VIII. I say then, that humble fortune according to its intrinsic value,
if it does not exceed, is at least equal to the exalted. In order to
give at once a clear and a solid proof of this fact, which may seem
a mystery, it should be understood as a certain truth, that riches
do not constitute happiness in men, in proportion to their material
magnitude, but in proportion to what is enjoyed of them, either with
respect to convenience, or the pleasure they occasion. What is a rich
man the better, for having his table covered with a variety of delicate
eatables, if he has lost his appetite? with all his dainties, he
cannot be said to regale himself; and it fares much better in point of
gratification with a poor man, who eats of a coarse dish, if his palate
embraces it with earnestness.
IX. The comparison of relish with respect to food, may be applied to
all our other senses and faculties with respect to their objects;
for let these be gratified and delighted to whatever degree you can
suppose, the pleasure produced in every individual, will tally with the
disposition of the organ; and therefore, the greater or lesser degree
of felicity of the subject, in the use of those objects, should be
measured, not by the entative magnitude which is contained in them, but
by the delight they afford. This being the case, you will find, that
vast riches do not furnish to an opulent man greater enjoyments, nor
turn aside from him more vexations, than is afforded to, and diverted
from a poor man with his scanty means; and you will conclude, those are
not more happy than these, and that consequently the fortunes of both
are equal.
X. But how are we to know the hearts, and what passes in the breasts
of persons in the one and the other state? Nothing is more easy. Nero
erected a temple to Fortune, which he built with transparent stones,
found in his days in Capadocia; so that from the outside, although
the doors were shut, you could see all that passed within the temple.
And nature has so made mankind, that from without, you may discern
their good or bad interior situation, their looks for this purpose
supplying the use of transparent stones, and their lips expressing
their pleasures and vexations. Observe, says Seneca, (Epist. 80.)
through the crystal of their countenances, the recesses of the bosoms
of the rich and the poor: _compara inter se pauperum & divitum vultus_,
and you will most frequently find the last more chearful than the
first: _sæpius pauper, & fidelius ridet_. In this instance, he gives
the preference to the condition of the poor; in other respects, he
supposes the benefits of both stations to be equal: observe, says
he, the greatest part of the poor people, and you will find, that
they are in no respect more sad or oppressed than the rich: _primum
aspice quanto major pars sit pauperum, quos nihilo notabis tristiores,
solicitioresque divitibus_. (In consolat. ad Helviam.)
XI. Saint Austin found great benefit, from a reflection he made, upon
seeing a Mendicant Friar go through a village in the state of Milan, to
all appearance quite chearful and happy. He compared his own fortune
with that of the poor man, and found, that he was joyous, and himself
oppressed; that he was free from apprehensions, and himself full of
terrors: _Et certè ille lætabatur, ego anxius eram; securus ille, ego
trepidus_; and from thence he concluded, the fortune of that Mendicant
was much better than his own: _Nimirum quippe ille felicior erat._
(Confess. lib. 6. cap. 6.)
XII. This is viewing things according to what they are in their own
nature. To estimate the felicity of any man, you should not consider
the goods he possesses, but the enjoyment he receives from the
possession of them. Although the rich man always sits down to a
splendid banquet, a poor man regales himself better than him, if, as
is most commonly the case, he knows better what he eats. No man will
say, that the existence of riches without their use is of any value. It
is necessary, in order to relish their sweets, that you should expend
them. They are a good of such a nature, that they can only be enjoyed
when you part with them. He who keeps his gold in a chest may receive
some satisfaction in contemplating, that he has it at his command,
but that is much inferior to the inevitable chagrin, which attends
his continual care and anxiety. Horace sung wisely, who held, that
convenience consisted more in the want, than in the possession of such
goods, as their concern for the preservation of kept people in constant
alarms and terrors night and day, for fear a thief should break in and
steal them, an unfaithful servant purloin them, or a fire consume them.
_An vigilare metu exanimem, noctesque diesque_
_Formidare malos fures, incendia, servos_
_Ne te compilent fugientes, hoc juvat? Horum_
_Semper ego optarim pauperimus esse bonorum._
Lib. 1. Sat. 1.
XIII. Quicksilver occasions continual tremors to him who works it in
the mines; gold and silver, to him who keeps and turns them over in a
chest. There is no doubt, but the pleasure of finding himself rich
is greatest in a covetous man, but his care and anxiety are excessive
in proportion to it. Besides this, he is not so much gratified by the
goods he enjoys, as he is made uneasy by the desire of possessing those
he is not master of. There is always in his heart an immense vacuum, as
obnoxious to his avarice, as a vacuum in all bodies is to nature, and
his thirst is of the dropsical kind, so that the more he drinks, the
more he craves.
XIV. Upon a supposition then, that instead of convenience, there is
evil and vexation in the mere possession of riches, let us proceed
to take a view of the benefits that may result from their use. And
first, riches to a very large amount, are exceedingly superfluous for
furnishing the accommodations of life. If a man, possessed of a few
thousands of crowns, can find sufficient to purchase all that can be
reasonably desired, of what use are millions? To what purpose should he
who finds water sufficient for all his occasions in a little fountain,
bring a river into his house? He would acquire nothing by such an
act, but the hatred and indignation of those, who see, that without
utility to himself, a man monopolizes a stock of water, sufficient to
accommodate a whole town; by doing which, he exposes himself to the
malicious designs that a wicked and perverse person may form to take
away his life, in hopes that by perpetrating the fatal deed, he might
become master of his property; and it is certain, that many persons
from such a motive only, have fallen victims to the knife or to poison;
so that an excess of doubloons to the owner, are rather things of
weight, than things of worth. I mean, that instead of a convenience,
they are dangerous, and an evil of life.
XV. But though they are not necessary to furnish the reasonable
accommodations of life, they may be serviceable to purchase the
pleasures of it. Upon this head much may be said. The natural desires
of the greatest part of mankind, are fixed upon such objects, that with
a moderate income, they are able to satisfy all their real wants. Meat
and drink that might be stiled regaling, the diversion of hunting, and
frequent amusement at play, may be all attained with a moderate portion
of thousands. Of what advantage are immense riches to him, whose whole
delight is centered in the cup and the dish, if he cannot eat or
drink more than the proportion of a single man; and if, urged by his
gluttony, he strives to cram down as much as would serve two, he would
soon destroy his health, and not be able to eat a sufficient quantity
to satisfy half a man. A person spending his substance, in diversions
that are not suited to his genius or inclination, is throwing it away
intirely. The sweetness or soothing of music, is allowed to be the
greatest enchantment existing in the world, but what charms has it
to him who wants an ear, or cannot relish it? The vassals of Antæus,
an ancient King of Scythia, having taken Ysmenias, the famous Theban
musician, a prisoner in war, presented him to their master as a prize
of great value. Anteus after hearing him awhile, declared, that the
neighing of his horse sounded better to him than all the fine tones of
Ysmenias. Nor should we understand, that the want of musical feeling
is confined to one single barbarous genius, for not only the tigers
fly from the lyre, but many cultivated spirits are deaf as adders to
the charms of music. It is told of Justus Lipsius, that he abhorred
music, and that his whole delight was in flowers and dogs. Many men
are insensible of the recreation afforded by harmony; and those who
are not, for the most part content themselves with a coarse sort of
music, which may be had at a cheap rate, and often for nothing. The
remarks we have made on music, may be applied generally to all other
kinds of amusement. How many are there, who cannot endure so much as
to be in company with, or to converse with women! Flowers, which are
the most beautiful production of nature, and with which the fields are
cloathed with more splendor and gaiety than Solomon in all his glory,
to some people are not only ungrateful, but noxious also. There have
been those, who the fragrancy of a rose has caused to fall into a
fainting fit. Cardinal Esfrondati, in his Curso Philosophica, relates
of another Cardinal, that during the whole time of the spring, he kept
a watch at the door, to prevent a rose being brought into his house.
Spacious gardens afford but a slender delight to abundance of men, and
to many, not even that slender one; besides this, in time, it becomes a
sickening amusement, which with regard to the gardens of others may be
removed, but not with regard to a man’s own; for that being always in
his view, he comes at last to loath the sight of it.