Part IX*

CHAP. IV.
Sagacity and Wifdom,
O Wifdom ( the lafl: general head of P deutick ) belong the Sentences of Fytbd-
T
gordJ’.
{'aj Stob. (^) Jirengih^ wallj and armour of a wife man ii voifdoni.
Call to mind.) that moji men acknowledge voifdom to be the great ejl good^ but few endeavour to pojjefs thisgreateji good.
(b) The facrifices of Fools are the food of fire \ their Donatives the Jubfijience of Jacrilegious per- fons.
(c) A Horfe is not to be giddedwithout ahridle.) nor Riches without Wifdom.
(d) He conceived the impofition of names on things^ to be the highejl part of wifdorn.
(b J Stob.
pc) Stob. (jl)Ck.TujC, I
SECT. II.
0/ Folitick) the other part of FraUick Fhilofophy.
{n) Cap. 6. H E heads of Politick (according to {a) Jam-
i blichus) are thele; Common Converfation., Friendjhip) Worjhip of the Gods^ Fiety to the Dead^ and Law-making,
(b)Jmb.ci^. (h) They hold Fythagoras to be the Inventor of all Politick Difeipline. He ufed to Iky, That amongft: Beings, nothing is pure, but every thing partakes of fome other, as Earth of Fire, Fire of Water and Air. In like manner, honeft par¬ takes of difhonelt, juft of unjuft, and the like.
• Hence it is, that Reafon is carried away to either lide. There are two motions, one of the Bo¬ dy, the other of the Mind ; one irrational, the other eleblive. Commonwealths he compared to a reblangle Triangle, wherein one lide con- fifts of Three Parts, the Bafe of Five, the other iideof the mean between them, of four. In the Coincidence of thefe Lines with one another, and their Squares, we behold delineated the beft Form of a Commonwealth, C and of Ju- fticc.q
CHAP. I.
Common Converfation.
TO common converfation belong thefe Max¬ ims of Fythagorof.
(^) stob. (d) A fir anger fujl, is to be pref err'd not
only before a Ceuntreyman^ but before a KinJ- man.
pbjstob. (b) EJleem is a great part of good Educati¬ on., to be able to fuffer the want of Education in others.
(c ) Stob. (c) Defire that they who converfe with you^ fhould
rather refpeU than fear you : for admiration accom¬ panies refpeS ^ hatred., fear.
(^) There being a Jufticc in the mutual coii' verlation ‘of men one towards another •, of this alfo the' Fythagoreans delivered this manner. There is in the cohimon converfation of Men one opportune, another importune ; they differ in di-
verfity of Age, and in Dignity, and in nearnefs of Affinity, and Beneficence, and if there be any thing like thefe in mutual differences. For there is a kind of Converfation which appeareth, to the younger towards the younger, not to be importune^ but, towards the elder, it is impor¬ tune : for no kind, neither of Anger, nor of me¬ nacing, or boldnefs, but all fuch kind of impor¬ tunity ought diligently to be avoided by- the younger toward the elder. In like manner is the reafon of Dignity .-, for coming to a perfon en¬ dowed with true Worth and Virtue, it is neither decent nor opportune to fpeak much, or to com¬ mit any of the fore- mentioned things. Like thefe alfo are thofe which concern fuch as have obliged and deferved well of ochers.
There is a various and multiplicious ufe of Op¬ portunity. For of thofe that are angry and in- cenfed, feme do it opportunely, others impor- tunely : and again^ of thofe who covet, and de¬ fire, and have appetite, it may be opportune for fome to purfue thofe things, not for others. The famcRealbn there is of other afteQions, and aftions, and. difpofitions, and converfations, and intercemons, and difeourfes. But Opportunity is of fuch a Nature, that it is docible, and unde- ceivable, and capable of abt, and generally, and limply, having nothing of all thofe in it. But the confequents are of fuch a kind, that they together, decent, and convenient, and the like, attend the Nature of opportunity.
They held that there is a Primacy in every thing, and that cvery-where there is one thing which is beft; in Science, and in Experience, and in Generation ^ likewile in a Family, and in a City, and in an Army, and in all fuch like Con- ftitutions : but it is difficult to difeern and tinder- ftand the Nature of the Primacy in all the afbre- faid things ; for in Sciences it is the part of more than Ordinary intelligence, by clear intuition, to difeern and judge the parts of the thing, which is the Primacy of them. But there is great difference, and almoft of the whole and general a hazard, in not rightly taking the Primacy : For, in a word, nothing can afterwards be right,if the true Prima¬ cy be not khown. The fame Manner and Reafon is in other kinds of Primacy-, for neither can a Fa¬ mily be well governed, where there is not a true Mafter, and voluntary Government; fork is rc- Quilite, that both thefe be voluntary in thepraefc- aure, as well he who is chief,as thofe whoare lub- jebt to him. As Learning is then right, when there is fuch conformity betwixt the Mafters and the Scholars, that they will teach, thefe will learn j for if either be refraffory, it cannot be rightly perfor¬ med. In this manner he conceived it to be fit for Inferiors to obeySupefiors,Difciples th«irMaftcrs»
CHAR II. friendfhip.
{ayryFthagorot evidently demonftrated that there (a) Jmbl ■ JL is a friendihip of all unto all of god’s to¬ wards men, by piety and religious worlhip ; of do- ftrines to one another of the foul to the body ; of the rational part to the irrational, by Philofophy and its Theory ; of men towards one another \ be¬ twixt Countrymen, by right obfervation of Laws ;
betwixt
ART JX
P T.T H A G 0 K A S.
399
/..'i
betwixt Strangers, by right Phyfiology •, ofa Man , to his Wife, or Children, or Brethren, and Ser¬ vants, by unperverted Communion. In a word, of all towards all ^ moreover of fome irrational Creatures, by Juftice and natural Affinity and Communion ^ of the body, in it felf mortal, a con¬ ciliation and combination of the contrary facul¬ ties, by health and wholefome diet, and tempe¬ rance, in imitation of the good compolure in the Elements. In all thele, of one and the fame, ac¬ cording to comprehenfion of the nameFriend- fliip, Fythagoras is acknowledg’d to be the In¬ venter and Lawgiver ■: And lb admirable a Friend- fhip did he deliver to thofe who enquired of him, that-*' unto this day, (faith Jamblichus) we fay of thofe who are intimately joined together by Friendfhip, they are of the Pythagoreans,
We muft add the Inftitution oi' Pythagoras here¬ in, and the exhortations he uled to his Difciples.
, . They were adviled to take away all contention, and love of controverfie, out of true friendlhip •, i'f poflible out of all. But if that be not poflible,
, at leaft out of that which is our own Country, and generally that towards Elders. Likewileout of that towards Benefeflors*, for to become An- tagonifts, or cbnteft with fuch, when we are fal¬ len into anger, or Ibme other palTion, is not con- fiftent with the prefervation of the amity we have with them. They laid, that in Friendlhip there ought to be leaft Icratches and cuts j and, if any happen, we Ihould fly and fubdue anger ; It were beft, that both fhould do lb, but chiefly the younger, and that thofe exercifes which they called ’Jtui'AfTisfifi ought to be made from the •elder towards the younger, with much commen dation and benevolence. That there appear much care and tendernels in thole who give the corre Sion •, for by this means the correflion fhall be profitable. That we do not extirpate Credit out of Friendlhip, neither in jeft nor in earneft; for it is not eafie to heal the friendlhip betwixt Men, if oncea fallhood hath incurred into the man nets of thofe who call themfelves Friends.
■ That we muft not renounce friendlhip for ad- yerlity,^ or any other impotence which happens in life. That renunciation of friendlhip only. is. commendable, wfiich is made by realbn oF feme great wickednefs and mifdemeanour. But that wei muft'hot take away our friendlhip from them, iiriteKthey become abfclutely wicked ^ and, be¬ fore yye. take it off, we muft ingenioully paufe, to try, if by conteftation and fight he may be diver¬ ted from this ill habit, and become reflified. We muft fight, npt in words, but aflions ; the fight is'lawful and pious. Though difference of power be not ^ juft ground fer one man to fight with
t ) ahptfier; -yet this is a juft ground ' even the moft
■ 'Ju^^afiSpoffible. '
‘ /Ihby' ^id, that m a ftiendlhip, that vyill prove » lTueF''me required hlany definitions and rules ^ ihuft be well 'd iicemed, and not ponfufedly : Nprfebvef, it ought to be accommodated to the dilpofiticm of others, that no converfation be maderiegligentiy arid Vainly, but with refpefl atid'frght order : Neither that any palffon be ex- "citbd^ vainly, and wickedly, and finfufty, as con- cupifeence, or anger. The lame of, the other p:mi6nsarid habits: ,
Muc^ more - adrtufabre are thofe things which thej^( deHped concerning the community- of the
divine good, and thofe concerning the unanimity of the mind, and thofe concerning the djvinc mind. For they mutually exhorted one another, that they Ihould not tear afunder the god which is in them. Thus their ftudy of friendlhip by words and aftions, had reference to feme divine temperament, and^ to union with God, and to unity with the mind, and the divine Ibul. Thus Jamblichus.
(b)Iie conceived the extremity( or end)of friend- (b) Ck. off. t. fhip^ to be the making one of two. (c) Man ought to (0 strm. 4. be one. This fentence (laith Clemens) is myftick.
{d) Hefirft faid, KitvA fiKuVf and ^ihiAvWornTx.. (J) Lacrt.
CHAP. III. Worjhip of the Gods.
( ^ ^ principles of worlhipping the gods, (4) jmhU JL propofed by Pythagoras and his follow¬ ers, arethefe.
That all which they determine to be done, aim and tend to the acknowledgment of the Deity :
This is the principle, and the whole life of man confifts in this, that he follow God, and this the ground of Philolbphy. For men do ridiculoufly, who feek that which is good anywhere elfe than from the gods. They do as if a man in a Coun¬ try, govern’d by a King, fhould apply his fer- vice to feme Citizen of inferior Magiftracy, and neglefl the fupream Governour. In the lame manner conceive they that fuch men do •, for, fiijce ^ere is a God, we muft corifels, that good IS in his power. Now all, to thofe whom they love and delight in, give good things ^ and to the con¬ trary to thefe, their contratres. Therefore it is manifeft, that fuch things are to be done in which God delights.
Thus he defined particularly of all things. T9 believe of the Divinity, that it is, and that it is in fuch manner as to mankind ^ that it over- looks them, and neglefls them not ; the Pythagoreans., taught by him, conceived to be profitable. For we have need of fuch a Government, as we ought not in any thing to conrradifl j fuch is that which proceeds from the Divinity ; for the, Divinity is fuch, that it merits the Dominion of all. Man they affirmed to be, rightly fpeaking, a creature / reproachful and fickle, as to his appetites, aftcfli- ons, and other paflions •, he therefore hath need of fuch government and guidance, from which proceeds moderation and order. Now they con¬ ceived, that every one being confeious of the fic- klenels of his own nature, Ihould never be for¬ getful of lanflity, and fervice towards the Divi¬ nity ^ but always have ( the Divinity ^ in their mind, how it overlooks and obferves human life.
In foe, they lay,,th.atI^//;^^£’/' tor or the Orphean Conftitutions, worlhipping the gods after the manner of Orpheus, placed in brazen images, not reprefenting the forms of men, but of the gods themfelves, who compre¬ hending and forefeeing all things, refemble in na¬ ture and form the whole. He declared their puri- ficatipns and rites,, which are called TiAeTtti, ha¬ ving the moft exa£l knowledge of thena.
Moreover they .affirm j he made a compofition ; . of the divine Philolbphy and Service, part where¬ of he had learned from the Orpheans,. pm from
the
VrrHAGOR.AS.
P AUt IX
400
thQ JF.gyptian ?nci^s ; feme from the Chaldeans aiid Magi *, fome irom the Eleufinian Rices, and thofe in and 5a^/?(3-X/7/v/c7fl3 andi)^/ the Cehx^ aud.lherians.
Amongil the ,Lati7ies alfo is read the Sacred Dircoi.rfcQf P>'r/aa^ as are admitted to the doelrinc of excellent things, and are not addided to ought that is diihoneff.
, It prercribes, that men offer libation thrice;, and gives Oracles from a Tripod, becaufe
'number tirft confifls in a Triad.
Thatwe muflfacrifice to Venus on the fixth day, becaufe that is the hrft common number of the numiaer-of'Univerfal Nature. Now after all ways, the thing divided in like manner, alTumes as well the power of thole things which are taken away, as of thofe which, are left.
That to we ought to facrifice on the
eigthth day of the Month, in refped of his being born at the end of feven Months.
It faith alfo, Thatwe ought to enter into a Temple having a pure garment, and in which Pone hath llept the lleep of llothfulnefs ; black and rullet, teltifying purity in ratiocinations, ‘of equality and juftice. • _ • ^
It commanded, that if blood be fhed unwil¬ lingly in a Temple, that it be cither taken up in a dilh, or feattered into the Sea ; for that is thefirll element, and molt ellimable of all creatures.
It faith likewife, thk a woman' ought not to be brought to bed in a Temple, for it is religious ^ that the divinity of the foul Ihould be anneded to the body in a Temple. ' ' - a •
- It commanded, that upon Holy-days we dif: not pur hair nor pair our nails •, intimating, that the encreafe of our goods ought not to be pre* feiT’d before the empire of the gods.
That we mull not kill a flea in the Temple, be¬ caufe to the Deity we ought not to offer any fu- pertiuous things, or vermine • but that the gods are to be worfhipped with Cedar, Lawrel, Gy- prefs, and Myrtle, Cfc.
(b) c/c.]eg.2. (bj He /aid. Piety and Religion is chigjly con-
verjant in ourminds^ atficch time oi we attend the divine rites.
(c) Laert. ) That the gods and'Heroes are not to beworr
Jhipped wiih'cqual honours, ' but that the gods muji always be worjhippedwith applaufe, for filenceat the celebration of their rites-) zoe being white and Cdj Di^dor. Heroes, only from noon, C{d) He advifed,
excerpr. Va/ef. that fhch as facrifice Ihould prefent themfelves to 247. the godsf not in rich, but in white and clean gar¬ ments; and that notonly the body be clear from all blemilhV but that they bring alfo a pure mind.3 Purity isdcquired by expiations, and bathings, and fprinklings\ and% ref raining frotn murther, and ddultery, 'andall pollution.-, andby abjiaining from the fleflfbf things that die of themfelves, and from Mullets^ addMelanures^ and Sheep, and Oviparous Creatures-, and Beans, and all other things which are commanded by thofe tdho have the care off acred rites. ' . ^
ft) Laert. (e) He permitted not, .that airy, man Jhduld pray for hinpfelf becaufe norti kndoreih what is good for bimfelf' ' ...v 7 •■■i
fO Laert. ' ‘(f) AnOathisjuft, and therefore Jvipitzy isSir- f£j Died, ex- named "Of^d^fg') He cbmnidr^ed his difcrples to ccipc. Valef. l)e very baOkward in taking- an. Oath ; biitr that when thep-iiaye taken it^ they (hduld be verjffbr- ward and'diligent to keep it.
C H A P. IV. ‘
. a,',-
Piety to the Head.
Piety to the Dead was a part, not the leafh of the Pythagorick dodrine : whence Ciceroip^z- king of the Immortality of the Soul ; More pre¬ valent with me, faith he, is the authority of the An¬ cients, or our Anceftors, who afforded the dead fo religious rites, which certainly they had not dotid, if they had conceived, that nothing pertains to them-, or of thofe who were in this Country, and inf rubi¬ ed Magna Gratcia, which now is abolijht, hut tlyen flourijh^d, with their injiitutions and precepts,
(b) .Pythagoras allowed not the bodies of dead to be burned, herein imitating the MagL as not willing that any mortal Ihould participle of divine honour. The Pythagorick cullom, as defer ibed by (c) Pliny, was, to put the dead iii- fcjUh.^s.s. to Earthen Barrels, amongft leaves of Myrtle, O- live, and black Poplar. ,
(a) To accompany the dead at Funerals in (d) Jamb. . white garments, he conceived to be pious; al- iuding to the fimple and firft nature, according to number, and the principle of all things. ■ : '
(tf) The Crotonians delighting to bnry ■ thek fe J Jamb. dead fumptuoufly, one of the Pythagoreans told them, he heard Pythagoras difeourfing of di¬ vine things, thus : The coelellial gods refped the affedions of the facrificers, not the greatnefs of the facrifice. On the contrary. The terreftrial gods, as to whofe fhare the lelTer things belong, delight in banquets, and mournings, and fiirieral litations, and coftly facrifices ; whence Hades ( the lqferi) from its making choice of reritciv tainment, is named Pluto ; thofe who pay honours to him molt fparingly, hepermitted , to continue longeft in the upper world ; but of thofe who are exceflive in mourning; he bringeth down ever and anon one, that thereby he may receive the ho¬ nours which, are paid in memory of the dead. _ By this difcourfehc wrought a belief in his Auditors, that they who do all things moderately upon fuch adverfe occafions, further their own lafety ; but as for thole who bellow *t:xceffive charge, they will all die untimely. , .
(/) TheyforboretomakeTombsofCypre/s,forqf- latfg much as J upiter ’ j Scepter was ^ that wood ; as Her- • •
mippus, in his fecond Book of Pythagoras, effirms.
C H A P. V.
Reverence If Barents, and Obedience to the
(a) ""^^ Ext togods and diemons, we ought to re- ^a) Jamb, cep* verence Parents and the, Law, and to render our f elves obedient to them,not feignedlyfbut really. Or, as ('/’) Porph^riw, He commanded to py j pag. thinkand tofpeakreverently of gods and demons^ to be kitid to parents and benefaUors, and to obey the law.
They held ( faith (c) Jamblichus') that we.ought ( to belibvb,/ there is no greater ill than Anarchy 4 for a man cannot be fare wher,e there is no 'Oo- vernour. ^?rhey held aifo, thatyveought^operle- vere in fhetulloms and rites of our oWii^Gdun- try, though they be .wprfe than thole of other Countries. To revolt eafily from fettled laws, and to' be lltidrous- of novelty, they conceived to be 1 neither advantageous nor fafe. (S) See-