in apertam perniciem incurrere: Sic, haud fcio, an melius fuerit bumano generi motum iftum celerem cogitationis, acumen, folertiam, quam rationem vocamus, quoniam peftifera fuit multis, admodum paucis falutaria, non dari omninò, quàm tam munificè et tam largè dari, i. e. As 'tis better to give no Wine at all to the Sick, because it often hurts them, and feldom does them good, than to expofe them to manifeft Danger in Hopes of an uncertain Benefit; fo I know it had been better for Mankind, that this Quickness and Acuteness of Thought, which we call Reason, had not been given to Man at all, confidering how peftiferous it is to many, and how few there are to whom it is useful, than to have been conferred fo plentifully and liberally. does not exempe cies. Of what Advantage can we fuppofe the Knowledge of fo many Things was to Varro and Ariftotle? Did it exempt them from human Inconveniences? Were they freed by it from the Cait from the Cafualties that attend a Porter? Did they extract, from their Logic, any Confolation in the Gout? Or, because they knew how this Humour is lodged in the Joints, did they feel it the lefs? Did they compound with Death, because they knew that fome Nations rejoice at its Approach? Or with Cuckoldom, by knowing that there is a Country where the Wives are in common? On the contrary, though they were reputed in the highest Rank for their Knowledge, the one amongst the Romans, the other amongst the Greeks, and at a Time when Learning flourished moft, yet we have not heard of any particular Excellence in their Lives; nay, the Greek had enough to do to clear himself from fome remarkable Blemishes in his. Have we obferved, that Pleasure and Health are beft relished by him who understands Aftroloand Grammar? Hor. Epod. lib. Ode 8. v. 17. And A Very far from it, if we will believe Fontaine, that faithful and delicate Copyift of Simple Nature, who fays, Au jeu d'Amour le Muletier fait rage. And that Shame and Poverty are not fo grievous to him as others? Scilicet et morbis, et debilitate carebis, By this depend on't, that thou wilt be free There are more Perfons of Ex cellence among the Ignorant than among the Learned. In my Time I have feen a hundred Artificers, and a hundred labouring Men wifer and more hapPy than the Heads of the Univerfity, and whom I would much rather resemble. I think Learning to ftand in the fame Rank, among the Neceffaries of Life, as Glory, Nobility, Dignity, or, at the moft, as Riches, and fuch other Qualities as are, 'tis true, of Service to Life, but remotely, and more by Fancy than by Nature. We stand in very little Need of more Offices, Rules, and Laws for Life, in our Society, than are requifite for the Cranes and Emmets in theirs; and yet we fee, that they behave very orderly, though without Learning. If Man were wife, he would value every Thing, in Proportion as it was useful and proper for Life. Whoever will take a Survey of us, according to our Actions and Behaviour, will find a greater Number of excellent Men among the Ignorant than the Learned; I mean, excellent in Virtue of all kinds. Old Rome feems, to me, to have had more worthy Men, both for Peace and War, than that learned Rome which ruined itfelf: Though, for the reft, they fhould be both equal, yet Integrity and Innocence would fall to the Share of Old Rome, for it cohabits perfectly well with Simplicity. But I leave this Discourse, which would lead me farther than I am willing to follow; and have only this to add, that 'tis only Humility and Submission that can make a compleat good Man: We must not leave it to every Man to know his Duty; it must be prescribed to him, and he muft not be fuffered to chufe it by his Understanding, otherwife we fhould, at laft, forge ourselves Duties, according to the Weakness and infinite Diversity of our Opinions, which would, as Epicurus fays, put us upon eating one another. Pure Obedience the firft Law of God to Man. The firft Law that God gave to Man was a Law of pure Obedience: It was a naked, fimple Command, wherein Man had nothing to inquire after, or difpute; forafmuch as Obedience is the proper Duty of a rational Soul, that acknowledges a Heavenly Superior and Benefactor. From Obedience and Submiffion every other Virtue fprings, as every Sin does from Imagination. And, on the contrary, the very firft Temptation offered to human Nature by the Devil, his firft Poison, was infufed into us by the Promises he made to us of Knowledge and Wisdom, re fhall be as Gods, knowing Good and Evil. And the Syrens, in order to deceive Ulyffes, in Homer, and to decoy him into their dangerous and deftructive Snare, offered him Science for a Prefent. Ignorance recommended by our Religion, The Plague of Mankind is the Opinion of Wisdom, which is the Reason that Ignorance is fo much recommended to us, by our Religion, as proper to Faith and Obedience: Beware left any Man fpoil you through Philofophy and vain Deceit, after the Rudiments of the World a. All the Philofophers, of all Sects, agree Prefumption in this, That the Sovereign Good confifts the Quality on in the Tranquillity of the Soul and Body: y of Human But where do we find it? Beings. Ad fummum, fapiens uno minor eft Jove, dives, i. e. In short, the Wife Man's only less than Jove, nay, a King above Hor. lib. i. Epift. 1. v. 106, &c. All earthly Kings, with Health fupremely bleft, It seems to me, in Truth, that Nature has given us Prefumption only for the Confolation of our wretched, forlorn State. Tis, as Epictetus fays, that Man has nothing properly his own, but the Ufe of his Opinions. We have nothing but Wind and Smoke for our Portion. The Gods have Health in Effence, fays Philofophy, and Sicknefs in Intelligence; Man, on the contrary, poffeffes his Goods in Fancy, and his Ills in Effence. We have had Reason to extol the Strength of our Imagination, for all our Happiness is only in Dream. Hear the Bravado of this poor calamitous Animal. There is nothing, fays Cicero, fo charming as the Knowledge of Literature, of that Branch of Literature, I mean, which enables us to • discover the Infinity of Things, the Immenfity of Nature, the Heavens, the Earth, and the Seas: This is that Branch which has taught us Religion, Moderation, Magnanimity, and that has refcued our Soul from Obfcurity, to make her fee all Things above and below, first and last, and between both, 'tis this that furnishes us wherewith to live well and happily, and guides. us to pafs our Lives without Difpleafure, and without Offence.' Would not one think he was defcribing the Condition of the Ever-living and Almighty God? But, in Fact, there are a thousand poor Women, in the Country Villages, whofe Lives have been more regular, more agreeable and uniform than his. -Deus ille fuit Deus, inclyte Memmi, i. e. He, noble Memmius, was a God, no doubt, Who, Prince of Life, firft found that Reason out, Cic. Tufc. Quæft. lib. i. c. 26. Lucret. lib. v. v. 8, &c. Now Now Wisdom call'd; and by his Art, who did That Life in Tempefts tofs'd, and Darkness hid Place in fo great a Calm, and clear a Light. These were very fine pompous Words; but a very flight Accident reduced the Understanding of this Man" to a worse State than that of the meaneft Shepherd, notwith standing this his Preceptor God and this Divine Wisdom. Of the fame impudent Stamp is that Preface to Democritus's Book, I am going to treat of all Things ". And that foolish Title, which Ariftotle gives us, Of the Mortal Gods* ; and that Opinion of Chryfippus, that Dion was as virtuous as God. And my Seneca owns, fay be, that God gave him Life, but that it was of himself to live well; which is of a Piece with that other Affertion, In virtute verè gloriamur, quod non contingeret, fi id donum à Deo, non a nobis baberemus, i. e. We truly glory in our Virtue, which would not be the Cafe if it was given us by God, and not of ourfelves. This is alfo from Seneca, That the Wife Man has Fortitude equal with God, but attended with human Frailty, wherein he furmounts him. There is nothing fo common as to meet with Paffages of fo much Prefumption. There is not one of us who would be so much offended at being placed on a Par with God, as to find himself undervalued by being levelled to the Rank of the other Animals; fo much more jealous are we of our own Intereft than of that of our Creator. But we must trample this foolish Vanity under Foot, and brifkly and boldly "This was Lucretius, who, in the Verfes preceding this Period, speaks fo pompously of Epicurus and his Doctrine: For a Love-Potion, that was given him either by his Wife or his Miftrefs, fo much disturbed his Reason, that the Violence of his Disorder only afforded him a few lucid Intervals, which he imployed in compofing his Book, and at last made him kill himfelf. Eufebius's Chronicon. W Qui ita fit aufus ordiri Hæc loquor de univerfis nihil excipit de quo non profitetur: Quid enim effe poteft extra univerfa? Cic. Acad. Quæft. lib. ii. c. 23. * Apud Ciceronem de Finibus Bon. et Mal. lib. ii. c. 13. Cyrenaici Philofophi non viderunt, ut ad curfum, equum; ad arandum bovem ; ad indagandum canem; fic homiuem ad duas res, ut ait Ariftoteles, intelligendum et agendum, effe natum, quafi mortalem Deum. y Plutarch of the common Conceptions of the Stoics, c. 30. P 2 a fhake |