Part VI'

A R I S TOT LE.
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ally thofe of the Soul, tor the Soul is more excellent than the Body.
Yet tho corporeal and. external Vertues he in- feriour to thole of the Soul, they are not to be fiegle£l:ed, partly, as being expetible in themfelves; partly, as conducing to civil, fociable and con¬ templative iife,for life is defin’d by civil,fociable, and contemplative a£tions •, Vertue (according to this 5'i’^;not being a lover of it felf, but commu¬ nicative and civil. For when w-e fay, Vertue is neareft allied to it felf, the defire of the know¬ ledge of Truth necellarily followeth it, fo as wile Men may rightly part with their life, and Foolsrightly preferve theirs ; fince that to thole who are perfeQ, it is an equal thing to depart this Life or not. *
The excellency of Vertue is much encreas’d by corporeal and external goods ^ yet, the end cannot any way be compleated by them. The fun£lion therefore of Vertue is 'Beatitude^ by fuc celsful a0:ions. Corporeal and External goods are faid to be efficient of Beatitude, for as much as they confer fomething thereto, not that they compleat it •, for Beatitude is Life. Lifeconfilfs of adions, but thofe can neither be reckoned amongft ‘aQions nor funftions.
Hereupon comes in Beneficence^ Grace, Huma¬ nity, Love of Children and Brethren,of our Coun¬ try, Barents, Benevolence of '•Kinsfolk, Lriend- and the whole company of Ver¬ tues i which who negle£t, manifelf ly fin, *as to expetible goods, and avoidable Evils ; and alio in the acquifition and ufe of Goods, they fin in election, by Judgment ; in acquifition, by the manner-, in ufe, by Ignorance j in eleflion they Sin, as defiring that whichis not good, or pre¬ ferring' the Idler good, as moll prefer pleajant. htioiQ profitable, profitable before honefi^ In ac- quifitionpeA> not confidering whence, nor in what manner, nor how far it ought to be acquired. In ttfefoi as much as allule being referfd either to it felf or fome other, in the former they ob- ferve no moderation, in the latter no decency.
In thefe things, though the wicked Sin, yet do the Juft behave themfelves uprightly, following Vertue as their Leader.
In all Vertues there is Judgment, EleHion, and Ablion there is no Vertue without thefe' j Prudence hath the firft place, the reft follow.
Vertue is called the befi Affeblion,vii\{id\ may be colleded from Indudion. The Vertue of a Shooemaker is that by which he knoweth how to make Shooes -, and of an Architeft, that by which he knoweth how to build a handfome Houfe. Vertue therefore is thebeft of Aftedions.
Of Vertue there are two Principles as it were, Reafon, and Bafjion, which fometimes agree, fometimesdifagree -, for Pleafure or Grief, where Reafon gets the Maftery, is called Temperance, when Paffion, Intemperance •, The Harmony and Concord of both is Vertue, command¬ ing, the other obeying.
Expetible i s that which attradeth the Appe¬ tite to it felfj avoidable, that which repelleth it, Reafon confenting thereto. Expetible and good were by the Ancients efteemed the lame j for they affirm’d Good to be that which all defire.
Of Goods, they fay fome are expetible /cr themfelves, fome fox others-, the firft are either honefl or neceffary, Honeft are the Vertues and
their Fun£l:ions ^ neceffary , Life , and thofe things which pertain untoit, as the Body with its parts and ufes ^ and thofe which are call’d External Goods as Riches, Peace, Glory, Li¬ berty, Friendjjnp, for each of thefe conterreth to the ufe of Vertue.
Beatitude confilkQXh. of Good and fuccefsful Actions i wherefore it is wholly good, as play* ing upon Pipes is wholly artificial j for the ule of the matter doth not take away the Goodneft from Beatitude^ as the ufe of Inftruments taketh not away from the Art ofMedicine. Such things as are made ufe of towards this perfeftion, are not to be reckoned as Parts ^ for they, without which the Action cannot be, are not rightly parts thereof; for parts conduce to the whole, the reft conduce to the End.
Good is divided into Honefl:, Profitable, and Pleajant -, thefe are the Scopes of all Actions. Beatitude confifts of all thefe. It is the ufe of perfebi Vertue, in perfebl Life, with profperous Succefs -, and the Vunttion of perfebl Life accor¬ ding toVertue -, and the ufe of Vertue according to Nature, without any Impediment .
Tho’ fome affert that the End is to be happy, and Beatitude the y?£y>£’,as Riches are good, and to be Rich that which isbehoveful-,yet is it bet¬ ter to follow the Antients,who affert the End to be that f or whofe lake all things are, it felf not being for the fake of any other ; or the ulti¬ mate of things'expetible -, or Life according ro vertue, in corporeal and external goods, either in all or the molt principal.
_ This Teing the greateft good, ufeth the Mi- niftry of the reftjfor as thofe things which con¬ fer hereunto are to be efteemed Goods, fo thofe things which refift it, are indifferents ; for e- very good Action doth not effect Beatitude.
They affert Beatitude to be the ife of perfebl Vertue, as holding fome Vertues to be perfect, others mpeifect. The perfect are Juflice and Integrity ; the Imperfect are Ingenuity and Pro- grejfion. The perfect agreeth with the perfect, fo as the end thereof is the function of that Vertue, whereof no part is wanting.
7 hey added perfect Life to (hew that Bea¬ titude is in Men of full Age, for a young man is imperfect, and fo is his Life. Beatitude therefore is in perfe£f time, the longeft that is appointed for us by the Gods. As one- verfe makes not a Poem, nor one ftep a Dance , nor one Swallow a Surpmer ; fo neither doth a fhort time confer Beatitude, for Beatitude is perfe£f, and requireth a perfeQ: Man and Time.
They added fuccefsful function of Vertue, be- caufe the Goods of Nature are neceffarily requi- fite to Beatitude-, fora good Man may excrcile vertue in mifery, but cannot be happy. For as Vertue is the only Efficient of honeft AQ;ions,fo is Beatitude of honefl, good and exce llent. fLeithex doth it abide amongft ill or unhappy things,but enjoyeth the good, nor is deprived of the con- ter^lation of good, or the conveniences of Life.
Beatitude being the moft pleafant and faireft of things,encreafeth like an Art by the multitude of its Inftruments. It is not the fame in God and Man, neither is it equal amongft good Men, for it may fometimes betaken away by oppref- fion of miferies.Hence it is to be doubted whe¬ ther a Manjnay betermedhappy as long as he is
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