that calm and unruffled temper with which a good man bears the evils of life, from a conviction 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 reduced to these four: 1. Natural evils, or those to which we are by nature subject as men, and as perishable animals. 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 prodigality, debility and disease from intemperance. 3. Those by which the fortitude of the good are exercised; such as the persecutions raised 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 dangerous.
Is your reputation assailed by invidious calumnies? rejoice that your character cannot suffer but by false imputations. You are arraigned in a court of judicature, and are unjustly condemned: passion has influenced both your prosecutor and your judge, and you cannot forbear repining that you suffer although innocent; 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, because a few sugar plums were distributed to some children in his presence, of which they had not offered him a share? Ridiculous as this would appear, your complaints 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 heeds 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 reports, libels, and lampoons upon him and his administration, 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 detractingly of him: "If he speaks ill of me," says he, "I will give him as good an account of my words and actions as I can; and if that is 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 that suffers adversity without dejection, as for demolished temples, the very ruins whereof 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 therefore 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, dispose us to exercise the amiable virtue of charity, which our religion indelibly 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 it causes is abundantly recompensed by that sweet sensation which ever accompanies the exercise of benevolence.
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.
Refign'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.