Seneca addes Nicenesse[1] and Saciety[2]; Cogita quam diù eadem feceris; Mori velle, non tantùm Fortis, aut Miser, sed etiàm Fastidiosus potest[3]. A man would die, though lie were neither valiant nor miserable, onely upon a wearinesse to doe the same thing so oft over and over. It is no lesse worthy to observe, how little Alteration, in good Spirits[4], the Approaches of Death make; For they appeare to be the same Men, till the last Instant. Augustus Caesar died in a Complement; Livia, Coniugij nostri memor, vive et vale[5]. Tiberius in dissimulation; As Tacitus saith of him; Iam Tiberium Vires et Corpus, non Dissimulatio, deserebant[6]. Vespasian in a Iest, Sitting upon the Stoole, Ut puto Deus fio [7]. Galba with a Sentence; Feri, si ex re sit populi Romani [8]; Holding forth his Necke. Septimius Severus in dispatch; Adeste, si quid mihi restat agendum [9]. And the like. Certainly, the Stoikes bestowed too much cost upon Death, and by their great reparations made it appeare more fearefull. Better saith he, Qui Finem Vitæ extremum inter Munera ponat Nature [10]. It is as Naturall to die as to be borne; And to a little Infant, perhaps, the one is as painfull as the other. He that dies in an earnest Pursuit is like one that is wounded in hot Bloud; who, for the time, scarce feeles the Hurt; And therefore a Minde, fixt and bent upon somewhat that is good, doth avert the Dolors[11] of Death: But above all, beleeve it, the sweetest Canticle is Nunc dimittis [12], when a Man hath obtained worthy Ends and Expectations. Death hath this also, That it openeth the Gate to good Fame, and extinguished Envie.
Extinctus amabitur idem [13].
- ↑ fastidiousness
- ↑ satiety
- ↑ Consider how long you have been doing the same things! It is not only the brave man or the wretched man that may wish to die, but also the man who is consumed with ennui.
- ↑ in noble characters
- ↑ Goodbye Livia! remember our married life while you live.
- ↑ Tiberius's vigour and vitality were failing him, but not his duplicity
- ↑ I suppose I am just turning into a god
- ↑ Strike, if itbe for the good of the Roman people!
- ↑ Be ready, if there is anything remaining that I must do
- ↑ Who reckons the close of his life among the boons of naturæ
- ↑ pains
- ↑ Now lettest Thou
- ↑ When his light is quenched his memory will be loved
