Seneca's morals abstracted in three parts : I. of benefits, II. of a happy life, anger, and clemency, III. a miscellany of epistles / by Roger L'Estrange.

CHAP XVII. Our Happiness depends in a great Measure upon the Choice of our Company. (Book 17)

THE Comfort of Life depends upon Conversation, Good Offi∣ces, and Concord; and Humane So∣ciety is like the Working of an Arch of Stone; All would fall to the Ground if One Piece did not support another. Above all things, let us have a tender∣ness for Blood; and it is yet too Little not to Hurt, unless we Profit one ano∣ther. We are to Relieve the Distres∣sed; to put the Wanderer into his Way, and to Divide our Bread with the Humble; which is but the doing of Good to our Selves: for we are on∣ly several Members of one Great Body. Nay, we are all of a Consanguinity; form'd of the same Materials, and De∣sign'd to the same End: This obliges us to a mutual Tenderness, and Con∣verse;

and the Other, to live with a Regard to Equity, and Justice. The Love of Society is Natural; but the Choice of our Company is Matter of Virtue, and Prudence. Noble Ex∣amples stir us up to Noble Actions; and the very History of Large, and Pub∣lick Souls, inspires a Man with Gene∣rous Thoughts. It makes a Man Long to be in Action; and doing of some∣thing that the World may be the bet∣ter for; as Protecting the Weak, De∣livering the Oppress'd, Punishing the Insolent. It is a great Blessing, the very Conscience of giving a Good Example; beside, that it is the great∣est Obligation any Man can lay upon the Age he lives in. He that Con∣verses with the Proud shall be puff'd up; a Lustful Acquaintance makes a Man Lascivious; and the way to se∣cure a Man from Wickedness, is to withdraw from the Examples of it. 'Tis too Much to have them Near us, but more to have them Within us. Ill Example, Pleasure, and Ease are, no doubt of it, great Corrupters of Man∣ners.

A Rocky Ground hardens the Horses Hoof; The Mountanier makes the best Soldier; The Miner makes the best Pionier, and Severity of Dis∣cipline fortifies the Mind. In all Ex∣cesses, and Extremities of Good, and of Ill Fortune, let us have recourse to Great Examples that have contemn'd Both. Those are the best Instructers that Teach in their Lives, and prove their Words by their Actions.

AS an Ill Ayr may endanger a Good Constitution, so may a a 1.1 Place of Ill Example endanger a Good Man. Nay, there are some Places that have a kind of Privilege to be Licentious, and where Luxury, and Dissolution of Manners seem to be Lawful; for Great Examples give both Authority, and Excuse to Wickedness. Those Places are to be avoided as Dange∣rous to our Manners. Hannibal him∣self was Unmann'd by the Looseness of Campania, and though a Conqueror by his Arms, he was Overcome by his

Pleasures. I would as soon live among Butchers, as among Cooks; not but that a Man may be Temperate in any place; but, to see Drunken Men Staggering up and down every where; and only the Spectacles of Lust, Luxury, and Ex∣cess before our Eyes, it is not safe to expose our selves to the Temptation. If the Victorious Hannibal himself could not resist it, What shall be∣come of Us then that are Subdu'd, and give Ground to our Lusts already. He that has to do with an Enemy in his Breast, has a harder Task upon him than he that is to encounter one in the Field: his hazard is Greater if he loses Ground, and his Duty is perpetu∣al; for he has no Place, or Time for Rest. If I give way to Pleasure, I must also yield to Grief, to Poverty, to La∣bor, Ambition, Anger, till I am torn to Pieces by my Misfortunes, and my Lusts. But, against all This, Philoso∣phy propounds a Liberty, that is to say, a Liberty from the Ser∣vice of Accidents, and Fortune. There is not any thing that does more

Mischief to Mankind, then Mercenary Masters of Philosophy, that do not Live as they Teach; They give a Scandal to Virtue. How can any Man expect that a Ship should Steer a For∣tunate Course, when the Pilot lies Wallowing in his own Vomit. 'Tis an Usual thing, first to Learn to do Ill our Selves, and then to Instruct O∣thers to do so: But, that Man must need•…•… be very Wicked, that has ga∣ther'd into himself the Wickedness of all other People.

THE best Conversation is with the b 1.2 Philosophers: That is to say, with such of them as teach us Matter, not Words; that Preach to us Things Necessary, and keep us to the Practice of them. There can be no Peace in Humane Life with∣out the Contempt of all Events▪ There is nothing that either puts better Thoughts into a Man, or sooner sets him Right that is out of the way, than a good Companion▪ For, the Exam∣ple has the Force of a Precept, and

touches the Heart with an Affection to Goodness. And not only the Fre∣quent Hearing, and Seeing of a Wise Man delights us, but the very En∣counter of him suggests profitable Contemplations; such as a Man finds himself mov'd with, when he goes into a Holy Place. I will take more Care with Whom I Eate, and Drink, than What; for without a Friend the Table is a Manger. Writing does well; but personal Discourse, and Conversation does Better; For Men give great Credit to their Ears, and take stronger Impressions from Ex∣ample, than Precept. Cleanthes had never hit Zeno so to the Life, if he had not been In with him at all his Privacies; if he had not watch'd, and observ'd him, whether or no he Practic'd as he Taught. Plato got more from Socrates his Manners, than from his Words; and it was not the School, but the Company, and Familia∣rity of Epicurus, that made Metrodo∣rus, Hermachus, and Polyaenus so fa∣mous.

NOW though it be by Instinct that we Covet Society, and a∣void Solitude, we should yet* 1.3 take This along with us, that the more Acquaintance, the more Danger. Nay, there is not One Man of an hundred that is to be trusted with Himself. If Company cannot Alter us, it may Interrupt us; and he that so much as stops upon the Way, loses a great deal of a short Life; which we yet make shorter by our Inconstancy. If an Enemy were at our Heels, What haste should we make? But Death is so, and yet we never mind it. There is no ventu∣ring of Tender, and Easie Natures among the People; for 'tis odds that they'll go over to the Major Party. It would perhaps shake the Constancy of Socrates, Cato, Laelius, or any of us all; even when our Resolutions are at the Height, to stand the shock of Vice that presses upon us with a Kind of Publick Authority. It is a World of Mischief that may be done by one

Single Example of Avarice, or Luxu∣ry. One Voluptuous Palate makes a great many. A wealthy Neighbor Stirs up Envy, and a Fleering Com∣panion moves Ill Nature where∣ever he comes. What will become of Those People then, that expose themselves to a Popular Violence? Which is ill both wayes; either if they comply with the Wicked, be∣cause they are Many, or quarrel with the Multitude, because they are not Principl'd alike. The best way is to Retire, and Associate only with those, that may be the better for Us, and We for Them. These Respects are Mutual, for while we Teach, we Learn. To deal Freely; I dare not trust my self in the Hands of much Company: I never go Abroad, that I come Home again the same Man I went Out. Some thing or other that I had put in Order, is discompos'd: Some Passion that I had subdu'd, gets head again, and it is just with our Minds, as it is after a long Indispositi∣on with our Bodies; we are grown

so Tender, that the least breath of Ayr exposes us to a Relapse. And, it is no wonder, if a Numerous Con∣versation be Dangerous, when there is scarce any single Man, but by his Discourse, Example, or Behavior, does either Recommend to us, or Imprint in us, or by a Kind of Conta∣gion, Insensibly infect us with one Vice or other; and the more People, the greater is the Peril. Especially let us have a Care of Publick Specta∣cles, where VVickedness insinuates it self with Pleasure; and above all O∣thers, let us avoid Spectacles of Cru∣elty, and Blood; and have nothing to do with those that are perpetually VVhining, and Complaining; there may be Faith, and Kindness there, perhaps, but no Peace. People that are either Sad, or Fearful, we do com∣monly, for their Own Sakes, set a guard upon them, for fear they should make an Ill Use of being Alone: especially the Imprudent, who are still contri∣ving of Mischief, either for Others, or for Themselves; in Cherishing their

Lusts, or Forming their Designs. So much for the Choice of a Companion, we shall now Proceed to that of a Friend.

Notes

• a 1.1

  Avoid even Dis∣solute places, as well as loose Com∣panions.
• b 1.2

  Practical Philo∣sophers are the best Company.
• * 1.3

  c The more Com∣pany, the more Danger.