CONTENTS.

OF BENEFITS.

CHAPTER 1. Of benefits in general,

II. Several sorts of benefits,

III. A son may oblige his father, and a servant his

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1

2

master,

IV. It is the intention, not the matter, that makes

V. There must be judgment in a benefit, as well as
matter and intention, and especially in the choice

of the person,

VI. The matter of obligations, with its circum

VII. The manner of obliging,

VIII. The difference and value of benefits,

IX. An honest man cannot be outdone in courtesy,
X. The question discussed, whether or not a man
may give or return a benefit to himself,

XI. How far one man may be obliged for a benefit
done to another,

XII. The benefactor must have no by-ends,

XIII. There are many cases wherein a man may be

minded of a benefit, but it is very rarely to be
challenged, and never to be upbraided,

XIV. How far to oblige or requite a bad man,
XV. A general view of the parts and duties of the
benefactor,

XVI. How the receiver ought to behave himself,
XVII. Of Gratitude,

CHAPTER XVIII. Gratitude mistaken,

XIX. Of ingratitude,

XX. There can be no law against ingratitude,

OF A HAPPY LIFE.

I. Of a happy life, and wherein it consists,

II. Human happiness is founded upon wisdom and
virtue; and first, of wisdom,

III. There can be no happiness without virtue,

IV. Philosophy is the guide of life,

V. The force of precepts,

96

VI. No felicity like peace of conscience,

103

VII. A good man can never be miserable, nor a bad

man happy,

107

VIII. The due contemplation of the laws of Nature
is the certain cure for all misfortunes,

111

IX. Of levity of mind, and other impediments of a

happy life,

117

X. He that sets up his rest upon contingencies shall

XIII. Hope and fear are the bane of human life,

140

144

157

XIV. It is according to the true or false estimate
of things that we are happy or miserable,
XV. The blessings of temperance and moderation,
XVI. Constancy of mind gives a man reputation and
makes him happy in despite of all misfortunes, 154
XVII. Our happiness depends in a great measure

upon the choice of our company,

163

XVIII. The blessings of friendship,

167

XIX. He that would be happy, must take an ac

count of his time,

171

CHAPTER XX. Happy is the man that may choose his own

business,

XXI. The contempt of death makes all the miseries

of life easy to us,

XXII. Consolations against death, from the cause
and the necessity of it,
XXIII. Against immoderate sorrow for the death
of friends,

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183

191

195

XXIV. Consolations against banishment and bodily
pain,

200

204

XXV. Poverty to a wise man is rather a blessing
than a misfortune,

OF ANGER.

I. Anger described: it is against nature; and only

to be found in man,

II. The rise of anger,

III. Anger may be suppressed,

IV. It is a short madness and deformed vice,
V. Anger is neither warrantable nor useful,
VI. Anger in general, with the danger and effects
of it,

209

211

213

217

219

227

VII. The ordinary grounds and occasions of anger,
VIII. Advice in the case of contumely and re-

235

venge,

240

IX. Cautions against anger in the matter of educa-
tion, converse, and other general means of pre-

venting it, both in ourselves and others,

244

X. Against rash judgment,

250

XI. Take nothing ill from another man, until you

EPISTLES.

EPISTLE I. Certain general directions for the government of
the voice; as in speaking soft or loud; quick or
slow. The speech is the index of the mind
II. Of styles, compositions, and the choice of words.

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276

That is the best way of writing and speaking which is free and natural. Advice concerning reading, 278 III. Against all sorts of affectation in discourse:

fantastical studies; impertinent and unprofitable
subtleties. Man's business is virtue, not words, 282
IV. Business, and want of news, are no excuse among
friends for not writing. Wise men are the better
for one another. How far wisdom may be ad-
vanced by precept,

V. Seneca gives an account of himself, his studies,
and of his inclinations: with many excellent re-
flections upon the duties and the errors of human
life,

VI. The blessings of a virtuous retirement. How we
come to the knowledge of virtue. A distinction
between good and honest. A wise man contents
himself with his lot,

VII. Of impertinent studies, and impertinent men.
Philosophers the best companions,
VIII. Against singularity of manners and behavior,
IX. The blessings of a vigorous mind in a decayed
body. With some pertinent reflections of Seneca
upon his own age,

X. Custom is a great matter either in good or ill. We
should check our passions betimes. Involuntary
motions are invincible,

XI. We are divided in ourselves; and confound good

and evil,

286

291

297

302

304

306

309

312

EPISTLE XII. We are moved at the novelty of things, for
want of understanding the reason of them,

XIII. Every man is the artificer of his own fortune.
Of justice and injustice,

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318

XIV. Of trust in friendship and bodily exercise, 320
XV. The danger of flattery; and in what cases a
man may be allowed to commend himself,
XVI. A general dissolution of manners; with a cen-
sure of corrupt magistrates,

XVII. The original of all men is the same; and vir-
tue is the only nobility. There is a tenderness
due to servants,

323

325

329

XVIII. Of life and death: of good and evil,

331

XIX. Of true courage,

335

XX. It is never too late to learn. The advantages

of a private life; and the slavery of a public.
The ends of punishments,

XXI. The two blessings of life are a sound body
and quiet mind. The extravagance of the Ro-
man luxury; the moderation and simplicity of
former times,
XXII. Man is compounded of soul and body; and
has naturally a civil war within himself. The dif-
ference between a life of virtue and a life of
pleasure,
XXIII. We abuse Nature's blessings, and turn them
into mischiefs. Meditations upon horrors of
earthquakes, and consolations against them. Death
is the same thing, which way soever it comes;
only we are more moved by accidents that we are
not used to,

XXIV. A discourse of Nature's laws in the misfor

tunes of good men in this world, and in the pros-
perity of the unrighteous,

338

342