ESSAYS CIVIL AND MORAL. 



grief flieth to it ; fear pre-occupatcth it : nay, we read, after Otho the 

 emperor had slain himself, pity, which is the tcnclcrest of affections, 

 provoked many to die, out of mere compassion to their sovereign, and 

 as the truest sort of followers. Nay, Seneca adds, niceness and 

 satiety; &quot;cogita quamcliu eaclcm feccris ; mori velle, non tantum 

 fortis, aut miser, scd etiam fastidiosus potest.&quot; A man would die, 

 though he were neither valiant, nor miserable, only upon a weariness 

 to do the same tiling so oft over and over. It is no less worthy to 

 observe, how little alteration in good spirits the approaches of death 

 make ; for they appear to be the same men till the last instant. 

 Augustus Ca?sar died in a compliment ; &quot; Livia, conjugii nostri, mcmor 

 vivc, et vale.&quot; Tiberius in dissimulation; as Tacitus saithofhim; 

 &quot;Jam Tibcrium vires et corpus, non dissimulatio, dcserebant.&quot; Ves 

 pasian in a jest ; sitting upon the stool; &quot; Ut puto, Deus ho.&quot; Galba 

 with a sentence ; &quot; Fcri, si ex re sit populi Romani ; &quot; holding forth 

 his neck. Scptimius Severus in despatch; &quot;Aclcste, si quid mihi 

 restat agendum:&quot; and the like. Certainly the Stoics bestowed too 

 much cost upon death, and by their great preparations made it appear 

 more fearful. Better saith he, &quot;qui finem vit;e- extremum inter muncra 

 ponit nature.&quot; It is as natural to die, as to be born ; and to a little 

 infant, perhaps, the one is as painful as the other. He that dies in an 

 earnest pursuit, is like one that is wounded in hot blood ; who, for the 

 time, scarce feels the hurt ; and therefore a mind fixt and bent upon 

 somewhat that is good, doth avert the dolours of death : but above all, 

 believe it, the sweetest canticle is &quot; Nunc dimittis ; &quot; when a man hath 

 obtained worthy ends and expectations. Death hath this also ; that it 

 opcncth the gate to good fame, and extinguisheth envy. &quot; Extinctus 

 amabitur idem.&quot; 



III. OF UNITY IN RELIGION. 



Religion being the chief band of human society, it is a happy thing, 

 when itself is well contained within the true band of unity. The quarrels 

 and divisions about religion were evils unknown to the heathen. The 

 reason was, because the religion of the heathen consisted rather in 

 rites and ceremonies, than in any constant belief. For you may 

 imagine what kind of faith theirs was, when the chief doctors and 

 fathers of their church were the poets. But the true God hath this 

 attribute, that he is a jealous God ; and therefore his worship and 

 religion will endure no mixture nor partner. We shall therefore speak 

 a few words concerning the unity of the Church : what are the fruits 

 thereof ; what arc the bounds ; and what the means. 



The fruits of unity, next unto the well-pleasing of God, which is all 

 in all, arc two ; the one towards those that arc without the Church ; 

 the other towards those that arc within. For the former: it is certain 

 that heresies and schisms arc of all others the greatest scandals ; yea 

 more than corruption of manners. For as in the natural body, a 

 wound, or solution of continuity, is worse than a corrupt humour ; so 

 in the spiritual. So that nothing doth so much keep men out of the 



