PART XIII

death bccaufe they who fufFer it,are in the fame cafe, as before they were born ; and is fo forci- fy’d againfl: all pains, as to remember, That the greateft are determined by death, the lead have many intervals of eafe, the middle fort weour- felves can mafter *, if they are tolerable we can endure them , we can contentedly quit this life, when it no longer pleafeth us, as if we went off from a ft age.
Hence is it manieft, that Timidity and Cow- ardlinefs are not difpraifed, nor Fortitude and Patience praifed, for their own fakes , but,thofe are rejefted, for that they caufe pain • and thcfe defired, for that they produce pleafure.
Whereas I faid, that Fortitude withftands Fear, and all things that ufe to caufe Fear, it tends to let us underft:and,that they arc the very fame ills, which torment when they are prefent, and are feared, when expected as future j and therefore^ we muft: learn not to fear thofeills, which we either fancy to ourfelves,or any ways apprehend as future, but to bear thofe which are prefent with conftancy and patience.
Of the Ills, which we fancy to ourlelves, but are not really future, the chiefeft; are thofe which we fear either from the Gods, as if they were ill to ns • or from death, as if that brought along with it, or after it, fome fempiternal ill. Of the Ills which we fear, for that they may happen, and yet in the meantime arefopre- fenr, that they afflidf and trouble us, are, thofe which either^ caufe pain in the body, or difcon- tent in the mind.
Thofe which caufe pain are,Sicknefles,Stripes, Fire, Sword and the like Thofe which caufe difcontent, are fuch as are termed external Ills- and of thefe fome are publick,as Tyranny, War’ deftruftion of our Ceuntry, Peftilence, Fa’mine’ &c. Others private, of which fort are Servitude, Banifliment, Imprifonment, Infamy, Lofs of Friends, and the like.
The difference betwixt all thefe things on one part, and pain and difcontent on the other is this, that pain and difcontent are abfolute Ills in themfelves, the others are not fo, but only inafmuch as they relate to pain and difcontent, as caufes ; for if they did not caufe pain and difcontent, there were no reafon why we Ihould fhun them.
We (hall fay fomthing, in order, upon thefe .- But firft: take notice, that Fortitude is not to Be looked upon as if ingenerate in us by na¬ ture, but acquired by reafon. Fortitude is dif- ferent from Audicity,^ Ferocity, inconderate Temerity, for thofe are found even in brute Animals alfo, but this is proper to Man, and to fuch Men only as acT: advifedly and prndently • and therefore it is to be meafured not by the ftrength and violent carriage of the Body, but by the firmnefs of the Mind, conftantly adher¬ ing to an hone ft- intention or purpofe.
C H A P. XX.
Of Fortitude^ as to Fear of the Cods,
WE muft: firft treat 6f a twofold fear, far tranfeending the reft . For if any thing ever produced the ultimate good, and chiet pleafure, proper to the mind ^ it was the ex- pundion of thofe opinions, ( and all allied to them,) which have imprefs’d the greateft fear upon the mind. Such is the condition of mif- erable Mortals, that they are not led by found opinions, but by fome affedtion void ofreafon- fothat not difeerning what is ill indeed by reafon they fuffer, an equal and no lefs intenfd pertur bation, than as if thefe things,for which they arc troubled, were indeed luch.
That, which in the firft place,urcth to poftefs men with greateft fear,and,confequently caufes m them the greateft perturbation, is this, that, conceiving there are certain blelled and immor¬ tal Natures, they do yet think them to have wills, paffions, and operations, plainly repugnant to thofe attributes, ( of beatitude and immortali¬ ty, ) as perpetual Solicitude, Bufinefs, Anger Favour ^ whereby it comes to pafs, that 111 men receive great harms by way of punilhment : the Good protedtion and benefits, from thefe Na¬ tures, that is from the Gods. Thus men bein®- nurfed up In their own,that is, in human affedfi- ons, fancy and admit Gods like to themfelves ; and whatfoever fuitsnot with their own difpo- ficions,that they conceive incompetent to them.
Hereupon, it cannot be exprefs’d, how great unhappinefs mankind hath drawn upon itfelf,by attributing fuch things to the Gods, efpecially Anger, and Severity j by reafon whereof, Mens minds being dejedted, every one trembles with fear, when tjie Heaven Thunders, or the Earth quakes, or the Sea is Tempeftuous,or any other thing happens, whereby he is perfwaded, that the Gods intend to punifti him, miferable man.
But it is not fo with thofe, who, inftrudted by reafon, have learnt, that the Gods live in perpetual fecurity and tranquillity, and that t^irnatuie is too far remov’d from us, and our affairs, for them to be either pleafed or dif- pleafed with us. Truly if they were, and did hear the prayers of men, how foon would ail
continually imprecate
mifchiefon one another ?
^ Therefore, when you conceive God to be an immortal and blefled Animalj ( as the common notion concerning God fuggefts, ) take heed of attributing any thing to him, which is either in¬ competent with immortality, or repugnant to beatitude ; but let all your conceptions be fuch as may confift: with immortality and beatitude!
Gods indeed there are, for thelcnowledge of them is evident,as we formerly provedjbut fuch as men commonly conceive them, they are not. For firft,they deferibe them by fome adjunftsor ■ '''^hen they fay,they are immortal and blefled,and then overthrow what they affer- ted, by applying other attributes to them re¬ pugnant to the former j as when they fay that they have bufinefs, or create bufinefs for others ;
that