but a moment to that time, and till then we may SERM. rest satisfied. Thus if we do survey and rightly state things, which cause discontent, and seem to render our condition hard and sad, we shall find, that not from the things, but from ourselves all the mischief proceeds: we by our imagination give to the lightest things a weight, and swell the smallest things into a vast bulk; we fancy them very frightful and doleful, then we tremble and grieve at them. Mere names (the names of poverty, of disgrace, of defeat) do scare us, without consulting reason, and considering how little terrible the things are themselves. We follow silly prejudices, judging that highly good, which the vulgar admireth; that very evil, which the weakest sort of men are wont to complain of: hence so commonly doth our case seem grievous. But in truth there is no condition so bad, but if we manage it well and wisely, if we bend our mind to comply with it, if we moderate our passions about the accidents thereof, if we vigilantly embrace and enjoy the advantages thereof, may not be easily supportable, yea prove very comfortable to us: it is our fond conceits, our froward humours, our perverse behaviours, which do create the trouble, which seemeth adherent to any condition, and embittereth every state; which from any slight occasion doth create vexation, and turneth every event into disaster. 2. As there is no condition here perfectly and purely good, (not deficient in some conveniences, not blended with some troubles,) so there is none so thoroughly bad, that it hath not somewhat conve XXXIX. SER M. nient and comfortable therein; seldom or never all XXXIX. good things do forsake a man at once, or all mischiefs together assail him; somewhat usually abideth, which, well improved or wisely enjoyed, may satisfy a man, yea render his estate comparable to theirs, who to vulgar eyes appear to be in the best condition there is in every condition somewhat of good compensating for its evils, and reducing it to a balance with other more plausible statesh. We are, suppose again, in poverty, (that instance I propound usually, as the most ordinary ground of discontent ;) but have we therewith good health? then most rich men may envy us, and reasonably we should not exchange our state with many crazy princes: have we therewith our liberty? that is an inestimable good, which oftentimes the greatest men have wanted, and would have purchased with heaps of gold: have we therein a quiet mind, and a free use of our time? it is that, which wisest men have prized above any wealth, and which the chief men of the world would be glad to taste of: have we a clear reputation? we have then the best good that any wealth can yield, we have more than many can obtain in the most splendid fortune: have we any friends sticking to us? that is more than the richest persons can assure themselves of, to whom it is near impossible to distinguish the friends of their person from the flatterers of their fortune; it is a privilege and solace which princes are hardly capable to arrive at: have we a bare competency, sufficient to maintain our h Assuescendum conditioni suæ; et quam minimum de illa querendum, et quicquid habet circa se commodi apprehendendum est: nihil tam acerbum est, ex quo non æquus animus solatium inveniat. Sen. de Tranq. An. cap. 10. 7. life? we thereby keep our appetites in better com- SERM. pass, and our faculties in greater vigour; we thence XXXIX. better relish all things; we in consequence thereof Prov. xxvii. avoid the burdens, the diseases, the vices of sloth and luxury have we further (as, if we are not very bad, we shall in this case assuredly have, humanity disposing all men thereto) the compassion of men? is not this somewhat better than that envy, that illwill, that obloquy, which usually do attend wealth and prosperity? Why then, if our poor state hath so manifold conveniences, do we so much distaste it? why do we so dwell and pore on the small inconveniences we feel under it, overlooking or slighting the benefits we may enjoy thereby? This indeed ordinarily is our folly and infirmity, that the want of any little thing, which we fancy or affect, doth hinder us from satisfaction in all other things: One dead fly causeth all our ointment to stink; the Eccles. x. 1. possession of a kingdom will not keep us from being heavy and displeased, as Ahab was, if we cannot 1 Kings xxi. acquire a small vineyard near us; on that one thing our head runs continually, our heart is wholly set, we can think on, we can taste nothing else; the want of that; notwithstanding all our affluence, doth pinch us; our dainties thence do prove insipid, our splendours appear dim, every thing but that is a toy unto us so capriciously and unaccountably prone are we to discontent. 3. Is our condition, let me ask again, so extremely bad, that it cannot be much worse? Are we sunk to the bottom of all calamity? No surely; God's providence will not suffer, the state of things here can never admit that to be; here are succours always ready against extremities; our own wit and industry, I I. SERM. the help of relations or friends, the natural pity and XXXIX. charity of our neighbours, will preserve us from ἐκένωσεν αὐτ θήκην ἅπα them; especially persons in any measure innocent can never come near them: there will therefore never fail some good matter of content in what remains; a few good things, well improved, may greatly solace us. But, however, let us imagine our case to be the worst that can be; that a confluence of all temporal mischiefs and wants hath arrived, that we are utterly bereaved of all the comforts this world afforded; that we are stripped of all our wealth, quite sunk in our reputation, deserted of every friend, deprived of our health and our liberty; that all the losses, all the disgraces, all the pains Job, who which poor Job sustained, or far more and greater (than those, have together seized on us; yet we canβόλου) βελοnot have sufficient reason to be discontent; for that day xaτaro- nevertheless we have goods left to us in our hands, ξευόμενος δι auro, &c. or within our reach, far surpassing all those goods Chrys. ad Olymp. 2. we have lost, much outweighing the evils we do undergo when the world hath done its worst, we remain masters of things incomparably better than it, and all it containeth; the possession whereof may, and, if we be wise, will abundantly satisfy us. are men still, and have our reason left behind, which alone, in worth, exceedeth all the treasures of the world; in well using which, and thereby ordering all things for the best, we become more worthy, and more happy than the most fortunate fool on earth; we may therein find more true satisfaction, than any wealth or any glory here can minister: we may have a good conscience left, (the sense of having lived well heretofore, or at least a serious resolution to Prov.xv.15.live well hereafter,) and that is a continual feast, We XXXIX. yielding a far more solid and savoury pleasure, than SERM. the most ample revenue can afford: we may have hope in God, (the author and donor of all good things,) and thereby far greater assurance of our convenient subsistence and welfare, than all present possessions can bestow; we have reserved a free access to the throne of grace, and thereby a sure means (grounded on God's infallible word and promise) of obtaining whatever is good for us; we have a firm right to innumerable spiritual blessings and privileges, each of them justly valuable beyond whole worlds of pelf; we can, in a word, (we can if we please,) enjoy God's favour, which immensely transcendeth all other enjoyments, which vastly more than countervaileth the absence of all other things: of this, by applying ourselves to the love and service of God, we are infallibly capable; of this no worldly force or fortune can despoil us; we having this, our condition cannot be poor, contemptible, or pitiful; it is indeed thereby most rich, glorious, and happy: for how can he be poor, that hath the Lord of all things always ready to supply him; who hath God, Psal. Ixxiii. as the Psalmist is wont to speak, to be his portion cxix. 57. for ever? how can he be despicable, that hath the honour to have the Sovereign Majesty of the world for his especial friend? how can he be miserable who enjoyeth the fountain of all happiness, who hath the light of God's countenance to cheer him, who bath the consolations of God's holy Spirit to refresh and revive him? what can he want, who, beside his present interest in all the needful effects of God's bountiful love, is an heir of heaven and everlasting bliss? Seeing therefore it is in our power to be religious; seeing we may, if we will, (God's grace con 26. xvi. 5. cxlii. 5. |