mmm^tmmm j n When £picor»$ 19 the Wirld had taught j That JPkafun was the chiefefi Goadj i was f^hafs ftV Bight iif rightly, mderjhod) His Life he to Jbij Jhflrine hr^vght^ JnAin a Gardts^s Shade that Sovereign Pleafare L fought i Whoever a true Epicure iMvld be^ May thetefind cheap and vertwus Luxury* Vitellius'^ Table which did hold jts many Creatures as the Ark of old: That BJfcal Table^ to which ev^ry day jiU Qmntries did a conflant Tribute fay^ Could nothing mert delicious afford^ Than Nature s Liberalityy Helped with a little Art and hdufiry^ '. ABows the meaneft Gardners hoard* The wanton Tafte no Fijh or Fowl can choofe^ For winch the Grape or Melon Jhe would loofe^ Though all tV Inhabitants of Sea an Air Be lifted in the Gluttons BiU of Fare; Tet ftiU the Fruits of Earth we fee Placed the third Story high in aU her Luxury* awUys Garden to J. Evelyn^ Efq» la (hort, 'tis we that abufe the Gifts of Heaven, and the Advantages it confers up- ' onus, fince thofe things without which Na- ture cannot fabfift are very compendious^ and may be obtained with great Eafe, with- > out the violation of Juftice, Liberality or Tranquillity. How then doth Nature re- quire that a Man Ihould abltain from thofe » things which are fubmitted to him, and o^ver which ihe hath made him Lord? No, Wc dMfaa*MMMMBAMMMM«i| 174 Monfteur St. EvremontV We ought rather to ufe them, provido! we ufe them according to Nature. W< mult fo ufe things as that we may be with out them, we mult be their Matters, ao^ not their Slaves j we muft not be impatieai for them, nor dejcfted at their Lofi, enjo] them peaceably as occalion offers, and not purfue them with dif^uiet and fatigue.
There is no Condition of Life out maj become a Wife Man, aiPhilofopher is nol to be blamed for dwelling in a Palace, but in not having the Power to be contented with a Cottage -, I (hall not be fcaddalized at feeing him in his Robes, if he have not the Ambition of a King. Let AnJHffm pofFefs the Riches of Cntfus^ what matter? He will throw them away when they ifl* commode him. Let PUto be at Diimyfivs the Tyrants Table, yet in the midft of tnat abundance of Delicacies, he will feed only on Olives; the poneflion of Goods is not to be condemned, but our Slavery and Sub- jeftion to them; it is not Poverty will make us Wife, it may take from us, indeed, rfic Opportunity of committing fome Faults; but there are others which it cannot reme. dy. The Cy nicks Rags contribute not the leaft to Tranquillity or Moderation: Ambi- tion dwelt with Diogenes in his Tub, and there it was he had the Infblence to inlblt jilexander^ the haughtieft of all Mankind.
Undoubtedly, there is more diflSculty to follow Nature in Affluence than in Necefli- ty \ the Spurs which our Delights make ufe of to try our Moderation, are much more keen iriata keen than thofe which Adverfity employs for that purpofe ^ but the greater the Dif- ficulty the more Glory in furmounting it, and the lofs of falfe Joys fecures to us a much better Pofleffioa of real ones. We are not fenCble of a Felicity which cofts us nothing, and for which we are indebted to chance, it muft be given us by WiOom and Prudence, if we would have a true Re- lifhof it, and Pain muft foraetime ufher us to pleafure: Suppofe a Man fhould enter the Lifts at the Olympick Games, with a Defign to try his Strength and Skill •, if no body encountred him, he might poflibly be crowned ^ but neverthelefs, that would not render him Viftorious. Skilful Pilots gain their Reputation from Storms and Temp- efts. If Penelofe^s Chaftity had not been try'd, the envious World would have faid (he only wanted Corrupters. Wherefore, let us not fly the World, nor fly the Court i let us not fculk in Deferts, from whence Philofophy fetch'd the primitive Mankind; let us poflefs Riches, and refufe not the ad- miniftration of Publick Offices •, if we are Wife, we may enjoy thefe Things without any Danger to our Eafe and Tranquillity j we may fail happily amidft thefe Rocks, and view all with an unconcerned Eye. If we be ftript of them by our not looking back, we may teftify our Contempt, and that we were not wedded to them. It is Ihameful for a Wifeman to be weaker than thofe Defires, which as they are unnatural fb are they vain and unneceflary, only in Opinion.
^*" tm -'at 176 Monfieur Sl EVremontV Opinion. This is Efkurus^s Plealbre, this is what he calls living according tx> Nature, this is his DoArine, and thefe hl$ Senti- ments* Confider then, whether this Opinion de- ferves to be ill treated, and fee wnedier we have Reafon to defpile it; whedier this Pleafure pimps to Debancbery and BarcdSy and whether any thing can be more Sober or Chaft. If yon ask Epicurus what it is to live pleafantly, he win anfwer you, Thu k confifts not in a Fondnefs for worUly CmeemSj but in refijting corrupt jiffi^ions and hcUmui^ ms^ contemning Honour^ g^^^i^g ^^ nuifierf $f Fortune \ and in a Word^ Pfjf^^^S ^^ ^jihtte Peace and TraneptiBity ofMind^ TO this Point are all his Precepts leveled, in this you meet with Pleafure) and in this, indeed, we ought to feek it, not in the fatisiadion of the Senies, nor in giving a I00& to out Appetites. This Pleafure is too pure to dc^ pend upon the Body> it depends on the ia- telledual Part 5 Reafon is its Miftrefs, Resi- fon is its Rule, the Senies are only its Mi* nifters: Befides, Whatever Delights wc may hope for by indulging the Palate in Pleafures of the Sight, in Mufickor Pcr^ fumes •, if we do not receive them with a ferene Mind we are deceived, we fell under the delufion of a falle Joy, and take th^ Shadow of Pleafure for the real Snbftance* We will burn, if you pleafe, the moft coil- ly Perfumes, we will Clofet up our felvct with Venus-, we will Riot our felves upon Ne^ar and jimhojia^ and enjoy the utmott Pleafure 'mmim Fi^dicaitm cf EMCURVS. 177 Pleafiircthe Wets havcltnaginied:, ^5.t all will prove bitter if our Minds be difquieted and in fpight of tKefe Delights, forjrow will appear maAifeftly upon our Brows.
I will give you one Inftance to prove this Afiertion, and demonftrate to you how iiw capable that Man is of Pleafure, whoft Mind is dilcompoftd. You have read, no doubt, of that Feaft which TipU'mus made for AVrt?^'and may remember that great De- bauch, theNoife whereot hath lafted to our Age •, it feems to have been the utmoft Ef- brt of Prodigality, Art and Luxury, which licceeding. Ages have not been able to rivals niich lefs exceed. Agnffah Pond was the Place pitch'd upon for this extravagant Re- pafl:; it was made upon a {lately Bark, which being drawn by a great many others, feem'd infenfibly to move. All the Bar- nes were adorned with Gold, and inlay'd with Ivory \ the Rowers were fo many lovely Youths habited like Cupids. The Tafte knew no Fowl, which it was not furniihed with at that Entertainment; the Ocean provided it with Fifh, and the Pro- irinces of the Empire with divcrfity of Flefli* [n fliort, every thing was there in Plenty md Perfeftion. I omit thofe infamous Houfes erefted on the Banks, which were lock'd with Women of the beft Quality, md ftark naked. Courtesans. The Night tfelf contributed to the Pleafure of his De- bauch •, its Shades were difllpated by an in- tnity of Lights, and its Silence a^reeibly lifturb'd by the harmonious Coaforc of f(^- N ver4 178 Monfteur St. £vk£MOMT*s veral Kiads of Mnfick. Would you know what delight Nero took in all thefe thingiy and whether he departed latisfied ftom tUs Entertainment? Conlider only, that he carried with him thither, the Memory of his Crimes, and the ftin^ of a bad Gonlci- ence, and you will readily condode, that he had no Veal Satisfadion thronghoat the whole Entertainment \ that he there felt the penitential Whip, add that though he appeared outwardly gay and brisk^ yet he was inwardly tormented with Horror and DeFpair. If he had any Joy, it was that of the Menades \ he was obliged to his Drunk- ennefs for that little Pleafure he enjoyed, andhisHappinefs encreafed with the Dimi- nution of his Reafon. I conclude his whole Retinue under the fame Circumftaoces \ for, I conceive, neither Seneca^ nor Tbrafe* as Patusy nor Boreas Soranus^ were of die, number of the Guefts; they lived according to Nature, amidfl: the corruption of a moK 1 profligate apd degenerate Age, and were. confequently improper Company for fuch a. Crew of Debauchees •, doubt left luchonly were prefcnt, as endeared themfclves to his Converlation by a Congruity of Manners, fuch as fpurr'd him on in his Crimes, and j pimp'd to his Lufts \ before fuch, he had | no Opportunity to blufh, where an eager | defire to excel each other in Vice^ had fti- fled all manner of Shame. Certainly, fuch ' vile Wretches were far from being Happy j there was no finding a found Man in the whoje Company, Pleafure could get no ad- mittance ^ ' ■■ ' -• " ■ 'l mittance into thofe Breads which Lewdnefs had Ib^ntirely poflefled. They were entire- ly govefn'd by tnofe Paflions which deftroy the Tranquillity of the Mind; and by confe- quence^ were not in a Condition to relifli that Pleafure we fo much approve. Had our Philolbpher been prefent at this Debauch,he would have declared the Truth before Nerdj and in the Face of the whole World, he would not have feared Death,which he held indifferent, but would have boldly exprefled his Mind after the following Manner. * Unhappy Prince! How wretchedly are you deceived in believing Pleafure is to be found in thefe ExcefTes! it is as far di- ftant from them as you are from Lifes trui. eft Happinefs. You drag your Mifery along with you, in all Places, wherefb* ever you go •, and do what you will, you cannot hide your felf one Moment from your Confcience. Cover your Table with Meats yet more delicious than thofe it now abounds with, add the richeft Wines oi Greece and ttaly^ or the whole World; Nay, heap up all that Luxury and Luft can think on or invent, yet you will find nothing in all thefe things to afford you Satisfaftion, for tho' your Body be fatia- ted, your Mind will ftill be in fearch after • Pleafure. Thefe are not the Things which render Life happy, it is prudence alone which direds you to the foveraiga Good i it is Ihe only, which will teach you to regulate your Defires according to Nature ^ and in this Rule it is that you will meet with what you cannot find in N 2 * your / your Dilbrders \ if any thing be wanting, turn your Eyes towards tha^ common Mother, and (he will give you, eafily, wherewith to be content. Are you Thir* fty? She hath every where pbced Riven and Springs where you may quench your Thirft. Hungry? Places where you will j find Fruits to live on. If you are not fi- ' tisfied with thefe things,- you will never j be fatisfied with all your Excefles \ con- ' fult your Hunger, and your Thirft, they will find Delights for you in the fimplici* ty of Nature, and Bread and Water will ferve you inftead of the beft Difli upon Earth you can call to mind, when yon are in Neceffity: But now you are not, fo you give no time to your Stomach to digeft your Meat-, your Intemperance daily contrafts Crudities, and accelerates the Hour of that Death which terrifies you with fuch difmal Apprehenfions, Thus you make Fcafts which afford you no Plcafure, becaufe you ftrain Nature, j forcing it to obey your Defires. But know this, your Defires interfere with yoor Nature, and the Errors of your Mind darken the Light of your Reafon \ where- fore flatter not your felf with tafting | Pleafure as you fondly imagine. There a is nothing bounded but in Nature, what-^ ever is repugnant to Nature is infinite, | and confequently above us. Ambitious Subjefts afpire to Crowns, if they became Kings, they would aim at being folie Mo- narchs of the Earth ) if Monarchs> they * woi Findicatm of EV lev KVS. i8i would wiih for Incenle and Sacrifices s And the Fable of the Gyants informs us^ that the Earth hath dared to contend with Heaven for its Dominion. It is the fame with other Evil Appetites, none can be Happy but he that knows how to govern them, and as it belongs only to a Wife Man to undertake that Province, fb it only belongs to him to fway the Univerfe. He only can extraft Pleafure out of all thefe things ^ he alone ufes De- lights l(;^riy, and pofle&th them ia their true Perfeftion., For your part, youdiQionour the Race of Aui^vfius^ and are the Infamy of Mankind, over whom the Anger pf the Gods hath given you the Command -, but do what you pleafe, you will be always Miferable, your Grief will barrafs you at all times, and in all Places \ you will never fteal ont Moment from your Confeience, and in the mid ft of all your Good Cheer, you will drink no Wine but what Ihall reprefent to you the Blood of thole Innocents which your Cruelty hatb^ Ihed on one bafe Pretence or other. Thus would Epicurus have delivered him-p. lelf, thus would he have juftified his Philofo- piiy, and thus reprov'd that Emperor's moft abominable Vice and Folly: But as it is im- poflible that t\\tMnd Ihould truly relijh?\e^^ lure, if her Companion, the Body,labour un- der any Afflidion. Epicurus^ or rather Truth it felf teaches, that Privation of corporal Pain is a very neceflary Compofition in that Supreme Good or Felicity of Life which iq 3 Plcafurc iq 3 Plcafurc Pleafure doth produce •, and in truth, there is fo clofe an Alliance between the Body and the Mind, that^ their Pleafures and their Sufferings are infeparable, the Mind cannot be entirely happy whilft Pain affli&s the Body •, neither can the Body retain its Vigour if the Mind be afflidedand.diftnrbcd. ] Hence it evidently appears, that the Sum of all Pleafure confifts only in the amotbn T of Pain, or in that State which follows upon that amotion ^ for where-ever Pleafure is, there can be nothing of Anxiety or Pain; and confequently it muft be a great Pleafure not to be in Pain^ for a further Proof whereof, if any Man doubt, let him con- fult thofe who have been tormented with the Gout, Cholick, Strangury, or any other acute Difeafe. Let the Stoicks boaft as much as they pleafe of the infenfibility of their Seft, and that rigorous Vertue which makes a mock of Pain; one fit of the Stone^ or fuch like Diflemper, will fully convince them that their Bodies do not center with their Opinion, and that their Difcourfes, tho' molt eloquent and fublime, arc nei- ther agreeable to Truth nor Humane Na- ture.
It will not be amifs to illuflrat? this Af- fertion with a fuitable Example, and the fame Ihall not be taken from the Crowd of pretending Philofophers. I will make ufe of a Name the Stoicks themfelves ihall noC^. fcruple to admit, and pitch upon aPerfon whofe Vertues they never doubted of ^ Her^ cules Ihall bear witnefs to the Truth of what I I aflert \ that Hercules whofe Labours have g^inM him a Seat amongib the Gods, and rendred him fb ^orious to Men, that the Poets have always made choice of him as a perfea inftanee of the Force and Power of Wiiclom. We wiU take a view of this Hero dying, and confider him in the laft Actions of his Life ^ this invincible Man's Exit^ we exped, (hould be like his En- trance, illuftrious in performing fomething worthy of his Charafter, that he fliould fay nothing which would fully his Noble Ani- ons, or feem nnworthy of his former Ver- tue. But alas, we are deceived, the ftrength of his Pain gets the Maftery of his Courage, his Conftancy yields to the Heat of that Poyfbn which devours him s he does not only Complain, he Weeps, he Cries, he Howls *, and it is with the utmofl: EfTedis of Rage and Defpair, that he quits this Life to taj^e his place among the Gods* Let not the Stoicks then rattle any longer of their Infenfibility, nor pretend, that a Wife man may be happy in the midfl of Tor- " tures i neither let them defpife Pain, to ivhich Hercules himfelf was forced to yield, after fo many Viftories.
But if the Stoicks, in fkvour of this their darling Hero, rejeft the Authority of Po- ets, and the confent of Theatres, asreprc- fenting Hercules contrary to the Truth: Toffidomus^ Mafter to Gceroy and by him [tiled, the greatefb of the Stoicks, will ferve js an illuftrious Example to prove the Truth of my alTertion; here we fliall fee i\ N 4 ipair^ f mam Pillar of the (^a) Porch ftaggefd, and by^confcqucnce, the whole Fabrick rea- dy to fall i Pompey the Greats underftaxjding that this famous Philofopher lay grievoufly tornieutcd with the Gout, made him a Vi- fitjto fee whether fo great aMafter was able to bear that Pain with the fame Eaie, now when aflifted, as be contemned and defiled it by his florid Harangues, when in Health. The Philofopher was furprized at the Pre^ fence of fo noble and uncxpefted a Gueft i and judging that the true caufe of his com- ing was fome thing more than a friendly Vifit, he bore the violence of his Pain with the utmoft uneafinefs j and tho' the ex- treme Agony thereof, made fweat trickle from.him, in abundance ^ yet obftinately refolving not to contradid his former Do- drine, either by Words or Groans, before fo great a Witnefsj in the midft of hisPain, cries out, / ne^cr will own you to he an Evil i by which Expreflioii, he only confirm'd his Noble Gueft in his former Opinion: That the Doftrine of the Stoicks confifted more in haughty and vain glorious ExprefGons, than a right conformity to Truth and Rea- fon. Cicero comes in as a full Proof of this Wifeman's Wcaknefs and Inconfiftency ^ Jhavefeen^ lays he, Poflidonius the Greatefi of the Stoicks.^ have as little power to undergo the Pains of the Gout^ as my Hofi Nicomachus *, a Perfon whom Tully accounted an ordinary fort of Fellow.
As 1 have given an Inftance of Hercvles in his laft Moments^ that I may fully difpatch this Vindication of E PI C U RUS: itij this Point: I will examiip that grand Quc- ftion of the Stoicks. What think, you of Hercules zhA The feus^ whofe Lives' wffe one continued Series of glorious Labours^ which if they had not undertaken^ the ]parth had been over-run with Mdnfters andlnjiiftice?. By which Queftion, it is undeniably eViHient, that the Stoicks are nothing more thgri v^n. ignorant Pretenders, and blind Guides, who lead their Admirers on in a Wildgoofe Chace, from which they have reaped no- thing but Confufion, and made themfelves ridiculous to all Ages. For, had they un- der flood the Matter right, or had they not been blinded with Pride and Arrogancje, they would readily have perceived that the Adions of thefe brave Men were fb many Ihining Proof? of the Truth and ExceDcncy of the Epicurean Dodrine; for 2i$ much as all their great and glorious Labours were undertaken and performed by them, in or- der to obtain that Pleafure, which our Phi-' lofbpher, with fo much Reafon, affirms to be the Soveraign Good, and true Felicity of Life. Nature hath dififcrifed Pleafure through all her Aftions-, flieufeth'it as a Motive and Affiftance to us, in dojng every thing that is Good and Commendable, and its recompence, when done, according to that received and approved Axiom, Vertw is its own Reward. Man's Life is full of Mi- fery, and were not ourPaffions to beTweet- ned with Pleafure, they would end in Grief or Defpair j we fliould be prelTed to Death under the Load of our Misfortunes-, and lofing 'i* loGng all hope of conquering our Enemies: We fhould likewife lofe the Defire of re- fitting them. To heighten our Conrage therefore, this wife Mother folicits us by Pleafure, and propofing that to us as a fuB recompence of all our Labours, encouragech BS to defpife Difficulties, and banilh Fear; ibr though the Mind of Man be naturally ambitious J yet would (he not attempt to cbtak Vertue, and fubdue Vice, were there jiot as much Pleafure as Glory in the Afli- on; or to fpeak more properly, were there not an inward, excellent, and inexpreffible Pleafure attending every fuch Glorious Attempt.
The Pleafure which our Philofopher re- commends,is,the enjoyment of a real pleaf* ing Good *, fuch as fills the Soul with Con- tent; fwallows up Defire in Fruition, and banilheth Sorrow and Fear, fb that he ex- cludes from thence all thofe falfe Delights which l]?ring from Indigence, or cncf in Sorrow, for as they are defired with fo much Anxiety as far exceeds the Pleafure they promife i they are fuch Enemies like- wife to our Peace, that it is impolGble to tafte of them, without dilbrdeiing our Nature; they wound, at once, both our Soul and Body, they weaken the one, ani^ corrupt the other; they are worfe Remedies than the Evils they would Cure; they are conftantly attended with Repentance, Sor- " row and Shame, and dare not appear to publick View j for being confcious that they lefl'^n our Reputation, they feek out Shade, VindicatmofEFlCXfUVS. 1S7 Shade, and court Solitude and Silence; they would blufh y were they forced to difcover themlelves, and Confufion would fo over- whelm them, that all their Joy would be turned into bitternefs and mourning. The Iblid Pleafures are thofe of the Mind j and Man cannot enjoy Peace and Tranquillity, unlefs that which is the nobleft Part, where- of he is compofed,be Happy s the Knowledge of Truth, andPrafticeofVertue, ought to be his chief Delight j he muft remember that the Body is the Souls Slave, and that in choice of Pleafures it is reafonable that the Soveraign have the Preference. Thofe which the Soul reliflieth, are the trtieft; and if any Man be of another Opinion, we may conclude him void qf Reafbn, Senfe, and Underftanding. The Pleafures 6f the Senfes are limitted, whereas thofe of the Soul have no Bounds 5 the Pleafures of the Body are Strangers, thofe of the Soul are Natural *) the former may be taken from us without great Difficulty, but Death itfelf cannot deprive us of the latter, which tho' it rob us of our Riches, cannot rob us of oar Vertues; the Pleafures of the Body are Tranfitory and Dangerous, but the Tran- quillity of the Mind produceth trtie and folid Content, and is a Permanent and Ef^' fential Good.
Now, though we do elteem Pleafure as a real Good, and Pain to be a real Evil j yet we do not affirm that we ought always to purfue the one, and avoid the other: Foi^ it may be convenient for us, at fomethnes.
MoHfieur St. Evremokt'^ to fufferPain, that we may, afterwards^ enjoy more abundant and (atisfadory Plea- fure, and to abftain from fome Plealiires, left they draw upon us more grievous Pain^ for fome things there are, which tho' they yield fome Pleafure, yet they are of fuch a Nature as to occalion Pains much greater than chemfelves. It was this Maxim that made Reiulvs put himfelf again into the Hands of his enraged Enemies, where the Cruelties of his Tormenters were Icfs pain- ful to him than his Remorfe would have been, had he broke his Faith and Promife. It was this Maxim that made Fabricius defpife the offer cdTrea fur es oftheKingof f^irjii, whereby he loft alfo thofe Evil DeGres which attend the Pofleffion of Riches, and preferved to himfelf that repofe of Mind, which is the chief of Pleafures, and Supreme Good. To this Maxim may be referred all thofe great Deeds, and commendable Ani- ons, aone by the^ Heroes of former Ages; you will find that if they at any time em- braced Pain, it was to avoid a much greater, or if they refufed fome Pleafures, it was by fuch abftinence to obtain others much more folid and fatisfeftory. For to what other Motive can we afcribe thofe their illuftrious Aftions. They would not have turned their Backs upon Riches, embraced Pover- ty, or hunted after Enemies, Difficulties, and Pain \ had they not found therein that Plcafure which is the only folid Good, and Complement of a Happy Life. Hercules