SECTION 6. "That whose privation (or the want of which) is Good, is in itself Evil: that whose privation (or the want whereof) is an Evil, is in itself Good.” THE phrases to make it conceived, that that was Evil, which is changed for the better, are, "He that is in Hell, thinks there is no Heaven.” “ Acorns were good, till bread was found, &c." And on the other side, the forms to make it conceived, that that was good, which was changed for the worse, are; that we understand the goodness of things more by wanting, than enjoying them. "Bona à tergo formosissima:" i. e. " Good things never appear in their full beauty, till they turn their back and be going away, &c." The argument against this appearance is, That the Good or Evil which is removed, may be esteemed Good or Evil, comparatively; and not positively, or simply. So that, if the privation be good, it follows not, that the former condition was evil, but less good for the flower or blossom is a positive Good; although the remove of it, to give place to the fruit, be a comparative Good. So in the tale of Esop, when the old fainting man in the heat of the day cast down his burthen, and called for Death; and when Death came to know his will with him, said, "It was for nothing, but to help him up with his burthen again;" it doth not follow, that because Death, which was the privation of the burthen, was ill, therefore the burthen was good. And in this part the ordinary form of a necessary Evil aptly confutes this appearance; for the privation of a necessary Evil is Evil; and yet that doth not convert the nature of the necessary Evil, but it is Evil. Again, it cometh sometimes to pass, that there is an equality in the change of privation, and (as it were) a Dilemma boni, of the Good; or, Dilemma mali, of the Evil; so that the corruption of one Good, is a generation of the other. "Both chances the same equal parent have:" And contrarily, the remedy of the one Evil, is the occasion and commencement of another; as in Scylla and Charybdis. SECTION 7. "What is near to Good, is Good: What is at distance from Good, is Evil.” SUCH is the nature of things, that things contrary, and distant in nature and quality; and also severed and disjoined in place; and things like, and con senting in quality, are placed, and (as it were) quartered together: for partly, in regard of the nature, to spread, multiply, and infect in similitude; and partly, in regard of the nature, to break, expel, and alter that which is disagreeable and contrary, most things do either associate, and draw near to themselves the like, or (at least) assimilate to themselves that which approacheth near them, and do also drive away, chase, and exterminate their contraries. And that is the reason commonly urged, why the middle region of the air should be coldest; because the Sun and Stars are either hot by direct beams, or by reflection. The direct beams heat the upper region; the reflected beams from the Earth and Seas, heat the lower region. That which is in the middest, being further distant in place from these two regions of heat, is most distant in nature, that is coldest, for which reason they term cold, or hot, repulsive qualities, that is, environing by contraries: which was pleasantly taken hold of by him, who said, that an honest man in these days must needs be more honest than in ages heretofore; because the shutting · of him in the midst of contraries must needs make the honester stronger, and more compact in itself. The confuting of this appearance is therefore : First, many things of amplitude in their kind do (as it were) engross to themselves all, and leave that which is next them, most destitute. As the shoots, or under-woods, that grow near a great and spread tree, are the most pined and shrubby wood of the field; because the great tree doth deprive and deceive them of the sap and nourishment; so he saith well, "That rich men's servants are the greatest slaves:" and the comparison was pleasant of him, that compared Courtiers attendant in the courts of Princes, without great place or office, to Fasting-days; which were next the Holidays, but otherwise were the leanest days in all the week. Another objection is, that things of greatness and predominancy, though they do not extenuate the things adjoining in substances, yet they drown them, and obscure them in show and appearance. And therefore the astronomers say; that, whereas in all other planets conjunction is the perfectest amity, the Sun contrariwise is good by aspect, but evil by conjunction. A third reprehension is, because Evil approacheth to Good, sometimes for concealment, sometimes for protection: and Good to Evil for conversion and reformation. So Hypocrisy draweth near to Religion for covert and hiding itself. "Oft, under neighb'ring Good, Vice shrowded lies.” And Sanctuary-men, which were commonly inordi nate men, and malefactors, were wont to be nearest to Priests, and Prelátes, and holy-men: for the majesty of good things is such, as the confines of them are reverend. On the other side, our Saviour, charged with nearness of publicans and rioters, said, Matt. ix. 11. "The physician approacheth the sick rather than the whole." SECTION 8. "That which a man hath procured by his own default, is a greater mischief (or Evil); that which is laid on him by others, is a lesser Evil.” THE reason is, because the sting and remorse of the mind, accusing itself, doubleth all adversity: on the contrary, the considering and recording inwardly, that a man is clear and free from fault, and just imputation, doth soften outward calamities. For if the Will be in the sense, and in the Conscience both, there is a doubling of it: but if Evil be in the one, and Comfort in the other, it is a kind of compensation. So the poets in tragedies do make the most passionate lamentation, and those that forerun final despair, to be accusing, questioning, and torturing of a man's self. "She railing doth confess herself to be, |