The Anatomy of Melancholy Part 42

Thou hast enough: he that is wet in a bath, can be no more wet if he be flung into Tiber, or into the ocean itself: and if thou hadst all the world, or a solid ma.s.s of gold as big as the world, thou canst not have more than enough; enjoy thyself at length, and that which thou hast; the mind is all; be content, thou art not poor, but rich, and so much the richer as [3779]Censorinus well writ to Cerellius, _quanto pauciora optas, non quo plura possides_, in wis.h.i.+ng less, not having more. I say then, _Non adjice opes, sed minue cupiditates_ ('tis [3780]Epicurus' advice), add no more wealth, but diminish thy desires; and as [3781]Chrysostom well seconds him, _Si vis ditari, contemne divitias_; that's true plenty, not to have, but not to want riches, _non habere, sed non indigere, vera abundantia_: 'tis more glory to contemn, than to possess; _et nihil agere, est deorum_, "and to want nothing is divine." How many deaf, dumb, halt, lame, blind, miserable persons could I reckon up that are poor, and withal distressed, in imprisonment, banishment, galley slaves, condemned to the mines, quarries, to gyves, in dungeons, perpetual thraldom, than all which thou art richer, thou art more happy, to whom thou art able to give an alms, a lord, in respect, a petty prince: [3782]be contented then I say, repine and mutter no more, "for thou art not poor indeed but in opinion."

Yea, but this is very good counsel, and rightly applied to such as have it, and will not use it, that have a competency, that are able to work and get their living by the sweat of their brows, by their trade, that have something yet; he that hath birds, may catch birds; but what shall we do that are slaves by nature, impotent, and unable to help ourselves, mere beggars, that languish and pine away, that have no means at all, no hope of means, no trust of delivery, or of better success? as those old Britons complained to their lords and masters the Romans oppressed by the Picts.

_mare ad barbaros, barbari ad mare_, the barbarians drove them to the sea, the sea drove them back to the barbarians: our present misery compels us to cry out and howl, to make our moan to rich men: they turn us back with a scornful answer to our misfortune again, and will take no pity of us; they commonly overlook their poor friends in adversity; if they chance to meet them, they voluntarily forget and will take no notice of them; they will not, they cannot help us. Instead of comfort they threaten us, miscall, scoff at us, to aggravate our misery, give us bad language, or if they do give good words, what's that to relieve us? According to that of Thales, _Facile est alios monere_; who cannot give good counsel? 'tis cheap, it costs them nothing. It is an easy matter when one's belly is full to declaim against fasting, _Qui satur est pleno laudat jejunia ventre_; "Doth the wild a.s.s bray when he hath gra.s.s, or loweth the ox when he hath fodder?" Job vi. 5. [3783]_Neque enim populo Romano quidquam potest esse laetius_, no man living so jocund, so merry as the people of Rome when they had plenty; but when they came to want, to be hunger-starved, "neither shame, nor laws, nor arms, nor magistrates could keep them in obedience."

Seneca pleadeth hard for poverty, and so did those lazy philosophers: but in the meantime [3784]he was rich, they had wherewithal to maintain themselves; but doth any poor man extol it? "There are those" (saith [3785]

Bernard) "that approve of a mean estate, but on that condition they never want themselves: and some again are meek so long as they may say or do what they list; but if occasion be offered, how far are they from all patience?"

I would to G.o.d (as he said) [3786]"No man should commend poverty, but he that is poor," or he that so much admires it, would relieve, help, or ease others.

[3787] "Nunc si nos audis, atque es divinus Apollo, Dic mihi, qui nummos non habet, unde petat:"

"Now if thou hear'st us, and art a good man, Tell him that wants, to get means, if you can."

But no man hears us, we are most miserably dejected, the sc.u.m of the world.

[3788]_Vix habet in n.o.bis jam nova plaga loc.u.m_. We can get no relief, no comfort, no succour, [3789]_Et nihil inveni quod mihi ferret opem_. We have tried all means, yet find no remedy: no man living can express the anguish and bitterness of our souls, but we that endure it; we are distressed, forsaken, in torture of body and mind, in another h.e.l.l: and what shall we do? When [3790]Cra.s.sus the Roman consul warred against the Parthians, after an unlucky battle fought, he fled away in the night, and left four thousand men, sore, sick, and wounded in his tents, to the fury of the enemy, which, when the poor men perceived, _clamoribus et ululatibus omnia complerunt_, they made lamentable moan, and roared downright, as loud as Homer's Mars when he was hurt, which the noise of 10,000 men could not drown, and all for fear of present death. But our estate is far more tragical and miserable, much more to be deplored, and far greater cause have we to lament; the devil and the world persecute us, all good fortune hath forsaken us, we are left to the rage of beggary, cold, hunger, thirst, nastiness, sickness, irksomeness, to continue all torment, labour and pain, to derision and contempt, bitter enemies all, and far worse than any death; death alone we desire, death we seek, yet cannot have it, and what shall we do? _Quod male fers, a.s.suesce; feres bene_ --accustom thyself to it, and it will be tolerable at last. Yea, but I may not, I cannot, _In me consumpsit vires fortuna nocendo_, I am in the extremity of human adversity; and as a shadow leaves the body when the sun is gone, I am now left and lost, and quite forsaken of the world. _Qui jacet in terra, non habet unde cadat_; comfort thyself with this yet, thou art at the worst, and before it be long it will either overcome thee or thou it. If it be violent, it cannot endure, _aut solvetur, aut solvet_: let the devil himself and all the plagues of Egypt come upon thee at once, _Ne tu cede malis, sed contra audentior ito_, be of good courage; misery is virtue's whetstone.

[3791] "--serpens, sitis, ardor, arenae, Dulcia virtuti,"

as Cato told his soldiers marching in the deserts of Libya, "Thirst, heat, sands, serpents, were pleasant to a valiant man;" honourable enterprises are accompanied with dangers and damages, as experience evinceth: they will make the rest of thy life relish the better. But put case they continue; thou art not so poor as thou wast born, and as some hold, much better to be pitied than envied. But be it so thou hast lost all, poor thou art, dejected, in pain of body, grief of mind, thine enemies insult over thee, thou art as bad as Job; yet tell me (saith Chrysostom) "was Job or the devil the greater conqueror? surely Job; the [3792]devil had his goods, he sat on the muck-hill and kept his good name; he lost his children, health, friends, but he kept his innocency; he lost his money, but he kept his confidence in G.o.d, which was better than any treasure." Do thou then as Job did, triumph as Job did, [3793]and be not molested as every fool is. _Sed qua ratione potero_? How shall this be done? Chrysostom answers, _facile si coelum cogitaveris_, with great facility, if thou shalt but meditate on heaven. [3794]Hannah wept sore, and troubled in mind, could not eat; "but why weepest thou," said Elkanah her husband, "and why eatest thou not? why is thine heart troubled? am not I better to thee than ten sons?" and she was quiet. Thou art here [3795]vexed in this world; but say to thyself, "Why art thou troubled, O my soul?" Is not G.o.d better to thee than all temporalities, and momentary pleasures of the world? be then pacified. And though thou beest now peradventure in extreme want, [3796]it may be 'tis for thy further good, to try thy patience, as it did Job's, and exercise thee in this life: trust in G.o.d, and rely upon him, and thou shalt be [3797]crowned in the end. What's this life to eternity? The world hath forsaken thee, thy friends and fortunes all are gone: yet know this, that the very hairs of thine head are numbered, that G.o.d is a spectator of all thy miseries, he sees thy wrongs, woes, and wants. [3798]"'Tis his goodwill and pleasure it should be so, and he knows better what is for thy good than thou thyself. His providence is over all, at all times; he hath set a guard of angels over us, and keeps us as the apple of his eye," Ps.

xvii. 8. Some he doth exalt, prefer, bless with worldly riches, honours, offices, and preferments, as so many glistering stars he makes to s.h.i.+ne above the rest: some he doth miraculously protect from thieves, incursions, sword, fire, and all violent mischances, and as the [3799]poet feigns of that Lycian Pandarus, Lycaon's son, when he shot at Menelaus the Grecian with a strong arm, and deadly arrow, Pallas, as a good mother keeps flies from her child's face asleep, turned by the shaft, and made it hit on the buckle of his girdle; so some he solicitously defends, others he exposeth to danger, poverty, sickness, want, misery, he chastiseth and corrects, as to him seems best, in his deep, unsearchable and secret judgment, and all for our good. "The tyrant took the city" (saith [3800]Chrysostom), "G.o.d did not hinder it; led them away captives, so G.o.d would have it; he bound them, G.o.d yielded to it: flung them into the furnace, G.o.d permitted it: heat the oven hotter, it was granted: and when the tyrant had done his worst, G.o.d showed his power, and the children's patience; he freed them:" so can he thee, and can [3801]help in an instant, when it seems to him good. [3802]

"Rejoice not against me, O my enemy; for though I fall, I shall rise: when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall lighten me." Remember all those martyrs what they have endured, the utmost that human rage and fury could invent, with what [3803]patience they have borne, with what willingness embraced it. "Though he kill me," saith Job, "I will trust in him." _Justus [3804]inexpugnabilis_, as Chrysostom holds, a just man is impregnable, and not to be overcome. The gout may hurt his hands, lameness his feet, convulsions may torture his joints, but not _rectam mentem_ his soul is free.

[3805] ------"nempe pecus, rem, Lectos, argentum tollas licet; in manicis, et Compedibus saevo teneas custode"------

"Perhaps, you mean, My cattle, money, movables or land, Then take them all.--But, slave, if I command, A cruel jailor shall thy freedom seize."

[3806]"Take away his money, his treasure is in heaven: banish him his country, he is an inhabitant of that heavenly Jerusalem: cast him into bands, his conscience is free; kill his body, it shall rise again; he fights with a shadow that contends with an upright man:" he will not be moved.

------"si fractus illabatur orbis, Impavidum ferient ruinae."

Though heaven itself should fall on his head, he will not be offended. He is impenetrable, as an anvil hard, as constant as Job.

[3807] "Ipse deus simul atque volet me solvet opinor."

"A G.o.d shall set me free whene'er I please."

Be thou such a one; let thy misery be what it will, what it can, with patience endure it; thou mayst be restored as he was. _Terris proscriptus, ad coelum propera; ab hominibus desertus, ad deum fuge_. "The poor shall not always be forgotten, the patient abiding of the meek shall not perish for ever," Psal. x. 18. ver. 9. "The Lord will be a refuge of the oppressed, and a defence in the time of trouble."

"Servus Epictetus, multilati corporis, Irus Pauper: at haec inter charus erat superis."

"Lame was Epictetus, and poor Irus, Yet to them both G.o.d was propitious."

Lodovicus Vertomannus, that famous traveller, endured much misery, yet surely, saith Scaliger, he was _vir deo charus_, in that he did escape so many dangers, "G.o.d especially protected him, he was dear unto him:" _Modo in egestate, tribulatione, convalle deplorationis_, &c. "Thou art now in the vale of misery, in poverty, in agony," [3808]"in temptation; rest, eternity, happiness, immortality, shall be thy reward," as Chrysostom pleads, "if thou trust in G.o.d, and keep thine innocency." _Non si male nunc, et olim sic erit semper_; a good hour may come upon a sudden; [3809]

expect a little.

Yea, but this expectation is it which tortures me in the mean time; [3810]

_futura expectans praesentibus angor_, whilst the gra.s.s grows the horse starves: [3811]despair not, but hope well,

[3812] "Spera Batte, tibi melius lux Crastina ducet; Dum spiras spera"------

Cheer up, I say, be not dismayed; _Spes alit agricolas_: "he that sows in tears, shall reap in joy," Psal. cxxvi. 7.

"Si fortune me tormente, Esperance me contente."

Hope refresheth, as much as misery depresseth; hard beginnings have many times prosperous events, and that may happen at last which never was yet.

"A desire accomplished delights the soul," Prov. xiii. 19.

[3813] "Grata superveniet quae non sperabitur hora:"

"Which makes m'enjoy my joys long wish'd at last, Welcome that hour shall come when hope is past:"

a lowering morning may turn to a fair afternoon, [3814]_Nube solet pulsa candidus ire dies_. "The hope that is deferred, is the fainting of the heart, but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life," Prov. xiii. 12, [3815]_suavissimum est voti compos fieri_. Many men are both wretched and miserable at first, but afterwards most happy: and oftentimes it so falls out, as [3816]Machiavel relates of Cosmo de Medici, that fortunate and renowned citizen of Europe, "that all his youth was full of perplexity, danger, and misery, till forty years were past, and then upon a sudden the sun of his honour broke out as through a cloud." Huniades was fetched out of prison, and Henry the Third of Portugal out of a poor monastery, to be crowned kings.

"Multa cadunt inter calicem supremaque labra,"

"Many things happen between the cup and the lip,"

beyond all hope and expectation many things fall out, and who knows what may happen? _Nondum omnium dierum Soles occiderunt_, as Philippus said, all the suns are not yet set, a day may come to make amends for all. "Though my father and mother forsake me, yet the Lord will gather me up," Psal. xxvii.

10. "Wait patiently on the Lord, and hope in him," Psal. x.x.xvii. 7. "Be strong, hope and trust in the Lord, and he will comfort thee, and give thee thine heart's desire," Psal. xxvii. 14.

"Sperate et vosmet rebus servate secundis."

"Hope, and reserve yourself for prosperity."

Fret not thyself because thou art poor, contemned, or not so well for the present as thou wouldst be, not respected as thou oughtest to be, by birth, place, worth; or that which is a double corrosive, thou hast been happy, honourable, and rich, art now distressed and poor, a scorn of men, a burden to the world, irksome to thyself and others, thou hast lost all: _Miserum est fuisse, felicem_, and as Boethius calls it, _Infelicissimum genus infortunii_; this made Timon half mad with melancholy, to think of his former fortunes and present misfortunes: this alone makes many miserable wretches discontent. I confess it is a great misery to have been happy, the quintessence of infelicity, to have been honourable and rich, but yet easily to be endured: [3817]security succeeds, and to a judicious man a far better estate. The loss of thy goods and money is no loss; [3818] "thou hast lost them, they would otherwise have lost thee." If thy money be gone, [3819]"thou art so much the lighter," and as Saint Hierome persuades Rusticus the monk, to forsake all and follow Christ: "Gold and silver are too heavy metals for him to carry that seeks heaven."

[3820] "Vel nos in mare proximum, Gemmas et lapides, aurum et inutile, Summi materiam mali Mittamus, scelerum si hene poenitet."

Zeno the philosopher lost all his goods by s.h.i.+pwreck, [3821]he might like of it, fortune had done him a good turn: _Opes a me, animum auferre non potest_: she can take away my means, but not my mind. He set her at defiance ever after, for she could not rob him that had nought to lose: for he was able to contemn more than they could possess or desire. Alexander sent a hundred talents of gold to Phocion of Athens for a present, because he heard he was a good man: but Phocion returned his talents back again with a _permitte me in posterum virum bonum esse_ to be a good man still; let me be as I am: _Non mi aurum posco, nec mi precium_[3822]--That Theban Crates flung of his own accord his money into the sea, _abite nummi, ego vos mergam, ne mergar, a vobis_, I had rather drown you, than you should drown me. Can stoics and epicures thus contemn wealth, and shall not we that are Christians? It was _mascula vox et praeclara_, a generous speech of Cotta in [3823]Sall.u.s.t, "Many miseries have happened unto me at home, and in the wars abroad, of which by the help of G.o.d some I have endured, some I have repelled, and by mine own valour overcome: courage was never wanting to my designs, nor industry to my intents: prosperity or adversity could never alter my disposition." A wise man's mind, as Seneca holds, [3824] "is like the state of the world above the moon, ever serene." Come then what can come, befall what may befall, _infractum invictumque [3825]

animum opponas: Rebus angustis animosus atque fortis appare_. (Hor. _Od.

11. lib. 2._) Hope and patience are two sovereign remedies for all, the surest reposals, the softest cus.h.i.+ons to lean on in adversity:

[3826] "Durum sed levius fit patientia, Quicquid corrigere est nefas."

"What can't be cured must be endured."

If it cannot be helped, or amended, [3827]make the best of it; [3828]

_necessitati qui se accommodat, sapit_, he is wise that suits himself to the time. As at a game at tables, so do by all such inevitable accidents.

[3829] "Ita vita est hominum quasi c.u.m ludas tesseris, Si illud quod est maxime opus jactu non cadit, Illud quod cecidit forte, id arte ut corrigas;"

If thou canst not fling what thou wouldst, play thy cast as well as thou canst. Everything, saith [3830]Epictetus, hath two handles, the one to be held by, the other not: 'tis in our choice to take and leave whether we will (all which Simplicius's Commentator hath ill.u.s.trated by many examples), and 'tis in our power, as they say, to make or mar ourselves.

Conform thyself then to thy present fortune, and cut thy coat according to thy cloth, [3831]_Ut quimus (quod aiunt) quando quod volumus non licet_, "Be contented with thy loss, state, and calling, whatsoever it is, and rest as well satisfied with thy present condition in this life:"

"Este quod es; quod sunt alii, sine quamlibet esse; Quod non es, nolis; quod potus esse, velis."

"Be as thou art; and as they are, so let Others be still; what is and may be covert."

And as he that is [3832]invited to a feast eats what is set before him, and looks for no other, enjoy that thou hast, and ask no more of G.o.d than what he thinks fit to bestow upon thee. _Non cuivis contingit adire Corinthum_, we may not be all gentlemen, all Catos, or Laelii, as Tully telleth us, all honourable, ill.u.s.trious, and serene, all rich; but because mortal men want many things, [3833]"therefore," saith Theodoret, "hath G.o.d diversely distributed his gifts, wealth to one, skill to another, that rich men might encourage and set poor men at work, poor men might learn several trades to the common good." As a piece of arras is composed of several parcels, some wrought of silk, some of gold, silver, crewel of diverse colours, all to serve for the exornation of the whole: music is made of diverse discords and keys, a total sum of many small numbers, so is a commonwealth of several unequal trades and callings. [3834]If all should be Croesi and Darii, all idle, all in fortunes equal, who should till the land? As [3835]Menenius Agrippa well satisfied the tumultuous rout of Rome, in his elegant apologue of the belly and the rest of the members. Who should build houses, make our several stuffs for raiments? We should all be starved for company, as Poverty declared at large in Aristophanes' Plutus, and sue at last to be as we were at first. And therefore G.o.d hath appointed this inequality of states, orders, and degrees, a subordination, as in all other things. The earth yields nourishment to vegetables, sensible creatures feed on vegetables, both are subst.i.tutes to reasonable souls, and men are subject amongst themselves, and all to higher powers, so G.o.d would have it.

All things then being rightly examined and duly considered as they ought, there is no such cause of so general discontent, 'tis not in the matter itself, but in our mind, as we moderate our pa.s.sions and esteem of things.

_Nihil aliud necessarium ut sis miser_ (saith [3836]Cardan) _quam ut te miserum credas_, let thy fortune be what it will, 'tis thy mind alone that makes thee poor or rich, miserable or happy. _Vidi ego_ (saith divine Seneca) _in villa hilari et amaena maestos, et media solitudine occupatos; non locus, sed animus facit ad tranquillitatem_. I have seen men miserably dejected in a pleasant village, and some again well occupied and at good ease in a solitary desert. 'Tis the mind not the place causeth tranquillity, and that gives true content. I will yet add a word or two for a corollary. Many rich men, I dare boldly say it, that lie on down beds, with delicacies pampered every day, in their well-furnished houses, live at less heart's ease, with more anguish, more bodily pain, and through their intemperance, more bitter hours, than many a prisoner or galley-slave; [3837]_Maecenas in pluma aeque vigilat ac Regulus in dolio_: those poor starved Hollanders, whom [3838]Bartison their captain left in Nova Zembla, anno 1596, or those [3839]eight miserable Englishmen that were lately left behind, to winter in a stove in Greenland, in 77 deg. of lat., 1630, so pitifully forsaken, and forced to s.h.i.+ft for themselves in a vast, dark, and desert place, to strive and struggle with hunger, cold, desperation, and death itself. 'Tis a patient and quiet mind (I say it again and again) gives true peace and content. So for all other things, they are, as old [3840]Chremes told us, as we use them.