PART XIII.

CHAP. I.
Of Felicity or the EndofGood.^ as far as Man is capable of it.
OF Felicity we muft firft take notice, it is termed the End^ that is, the laft, the ex¬ treme and greatelt of Goods ; becaofe fince thofe things arc calledGood which allure the Appetite to perfue them, and of thefe Goods fome are defired for themfelves, fome for other things. Felicity is luch a Good as all Goods ought to be referred unto, itfelf to none. ^
And though Felicity.^ or Beatitude.^ and Happy Life be the fame thing, yet that doth not hin¬ der us, but that we fonjetimes mention the End of Happy Life, which we do, according to the Vulgar Phrafe, taking the End of Happy Life, and Happy Life, for the fame thing ^ but not implying any further End, to which Happy Life, may be thought to be referred.
This premifed, we muft firft diflinguilh Feli¬ city into two kinds; one Supreme, incapable of Intenfion andRemiffion ; the other Subalternate, in which there may be Addition and Detraftion of Pleafure.
The firft is conceived to be a ftate,than which none can be imagined, better, fweeter, more defirable, in which there is no III to be feared, no Good wanting : There is nothing that would and may not be done ; and which is fo fare, that it can at no time be loft.
By the other we underftand a ftate, in which it is as well as may be,or in which there are very many neceffary Goods, very few Ills, and in which it is permitted to lead a Life fo fweetly, fo quietly , and conftantly, as the Company,
^ Courfe or Life, Conftitution of Body, Age, and other Circumftances will allow.
Nor without Reafon is it I make this Diftin- 1 ftion and Definition. For, though it feem mani- feft, that the firft kind is proper only to Good ; yet there are, who, having a high opinion of themfelves, and of their own Wifdom, dare promife and arrogate it to themfelves , and therefore affirm, that they are equal to God ; and modeft araongft them are they, who repute themfelves inferior to none but Jupiter.
But thefe truly feem forgetful of their own Mortality and Weaknefs, whenas all, who are confeious thereof, cannot but acknowledge, that Men are capable only of the later , and that Wifdom doth much, if, all Men being in fome manner miferable,it place thee in a ftate,where- in thou fhalt be the leaft miferable of all Men. Or, if among the feveral degrees of miferies, to which thou art obnoxious by Birtb,ic place thee in that wherein thou (halt be leaft miferable. For that is to be happy, to be free from thofe ills wherewith thou mighteft be afflifted ; and in the mean time to enjoy fuch Goods, than which, greater cannot be had in the condition where¬ in thou art.
This indeed is the Reafon,why I conceive a Man j though deprived of Sight and Hearing, may neverthelefs partake of Happy Life,becaufe he will yet perfevere in as many Goods as he can, and be free from thofe Ills, if not of Body, at leaft of Mind, which ©tberwife might have afflifted him.
I further declare, that a wife Man, though he fhould be cruelly torm.ented, will yet be happy, by Felicity not Divine but Human; which in a wife Man is always as great as can be for the condition of the time.
For in Torments he feels the Pain indeed, fometimes groans and cries out ; but becaufe there is a neceffity of fuffering them, he exafpe- rates not or makes them greater,by Impatience or Defpair,but rather,with as great conftancy of Mind as is poffible, mitigates and renders them fomewhat more eafie. Herein certainly he is more happy than if he funk under them, like thofe,who, being under the fame Torment, bear them not with equal Courage and Conftancy,nor have the like affiftence from Wifdom ( which confers at leaft innocence of Life, and fecurity of Confcience, ) to lighten them.
Therefore neither is there anyReafon to cavil, that the Bull of Phalari/s^and a Bed of Rofes, are all one to us ; and the wife Man,burning in that Bull, muft cry out. How pleafant is this ! How unconcerned am I ! How little care I / Since there are fome things, which a wife Man had rathex fhould happen to him, as reft of Body, free from all Difturbance, and leifure of Mind, rejoycing in contemplation of its own good. There arc other things, which though he would not have them , yet when they do come, he bears them conftantly, even commends and approves them, inaimuchas they give him octafion to pleafe himfelf in his own conftancy, and to fay,l burn, but yield not. Why may it not be wifhed,not in¬ deed to be burnt, but to be vanifhed ?
This I fay, in regard a wife Man is obnoxious both to the Pains of Sicknefs, and the Tortures of Tyrants, although he neither invites thofe, nor provokes thefe, fo far as decently he may. Be- fides, the times are not fuch always to all Men,aS that they may by Indolence live happy.
CHAP. II.
That Pleafure^ without which there is no Notion of Felicity^ vs in its own Nature Good.
S Being that to live without Pain is fweet or pleafant, and to enjoy good things, and be recreated by them; it follows that Felicity can¬ not confift without both , or at leaft one of thefe ; ( by Pleafure, Suavity, Jucundity, and the like terms, I nnderftand the fame thing : ) Yet fome there arc, who, with great flourifllies, have fo difeourfed againft Pleafure itfelf, as if it were foraething ill in its own Nature, and confe- quently not appertaining to Wifdom and Fe¬ licity.
Therefore, before we enquire whether Feli¬ city really confifts in Plcafurcjwe muft lhew,that Pleafure is in its own Nature good, as its con¬ trary, Pain, is in its own Nature ill.
Certainly fince that is good which delightcth| pleafeth, is amiable, and allures the Appetite ; that, eonfequently, ill which harmeth, is unplea- fant and therefore excites Hate and Averfion : That is nothing pleafeth more than Pleafure, de- ligteth more, is lov’d more, is defired more ; as on the contrary, nothing incommodes more than ^ain, difpleafeth, is abhorred, and ftiunned.'
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