The Tranfitorinefs of all Earthly Enjoyments, the unfatisfying Condition of them, and the Danger of over-efteeming them, fhould wean us from Sournefs or Difcontent at being depriv'd of them. The Confiderations, that divine Providence overrules all Events, that a little will fuffice the Neceffities of Nature, will convince us, that we ought to abate our Defires, to digeft fmall and feeming Inconveniencies, and to think that our prefent Condition is best for us. By this Means we fhall neither repine at our Neighbour's Happinefs, nor conceive ourfelves unfortunate; be never anxious for the future, nor uneafy at the prefent; but enjoy a Temper and Serenity of Soul, and put it out of the Power of Fate or Fortune to harrafs or difcompofe us.

RETIREMENT.

R

ETIREMENT is a fort of Sleep to a wearied Nature; when we have run through the Tumults and Fatigues of Life, when we are harrafs'd out with Bufinefs and Hurry, we are glad to take Shelter in a calm Privacy, and put in, as to a fafe Harbour, out of the troubled Ocean.

Cicero, is not for allowing any the Benefits of Retirement, who can be ferviceable in a State of Activity, and only permits them an Exemption from Employment, when they are difabled from Business by Want of Health, or called off by fome more important Reafon. Quibus autem talis nulla fit caufa, fi defpicere fe dicunt ea, quæ plerique admirantur, Imperia & Magiftratus; iis non modò non laudi, verùm etiam vitio dandum puto. But those who have no fuch Pleas to excufe them, if they yet profefs to defpife what the Generality of the

World

World are fond of, Command and Office, I think they are not only not to be commended, but cenfured for withdrawing.

Seneca, who spent the greatest Part of his Life in a Court, feems to be of a contrary Opinion: He tells his Son, There is no Opportunity fcapes me of enquiring where you are, what you do, and what Company you keep: And I am well enough pleased, that I can hear nothing concerning you, for it fhews that you live retired. A general Converfation is neither easy, nor absolutely safe: and yet our Retreats may look like Oftentation.

'Tis a fair Step towards Happiness and Virtue, to delight in the Converfation of good, and of wife Men; and where that cannot be had, the next Point, is, to keep no Company at all. Solitude affords Bufinefs enough, and the Entertainment is com-1 fortable and easy. To live hidden, was ne-' ver but fafe and pleafant; but then, so much. better, when the World is worfe. It is a Happiness, not to be a Witness of the Mifchief of the Time, which it is hard to fee, and be guiltless. Your Philofophical Cell. is a fafe Shelter from Tumults, from Vices, from Difcontentments.

Befides that lively honeft and manly Pleafure which arifes from the Gain of Know

ledge in the deep Myfteries of Nature, how eafy is it in Retirement to live free from the common Cares, from the Infection of common Evils! Who is envied, and who pitied at Court, who buys Hopes and Kindnefs dearest, who lays fecret Mines to blow up another, that himfelf may fucceed, can never trouble you. Thefe Cares dare not enter into a Sanctuary of Peace: Thence you can fee now all that live public are tofs'd in these Waves, and pity them: You fit as on a high Rock above the Waters, and laugh at the Tempeft that cannot reach you. This View of Retirement brings to my Mind a Paffage of Lucretius, beautifully tranflated by Mr. Dryden; which bears no small Refemblance to what I have advanced.

'Tis pleasant fafely to behold from Shore The rowling Ship; and hear the Tempest roar: Not that another's Pain is our Delight, But Pains unfelt, produce the peafing Sight. 'Tis pleafant alfo to behold from far The moving Legions mingled in the War. But much more fweet, thy labouring Steps to guide

To Virtue's Heights, with Wisdom well fupply'd,

A.d all the Magazines of Learning fortify'd.)

From

From thence to look below on Human Kind,
Bewilder'd in the Maze of Life and blind.
O wretched Man! in what a Mift of Life,
Inclos'd with Dangers, and with noify Strife,
He spends his little Span; and over-feeds
His cramm'd Defires with more than Nature
needs.

For Nature wifely ftints our Appetite,

And craves no more than undisturb'd Delight ; Which Minds, unmix'd with Cares and Fears, obtain,

A Soul ferene, a Body void of Pain.

But however amiable the Bleffing of Retirement may look, and be confider'd by fome, I am not infenfible there are others who will object, that though Solitude promifes fair, and is a ftrong Entertainment to a melancholy Fancy, yet were the Notion driven up, and try'd in its farthest Extent, we fhould quickly change our Opinion. They fay, that like a great many other Things, it is better in Profpect, than Poffeffion: Like a Summer's Cloud in the Evening, it looks foft and fine at a Distance, and prefents us with a great many pretty Figures; but when you come close to the Object, the Colours are rubbed out, and the Subftance fhrinks: There is nothing remaining but empty Air; nothing

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