PART I

f Laert.
* Laert.
and would not accept it ; fome affirm he dedi¬ cated \t , to Hercules at Thebes.^ as being de- fcended from the Theban Colony , lent to Triene.
That he made good this attribute, there are many Inftances j t Aylattes befieging Yriene., turned out of the Town two exceeding fat Mules, which coming to the Camp, Crccjus r'T' * • /.wondered to ^ lee their Plenty extended to the S^^^t^^HyVery Bealls, and defirous of reconcilement, dviriv ^lv^'*fent a Meffenger to them. Bwx caufing many read Jieaps of Sand to be made, and covered over Wheat, Ihewed them to the Meffeng^rs , whereof Alyattes informed, wp more e^ger of Peace than tefor^, and lent immediately to defire hias to come to him \ but I (anlw^red he) WAh Alyattes rpay feed on Onyons, mean¬ ing to Weep. r '
t Herod. 2. 7. f Some afcribe it to Bias^ the diverfion oj Crwft^ his Expedition againft the Greek Illands, by others imputed to Yittacus related in his Life.
^ Herod. 1.170. ^ Cyrus having taken Crasfus.^ lent an Army
againft the Grecians •, the lonians much trou¬ bled, alTembled at the Tanionium^ where Bias gave them Wile Advice, which had they fol¬ lowed ( faith Herodotus ) they might have been the happieft of all the Greeks ; He coun- lelled them to joyn together in one Fleet, to Sail to Sardinia.^ and there build one City com¬ mon to all the lonians ^ whereby they might prefetve themfelves from Bondage, happy in poffeffing an Illand far greater than all the reft, and commanding them j but if they continued m Ionia ^ there was no apparent hope of Li¬ berty. This Advice was juftified, the lonians being fubdued.
^Val.Max.7.2: ‘ ^ Bias (his Country P;7V;7£’ invaded by Ene-
‘ mies, all, whom the Cruelty of War fuffer’d to ‘ elcape, ftying away laden with the moft preci- ‘ous of their Wealth jbeing demanded why he •■carried none of his Goods with him. I (&th ‘ he)carry my Goods with me: He bore them(adds ‘ Valerius Maximus) in hisBreaft, not to be feen ‘ by the Eye, but priled by the Soul •, encloled ‘ in the narrow dwelling of the Mind, not to ‘be demoliihed by mortal hands , prefent with " ‘ thofe who are fettled, and not forfaking fuch as
‘ fly.
^ He refufed not the amity of Kings , (as Thales did) particularly, that of Amafis.^ King of Mgypt.^ who fent him a Vi£lim, command¬ ing him to take from it the bell and worft part. Bwx fent him the Tongue, for which ingenuity he was much admired.
f Another queftion of Amajis he refolved, whilft he was at Corinth (invited thither with the reft of the wife Men by Teriander) where iNiloxenus brought him this Letter.
‘ Arna/is, King of Egypt faith thus to Bias^ ‘ Wifeft of the Greeks : The King ot jTthiopta ‘ contendeth with me for preheminence in Wil- ‘ dom maller’d in other things, he in conclu- ‘ lion requires an abfurd, ftrange thing, that I ‘ drink up the Sea-, this Propofition if I refolye, !
‘ (hall have many ofhis Towns and Cities ; if I ‘ refolve not, I mull lofe all thofe which are a- *■ bout Elephantina.Yon ' back with all Ipeed ^ whatever we can do for ^ your Friends and Country, (hall not be wanting. Having read the Letter, Bias with a Ihort
paufe, recolleQing himfelf,and having wdiifper- ed to Cleobu/us who fat next him. ‘ What
* Pktconv, fept. fap.
f Plat. ibid.
‘ (laith he) Naucratites , Amafis., who com- ‘ mands lb many Men, and poflefleth *fo ex- ‘ cellent a Country, will he for a few obfcure ‘contemptible Villages, drink up the Sea? ‘ Bias (laith Niloxenus fmiling) confider , as ‘ if he meant to do it, how it might be ef- ‘ fefted. Bid the .Ethiopian (replied Bias) ‘ withhold the Rivers from running into the ‘ Sea, until he hath drunk off that which is ‘ now Sea for the Impofition concerns that ‘ only which is fuch at prefent, not what lhall ‘ be hereafter. Hiloxenus embraced him with Joy, the reft applauding his Solution.
CHAP. 11.
His moral Sentences^ Precepts.^ and Verfes.
HI S Apothegms are thus delivered by Ta- ertius.yiVA others. ‘ He is unfortunate, who ‘ cannot bear misfortune. It is a difeafe of the ‘ mind to defire fuch things as cannot be obtain’d,
‘ and to be unmindful of the miferies of others.
‘ To one that ask’d what is hard, heanlwered,to ‘ bear cburagioufly a change to the worfe. Being ‘ at.. Sea in Company with wicked Men,who,a ‘ Storm ariling,called upon the Gods ^ hold your ‘ Peace, faith he, left they know you are here. To ‘ a wicked Man, enquiring what was Piety, he ‘ was filent, the other asking the realbn of his ‘ filence : I anfwer not, laith he, becaule you ‘ enquire after that which nothing concerns you.
‘ Being demanded what is Iweet to mankind, he ‘ anlwer’di _Hope.It is better to decide a diffe- ‘ rence betwixt our enemies than Friends, for one ‘of the Friends will certainly become an Enemy,
‘ one of the Enemies, a Friend-, being ask’d what ‘ a Man did with delight, he anfwered gain by ‘Labour. "We ftiould lb live, as though our life ‘ would be both long and Ihort. So love, as if ‘hereafter we might hate, converfingin Friend- ‘ Ihip with caution 5 remembring that it may ‘ poffibly convert to Enmity.
‘ ’^ Toone demanding whether he fhould take * AGe/. 5. ii ‘ a wifbj (he muft be(laithhe)either fair or foul-,
‘ if fair, Ihe will be common, if foul, a pennance.
‘ f That Tyrant lhall gain moft glory, whof ‘ lirfi: himfelf obeys the Laws of his Country :
‘ That Common-wealth is bell: ordered, wherein ‘ every Man fears the Law more than a Tyrant.
‘ That Family isbeft ordered, where the Mafter ‘ behaves himlelf voluntarily within doors,as he ‘ doth without by conftraint of the Law.
Thole who bufie themfelves in vain know->.s'^a^.5'CT-«.2J ‘ ledge, relemble an Owl, which feeth only in ‘ the night, but is blind in the lights lb is their ‘ mind fharp-fighted in vanity, dark at the ap- ‘ proach of true light.
1
Aufonius hath thefe under his Name.
W})at is our chief eft good ? A Confcience free. Our great eft ill ? Alan^s.^ Mar?s worft Enemy. Poor ^ tE avaricious. Rich ? who nought deftres. A Wives beft dower ? the fame chaft life acquires. Chafte? fhe.^ ofnohom report dare Jpcak mill. Wife ? who hath power to hurtfut voants the vcilL A Pool ^ icho wants the power ^and yet would kill.
His
Part
Serm.
28.
•Laert.
fLaert,
L
BIAS.
His -moral Precepts, according to t Deme¬ trius Phalereifs theie. ‘ Molt Men are evil.
‘ r ^ His particular Sentence) Before you do ^ apy thing, behold your Face in a Glals if it ‘ leemhandfom, do handfom things ^ if deform.
‘ ed, fnpply the defers of Nature Praftife ‘ honefty. Undertake deliberately, but having] ‘ once begun, go through. Abhor to fpeak ha- 1 ‘ flily [Lder. It is madnefs.] left thou fin, fcr re- ; ‘ pentance follows: Be neither fimple nor fub- ■ ‘ tie. Admit not imprudence. Love Prudence, i ‘ Every where profels there are Gods. Weigh [ what is to be done. Hear mucPy fpeak ’ ^ feafonably. If poor, reprove not thej^icfi:) un-i ‘ lefs great advantage may arife thereby. Praile ‘ not an unworthy perfon for his Wealth. Ac- ‘ quire by perfivafion, not by violence. When ‘ thou doft good, impute it not to thy felf, but ‘ the Gods. In thy Youth , . gain Wealth, in ‘ thy Age, Wifdom. [Or as Laerti/zs^ from thy ‘ Youth to thy Age gain .Wifdom, for it will ‘ be more fure to thee than all other Poffef- ‘ fions3 Preferve in thy aUions Remembrance ;
‘ in opportunity. Caution ^ in thy Manners, In¬ genuity, in labour, Patience 5 in fear Wari- ‘nefsi in wealth. Love-, in difcourfe, Per- fwafion -, in lilence, a Decorum j in Sentence, lulticej in boldnefs, Fortitnde-, in aUion, Power; in glory, Eminence ; in thy Nature, Generofity-
-*iff
C H A% m.
His Death.^ aiidWrkingsT
He was much ad^d to Pleadi^-^^ery earneft therein, butMwavsemnteTred in
t Of his thefe were moft efteem’d.
where thou Ihfji be kind..
They who moji favour Jhow., moft favour find : But'Pnde is often with Defir utiion jcyn^d.
And
^^^ttgth is a G^, which Nature'shand beftows, ^etonck and Policy the Wife Soul knows. Riches a Prejent that from Fortune flows.
juft caufes ; wnicn t uemomcus Ateridn im- f Uert. plies, laying /jf thou chance to be a fudg^fgive Sentence on the Priensean fde ; and Uipponax * .
topUadaCaufe baur ihi Bia. ,he And in that manner he died, being very old, as a Af«©-. ^ he waspleading, having ended his Speech he re- pofed his Head in the Bofom of his Sifters Son; his Adverlary having ended his Defence ; the Judges gwe Sentence on Biot's Side ; the Court dilmift, he was. found dead in his‘ Ne¬ phew’s Bofom : The City beftowed a Magni¬ ficent Monument upon him, with this In- feription ;
Bi^s of Pmuxin fanfd Defcent
Lies here, lonia’j great Ornament,
They alfb dedicated a Temple to him, cal¬ led the Tutmaian,
Laertius beftows upon him this Epigram.
Bias lies hidden here whom Pitimts led
To th'grave, when Age had Snow'd upon his Head.
His Head., which ( pleading for his Friend') endin' d
Upon his Nephew to long Sleep refgn'd.
He writ concerning lo/iia, by what means it might be moft happy ( perhaps that Counfel already mentioned^ Two Thoufand Verfes. -
G C L E O-
.Jri
C L E 0 BV LV S.