Serra. CXCV. eternal Life. 631 no man can be Paid to enjoy any thing farther than he underftands the nature and ufe of it. But fuppofe this great man had a mind and underflanding vaft and bound- lefs as his dominion and poffefiìons are g yet he could enjoy but a very fmall part of what he poffeffeth ; thereare millions in the world, that indefpiteof himwould flare thefe things equally with him ; equally, I fay, to all thepurpofes of human life, and of a temporal felicity, and enjoy as much as he. It may perhaps give a man force imaginary pleafure, to furvey in his thoughts, howmuch he hath the command of; but when he hash done, he cannot tell what to do with the hundred thoufandth part of what hepoffeffeth, he cannot fo much' as have the flight and tranlitory pleafure ofbeholding it with his eyes, any other- wife than in a Chart or Map, which every man elfe may do as well as he ; but as to all real benefits and advantages, he can enjoy but a very fmall part of the world, accordingto the neceffity and the capacity of a man. He hath indeed wherewithal to make himfelfmore foft and delicate, wherewith to furfeitfooner, and to be fick oftner than other men: but whatevercan minifter to true pleafure and delight, and ferve any real occafions of nature,., there are thou= fands in the world will enjoyas well as he. He may have the opportunityofcloy ing himfelf with the fight of more dilhes, and of being almoft every day Rifled in the crowd of a numerous train, and of doing every thing with a thoufand eyes upon him ; but he inuft of neceffity want both the real pleafure and enjoyment of a great many things, which even a poorer man may have ; he can neither eat with that appetite, nor ffeep with that pleafure that a labouring man does. The còn- ftant fulnefs both of his flornach and his tabled make him incapableof ever having a feaft, and the height and profperity of his fortune , keep him from having any friends ; or which comes all to one, from knowing that he bath any; for that no mancan know till the change ofhis condition give him the opportunity to difcern between his friends and his flatterers. So that if a man could gain the whole world, it would be no fuch mighty pur- chafe ; and the very firft thing fuch a man would do, if he were wife enough to contrive his own happinefs, would be to take fo much to himfelf, as would ferveall the real ufes and conveniencesofhuman life, and to rid his hands of therefs, as faft as he could. And whocan think it reafonable, eagerly to delireand feek after that, which a wife man would think it reafonable to part with if he had it. 3. If it were poffible that one man could gain, and really the all the world, it is a thoufand to one this man would find no great happinefs and contentment in it i becaufe we fee in daily experience, that it is not the increafe of riches, or the acceffions ofhonours, that givea man happinefsand fatisfaftion ; becaufe this does not fpring from external enjoyments, but from the inward frame anddifpofition of a man's mind; and that man who can govern his paffions, and ftint his delires, will as foon find contentment in a moderate fortune, as in the revenues of a King- dom; and he that cannot do this, isnot to befatisfied with abundance; he bath art an unnatural thirft, like that of a Dropfre, which isfooner quench'd by abftinence, than by drinking, the more he pours in, the more he is inflamed. He that confiders the world, may eafily obferve, that poverty and contentment do much oftner meet together, than a great fortune and a fatisfied mind. All ful- nefs is naturallyuneafie, and men are many tunes in greater pain after a hill Meal, thanbefore they fat down. The greateft enjoyments ofthis world, as they are va- nity, fo they are ufually attended with vexationof Spirit. God bath fo contrived things, that ordinarily the pleafures of human life do confift more in hope than in enjoyment ; fo that if a manhad gained all the world, one of the chief pleafures of life would be gone, becaufe there would be nothing more left for him to hope for in this world. For whatever happinefs men may fancy to themfelves in things at a diftance, there is not a more melancholycon- dition, than to beat the top ofgreatnefs, and to have nothingmore left to afpire af- ter ; and he is a miferable man, whofe delires are not fatisfied, and yet his hopes are at an end ; fo that if a man could do what Alexander thought he had done, 'conquer the whole world, when that work was' over, he would in all probability do, juft ashe did, fit down and weep that there were nothing more left for him to a do.
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