saw a company of frogs more fearfull then they were, they began to take courage and comfort again. Confer thine estate with others; Mitius ista feres. 2 similes aliorum respice casus; Be content, and rest satisfied; for thou art well in respect of others be thankful for that thou hast, that God hath done for thee; he hath not made thee a monster, a beast, a base creature, as he might, but a man, a Christian, such a man; consider aright of it, thou art full well as thou art. 1 Quidquid vult, habere nemo potest: no man can have what he will: illud potest nolle, quod non habet; he may chuse whether he will desire that which he hath not. Thy lot is falne: make the best of it. 'If we should all sleep at all times, (as Endymion is said to have done), who then were happier then his fellow? Our life is but short, a very dream; and, while we look about, immortalitas adest, eternity is at hand. Our life is a pilgrimage on earth, which wise men passe with great alacrity. If thou be in woe, sorrow, want, distresse, in pain, or sickness, think of that of our apostle; God chastiseth them whom he loveth. They that sowe in tears shall reap in joy, Psal. 126. 6. As the fornace proveth the potters vessell, so doth temptation trie mens thoughts, Eccl. 25. 5. 'Tis for thy good: periisses, nisi periisses: hadst thou not been so visited, thou hadst been utterly undone. As gold in the fire, so men are tried in adversity. Tribulatio ditat: and, which Camerarius hath well shadowed in an embleme of a thresher and corn, 8 3 Si tritura absit, paleis sunt abdita grana : As threshing separates from straw the corn, 6 5 'Tis the very same which Chrysostome comments, hom. 2. in 3. Mat. Corn is not separated but by threshing, nor men from worldly impediments but by tribulation. "Tis that which Cyprian ingeminates, Ser. 4. de immort. "Tis that which Hierom, which all the fathers inculcate; so we are catechised for eternity. 'Tis that which the proverb insinuates, Nocumentum documentum; 'tis that which all the world rings into our ears. Deus unicum habet filium sine peccato, nullum sine flagello: God, saith Austin, hath one son with 1 Seneca. 9 2 Si dormirent semper omnes, nullus alio felicior esset. Card. 3 Seneca, de irâ. Sic expedit. Medicus non dat 6 Frumentum non egreditur damnantis, sed flagellum corrigentis. 9 Confess. 6. 1 out sin, none without correction. An expert sea-man is tried in a tempest, a runner in a race, a captain in a battle, a valiant man in adversity, a Christian in tentation and misery. (Basil. hom. 8.) We are sent as so many souldiers into this world, to strive with it, the flesh, the devil; our life is a warfare; and who knows it not? 3 2 Non est ad astra mollis e terris via: and therefore peradventure this world here is made troublesome unto us, that, as Gregory notes, we should not be delighted by the way, and forget whither we are going. 'Ite nunc fortes, ubi celsa magni 5 Go on then merrily to heaven. If the way be troublesome, and you in misery, in many grievances, on the other side you have many pleasant sports, objects, sweet smels, delightsome tastes, musick, meats, herbs, flowers, &c. to recreate your senses. Or put case thou art now forsaken of the world, dejected, contemned; yet comfort thy self, as it was said to Agar in the wilderness, God sees thee: he takes notice of thee: there is a God above that can vindicate thy cause, that can relieve thee. And surely, 'Seneca thinks, he takes delight in seeing thee. The gods are well pleased when they see great men contending with adversity, as we are to see men fight, or a man with a beast. But these are toyes in respect: 'behold, saith he, a spectacle worthy of God; a good man contented with his estate. A tyrant is the best sacrifice to Jupiter, as the ancients held, and his best object a contented minde. For thy part then, rest satisfied; cast all thy care on him, thy burden on him; rely on him; trust in him: and he shall nourish thee, care for thee, give thee thine hearts desire: say with David, God is our hope and strength, in troubles ready to be found (Psal. 46. 1.): for they that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Sion, which cannot be removed (Psal. 125. 1, 2.): as the mountains are about Jerusalem, so is the Lord about his people, from henceforth and for ever. 8 1 Nauclerum tempestas, athletam stadium, ducem pugna, magnanimum calamitas, Christianum vero tentatio probat et examinat. 2 Sen. Herc. fur. 3 Ideo Deus asperum fec t iter, ne, dum delectantur in viâ, obliviscantur eorum quæ sunt in patriâ. Boëthius, 1. 5. met. ult. 5 Boëth. pro. ult. Manet spectator cunctorum desuper præscius Deus, bonis præmia, malis supplicia, disLib. de provid. Voluptatem capiunt Dii, siquando magnos viros 7 Ecce spectaculum Deo dignum, vir 8 ] Pet. 5. 7. Psal. 55. 22. pensans. colluctantes cum calamitate vident. fortis malâ fortunâ compositus. MEMB. II. Deformity of body, sicknesse, basenesse of birth, peculiar Discontents. PARTICULAR discontents and grievances are either of body, minde, or fortune, which as they wound the soul of man, produce this melancholy, and many great inconveniences, by that antidote of good counsell and perwasion may be eased or expelled. Deformities and imperfections of our bodies, as lamenesse, crookednesse, deafnesse, blindnesse, be they innate or accidentall, torture many men: yet this may comfort them, that those imperfections of the body do not a whit blemish the soul, or hinder the operations of it, but rather help and much increase it. Thou art lame of body, deformed to the eye; yet this hinders not but that thou maist be a good, a wise, upright, honest man. Seldome, saith Plutarch, honesty and beauty dwell together; and often times, under a thread-bare coat, lies an excellent understanding. 2 1 Sæpe sub attritâ latitat sapientia veste. Cornelius Mussus, that famous preacher in Italy, when he came first into the pulpit of Venice, was so much contemned by reason of his outside, a little, lean, poore, dejected person, they were all ready to leave the church; but, when they heard his voice, they did admire him; and happy was that senator could injoy his company, or invite him first to his house. A silly fellow to look to, may have more wit, learning, honesty, then he that struts it out, ampullis jactans, &c. grandia gradiens, and is admired in the worlds opinion. Vilis sæpe cadus nobile nectar habet : the best wine comes out of an old vessell. How many deformed princes, kings, emperours, could I reckon up, philosophers, orators? Hannibal had one eye, Appius Claudius, Timoleon, blinde, Muleasses king of Tunis, John king of Bohemia, and Tiresias the prophet. The night hath his pleasure; and, for the lossse of that one sense, such men are commonly recompensed in the rest: they have excellent memories, other good parts, musick, and many recreations; much happiness, great wisdom, as Tully well discourseth in his Tusculan Questions. Homer was blinde; yet who (saith he) made more accurate, lively, or better descriptions, with both his eyes? Democritus was blinde, yet, as Laërtius writes of him, he saw 5 1 Raro sub eodem lare honestas et forma habitant. 2 Josephus Mussus vitâ ejus. 3 Homuncio brevis, macilentus, umbra hominis, &c. Ad stuporem ejus eruditionem et eloquentiam admirati sunt. 4 Nox habet suas voluptates. 5 Lib. 5. ad finem. Cæcus potest esse sapiens et beatus, &c. more than all Greece besides; as 'Plato concludes, tum sane mentis oculus acute incipit cernere, quum primum corporis oculus deflorescit; when our bodily eyes are at worst, generally the eyes of our soul see best. Some philosophers and divines have evirated themselves, and put out their eyes voluntarily, the better to contemplate. Angelus Politianus had a tetter in his nose continually running, fulsome in company; yet no man so eloquent and pleasing in his works. Esope was crooked, Socrates pur-blinde, long-legged, hairy; Democritus withered, Seneca lean and harsh, ugly to behold; yet shew me so many flourishing wits, such divine spirits: Horace, a little bleareyed contemptible fellow; yet who so sententious and wise? Marcilius Ficinus, Faber Stapulensis, a couple of dwarfes; 'Melancthon a short, hard-favoured man: parvus erat, sed magnus erat, &c. yet of incomparable parts all three. 'Ignatius Loiola, the founder of the Jesuits, by reason of an hurt he received in his leg at the seige of Pampelona the chief town of Navarre in Spaine, unfit for wars, and lesse serviceable at court, upon that accident betook himself to his beads, and by those means got more honour than ever he should have done with the use of his limbs, and propernes of person. Vulnus non penetrat animam; a wound hurts not the soul. Galba the emperour was crook-backed, Epictetus lame; that great Alexander a little man of stature; Augustus Cæsar of the same pitch; Agesilaüs despicabili formá; Boccharis a most deformed prince as ever Egypt had, yet (as Diodorus Siculus records of him) in wisdome and knowledge far beyond his predecessours. A. Dom. 1306, Uladeslaus Cubitalis, that pigmy king of Poland, reigned and fought more victorious battels, than any of his longshanked predecessours. Nullam virtus respuit staturam: vertue refuseth no stature; and commonly your great vast bodies, and fine features, are sottish, dull, and leaden spirits. What's in them? 8 7 6 Quid nisi pondus iners, stolidæque ferocia mentis ? what in Otus and Ephialtes (Neptunes sons in Homer) nine akers long? Qui, ut magnus Orion, Cum pedes incedit, medii per maxima Nerei what in Maximinus, Ajax, Caligula, and the rest of those ' In Convivio, lib. 25. vit. ejus. 2 Joachimus Camerarius, vit. ejus. 5 Sueton. c. 7. 9. 3 Riber. 4 Macrobius. 6 Lib. 1. Corpore exili et despecto, sed ingenio et prudentiâ longe ante se reges cæteros præveniens. 7 Alexander Gaguinus, hist. Polandiæ. Corpore parvus eram, cubito vix altior uno: Sed tamen in parvo corpore magnus eram. 8 Ovid. 9 Virg. Æn. 10. great Zanzummins, or giganticall Anakims, heavie, vast, barbarous lubbers? si membra tibi dant grandia Parcæ, Mentis eges. Their body (saith 'Lemnius) is a burden to them, and their spirits not so lively, nor they so erect and merry : Non est in magno corpore mica salis. A little diamond is more worth than a rocky mountain : which made Alexander Aphrodisiæus positively conclude, the lesser, the wiser, because the soul was much contracted in such a body. Let Bodine (in his 5. c. method. hist.) plead the rest: the lesser they are, as in Asia, Greece, they have generally the finest wits. And for bodily stature, which some so much admire, and goodly presence, 'tis true, to say the best of them, great men are proper and tall, I grant,-caput inter nubila condunt; but belli pusilli, little men are pretty: Sed si bellus homo est Cotta, pusillus homo est. 5 Sickness, diseases, trouble many, but without a cause. 'It may be 'tis for the good of their souls: pars fati fuit: the flesh rebels against the spirit; that which hurts the one, must needs help the other. Sicknesse is the mother of modesty, putteth us in minde of our mortality; and when we are in the full career of worldly pomp and jollity, she pulleth us by the ear and maketh us know ourselves. Pliny calls it the sum of philosophy, if we could but perform that in our health, which we promise in our sicknesse. Quum infirmi sumus, optimi sumus; for what sick man (as Secundus expostulates with Rufus) was ever lascivious, covetous, or ambitious? he envies no man, admires no man, flatters no man, despiseth no man, listens not after lyes and tales, &c. And, were it not for such gentle remembrances, men would have no moderation of themselves; they would be worse than tigers, wolves, and lions: who should keep them in awe? Princes, masters, parents, magistrates, judges, friends, enemies, fair or foul meanes cannot contain us; but a little sicknes (as Chrysostome observes) will correct and amend us. And therefore, with good 2 Lib. 2. cap. 20. Oneri est illis corporis moles, et spiritus minus vividi. * Corpore breves prudentiores, quum coarctata sit anima. Ingenio pollet, cui vim natura negavit. 3 Multis ad salutem animæ profuit corporis ægritudo. Petrarch. + Lib. 7. Summa est totius philosophiæ, si tales, &c. 5 Plinius epist. 7 lib. Quem infirmum libido solicitat, aut avaritia, aut honores? nemini invidet, neminem miratur, neminem despicit, sermone maligno non alitur. 6 Non terret princeps, magister, parens, judex; at ægritudo superveniens omnia correxit. |