no great reafon to boast of his having a hand in either. But I fhall wave all that as to my particular, and speak to the employment of a statesman in general. Is there then any thing fo ridiculous as for a man to propose the making himself great, as the end of all his actions? The only end a wife man proposes, is the making himfelf happy; how ridiculous then must he appear, who makes himself miferable, in order to make himself great? Who feeks the contempt of the wife, that he may get the admiration of fools? Who leads a falfe diffembling life; fawning upon those who treat him infolently, and treating those infolently who fawn upon him? Who values himself upon the bearing other peoples burdens, for which the only thanks he gets, is envy, or contempt: Envy if he fucceed, and contempt if he fail? Should a man, who came late to an inn, instead of taking the reft that was requifite to refresh him for the next day's journey, enter into cabals, form defigns, and manage intrigues to get the best room in the house, which would make him very uneafy if he fail'd of it; and from which, tho' he fucceeded, he muft neceffarily depart the next morning; would not this man appear ridiculously foolish, and contemptible to all the world? And when we fee a man in a world from which he muft neceffarily depart in a very fhort space of time, instead of preparing himself for what is to follow, wafte all that little time in fenseless cabals, in vain defigns, and in ridiculous intrigues, to make himself great and powerful; which, if he do not attain it, makes him uneafy; and which, if he do, he. must leave immediately again: Is not this man ten times more ridiculous, and more foolish than the other? The man who by his folly lofes his rest one night, will without doubt grow wifer, and take a double fhare of reft the next: But alas! in the other cafe, it is quite different; there is no fecond opportunity of correcting the firft; and he who has fpent one life foolishly will never be trufted with another to employ better. ESCULAPIUS. Wifely urged, O incomparable ftoic! The folly of this fort of men is very palpable; and you, certainly, who can fo fagely find out their infirmities, can easily discover to us the men who are fubject to no infirmities at all. STOIC. You judge right, divine Efculapius! it is among us, and only us, that you must expect to find a real wife man. And our leaders have taught us, upon a due confideration of the world, to pronounce all men mad befide. "Tis true, their extravagance does not appear, perhaps to the vulgar; but as in a mad-house, one of the patients does not perceive that madness in his companion, which is presently found out by a fober ftander by: fo in this univerfal madness which poffeffes the world in general, tho' they do not discover it in one another, yet it is at first fight apparent to the eyes of the fage. Do you ask me then, who is this wife man that I have mentioned ? It is he who places not his felicity in his beauty, his wealth, or his learning; who defires no pleasure, who fears no pain whom the frowns of fortune cannot deject, nor her fmiles exalt: who is happy in prifons, in banishments, in torments! who if he were broiling in Phalaris's bull, would cry out, How pleasant is this! It matters not how many arrows fortune aims at him,. fince he is impenetrable to them all. As there are fome ftones fo hard, that the iron cannot touch; as diamonds can neither be cut nor broken, but refift the ftrongest force; as rocks in the fea break the fury of the waves, and, beaten upon fo many ages, retain no marks of its rage; fo is the foul of a wife man, folid and firm; and and has collected fo much strength, that it remains as fafe from all injuries, as any of the things I mentioned. But what will you fay; is there no one then who will attempt the injuring a wife man? Yes, they will attempt it, but they cannot perform it: he is elevated fo much above the vulgar, that none of their ill defigns can arrive at him. When that foolish king darkened the day with his arrows, there was not one of them which reached the fun; when the chains were caft into the fea, they could not bind the waves; and those who destroy the temples, do no injury to the divinity: In like manner, whatever is done proudly, maliciously, or infolently, againft a wife man, (who is in nothing different from a God, but in point of time) is but attempted in vain. ESCULAPIUS. O fage! O wonderful! O incomparable ftoic! This, this is a wife man indeed! Is it poffible that people can continue flaves to their follies, when wifdom propofes fuch fublime, fuch noble rewards to her followers ? But defcend a little from this high region, in which you are placed; conform yourselves to the weakneffes of others; and convince their ftupidity by living examples of this high pitch of wisdom you have fo nobly defcribed to them. But what is the matter with that man to laugh so? You, there, who ftand by yourself on the left fide, while all the reft are gotten upon the right. MAN, folus. Alas! Sir, who can forbear laughing, to fee men' hope by their pride and vanity, to exempt themfelves from those infirmities, to which all mankind are naturally fubject? This fage, this wonderful, this incomparable ftoic, after all his noble and high-flown fimilies, is neither fo hard as a diamond, fo firm as a rock, nor fo elevated as the fun. This mighty man, who would laugh laugh in Phalaris's bull, yet is liable to pain and anguish, as well as the meaneft of the people; the most vulgar weapon fhall hurt him; and the most ordinary strength fhall reach him. This contemplative perfon, who has found out the follies of all mankind, has one of his own that he does not fee, ten times more extravagant than any of theirs: fince there is no folly, fure, fo extravagant, as for one who labours under all the frailties, and weaknesses, and infirmities of mankind, to think himself in any wife comparable to the perfection of a God." ESCULAPIUS. Well, friend, what are you then, who dare accufe the ftoics of folly, who accufe all the world befide? MAN. Alas! Sir, I am a fool too, and am fo well convinced of it, that you fee I keep by my felf on the left fide, when all the rest go to the right; and were I not convinced my felf, I have given fufficient reason to convince any one else, by troubling myself with correcting the follies of others, while I have fo many follies of my own that are uncorrected ftill. ESCULAPIUS. What are become of all the wife men then; are there none left? MAN. If you take every man's opinion of himself, never were there fo many; if you take their opinions of one another, never were there so few. ESCULAPIUS. Are all men then alike? MAN. No, there are some who are called wife, and fome who are called fools; not but that the wifeft man has a fufficient stock of folly too. But the best method I can O 2 propose propose to distinguish mankind, is by calling thofe men wife, who know themselves to be fools; and thofe men fools, who think themselves to be wife. ESCULAPIUS. Mercury, thou art a fwift meffenger, hafte away to Jupiter, inform him of what we have done, and know his further pleasure in the matter: you may tell him, that upon a full furvey of mankind it appears, that every one has fuch a fufficient share of folly, that he has no reason at all to complain of his neighbours having more. That in answer to those who think their folly obftructs their happinefs, it is very plain, that the happinefs of mankind is fo complicated with this foily, that it is impoffible to cure them of the one, without endangering the other too. Should we convince the fool who fquanders away his money, that he might live to want it; fhould we convince the fool who heaps up treasure, that in a little time he must die, and have all his treasure taken from him; should we convince the hufband, who places his happiness in his wife and children, that the one cuckolds him, and the other are none of his; fhould we convince the man who does things to be eternally famous, that after death he will have no fenfe of fame, or of whatever is faid of him; we should make them all miserable and wretched. On the other fide, by taking away their folly, we fhou'd take away one of the most useful qualities in the world, fince it is very evident, that mankind live upon the follies of one another. Were there not fools who fell eftates, what would become of the fools who buy them? Were there not fools who marry, human kind would come to an end. Were there not fools of business, how would the fools that meddle with no business be managed ? Were there not fighting fools, who would protect the fools, |