Page:A Discourse of Constancy in Two Books Chiefly containing Consolations Against Publick Evils.pdf/149

128 curiously to enquire about the Liberty or Servitude of the Will? Wretch! Thy Syracuse is taken, and thou art drawing lines in the dust. Warr is about thee, Tyranny, Slaughters, Death, which certainly are sent from above, and not at all under the disposal of thy Will. These things you may fear but not prevent: Fly, but not be able to evade. Arme your self therefore against them, and catch up this fatal weapon, which will not only pierce, but kill; not only diminish, but destroy all your Griefs. As if you slightly touch a Nettle it stings; but if hard, it hath no such power: So doth the asperity of your Grief encrease upon you if you ply it with gentle remedies, but gives back in the use of those which are more forcible and severe. Now there is nothing more forcible than necessity: whose first onset doth rout and conquer these feeble troops. For what does your grief aim at? There is no place for it in Rh