L'Estrange, Sir Roger (1616-1704)

Seneca's Morals by Way of Abstract

London

Printed by Thomas Newcomb for Joseph Hindmarsh

1682

"They compare a Wicked Man's Mind to a Vitiated Stomach; he corrupts whatever he receives, and the best Nourishment turns to the Disease. But, taking this for granted, a Wicked Man may yet be so far Oblig'd, as to pass for Ungrateful, if he does not Requite what be Receives."

We have been Discoursing all this while, how far a Wicked Man may be Oblig'd, and the Stoicks tell us, at last, that he cannot be Oblig'd at all: For, they make him incapable of any Good, and consequently of any Benefit. But, he has this advantage, that if he cannot be Oblig'd, he cannot be Ungrateful: For, if he cannot receive, he is not bound to return. On the other side, a Good Man, and an Ungrateful, are a Contradiction: So that at this rate there's no such thing as Ingratitude in Nature. They compare a Wicked Man's Mind to a Vitiated Stomach; he corrupts whatever he receives, and the best Nourishment turns to the Disease. But, taking this for granted, a Wicked Man may yet be so far Oblig'd, as to pass for Ungrateful, if he does not Requite what be Receives. For, though it be not a perfect Benefit, yet he receives something like it. There are Goods of the Mind, the Body, and of Fortune. Of the first sort, Fools, and Wicked Men, are wholly incapable; to the rest they may be admitted. But why should I call any Man Ungrateful, you'll say, for not Restoring That which I deny to be a Benefit? I answer, That if the Receiver take it for a Benefit, and fails of a Return, 'tis Ingratitude in him; for, that which goes for an Obligation among Wicked Men, is an Obligation upon them: and, they may pay one another in their own Coin; the Mony is Current, whether it be Gold, or Leather, when it comes once to be Authoriz'd. Nay, Cleanthes carries it farther; He that is wanting, says he, to a kind Office, though it be no Benefit, would have done the fame thing if it had been one; and is as guilty, as a Thief is, that has set his Booty; and is already Arm'd, and Mounted, with a purpose to seize it, though he has not yet drawn Blood. Wickedness is form'd in the Heart; and, the matter of Fact is only the Discovery, and the Execution of it. Now, tho' a wicked Man cannot either Receive, or Bestow a Benefit, because he wants the Will of doing Good, and for that he is no longer Wicked, when Virtue has taken Possession of him; yet we commonly call it one, as we call a Man illiterate that is not Learned, and Naked, that is not well Clad; not but that the one can Read, and the other is Cover'd.
(pp. 59-60)

Body::Stomach Body::Disease

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Text from Seneca's Morals by Way of Abstract. To which is added A Discourse under the Title of An After-Thought. By Sir Roger L'Estrange, Knt. 11th edition (London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, 1718). <Link to Google Books><Compare 1718 edition printed by Nicholson in ECCO>

See Seneca's Morals by Way of Abstract by R. L'Estrange (London: Printed by Thomas Newcomb for Joseph Hindmarsh, 1682). <Link to EEBO>

Printed in 1678 (part I only?), 1682 (3 parts), 1685 (3rd part), 1688 (4th edition), 1693 (5th edition), 1696, 1699 [all in EEBO], 1702 (8th edition), 1705 (9th edition), 1711 (10th edition), 1718 (11th edition). Into 16th edition by 1755. 26 entries in ECCO.

09/20/2011