PATIENCE

PATIENCE, that calm and unruffled temper with
which a good man bears the evils of life, from a con-
viction that they are at least permitted, if not sent, by
the best of Beings, who makes all things work together
for good to those who love and fear him.

The evils by which life is embittered may be re-
duced to these four: 1. Natural evils, or those to which
we are by nature subject as men, and as perishable ani-
mals. The greatest of these are, the death of those
whom we love, and of ourselves. 2. Those from which
we might be exempted by a virtuous and prudent
conduct, but which are the inseparable consequences
of imprudence or vice, which we shall call punishments;
as infamy proceeding from fraud, poverty from prodig-
ality, debility and disease from intemperance. 3. Those
by which the fortitude of the good are exercised; such
as the persecutions ruffled against them by the wicked.
To these may be added, 4. The opposition against which
we must perpetually struggle, arising from the diversity
of sentiments, manners, and characters of the persons
among whom we live.

Under all these evils patience is not only necessary
but useful: it is necessary, because the laws of nature
have made it a duty, and to murmur against natural
events is to affront providence; it is useful, because it
renders our sufferings lighter, shorter, and less dan-
gerous.

Is your reputation sullied by invidious calumnies?
rejoice that your character cannot suffer but by false
imputations. You are arraigned in a court of judi-
cature, and are unjustly condemned: passion has in-
fluenced both your prosecutor and your judge, and you
cannot forbear repining that you suffer although in-
nocent. But would it have been better that you
should have suffered being guilty? Would the greatest
misfortune that can befall a virtuous man be to you a
consolation? The opulence of a villain, the elevated
station to which he is raised, and the honours that are
paid to him, excite your jealousy, and fill your bosom
with repinings and regret. What! say you, are riches,

dignity, and power, reserved for such wretches as this?
Cease these groundless murmurs. If the possessions you
regret were real benefits, they would be taken from the
wicked and transferred to you. What would you say
of a successful hero, who, having delivered his country,
should complain that his services were ill requited, be-
cause a few sugar-plums were distributed to some chil-
dren in his presence, of which they had not offered him
a share? Ridiculous as this would appear, your com-
plaints are no better founded. Has the Lord of all no
reward to confer on you but perishable riches and empty
precarious honour?

It is fancy, not the reason of things, that makes life
so uneasy to us. It is not the place nor the condition,
but the mind alone, that can make any body happy or
miserable.

He that values himself upon conscience, not opinion,
never needs reproaches. When we are evil spoken of,
if we have not deserved it, we are never the worse; if
we have, we should mend.

Tiberius the Roman emperor, at the beginning of
his reign, acted in most things like a truly generous,
good natured, and clement prince. All slanderous re-
ports, libels, and lampoons upon him and his administra-
tion, he bore with extraordinary patience; saying,
"That in a free state the thoughts and tongues of
every man ought to be free;" and when the senate
would have proceeded against some who had published
libels against him, he would not consent to it; saying,
"We have not time enough to attend to such trifles;
if you once open a door to such informations, you will
be able to do nothing else; for under that pretence every
man will revenge himself upon his enemies by accusing
them to you." Being informed that one had spoken de-
structively of him: "If he speak ill of me," says he, "I
will give him as good an account of my words and ac-
tions as I can; and if that be not sufficient, I will satisfy
myself with having as bad an opinion of him as he has
of me." Thus far even Tiberius may be an example to
others.

Men will have the same veneration for a person who
suffers adversity without dejection, as for demolished
temples, the very ruins of which are reverenced and
adored.

A virtuous and well-disposed person, is like to good
metal; the more he is fired, the more he is refined; the
more he is opposed, the more he is approved; wrongs
may well try him and touch him, but cannot imprint in
him any false stamp.

The man who possesses this virtue (patience),
in this ample sense of it, stands upon an eminence, and
sees human things below him: the tempest indeed may
reach him; but he stands secure and collected against
it upon the basis of conscious virtue, which the severest
storms can seldom shake, and never overthrow.

Patience, however, is by no means incompatible
with sensibility, which, with all its inconveniences,
is to be cherished by those who understand and wish to
maintain the dignity of their nature. To feel for others,
disposes us to exercise the amiable virtue of charity, which
our religion indispensably requires. It constitutes that
enlarged benevolence which philosophy inculcates, and
which is indeed comprehended in Christian charity. It
is the privilege and the ornament of man; and the pain
which

Patience
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Patkul.

which it causes is abundantly recompensed by that sweet sensation which ever accompanies the exercise of beneficence.

To feel our own misery with full force is not to be deprecated. Affliction softens and improves the heart. Tears, to speak in the style of figure, fertilize the soil in which the virtues grow. And it is the remark of one who understood human nature, that the faculties of the mind, as well as the feelings of the heart, are meliorated by adversity.

But in order to promote these ends, our sufferings must not be permitted to overwhelm us. We must oppose them with the arms of reason and religion; and to express the idea in the language of the philosopher, as well as the poet, of Nature, every one, while he is compelled to feel his misfortunes like a man, should resolve also to bear them like a man.

Resign'd in ev'ry state,
With patience bear, with prudence push, your fate;
By suffering well our fortune we subdue,
Fly when she frowns, and when she calls pursue.