"Rumpitur innumeris arbos uberrima pomis, As a tree that is heavy laden with fruit breaks her own boughs, "Millia frumenti tua triverit area centum, Non tuus hinc capiet venter plus quam meus”. "an evil sickness," Solomon cals it, "and reserved to them for an evil," 12. verse. "They that will be rich fall into many fears and temptations, into many foolish and noisome lusts, which drown men in perdition." 1 Tim. 6. 9. "gold and silver hath destroyed many," Ecclus. 8. 2. divitiæ sæculi sunt laquei diaboli: so writes Bernard; Worldly wealth is the devil's bait; and as the Moon when she is fuller of light is still farthest from the Sun, the more wealth they have, the farther they are commonly from God. (If I had said this of my self, rich men would have pulled me a pieces; but hear who saith, and who seconds it, an Apostle) therefore St. James bids them them; weep and howle for the miseries that shall come upon their gold shall rust and canker, and eat their flesh as fire," James 5. 1, 2, 3. I may then boldly conclude with Theodo "As often as you ret, quotiescunq; divitiis affluentem, &c. shall see a man abounding in wealth," qui gemmis bibit & Serrano dormit in ostro," and naught withal, I beseech you call him not happy, but esteem him unfortunate, because he 66 + Hor. ⚫ Cap. 6. de * Ut postquam impinguati fuerint, devorentur. curat. græc. affect. rap. de providentia; quotiescunq; divitiis affluentem hominem videmus, cumq; pessimum, ne quæso hunc beatissimum putemus, sed infelicem censeamus, &c. 2 hath hath many occasions offered to live unjustly: on the other side, a poor man is not miserable, if he be good, but therefore happy, that those evil occasions are taken from him." "Non possidentem multa vocaveris He is not happy that is rich, And chuseth rather for to dye; Then do such villany. Wherein now consists his happiness? what privileges hath he more then other men? or rather what miseries, what cares and discontents hath le not more then other men? "Non enim gazæ, neque consularis Tecta volantes." Nor treasures, nor majors officers remove Or cares that lie about, or flye above Their high-roofed houses, with huge beams combin'd. 'Tis not his wealth can vindicate him, let him have Job's inventory, sint Cræsi & Crassi licet, non hos Pactolus aureas undas agens, eripat unquam è miseriis, Croesus or rich Crassus cannot now command health, or get himself a stomack. "His Worship," as Apuleius describes him, in all his plenty and great provision, is forbidden to eat, or else hath no appetite, (sick in bed, can take no rest, sore grieved with some chronick disease, contracted with full dyet and ease, or troubled in mind) when as in the mean time, all his houshold are merry, and the poorest servant that he keeps, doth continually feast.' "Tis Bracteata felicitas, as Seneca terms it, tinfoyl'd happiness, infelix felicitas, an unhappy kind of happiness, if it be happiness at all. His gold, guard, clattering of & Hor. lib. 2. f Hor. I. 2. Od. 9. h Florid. lib. 4. Dives ille cibo interdicitur, et in omni copia sua cibum non accipit, cum interea totum ejus servitium hilare sit, atque epuletur. Epist. 115. harness, harness, and fortifications against outward enemies, cannot tree him from inward fears and cares. Reveraque metus hominum, curæq; sequaces Look how many servants he hath, and so many enemies he suspects; for liberty he entertains ambition; his pleasures are no pleasures; and that which is worst, he cannot be private or enjoy himself as other men do, his state is a servitude. A country man may travel from kingdome to kingdome, province to province, city to city, and glut his eyes with delightful objects, hawk, hunt, and use those ordinary disports, without any notice taken, all which a Prince or a great man cannot do. He keeps in for state, ne majestatis dignitas evilescat, as our China kings, of Bornay, and Tartarian Chams, those aurea mancipia, are said to do, seldome or never seen abroad, ut major sit hominum erga se observantia, which the *Persian Kings so precisely observed of old. A poor man takes more delight in an ordinary meal's meat, which he hath but seldom, then they do with all their exotick dainties and continual Viands; Quippe voluptatem commendat rarior usus, 'tis the rarity and necessity that makes a thing acceptable and pleasant. Darius, put to flight by Alexander, drank puddle water to quench his thirst, and it was pleasanter he swore then any wine or Mede. All excess as Epictetus argues, will cause a dislike; Sweet will be sour, which made that temperate Epicurus sometimes voluntarily fast. But they being alwayes accustomed to the same dishes, (which are nastily dressed by slovenly cooks, that after their obscenities never wash their bawdy hands) be they fish, flesh, compounded, made dishes, or whatsoever else, are therefore cloyed; Nectar self grows loathsome to them, they are weary of all their fine palaces, they are to them but as so many prisons. A poor man drinks in a wooden dish, and eats his meat in wooden spoons, wooden platters, earthen vessels, and such homely stuffe: the other in gold, silver, and precious stones; but with what suc * Hor et mihi curto Ire licet mulo vel si libet usq; Tarentum. * Brisonius. + Si modum excesseris, suavissima sunt molesta. 1 Et in cupidiis gulæ, coquus et pueri illotis manibus ab exoneratione ventris omnia tractant, &c. Cardan. 1 8. cap. 46. de rerum varietate. cess in auro bibitur venenum, fear of poyson in the one, security in the other. A poor man is able to write, to speak his mind, to do his own business himself; locuples mittit parasitum, saith Philostratus, a rich man imployes a parasite, ani as the Major of a City, speaks by the Town-clark, or by Mr Recorder, when he cannot express himself. + Nonius the Senator hath a purple coat as stiffe with jewels as his mind is full of vices; rings on his fingers worth 20000 sestercies, and as Perox the Persian King, an union in his eare worth 100' weight of gold: Cleopatra hath whole boars and sheep served up to her table at once, drinks Jewels dissolved, 40000 sestercies in value; but to what end? " || Num tibi cum fauces urit sitis, aurea quæris Pocula?" Doth a man that is a dry desire to drink in gold? Doth not a cloth shute become him as well, and keep him as warm, as all their silks, sattins, damasks, taffatics and tissues? Is not home spun cloth as great a preservative against cold, as a coat of Tartar Lamb's wooll, died in grain, or a gown of Giant's beards? Nero, saith Sueton, never put on one garment twice, and thou hast scarce one to put on; What's the difference? one's sick, the other sound: such is the whole tenor of their lives, and that which is the consummation and upshot of all, death it self makes the greatest difference. One like an hen feeds on the dunghil all his daies, but is served up at last to his Lord's table; the other as a Falcon is fed with partridge and pigeons, and carried on his master's fist, but when he dyes is flung to the muckhil, and there lies. The rich man lives like Dives jovially here on earth, temulentus divitiis, make the best of it; and "boasts himself in the multitude of his riches,". Psal. 49. 6, 11. he thinks his house "called after his own name,' shall continue for ever; "but he perisheth like a beast," ver. 20. "his way utters his folly," ver. 13. malè parta, malè dilabuntur; "like sheep they lye in the grave," 14. Puncto descendunt ad infernum, "They spend their days in wealth, and go suddenly down to hell," Job 21. 13. For all Physicians and medicines inforcing nature, a sowning wife, families complaints, friends tears, Dirges, Masses, nenia's, funerals, for all Orations, counterfeit hired acclamations, Elogiums, Epitaphs, herses, heralds, black mourners, solemnities, obelisks, and Mausolean tombs, if he have them at least, he like a hog, goes to hell with a guilty conscience (propter * Epist. vit. ejus. + Plin. lib. 57. cap. 6. Hor. Ser. lib. 1. Sat. 2. Zonaras 3. annal. § Plutarch, Cap. 30. nullam vestem bis induit. Ad generum Cereris sine cæde & sanguine pauci Descendunt reges, & sicca morte tyranni. hos hos dilatavit infernus os suum) and a poor man's curse: his memory stinks like the snuffe of a candle when it is put out; scurril libels, and infamous obloquies accompany him. When as poor Lazarus is Dei sacrarium, the Temple of God, lives and dies in true devotion, hath no more attendants, but his own innocency, the heaven a tomb, desires to be dissolved, buried in his mother's lap, and hath a company of Angels ready to convey his soul into Abraham's bosom, he leaves an everlasting and a sweet memory behind him. Crassus and Sylla are indeed still recorded, but not so much for their wealth, as for their victories: Cræsus for his end, Solomon for his wisdome. In a word, "to get wealth is a great trouble, anxiety to keep, grief to lose it." "Quid dignum stolidis mentibus imprecer? Et cum falsa gravi mole paraverint, Tum vera cognoscant bona." But consider all those other unknown, concealed happinesses, which a poor man hath (I call them unknown, because they be not acknowledged in the world's esteem, or so taken) Ó fortunatos nimium bona si sua norint: happy they are in the mean time if they would take notice of it, make use, or apply it to themselves. "A poor man wise is better then a foolish king," Eccl. 2. 13. "Poverty is the way to heaven, the mistress of philosophy, the mother of religion, vertue, sobriety, sister of innocency, and an upright mind.” How many such encomiums might I adde out of the Fathers, Philosophers, Orators? It troubles many that are poor, they accompt of it as a great plague, curse, a sign of God's hatred, ipsum scelus, damn'd villany itself, a disgrace, shame and reproach; but to whom, or why? If fortune hath envyed me wealth, thieves have robbed me, my father have not left me such revenues as others have, that I am a younger brother, basely born, "cui sine luce genus, surdumq; parentum--nomen," of mean parentage, a dirt-dauber's son, am I therefore to be blamed? an Eagle, a Bull, a Lion is not rejected for his po "Aus "God shall deliver his soule from the power of the grave, Psal. 49. 15. *Contempl. Idiot. Cap. 37. divitiarum acquisitio magni laboris, possessio magni timoris, amissio magni doloris. + Boethius de consol. phil. 1. 3. tin in Ps. 76. omnis Philosophiæ magistra, ad cœlum via. soror paupertas. Pædagoga pietatis sobria, pia mater, cultu simplex, habitu secura, consilio benesuada. Apul. Cardan. Opprobrium non est pau P Bonæ mentis pertas: quod latro eripit, aut pater non reliquit, cur mihi vitio daretur. si fortuna divitias invidit? non aquile, non, &c. verty, |