends had been formerly made for the next place in his lordship's gift. The eighth pretended great losses, and what he had suffered for the church, what pains he had taken at home and abroad, and besides he brought noblemen's letters. The ninth had married a kinswoman, and he sent his wife to sue for him. The tenth was a foreign doctor, a late convert, and wanted means. The eleventh would exchange for another, he did not like the former's site, could not agree with his neighbours and fellows upon any terms, he would be gone. The twelfth and last was (a suitor in conceit) a right honest, civil, sober man, an excellent scholar, and such a one as lived private in the university, but he had neither means nor money to compass it; besides he hated all such courses, he could not speak for himself, neither had he any friends to solicit his cause, and therefore made no suit, could not expect, neither did he hope for, or look after it. The good bishop amongst a jury of competitors thus perplexed, and not yet resolved what to do, or on whom to bestow it, at the last, of his own accord, mere motion, and bountiful nature, gave it freely to the university student, altogether unknown to him but by fame; and to be brief, the academical scholar had the prebend sent him for a present. The news was no sooner published abroad, but all good students rejoiced, and were much cheered up with it, though some would not believe it; others, as men amazed, said it was a miracle; but one amongst the rest thanked God for it, and said, Nunc juvat tandem studiosum esse, et Deo integro corde servire. You have heard my tale: but alas it is but a tale, a mere fiction, 'twas never so, never like to be, and so let it rest. Well, be it so then, they have wealth and honour, fortune and preferment, every man (there's no remedy) must scramble as he may, and shift as he can; yet Cardan comforted himself with this, [3966]"the star Fomahant would make him immortal," and that [3967]after his decease his books should be found in ladies' studies: [3968]Dignum laude virum Musa vetat mori. But why shouldst thou take thy neglect, thy canvas so to heart? It may be thou art not fit; but a [3969]child that puts on his father's shoes, hat, headpiece, breastplate, breeches, or holds his spear, but is neither able to wield the one, or wear the other; so wouldst thou do by such an office, place, or magistracy: thou art unfit: "And what is dignity to an unworthy man, but (as [3970] Salvianus holds) a gold ring in a swine's snout?" Thou art a brute. Like a bad actor (so [3971]Plutarch compares such men in a tragedy, diadema fert, at vox non auditur: Thou wouldst play a king's part, but actest a clown, speakest like an ass. [3972]Magna petis Phaeton et quae non viribus istis, &c., as James and John, the sons of Zebedee, did ask they knew not what: nescis temerarie nescis; thou dost, as another Suffenus, overween thyself; thou art wise in thine own conceit, but in other more mature judgment altogether unfit to manage such a business. Or be it thou art more deserving than any of thy rank, God in his providence hath reserved thee for some other fortunes, sic superis visum. Thou art humble as thou art, it may be; hadst thou been preferred, thou wouldst have forgotten God and thyself, insulted over others, contemned thy friends, [3973]been a block, a tyrant, or a demigod, sequiturque superbia formam: [3974]"Therefore," saith Chrysostom, "good men do not always find grace and favour, lest they should be puffed up with turgent titles, grow insolent and proud."