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THough Hope be so much praised by men, and that of all the Passi∣ons which flatter the Sense, she is one of the most Taking; yet must she give place to Pleasure, and confess that Pleasure is a Sun, whose presence de∣faces all her beuty: for if she promiseth ought that is good, this other giveth it us;
if the one hath Flowers, the other bears Fruit; and if the one content us in Word, the other makes us happy in effect. Delight is the period of all the motions of our soul;* 1.1 and as Love is the beginning thereof, Plea∣sure is the end; it stoppeth the violence of our desires, and forceth those fickle Passions to taste rest, to which they seem to pro∣fess Enmity: it sweetens Choler, and takes from her that forward humour which ac∣companieth her in all her designs; it pays Boldness for all her good services; and is it self the recompense of those glorious la∣bours which she hath undergone to compass it; it drives away Fear, and banishes all those vain terrors which disquiet us; it kills Despair, which seems to have conspired the death of it; it banisheth Sadness at first sight, and if it retain Tears and Sighs, they are the spoils which publish the Victo∣ry, and honour the Triumph thereof. Love is content, when after having tane so much pains, it can rest in Pleasure: of as many shapes as Love puts on,* 1.2 this is that it most delights in, and doth not forgo it to assume another, without violence: Love is unquiet when it Desires, and its wishes are shame∣full and true proofs of its indigency; when it hopes, it is not without Fear; and those
two keep it so faithful company, as they never leave it but it costs them their life; for Fear becomes Sadness when 'tis desti∣tute of Hope; and Hope is changed into Despair, when it is parted from Fear: Love is not satisfied with Revenge; and though Revenge be sweet, yet it is accompanied with pain: In Boldness, it is cover'd with Sweat and Dirt; Glory flatters it, and threatning danger astonisheth it; in Hatred, it is tormented; and the evil which it wish∣eth to its enemy, is a Viper that lies gnaw∣ing upon it: in Eschewing, it wants strength; and it shuns not him that pursues it, save only because it cannot defend it self from him: in Despair, it is vanquish'd; and yield∣ing up its weapons to the Conquerour, suffers it self to be led in Triumph: in Sad∣ness it is miserable; and the remembrance of its fore-past happiness, serves only to aug∣ment its present sorrow: but in pleasure, it is at once both Victorious, Triumphant, and Happy; all its Races are stopt, all its De∣sires are accomplish'd, and all its designs at an end. And surely, we must not wonder if it be in so deep a Tranquillity, since it en∣joyes the happiness it sought for, and is luckily arrived at the end of all its labours: for Pleasure is nothing else, but the enjoying
of a pleasing Good, which renders the soul content, and which interdicts it the use of Desire, as well as that of Sadness and Fear.
This definition excludes all such delights as spring only from Remembrance, or from Hope, and which make us happy only in that which we have been, or hope to be: Memory doth not always entertain us with our misfortunes; though she be more faithful in retaining a Displeasure than a contentment;* 1.3 & busies her self oftner about things which offend us, than about such as we are well pleased withall; yet doth not she forbear to represent unto us past felici∣ties; and by a pleasing Remembrance thereof, sweeten our present miseries; to serve us, she triumphs over the Laws of Time; to favour us, she recalls what is no more; and seeks out in by-gon ages di∣vertisments to recreate us; but let her do her utmost endeavour, she cannot beguile our soul, nor give it true contentment in enter∣taining it only with a Falshood; things that are past are but so many shadows; and if they make any Impression in us, it is rather of Sorrow than of Joy; Good, when far distant from us, makes it self be desired; but when past, it makes it self to be bewailed:
its Presence ingenders our Happiness, and its Absence causeth our Desires, or our Re∣gret: Loss, and Fruition, of one and the same thing, cannot be pleasing; and let Me∣mory use what cunning she can, she cannot call to our minds a good which hath no more a being, without awakening our Wishes,* 1.4 and refreshing our Sorrows. Hope is not much more favourable to us; for though she fore-run our good fortune, that she anticipate the birth thereof, and that she feeds us with a contentment which is not yet happen'd; though by an impatience which is advantageous to us, she seeks out present felicities in Futurity, and that, pre∣cipitating the course of years, she advanceth our Contentment; yet a man need not be over-wise, to observe that she deceives us; and that she often makes us miserable, out of a desire of making us too soon Happy: she is found false in her Promises; and after having long expected their effects, all we reap thereby, is Shame, for having been too credulous; and Sorrow, for having grounded our happiness upon an uncertain good: Solid pleasure requires the presence of its object; and though, in Morality, the end hath so much power over our Wills, yet can it not make them happy, but by
possession; therefore is it, that the Cove∣tous and Ambitious, who forgo a present good, only to entertain themselves with a Future; and who consider not so much what they have, as what they want, cannot be esteemed happy; since in the very Frui∣tion of honour or riches, they are languish∣ing; and contrary to the nature of Pleasure, they seek for what they have not, and value not what they have.
By the same definition, we exclude all those sensualities,* 1.5 which spring from Indi∣gence, or which produce Sorrow; for to boot, that they are desired with so much Anxiety as doth exceed the Pleasure which they promise us; they are such enemies to our quiet, as it is impossible to taste there∣of, without becoming miserable and faulty, they wound at once both the soul and the body; they weaken the one, and corrupt the other; they are Remedies worse than the Evils which they would cure; their disorder causeth always the like in our health; and their excess is so pernicious thereunto,* 1.6 that we must take them mode∣rately, if we intend to receive satisfaction thereby; true Delight is never more plea∣sing, than when in extreams; the greater it is the more it doth ravish us; and being agree∣able
to our nature, it never makes us more happy than when it most abundantly com∣municateth it self; but Sensualities are poysons, which must be prepared, if we will reap profit thereby; and since the irregula∣rity of Sin, we had need of Grace to fence our selves against their disorder: whatever Pleasure they promise us, they have so great Affinity with Sorrow,* 1.7 that their words and effects resemble each other: they have their Groans and their Sighs, as well as Sorrow; when they are extream, they dissolve into tears; and to shew us that they are enemies to our Nature, their excess doth oftentimes cause our death; but say they should not produce all these mischiefs? 'Twil be sufficient to undeceive us, to know that they are always follow'd by Repentance,* 1.8 Sorrow, and Shame; they dare not appear in publick; and very well perceiving that they contribute not to the Glory of man, they seek out Shade, Solitariness, and Si∣lence: they would blush, were they enfor∣ced to shew themselves; and the confusion which would cover their faces, would trouble their contentment: Maladies are the penance of their excess; and Physiti∣ans would be useless, could pleasure be re∣gulated; as long as man was content with
such fruits as the earth yielded him; and that without provoking his appetite with much-sought for Viands, he did only eat to satisfie his hunger; he had no superfluous humours to dry up, no Defluctions to di∣vert, nor Fevers to cure. Abstinence was all his remedy; and the Diet that he used dreined off the source of all his diseases: but, since he hath dispeopled both Sea and Land, to nourish him; that he hath made the monsters of Nature his food; that he would know what taste Tortoises, and o∣ther creeping things had, which the simpli∣city of our Ancestors confounded with Serpents▪ since he would refresh Wine with Snow, accord those elements in his Body, which wage war with one another in the world; mingle Fishes with Birds, and place in one and the same Stomach,* 1.9 things to which Nature hath appointed such different habitations; sicknesses have assailed him in crowds; and the unruliness of his mind hath caused the disorders of his Body▪ the: Gout hath stung his Nerve; the Stone is formed in his Reins, the Winds have committed a thousand Outrages in his Bowels, and as if the Elements were sensi∣ble of the confusion he makes of their qua∣lities in his debaucheries, they for revenge
have corrupted themselves, and (as the ut∣most which hate can produce) they ruine themselves, to kill their Enemy.
In fine, by this definition, we condemn all such pleasures as Nature requireth not, unless seduced by Opinion; for her con∣tentments are as regular as her Desires; and without looking after things unprofitable, she is contented with what is necessary; she wisheth for such good things only, as she cannot be without: as Necessity serves her for a Law, so doth she consult with it in all her occasions, and makes no wishes with∣out the approbation thereof; hence is it, that they are not many; and that she is contented with a little: water of the Fountain sufficeth to quench her thirst; fruits of the earth sa∣tisfie her hunger; Sheeps Wool furnish∣eth her clothing; and before Luxury bound him to make war upon all the Creatures. I know not but that the trees did furnish her with Apparel; and those that fed her with their fruits, clothed her with their barks; but this at least I know, that in those innocent times men committed no Murders, to adorn themselves, neither acted any pranks of In∣justice, to enrich themselves; nor did they violate Nature, to procure to themselves sin∣ful delicacies, their houses were built with∣out
Curiosity,* 1.10 and he that was the Contri∣ver of them, was also the Carpenter and the Mason; the earth cover'd with Moss served him for a Bed; and, as he never lay down uninvited by sleep, he slept without distur∣bance, and awaked with content; he knew no other Perfume than that of Flowers, which being more pure than ours, was more pleasing; he was not acquainted with the use of Coaches, his Journeys not be∣ing long, he made use only of such aids as Nature had given him: War being hateful to him, and trafique useless, he per∣mitted horses to enjoy their liberty, and employed not that noble Creature, which Fury and Avarice have rendered necessary to us; whithersoever he went, the earth was sufficiently fruitful to nourish and to cloath him; he found in the Desarts where∣with to satisfie his desires; and that which we want in Cities, he wanted not in places uninhabited. In his happy age all delights were innocent, and no man tasted any plea∣sure which was not true; but now, since they are no longer Natural, they are no longer Rational; they weaken the Body, and destroy the Soul: and experience tea∣cheth us, that the use of them is as pernici∣ous as the want of them is profitable.
But lest I be accus'd to be an enemy to Pleasure, and that I would bereave man of the remedies which Nature hath given him to sweeten his misfortunes; I will say, that the solid contentments are those of the Mind; and that man cannot be satisfied, unless the noblest part,* 1.11 whereof he is com∣posed, be happy; the knowledg of Truth, and practice of Virtue ought to be his chiefest Diversions; he must follow his holiest inclinations, and be more careful, in his own person, to please an Angel than a Beast; he must remember that the body is but the souls slave: and that in the choice of Pleasures, it is just that the Soveraign keep her precedency; besides, those which the soul relisheth, are the truest; and if any man be of another opinion, we must believe, that sin which hath berest him of Grace, hath likewise berest him of Reason. For the pleasures of the Senses are limited, whereas those of the soul have no bounds; the plea∣sures of the body are strangers, those of the soul are natural; the former may be taken from us without any great ado, Death it self cannot bereave us of the latter; which though it rob us of our riches, cannot rob us of our virtues: the one sort are in a per∣petual succession; as they hold of Time,
they cannot hold together;* 1.12 and by a neces∣sary law, those that are past, give place to them that are present; and the present to the future; so as the body never enjoys its contentment, but in part; it is poor amidst its riches, whilst it thrives well on the one side, it languisheth on the other; and by a misfortune which is inseparable from its condition, it finds no contentment, which gives satisfaction to all its senses; but those of the soul are never divided, they present themselves all at once; & the same thought which enlightens the Understanding, heats the Will, and fills the Memory: her joy is universal; one faculty is never sad whilst the other are satisfied; and, as if there were a community amongst them in their con∣tentments; that which pleaseth the one, de∣lighteth all the rest. In fine, Spiritual plea∣sures are much more intimate than those of the Senses; for the soul is wholly filled therewithal; the blessing she eujoys, pene∣trates her Essence; as she changeth into her Self that which she knows, so she transfor∣meth her Self into that which she loves; and by an admirable Metamorphosis she be∣comes her own Felicity; but the Senses are joyn'd to their objects only by Accident; they see the colours of things, & know not
their Essences; they understand the sound of words, and conceive not the meaning of them; so as the body is only content in Ef∣figie; its Bliss is but a shadow, and its Fe∣licity is but a false appearance; but the mind is really happy, the contentment thereof is solid, and the goods it possesseth, essential.
Ad summa pervenit, qui scit quo gau∣deat, & qui foelicitaten•• suam in aliena potestate non posuit. Sen. Ep. 23.
Non est oble∣ctamentum super cordis gaudium. Eccl. c. 30.
Habet praete∣riti doloris re∣cordatio dele∣ctationem Cic. l. 5. Ep.
Omne opus leve fieri solet, cum ejus preti∣um cogitatur, & spes proemii solatium fit la∣boris. Hieron. in Ep.
Ipsae volupta∣tes in tormen∣ta vertuntur. Sen. Ep. 24.
Voluptas ver∣git ad dolorem nisi modum teneat, veri autem boni aviditas tuta est. Sen. Ep. 23.
In profoso gau∣dio lachrymae erumpunt. Tert.
Voluptas fra∣gilis est & bre∣vis, cujus sub∣inde necesse est, aut nos poeniteat aut pudeat. Sen. Benif. l 7. c. 2.
Nunc vero quam longe processerunt mala valetudi∣nis? has usuras voluptatum pendimus, ul∣tra modum fas∣que concupita∣rum Innume∣rabiles esse •• morbos mira∣ris? coquos numera. Sen. Ep. 95.
—Tunc ju∣vat aut amnis vagi pressisse ••ipas, cespite aut ••udo leves duxisse somnos Excussa sylvis poma compes∣cunt famem, Et fraga par∣vis vulsa dume∣tis cibos Faci∣les ••••••inistrant. Sen. in Hipol.
Quaeris quid sit hominis bo∣num? animus, & ratio in ani∣mo perfecta. Rationale e∣nim animal est homo••con∣summatur ita∣que ejus bo∣num, si id ad∣implevit cui natus est. Sen. Ep. 41.
Quid ex Idae Platonicis tra∣ham, quod cupiditates meas compri∣mat? vel ho•• ipsum, quod omnia ••sta quae sensibus serv••unt, quae nos accendunt ac irritant, ne∣gat Plato ex iis esse quae ve∣re sint. Igitur ista imaginaria sunt, & ad tempus aliquā faciem ferunt, nihil horu•• stabile nec so∣lidum est. Son. Ep. 58.