A good man happy within himself.-Philosophy-moral,

but virtue is the work of industry and labour; and certainly it is worth the while to purchase that good which brings all others along with it. A good man is happy within himself, and independent upon fortune, kind to his friend, temperate to his enemy, religiously just, indefatigably laborious, and he discharges all duties with a constancy and congruity of actions.

PHILOSOPHY IS THE GUIDE OF LIFE.

Ir it be true, that the understanding and the will are the two eminent faculties of the reasonable soul, it follows necessarily, that wisdom and virtue (which are the best improvements of these two faculties), must be the perfection also of our reasonable being, and consequently, the undeniable foundation of a happy life. There is not any duty to which Providence has not annexed a blessing, nor any institution of Heaven, which, even in this life, we may not be the better for; not any temptation, either of fortune, or appetite, that is not subject to our reason; nor any passion, or affliction, for which virtue has not provided a remedy. So that it is our own fault if we either hope or fear for any thing; which two affections are the root of all our miseries. From this general prospect of the foundation of our tranquillity, we shall pass by degrees to a particular consideration of the means by which it may be procured, and of the impediments that obstruct it; beginning with that philosophy which principally regards our manners, and instructs us in the measures of a virtuous and quiet life.

Philosophy is divided into moral, natural, and rational. The first concerns our manners, the second searches the

Natural, and rational.

works of nature, and the third furnishes us with propriety of words and arguments, and the faculty of distinguishing, that we may not be imposed upon with tricks and fallacies. The causes of things fall under natural philosophy, arguments under rational, and actions under moral. Moral philosophy is again divided into matter of justice, which arises from the estimation of things and of men ; and into affections and actions; and a failing in any one of these disorders all the rest. For what does it profit us to know the true value of things, if we be transported by our passions? or, to master our appetites, without understanding the when, the what, the how, and other circumstances of our proceedings? For it is one thing to know the rate and dignity of things, and another, to know the little nicks and springs of acting. Natural philosophy is conversant about things corporeal and incorporeal, the disquisition of causes and effects, and the contemplation of the cause of causes. Rational philosophy is divided into logic and rhetoric; the one looks after words, sense, and order; the other treats barely of words, and the significations of them. Socrates places all philosophy in morals; and wisdom, in the distinguishing of good and evil. It is the art and law of life, and it teaches us what to do in all cases; and, like good marksmen, to hit the white at any distance. The force of it is incredible, for it gives us, in the weakness of a man, the security of a spirit: in sickness, it is as good as a remedy to us; for whatsoever eases the mind, is profitable also to the body. The physician may prescribe diet and exercise, and accommodate his rule and medicine to the disease, but it is philosophy that must bring us to a contempt of death, which is the remedy of

One wise man helps another.

ན་

all diseases. In poverty it gives us riches, or such a state of mind as makes them superfluous to us. It arms us against all difficulties: one man is pressed with death, another with poverty, some with envy, others are offended at Providence, and unsatisfied with the condition of mankind. But philosophy prompts us to rélieve the prisoner, the infirm, the necessitous, the condemned, to shew the ignorant their errors, and rectify their affections. It makes us inspect and govern our manners; it rouses us where we are faint and drowsy; it binds up what is loose, and humbles in us that which is contumacious: it delivers the mind from the bondage of the body, and raises it up to the contemplation of its divine original. Honours, monuments, and all the works of vanity and ambition are demolished and destroyed by time, but the reputation of wisdom is venerable to posterity; and those that were envied or neglected in their lives, are adored in their memories, and exempted from the very laws of created nature, which has set bounds to all other things. The very shadow of glory carries a man of honour upon all dangers, to the contempt of fire and sword; and it were a shame, if right reason should not inspire as generous resolutions into a man of virtue.

Neither is philosophy only profitable to the public, but one wise man helps another, even in the exercise of their virtues; and the one has need of the other, both for conversation and counsel; for they kindle a mutual emulation in good offices. We are not so perfect yet, but that many new things remain still to be found out, which will give us the reciprocal advantages of instructing one another: for, as one wicked man is contagious

Philosophy teaches to live well.

to another, and the more vices are mingled the worse it is, so is it on the contrary with good men and their vír! tues. As men of letters are the most useful and excellent of friends, so are they the best of subjects; as being better judges of the blessings they enjoy under a well-ordered government, and of what they owe to the magistrate for their freedom and protection. They are men of sobriety and learning, and free from boasting and insolence; they reprove vice, without reproaching the person; for they have learned to be wise, without either pomp or envy. That which we see in high mountains we find în philosophers, they seem taller near hand than at a distance. They are raised above other men, but their greatness is substantial. Nor do they stand upon the tiptoe, that they may seem higher than they are, but, content with their own stature, they reckon themselves tall enough when fortune cannot reach them. Their laws are short, and yet comprehensive too, for they

bind all.

It is the bounty of nature that we live, but of philosophy that we live well; which is, in truth, a greater benefit than life itself. Not but that philosophy is also the gift of Heaven, so far as to the faculty, but not to the science; for that must be the business of industry: No man is born wise; but wisdom and virtue require a tutor; though we can easily learn to be vicious without a master. It is philosophy that gives us a veneration for God, a charity for our neighbour; that teaches us our duty to Heaven, and exhorts us to an agreement one with another: it unmasks things that are terrible to us, assuages our lusts, refutes our errors, restrains our luxury, reproves our avarice, and works strangely upon

The good effects of a tutor.

tender natures. I could never hear Attalus, says Seneca, upon the vices of the age, and the errors of life, without a compassion for mankind; and in his discourses upon poverty, there was something, methought, that was more than human. "More than we use," says he," is more than we need, and only a burden to the bearer." That saying of his put me out of countenance at the superfluities of my own fortune. And so in his invectives against vain pleasures, he did at such a rate advance the felicities of a sober table, a pure mind, and a chaste body, that a man could not hear him without a love for continence and moderation. Upon these lectures of his, I denied myself, for a while after, certain delicacies that I had formerly used, but, in a short time, I fell to them again, though so sparingly, that the proportion came little short of a total abstinence.

Now, to shew you, says our author, how much earnester my entrance upon philosophy was than my progress:-my tutor, Sotion, gave me a wonderful kindness for Pythagoras, and after him for Sextus; the former forbore shedding of blood upon his Metempsychosis, and put men in fear of it, lest they should offer violence to the souls of some of their departed friends and relations." Whether," says he, "there be a transmigration or not; if it be true, there is no hurt in it; if false, there is frugality and nothing isgotten by cruelty neither, but the cozening a wolf, perhaps, or a vulture of a supper. Now Sextus abstained upon another account, which was, that he would not have men inured to hardness of heart, by the laceration and tormenting of living creatures; beside, that nature had sufficiently provided for the sustenance of mankind, without blood." This wrought so