Seneca's morals abstracted in three parts : I. of benefits, II. of a happy life, anger, and clemency, III. a miscellany of epistles
Seneca, Lucius Annaeus, ca. 4 B.C.-65 A.D., L'Estrange, Roger, Sir, 1616-1704.
Page  152

EPIST. XXI. The Two Blessings of Life are, a Sound Body; and a Quiet Mind. The Ex∣travag•…nce of the Roman Luxury. The Moderation, and Simplicity of Former Times.

EPicurus makes the Two Blessings of Life, to be a Sound Body, and a Quiet Mind: Which is only a Compen∣dious Reduction of Humane Felicity to a State of Health, and of Virtue. The way to be Happy is to make Vice, not only Odious, but Ridiculous; and eve∣ry Man to mind his own Business; for he that Torments himself for other Peo∣ples Misfortunes, shall never be at Rest. A Virtuous Life must be all of a Piece; and not advance by Starts, and Inter∣vals; and then to go on where it Left; for this is Losing of Ground. We are to press, and persevere, for the main dif∣ficulties are yet to come. If I discon∣tinue my Course, when shall I come to pronounce these words? I am a Conque∣ror:Page  153 Not a Conqueror of Barbarous E∣nemies, and Salvage Nations; but I have subdu'd Avarice, Ambition, and those Lusts, that have subjected even the greatest of Conquerors. Who was a Greater than Alexander? that extend∣ed his Empire from Thracia, to the Ut∣most bounds of the East: But yet he Burnt Persepolis at the request of a Pro∣stitute, to gratifie his Lust. He over∣came Darius, and slew many Thousands of the Persians; but yet he Murther'd Calisthenes. And that single Blot has Ter∣nish'd all the Glory of all his Victories, All the wishes of Mortals, and all the Benefits which we can either Give, or Receive, are of very little Conducement to a Hap∣py Life. Those things which the Com∣mon People gape after, are Transitory and Vain. Whereas Happiness is Per∣manent; Nor is it to be Estimated by Number, Measure, or Parts: For it is Full, and Perfect. I do not speak, as if I my self were arriv'd at that Blessed State of Repose: But, it is something yet to be on the Mending hand. It is with me, as with a Man that's Creeping out of a Di∣sease; he Feels yet some Grudgings of Page  154 it, he is every Foot Examining of his Pulse; and suspects every Touch or Heat to be a Relick of his Feaver. Just at That rate, am I jealous of my self. The best Remedy that I know in this Case, is to go on with Confidence, and not to be missed by the Errors of Other People. It is with our Manners, as with our Healths; 'tis a Degree of Virtue, the A∣batement of Vice, as it is a Degree of Health, the Abatement of a Fit.

Some Place their Happiness in Wealth; Some in the Liberty of the Body; and Others in the Pleasures of the Sense, and Palate. But, What are Mettals, Tasts, Sounds, or Colours, to the Mind of a Reasonable Creature? He that sets his Heart upon Riches, the very Fear of Po∣verty will be grievous to him. He that's Ambitious, shall be gall'd with Envy at any Man that gets before him: For, in that Case, he that is not First, is Last. I do not speak against Riches neither: For if they hurt a Man, 'tis his Own Folly. They may be indeed the Cause of Mis∣chief; as they are a Temptation to those that do it. In stead of Courage, they may Inspire us with Arrogance; and, in Page  155 stead of Greatness of Mind, with Inso∣lence; which is in truth but the Coun∣terfeit of Magnanimity. What is it to be a Prisoner, and in Chains? It is no more than that Condition to which ma∣ny Princes have been Reduc'd; and out of which, Many Men have been Ad∣vanc'd to the Authority of Princes. 'Tis not to say, I have no Master; In time you may have one. Might not Hecuba, Croesus, and the Mother of Darius have said as much? And where's the Happy∣ness of Luxury either; when a Man di∣vides his Life betwixt the Kitchin, and the Stews; betwixt an Anxious Con∣science, and a Nauseous Stomach? Cali∣gula, who was born to shew the World what mischief might be done by a Con∣currence of Great Wickedness, and a Great Fortune. Spent near 10 000 l. Sterling upon a Supper. The Works, and Inventions of it are Prodigious, not only in the Counterfeiting of Nature, but even in Surpassing it. The Romans had their Brooks even in their Parlors; and found their Dinners under their Tables. The Mullet was reckon'd stale, unless it dy'd in the Hand of the Guest: Page  156 And they had their Glasses to put them into, that they might the better observe all the Changes, and Motions of them in the Last Agony betwixt Life, and Death. So that they fed their Eyes, be∣fore their Bodies. Look how it Reddens, sayes one, there's no Vermilion like it. Take notice of these Veins; and that same grey brightness upon the Head of it. And now he is at's Last Gasp: See how Pale he turns, and all of a Colour. These people would not have given themselves half this trouble with a Dying Friend; Nay, they would leave a Father, or a Brother, at his Last Hour, to entertain themselves with the Barbarous Spectacle of an expiring Fish. And that which enhances the Esteem of every thing, is the Price of it: Insomuch, that Water it self, which ought to be Gratuitous, is expos'd to Sale, in their Conservatories of Ice, and Snow. Nay, we are troubled that we cannot buy Breath, Light; and that we have the Ayr it self Gratis. As if our Condition were Evil, because Na∣ture has left something to us in Common. But Luxury contrives wayes to set a Price upon the most Necessary, and Page  157 Communicable Benefits in Nature: E∣ven those Benefits, which are Free to Birds, and Beasts, as well as to Men; and serve Indifferently for the Use of the most Sluggish Creatures. But, How comes it that Fountain Water is not Cold e∣nough to Serve us, unless it be bound up into Ice? So long as the Stomach is Sound, Nature discharges her Functions without Trouble: But, when the Blood comes to be enflam'd with Excess of Wine, or Meats, Simple Water is not Cold Enough to Allay that Heat; and we are forc'd to make use of Remedies, which Remedies themselves are Vices. We heap Suppers upon Dinners, and Dinners upon Suppers, without Intermis∣sion. Good God! How easie is it to quench a Sound, and an Honest Thirst? But, when the Palate is grown Callous, we Taste nothing; and that which we take for Thirst, is only the Rage of a Feaver. Hippocrates deliver'd it as an Aphorisme, that Women were, never Ball'd, nor Gouty, but in one Singular Case. Wo∣men have not alter'd their Natures since, but they have Chang'd the Course of their Lives; for, by taking the Liber∣ties Page  158 of Men, they partake as well of their Diseases, as of their Wickedness. They sit up as much, Drink as much; nay, in their very Appetites they are Masculine too; they have lost the Advantages of their Sex, by their Vices.

Our Ancestors, when they were Free, liv'd either in Caves, or in Arbours: But Slavery came in with •…ildings, and with Marble. I would have him that comes into my House, take more Notice of the Master, then of the Furniture. The Golden Age was before Architecture: Arts came in with Luxury, and we do not hear of any Philosopher that was either a Locksmith, or a Painter. Who was the Wiser Man, think you? he that Invented a Saw, or the Other; who, up∣on seeing a Boy drink Water out of the Hollow of his Hand, Brake his Pitcher: with this Check to himself; What a Fool am I to trouble my self with Superfluities? Carving is one Mans Trade; Cooking is Anothers: Only he is more miserable that teaches it for Pleasure, than he that learns it for Necessity. It was Luxury, not Philosophy, that Invented Fish-Pools, as well as Palaces. Where, in Page  159 Case of Foul weather at Sea, they might have Fishes, to supply their Gluttony, in Harbor. We do not only Pamper our Lusts, but Provoke them: As if we were to Learn the very Art of Voluptu∣ousness. What was it but Avarice, that Originally brake the Union of Society; and Prov'd the cause of Poverty, even to those that were the most Wealthy? E∣very Man Possess'd All, till the World came to Appropriate Possessions to them∣selves. In the First Age, Nature was both a Law, and a Guide; and the Best Go∣vern'd; Which was but according to Nature too. The largest, and the strong∣est Bull leads the Heard; the Goodliest Elephant; and, among Men too, in the Blessed times of Innocence, the Best was Uppermost. They chose Governors for their Manners; who neither Acted any Violence, nor suffer'd any. They Pro∣tected the Weak against the Mighty; and Perswaded, or Disswaded, as they saw Occasion. Their Prudence Provi∣ded for their Peo•…le; their Courage Kept them Safe from Dangers; their Bounty both Supply'd, and Adorn'd their Subjects. It was a Duty, Then, to Page  160Command, not a Government. No Man, in those Dayes, had either a Mind to do an Injury, or a Cause for't. He that com∣manded well, was Well Obey'd: And, the worst Menace the Governors could then make to the Disobedient, was, to Forsake them. But, with the corrupti∣on of Times, Tyranny crept in, and the World began to have Need of Laws; and those Laws were made by Wise Men too, as Solon, and Licurgus, who Learn'd their Trade in the School of Pythagoras.