Part 45 (1/2)
_favore et benevolentia etiam immanis animus mansuescit_, soft words pacify wrath, and the fiercest spirits are so soonest overcome; [3983]a generous lion will not hurt a beast that lies prostrate, nor an elephant an innocuous creature, but is _infestus infestis_, a terror and scourge alone to such as are stubborn, and make resistance. It was the symbol of Emanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, and he was not mistaken in it, for
[3984] ”Quo quisque est major, magis est placabilis irae, Et faciles motus mens generosa capit.”
”A greater man is soonest pacified, A n.o.ble spirit quickly satisfied.”
It is reported by [3985]Gualter Mapes, an old historiographer of ours (who lived 400 years since), that King Edward senior, and Llewellyn prince of Wales, being at an interview near Aust upon Severn, in Gloucesters.h.i.+re, and the prince sent for, refused to come to the king; he would needs go over to him; which Llewellyn perceiving, [3986]”went up to the arms in water, and embracing his boat, would have carried him out upon his shoulders, adding that his humility and wisdom had triumphed over his pride and folly,” and thereupon he was reconciled unto him and did his homage. If thou canst not so win him, put it up, if thou beest a true Christian, a good divine, an imitator of Christ, [3987](”for he was reviled and put it up, whipped and sought no revenge,”) thou wilt pray for thine enemies, [3988]”and bless them that persecute thee;” be patient, meek, humble, &c. An honest man will not offer thee injury, _probus non vult_; if he were a brangling knave, 'tis his fas.h.i.+on so to do; where is least heart is most tongue; _quo quisque stultior, eo magis insolescit_, the more sottish he is, still the more insolent: [3989]”Do not answer a fool according to his folly.” If he be thy superior, [3990]bear it by all means, grieve not at it, let him take his course; Anitus and Melitus [3991]”may kill me, they cannot hurt me;” as that generous Socrates made answer in like case. _Mens immota manet_, though the body be torn in pieces with wild horses, broken on the wheel, pinched with fiery tongs, the soul cannot be distracted. 'Tis an ordinary thing for great men to vilify and insult, oppress, injure, tyrannise, to take what liberty they list, and who dare speak against? _Miserum est ab eo laedi, a quo non possis queri_, a miserable thing 'tis to be injured of him, from whom is no appeal: [3992]and not safe to write against him that can proscribe and punish a man at his pleasure, which Asinius Pollio was aware of, when Octavia.n.u.s provoked him. 'Tis hard I confess to be so injured: one of Chilo's three difficult things: [3993]”To keep counsel; spend his time well; put up injuries:” but be thou patient, and [3994]leave revenge unto the Lord. [3995]”Vengeance is mine and I will repay, saith the Lord”--”I know the Lord,” saith [3996]David, ”will avenge the afflicted and judge the poor.”--”No man” (as [3997]Plato farther adds) ”can so severely punish his adversary, as G.o.d will such as oppress miserable men.”
[3998] ”Iterum ille rem judicatam judicat, Majoreque mulcta mulctat.”
If there be any religion, any G.o.d, and that G.o.d be just, it shall be so; if thou believest the one, believe the other: _Erit, erit_, it shall be so.
Nemesis comes after, _sero sed serio_, stay but a little and thou shalt see G.o.d's just judgment overtake him.
[3999] ”Raro antecedentem scelestum Deseruit pede poena claudo.”
”Yet with sure steps, though lame and slow, Vengeance o'ertakes the trembling villain's speed.”
Thou shalt perceive that verified of Samuel to Agag, 1 Sam. xv. 33. ”Thy sword hath made many women childless, so shall thy mother be childless amongst other women.” It shall be done to them as they have done to others.
Conradinus, that brave Suevian prince, came with a well-prepared army into the kingdom of Naples, was taken prisoner by king Charles, and put to death in the flower of his youth; a little after (_ultionem Conradini mortis_, Pandulphus Collinutius _Hist. Neap. lib. 5._ calls it), King Charles's own son, with two hundred n.o.bles, was so taken prisoner, and beheaded in like sort. Not in this only, but in all other offences, _quo quisque peccat in eo punietur_, [4000]they shall be punished in the same kind, in the same part, like nature, eye with or in the eye, head with or in the head, persecution with persecution, l.u.s.t with effects of l.u.s.t; let them march on with ensigns displayed, let drums beat on, trumpets sound taratantarra, let them sack cities, take the spoil of countries, murder infants, deflower virgins, destroy, burn, persecute, and tyrannise, they shall be fully rewarded at last in the same measure, they and theirs, and that to their desert.
[4001] ”Ad generum Cereris sine caede et sanguine pauci Descendunt reges et sicca morte tyranni.”
”Few tyrants in their beds do die, But stabb'd or maim'd to h.e.l.l they hie.”
Oftentimes too a base contemptible fellow is the instrument of G.o.d's justice to punish, to torture, and vex them, as an ichneumon doth a crocodile. They shall be recompensed according to the works of their hands, as Haman was hanged on the gallows he provided for Mordecai; ”They shall have sorrow of heart, and be destroyed from under the heaven,” Thre. iii.
64, 65, 66. Only be thou patient: [4002]_vincit qui pat.i.tur_: and in the end thou shalt be crowned. Yea, but 'tis a hard matter to do this, flesh and blood may not abide it; 'tis _grave, grave_! no (Chrysostom replies) _non est grave, o h.o.m.o_! 'tis not so grievous, [4003]”neither had G.o.d commanded it, if it had been so difficult.” But how shall it be done?
”Easily,” as he follows it, ”if thou shalt look to heaven, behold the beauty of it, and what G.o.d hath promised to such as put up injuries.” But if thou resist and go about _vim vi repellere_, as the custom of the world is, to right thyself, or hast given just cause of offence, 'tis no injury then but a condign punishment; thou hast deserved as much: _A te principium, in te recredit crimen quod a te fuit; peccasti, quiesce_, as Ambrose expostulates with Cain, _lib. 3. de Abel et Cain_. [4004]Dionysius of Syracuse, in his exile, was made to stand without door, _patienter ferendum, forta.s.se nos tale quid fecimus, quum in honore essemus_, he wisely put it up, and laid the fault where it was, on his own pride and scorn, which in his prosperity he had formerly showed others. 'Tis [4005]
Tully's axiom, _ferre ea molestissime homines non debent, quae ipsorum culpa contracta sunt_, self do, self have, as the saying is, they may thank themselves. For he that doth wrong must look to be wronged again; _habet et musca splenem, et formicae sua bills inest_. The least fly hath a spleen, and a little bee a sting. [4006]An a.s.s overwhelmed a thistlewarp's nest, the little bird pecked his galled back in revenge; and the humble-bee in the fable flung down the eagle's eggs out of Jupiter's lap. Bracides, in Plutarch, put his hand into a mouse's nest and hurt her young ones, she bit him by the finger: [4007]I see now (saith he) there is no creature so contemptible, that will not be revenged. 'Tis _lex talionis_, and the nature of all things so to do: if thou wilt live quietly thyself, [4008]do no wrong to others; if any be done thee, put it up, with patience endure it, for [4009]”this is thankworthy,” saith our apostle, ”if any man for conscience towards G.o.d endure grief, and suffer wrong undeserved; for what praise is it, if when ye be buffeted for you faults, ye take it patiently?
But if when you do well, ye suffer wrong, and take it patiently, there is thanks with G.o.d; for hereunto verily we are called.” _Qui mala non fert, ipse sibi testis est per impatientiam quod bonus non est_, ”he that cannot bear injuries, witnesseth against himself that he is no good man,” as Gregory holds. [4010]”'Tis the nature of wicked men to do injuries, as it is the property of all honest men patiently to bear them.” _Improbitas nullo flect.i.tur obsequio_. The wolf in the [4011]emblem sucked the goat (so the shepherd would have it), but he kept nevertheless a wolf's nature; [4012]a knave will be a knave. Injury is on the other side a good man's footboy, his _fidus Acliates_, and as a lackey follows him wheresoever he goes. Besides, _misera est fortuna quae caret inimico_, he is in a miserable estate that wants enemies: [4013]it is a thing not to be avoided, and therefore with more patience to be endured. Cato Censorius, that upright Cato of whom Paterculus gives that honourable eulogium, _bene fecit quod aliter facere non potuit_, was [4014]fifty times indicted and accused by his fellow citizens, and as [4015]Ammia.n.u.s well hath it, _Quis erit innocens si clam vel palam accusa.s.se sufficiat_? if it be sufficient to accuse a man openly or in private, who shall be free? If there were no other respect than that of Christianity, religion and the like, to induce men to be long-suffering and patient, yet methinks the nature of injury itself is sufficient to keep them quiet, the tumults, uproars, miseries, discontents, anguish, loss, dangers that attend upon it might restrain the calamities of contention: for as it is with ordinary gamesters, the gains go to the box, so falls it out to such as contend; the lawyers get all; and therefore if they would consider of it, _aliena pericula cantos_, other men's misfortunes in this kind, and common experience might detain them.
[4016]The more they contend, the more they are involved in a labyrinth of woes, and the catastrophe is to consume one another, like the elephant and dragon's conflict in Pliny; [4017]the dragon got under the elephant's belly, and sucked his blood so long, till he fell down dead upon the dragon, and killed him with the fall, so both were ruined. 'Tis a hydra's head, contention; the more they strive, the more they may: and as Praxiteles did by his gla.s.s, when he saw a scurvy face in it, brake it in pieces: but for that one he saw many more as bad in a moment: for one injury done they provoke another _c.u.m foenore_, and twenty enemies for one.
_Noli irritare crabrones_, oppose not thyself to a mult.i.tude: but if thou hast received a wrong, wisely consider of it, and if thou canst possibly, compose thyself with patience to bear it. This is the safest course, and thou shalt find greatest ease to be quiet.
[4018]I say the same of scoffs, slanders, contumelies, obloquies, defamations, detractions, pasquilling libels, and the like, which may tend any way to our disgrace: 'tis but opinion; if we could neglect, contemn, or with patience digest them, they would reflect on them that offered them at first. A wise citizen, I know not whence, had a scold to his wife: when she brawled, he played on his drum, and by that means madded her more, because she saw that he would not be moved. Diogenes in a crowd when one called him back, and told him how the boys laughed him to scorn, _Ego, inquit, non rideor_, took no notice of it. Socrates was brought upon the stage by Aristophanes, and misused to his face, but he laughed as if it concerned him not: and as Aelian relates of him, whatsoever good or bad accident or fortune befel him going in or coming out, Socrates still kept the same countenance; even so should a Christian do, as Hierom describes him, _per infamiam et bonam famam gra.s.sari ad immortalitatem_, march on through good and bad reports to immortality, [4019]not to be moved: for honesty is a sufficient reward, probitas sibi, praemium; and in our times the sole recompense to do well, is, to do well: but naughtiness will punish itself at last, [4020]_Improbis ipsa nequitia supplicium_. As the diverb is,
”Qui bene fecerunt, illi sua facta sequentur; Qui male fecerunt, facta sequentur eos:”
”They that do well, shall have reward at last: But they that ill, shall suffer for that's past.”
Yea, but I am ashamed, disgraced, dishonoured, degraded, exploded: my notorious crimes and villainies are come to light (_deprendi miserum est_), my filthy l.u.s.t, abominable oppression and avarice lies open, my good name's lost, my fortune's gone, I have been stigmatised, whipped at post, arraigned and condemned, I am a common obloquy, I have lost my ears, odious, execrable, abhorred of G.o.d and men. Be content, 'tis but a nine days' wonder, and as one sorrow drives out another, one pa.s.sion another, one cloud another, one rumour is expelled by another; every day almost, come new news unto our ears, as how the sun was eclipsed, meteors seen in the air, monsters born, prodigies, how the Turks were overthrown in Persia, an earthquake in Helvetia, Calabria, j.a.pan, or China, an inundation in Holland, a great plague in Constantinople, a fire at Prague, a dearth in Germany, such a man is made a lord, a bishop, another hanged, deposed, pressed to death, for some murder, treason, rape, theft, oppression, all which we do hear at first with a kind of admiration, detestation, consternation, but by and by they are buried in silence: thy father's dead, thy brother robbed, wife runs mad, neighbour hath killed himself; 'tis heavy, ghastly, fearful news at first, in every man's mouth, table talk; but after a while who speaks or thinks of it? It will be so with thee and thine offence, it will be forgotten in an instant, be it theft, rape, sodomy, murder, incest, treason, &c., thou art not the first offender, nor shalt not be the last, 'tis no wonder, every hour such malefactors are called in question, nothing so common, _Quocunque in populo, quocunque sub axe_? [4021]Comfort thyself, thou art not the sole man. If he that were guiltless himself should fling the first stone at thee, and he alone should accuse thee that were faultless, how many executioners, how many accusers wouldst thou have? If every man's sins were written in his forehead, and secret faults known, how many thousands would parallel, if not exceed thine offence? It may be the judge that gave sentence, the jury that condemned thee, the spectators that gazed on thee, deserved much more, and were far more guilty than thou thyself. But it is thine infelicity to be taken, to be made a public example of justice, to be a terror to the rest; yet should every man have his desert, thou wouldst peradventure be a saint in comparison; _vexat censura columbas_, poor souls are punished; the great ones do twenty thousand times worse, and are not so much as spoken of.
[4022] ”Non rete accipitri tenditur neque milvio, Qui male faciunt n.o.bis; illis qui nil faciunt tenditur.”
”The net's not laid for kites or birds of prey, But for the harmless still our gins we lay.”
Be not dismayed then, _humanum est errare_, we are all sinners, daily and hourly subject to temptations, the best of us is a hypocrite, a grievous offender in G.o.d's sight, Noah, Lot, David, Peter, &c., how many mortal sins do we commit? Shall I say, be penitent, ask forgiveness, and make amends by the sequel of thy life, for that foul offence thou hast committed? recover thy credit by some n.o.ble exploit, as Themistocles did, for he was a most debauched and vicious youth, _sed juventae maculas praeclaris factis delevit_, but made the world amends by brave exploits; at last become a new man, and seek to be reformed. He that runs away in a battle, as Demosthenes said, may fight again; and he that hath a fall may stand as upright as ever he did before. _Nemo desperet meliora lapsus_, a wicked liver may be reclaimed, and prove an honest man; he that is odious in present, hissed out, an exile, may be received again with all men's favours, and singular applause; so Tully was in Rome, Alcibiades in Athens. Let thy disgrace then be what it will, _quod fit, infectum non potest esse_, that which is past cannot be recalled; trouble not thyself, vex and grieve thyself no more, be it obloquy, disgrace, &c. No better way, than to neglect, contemn, or seem not to regard it, to make no reckoning of it, _Deesse robur arguit dicacitas_: if thou be guiltless it concerns thee not:
[4023] ”Irrita vaniloquae quid curas spicula linguae, Latrantem curatne alta Diana canem?”
Doth the moon care for the barking of a dog? They detract, scoff and rail, saith one, [4024]and bark at me on every side, but I, like that Albanian dog sometimes given to Alexander for a present, _vindico me ab illis solo contemptu_, I lie still and sleep, vindicate myself by contempt alone.
[4025]_Expers terroris Achilles armatus_: as a tortoise in his sh.e.l.l, [4026]_virtute mea me involvo_, or an urchin round, _nil moror ictus_ [4027]a lizard in camomile, I decline their fury and am safe.
”Integritas virtusque suo munimine tuta, Non patet adversae morsibus invidiae:”
”Virtue and integrity are their own fence, Care not for envy or what comes from thence.”
Let them rail then, scoff, and slander, _sapiens contumelia non afficitur_, a wise man, Seneca thinks, is not moved, because he knows, _contra Sycophantae morsum non est remedium_, there is no remedy for it: kings and princes, wise, grave, prudent, holy, good men, divine, are all so served alike. [4028]_O Jane a tergo quem nulla ciconia pinsit_, Antevorta and Postvorta, Jupiter's guardians, may not help in this case, they cannot protect; Moses had a Dathan, a Corath, David a s.h.i.+mei, G.o.d himself is blasphemed: _nondum felix es si te nondum turba deridet_. It is an ordinary thing so to be misused. [4029]_Regium est c.u.m bene faceris male audire_, the chiefest men and most understanding are so vilified; let him take his [4030]course. And as that l.u.s.ty courser in Aesop, that contemned the poor a.s.s, came by and by after with his bowels burst, a pack on his back, and was derided of the same a.s.s: _contemnentur ab iis quos ipsi prius contempsere, et irridebuntur ab iis quos ipsi prius irrisere_, they shall be contemned and laughed to scorn of those whom they have formerly derided.