VIII. I say then, that humble fortune according to its intrinsic value, if it does not exceed, is at least equal to the exalted. In order to give at once a clear and a solid proof of this fact, which may seem a mystery, it should be understood as a certain truth, that riches do not constitute happiness in men, in proportion to their material magnitude, but in proportion to what is enjoyed of them, either with respect to convenience, or the pleasure they occasion. What is a rich man the better, for having his table covered with a variety of delicate eatables, if he has lost his appetite? with all his dainties, he cannot be said to regale himself; and it fares much better in point of gratification with a poor man, who eats of a coarse dish, if his palate embraces it with earnestness.
IX. The comparison of relish with respect to food, may be applied to all our other senses and faculties with respect to their objects; for let these be gratified and delighted to whatever degree you can suppose, the pleasure produced in every individual, will tally with the disposition of the organ; and therefore, the greater or lesser degree of felicity of the subject, in the use of those objects, should be measured, not by the entative magnitude which is contained in them, but by the delight they afford. This being the case, you will find, that vast riches do not furnish to an opulent man greater enjoyments, nor turn aside from him more vexations, than is afforded to, and diverted from a poor man with his scanty means; and you will conclude, those are not more happy than these, and that consequently the fortunes of both are equal.
X. But how are we to know the hearts, and what passes in the breasts of persons in the one and the other state? Nothing is more easy. Nero erected a temple to Fortune, which he built with transparent stones, found in his days in Capadocia; so that from the outside, although the doors were shut, you could see all that passed within the temple. And nature has so made mankind, that from without, you may discern their good or bad interior situation, their looks for this purpose supplying the use of transparent stones, and their lips expressing their pleasures and vexations. Observe, says Seneca, (Epist. 80.) through the crystal of their countenances, the recesses of the bosoms of the rich and the poor: compara inter se pauperum & divitum vultus, and you will most frequently find the last more chearful than the first: sæpius pauper, & fidelius ridet. In this instance, he gives the preference to the condition of the poor; in other respects, he supposes the benefits of both stations to be equal: observe, says he, the greatest part of the poor people, and you will find, that they are in no respect more sad or oppressed than the rich: primum aspice quanto major pars sit pauperum, quos nihilo notabis tristiores, solicitioresque divitibus. (In consolat. ad Helviam.)
XI. Saint Austin found great benefit, from a reflection he made, upon seeing a Mendicant Friar go through a village in the state of Milan, to all appearance quite chearful and happy. He compared his own fortune with that of the poor man, and found, that he was joyous, and himself oppressed; that he was free from apprehensions, and himself full of terrors: Et certè ille lætabatur, ego anxius eram; securus ille, ego trepidus; and from thence he concluded, the fortune of that Mendicant was much better than his own: Nimirum quippe ille felicior erat. (Confess. lib. 6. cap. 6.)
XII. This is viewing things according to what they are in their own nature. To estimate the felicity of any man, you should not consider the goods he possesses, but the enjoyment he receives from the possession of them. Although the rich man always sits down to a splendid banquet, a poor man regales himself better than him, if, as is most commonly the case, he knows better what he eats. No man will say, that the existence of riches without their use is of any value. It is necessary, in order to relish their sweets, that you should expend them. They are a good of such a nature, that they can only be enjoyed when you part with them. He who keeps his gold in a chest may receive some satisfaction in contemplating, that he has it at his command, but that is much inferior to the inevitable chagrin, which attends his continual care and anxiety. Horace sung wisely, who held, that convenience consisted more in the want, than in the possession of such goods, as their concern for the preservation of kept people in constant alarms and terrors night and day, for fear a thief should break in and steal them, an unfaithful servant purloin them, or a fire consume them.
An vigilare metu exanimem, noctesque diesque
Formidare malos fures, incendia, servos
Ne te compilent fugientes, hoc juvat? Horum
Semper ego optarim pauperimus esse bonorum.
Lib. 1. Sat. 1.