he died before his time perhaps, not yet come to the solstice of his age, yet, was he not mortal? Hear that divine Epictetus, If thou covet thy wife, friends, children should live alwayes, thou art a fool.

He was a fine child indeed, dignus Apollineis lachrymis, a sweet, a loving, a fair, a witty child, of great hope, another Eteoneus, whom Pindarus the Poet, and Aristides the Rhetorician so much lament; but who can tell whether he would have been an honest man? He might have proved a thief, a rogue, a spendthrift, a disobedient son, vexed and galled thee more then all the world beside, he might have wrangled with thee and disagreed, or with his brothers, as Eteocles and Polynices, and broke thy heart;

he is now gone to eternity as another Ganymede in the flower of his youth, as if he had risen, saith Plutarch, from the midst of a feast, before he was drunk, the longer he had lived, the worse he would have been, & quo vita longior (Ambrose thinks) culpa numerosior, more sinful, more to answer he would have had.

If he was naught, thou mayst be glad he is gone; if good, be glad thou hadst such a son. Or art thou sure he was good? It may be he was an hypocrite as many are, and howsoever he spake thee fair, peradventure he prayed amongst the rest that Icaro Menippus heard at Jupiters whispering place in Lucian, for his fathers death, because he now kept him short, he was to inherit much goods, and many fair Manors after his decease.

Or put case he was very good, suppose the best, may not thy dead son expostulate with thee, as he did in the same Lucian, Why dost thou lament my death, or call me miserable that am much more happy then thy self? what misfortune is befaln me? Is it because I am not bald, crooked, old, rotten, as thou art? What have I lost, some of your good chear, gay cloths, musick, singing, dancing, kissing, merry meetings, thalami lubentias, &c. is that it?

Is it not much better not to hunger at all then to eat: not to thirst then to drink to satisfie thirst: not to be cold then to put on cloths to drive away cold? You had more need rejoyce that I am freed from diseases, agues, cares, anxieties, livor, love, covetousness, hatred, envy, malice, that I fear no more thieves, tyrants, enemies as you do.

Id cinerem & manes credis curare sepultos?

Do they concern us at all, think you, when we are once dead? Condole not others then overmuch, wish not or fear thine death.

Summum nec optes diem nec metuas;

’tis to no purpose.

Excessi è vitæ ærumnis facilisque lubensque, Ne pejora ipsa morte dehinc videam,

I left this irksome life with all mine heart, Lest worse then death should happen to my part.

Cardinal Brundusinus caused this Epitaph in Rome to be inscribed on his tomb, to shew his willingness to dye, and taxe those that were so loth to depart. Weep and howl no more then, ’tis to small purpose; and as Tully adviseth us in the like case, Non quos amisimus sed quantum lugere par sit cogitemus: Think what we do, not whom we have lost. So David did, 2 Sam. 22. While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept, but being now dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him again? I shall go to him, but he cannot return to me.

He that doth otherwise is an intemperate, a weak, a silly, and undiscreet man. Though Aristotle deny any part of intemperance to be conversant about sorrow, I am of Seneca’s mind, he that is wise is temperate, and he that is temperate is constant, free from passion, and he that is such a one, is without sorrow: as all wise men should be.

The Thracians wept still when a child was born, feasted and made mirth when any man was buried: and so should we rather be glad for such as die well, that they are so happily freed from the miseries of this life. When Eteoneus that noble young Greek was so generally lamented by his friends, Pindarus the Poet faines some god saying, Silete homines, non enim miser est, &c. be quiet good folks, this young man is not so miserable as you think; he is neither gone to Styx nor Acheron, sed gloriosus & senii expers heros, he lives for ever in the Elisian fields. He now enjoyes that happiness, which your great Kings so earnestly seek, and wears that garland for which ye contend.

If our present weakness is such, we cannot moderate our passions in this behalf, we must divert them by all means, by doing something else, thinking of another subject. The Italians most part sleep away care and grief, if it unseasonably seise upon them, Danes, Dutchmen, Polanders and Bohemians drink it down, our country men go to playes: doe something or other, let it not transpose thee, or by premeditation make such accidents familiar, as Ulysses that wept for his dog, but not for his wife, quòd paratus esset animo obfirmato, (Plut. de anim. tranq.) accustome thy self, and harden before hand by seeing other mens calamities, and applying them to thy present estate: Prævisum est levius quod fuit ante malum.

I will conclude with Epictetus, If thou lovest a pot, remember ’tis but a pot thou lovest, and thou wilt not be troubled when ’tis broken: If thou lovest a son or wife, remember they were mortall, and thou wilt not be so impatient. And for false fears and all other fortuite inconveniences, mischances, calamities, to resist and prepare our selves, not to faint is best; Stultum est timere quod vitari non potest, ’tis a folly to fear that which cannot be avoided, or to be discouraged at all.

Nam quisquis trepidus pavet vel optat, Abjecit clypeum, locoque motus Nectit quâ valeat trahi catenam.

For he that so faints or fears, and yeelds to his passion, flings away his own weapons, makes a cord to bind himself, and puls a beam upon his own head.