owners, but the beholding thereof with the eyes?" Eccles. iv. 10.

[3697] "Millia frumenti tua triverit area centum,
Non tuus hinc capiet venter plus quam meus"------

"an evil sickness," Solomon calls it, "and reserved to them for an evil,"
12 verse. "They that will be rich fall into many fears and temptations,
into many foolish and noisome lusts, which drown men in perdition." 1 Tim.
vi. 9. "Gold and silver hath destroyed many," Ecclus. viii. 2. _divitia
saeculi sunt laquei diaboli_: so writes Bernard; worldly wealth is the
devil's bait: and as the Moon when she is fuller of light is still farthest
from the Sun, the more wealth they have, the farther they are commonly from
God. (If I had said this of myself, rich men would have pulled me to
pieces; but hear who saith, and who seconds it, an Apostle) therefore St.
James bids them "weep and howl for the miseries that shall come upon them;
their gold shall rust and canker, and eat their flesh as fire," James v. 1,
2, 3. I may then boldly conclude with [3698]Theodoret, _quotiescunque
divitiis affluentem_, &c. "As often as you shall see a man abounding in
wealth," _qui gemmis bibit et Serrano dormit in ostro_, "and naught withal,
I beseech you call him not happy, but esteem him unfortunate, because he
hath many occasions offered to live unjustly; on the other side, a poor man
is not miserable, if he be good, but therefore happy, that those evil
occasions are taken from him."

[3699] "Non possidentem multa vocaveris
Recte beatum; rectius occupat
Nomen beati, qui deorum
Muneribus sapienter uti,
Duramque callet pauperiem pati,
Pejusque laetho flagitium timet."

"He is not happy that is rich,
And hath the world at will,
But he that wisely can God's gifts
Possess and use them still:
That suffers and with patience
Abides hard poverty,
And chooseth rather for to die;
Than do such villainy."

Wherein now consists his happiness? what privileges hath he more than other
men? or rather what miseries, what cares and discontents hath he not more
than other men?

[3700] "Non enim gazae, neque consularis
Summovet lictor miseros tumultus
Mentis, et curas laqueata circum
Tecta volantes."

"Nor treasures, nor majors officers remove
The miserable tumults of the mind:
Or cares that lie about, or fly above