Ο

ENVY.

NE may fay more hard things against Envy, than against the moft tormenting Difeafe; 'tis

full of Pain, and a great Inftrument of Vexation 2 It eats the Flefh, dries up the Marrow, makes hollow Eyes, lean Cheeks, and a pale Face; it is no more nor no less than a direct Refolution never to enter into Heaven by the way of noble Pleasure taken in the good of others. It is moft contrary to God, and the very Reverse of the Felicities and Actions of Heaven, where every Star increases the Light of the other, and the multitude of Guefts at the Supper of the Lamb, makes the eternal Meal more a Festival. It is perfectly the State of Hell and the Paffion of Devils, for they do nothing but defpair in themselves, and envy others Quiet and Safety, and yet cannot rejoice either in their Good or Evil; tho' they endeavour to hinder that, or procure this, with all the Devices and Arts of Malice, and of a great Understanding. Envy can ferve no end in the World; it cannot pleafe any thing, nor do any thing, nor hinder any thing, but the Content and Happiness of him that has it: It can never pretend to Justice, as Hatred and Uncharitableness sometimes may: For there may be causes of Hatred, I may have wrong done me, and then Hatred has fome Pretence, tho' no juft Argument; whereas no Man is unjuft or injurious for being profperous and wife. Many Men therefore profess to hate another, but no Man owns Envy, as being an Enmity and Displeafure for no Caufe but Goodness or Felicity. Envious

Men

Men are like Caterpillars, that delight most to devour ripe and excellent Fruits. Envy is the basest of all Crimes, for Malice and Anger are appeas'd with Benefits, but Envy is exasperated, as envying the Fortunate both the Power and the Will to do good; it never leaves murmuring, 'till the envy'd Person be levell'd, and then only the Vulture leaves to eat the Liver. If his Neighbour be made miserable, the envious Man may be himself troubled, but his Sorrow is selfish; and he does not so much pity the Miferable as himself, for being liable to the fame Misfortune. There is fomething more flavish in this than in any other Paffion; it confeffes a Superiority in the Object it works upon, either in Merit or in Fortune, and hates it for that Subjection, which perhaps is only a Dream of his, and a Disease of his Imagination. We have been talking of its oppofite, Charity; and by examining the Beauty of that Virtue, we shall the better fee the deformity of this Vice.

It is an argument of a great and generous Mind, to employ ourselves in doing good, to extend our Thoughts and Care to the Concernments of others, and to use our Power and Endeavours for their Benefit and Advantage, because it fhews an Inclination and Defire in us, to have others happy as well as ourselves. Those who are of a narrow and envious Spirit, of a mean and fordid Dispo❤ fition, love to contract themselves within themselves, and like the Hedgehog, to fhoot out their Quills at every one that comes near them; they take care of no body but themselves, and foolishly think their own Happiness the greater, because they have it alone and to themselves. But the nobleft and most heavenly Difpofitions think themselves happieft when others fhare with them in their Happiness. Of all Beings, God is the fartheft remov'd from Envy; and the nearer any Creature approaches to him, the farther it is off from this hellish Quality and Difpofition. It is the temper of the Devil to grudge Happiness to others; he envy'd that Man fhould be in Paradife when he was caft out of Heaven.

Other Perfections are of a more melancholick and folitary Difpofition, and shine brighteft when they are alone,or attain'd to but by a few ; once make them common, and they lose their Luftre. But it is the nature of Goodness to communicate itself, and the farther it fpreads, the more glorious it is; God reckons it as one of the most glorious Titles, as the brighteft Gem in his Diadem, The Lord, mighty to fave; he delighits not to fhew his Sovereignty in ruining the Innocent, and deftroying helpless Creatures; that is the property of fovereign Tyranny upon Earth: Cruel and arbitrary Princes think, they never exert their Dignity with fo much Luftre, as when it is exercis'd in Acts of Severity and Blood; as if Mischief was infeparable from Power; but God delights in relieving the Helpless and Innocent, and to the Devil belongs the Title of The Deftroyer.

Without the quality of Goodness, all other Perfections wou'd change their Nature, and lofe their Excellency; great Power and Wisdom wou'd be terrible, and raise nothing but Dread and Suspicion in us. Power without Goodness, is Tyranny and Oppreffion, and Wisdom is Craft and Treachery. 'Tis needlefs to reduce this to Exemple. A Being endu'd with Knowledge and Power, and yet wanting Goodnefs, wou'd be nothing less but an irresistible Evil, and an omnipotent Mischief. We admire Knowledge, and are afraid of Power, and sufpect Wisdom; but we can heartily love nothing but Goodness, or fuch Perfections as are in Conjunction with it; for Knowledge and Power may be in a Nature contrary to God; the Devil has these Perfections in an excelling Degree. When all is done, nothing argues a great and generous Mind but only Goodnefs, which is a Propenfion and Difpofition to make others happy, and a Readiness to do them all the kind Offices we can. A confidering Man cannot without Astonishment fee, that tho' the Concerns of Men are all difpos'd by an unerring Wifdom, and acknowledged by themselves to be fe, yet that scarce any Man is pleas'd. The Truth is,

we

we have generally in us the worst part of the Levellers Principles; and tho' we can very contentedly behold Multitudes below us, yet are we impatient to see any above us; not only the Foot complains that it is not the Hand, but the Ear because it is not the Eye. Not only the lowermoft but the higher ranks of Men are uneasy, if there be any one Step above them. Nay, fo importunate is this aspiring Humour, that we see Men are forced to feed it, tho' but with Air and Shadows. He that cannot make any real Advance in his Quality, will yet do it in Effigy, in all little Gaieties and Pageantries of it; and if he cannot effect fo much as that, that Canker, Envy, gnaws his Heart, and feeds upon his very Vitals. Many Men have created Wants, merely out of Envy of other Mens Abundance. Lucifer was happy enough in his original State, yet cou'd not think himself so, because he was not like the moft High; and when by that infolent Ambition he had forfeited Bliss, it has ever fince been an aggravation of his Torment, that Mankind is affum'd to a capacity of it; and accordingly, he makes it the defign of his envious Industry to defeat him. How perfectly are the two first parts of this Copy tranfcrib'd by those, who first cannot be fatisfy'd with any inferior degree of Profperity, and then whet their Impatience with other Mens Enjoyment of what they cannot attain ? 'Tis much to be doubted, that they who go thus far, may compleat the Parallel; and endeavour, when they have opportunity, to undermine that Happiness they envy. Therefore fince the Devil is so apt to impress his whole Image, where he has drawn any of his Lineaments, it concerns us warily to guard ourselves, and by a christian Sympathy with our Brethren, to make the comfort of others an Allay, not an Improvement, of our Miseries; Charity, the Virtue we have fo largely treated of, has a ftrange magnetick Power, and attracts the concerns of our Brethren to us; he who has it in his Breast can never want Refreshment, while any about him are happy; for by adopting their Interests,

he fhares in their Joys: Jethro, tho' an alien, rejoiced for all the Good God had done to Ifrael; and why fhou'd not we have as fenfible à Concurrence with our FellowChriftians? He who has fo, will find fomething to balance his own Sufferings.

One wou'd think that fo painful and fo impotent a Vice as Envy, fhou'd not be fo prevalent; but fuch is the Pride of Man's Heart, that it cannot easily be brought to be in Humour with Subjection of any kind; and we are commonly fo favourable to ourselves, as to make up in our own Imagination, the lofs of those Advantages we envy in others; which Vanity will go a great way to take off the rancour of this Vice, where Religion and Virtue have not fuppreft it.

I

DETRACTION.

Believe there is hardly a Man living, who is the least converfant with Men or Things paft and prefent, either in Life or in Hiftory, but will acknowledge that Detraction was never carry'd to fuch an Extravagance as it has been lately with us in England. Some Hints have been given of it in the foregoing Pages. I fhall now confider this Vice more fully, and expofe the Guilt and the Mischief of it, which will doubtless be confirm'd by all our Experiences.

In doing this it will be neceffary to discourse of Detraction in all the Parts of it, as well that of the Tongue as that of the Pen. And if there be those that fretch their Mouths against Heaven, we are not to wonder if there be more that will foot their Arrows, even

bitter