[3547] "Invenies aliquem cum percussore jacentem, Permistum nautis, aut furibus, aut fugitivis."
Which Thomas Erastus objects to Paracelsus, that he would be drinking all day long with carmen and tapsters in a brothel-house, is too frequent among us, with men of better note: like Timocreon of Rhodes, multa bibens, et multa vorans, &c. They drown their wits, seethe their brains in ale, consume their fortunes, lose their time, weaken their temperatures, contract filthy diseases, rheums, dropsies, calentures, tremor, get swollen jugulars, pimpled red faces, sore eyes, &c.; heat their livers, alter their complexions, spoil their stomachs, overthrow their bodies; for drink drowns more than the sea and all the rivers that fall into it (mere funges and casks), confound their souls, suppress reason, go from Scylla to Charybdis, and use that which is a help to their undoing. [3548]Quid refert morbo an ferro pereamve ruina? [3549]When the Black Prince went to set the exiled king of Castile into his kingdom, there was a terrible battle fought between the English and the Spanish: at last the Spanish fled, the English followed them to the river side, where some drowned themselves to avoid their enemies, the rest were killed. Now tell me what difference is between drowning and killing? As good be melancholy still, as drunken beasts and beggars. Company a sole comfort, and an only remedy to all kind of discontent, is their sole misery and cause of perdition. As Hermione lamented in Euripides, malae mulieres me fecerunt malam. Evil company marred her, may they justly complain, bad companions have been their bane. For, [3550]malus malum vult ut sit sui similis; one drunkard in a company, one thief, one whoremaster, will by his goodwill make all the rest as bad as himself,
[3551] ———"Et si Nocturnos jures te formidare vapores,"
be of what complexion you will, inclination, love or hate, be it good or bad, if you come amongst them, you must do as they do; yea, [3552]though it be to the prejudice of your health, you must drink venenum pro vino. And so like grasshoppers, whilst they sing over their cups all summer, they starve in winter; and for a little vain merriment shall find a sorrowful reckoning in the end.
SECT. III. MEMB. I. A Consolatory Digression, containing the Remedies of all manner of Discontents.
Because in the preceding section I have made mention of good counsel, comfortable speeches, persuasion, how necessarily they are required to the cure of a discontented or troubled mind, how present a remedy they yield, and many times a sole sufficient cure of themselves; I have thought fit in this following section, a little to digress (if at least it be to digress in this subject), to collect and glean a few remedies, and comfortable speeches out of our best orators, philosophers, divines, and fathers of the church, tending to this purpose. I confess, many have copiously written of this subject, Plato, Seneca, Plutarch, Xenophon, Epictetus, Theophrastus, Xenocrates, Grantor, Lucian, Boethius: and some of late, Sadoletus, Cardan, Budaeus, Stella, Petrarch, Erasmus, besides Austin, Cyprian, Bernard, &c. And they so well, that as Hierome in like case said, si nostrum areret ingenium, de illorum posset fontibus irrigari, if our barren wits were dried up, they might be copiously irrigated from those well-springs: and I shall but actum agere; yet because these tracts are not so obvious and common, I will epitomise, and briefly insert some of their divine precepts, reducing their voluminous and vast treatises to my small scale; for it were otherwise impossible to bring so great vessels into so little a creek. And although (as Cardan said of his book de consol.) [3553]"I know beforehand, this tract of mine many will contemn and reject; they that are fortunate, happy, and in flourishing estate, have no need of such consolatory speeches; they that are miserable and unhappy, think them insufficient to ease their grieved minds, and comfort their misery:" yet I will go on; for this must needs do some good to such as are happy, to bring them to a moderation, and make them reflect and know themselves, by seeing the inconstancy of human felicity, others' misery; and to such as are distressed, if they will but attend and consider of this, it cannot choose but give some content and comfort. [3554]"'Tis true, no medicine can cure all diseases, some affections of the mind are altogether incurable; yet these helps of art, physic, and philosophy must not be contemned." Arrianus and Plotinus are stiff in the contrary opinion, that such precepts can do little good. Boethius himself cannot comfort in some cases, they will reject such speeches like bread of stones, Insana stultae mentis haec solatia. [3555]
"Words add no courage," which [3556]Catiline once said to his soldiers, "a captain's oration doth not make a coward a valiant man:" and as Job [3557] feelingly said to his friends, "you are but miserable comforters all." 'Tis to no purpose in that vulgar phrase to use a company of obsolete sentences, and familiar sayings: as [3558]Plinius Secundus, being now sorrowful and heavy for the departure of his dear friend Cornelius Rufus, a Roman senator, wrote to his fellow Tiro in like case, adhibe solatia, sed nova aliqua, sed fortia, quae audierim nunquam, legerim nunquam: nam quae audivi, quae legi omnia, tanto dolore superantur, either say something that I never read nor heard of before, or else hold thy peace. Most men will here except trivial consolations, ordinary speeches, and known persuasions in this behalf will be of small force; what can any man say that hath not been said? To what end are such paraenetical discourses? you may as soon remove Mount Caucasus, as alter some men's affections. Yet sure I think they cannot choose but do some good, and comfort and ease a little, though it be the same again, I will say it, and upon that hope I will adventure. [3559]Non meus hic sermo, 'tis not my speech this, but of Seneca, Plutarch, Epictetus, Austin, Bernard, Christ and his Apostles. If I make nothing, as [3560]Montaigne said in like case, I will mar nothing; 'tis not my doctrine but my study, I hope I shall do nobody wrong to speak what I think, and deserve not blame in imparting my mind. If it be not for thy ease, it may for mine own; so Tully, Cardan, and Boethius wrote de consol. as well to help themselves as others; be it as it may I will essay.
Discontents and grievances are either general or particular; general are wars, plagues, dearths, famine, fires, inundations, unseasonable weather, epidemical diseases which afflict whole kingdoms, territories, cities; or peculiar to private men, [3561]as cares, crosses, losses, death of friends, poverty, want, sickness, orbities, injuries, abuses, &c. Generally all discontent, [3562]homines quatimur fortunae, salo. No condition free, quisque suos patimur manes. Even in the midst of our mirth and jollity, there is some grudging, some complaint; as [3563]he saith, our whole life is a glycypicron, a bitter sweet passion, honey and gall mixed together, we are all miserable and discontent, who can deny it? If all, and that it be a common calamity, an inevitable necessity, all distressed, then as Cardan infers, [3564]"who art thou that hopest to go free? Why dost thou not grieve thou art a mortal man, and not governor of the world?" Ferre quam sortem patiuntur omnes, Nemo recuset, [3565]"If it be common to all, why should one man be more disquieted than another?" If thou alone wert distressed, it were indeed more irksome, and less to be endured; but when the calamity is common, comfort thyself with this, thou hast more fellows, Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris; 'tis not thy sole case, and why shouldst thou be so impatient? [3566]"Aye, but alas we are more miserable than others, what shall we do? Besides private miseries, we live in perpetual fear and danger of common enemies: we have Bellona's whips, and pitiful outcries, for epithalamiums; for pleasant music, that fearful noise of ordnance, drums, and warlike trumpets still sounding in our ears; instead of nuptial torches, we have firing of towns and cities; for triumphs, lamentations; for joy, tears." [3567]"So it is, and so it was, and so it ever will be. He that refuseth to see and hear, to suffer this, is not fit to live in this world, and knows not the common condition of all men, to whom so long as they live, with a reciprocal course, joys and sorrows are annexed, and succeed one another." It is inevitable, it may not be avoided, and why then shouldst thou be so much troubled? Grave nihil est homini quod fert necessitas, as [3568]Tully deems out of an old poet, "that which is necessary cannot be grievous." If it be so, then comfort thyself in this, [3569]"that whether thou wilt or no, it must be endured:" make a virtue of necessity, and conform thyself to undergo it. [3570]Si longa est, levis est; si gravis est, brevis est. If it be long, 'tis light; if grievous, it cannot last. It will away, dies dolorem minuit, and if nought else, time will wear it out; custom will ease it; [3571] oblivion is a common medicine for all losses, injuries, griefs, and detriments whatsoever, [3572]"and when they are once past, this commodity comes of infelicity, it makes the rest of our life sweeter unto us:" [3573] Atque haec olim meminisse juvabit, "recollection of the past is pleasant:" "the privation and want of a thing many times makes it more pleasant and delightsome than before it was." We must not think the happiest of us all to escape here without some misfortunes,
[3574] ———"Usque adeo nulla est sincera voluptas, Solicitumque aliquid laetis intervenit."———
Heaven and earth are much unlike: [3575]"Those heavenly bodies indeed are freely carried in their orbs without any impediment or interruption, to continue their course for innumerable ages, and make their conversions: but men are urged with many difficulties, and have diverse hindrances, oppositions still crossing, interrupting their endeavours and desires, and no mortal man is free from this law of nature." We must not therefore hope to have all things answer our own expectation, to have a continuance of good success and fortunes, Fortuna nunquam perpetuo est bona. And as Minutius Felix, the Roman consul, told that insulting Coriolanus, drunk with his good fortunes, look not for that success thou hast hitherto had; [3576]"It never yet happened to any man since the beginning of the world, nor ever will, to have all things according to his desire, or to whom fortune was never opposite and adverse." Even so it fell out to him as he foretold. And so to others, even to that happiness of Augustus; though he were Jupiter's almoner, Pluto's treasurer, Neptune's admiral, it could not secure him. Such was Alcibiades's fortune, Narsetes, that great Gonsalvus, and most famous men's, that as [3577]Jovius concludes, "it is almost fatal to great princes, through their own default or otherwise circumvented with envy and malice, to lose their honours, and die contumeliously." 'Tis so, still hath been, and ever will be, Nihil est ab omni parte beatum,
"There's no perfection is so absolute,
That some impurity doth not pollute."
Whatsoever is under the moon is subject to corruption, alteration; and so long as thou livest upon earth look not for other. [3578]"Thou shalt not here find peaceable and cheerful days, quiet times, but rather clouds, storms, calumnies, such is our fate." And as those errant planets in their distinct orbs have their several motions, sometimes direct, stationary, retrograde, in apogee, perigee, oriental, occidental, combust, feral, free, and as our astrologers will, have their fortitudes and debilities, by reason of those good and bad irradiations, conferred to each other's site in the heavens, in their terms, houses, case, detriments, &c. So we rise and fall in this world, ebb and flow, in and out, reared and dejected, lead a troublesome life, subject to many accidents and casualties of fortunes, variety of passions, infirmities as well from ourselves as others.
Yea, but thou thinkest thou art more miserable than the rest, other men are happy but in respect of thee, their miseries are but flea-bitings to thine, thou alone art unhappy, none so bad as thyself. Yet if, as Socrates said, [3579]"All men in the world should come and bring their grievances together, of body, mind, fortune, sores, ulcers, madness, epilepsies, agues, and all those common calamities of beggary, want, servitude, imprisonment, and lay them on a heap to be equally divided, wouldst thou share alike, and take thy portion? or be as thou art? Without question thou wouldst be as thou art." If some Jupiter should say, to give us all content,
[3580] "Jam faciam quod vultis; eris tu, qui modo miles,
Mercator; tu consultus modo, rusticus; hinc vos,
Vos hinc mutatis discedite partibus; eia
Quid slatis? nolint."
"Well be't so then; you master soldier
Shall be a merchant; you sir lawyer
A country gentlemen; go you to this,
That side you; why stand ye? it's well as 'tis."
[3581]"Every man knows his own, but not others' defects and miseries; and 'tis the nature of all men still to reflect upon themselves, their own misfortunes," not to examine or consider other men's, not to compare themselves with others: To recount their miseries, but not their good gifts, fortunes, benefits, which they have, or ruminate on their adversity, but not once to think on their prosperity, not what they have, but what they want: to look still on them that go before, but not on those infinite numbers that come after. [3582]"Whereas many a man would think himself in heaven, a pretty prince, if he had but the least part of that fortune which thou so much repinest at, abhorrest and accountest a most vile and wretched estate." How many thousands want that which thou hast? how many myriads of poor slaves, captives, of such as work day and night in coal-pits, tin-mines, with sore toil to maintain a poor living, of such as labour in body and mind, live in extreme anguish, and pain, all which thou art free from? O fortunatos nimium bona si sua norint: Thou art most happy if thou couldst be content, and acknowledge thy happiness; [3583]Rem carendo, non fruendo cognoscimus, when thou shalt hereafter come to want that which thou now loathest, abhorrest, and art weary of, and tired with, when 'tis past thou wilt say thou wert most happy: and after a little miss, wish with all thine heart thou hadst the same content again, mightst lead but such a life, a world for such a life: the remembrance of it is pleasant. Be silent then, [3584]rest satisfied, desine, intuensque in aliorum infortunia solare mentem, comfort thyself with other men's misfortunes, and as the mouldwarp in Aesop told the fox, complaining for want of a tail, and the rest of his companions, tacete, quando me occulis captum videtis, you complain of toys, but I am blind, be quiet. I say to thee be thou satisfied. It is [3585]recorded of the hares, that with a general consent they went to drown themselves, out of a feeling of their misery; but when they saw a company of frogs more fearful than they were, they began to take courage, and comfort again. Compare thine estate with others. Similes aliorum respice casus, mitius ista feres. Be content and rest satisfied, for thou art well in respect to others: be thankful for that thou hast, that God hath done for thee, he hath not made thee a monster, a beast, a base creature, as he might, but a man, a Christian, such a man; consider aright of it, thou art full well as thou art. [3586]Quicquid vult habere nemo potest, no man can have what he will, Illud potest nolle quod non habet, he may choose whether he will desire that which he hath not. Thy lot is fallen, make the best of it. [3587]"If we should all sleep at all times," (as Endymion is said to have done) "who then were happier than his fellow?" Our life is but short, a very dream, and while we look about [3588]immortalitas adest, eternity is at hand: [3589]"Our life is a pilgrimage on earth, which wise men pass with great alacrity." If thou be in woe, sorrow, want, distress, in pain, or sickness, think of that of our apostle, "God chastiseth them whom he loveth: they that sow in tears, shall reap in joy," Psal. cxxvi. 6. "As the furnace proveth the potter's vessel, so doth temptation try men's thoughts," Eccl. xxv. 5, 'tis for [3590]thy good, Periisses nisi periisses: hadst thou not been so visited, thou hadst been utterly undone: "as gold in the fire," so men are tried in adversity. Tribulatio ditut: and which Camerarius hath well shadowed in an emblem of a thresher and corn,
"Si tritura absit paleis sunt abdita grana,
Nos crux mundanis separat a paleis:"
"As threshing separates from straw the corn,
By crosses from the world's chaff are we born."
'Tis the very same which [3591]Chrysostom comments, hom. 2. in 3 Mat. "Corn is not separated but by threshing, nor men from worldly impediments but by tribulation." 'Tis that which [3592]Cyprian ingeminates, Ser. 4. de immort. 'Tis that which [3593]Hierom, which all the fathers inculcate, "so we are catechised for eternity." 'Tis that which the proverb insinuates. Nocumentum documentum; 'tis that which all the world rings in our ears. Deus unicum habet filium sine peccato, nullum sine flagello: God, saith [3594]Austin, hath one son without sin, none without correction. [3595]"An expert seaman is tried in a tempest, a runner in a race, a captain in a battle, a valiant man in adversity, a Christian in tentation and misery." Basil, hom. 8. We are sent as so many soldiers into this world, to strive with it, the flesh, the devil; our life is a warfare, and who knows it not? [3596]Non est ad astra mollis e terris via: [3597]"and therefore peradventure this world here is made troublesome unto us," that, as Gregory notes, "we should not be delighted by the way, and forget whither we are going."
[3598] "Ite nunc fortes, ubi celsa magni
Ducit exempli via, cur inertis
Terga nudatis? superata tellus
Sidera donat."
Go on then merrily to heaven. If the way be troublesome, and you in misery, in many grievances: on the other side you have many pleasant sports, objects, sweet smells, delightsome tastes, music, meats, herbs, flowers, &c. to recreate your senses. Or put case thou art now forsaken of the world, dejected, contemned, yet comfort thyself, as it was said to Agar in the wilderness, [3599]"God sees thee, he takes notice of thee:" there is a God above that can vindicate thy cause, that can relieve thee. And surely [3600]Seneca thinks he takes delight in seeing thee. "The gods are well pleased when they see great men contending with adversity," as we are to see men fight, or a man with a beast. But these are toys in respect, [3601] "Behold," saith he, "a spectacle worthy of God; a good man contented with his estate." A tyrant is the best sacrifice to Jupiter, as the ancients held, and his best object "a contented mind." For thy part then rest satisfied, "cast all thy care on him, thy burthen on him," [3602]"rely on him, trust on him, and he shall nourish thee, care for thee, give thee thine heart's desire;" say with David, "God is our hope and strength, in troubles ready to be found," Psal. xlvi. 1. "for they that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed," Psal. cxxiv. 1. 2. "as the mountains are about Jerusalem, so is the Lord about his people, from henceforth and for ever."
MEMB. II. Deformity of body, sickness, baseness of birth, peculiar discontents.
Particular discontents and grievances, are either of body, mind, or fortune, which as they wound the soul of man, produce this melancholy, and many great inconveniences, by that antidote of good counsel and persuasion may be eased or expelled. Deformities and imperfections of our bodies, as lameness, crookedness, deafness, blindness, be they innate or accidental, torture many men: yet this may comfort them, that those imperfections of the body do not a whit blemish the soul, or hinder the operations of it, but rather help and much increase it. Thou art lame of body, deformed to the eye, yet this hinders not but that thou mayst be a good, a wise, upright, honest man. [3603]"Seldom," saith Plutarch, "honesty and beauty dwell together," and oftentimes under a threadbare coat lies an excellent understanding, saepe sub attrita latitat sapientia veste. [3604]Cornelius Mussus, that famous preacher in Italy, when he came first into the pulpit in Venice, was so much contemned by reason of his outside, a little lean, poor, dejected person, [3605]they were all ready to leave the church; but when they heard his voice they did admire him, and happy was that senator could enjoy his company, or invite him first to his house. A silly fellow to look to, may have more wit, learning, honesty, than he that struts it out Ampullis jactans, &c. grandia gradiens, and is admired in the world's opinion: Vilis saepe cadus nobile nectar habet, the best wine comes out of an old vessel. How many deformed princes, kings, emperors, could I reckon up, philosophers, orators? Hannibal had but one eye, Appius Claudius, Timoleon, blind, Muleasse, king of Tunis, John, king of Bohemia, and Tiresias the prophet. [3606]"The night hath his pleasure;" and for the loss of that one sense such men are commonly recompensed in the rest; they have excellent memories, other good parts, music, and many recreations; much happiness, great wisdom, as Tully well discourseth in his [3607] Tusculan questions: Homer was blind, yet who (saith he) made more accurate, lively, or better descriptions, with both his eyes? Democritus was blind, yet as Laertius writes of him, he saw more than all Greece besides, as [3608]Plato concludes, Tum sane mentis oculus acute incipit cernere, quum primum corporis oculus deflorescit, when our bodily eyes are at worst, generally the eyes of our soul see best. Some philosophers and divines have evirated themselves, and put out their eyes voluntarily, the better to contemplate. Angelus Politianus had a tetter in his nose continually running, fulsome in company, yet no man so eloquent and pleasing in his works. Aesop was crooked, Socrates purblind, long-legged, hairy; Democritus withered, Seneca lean and harsh, ugly to behold, yet show me so many flourishing wits, such divine spirits: Horace a little blear-eyed contemptible fellow, yet who so sententious and wise? Marcilius Picinus, Faber Stapulensis, a couple of dwarfs, [3609]Melancthon a short hard-favoured man, parvus erat, sed magnus erat, &c., yet of incomparable parts all three. [3610]Ignatius Loyola the founder of the Jesuits, by reason of a hurt he received in his leg, at the siege of Pampeluna, the chief town of Navarre in Spain, unfit for wars and less serviceable at court, upon that accident betook himself to his beads, and by those means got more honour than ever he should have done with the use of his limbs, and properness of person: [3611]Vulnus non penetrat animum, a wound hurts not the soul. Galba the emperor was crook-backed, Epictetus lame: that great Alexander a little man of stature, [3612]Augustus Caesar of the same pitch: Agesilaus despicabili forma; Boccharis a most deformed prince as ever Egypt had, yet as [3613]Diodorus Siculus records of him, in wisdom and knowledge far beyond his predecessors. A. Dom. 1306. [3614] Uladeslaus Cubitalis that pigmy king of Poland reigned and fought more victorious battles than any of his long-shanked predecessors. Nullam virtus respuit staturam, virtue refuseth no stature, and commonly your great vast bodies, and fine features, are sottish, dull, and leaden spirits. What's in them? [3615]Quid nisi pondus iners stolidaeque ferocia memtis, What in Osus and Ephialtes (Neptune's sons in Homer), nine acres long?
[3616] "Qui ut magnus Orion,
Cum pedes incedit, medii per maxima Nerei
Stagna, viam findens humero supereminet undas."
"Like tall Orion stalking o'er the flood:
When with his brawny breast he cuts the waves,
His shoulder scarce the topmost billow laves."
What in Maximinus, Ajax, Caligula, and the rest of those great Zanzummins, or gigantical Anakims, heavy, vast, barbarous lubbers?
[3617] ———"si membra tibi dant grandia Parcae,
Mentis eges?"
Their body, saith [3618]Lemnius, "is a burden to them, and their spirits not so lively, nor they so erect and merry:" Non est in magno corpore mica salis: a little diamond is more worth than a rocky mountain: which made Alexander Aphrodiseus positively conclude, "The lesser, the [3619]wiser, because the soul was more contracted in such a body." Let Bodine in his 5. c. method, hist. plead the rest; the lesser they are, as in Asia, Greece, they have generally the finest wits. And for bodily stature which some so much admire, and goodly presence, 'tis true, to say the best of them, great men are proper, and tall, I grant,—caput inter nubila condunt, (hide their heads in the clouds); but belli pusilli little men are pretty: Sed si bellus homo est Cotta, pusillus homo est. Sickness, diseases, trouble many, but without a cause; [3620]"It may be 'tis for the good of their souls:" Pars fati fuit, the flesh rebels against the spirit; that which hurts the one, must needs help the other. Sickness is the mother of modesty, putteth us in mind of our mortality; and when we are in the full career of worldly pomp and jollity, she pulleth us by the ear, and maketh us know ourselves. [3621]Pliny calls it, the sum of philosophy, "If we could but perform that in our health, which we promise in our sickness." Quum infirmi sumus, optimi sumus; [3622]for what sick man (as [3623] Secundus expostulates with Rufus) was ever "lascivious, covetous, or ambitious? he envies no man, admires no man, flatters no man, despiseth no man, listens not after lies and tales," &c. And were it not for such gentle remembrances, men would have no moderation of themselves, they would be worse than tigers, wolves, and lions: who should keep them in awe? "princes, masters, parents, magistrates, judges, friends, enemies, fair or foul means cannot contain us, but a little sickness," (as [3624]Chrysostom observes) "will correct and amend us." And therefore with good discretion, [3625]Jovianus Pontanus caused this short sentence to be engraven on his tomb in Naples: "Labour, sorrow, grief, sickness, want and woe, to serve proud masters, bear that superstitious yoke, and bury your clearest friends, &c., are the sauces of our life." If thy disease be continuate and painful to thee, it will not surely last: "and a light affliction, which is but for a moment, causeth unto us a far more excellent and eternal weight of glory," 2 Cor. iv. 17. bear it with patience; women endure much sorrow in childbed, and yet they will not contain; and those that are barren, wish for this pain; "be courageous, [3626]there is as much valour to be shown in thy bed, as in an army, or at a sea fight:" aut vincetur, aut vincet, thou shalt be rid at last. In the mean time, let it take its course, thy mind is not any way disabled. Bilibaldus Pirkimerus, senator to Charles the Fifth, ruled all Germany, lying most part of his days sick of the gout upon his bed. The more violent thy torture is, the less it will continue: and though it be severe and hideous for the time, comfort thyself as martyrs do, with honour and immortality. [3627]That famous philosopher Epicurus, being in as miserable pain of stone and colic, as a man might endure, solaced himself with a conceit of immortality; "the joy of his soul for his rare inventions, repelled the pain of his bodily torments."
Baseness of birth is a great disparagement to some men, especially if they be wealthy, bear office, and come to promotion in a commonwealth; then (as [3628]he observes) if their birth be not answerable to their calling, and to their fellows, they are much abashed and ashamed of themselves. Some scorn their own father and mother, deny brothers and sisters, with the rest of their kindred and friends, and will not suffer them to come near them, when they are in their pomp, accounting it a scandal to their greatness to have such beggarly beginnings. Simon in Lucian, having now got a little wealth, changed his name from Simon to Simonides, for that there were so many beggars of his kin, and set the house on fire where he was born, because no body should point at it. Others buy titles, coats of arms, and by all means screw themselves into ancient families, falsifying pedigrees, usurping scutcheons, and all because they would not seem to be base. The reason is, for that this gentility is so much admired by a company of outsides, and such honour attributed unto it, as amongst [3629]Germans, Frenchmen, and Venetians, the gentry scorn the commonalty, and will not suffer them to match with them; they depress, and make them as so many asses, to carry burdens. In our ordinary talk and fallings out, the most opprobrious and scurrile name we can fasten upon a man, or first give, is to call him base rogue, beggarly rascal, and the like: Whereas in my judgment, this ought of all other grievances to trouble men least. Of all vanities and fopperies, to brag of gentility is the greatest; for what is it they crack so much of, and challenge such superiority, as if they were demigods? Birth? Tantane vos generis tenuit fiducia vestri? [3630]It is non ens, a mere flash, a ceremony, a toy, a thing of nought. Consider the beginning, present estate, progress, ending of gentry, and then tell me what it is. [3631]"Oppression, fraud, cozening, usury, knavery, bawdry, murder, and tyranny, are the beginning of many ancient families:" [3632]"one hath been a bloodsucker, a parricide, the death of many a silly soul in some unjust quarrels, seditions, made many an orphan and poor widow, and for that he is made a lord or an earl, and his posterity gentlemen for ever after. Another hath been a bawd, a pander to some great men, a parasite, a slave," [3633]"prostituted himself, his wife, daughter," to some lascivious prince, and for that he is exalted. Tiberius preferred many to honours in his time, because they were famous whoremasters and sturdy drinkers; many come into this parchment-row (so [3634]one calls it) by flattery or cozening; search your old families, and you shall scarce find of a multitude (as Aeneas Sylvius observes) qui sceleratum non habent ortum, that have not a wicked beginning; aut qui vi et dolo eo fastigii non ascendunt, as that plebeian in [3635]Machiavel in a set oration proved to his fellows, that do not rise by knavery, force, foolery, villainy, or such indirect means. "They are commonly able that are wealthy; virtue and riches seldom settle on one man: who then sees not the beginning of nobility? spoils enrich one, usury another, treason a third, witchcraft a fourth, flattery a fifth, lying, stealing, bearing false witness a sixth, adultery the seventh," &c. One makes a fool of himself to make his lord merry, another dandles my young master, bestows a little nag on him, a third marries a cracked piece, &c. Now may it please your good worship, your lordship, who was the first founder of your family? The poet answers, [3636]Aut Pastor fuit, aut illud quod dicere nolo. Are he or you the better gentleman? If he, then we have traced him to his form. If you, what is it of which thou boastest so much? That thou art his son. It may be his heir, his reputed son, and yet indeed a priest or a serving man may be the true father of him; but we will not controvert that now; married women are all honest; thou art his son's son's son, begotten and born infra quatuor maria, &c. Thy great great great grandfather was a rich citizen, and then in all likelihood a usurer, a lawyer, and then a—a courtier, and then a—a country gentleman, and then he scraped it out of sheep, &c. And you are the heir of all his virtues, fortunes, titles; so then, what is your gentry, but as Hierom saith, Opes antiquae, inveteratae divitiae, ancient wealth? that is the definition of gentility. The father goes often to the devil, to make his son a gentleman. For the present, what is it? "It began" (saith [3637]Agrippa) "with strong impiety, with tyranny, oppression," &c. and so it is maintained: wealth began it (no matter how got), wealth continueth and increaseth it. Those Roman knights were so called, if they could dispend per annum so much. [3638]In the kingdom of Naples and France, he that buys such lands, buys the honour, title, barony, together with it; and they that can dispend so much amongst us, must be called to bear office, to be knights, or fine for it, as one observes, [3639]nobiliorum ex censu judicant, our nobles are measured by their means. And what now is the object of honour? What maintains our gentry but wealth? [3640]Nobilitas sine re projecta vilior alga. Without means gentry is naught worth, nothing so contemptible and base. [3641]Disputare de nobilitate generis, sine divitiis, est disputare de nobilitate stercoris, saith Nevisanus the lawyer, to dispute of gentry without wealth, is (saving your reverence) to discuss the original of a merd. So that it is wealth alone that denominates, money which maintains it, gives esse to it, for which every man may have it. And what is their ordinary exercise? [3642]"sit to eat, drink, lie down to sleep, and rise to play:" wherein lies their worth and sufficiency? in a few coats of arms, eagles, lions, serpents, bears, tigers, dogs, crosses, bends, fesses, &c., and such like baubles, which they commonly set up in their galleries, porches, windows, on bowls, platters, coaches, in tombs, churches, men's sleeves, &c. [3643]"If he can hawk and hunt, ride a horse, play at cards and dice, swagger, drink, swear," take tobacco with a grace, sing, dance, wear his clothes in fashion, court and please his mistress, talk big fustian, [3644]insult, scorn, strut, contemn others, and use a little mimical and apish compliment above the rest, he is a complete, (Egregiam vero laudem) a well-qualified gentleman; these are most of their employments, this their greatest commendation. What is gentry, this parchment nobility then, but as [3645] Agrippa defines it, "a sanctuary of knavery and naughtiness, a cloak for wickedness and execrable vices, of pride, fraud, contempt, boasting, oppression, dissimulation, lust, gluttony, malice, fornication, adultery, ignorance, impiety?" A nobleman therefore in some likelihood, as he concludes, is an "atheist, an oppressor, an epicure, a [3646]gull, a dizzard, an illiterate idiot, an outside, a glowworm, a proud fool, an arrant ass," Ventris et inguinis mancipium, a slave to his lust and belly, solaque libidine fortis. And as Salvianus observed of his countrymen the Aquitanes in France, sicut titulis primi fuere, sic et vitiis (as they were the first in rank so also in rottenness); and Cabinet du Roy, their own writer, distinctly of the rest. "The nobles of Berry are most part lechers, they of Touraine thieves, they of Narbonne covetous, they of Guienne coiners, they of Provence atheists, they of Rheims superstitious, they of Lyons treacherous, of Normandy proud, of Picardy insolent," &c. We may generally conclude, the greater men, the more vicious. In fine, as [3647]Aeneas Sylvius adds, "they are most part miserable, sottish, and filthy fellows, like the walls of their houses, fair without, foul within." What dost thou vaunt of now? [3648]"What dost thou gape and wonder at? admire him for his brave apparel, horses, dogs, fine houses, manors, orchards, gardens, walks? Why? a fool may be possessor of this as well as he; and he that accounts him a better man, a nobleman for having of it, he is a fool himself." Now go and brag of thy gentility. This is it belike which makes the [3649]Turks at this day scorn nobility, and all those huffing bombast titles, which so much elevate their poles: except it be such as have got it at first, maintain it by some supereminent quality, or excellent worth. And for this cause, the Ragusian commonwealth, Switzers, and the united provinces, in all their aristocracies, or democratical monarchies, (if I may so call them,) exclude all these degrees of hereditary honours, and will admit of none to bear office, but such as are learned, like those Athenian Areopagites, wise, discreet, and well brought up. The [3650]Chinese observe the same customs, no man amongst them noble by birth; out of their philosophers and doctors they choose magistrates: their politic nobles are taken from such as be moraliter nobiles virtuous noble; nobilitas ut olim ab officio, non a natura, as in Israel of old, and their office was to defend and govern their country in war and peace, not to hawk, hunt, eat, drink, game alone, as too many do. Their Loysii, Mandarini, literati, licentiati, and such as have raised themselves by their worth, are their noblemen only, though fit to govern a state: and why then should any that is otherwise of worth be ashamed of his birth? why should not he be as much respected that leaves a noble posterity, as he that hath had noble ancestors? nay why not more? for plures solem orientem we adore the sun rising most part; and how much better is it to say, Ego meis majoribus virtute praeluxi, (I have outshone my ancestors in virtues), to boast himself of his virtues, than of his birth? Cathesbeius, sultan of Egypt and Syria, was by his condition a slave, but for worth, valour, and manhood second to no king, and for that cause (as, [3651]Jovius writes) elected emperor of the Mamelukes. That poor Spanish Pizarro for his valour made by Charles the fifth marquess of Anatillo; the Turkey Pashas are all such. Pertinax, Philippus Arabs, Maximinus, Probus, Aurelius, &c., from common soldiers, became emperors, Cato, Cincinnatus, &c. consuls. Pius Secundus, Sixtus Quintus, Johan, Secundus, Nicholas Quintus, &c. popes. Socrates, Virgil, Horace, libertino parte natus. [3652]The kings of Denmark fetch their pedigree, as some say, from one Ulfo, that was the son of a bear. [3653]E tenui casa saepe vir magnus exit, many a worthy man comes out of a poor cottage. Hercules, Romulus, Alexander (by Olympia's confession), Themistocles, Jugurtha, King Arthur, William the Conqueror, Homer, Demosthenes, P. Lumbard, P. Comestor, Bartholus, Adrian the fourth Pope, &c., bastards; and almost in every kingdom, the most ancient families have been at first princes' bastards: their worthiest captains, best wits, greatest scholars, bravest spirits in all our annals, have been base. [3654]Cardan, in his subtleties, gives a reason why they are most part better able than others in body and mind, and so, per consequens, more fortunate. Castruccius Castrucanus, a poor child, found in the field, exposed to misery, became prince of Lucca and Senes in Italy, a most complete soldier and worthy captain; Machiavel compares him to Scipio or Alexander. "And 'tis a wonderful thing" ([3655] saith he) "to him that shall consider of it, that all those, or the greatest part of them, that have done the bravest exploits here upon earth, and excelled the rest of the nobles of their time, have been still born in some abject, obscure place, or of base and obscure abject parents." A most memorable observation, [3656]Scaliger accounts it, et non praetereundum, maximorum virorum plerosque patres ignoratos, matres impudicas fuisse. [3657]"I could recite a great catalogue of them," every kingdom, every province will yield innumerable examples: and why then should baseness of birth be objected to any man? Who thinks worse of Tully for being arpinas, an upstart? Or Agathocles, that Silician king, for being a potter's son? Iphicrates and Marius were meanly born. What wise man thinks better of any person for his nobility? as he said in [3658]Machiavel, omnes eodem patre nati, Adam's sons, conceived all and born in sin, &c. "We are by nature all as one, all alike, if you see us naked; let us wear theirs and they our clothes, and what is the difference?" To speak truth, as [3659]Bale did of P. Schalichius, "I more esteem thy worth, learning, honesty, than thy nobility; honour thee more that thou art a writer, a doctor of divinity, than Earl of the Huns, Baron of Skradine, or hast title to such and such provinces," &c. "Thou art more fortunate and great" (so [3660]Jovius writes to Cosmo de Medici, then Duke of Florence) "for thy virtues, than for thy lovely wife, and happy children, friends, fortunes, or great duchy of Tuscany." So I account thee; and who doth not so indeed? [3661]Abdolominus was a gardener, and yet by Alexander for his virtues made King of Syria. How much better is it to be born of mean parentage, and to excel in worth, to be morally noble, which is preferred before that natural nobility, by divines, philosophers, and [3662]politicians, to be learned, honest, discreet, well-qualified, to be fit for any manner of employment, in country and commonwealth, war and peace, than to be Degeneres Neoptolemi, as many brave nobles are, only wise because rich, otherwise idiots, illiterate, unfit for any manner of service? [3663] Udalricus, Earl of Cilia, upbraided John Huniades with the baseness of his birth, but he replied, in te Ciliensis comitatus turpiter extinguitur, in me gloriose Bistricensis exoritur, thine earldom is consumed with riot, mine begins with honour and renown. Thou hast had so many noble ancestors; what is that to thee? Vix ea nostra voco, [3664]when thou art a dizzard thyself: quod prodest, Pontice, longo stemmate censeri? &c. I conclude, hast thou a sound body, and a good soul, good bringing up? Art thou virtuous, honest, learned, well-qualified, religious, are thy conditions good?—thou art a true nobleman, perfectly noble, although born of Thersites—dum modo tu sis—Aeacidae similis, non natus, sed factus, noble [Greek: kat' exochaen], [3665]"for neither sword, nor fire, nor water, nor sickness, nor outward violence, nor the devil himself can take thy good parts from thee." Be not ashamed of thy birth then, thou art a gentleman all the world over, and shalt be honoured, when as he, strip him of his fine clothes, [3666]dispossess him of his wealth, is a funge (which [3667] Polynices in his banishment found true by experience, gentry was not esteemed) like a piece of coin in another country, that no man will take, and shall be contemned. Once more, though thou be a barbarian, born at Tontonteac, a villain, a slave, a Saldanian Negro, or a rude Virginian in Dasamonquepec, he a French monsieur, a Spanish don, a signor of Italy, I care not how descended, of what family, of what order, baron, count, prince, if thou be well qualified, and he not, but a degenerate Neoptolemus, I tell thee in a word, thou art a man, and he is a beast.
Let no terrae filius, or upstart, insult at this which I have said, no worthy gentleman take offence. I speak it not to detract from such as are well deserving, truly virtuous and noble: I do much respect and honour true gentry and nobility; I was born of worshipful parents myself, in an ancient family, but I am a younger brother, it concerns me not: or had I been some great heir, richly endowed, so minded as I am, I should not have been elevated at all, but so esteemed of it, as of all other human happiness, honours, &c., they have their period, are brittle and inconstant. As [3668] he said of that great river Danube, it riseth from a small fountain, a little brook at first, sometimes broad, sometimes narrow, now slow, then swift, increased at last to an incredible greatness by the confluence of sixty navigable rivers, it vanisheth in conclusion, loseth his name, and is suddenly swallowed up of the Euxine sea: I may say of our greatest families, they were mean at first, augmented by rich marriages, purchases, offices, they continue for some ages, with some little alteration of circumstances, fortunes, places, &c., by some prodigal son, for some default, or for want of issue they are defaced in an instant, and their memory blotted out.
So much in the mean time I do attribute to Gentility, that if he be well-descended, of worshipful or noble parentage, he will express it in his conditions,
[3669] ———"nec enim feroces Progenerant aquilae columbas."
And although the nobility of our times be much like our coins, more in number and value, but less in weight and goodness, with finer stamps, cuts, or outsides than of old; yet if he retain those ancient characters of true gentry, he will be more affable, courteous, gently disposed, of fairer carriage, better temper, or a more magnanimous, heroical, and generous spirit, than that vulgus hominum, those ordinary boors and peasants, qui adeo improbi, agrestes, et inculti plerumque sunt, ne dicam maliciosi, ut nemini ullum humanitatis officium praestent, ne ipsi Deo si advenerit, as [3670]one observes of them, a rude, brutish, uncivil, wild, a currish generation, cruel and malicious, incapable of discipline, and such as have scarce common sense. And it may be generally spoken of all, which [3671] Lemnius the physician said of his travel into England, the common people were silly, sullen, dogged clowns, sed mitior nobilitas, ad omne humanitatis officium paratissima, the gentlemen were courteous and civil. If it so fall out (as often it doth) that such peasants are preferred by reason of their wealth, chance, error, &c., or otherwise, yet as the cat in the fable, when she was turned to a fair maid, would play with mice; a cur will be a cur, a clown will be a clown, he will likely savour of the stock whence he came, and that innate rusticity can hardly be shaken off.
[3672] "Licet superbus ambulet pecunia, Fortuna non mutat genus."
And though by their education such men may be better qualified, and more refined; yet there be many symptoms by which they may likely be descried, an affected fantastical carriage, a tailor-like spruceness, a peculiar garb in all their proceedings; choicer than ordinary in his diet, and as [3673] Hierome well describes such a one to his Nepotian; "An upstart born in a base cottage, that scarce at first had coarse bread to fill his hungry guts, must now feed on kickshaws and made dishes, will have all variety of flesh and fish, the best oysters," &c. A beggar's brat will be commonly more scornful, imperious, insulting, insolent, than another man of his rank: "Nothing so intolerable as a fortunate fool," as [3674]Tully found out long since out of his experience; Asperius nihil est humili cum surgit in altum, set a beggar on horseback, and he will ride a gallop, a gallop, &c.
[3675] ———"desaevit in omnes Dum se posse putat, nec bellua saevior ulla est, Quam servi rabies in libera colla furentis;"
he forgets what he was, domineers, &c., and many such other symptoms he hath, by which you may know him from a true gentleman. Many errors and obliquities are on both sides, noble, ignoble, factis, natis; yet still in all callings, as some degenerate, some are well deserving, and most worthy of their honours. And as Busbequius said of Suleiman the Magnificent, he was tanto dignus imperio, worthy of that great empire. Many meanly descended are most worthy of their honour, politice nobiles, and well deserve it. Many of our nobility so born (which one said of Hephaestion, Ptolemeus, Seleucus, Antigonus, &c., and the rest of Alexander's followers, they were all worthy to be monarchs and generals of armies) deserve to be princes. And I am so far forth of [3676]Sesellius's mind, that they ought to be preferred (if capable) before others, "as being nobly born, ingenuously brought up, and from their infancy trained to all manner of civility." For learning and virtue in a nobleman is more eminent, and, as a jewel set in gold is more precious, and much to be respected, such a man deserves better than others, and is as great an honour to his family as his noble family to him. In a word, many noblemen are an ornament to their order: many poor men's sons are singularly well endowed, most eminent, and well deserving for their worth, wisdom, learning, virtue, valour, integrity; excellent members and pillars of a commonwealth. And therefore to conclude that which I first intended, to be base by birth, meanly born is no such disparagement. Et sic demonstratur, quod erat demonstrandum.
MEMB. III. Against Poverty and Want, with such other Adversities.
One of the greatest miseries that can befall a man, in the world's esteem, is poverty or want, which makes men steal, bear false witness, swear, forswear, contend, murder and rebel, which breaketh sleep, and causeth death itself. [Greek: ouden penias baruteron esti phortion], no burden (saith [3677]Menander) so intolerable as poverty: it makes men desperate, it erects and dejects, census honores, census amicitias; money makes, but poverty mars, &c. and all this in the world's esteem: yet if considered aright, it is a great blessing in itself, a happy estate, and yields no cause of discontent, or that men should therefore account themselves vile, hated of God, forsaken, miserable, unfortunate. Christ himself was poor, born in a manger, and had not a house to hide his head in all his life, [3678]"lest any man should make poverty a judgment of God, or an odious estate." And as he was himself, so he informed his Apostles and Disciples, they were all poor, Prophets poor, Apostles poor, (Act. iii. "Silver and gold have I none.") "As sorrowing" (saith Paul) "and yet always rejoicing; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things," 1 Cor. vi. 10. Your great Philosophers have been voluntarily poor, not only Christians, but many others. Crates Thebanus was adored for a God in Athens, [3679]"a nobleman by birth, many servants he had, an honourable attendance, much wealth, many manors, fine apparel; but when he saw this, that all the wealth of the world was but brittle, uncertain and no whit availing to live well, he flung his burden into the sea, and renounced his estate." Those Curii and Fabricii will be ever renowned for contempt of these fopperies, wherewith the world is so much affected. Amongst Christians I could reckon up many kings and queens, that have forsaken their crowns and fortunes, and wilfully abdicated themselves from these so much esteemed toys; [3680]many that have refused honours, titles, and all this vain pomp and happiness, which others so ambitiously seek, and carefully study to compass and attain. Riches I deny not are God's good gifts, and blessings; and honor est in honorante, honours are from God; both rewards of virtue, and fit to be sought after, sued for, and may well be possessed: yet no such great happiness in having, or misery in wanting of them. Dantur quidem bonis, saith Austin, ne quis mala aestimet: mails autem ne quis nimis bona, good men have wealth that we should not think, it evil; and bad men that they should not rely on or hold it so good; as the rain falls on both sorts, so are riches given to good and bad, sed bonis in bonum, but they are good only to the godly. But [3681]compare both estates, for natural parts they are not unlike; and a beggar's child, as [3682]Cardan well observes, "is no whit inferior to a prince's, most part better;" and for those accidents of fortune, it will easily appear there is no such odds, no such extraordinary happiness in the one, or misery in the other. He is rich, wealthy, fat; what gets he by it? pride, insolency, lust, ambition, cares, fears, suspicion, trouble, anger, emulation, and many filthy diseases of body and mind. He hath indeed variety of dishes, better fare, sweet wine, pleasant sauce, dainty music, gay clothes, lords it bravely out, &c., and all that which Misillus admired in [3683]Lucian; but with them he hath the gout, dropsies, apoplexies, palsies, stone, pox, rheums, catarrhs, crudities, oppilations, [3684]melancholy, &c., lust enters in, anger, ambition, according to [3685]Chrysostom, "the sequel of riches is pride, riot, intemperance, arrogancy, fury, and all irrational courses."
[3686] ———"turpi fregerunt saecula luxu Divitiae molles"———
with their variety of dishes, many such maladies of body and mind get in, which the poor man knows not of. As Saturn in [3687]Lucian answered the discontented commonalty, (which because of their neglected Saturnal feasts in Rome, made a grievous complaint and exclamation against rich men) that they were much mistaken in supposing such happiness in riches; [3688]"you see the best" (said he) "but you know not their several gripings and discontents:" they are like painted walls, fair without, rotten within: diseased, filthy, crazy, full of intemperance's effects; [3689]"and who can reckon half? if you but knew their fears, cares, anguish of mind and vexation, to which they are subject, you would hereafter renounce all riches."
[3690] "O si pateant pectora divitum,
Quantos intus sublimis agit
Fortuna metus? Brutia Coro
Pulsante fretum mitior unda est."
"O that their breasts were but conspicuous,
How full of fear within, how furious?
The narrow seas are not so boisterous."
Yea, but he hath the world at will that is rich, the good things of the earth: suave est de magno tollere acervo, (it is sweet to draw from a great heap) he is a happy man, [3691]adored like a god, a prince, every man seeks to him, applauds, honours, admires him. He hath honours indeed, abundance of all things; but (as I said) withal [3692]"pride, lust, anger, faction, emulation, fears, cares, suspicion enter with his wealth;" for his intemperance he hath aches, crudities, gouts, and as fruits of his idleness, and fullness, lust, surfeiting and drunkenness, all manner of diseases: pecuniis augetur improbitas, the wealthier, the more dishonest. [3693]"He is exposed to hatred, envy, peril and treason, fear of death, degradation," &c. 'tis lubrica statio et proxima praecipitio, and the higher he climbs, the greater is his fall.
[3694] ———"celsae graviore casu
Decidunt turres, feriuntque summos"
Fulgura montes, the lightning commonly sets on fire the highest towers; [3695]in the more eminent place he is, the more subject to fall.
"Rumpitur innumeris arbos uberrima pomis,
Et subito nimiae praecipitantur opes."
As a tree that is heavy laden with fruit breaks her own boughs, with their own greatness they ruin themselves: which Joachimus Camerarius hath elegantly expressed in his 13 Emblem cent. 1. Inopem se copia fecit. Their means is their misery, though they do apply themselves to the times, to lie, dissemble, collogue and flatter their lieges, obey, second his will and commands as much as may be, yet too frequently they miscarry, they fat themselves like so many hogs, as [3696]Aeneas Sylvius observes, that when they are full fed, they may be devoured by their princes, as Seneca by Nero was served, Sejanus by Tiberius, and Haman by Ahasuerus: I resolve with Gregory, potestas culminis, est tempestas mentis; et quo dignitas altior, casus gravior, honour is a tempest, the higher they are elevated, the more grievously depressed. For the rest of his prerogatives which wealth affords, as he hath more his expenses are the greater. "When goods increase, they are increased that eat them; and what good cometh to the owners, but the beholding thereof with the eyes?" Eccles. iv. 10.
[3697] "Millia frumenti tua triverit area centum, Non tuus hinc capiet venter plus quam meus"———
"an evil sickness," Solomon calls it, "and reserved to them for an evil," 12 verse. "They that will be rich fall into many fears and temptations, into many foolish and noisome lusts, which drown men in perdition." 1 Tim. vi. 9. "Gold and silver hath destroyed many," Ecclus. viii. 2. divitia saeculi sunt laquei diaboli: so writes Bernard; worldly wealth is the devil's bait: and as the Moon when she is fuller of light is still farthest from the Sun, the more wealth they have, the farther they are commonly from God. (If I had said this of myself, rich men would have pulled me to pieces; but hear who saith, and who seconds it, an Apostle) therefore St. James bids them "weep and howl for the miseries that shall come upon them; their gold shall rust and canker, and eat their flesh as fire," James v. 1, 2, 3. I may then boldly conclude with [3698]Theodoret, quotiescunque divitiis affluentem, &c. "As often as you shall see a man abounding in wealth," qui gemmis bibit et Serrano dormit in ostro, "and naught withal, I beseech you call him not happy, but esteem him unfortunate, because he hath many occasions offered to live unjustly; on the other side, a poor man is not miserable, if he be good, but therefore happy, that those evil occasions are taken from him."
[3699] "Non possidentem multa vocaveris
Recte beatum; rectius occupat
Nomen beati, qui deorum
Muneribus sapienter uti,
Duramque callet pauperiem pati,
Pejusque laetho flagitium timet."
"He is not happy that is rich,
And hath the world at will,
But he that wisely can God's gifts
Possess and use them still:
That suffers and with patience
Abides hard poverty,
And chooseth rather for to die;
Than do such villainy."
Wherein now consists his happiness? what privileges hath he more than other men? or rather what miseries, what cares and discontents hath he not more than other men?
[3700] "Non enim gazae, neque consularis
Summovet lictor miseros tumultus
Mentis, et curas laqueata circum
Tecta volantes."
"Nor treasures, nor majors officers remove
The miserable tumults of the mind:
Or cares that lie about, or fly above
Their high-roofed houses, with huge beams combin'd."
'Tis not his wealth can vindicate him, let him have Job's inventory, sint Craesi et Crassi licet, non hos Pactolus aureas undas agens, eripiat unquum e miseriis, Croesus or rich Crassus cannot now command health, or get himself a stomach. [3701]"His worship," as Apuleius describes him, "in all his plenty and great provision, is forbidden to eat, or else hath no appetite," (sick in bed, can take no rest, sore grieved with some chronic disease, contracted with full diet and ease, or troubled in mind) "when as, in the meantime, all his household are merry, and the poorest servant that he keeps doth continually feast." 'Tis Bracteata felicitas, as [3702] Seneca terms it, tinfoiled happiness, infelix felicitas, an unhappy kind of happiness, if it be happiness at all. His gold, guard, clattering of harness, and fortifications against outward enemies, cannot free him from inward fears and cares.
"Reveraque metus hominum, curaeque sequaces
Nec metuunt fremitus armorum, aut ferrea tela,
Audacterque inter reges, regumque potentes
Versantur, neque fulgorem reverentur ab auro."
"Indeed men still attending fears and cares
Nor armours clashing, nor fierce weapons fears:
With kings converse they boldly, and kings peers,
Fearing no flashing that from gold appears."
Look how many servants he hath, and so many enemies he suspects; for liberty he entertains ambition; his pleasures are no pleasures; and that which is worst, he cannot be private or enjoy himself as other men do, his state is a servitude. [3703]A countryman may travel from kingdom to kingdom, province to province, city to city, and glut his eyes with delightful objects, hawk, hunt, and use those ordinary disports, without any notice taken, all which a prince or a great man cannot do. He keeps in for state, ne majestatis dignitas evilescat, as our China kings, of Borneo, and Tartarian Chams, those aurea mancipia, are said to do, seldom or never seen abroad, ut major sit hominum erga se observantia, which the [3704]Persian kings so precisely observed of old. A poor man takes more delight in an ordinary meal's meat, which he hath but seldom, than they do with all their exotic dainties and continual viands; Quippe voluptatem commendat rarior usus, 'tis the rarity and necessity that makes a thing acceptable and pleasant. Darius, put to flight by Alexander, drank puddle water to quench his thirst, and it was pleasanter, he swore, than any wine or mead. All excess, as [3705]Epictetus argues, will cause a dislike; sweet will be sour, which made that temperate Epicurus sometimes voluntarily fast. But they being always accustomed to the same [3706]dishes, (which are nastily dressed by slovenly cooks, that after their obscenities never wash their bawdy hands) be they fish, flesh, compounded, made dishes, or whatsoever else, are therefore cloyed; nectar's self grows loathsome to them, they are weary of all their fine palaces, they are to them but as so many prisons. A poor man drinks in a wooden dish, and eats his meat in wooden spoons, wooden platters, earthen vessels, and such homely stuff: the other in gold, silver, and precious stones; but with what success? in auro bibitur venenum, fear of poison in the one, security in the other. A poor man is able to write, to speak his mind, to do his own business himself; locuples mittit parasitum, saith [3707]Philostratus, a rich man employs a parasite, and as the major of a city, speaks by the town clerk, or by Mr. Recorder, when he cannot express himself. [3708]Nonius the senator hath a purple coat as stiff with jewels as his mind is full of vices; rings on his fingers worth 20,000 sesterces, and as [3709]Perox the Persian king, an union in his ear worth one hundred pounds weight of gold: [3710]Cleopatra hath whole boars and sheep served up to her table at once, drinks jewels dissolved, 40,000 sesterces in value; but to what end?
[3711] "Num tibi cum fauces urit sitis, aurea quaeris Pocula?"———
Doth a man that is adry desire to drink in gold? Doth not a cloth suit become him as well, and keep him as warm, as all their silks, satins, damasks, taffeties and tissues? Is not homespun cloth as great a preservative against cold, as a coat of Tartar lamb's-wool, died in grain, or a gown of giant's beards? Nero, saith [3712]Sueton., never put on one garment twice, and thou hast scarce one to put on? what's the difference? one's sick, the other sound: such is the whole tenor of their lives, and that which is the consummation and upshot of all, death itself makes the greatest difference. One like a hen feeds on the dunghill all his days, but is served up at last to his Lord's table; the other as a falcon is fed with partridge and pigeons, and carried on his master's fist, but when he dies is flung to the muck-hill, and there lies. The rich man lives like Dives jovially here on earth, temulentus divitiis, make the best of it; and "boasts himself in the multitude of his riches," Psalm xlix. 6. 11. he thinks his house "called after his own name," shall continue for ever; "but he perisheth like a beast," verse 20. "his way utters his folly," verse 13. male parta, male dilabuntur; "like sheep they lie in the grave," verse 14. Puncto descendunt ad infernum, "they spend their days in wealth, and go suddenly down to hell," Job xxi. 13. For all physicians and medicines enforcing nature, a swooning wife, families' complaints, friends' tears, dirges, masses, naenias, funerals, for all orations, counterfeit hired acclamations, eulogiums, epitaphs, hearses, heralds, black mourners, solemnities, obelisks, and Mausolean tombs, if he have them, at least, [3713]he, like a hog, goes to hell with a guilty conscience (propter hos dilatavit infernos os suum), and a poor man's curse; his memory stinks like the snuff of a candle when it is put out; scurrilous libels, and infamous obloquies accompany him. When as poor Lazarus is Dei sacrarium, the temple of God, lives and dies in true devotion, hath no more attendants, but his own innocency, the heaven a tomb, desires to be dissolved, buried in his mother's lap, and hath a company of [3714]Angels ready to convey his soul into Abraham's bosom, he leaves an everlasting and a sweet memory behind him. Crassus and Sylla are indeed still recorded, but not so much for their wealth as for their victories: Croesus for his end, Solomon for his wisdom. In a word, [3715]"to get wealth is a great trouble, anxiety to keep, grief to lose it."
[3716] "Quid dignum stolidis mentibus imprecer?
Opes, honores ambiant:
Et cum falsa gravi mole paraverint,
Tum vera cognoscant bona."
But consider all those other unknown, concealed happinesses, which a poor man hath (I call them unknown, because they be not acknowledged in the world's esteem, or so taken) O fortunatos nimium bona si sua norint: happy they are in the meantime if they would take notice of it, make use, or apply it to themselves. "A poor man wise is better than a foolish king," Eccles. ii. 13. [3717]"Poverty is the way to heaven," [3718]"the mistress of philosophy," [3719]"the mother of religion, virtue, sobriety, sister of innocency, and an upright mind." How many such encomiums might I add out of the fathers, philosophers, orators? It troubles many that are poor, they account of it as a great plague, curse, a sign of God's hatred, ipsum scelus, damned villainy itself, a disgrace, shame and reproach; but to whom, or why? [3720]"If fortune hath envied me wealth, thieves have robbed me, my father have not left me such revenues as others have," that I am a younger brother, basely born,—cui sine luce genus, surdumque parentum—nomen, of mean parentage, a dirt-dauber's son, am I therefore to be blamed? "an eagle, a bull, a lion is not rejected for his poverty, and why should a man?" 'Tis [3721]fortunae telum, non culpae, fortune's fault, not mine. "Good Sir, I am a servant," (to use [3722]Seneca's words) "howsoever your poor friend; a servant, and yet your chamber-fellow, and if you consider better of it, your fellow-servant." I am thy drudge in the world's eyes, yet in God's sight peradventure thy better, my soul is more precious, and I dearer unto him. Etiam servi diis curae sunt, as Evangelus at large proves in Macrobius, the meanest servant is most precious in his sight. Thou art an epicure, I am a good Christian; thou art many parasangs before me in means, favour, wealth, honour, Claudius's Narcissus, Nero's Massa, Domitian's Parthenius, a favourite, a golden slave; thou coverest thy floors with marble, thy roofs with gold, thy walls with statues, fine pictures, curious hangings, &c., what of all this? calcas opes, &c., what's all this to true happiness? I live and breathe under that glorious heaven, that august capitol of nature, enjoy the brightness of stars, that clear light of sun and moon, those infinite creatures, plants, birds, beasts, fishes, herbs, all that sea and land afford, far surpassing all that art and opulentia can give. I am free, and which [3723]Seneca said of Rome, culmen liberos texit, sub marmore et auro postea servitus habitavit, thou hast Amaltheae cornu, plenty, pleasure, the world at will, I am despicable and poor; but a word overshot, a blow in choler, a game at tables, a loss at sea, a sudden fire, the prince's dislike, a little sickness, &c., may make us equal in an instant; howsoever take thy time, triumph and insult awhile, cinis aequat, as [3724]Alphonsus said, death will equalise us all at last. I live sparingly, in the mean time, am clad homely, fare hardly; is this a reproach? am I the worse for it? am I contemptible for it? am I to be reprehended? A learned man in [3725] Nevisanus was taken down for sitting amongst gentlemen, but he replied, "my nobility is about the head, yours declines to the tail," and they were silent. Let them mock, scoff and revile, 'tis not thy scorn, but his that made thee so; "he that mocketh the poor, reproacheth him that made him," Prov. xi. 5. "and he that rejoiceth at affliction, shall not be unpunished." For the rest, the poorer thou art, the happier thou art, ditior est, at non melior, saith [3726]Epictetus, he is richer, not better than thou art, not so free from lust, envy, hatred, ambition.
"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.