He that finds himself Uneasie, and proposes to mend his Condition in what
case or in what manner soever, should do well to sit down and Compute
within himself; _What do I suffer by this Grievance? Can I Remove it or
no? What will it Cost me? Shall I get or Lose by the Change? Will it be
worth my while, or not?_ Now this is all matter of Course in our ordinary
Dealings upon the Truck, and in common Bargains; and yet where the Peace
and Liberty of the Mind, or the Character of a Wise or a Good Man lyes at
Stake, we take up Resolutions Hand over Head, without Calculating upon
the Profit or Loss of the Thing in Question; as in the Instance of the
Poor _Gard’ner_ here. He might have Treated a Brace of _Hares_ sure, much
Cheaper that a _Troup_ of _Horsemen_, with so many Packs of _Dogs_, and
such a Gang of _Ruffians_ at the Heels of ’em. Had not he better have
born _Wat_’s Nibling of his Plants and Roots now, then the Huntsman’s
Fooling with his Daughter, and the Eating him out of House and Home? The
Breaking down of his Fences; the Laying of his Garden Wast, and taking
his Childrens Meat out of their Mouths, over and above? But all this
Befel him for want of Deliberating beforehand, and setting one thing
against another. Now if the Allusion of this Fable be so Instructive to
us, and so necessary to be well attended and apply’d, even in the common
Affairs and Dealings of this World, what shall that Man say for himself,
that’s Guilty of the same Temerity and Imprudence over and over, in
the case of _Temporal_ and _Eternal_! Is it that we do not Believe the
Doctrin of a Future State, or that we do not think on’t; or (which is
worst of all,) that we do not Mind it? For we Live as if we were more
sensible of the Hares, then of the Devils.