but his Counterfeit ; his Wit is quicker, and his Appe

tite calmer.

Poverty is on ly troublesome in Opinion.

No Man finds Poverty a Trouble to him, but he that thinks it fo: and he that thinks it fo, makes it fo: Does not a rich Man travel more at ease with lefs Luggage and fewer Servants? Does he not eat, many times, as little, and as coarfe in the Field, as a poor Man? Does he not, for his own Pleasure, fometimes, and for Variety, feed upon the Ground, and use only earthen Veffels? Is not he a Madman then, that always fears what he often defires, and dreads the thing that he takes delight to imitate? He that would know the worst of Poverty, let him but compare the Looks of the Rich, and of the Poor, and he shall find the poor Man to have a smoother Brow, and to be more merry at Heart; or if any Trouble befals him, it paffes over like a Cloud: Whereas the other, either his good Humour is counterfeit, or his Melancholy deep, and ulcerated, and the worfe, becaufe he dares not publicly own his Misfortune: but he is forced to play the Part of a happy Man, even with a Cancer in his Heart, His Felicity is but perfonated, and if he were but ftrip ped of his Ornaments, he would be contemptible. In buying of a Horfe, we take off his Clothes and his Trap pings, and examine his Shape and Body for fear of being cozened: And fhall we put an Estimate upon a Man for being fet off by his Fortune, and Quality? Nay, if we fee any thing of Ornament about him, we are to fufpect him the more for fome Infirmity under it. He that is not content in Poverty, would not be fo neither in Plenty; for the Fault is not in the Thing, but in the Mind. If that be fickly, remove him from a Kennel to a Palace, he is at the fame Pafs; for he carries his Difeafe along with him. What can be happier than that Condition, both of Mind, and of Fortune, from which we cannot fall? What can be a greater Felicity, than in a covet ous defigning Age, for a Man to live fafe ers and Thieves? It puts a poor Man into the very Condition of Providence, that gives all, without referving any thing to itself. How happy is he that owes nothing, but to himfelf, and only that which he can easily refuse,

among

Inform.

or cafily pay. I do not reckon him poor, that has but a
little! but he is fo that covets more. It is a fair De-
gree of Plenty, to have what's neceffary. Whether had
à Man better find Saturity in Want, or Hunger in Plen-
ty? It is not the Augmenting of our Fortunes, but the
abating of our Appetites, that makes us rich. Why may
not a Man as well contemn Riches in his own Coffers, as
in another Man's? And rather hear that they are his,
than feel them to be fo? Though it is a greater Matter
not to be corrupted, even by having them under the fame
Roof. He is the greater Man that's honeftly poor in the
middle of Plenty; but he is the moft fecure, that is free
from the Temptation of that Plenty; and has the leaft
Matter for another to defign upon. It is no great Busi
nefs for a poor Man to preach the Contempt of Riches,
or for a rich Man to extol the Benefits of Poverty; be-
cause we do not know how. either the one, or the other
would behave himself in the contrary Condition. The
best Proof is, the doing of it by Choice, and not by Ne-
ceffity; for the Practice of Poverty in Jeft is a Prepara-
tion toward the bearing of it in Earneft. But it is yet a
generous Difpofition fo to provide for the worst of For-
tunes as what may be easily born : The Premeditation
makes them, not only tolerable, but delightful to us; for
there's that in them, without which nothing can be com-
fortable, that is to fay, Security. If there were nothing
elfe in Poverty, but the certain Knowledge of our Friends
it were yet a moft defirable Bleffing, when every Man
leaves us but thofe that love us. It is a Shame to place
the Happiness of Life in Gold and Silver, for which
Bread and Water is fufficient; or, at the worst, Hung-
er puts an End to Hunger, For the Honour of Po-
verty, it was both the Foundation and the Cause of the
Roman Empire; and no Man was ever yet fo poor, but
he had enough to carry him to his Journey's End.
ALL I defire is that my Poverty +
may not be a Burden to myfelf, or
make me fo to others; and that is the
best State of Fortune, that is neither
directly neceffitous, nor far from it. A
Mediocrity of Fortune, with Gentleness of Mind, will
preferve us from Fear or Envy; which is a defirable

+ Mediocrity is the best State of Fortune.

Condition, for no Man wants Power to do Mischief, We never confider the Blefling of coveting nothing, and the Glory of being full in ourselves, without depending upon Fortune. With Parfimony a little is fufficient; and without it, nothing; whereas Frugality makes a poor Man rich. If we lofe an Estate, we had better never have had it: He that has leaft to lose, has least to fear; and thofe are better fatisfied whom Fortune never favoured, than those whom the has forfaken. The State is moft commodious, that lies between Poverty and Plenty. Diogenes understood this very well, when he put himself into an Incapacity of lofing any thing. That Courfe of Life is molt commodious, which is both fafe and wholefome; the Body is to be indulged no farther than for Health; and rather mortified than not kept in Subjection to the Mind. It is neceffary to provide against Hunger, Thirft, and Cold: and fomewhat for a Covering to fhelter us against other Inconveniencies; but not a Pin matter whether it be of Turf, or of Marble. A Man may ly as warm, and as dry under a thatched, as under a gilded Let the Mind be great and glorious, and all other Things are defpicable in comparifon. The future, is uncertain; and I had rather beg of myself not to defire any thing, than of Fortune to bestow it.

Roof.

Anger described. It is against Nature, and only to be found in Man.

W

E are here to encounter the most outragious, brutal, dangerous, and intractable of all Paffions; the most lothfome, and unmannerly; nay, the most ridiculous too; and the fubduing of this Monster will do a great deal toward the Establishment of human Peace. It is the Method of Phyficians, to begin with a Defcription of the Difeafe, before they meddle with the Cure: And I know not why this may not do as well in the Distempers of the Mind, as in thofe of the Body.

Anger defcribed, What it is.

THE Stoicks will have Anger to be, A Defire of punishing another for fome Injury done. Against which it is objected, that we are many times angry with those that never did hurt us, but poffibly may, though the Harm be not as yet done. But, I fay, that they hurt us already in Conceit and the very Purpose of it is an Injury in Thought, before it breaks out into an A&t. It is oppofed again, that if Anger were a Defire of Punishing, mean People would not be angry with great ones, that

Chap. I. are out of their Reach: For no Man can be faid to defire any thing, which he judges impoffible to compass. But I answer to this,. That Anger is the Defire, not the Power and Faculty of Revenge: Neither is any Man fo low, but that the greateft Man alive may, peradventure, ly at his Mercy.

ARISTOTLE takes Anger to be, a Defire of pay ing Sorrow for Sorrow; and of plaguing those that have plagued us. It is argued against both, that Beasts are angry; tho' neither provoked by any Injury, nor moved with a Defire of any body's Grief or Punishment. Nay, though they caufe it, they do not defign to feek it. Nei ther is Anger (how miferable foever in itself) found a ny where but in reasonable Creatures. It is true, that Beafts have an impulfe of Rage, and Fiercenefs, as they are more affected alfo than Men, with fome Pleasures : But we may as well call them luxurious and ambitious, as angry. And yet they are not without certain Images of human Affections. They have their Likings and their Loathings; but neither the Paffions of reafonable Nature, nor their Virtues, nor their Vices. They are moved to a Fury by fome Objects, they are quieted by others; they have their Terrors and their Difappoint ments; but without Reflexion: And let there be never fo much irritated or affrighted, fo foon as ever the Oc cafion is removed, they fall to their Meat again, and lye down, and take their Reft. Wifdom and Thought are the Goods of the Mind, whereof Brutes are wholly in capable; and, we are as unlike them within, as we are without: They have an odd Kind of Fancy: and they have a Voice too; but inarticulate and confufed, and iacapable of thofe Variations which are familiar to us.

It is againft
Nature.

ANGER is not only a Vice, but a Vice point blank againft Nature, for it divides inftead of joining; and, in fome measure, fruftrates the End of Providence in human Society. One Man was born to help another: Anger makes us deftroy one another; the one unites, the other feparates; the one is beneficial to us, the other mifchievous; the one fuccours even Strangers, the other destroys even the most intimate Friends: the one ventures all to fave another, the other ruins himself to uns

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