PART XIII

owe Other things; but to his parents he ewes, nal ill, doth alfo affure, that , in life there is nO
bimrelf Therefore if ingratitude to others be Sanduary fo fafe,no proteftion fo fecure as that hateful* that which is ftiewn to parents enufe of Friendfhip, which together with thatfecuri- certainlY be the moft horrid and aeteftable. ty, conferreth alfo very great pleafures.
We fay in the firft place^becaufe pietv in the For as hatreds, envies, defpites are enemies fecondpla’cc extends to kindred, and chiedy to to pleafare • fo arc friendlhips, not only molt our Brothers and Sifters, to whom we are ob - faithful Confervers, but effettual caufers of pfea- Ikedby the intereft of our parents in fuch fares, afwell to our friend as to ourfelves : By manner as that we cannot fhew ourfelves cUfref- which, men not only enjoy prefenc things more peaful and uukind to them,but we mufc be at the fully, but are cheerM with hopes ofthofeto
fame time hi^ddy un^^rateful to our parents, and come. And a folitary life deftitute of friends be- all our progenicorst who in the circle of their ing full of fears, and fubjea to treacheries, rea- iovc and benevolence comprehended all that | fon itfelf adyifeth us to procure friendlhips, by were, and fhould afterwards be derived from
them. ^
Nor is this piety diftind from that dearnels we are to bear towards our native Country, which comprehends our Parents a.nd all our kindred, and receives us at our Birth, bring
which the mind is confirmed,and poflefled with hopes of enjoying future pleafures.
Now though friendfhip is contraded in ref- ped of ufe and utility, in like manner as we fow the earth in hope of a crop hereafter and the firft meetings and converfations offriendlhip
us up and proteds us. And as by the inter- are made in refped of the utility and pleafures eft of our parents we are obliged to our kindred, which are hoped from thence •, Yet whefi this fo by the intereft of our Country we are obliged cuftom hath gone on to intimacy, then love fo to refped all our Countrymen ^ but more efpe- flouriftieth,that though there were not any be- cially the Magiftrates and Princes, who defend nefit offriendlhip, yet friends would be loved the Country itfelf,and the laws of it, and give us for their own fakes. If we love Places, Temples, this benefit in particular, that under their pro- Cities, Academies, PlainsjHorfes, Degs,Sports, tedion we may live fecurely and peaceably. out of an habitual cuftome of exercifing or hun- The fourth is ohfa'vance, or that reverence ting, how much eafier and more Juftly may wc which we owe to all perfons of eminency in any do this in converfation with men ? kind. This is accompany’d partly with gratitude But in the choice of our friends, we muft be and piety .(for we cannot any way better exprefs exceeding cautions and prudent ; for it concerns the gratefulnefs of our minds, than by giving us to be more citcumfped with whom we eat, due veneration and worftiip to our Benefadors, than what we eat. And though to eat alone Parents Governours, Princes, and all men of without a frlend,be to lead the life of a Lion or dignity and power,)and partly with honour and Wolfe, yet we muft be careful fo choofe fuch a refped as it is the beft teftimony we can give friend,whofe converfation may be the belt fauce of our internal fentiments of -their defervings, to our meat. We muft feek one to whom who excel in Age Wifdom , Learning , and nothing is more in efteem, than candor, fimpli- Virtue, the moft honourable of all things. city, and fincericy ^ one that is not morofe. To this nbfervance belongs that which men querulous, and murmuring at all things,but who call Reltgion and Sanmty toward the Gods, j by his complacency, ^alacrity, and pl?afantnefs whom weave bound to reverence and honour r.
no otherwife than our parents, nor through hope of any reward, but ( as 1 faid before, ) for their tranfeendent majefty and the fupremacy of their nature. Becaufe, whatever is excellent deferves a Juft veneration, and no excellency is greater than that of the divine Nature, for it is immortal and moftblefied.
Thus underftanding, that the Gods neither create troubles themfelves, nor give to others, we pioufly and holily reverence their moft .ex¬ cellent nature.
C H A P. XXX.
Of Friendfhip.
The laft is Friendflnp^ to which all are mu¬ tually obliged, who love and are recipro¬ cally belov’d. And well may it be the clofe and crown of this Difeourfe i for amongft all the means procured by wifdQme,to make.life happy, there is not any thing more full and pleafant than Friendfhip ^ and the fame reafon that con¬ firms the mind not to fear any lafting or eter-
may render our life fweet to us.
Friendfhip, 1 grant, confifts in, and is kept a- live by, the mutual participation of pleafures or goods which we may enjoy whilft we live ; yet is it not necefl'ary that the goods of friends fhould be put into one common ftock,as he con¬ ceived, who faid, Atnongfi Friends all things are common. This implies a diffidence, ( that all their wills may not continue cpnftant,)and they who are diffident are not friends ; fuch only are friends, who can with full confidence, and freedom take and ufe fo much of their friends goods or eftate as they need, although kept in feveral not in one Joyntftock,no otherwife than as if it were their own,efteepiing them to be no lefs their own, than if they had them in their own pofieflionand keeping.
This founds ftrange in the ears of the vulgar : •But what are they to as ? There is no faith or conftancy in their kindnefs and friendfhip, they being uncapable of thefe things and of the leaft part of commendable Wifdom.
Moreover, he that is one of the vulgar un- derftands not, what is profitable in private or publick, nor can diftinguifh betwixt good man¬ ners and bad.
1 fpeak therefore of the wife only, amonglt whom there is a kind league, and covenant not to love their friends lefs than themfelves, which
* we