pright man otherwise, had he not
been in want, to take bribes, to be corrupt, to do against his conscience,
to sell his tongue, heart, hand, &c., to be churlish, hard, unmerciful,
uncivil, to use indirect means to help his present estate. It makes princes
to exact upon their subjects, great men tyrannise, landlords oppress,
justice mercenary, lawyers vultures, physicians harpies, friends
importunate, tradesmen liars, honest men thieves, devout assassins, great
men to prostitute their wives, daughters, and themselves, middle sort to
repine, commons to mutiny, all to grudge, murmur, and complain. A great
temptation to all mischief, it compels some miserable wretches to
counterfeit several diseases, to dismember, make themselves blind, lame, to
have a more plausible cause to beg, and lose their limbs to recover their
present wants. Jodocus Damhoderius, a lawyer of Bruges, _praxi rerum
criminal. c. 112._ hath some notable examples of such counterfeit cranks,
and every village almost will yield abundant testimonies amongst us; we
have dummerers, Abraham men, &c. And that which is the extent of misery, it
enforceth them through anguish and wearisomeness of their lives, to make
away themselves; they had rather be hanged, drowned, &c., than to live
without means.

[2285] "In mare caetiferum, ne te premat aspera egestas,
Desili, et a celsis corrue Cerne jugis."

"Much better 'tis to break thy neck,
Or drown thyself i' the sea,
Than suffer irksome poverty;
Go make thyself away."

A Sybarite of old, as I find it registered in [2286]Athenaeus, supping in
Phiditiis in Sparta, and observing their hard fare, said it was no marvel
if the Lacedaemonians were valiant men; "for his part, he would rather run
upon a sword point (and so would any man in his wits,) than live with such
base diet, or lead so wretched a life." [2287]In Japonia, 'tis a common
thing to stifle their children if they be poor, or to make an abortion,
which Aristotle commends. In that civil commonwealth of China, [2288]the
mother strangles her child, if she be not able to bring it up, and had
rather lose, than sell it, or have it endure such misery as poor men do.
Arnobius, _lib. 7, adversus gentes_, [2289]Lactantius, _lib. 5. cap. 9._
objects as much to those ancient Greeks and Romans, "they did expose their
children to wild beasts, strangle, or knock out their brains against a
stone, in such cases." If we may give credit