and imprisoned her for her immodeft latitudes. The people of Rome complaining that wine was dear, he fent them to the fountains, telling them, They were cheap.

§. XXXVI. TIBERIUS would not suffer himself to be called Lord, nor yet His Sacred Majefty: For, fays he, they are divine titles, and belong not to man. The commiffioners of his treasury advising him to increase his taxes upon the people, he anfwered, No, it was fit to fhear, but not to flay the sheep.

§. XXXVII. VESPASIAN was a great and an extraordinary man, who maintained fomething of the Roman virtue in his time. One day feeing a young man finely dreffed, and richly perfumed, he was difpleased with him, faying, I had rather smell the poor man's garlick, than thy perfume; and took his place and government from him. A certain perfon being brought before him, that had confpired against him, he reproved him, and faid, That it was God who gave and took away empires. Another time, conferring favour upon his enemy, and being asked why he did fo? he answered, That he should remember the right way.

§. XXXVIII. TRAJAN would fay, That it became an Emperor to act towards his people, as he would have his people act towards him. The governor of Rome having delivered the fword into his hand, and created him emperor, Here, faith he, take it again: if I reign well use it for me: if ill, ufe it against me. An expression which fhews. great humility and goodness, making power fubfervient to virtue.

§. XXXIX. ADRIAN, alfo emperor, had feveral fayings worthy of notice: one was, That a good prince did not think the eftates of his fubjects belonged to him. He would fay, That kings fhould not always act the king: that is, fhould be just, and mix sweetness with greatness, and be converfible by good men: That the treasures of princes are like the fpleen, that never fwells but it makes other parts fhrink: teaching princes thereby to fpare their fubjects. Meeting one that was his enemy before he was emperor, he cried out to him,

Now

Now thou haft no more to fear: intimating, that having power to revenge himself, he would rather ufe it to do him good.

$. XL. MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS, a good man. (the Christians of his time felt it) commended his fon for weeping at his tutor's death; anfwering those that would have rendered it unfuitable to his condition, Let him alone, says he, it is fit he should shew himself a man, before he be a prince. He refused to divorce his wife, at the inftigation of his courtiers, though reputed naught; answering, I muft divorce the empire too; for the brought it: refusing them, and defending his tenderness. He did nothing in the government without confulting his friends; and would fay, It is more juft that one fhould follow the advice of many, than many the mind of one. He was more philofopher than emperor; for his dominions were greater within than without: and having commanded his own paffions by a circumfpect conformity to virtuous principles, he was fit to rule thofe of other men. Take fome of his excellent fayings, as followeth.-Of my grandfather Verus I have learned to be gentle and meek, and to refrain from all anger and paffion. From the fame and memory of him that begot me, fhame-facedness and man-like behaviour. I obferved his meeknefs, his conftancy without wavering, in thofe things, which after a due examination and deliberation he had determined; how free from all vanity he carried himself in matter of honour and dignity! his laboriousness and affiduity! his readiness to hear any man that had ought to fay tending to any common good! how he did abftain from all unchafte love of youth! his moderate condefcending to other men's occafions as an ordinary man. Of my mother, to be religious and bountiful, and to forbear not only to do, but to intend, any evil : to content myself with a fpare diet, and to fly all fuch excefs as is incident to great wealth. Of my grandfather, both to frequent public fchools and auditories, and to get me good and able teachers at home; and that I ought not to think much, if upon fuch occafions I VOL. II. e

were

were at exceffive charge. I gave over the study of rhetorick and poetry, and of elegant neat language. I did not use to walk about the house in my fenator's robe, nor to do any fuch things. I learned to write letters without any affectation and curiofity; and to be eafy, and ready to be reconciled, and well pleased again with them that had offended me, as foon as any of them would be content to feek unto me again. To obferve carefully the feveral difpofitions of my friends, and not to be offended with ideots, nor unreasonably to fet upon those that are carried away with the vulgar opinions, with the theorems and tenets of philofophers. To love the truth and juftice, and to be kind and loving to all them of my houfe and family, I learned from my brother Severus: and it was he that put me in the first conceit and defire of an equal common-wealth, administered by juftice and equality; and of a kingdom, wherein fhould be regarded nothing more than the good and welfare (or liberty) of the fubjects. As for God, and fuch fuggeftions, helps and infpirations, as might be expected, nothing did hinder but that I might have begun long before to live according to nature. Or that even now, that I was not yet partaker, and in prefent poffeffion of that life, that I myself (in that I did not observe thofe inward motions and fuggeftions; yea, and almost plain and apparent inftructions and admonitions of God) was the only cause of it. I that understand the nature of that which is good, that it is to be defired; and of that which is bad, that it is odious and shameful: who know moreover, that this transgreffor, whofoever he be, is my kinfman, not by the fame blood and feed, but by participation of the fame Reason, and of the fame Divine Particle, or Principle: how can I either be hurt by any of these, fince it is not in their power to make me incur any thing that is reproachful, or be angry and ill-affected towards him, who, by nature, is fo near unto me? for we are all born to be fellow-workers, as the feet, the hands, and the eyelids; as the rows of upper and under teeth: for fuch therefore to be in oppofition, is against nature. He

faith, it is high time for thee to understand the true nature, both of the world, whereof thou art a part, and of that Lord and Governor of the world, from whom, as a channel from the fpring, thou thyfelf didft flow. And that there is but a certain limit of time appointed unto thee, which if thou fhalt not make use of, to calm and allay the many diftempers of thy foul, it will pass away, and thou with it, and never after return. Do, foul, do abuse and contemn thyself yet a while! and the time for thee to repent thyfelf will be at an end! Every man's happinefs depends upon himself; but behold, thy life is almoft at an end, whilft, not regarding thyfelf as thou oughteft, thou doft make thy happiness to confift in the fouls and conceits of other men. Thou muft alfo take heed of another kind of wandering; for they are idle in their actions who toil and labour in their life, and have no certain scope to which to direct all their motions and defires. As for life and death, honour and dishonour, labour and pleafure, riches and poverty, all these things happen unto men indeed, both good and bad equally, but as things which of themselves are neither good nor bad, because of themselves neither fhameful nor praife-worthy. Confider the nature of all worldly visible things; of thofe especially, which either enfnare by pleasure, or for their irksomeness are dreadful, or for their outward luftre and fhew are in great efteem and request; how vile and contemptible, how bafe and corruptible, how deftitute of all true life and being they are. There is nothing more wretched than that foul, which, in a kind of circuit, compaffeth all things; fearching even the very depths of all the earth, and, by all figns and conjectures, prying into the very thoughts of other men's fouls; and yet of this is not fenfible, that it is fufficient for a man to apply himself wholly, and confine all his thoughts and cares to the guidance of that Spirit which is within him, and truly and really serve him. For even the leaft things ought not to be done without relation to the end: and the end of the reasonable creature is, To follow and obey him who is the

reason,

reafon, as it were, and the law, of this great city and moft ancient common-wealth. Philofophy doth confift in this; For a man to preferve that spirit which is within him from all manner of contumelies and injuries, and above all pains and pleafures; never to do any thing either rafhly, or feignedly, or hypocritically:. he that is fuch, is He furely; indeed a very priest and minister of God; well acquainted, and in good correfpondence, with Him efpecially that is feated and placed within himfelf: to whom alfo he keeps and preferveth himself, neither spotted by pleasure, nor daunted by pain; free from any manner of wrong or contumely. Let thy God that is in thee, to rule over thee, find by thee that he hath to do with a man, an aged man, a fociable man, a Roman, a prince, and that hath ordered his life as one that expecteth, as it were, nothing but the found of the trumpet, founding a retreat to depart out of this life with all readiness. Never esteem of any thing as profitable, which fhall ever constrain thee either to break thy faith or to lofe thy modefty; to hate any man, to fufpect, to curfe, to diffemble, to luft after any thing that requireth the fecret of walls or veils. But he that preferreth before all things his rational part and spirit, and the facred mysteries of virtue which iffue from it, he fhall never want either folitude or company; and, which is chiefeft of all, he shall live without either defire or fear. If thou fhalt intend that which is prefent, following the rule of right and reason, carefully, folidly, meekly; and fhalt not intermix any other bufinefs; but fhalt ftudy this, to preserve thy fpirit unpolluted and pure; and, as one that were even now ready to give up the ghoft, fhalt cleave unto him, without either hope or fear of any thing, in all things that thou fhalt either do or fpeak; contenting thyfelf with heroical truth, thou shalt live happily; and from this there is no man that can hinder thee. Without relation to God, thou fhalt never perform aright any thing human; nor, on the other fide, any thing divine. At what time foever thou wilt, it is in thy power to retire into thyself, and to be at reft; for a

man