neither felicity nor infelicity, unlefs we co-operate with her. Few men, who are unhappy under the lofs of an eftate, would be happy in the poffeffion of it and thofe, who deferve to enjoy the advantages which exile takes away, will not be unhappy when they are deprived of them. : It grieves me to make an exception to this rule; but Tully was one fo remarkably, that the example can be neither concealed, nor paffed over. This great man, who had been the faviour of his country, who had feared, in the fupport of that caufe, neither the infults of a defperate party, nor the daggers of affaffins, when he came to fuffer for the fame caufe, funk under the weight. He difhonoured that banishment which indulgent Providence meant to be the means of rendering his glory complete. Uncer- tain where he should go, or what he fhould do, fearful as a woman, and froward as a child, he lamented the lofs of his rank, of his riches, and of ‹ his fplendid popularity. His eloquence ferved only to paint his ignominy in ftronger colours. He wept over the ruins of his fine houfe which Clodius had demolished and his feparation from Terentia, whom he repudiated not long afterwards, was perhaps an affliction to him at this time. Every thing becomes intolerable to the man who is once fubdued by grief *. He regrets what he took no pleasure in enjoying, and, overloaded already, he fhrinks at the weight of a feather. Cicero's behaviour, in fhort, was fuch that his friends, as well as his enemies, believed him * Mitto caetera intolerabilia. pedior. L. iii. Ad Attic. ep. 19.. Etenim fletu im to Caefar beheld, with a fe to have loft his fenfes *. cret fatisfaction, the man, who had refused to be his lieutenant, weeping under the rod of Clodius. Pompey hoped to find fome excufe for his own ingrati tude in the contempt which the friend, whom he had abandoned, expofed himfelf to. Nay Atticus judged him too meanly attached to his former fortune, and reproached him for it. Atticus, whofe great talents were ufury and trimming, who placed his prin cipal merit in being rich, and who would have been noted with infamy at Athens, for keeping well with all fides, and venturing on none † even Atticus blushed for Tully, and the moft plaufible man alive affumed the ftyle of Cato. : I have dwelt the longer on this inftance, because, whilst it takes nothing from the truth which has been eftablished, it teaches us another of great importance. Wife men are certainly fuperiour to all the evils of exile. But in a strict fenfe he, who has left any one paffion in his foul unfubdued, will not deferve that appellation. It is not enough that we have ftudied all the duties of public and private life, that. we are perfectly acquainted with them, and that we live up to them in the eye of the world: a paffion that lies dormant in the heart, and has efcaped our fcrutiny, or which we have obferved and indulged as venial, or which we have perhaps encouraged, as a principle to excite and to aid our virtue, may one time or other deflroy our tranquillity, and difgrace *Tam faepe, et tam vehementer objurgas, et animo infirmio effe dicis. Ib. PLUT. Vit. Solon.. our. our whole character. When virtue has fteeled the mind on every fide, we are invulnerable on every fide but Achilles was wounded in the heel. : The least part, overlooked or neglected, may expofe us to receive a mortal blow. Reason cannot obtain the abfolute dominion of our fouls by one victory. Vice has many referves, which muft be beaten; many ftrongholds, which must be forced; and we may be found of proof in many trials, without being fo in all. We may refift the fevereft, and yield to the weakeft attacks of fortune. We may have got the better of avarice, the most epidemical dife of the mind, yet be flaves to ambition *. We may have purged our fouls of the fear of death, and yet fone other fear may venture to lurk behind. This was the cafe of Cicero. Vanity was his cardinal vice t It had, I question not, warmed his zeal, quickened his industry, animated the love of his country, and fupported his conftancy against Catiline: but it SENECA fays the contrary of all this, according to the Stoical fyftem, which however he departs from on many occafions. Si contra unam quamlibet partem fortunae fatis tibi roboris eft, idem adverfus omnes erit. -Si avaritia dimifit, vehementiffima generis humani peftis, moram tibi ambitio non faciet. Si ultimum diem, etc. De Con. ad Hel. Non fingula vitia ratio, fed pariter omnia profternit. In univerjum femel vincitur. Ibid. Nec audacem quidem timoris abfolvimus: ne prodigum quidem avaritia liberamus. De Benef. L. iv, c. 27. Qui autem habet vitium unum, habet omnia. lb. L. v. c. 15. In animo autem gloriae cupido, qualis fuit Ciceronis, plurimum potelt. Vel. Pat. lib. 1. : gave to Clodius an entire victory over him. He was not afraid to die, and part with estate, rank, honour, and every thing which he lamented the lofs of but he was afraid to live deprived of them. Ut vivus haec amitterem *. He would probably have met death on this occasion with the fame firmness with which he faid to Popilius Laenus, his client and his murderer, "Approach, veteran, and, if at least "thou canst do this well, cut off my head." But he could not bear to fee himself, and to be seen by others, stripped of those trappings which he was accustomed to wear. This made him break out into fo many shameful expreffions. Poffum oblivifci qui fuerim? non fentire qui fim? quo caream honore? qua gloria? And fpeaking of his brother: Vitavi ne viderem; ne aut illius luctum fqualoremque afpicerem, aut me, quem ille florentiffimum reliquerat, preditum illi afflictumque offerremt. He had thought of death, and prepared his mind for it. There were occafions too where his vanity might be flattered by it. But the fame vanity hindered him in his profperous eftate from fuppofing fuch a reverse as afterwards happened to him. When it came, it found him unprepared, it furprifed him, it ftunned him; for he was ftill fond of the pomp and hurry of Rome, fumum, et opes, ftrepitumque Romae, and unweaned from all thofe things which habit renders neceffary, and which nature has left indifferent. We have enumerated them above, and it is time to defcend into a more particular examination of Ep. ad Attic. lib. iii. ep. 3, 7, 10. et paffim. † Lib. iii. ep. 10. ad Attic. them. them. Change of place then may be borne by every man. It is the delight of many. But who can bear the evils which accompany exile? You who ask the queftion can bear them. Every one who confiders them as they are in themfelves, instead of looking at them through the falfe optic which prejudice holds before our eyes. For what? you have loft your eftate: reduce your defires, and you will perceive yourself to be as rich as ever, with this confiderable advantage to boot, thất your cares will be diminished. Our natural and real wants are confined to narrow bounds, whilft thofe which fancy and custom create are confined to none. Truth lies within a little and certain com. pafs, but errour is immenfe. If we fuffer our defires therefore to wander beyond thefe bounds, they wander eternally. Nefcio quid curtae femper abefi rei. We become neceffitous in the midst of plenty, and our poverty encreafes with our riches. Reduce your defires, be able to fay with the Apoftle of Greece, to whom Erafinus was ready to addrefs his prayers, quam multis ipfe non egeo! banifh out of your exile all imaginary, and you will fuffer no real wants. The little ftream which is left will fuffice to quench the thirst of nature, and that which cannot be quenched by it, is not your thirst, but your * Naturalia defideria finita funt: ex falfa opinione nafcentia ubi definant non habent, nullus enim terminus falfo eft. SEN. Ep. 16. Excerp. ex Lib. SEN. falfely fo called. Si ad naturam vives, nunquam eris pauper; fi ad opinionem, nunquam dives: Exiguum natura defiderat, opinio immenfum SEN. Ep. 16. distemper; |