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THE ANATOMY OF MELANCHOLY
Then be not with your present lot depressed,
And meet the future with undaunted breast;"
as he said then, ager cujus, quot habes Dominos? So say I of land, houses, movables and money,
mine today, his anon, whose tomorrow? In fine, (as Machiavel observes) "virtue and prosperity
beget rest; rest idleness; idleness riot; riot destruction from which we come again to good laws;
good laws engender virtuous actions; virtue, glory, and prosperity;" "and 'tis no dishonour then"
(as Guicciardine adds) "for a flourishing man, city, or state to come to ruin," "nor infelicity to be
subject to the law of nature." Ergo terrena calcanda, sitienda cœlestia, (therefore I say) scorn
this transitory state, look up to heaven, think not what others are, but what thou art: Qua parte
locatus es in re: and what thou shalt be, what thou mayst be. Do (I say) as Christ himself did,
when he lived here on earth, imitate him as much as in thee lies. How many great Caesars,
mighty monarchs, tetrarchs, dynasties, princes lived in his days, in what plenty, what delicacy,
how bravely attended, what a deal of gold and silver, what treasure, how many sumptuous
palaces had they, what provinces and cities, ample territories, fields, rivers, fountains, parks,
forests, lawns, woods, cells, &c.? Yet Christ had none of all this, he would have none of this, he
voluntarily rejected all this, he could not be ignorant, he could not err in his choice, he
contemned all this, he chose that which was safer, better, and more certain, and less to be
repented, a mean estate, even poverty itself; and why dost thou then doubt to follow him, to
imitate him, and his apostles, to imitate all good men: so do thou tread in his divine steps, and
thou shalt not err eternally, as too many worldlings do, that run on in their own dissolute courses,
to their confusion and ruin, thou shalt not do amiss. Whatsoever thy fortune is, be contented with
it, trust in him, rely on him, refer thyself wholly to him. For know this, in conclusion, Non est
volentis nec currentis, sed miserentis Dei, 'tis not as men, but as God will. "The Lord maketh
poor and maketh rich, bringeth low, and exalteth" (1 Sam. ii. ver. 7. 8), "he lifteth the poor from
the dust, and raiseth the beggar from the dunghill, to set them amongst princes, and make them
inherit the seat of glory;" 'tis all as he pleaseth, how, and when, and whom; he that appoints the
end (though to us unknown) appoints the means likewise subordinate to the end.
Yea, but their present estate crucifies and torments most mortal men, they have no such
forecast, to see what may be, what shall likely be, but what is, though not wherefore, or from
whom, hoc anget, their present misfortunes grind their souls, and an envious eye which they cast
upon other men's prosperities, Vicinumque pecus grandius uber habet, how rich, how fortunate,
how happy is he? But in the meantime he doth not consider the other miseries, his infirmities of
body and mind, that accompany his estate, but still reflects upon his own false conceived woes
and wants, whereas if the matter were duly examined, he is in no distress at all, he hath no cause
to complain.
------"tolle querelas,
Pauper enim non est cui rerum suppetit usus,"
"Then cease complaining, friend, and learn to live.
He is not poor to whom kind fortune grants,
Even with a frugal hand, what Nature wants."
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