The miseries of half mankind unknown,
Fools vainly think no sorrows like their own:
But view the world, and you will learn to bear
Misfortunes well, since all men have their share.
Reflection.
Since nature provides for the necessities of all creatures, and for the well-being of every one in its kind; and since it is not in the power of any creature to make itself other than what by Providence it was designed to be; what a madness is it to wish ourselves other than what we are, and what we must continue to be! Every atom of the creation has its place assigned: every creature has its proper figure, and there is no disputing with Him that made it so. Why have I not this? and, Why have I not that? are questions for a Philosopher of Bedlam to ask; and we may as well cavil at the motions of the heavens, the vicissitude of day and night, and the succession of the seasons, as expostulate with Providence upon any of the rest of God’s works. The Ass would have horns, the Ape would have a tail, and the Hares would be free from those terrors which, timid as they are, they give to others: but the Mole on the one hand, and the Frogs on the other, shew that there are others as miserable as themselves.
It may seem to be a kind of a malicious satisfaction that one man derives from the misfortune of another. But the philosophy of this reflection stands upon another ground; for our comfort does not arise from other people being miserable, but from this inference upon the balance, that we suffer only the lot of human nature: and as we are happy or miserable, compared with others; so other people are miserable or happy, compared with us; by which justice of Providence we come to be convinced of the sin, and the mistake, of our ingratitude. What would not a man give to be eased of the gout, or the stone? or, supposing an incurable poverty on the one hand, and an incurable malady on the other, why should not the poor man think himself happier in his rags, than the other in his purple? but the rich man envies the poor man’s health, without considering his want; and the poor man envies the other’s treasure, without considering his diseases. What is an ill name in the world to a good conscience within one’s self; and how much less miserable, upon the wheel, is one man that is innocent, than another under the same torture that is guilty? The only way for Hares and Asses, is to be thankful what they are, and what they have, and not to grumble at the lot that they must bear in spite of their teeth.
