III. I will now proceed to report the virtuous doctrines and sayings of men of more retirement; such as philosophers and writers, both Greeks and Romans, who in their respective times were masters in the civility, knowledge, and virtue that were among the Gentiles, being most of them many ages before the coming of Christ, viz.
1. Thales.—2. Pythagoras.—3. Solon.—4. Chilon.—5. Periander.—6. Bias.—7. Cleobulus.—8. Pittacus.—9. Hippias.—10. The Bambycatii.—11. The Gynæcosmi.—12. Anacharsis.—13. Anaxagoras.—14. Heraclitus.—15. Democritus.—16. Socrates.—17. Plato.—18. Antisthenes.—19. Xenocrates.—20. Bion.—21. Demonax.—22. Diogenes.—23. Crates.—24. Aristotle.—25. Mandanis.—26. Zeno.—27. Seneca.—28. Epictetus.
I. Thales, an ancient Greek philosopher, being asked by a person that had committed adultery if he might swear, answered, "By no means; for perjury is no less sinful than adultery; and so thou wouldst commit two sins to cover one." Being asked what was the best condition of a government, answered, "That the people be neither rich nor poor:" for he placed external happiness in moderation. He would say, "That the hardest thing in the world was to know a man's self; but the best to avoid those things which we reprove in others;" an excellent and close saying, "That we ought to choose well and then to hold fast. That the felicity of the body consists in health, and that in temperance; and the felicity of the soul in wisdom." He thought "That God was without beginning or end; that he was the searcher of hearts; that he saw the thoughts as well as actions: for being asked of one if he could sin and hide it from God, he answered, 'No: how can I when he who thinks evil cannot?'"
II. Pythagoras, a famous and virtuous philosopher of Italy, being asked when men might take the pleasure of their passions, answered, "When they have a mind to be worse." He said the world was like a comedy, and the true philosophers the spectators. He would say, "That luxury led to debauchery, and debauchery to violence, and that to bitter repentance: that he who taketh too much care of his body makes the prison of his soul more insufferable: that those who do reprove us are our best friends; that men ought to preserve their bodies from diseases by temperance, their souls from ignorance by meditation, their will from vice by self-denial, and their country from civil war by justice: that it is better to be loved than feared; that virtue makes bold: but," saith he, "there is nothing so fearful as an evil conscience." He said, "That men should believe in a Divinity, that he is, and that he overlooks them, and neglecteth them not; there is no being nor place without God." He told the senators of Croton, being two thousand, praying his advice, "That they received their country as a depositum, or trust from the people; wherefore they should manage it accordingly, since they were to resign their account, with their trust to their children; that the way to do it was to be equal to all citizens, and to excel them in nothing more than justice; that every one of them should so govern his family that he might refer himself to his own house as to a court of judicature, taking great care to preserve natural affection; that they be examples of temperance in their own families, and to the city; that in courts of judicature none attest God by an oath, but use themselves so to speak as they may be believed without an oath: that the discourse of that philosopher is vain, by which no passion of a man is healed; for as there is no benefit of medicine if it expel not diseases out of bodies, so neither of philosophy if it expel not evil out of the soul."
III. Solon, esteemed as Thales, one of the seven sages of Greece, a noble philosopher, and a lawgiver to the Athenians, was so humble that he refused to be prince of that people, and voluntarily banished himself when Pisastratus usurped the government there;[5] resolving never to outlive the laws and freedom of his country. He would say, that to make a government last the magistrates must obey the laws, and the people the magistrates. It was his judgment, that riches brought luxury, and luxury brought tyranny. Being asked by Crœsus, king of Lydia, when seated on his throne richly clothed and magnificently attended, if he had ever seen anything more glorious; he answered, cocks, peacocks, and pheasants; by how much their beauty is natural. These undervaluing expressions of wise Solon, meeting so pat upon the pride and luxury of Crœsus, they parted; the one desirous of toys and vanities, the other an example and instructor of true nobility and virtue, that contemned the king's effeminacy. Another time Crœsus asked him who was the happiest man in the world; expecting he would have said Crœsus,[6] because the most famous for wealth in those parts: he answered, "Tellus, who, though poor, yet was an honest and good man, and contented with what he had: who, after he had served the commonwealth faithfully, and seen his children and grandchildren virtuously educated, died for his country in a good old age, and was carried by his children to his grave." This much displeased Crœsus, but he dissembled it. Whilst Solon recommended the happiness of Tellus, Crœsus, moved, demanded to whom he assigned the next place; making no question but himself should be named, "Cleobis," saith he, "and Bito, brethren that loved well, had a competency, were of great health and strength; most tender and obedient to their mother, religious of life, who after sacrificing in the temple fell asleep and waked no more." Hereat Crœsus growing angry, "Strange!" saith he, "doth our happiness seem so despicable that thou wilt not rank us equal with private persons?" Solon answered, "Dost thou inquire of us about human affairs? Knowest thou not that Divine Providence is severe, and often full of alteration? Do not we in process of time see many things we would not? Aye, and suffer many things we would not? Count man's life at seventy years, which makes[7] twenty-six thousand two hundred and fifty and odd days, there is scarcely one day like another: so that every one, O Crœsus! is attended with crosses. Thou appearest to me very rich, and king over many people; but the question thou askest I cannot resolve till I hear thou hast ended thy days happily: for he that hath much wealth is not happier than he that gets his bread from day to day, unless Providence continue those good things, and that he dieth well. Solon, after his discourse, not flattering Crœsus, was dismissed, and accounted unwise that he neglected the present good out of regard to the future. Æsop, that wrote the fables, being then at Sardis, sent for thither by Crœsus, and much in favour with him, was grieved to see Solon so unthankfully dismissed, and said to him, "Solon, we must either tell kings nothing at all or what may please them:" "No," saith Solon, "either nothing at all, or what is best for them." However it was not long ere Crœsus was of another mind; for being taken prisoner by Cyrus, the founder of the Persian monarchy, and by his command fettered and put on a pile of wood to be burned, Crœsus sighed deeply,[8] and cried, "O Solon! Solon!" Cyrus bid the interpreter ask on whom he called. He was silent; at last pressing him, answered, "Upon him who I desire above all wealth, would have spoken with all tyrants." This not understood, upon further importunity he told them, "Solon, an Athenian, who long since," says he, "came to me, and seeing my wealth, despised it; besides, what he told me is come to pass; nor did his counsel belong to me alone, but to all mankind, especially those that think themselves happy." Whilst Crœsus said thus, the fire began to kindle and the outparts to be seized by the flame: Cyrus, informed of the interpreters what Crœsus said, began to be troubled; and knowing himself to be a man, and that to use another, not inferior to himself in wealth, so severely, might one day be retaliated, instantly commanded the fire to be quenched, and Crœsus and his friends to be brought off: whom ever after, as long as he lived, Cyrus had in great esteem. Thus Solon gained due praise, that of two kings his advice saved one and instructed the other. And as it was in Solon's time that tragical plays were first invented, so he was most severe against them; foreseeing the inconveniencies that followed upon the people's being affected with the novelty of pleasure. It is reported of him that he went himself to the play, and after it was ended he went to Thespis, the great actor, and asked him if he were not ashamed to tell so many lies in the face of so great an auditory. Thespis answered, as it is now usual, "There is no harm nor shame to act such things in jest." Solon, striking his staff hard upon the ground, replied, "But in a short time we who approve of this kind of jest shall use it in earnest in our common affairs and contracts." In fine, he absolutely forbade him to teach or act plays, conceiving them deceitful and unprofitable; diverting youth and tradesmen from more necessary and virtuous employments. He defined them happy who are competently furnished with their outward callings,[9] that live temperately and honestly: he would say that cities are the common sewer of wickedness. He affirmed that to be the best family which got not unjustly, kept not unfaithfully, spent not with repentance. "Observe," saith he, "honesty in thy conversation more strictly than an oath. Seal words with silence; silence with opportunity. Never lie, but speak the truth. Fly pleasure, for it brings sorrow. Advise not the people what is most pleasant, but what is best. Make not friends in haste, nor hastily part with them. Learn to obey, and thou wilt know how to command. Be arrogant to none; be mild to those about thee. Converse not with wicked persons. Meditate on serious things. Reverence thy parents. Cherish thy friend. Conform to reason, and in all things take counsel of God." In fine, his two short sentences were these:[10] "Of nothing too much;" and "Know thyself."
IV. Chilon, another of the wise men of Greece, would say, that it was the perfection of a man, to foresee and prevent mischiefs; that herein good people differ from bad ones, their hopes were firm and assured; that God was the great touchstone, or rule of mankind; that men's tongues ought not to outrun their judgment: that we ought not to flatter great men, lest we exalt them above their merit and station; nor to speak hardly of the helpless. They that would govern a state well, must govern their families well. He would say, that a man ought so to behave himself, that he fall neither into hatred nor disgrace. That that commonwealth is happiest where the people mind the law more than the lawyers. Men should not forget the favours they receive, nor remember those they do. Three things, he said, were difficult, yet necessary to be observed: to keep secrets, forgive injuries, and use time well. "Speak not ill," says he, "of thy neighbour. Go slowly to the feast of thy friends, but swiftly to their troubles. Speak well of the dead. Shun busybodies. Prefer loss before covetous gain. Despise not the miserable. If powerful, behave thyself mildly, that thou mayst be loved rather than feared. Order thy house well: bridle thy anger: grasp not at much: make not haste, neither dote upon anything below. A prince," saith he, "must not take up his time about transitory and mortal things; eternal and immortal are fittest for him." To conclude: he was so just in all his actions, that Laertius tells us, he professed in his old age, that he had never done anything contrary to the conscience of an upright man; only, that of one thing he was doubtful, having given sentence against his friend, according to law, he advised his friend to appeal from him his judge, so to preserve both his friend and the law. Thus true and tender was conscience in heathen Chilon.
V. Periander, prince and philosopher too, would say, that pleasures are mortal, but virtues immortal.[11] "In success be moderate, in disappointments, patient and prudent. Be alike to thy friends, in prosperity, and in adversity. Peace is good; rashness dangerous; gain sordid. Betray not secrets: punish the guilty: restrain men from sin. They that would rule safely, must be guarded by love, not arms. To conclude," saith he, "live worthy of praise, so wilt thou die blessed."
VI. Bias, one of the seven wise men, being in a storm with wicked men, who cried mightily to God; "Hold your tongues,"[12] saith he, "it were better He knew not you were here:" a saying that hath great doctrine in it; the devotion of the wicked doth them no good: it answers to that passage in Scripture, "The prayers of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord." (Prov. xv. 8.) An ungodly man asking him what godliness was, he was silent: but the other murmuring, saith he, "What is that to thee, that is not thy concern?" He was so tender in his nature, that he seldom judged a criminal to death, but he wept; adding, "One part goeth to God, and the other part I must give the law." "That man is unhappy," saith he, "that cannot bear affliction. It is a disease of the mind, to desire that which cannot, or is not fit to be had. It is an ill thing, not to be mindful of other men's miseries." To one that asked what is hard, he answered, "To bear cheerfully a change for the worse." "Those," says he, "who busy themselves in vain knowledge, resemble owls that see by night, and are blind by day; for they are sharp-sighted in vanity, but dark at the approach of true light and knowledge." He adds, "Undertake deliberately; but then go through. Speak not hastily, lest thou sin. Be neither silly nor subtle. Hear much; speak little and seasonably. Make profession of God everywhere; and impute the good thou dost, not to thyself, but to the power of God." His country being invaded, and the people flying with the best of their goods, asked, why he carried none of his; "I," saith he, "carry my goods within me."—Valerius Maximus adds, "in his breast;" not to be seen by the eye, but to be prized by the soul; not to be demolished by mortal hands; present with them that stay, and not forsaking those that fly.
VII. Cleobulus, prince and philosopher of Lyndus:[13] he would say, "That it was man's duty to be always employed upon something that was good." Again, "Be never vain nor ungrateful. Bestow your daughters, virgins in years, but matrons in discretion. Do good to thy friend, to keep him; to thy enemy, to gain him. When any man goeth forth, let him consider what he hath to do; when he returneth, examine what he hath done. Know, that to reverence thy father is thy duty. Hear willingly, but trust not hastily. Obtain by persuasion, not by violence. Being rich, be not exalted: poor, be not dejected. Forego enmity. Instruct thy children. Pray to God, and persevere in godliness."