: is a stranger to the earth, rivers to the sea, Jupiter in Egypt, the sun to us all. The soul is an alien to the body, a nightingale to the ayre, a swallow in an house, and Ganymede in heaven, an elephant at Rome, a phoenix in India; and such things commonly please us best, which are most strange, and come farthest off. Those old Hebrews esteemed the whole world Gentiles; the Greeks held all barbarians but themselves; our modern Italians account of us as dull transalpines by way of reproach; they scorn thee and thy country which thou so much admirest. "Tis a childish humour to hone after home, to be discontent at that which others seek; to prefer, as base Islanders and Norvegians do, their own ragged iland before Italy or Greece, the gardens of the world. There is a base nation in the north, saith Pliny, called Chauci, that live amongst rocks and sands by the seaside, feed on fish, drink water and yet these base people account themselves slaves in respect, when they come to Rome. Ita est profecto (as he concludes); multis fortuna parcit in pœnam so it is, Fortune favours some to live at home, to their further punishment; 'tis want of judgement. All places are distant from heaven alike: the sun shines happily as warm in one city as in another; and to a wise man there is no difference of climes friends are every where to him that behaves himself well; and a prophet is not esteemed in his own country. Alexander, Cæsar, Trajan, Adrian, were so many land-leapers, now in the east, now in the west, little at home; and Polus Venetus, Lod. Vertomannus, Pinzonus, Cadamustus, Columbus, Americus Vesputius, Vascus Gama, Drake, Candish, Oliver Anort, Schouten, got all their honour by voluntary expeditions. But you say, such mens travel is voluntary; we are compelled, and, as malefactors, must depart : yet know this of 2 Plato to be true, ultori Deo summa cura peregrinus est: God hath an especial care of strangers; and when he wants friends and allies, he shall deserve better and find more favour with God and men. Besides the pleasure of peregrination, variety of objects will make amends; and so many nobles, Tully, Aristides, Themistocles, Theseus, Codrus, &c. as have been banished, will give sufficient credit unto it. Read Pet. Alcionius his two books of this subject. 1 Lib. 16. cap. 1. Nullam frugem habent; potus ex imbre: et hæ gentes, si vincantur, &c. 2 Lib. 5. de legibus. Cumque cognatis careat et amicis, majorem apud Deos et apud homines misericordiam meretur. MEMB. V. Against Sorrow for Death of Friends or otherwise, vain Fear, &c. DEATH and departure of friends are things generally grievous: 'omnium quæ in humaná vitá contingunt, luctus atque mors sunt acerbissima; the most austere and bitter accidents that can happen to a man in this life, in æternum valedicere, to part for ever, to forsake the world and all our friends; 'tis ultimum terribilium, the last and the greatest terrour, most irkesome and troublesome unto us. Homo toties moritur, quoties amittit suos. And though we hope for a better life, eternall happiness, after these painfull and miserable daies, yet we cannot compose ourselves willingly to dye; the remembrance of it is most grievous unto us, especially to such who are fortunate and rich they start at the name of death, as an horse at a rotten post. Say what you can of that other world, with Metezuma the Indian prince, bonum est esse hic, they had rather be here. Nay many generous spirits, and grave staid men otherwise, are so tender in this, that, at the loss of a dear friend, they will cry out, roare, and teare their haire, lamenting some months after, houling, O hone, as those Irish women, and Greeks, at their graves, commit many undecent actions, and almost go besides themselves. My dear father, my sweet husband, mine only brothers dead! to whom shall I make my moan? O me miserum! : Quis dabit in lacrymas fontem ? &c. What shall I do? 5 Sed totum hoc studium luctu fraterna mihi mors My brothers death my study hath undone; Mezentius would not live after his son: 6 Nunc vivo, nec adhuc homines lucemque relinquo! And Pompey's wife cryed out at the news of her husbands death, 1 Turpe mori post te solo non posse dolore, violenta luctu, et nescia tolerandi, as 'Tacitus of Agrippina, not able to moderate her passions. So, when she heard her son was slain, she abruptly broke off her work, changed countenance and colour, tore her hair, and fell a roaring down right; -subitus miseræ color ossa reliquit ; Excussi manibus radii, revolutaque pensa : Scissa comam. . . . Another would needs run upon the swords point after Euryalus departure, Figite me, si qua est pietas, in me omnia tela O let me dye! some good man or other make an end of me! How did Achilles take on for Patroclus departure? A black cloud of sorrows overshadowed him, saith Homer. Jacob rent his clothes, put sack-cloth about his loines, sorrowed for his son a long season, and could not be comforted, but would needs go down into the grave unto his son (Gen. 37. 37). Many years after, the remembrance of such friends, of such accidents, is most grievous unto us, to see or hear of it, though it concern not our selves, but others. Scaliger saith of himself, that he never read Socrates death, in Platos Phædon, but he wept; Austin shed tears when he read the destruction of Troy. But, howsoever this passion of sorrow be violent, bitter, and seiseth familiarly on wise, valiant, discreet men, yet it may surely be withstood, it may be diverted. For, what is there in this life, that it should be so dear unto us? or that we should so much deplore the departure of a friend? The greatest pleasures are common society, to enjoy one anothers presence, feasting, hawking, hunting, brooks, woods, hils, musick, dancing, &c. all this is but vanity and losse of time, as I have sufficiently declared. 4 - dum bibimus, dum serta, unguenta, puellas, Whilst we drink, prank our selves, with wenches dally, As alchymists spend that small modicum they have, to get gold, 1 Lucan. 5 Juvenalis. 23 Annal. 3 Virg. Æn. 9. 4 Confess. 1. 1. 2 and never finde it, we lose and neglect eternity, for a little momentary pleasure, which we cannot enjoy, nor shall ever attain to in this life. We abhor death, pain, and grief, all; and yet we will do nothing of that which should vindicate us from, but rather voluntarily thrust our selves upon it. 1The lascivious prefers his whore before his life, or good estate; an angry man, his revenge; a parasite, his gut; ambitious, honours; covetous, wealth; a thief, his booty; a souldier, his spoyle; we abhor diseases, and yet we pull them upon us. We are never better or freer from cares then when we sleep; and yet, which we so much avoid and lament, death is but a perpetuall sleep; and why should it (as Epicurus argues) so much affright us? When we are, death is not: but when death is, then we are not our life is tedious and troublesome unto him that lives best; 'tis a misery to be born, a pain to live, a trouble to die; death makes an end of our miseries; and yet we cannot consider of it. A little before Socrates drank his potion of cicuta, he bid the citizens of Athens cheerfully farewell, and concluded his speech with this short sentence: My time is now come to be gone, I to my death, you to live on; but which of these is best, God alone knows. For there is no pleasure here, but sorrow is annexed to it, repentance follows it. If I feed liberally, I am likely sick or surfeit; if I live sparingly, my hunger and thirst is not allayed: I am well neither full nor fasting; if I live honest, I burn in lust; if I take my pleasure, I tire and starve my self, and do injury to my body and soul. Of so small a quantity of mirth, how much sorrow! after so little pleasure, how great misery! 'Tis both waies troublesome to me, to rise and go to bed, to eat and vide my meat; cares and contentions attend me all day long, fears and suspicions all my life. I am discontented; and why should I desire so much to live? But an happy death will make an end of all our woes and miseries; Omnibus una meis certa medela malis. pro Why shouldst thou not then say, with old Simeon, since thou art so well affected, Lord, now let thy servant depart in peace? or, with Paul, I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ? Beata mors, quæ ad beatam vitam aditum aperit ; 1 Amator scortum vitæ præponit, iracundus vindictam, parasitus gulam, ambitiosus honores, avarus opes, miles rapinam, fur prædam ; morbos odimus et accersimus. Card. 2 Seneca. Quum nos sumus, mors non adest; cum vero 3 Bernard. c. 3. med. Nasci miserum, Plato, Apol. Socratis. Sed jam hora est 5 Comedi ad satietatem, gravitas me offendit; parcius edi, non est expletum desiderium; venereas delicias sequor, hinc morbus, lassitudo, &c. 6 Bern. c. 3. med. De tantillâ lætitiâ, quanta tristitia; post tantam voluptatem, quam gravis miseria! mors adest, tum nos non sumus. vivere pœna, angustia mori. hinc abire, &c. 1 'tis a blessed houre that leads us to a blessed life; and blessed are they that dye in the Lord. But life is sweet; and death is not so terrible in it self as the concomitants of it, a loathsome disease, pain, horrour, &c. and many times the manner of it, to be hanged, to be broken on the wheel, to be burned alive. Servetus the heretick, that suffered in Geneva, when he was brought to the stake, and saw the executioner come with fire in his hand, homo, viso igne, tam horrendum exclamavit, ut universum populum perterrefecerit, roared so loud, that he terrified the people. An old Stoick would have scorned this. It troubles some to be unburied, or so: 2 non te optima mater Condet humi, patriove onerabit membra sepulcro : Unda feret, piscesque impasti vulnera lambent: Thy gentle parents shall not bury thee, Or drowned corps hungry fish maws shall scoure. As Socrates told Crito, it concerns me not what is done with me when I am dead; facilis jactura sepulcri: I care not, so long as I feel it not: let them set mine head on the pike of Tenariffa, and my quarters in the foure parts of the world, pascam licet in cruce corvos: let wolves or bears devoure me : cœlo tegitur qui non habet urnam ; the canopy of heaven covers him that hath no tomb. So likewise for our friends, why should their departure so much trouble us? They are better, as we hope; and for what then dost thou lament, as those do, whom Paul taxed in his time, (1 Thes. 4. 13) that have no hope? 'Tis fit there should be some solemnity. *Sed sepelire decet defunctum, pectore forti, Jobs friends said not a word to him the first seven daies, but let sorrow and discontent take their course, themselves sitting sad and silent by him. When Jupiter himself wept for Sarpedon, what else did the poet insinuate, but that some sorrow is good? 1 Est enim mors piorum felix transitus de labore ad refrigerium, de expectatione ad præmium. 2 Vaticanus, vitâ ejus. 4 II. 9. Homer. 3 Luc. |