felicity, unless it moderates itself, oppresses." Ease chews and grinds us, according to the old Greek verse, which says, "The gods sell us all the goods they give us; "1 that is to say, that they give us nothing pure and perfect, and that we do but purchase them at the price of some evil. as appears from Labour and pleasure, very unlike in nature, associate, nevertheless, by I know not what natural con- Pain and pleasure junction. Socrates says that some god tried joined at one end, to mix in one mass and to confound pain and melancholy. pleasure; but not being able to do it, he bethought him at least to couple them by the tail. Metrodorus said, that in sorrow there is some mixture of pleasure. I know not whether or no he intended any thing else by that saying; but, for my part, I am of opinion that there is design, consent, and complacency in giving a man's self up to melancholy; I say, besides ambition, which may also have to do in the business, there is some shadow of delight and delicacy which smiles upon and flatters us, even in the very lap of melancholy. Are there not some complexions that feed upon it? Est quædam flere voluptas; 4 "A certain kind of pleasure 'tis to weep; " and one Attalus in Seneca says,5 that the memory of our lost friends is as grateful to us as bitterness in wine too old, is to the palate, Minister vetuli, puer, Falerni Ingere mî calices amariores,6 "Come, boy, bring hither old Falernian wine, And with the bitt'rest fill the bowl that's mine," and as apples that have a sweet tartness. Nature discovers this confusion to us; painters hold that the same motions and pleats of the face that serve for weeping serve for laughter too; and indeed, before the one or the other be finished, do 1 των πόνων Πωλοῦσὶν ἡμῖν πάντα τ' αγαθ' οἱ Θεοί, 2 In Plato's dialogue, entitled Phadon. 3 Seneca, Epist. 99. 4 Ovid, Trist. iv. 3, 27. 5 Seneca, Epist. 63. 6 Catull. xxvii. 1. versal pleasure not to be borne by but observe the painter's manner of handling, and you will be in doubt to which of the two the design tends; and the extremity of laughter at last brings tears: Nullum sine auctoramento malum est.1 "No evil is without its compensation." When I imagine man abounding with all the pleasures and Constant and uni- conveniences that are to be desired (let us put the case that all his members were always seized with a pleasure like that of generation in its most excessive height), I feel him melting under the weight of his delight, and see him utterly unable to support so pure, so continual, and so universal a pleasure. Indeed he is running away whilst he is there, and naturally makes haste to escape, as from a place where he cannot stand firm, and where he is afraid of sinking. man. When I the most strictly and religiously confess myself, I find that the best virtue I have has in it some tincture of vice; and I am afraid that Plato, in his purest virtue (I who am as sincere and perfect a lover of him and of virtue of that stamp as any other whatever), if he had listened and laid his ear close to himself, as no doubt he did, he would have heard some jarring sound of human mixture; but faint and remote, and only to be perceived by himself. Man is wholly and throughout but patched and motley. Even the laws of justice themselves cannot subsist without mixture The justest laws have some mixture of injustice. of injustice; insomuch that Plato says, they undertake to cut off the hydra's head who preOmne magnum 8 tend to clear the law of all inconvenience. exemplum habet aliquid ex iniquo, quod contra singulos utilitate publica rependitur, says Tacitus: "Every great example has in it some mixture of injustice, which recompenses the wrong done to particular men by the public utility." It is likewise true that, for the usage of life and the service of public commerce, there may be some excess in the purity and perspicacity of our minds; that penetrating light 1 Seneca, Epist. 69. 2 Republic, iv. 5. Montaigne has slightly altered the idea of Plato. 8 Annals, xiv. 44. Common under standings more proper for affairs than the more refined. has in it too much of subtilty and curiosity; we must a little stupefy and blunt and abate them, to render them more obedient to example and practice, and a little veil and obscure them, the better to proportion them to this dark and earthy life; and therefore common and less speculative souls are found to be more proper and more successful in the management of affairs; and the elevated and exquisite opinions of philosophy more unfit for business. This sharp vivacity of soul, and the supple and restless volubility attending it, disturb our negotiations. We are to manage human enterprises more superficially and roughly, and leave a great part to fortune; it is not necessary to examine affairs with so much subtilty and depth; a man loses himself in the consideration of so many contrary lustres, and so many various forms: Volutantibus res inter se pugnantes, obtorpuerant . . . animi.1 "Whilst they considered of things so different in themselves, they were astonished, and knew not what to do." "Tis what the ancients say of Simonides; that by reason his imagination suggested to him, upon the question King Hiero had put to him 2 (to answer which he had many days to meditate in) several sharp and subtle considerations, whilst he doubted which was the most likely, he totally despaired of the truth. Who dives into, and in his inquisition comprehends all circumstances and consequences, hinders his election; a middling engine is equally sufficient for executions of less or greater weight and moment. The best managers are those who can worst give account why they are so; and the greatest talkers for the most part do nothing to the purpose. I know one of this sort of men, and a most excellent director in all sorts of good management, who has miserably let an hundred thousand livres yearly revenue slip through his hands. I know another, who speaks and gives better advice than any of his council; and there is not in the world a fairer show of 1 Livy, xxxii. 20. VOL. II. 2 What God was? Cic. de Nat. Deor. i. 22. 28 a soul and of greater understanding than he has; nevertheless, when he comes to the test, his servants find him quite another thing; and this without putting mischances down to the account. CHAPTER XXI. AGAINST IDLENESS. In what posture a prince ought to die. THE Emperor Vespasian, being sick with the disease whereof he died, did not for all that neglect to inquire after the state of the empire; and even in bed continually dispatched very many affairs of great consequence; for which, being reproved by his physician, as a thing prejudicial to his health, "An emperor," said he, "should die standing."1 A fine saying, in my opinion, and worthy of a great prince. The Emperor Adrian since made use of words to the same purpose; 2 and kings should be often put in mind of it, to make them know that the great office conferred upon them, of the command of so many men, is not an employment of ease; and that there is nothing can so justly disgust a subject, and make him unwilling to expose himself to labour and danger for the service of his prince, as to see him in the mean time devoted to his ease and unmanly delights; or to be solicitous of his preservation, who so much neglects that of his people. Whoever will take upon him to maintain that 'tis better for a prince to carry on his wars by others mand his armies than in his own person, fortune will furnish him with examples enough of those whose lieutenants have brought great enterprises to a happy issue, and of those also whose presence had done more hurt He ought to com in person. 1 Suetonius, in Vitâ, c. 24. Spartian, Verus, c. 6. than good. But no virtuous and valiant prince can with patience endure such dishonourable advice. Under colour of saving his head, like the statue of a saint, for the happiness of his kingdom, they degrade him from, and declare him incapable of, his office, which is military throughout. I know one 1 who would much rather be beaten, than to sleep whilst another fights for him; and who never without jealousy heard of any brave thing done, even by The activity and his own officers in his absence. And Selim sobriety requisite in princes. I. said, with very good reason, in my opinion, "That victories obtained without the master were never complete;" much more would he have said that that master ought to blush for shame to pretend to any share in the honour, having contributed nothing to the work but his voice and thought; nor even so much as those, considering that, in such works as that, the direction and command that deserve honour are only such as are given upon the place, and in the heat of the business. No pilot performs his office by standing still. The princes of the Ottoman family, the first in the world in military fortune, have warmly embraced this opinion; and Bajazet the Second, with his son, that swerved from it, spending their time in sciences and other in-door employments, gave great blows to their empire; and Amurath the Third, now reigning, following their example, begins to find the same. Was it not Edward the Third, king of England, who said this of our Charles the Fifth? "There never was king who so seldom put on his armour, and yet never king who cut me out so much work." He had reason to think it strange, as an effect of chance more than of reason. And let those seek out some other to join with them than me, who will reckon the kings of Castile and Portugal amongst warlike and magnanimous conquerors, because, at the distance of twelve hundred leagues from their lazy abode, by the conduct of their captains, they made themselves masters of both Indies; of which it remains to be seen if 1 Probably Henry IV. |