Part XIII.

to fupprefs the mind when it dehres, as of For titude to exalt it when it fears ,• it is efteemed lefs undecenctobe dejeded by pufillanimity, than exalted by defire ,• and therefore to refilt defire, is more decent than to oppofe fear.
ConcerningTemperance,we muft firftobferve, that it is defired not for its own fake, but ]t>r that it procureth pleafure, that is, brings peace to the minds of men,p!cafing and Toothing them with a kind of concord. For it being employed in moderating dellres, and confequcntly in ad- vifing that in things to be purfued or avoided wc follow reafon, it is not enough that we judge what is to be dond or nor to be done, but we muft fix upon that which is judged.
■ But moft men, not able to hold and keep to what they have refolved on, being vanquifh’d and debilitated by the appearance of a preient pleafure; refign themfelves to the fetters ofLuft, not forefeeing what will follow. • and hereupon for a fmall unneceffary pleafure, which mighto- therwife have been procured, or wholly wanted without incurring pain, they fall into great fick- nelTes, lolTes, and infamy, and many times into the penalties of Law.
But they who fo enjoy pleafures as that no pain Ihall enfue,and who preferve their judgment con- ft^nt, nor arc overcome by pleafure, to the do ing of what they know ought not to be done ,• thefe^ men obtain the greateft pleafure, by pre- termitting pleafure : They alfo many tiliies fuf- fer fome pain to prevent falling into greater.
Hence isitunderftood, that Temperance is to be defired, not for that it avoids fome pleafures, but becaufe he who refrains from them declines troubles ^ which being avoided,he obtains greater pleafures. Which it fo doth, as that the adion becomes honeft and decent, and we may clearly underfiand, that the fame men may be Lovers both of pleafure and of decency, and that fuch as efteem and pradtife ail virtues, perform for the moft part thofe adfions^and attain thofeends, as that by them it is manifeft, how odious to all men cruelty is, and how amiable, goodnefs and clemency ,* and that tiiofe very things which ill men moft defire and aim at, happen ailo to the good.
Now.forafmuch as of the defires about which Temperance is employ d, foaie are natural, o- thers vain • and of the natural, fome necelfary, others not neceftary, (to omit, that, of the ne cclfaryj fornc pertain fimply to life, as that of meat and drink, and the pleafure which confifts in motion ; others to felicity icfelf, ( as that of indolence and tranquility or ftable pleafure" ; )
It is manifeft, that not without good caufe we in our Phyfiologydiftinguifhed defires into three kinds, fome both natural and necelfary ; others natural but not necelfary ■ others neither natural nor necelfary, but vain, or ariling from vain o- pinion.
Ajid forafmuch as wefaid, that thofe arena tural and necelfary, which unlefs they be fatif- fied, caufe damage and pain in the Body ,* it is evident, that thofe which infer no damage nor pain, though not fatisfi d, yet are accompanied with earneft and vehement inftigations,arc fuch not by neceflicy, but vain opinions, and though th^ have fome beginning from nature, yettheir
/I I TTil AM- A Ait. ..t-^ 1 ___ ^
E T icu^ us:
butfrom the vapity of opinions, which render
tofuchdiftufionorexcefs. Likewife, that fuch defires are not only not neceftary, but not natu- ral rnaybe proved, for that they have a diffluent exceffive appetition very hardly or never to be
fteeiVeaSht.
But to difeourfe of fome ehief kinds of Tem^ perance, according to fome ^hief kinds of de- fires, we may make choice of Sobriety oppofed to Gluttony, or the exceffive defire of meat and drink ; Continence, to Luft, or the unbridled defire of coition ; Mildnefs, to Anger or delire of Revenge ,• Modefty, to ambition or defire of honour ^ Moderation, to Avarice or defire of riches^ and laftly, in refped ofthe affinity be- twixt defire and hope, Mediocrity, which con- lilts betwixt hope and defperation of the future.
CHAP. XIII.
Of Sobriety eppofte to Gluttony,
TT can hardly bepprefled, how great a good 1 Sobriety is, which reduceth ustoathin fimple teaching us how little that^is Which Nature requires,and clearly Ihewine ffiat the neceffities fta lies under nray be abuSly fatufi 4 with things iighr, and Llily provided as Barly-cakes, Fruits^ Herbs, and Water.
things icing ivery ’where to be had, andPorpb.4, having the fimple nature of moiji and dry, moU hments Juffiaently remove the trouble of the Bod^ ^Vffingfrom want offufienance. Whatever u more wan tkj amounts to Luxury, and concerns only tbejattsfahlton of a deftref ovhich neither Is nscefary nor occafiondby any thing, the want whereof dotk necejjardy infer any ofience to nature, but partly for that the want of fgmewhat is born reith impatL enoe ; partly, for that there u preemption of an ab- Joliite delight Without mixture of any trouble • partly ( to [peak inJIjort,) for that there are vain and falCc opinions inherent in the mind, which firve neither for the fupplytng of any natural defeSi, nor tend to
ceffary; fome pertain to'ply:;; lifeT^; ^at'^ ^
meat and drink, and n/Ktr-ii /'/-.r.nOe TinCa .z,* i - i ^ *
dantpfufficeto fupply all nature's wants- and. they
partly for their
fitghtnefs are eafly made ready. Be, for example, who feeds on fiejh, needs other things inanimate to mwithn^wh^e^be, who u content with inani, mate, needs but half Jo much as the other, apid fu^
dufid^'"^ '^ is eafily got, and cheaply
Th^e are four benefits arifing from Sobriety • , .
the firft, that to aceuftome ourfelves to a iiiudIc diet brings and prejerves health : For it is fuinp-
tuous feafting and variety of meats, which begets wcalperates, and continues crudities, head-aches* rheums, gouts, feavers, and other difeafes • not plain and fimple food, which nature makes'both
pravei
6i6
E E I C a 3? U s.
\ .
A II T
XIII.
I
Fcr^b. he- cit.
he. di
Por^k.
hurt.
prax t s iht tv. by Iss t xoi Dit.'ncy, a' thetr. bvlcch dclicaies.as which wh l be ?ffeVlsoi)iv liis own deOiutftion.
Therefoie if we aie wife, let us bev’are of that meat which vse much defi.-e anA lomi for., but pjjocn as We ha-ve ha'l it., find it was pleajant to us only to ov.Y harm. Such are all coflly and lufeious meats ; whence the eating Helh is iefs to be approved, as beitrg rather piejudicial to health than whol* fome, as nny be argued, becaufe * health is pre¬ fer ved by the fame means ivkercby it is recovered ; hut it is mmiifiefi that it is recovered by a thin dyet and nhflimnee from flfjh.
Neither is it any wonder ^ that the ordinary fort of rnen conceive the eating of fie(h to conduce much to health ; for, they in like manner think, that the way to prefetve health is to wallow in pleafures, even the Venereal ,* whereof neverthelejs there is none bene¬ fit s any man, and it is well if it hurt not.
Thefecondis, it makes a man ready and
quick in the offices necejfary to life. For if you look upon*the fundlionsofthe niind,it preferves her ferenity,acutenefs,vigouri if upon the fund- ions of the Body, it keeps it found, adive, and hardy. But repletion, over-fatiety, furfeiting and drunkenneis cloud the mind, make it blunt and languid ,* the Body difeafed, unadive, and burdenfome. What, I pray, can you exped ex¬ traordinary from that man, whofe limbs are un- weildy, his knees feeble, his tongue faltringj his head fwimming,his eyes full of rheum, his mouth of the hic up, brawling, and clamour; and all this, througlwcxcefs of Wine.
r, cui i upib 1 thegreateh delicates, cannot bedeny’d by any he afffds 1 bur by him who dec piriions • who cbferves nor, that th.ey ojily enjov magnificence with greated pleafurc, who lead need it; who never hath, tailed courfe bread and water, prefled with hunger and third. For my' own parr, when I eat couife bread and drink water, or fometimes augment my Commons with a little Cytheridian-Cheefie, ( when I have a mind to feaft extraordinarily, ) I take great delight in it, and bid defiance to thofe pleafures which accompany the ufual magnificence of leads ; fo that if I have but bread, or barley-cakes and wa¬ ter, I am furni fil’d to contend even with Jove himfeifin point of Felicity.
Shall I add, that * magnificence of feafts, and
* variety of diflies not only not free the Mind
* from perturbation, but not fo much as aug^
* ment the pleafure of.the Body, forafmuch as ‘ this alfo, when that trouble is removed, hath ‘ found its end For example, the eating of ‘ flefti (which we lately indanc’d,) neither takes ‘ away any thing particularly that is a trouble
* to nature, nor* performs any thing which would
* occafion trouble, if not fulfilled. But it hath ‘ a forc’d delight, and perhaps mingled with ‘ that which is contrary to thefe, for it condu- ‘ ceth little to long life, and ferveth only to
* variation of pleafures, like Venereal pleafures, ‘ and the drinking of foreign Wines, without ‘ which nature or life may well fubfift : For
* thofe things, without* which it cannot fubfift, ' are moft compendious, and may be obtained
Certainly,a wife man,who ought to content him-i ‘ eafily without breach of Juftice, Liberality and
felf with a of fmall Wine, or to efteem the next water he comes at to be the moft pleafant of all drinks, will be far fromfpending the night in drunkennefs; and as far from fluf¬ fing himfelf with meats that are high, or bur- theping his ftomach with fuch as are lufeious and grofs, who ought to be content with the moft fimple, even the ver^ free, gifts of Na*. ture.
‘ Indeed fuch fimple and flenderdyet will not ‘ make a man asftrongas Milo, nor conduceth ‘abfolutely to an intenfe corrobation of the
* Body ; but neither doth a wife man need fuch
* intenfe ftrength, feeing his employment con-
* fifts in contemplation, not in an adlive and ‘ petulant kind of life.
Tiie third benefit is, that 'if fomtimes the ‘ Table happen to be'more plenteoufly furnifii’d,
‘ we ihall come much better prepared to tafte ‘ what it yeilds. Not but that homely fare af¬ fords as much 'delight as fumptuous feafts;when hunger, which, in want of food, troubletli us, is fathfied, ( for' Barley-cakes and water are highly pleafant , if taken only when we hun¬ ger and thrift ; ) but becaufe they who are dai¬ ly sccullomcd to more coftly viands are not lo fenlible.of their fvveetnefs,by reafon of their be¬ ing almoft continually cloyed'with them ; as a wife man is, who the Better to relifh them brings along ^vith him a tafte prepared by mean dyec: f .1 like manner ic comes to pafs, that he, jf at any time Ire chance to be prefent at publick jpedaciei.is taken with them more fenfibly than Uiii Others,
vViut 1 .iflirm concerning the courfeft meat ajvd drink, that ic affords no lefs pleafure than
Tranquility.
* Neither is it any matter, whether the ordi-
* nary fort of men be of this belief or not ; fince ‘ petuiancy and intemperance abound in fuch.
‘ perfons, fo that we need not fear, but there ' will be thofe who will feed on flefh. For though ‘ all men had the beft and right judgment of ‘ things, yet would there be no need of Fowlir^
* or Fowlers, or Fifiiers, or Swine-herds ; thele ‘ Animals, living by themfelves, free and with- ‘ out a keeper , would in a fhort time be dc- ‘ ftroy’d by others preying upon them, and fup- ‘ prefling the vaftnefs of their increafe, as hap- ‘ pens to infinite others which men eat not. But ‘ fince there reigneth always a multiplicious, or
* rather univerfal, folly amongft men, there will
* never be wanting an innumerable company of
* gluttons to feed on thefe.
Laftly, the fourth benefit is, that ‘it renders ‘ us fearjefs of Fortune. For they ‘only muft ftand in awe of Fortune, who being accuftom’d to live fumptuoufly, conceive their lives cannot beotherwife than moft miferable, unlefs they are able to fpend Pounds, and Talents every day. Whence it happens, that fuch men are for the moft part fubjed to a troublefome life , and often commit Rapines, Murthers, and the like villaines. But he, who is content with courfefood, as fruits and fallads, who is fatis- fy*d with bread and water ; who hath confin’d his defire within thefe, what can he fear from Fortune ? For, • who is there fo poor as to want thefe ? Who fo diftrefs’d, that he cannot eafily meet with beans, pulfe, herbs, fruits - As for water, what need I mention it ?
For
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