Colloquies of Erasmus, Volume I. by Desiderius Erasmus
page 275 of 655 (41%)
page 275 of 655 (41%)
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gone, but a Man will not easily be forc'd from his own House. And yet
from hence the Fall of the House, or Fire, or some Accident drives us. Or if nothing of these happen, the Structure falls to Pieces with old Age, thereby admonishing us that we must change our Quarters. _Neph._ That Expression of _Socrates_ in _Plato_ is not less elegant: _Methinks_, says he, _the Soul of a Man is in the Body as in a Garrison, there is no quitting of it without the Leave of the Generals, nor no staying any longer in it, than during the Pleasure of him that plac'd him there._ This Allusion of _Plato'_s, of a Garrison instead of a House, is the more significant of the two. For in a House is only imply'd Abode, in a Garrison we are appointed to some Duty by our Governor. And much to the same Purpose is it, that in Holy Writ the Life of Man is sometimes call'd a Warfare, and at other times a Race. _Ur._ But _Cato_'s Speech, methinks, seems to agree very well with that of St. _Paul_, who writing to the _Corinthians_, calls that heavenly Mansion, which we look for after this Life in one Place [Greek: oikian] a House, in another [Greek: oikêtêrion] a Mansion, and moreover (besides that) he calls the Body [Greek: skênos] a Tabernacle. For _we also_, (says he) _who are in this Tabernacle, groan, being burthened._ _Neph._ Much after this Manner says St. _Peter; And I think it meet_ (says he) _as long as I am in this Tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in Mind, being assured that I shall shortly put off this Tabernacle._ And what else does _Christ_ himself say to us, but that we should live and watch, as if we were presently to die: And so apply ourselves to honest Things, as if we were to live for ever? And when we hear these excellent Words of _Cato, O that glorious Day_, do we not seem to hear St. _Paul_ himself saying, _I desire to be dissolved, and |
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