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Friday, July 30.

N° 574. Friday,

I

Non poffidentem multa vocaveris
Recte Beatum; rectiùs occupat
Nomen Beati, qui Deorum
Muneribus fapienter uti,
Duramque callet pauperiem pati.

Hor.

Was once engaged in Difcourfe with a Roficrufian about the great Secret. As this kind of Men (I mean thofe of them who are not profeffed Cheats) are over-run with Enthufiafm and Philofophy, it was very amufing to hear this religious Adept defcanting on his pretended Difcovery. He talked of the Secret as of a Spirit which lived within an Emerald, and converted every thing that was near it to the higheft Perfection it is capable of. It gives a Luftre, fays he, to the Sun, and Water to the Diamond. It irradiates every Metal, and enriches Lead with all the Properties of Gold. It heightens Smoke into Flame, Flame into Light, and Light into Glory. He further added, that a fingle Ray of it diffipates Pain, and Care, and Melancholy from the Perfon on whom it falls. In fhort, fays he, its Prefence naturally changes every Place into a kind of Heaven. After he had gone on for fome Time in this unintelligible Cant, I found that he jumbled natural and moral Ideas together into the fame Difcourfe, and that his great Secret was nothing elfe but Content

THIS Virtue does indeed produce, in fome meafure, all thofe Effects which the Alchymift ufually afcribes to what he calls the Philofophers Stone; and if it does not bring Riches, it does the fame thing, by banishing the Defire of them. If it cannot remove the Difquietudes arifing out of a Man's Mind, Body, or Fortune, it makes him eafy under them. It has indeed a kind

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ly Influence on the Soul of Man, in refpect of every Being to whom he ftands related. It extinguishes all Murmur, Repining, and Ingratitude towards that Being who has allotted him his Part to act in this World. It deftroys all inordinate Ambition, and every Tendency to Corruption, with regard to the Community wherein he is placed. It gives Sweetness to his Converfation, and a perpetual Serenity to all his Thoughts.

AMONG the many Methods which might be made ufe of for the acquiring of this Virtue, I fhall only mention the two following. First of all, A Man fhould always confider how much he has more than he wants; and Secondly, How much more unhappy he might be than he really is.

FIRST of all, A Man fhould always confider how much he has more than he wants. I am wonderfully pleased with the Reply which Ariftippus made to one who condoled him upon the Lofs of a Farm, Why, faid he, I have three Farms fill, and you have but one; fo that I ought rather to be afflicted for you, than you for me. On the contrary, foolish Men are more apt to confider what they have loft than what they poffefs; and to fix their Eyes upon thofe who are richer than themselves, rather than on those who are under great Difficulties. All the real Pleafures and Conveniences of Life lie in a narrow Compass; but it is the Humour of Mankind to be always looking forward, and ftraining after one who has got the Start of them in Wealth and Honour. For this Reafon, as there are none can be properly called rich, who have not more than they want; there are few rich Men in any of the politer Nations but among the middle Sort of People, who keep their Withes within their Fortunes, and have more Wealth than they know how to enjoy. Perfons of a higher Rank live in a kind of fplendid Poverty, and are perpetually wanting, because inftead of acquiefcing in the folid Pleafures of Life, they endeavour to outvy one another in Shadows and Appearances. Men of Senfe have at all times beheld with a great deal of Mirth this filly Game that is playing over their Heads, and

by

by contracting their Defires, enjoy all that fecret Satisfaction which others are always in queft of. The Truth is, this ridiculous Chace after imaginary Pleafures cannot be fufficiently expofed, as it is the great Source of thofe Evils which generally undo a Nation. Let a Man's Eftate be what it will, he is a poor Man if he does not live within it, and naturally fets himfelf to Sale to any one that can give him his Price. When Pittacus, after the Death of his Brother, who had left him a good Estate, was offered a great Sum of Money by the King of Lydia, he thanked him for his Kindness, but told him he had already more by Half than he knew what to do with. In short, Content is equivalent to Wealth, and Luxury to Poverty; or, to give the Thought a more agreeable Turn, Content is natural Wealth, fays Socrates; to which I fhall add, Luxury is artificial Poverty. I fhall therefore recommend to the Confideration of those who are always aiming after fuperfluous and imaginary Enjoyments, and will not be at the Trouble of contracting their De fires, an excellent Saying of Bion the Philofopher; namely, That no Man has fo much Care, as he who en deavours after the most Happiness.

IN the fecond Place, Every one ought to reflect how much more unhappy he might be than he really is. The former Confideration took in all those who are fufficiently provided with the Means to make themselves eafy; this regards fuch as actually lie under fome Preffure or Misfortune. These may receive great Alleviation from fuch a Comparison as the unhappy Perfon may make between himself and others, or between the Miffortune which he fuffers, and greater Misfortunes which might have befallen him.

I like the Story of the honeft Dutchman, who, upon breaking his Leg by a Fall from the Mainmaft, told the Standers-by, It was a great Mercy that 'twas not his Neck. To which, fince I am got into Quotations, give me leave to add the Saying of an old Philofopher, who, after having invited fome of his Friends to dine with him, was ruffled by his Wife that came into the Room in a Paffion, and threw down the Table that

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ftood

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ftood before them; Every one, fays he, has his Calamity, and he is a happy Man that has no greater than this. We find an Inftance to the fame Purpofe in the Life of Doctor Hammond, written by Bishop Fell. good Man was troubled with a Complication of Diftempers, when he had the Gout upon him, he used to thank God that it was not the Stone; and when he had the Stone, that he had not both these Distempers on him at the fame time.

I cannot conclude this Effay without obferving that there was never any Syftem befides that of Chri ftianity, which could effectually produce in the Mind of Man the Virtue I have been hitherto speaking of. In order to make us content with our prefent Condition, many of the ancient Philofophers tell us that our Discon tent only hurts our felves, without being able to make any Alteration in our Circumstances; others, that whatever Evil befals us is derived to us by a fatal Neceffity, to which the Gods themselves are fubject; while others very gravely tell the Man who is miferable, that it is neceffary he should be fo to keep up the Harmony of the Univerfe, and that the Scheme of Providence would be troubled and perverted were he otherwise, These, and the like Confiderations, rather filence than fatisfy a Man. They may fhew him that his Difcontent is unreasonable, but are by no means fufficient to relieve it. They rather give Despair than Confolation. In a Word, a Man might reply to one of thefe Comforters, as Auguftus did to his Friend who advised him not to grieve for the Death of a Person whom he loved, becaufe his Grief could not_fetch him again: It is for that very Reason, faid the Emperor, that I grieve.

ON the contrary, Religion bears a more tender Re gard to humane Nature. It prefcribes to a very miferable Man the Means of bettering his Condition; nay, it fhews him, that the bearing of his Afflictions as he ought to do will naturally end in the Removal of them: It makes him eafy here, because it can make him happy hereafter.

UPON the whole, a contented Mind is the greatest Bleffing a Man can enjoy in this World; and if in the

prefent

prefent Life his Happinefs arifes from the fubduing of his Defires, it will arife in the next from the Grati fication of them.

Monday, August 2.

N° 575.

Nec morti effe locum

A

Virg.

LEWD young Fellow feeing an aged Hermit go by him barefoot, Father, fays he, you are in a very miferable Condition if there is not another World. True, Son, faid the Hermit; but what is thy Condition if there is? Man is a Creature defigned for two different States of Being, or rather, for two dif ferent Lives. His firft Life is fhort and tranfient; his fecond permanent and lasting. The Queftion we are all concerned in is this, In which of these two Lives it is our chief Intereft to make our felves happy? Or, in other Words, Whether we should endeavour to fecure to our felves the Pleasures and Gratifications of a Life which is uncertain and precarious, and at its utmost Length of a very inconfiderable Duration; or to fecure to our felves the Pleafures of a Life which is fixed and fettled, and will never end? Every Man, upon the first hearing of this Queftion, knows very well which Side of it he ought to clofe with. But however right we are in Theory, it is plain that in Practice we adhere to the wrong Side of the Queftion. We make Provifions for this Life as tho' it were never to have an End, and for the other Life as tho' it were never to have a Beginning.

SHOULD a Spirit of fuperior Rank who is a Stranger to humane Nature, accidentally alight upon the Earth, and take a Survey of its Inhabitants; what would his Notions of us be? Would not he think that we are a Species of Beings made for quite different Ends and Purposes than what we really are? Muft mot he imagine that we were placed in this World to

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