are Warm and fields looke Fair Thou makst the Nights to fly away The Course of Times thy Power doth guide So that the leaves which were all torn And thrown away by Boreas's Pride Mild Zephyrus makes to return The Dod-star burns the Corn full grown Which coole Arcturus would have sown Ther 's nothing free from th' Antient Law Thee All things in their Stations serve Thou keepst them in such constant Awe That from thy Rule they never swerve Why dost Thou men alone Neglect As if they were not worth thy Care Why dost Thou not their Works respect So that Just men no Harms may Fear Why should we thus see Justice rent And Broken on wild Fortunes Wheele So that such grievous Punishment As Felons Merit Good men Feele But Wicked Manners sit on High And splendid Thrones they Tread on those Who hold fast their Integrity And all Base wayes will still Oppose Black Fates obscure Bright Virtues Face The Vpright man bears that Disgrace Which his Vile Foes deserve No Perjury or base Deceit Brings them to Ruine when they please To use their strength with Armies Great They Conquer Kingdomes Lands and Seas Whoe're Thou art who Rul'st the Wind Dost All things in their Stations hold Looke down at length and see Mankind In Troubles and Confusion rowl'd Of thy Great Worke a Part are we That may not be Neglected Lo How we are Tost in Fortunes Sea Vpon the Waves of Various Woe O MASTER let this Tempest cease And as Thou makst the Heav'ns Above To follow thy Commands in Peace so bind the Earth with th' Bonds of Love The FIFTH PROSE Philosophy sheweth that Boetius is the cause of his owne misery WHen I had breath'd forth these Complaints in the Anguish of my Soule She with an undisturbed Looke not at all mov'd with those expressions of my Sorrow delivers these words When I saw thee Sad and pouring forth Tears presently I understood that thou wast Miserable and Remov'd from Thine own Country but at what Distance I could not judge till I found it out by thine own Discourse But the truth is thou art not Remov'd from thine own Country but hast Wandred from it But if thou wouldst rather have it said that thou art Violently Removed or Expell'd Thou thy selfe art the Author of Thy Expulsion For truly no other man could ever have had that Power over Thee For if thou dost Remember the Country from whence thou Camest It is not Govern'd as the Athenians sometime were by a Multitude but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There One Commands Alone there is One King who Rejoyceth in the Great Company and not in the Exile of His Citizens To be Restrain'd by Him and Kept in Subjection to His Righteous Will is the Greatest Freedome Art thou Ignorant that it is a Law of Thy Country that none shall be Banisht who Would rather Abide in It For he that loves to Dwell There can have no fear least he should Deserve to be an Exile But he that ceaseth to be Willing to have an Habitation There ceaseth also to be Worthy of it Therefore I am not so much Mov'd at the Lookes of this Place as I am at Thine neither do I find the want of a Library adorn'd with Ivory and with Glass but of the Seat of thy Mind In which sometime I put not Books but that which makes Books to be of any Value to wit the Sense of my Books And indeed the things that thou hast spoken touching the Merit of thine Endeavours to Advance the Common Good are very True yet 't is but little that thou hast said in respect of those many Actions thou hast perform'd upon this Account As concerning the Truth or Falsehood of the Objections that have been made against thee thou hast spoken things known to all men Thou hast done well in that thou hast but lightly toucht the many-fold Frauds and Wickedness of thine Accusers sith the same things are better and more copiously discourst of by the mouths of the common People who well remember all these things Thou hast also Reflected with great Severity on that Fact of the Unjust Senate And thou hast exprest thy Sorrow for the Blame that has been lay'd upon Me and thou hast with Tears lamented the loss of the good Opinion that men had of Thee At length thy Griefe brake forth into Indignation against Fortune and thou didst complain that she does not Deal with men according to their Deserts In the Conclusion thy Raging Muse exprest her Desires that the same Peace which Governs Heaven would Govern the Earth also But because so great a Tumult of disorderly Affections hath seiz'd on thee and Grief and Anger so Vex and Distract thee whilst thy Mind is so distemper'd thou art not fit to receive the stronger sort of Remedies Therefore let us use Lenitives a little while that what has been hardn'd into a Tumour by a Flux of Sharp Humours may be fitted by the softer kind of Applications for the most quick and searching Medicines The SIXTH VERSE Philosophy proveth that order is necessary in all things WHen Cancer with Sols Rayes doth burn Then whoso trusts his Ground with Seed Of which it makes him no return Deceiv'd He may on Akorns feed If Purple Violets thou wilt find Goe not to th' Wood when Snow and Frost Are thither brought by th' North-East Wind And th' Fields have all their Beauty lost Press not the Branches of the Vine In Spring-time with a greedy Hand If thou desire to have good Wine Or pleasant Grapes at thy command Till Autumn Bacchus never brings His Gifts to Peasants or to Kings To sev'ral Times our God Above Their sev'ral Duties hath Assign'd Courses Distinct hee 'l not approve Should ever be together Joyn'd Ev'n so what is done in such hast That Order due we cann't forecast It will not come to good at last The SIXTH PROSE Philosophy discovereth the inward causes of Boetius his griefe WILT thou permit me to try the state of thy Mind by proposing a few Questions that I may understand what course to take for the Cure of thy Distemper I shall Answer quoth I to whatsoever thou shalt be pleas'd to Aske of me Then she spake thus Dost thou think that this World is hurried on in it's course by the Agitations of Chance or meer Casualty Or that it is Govern'd by REASON But quoth I never could I entertain such a thought as this that such Certain and Orderly Motions can proceed from Chance and Uncertainty I know that GOD the Maker of the Universe Sits on High and Overlooks his own Worke neither shall that Day ever come that may enforce me to forsake this Truth Thou sayst well quoth she for what thou didst Sing a little while since suits well with thy present speech and thou didst deplore Mankind as Neglected by GOD whilst All things else are under his Providence Thou didst not seem in the least to doubt of those things but that
which is Inhabited by such Creatures which are known to us If thou shalt substract from this Fourth Part what the Seas and Marrises take up and the utmost Extent of the Dry Sands and Desarts there will be left but a very Narrow Space for the Habitations of Men. Being then Encompast and Shut up within the least Part of this Extream Little Part of the Vniverse do you Think of Enlarging your Fame and making your Name Great But what hath that Glory of Amplitude and Magnificence that is straitned with such Narrow Limits Moreover I would have thee to consider that in the Habitable Part of the World most Nations Differ very much one from another in their Language and in their Dispositions and their whole Kind of Life so that by reason of the Difficulty of such Journeyes or Voiages and the Diversity of Languages and the want of all Traffick or Commerce not only the Fame of Particular Men but even of Great Cities may never come to some Nations In the Daies of Marcus Tullius as he himselfe somewhere shewes the Fame of the Roman Common-Wealth had not yet past beyond the Mountain Caucasus and at that time Rome was so Great as to be a Terror even to the Parthians and the other Nations therabout And dost thou not see then how Narrow and Strait that Glory is which you labour to spread and dilate Shall the Glory of a Roman go thither where the Name of ROME could never arrive The Manners and Institutions of Divers Countries do not Agree so that what with some men deserveth Prayse with others is accounted worthy of the greatest Punishment Hence it comes to pass that if any one delight to be Well spoken of it is in no wise convenient for him that his Name should be carryed to Many People Therefore Every man must be contented with the Glory that is propagated amongst those who are Govern'd by the same Lawes with himselfe and that Fame and Lasting Renown which they call Immortality shall be confin'd within the Limits of one Country But how many Persons of great Eminency in their Time had their Names Omitted by the Historians of that Age And what doth it profit a man to be mention'd in Histories which at length together with their Authors fall into Oblivion But you seem to your selves to have gotten a kind of Immortality when you think that your Fame shall endure in the Generations to come If thou dost but compare that Duration to Eternity thou wilt find that thou hast no cause to rejoyce in the Long Continuance of thy Name For if we make comparison of One Moment with Ten Thousand Years because both Spaces have their Bounds it carries though but a little yet some Proportion therunto But this Number of Years be it Multiplyed never so much can in no wise be compar'd to that Duration which shall never End For between things Finite there is some Proportion but Infinite and Finite can never have any Thus it comes to pass that the Fame which endures for never so long a Time in comparison of Eternity will not only appear to be very little but as nothing at all But you care not to Do well unless for the Prayse of People and the empty noice of Vulgar Applause and disregarding the Excellency of your own Conscience and Vertue you expect your Reward from the Talk of others Observe how Ingeniously a certain man reproves this kind of Folly For when he saw a conceited Person that had through vain Glory assum'd to himselfe the False Name of a Philosopher to be assaulted with many sharpe Contumelies and Revilings and he had told him that now he should know him to be a Philosopher indeed if he would bear those Injuries with Meekness and Patience For a little while he tooke on him a kind of Patience and Boasting as it were in the Contumelies he had receiv'd Dost thou not understand at length sayth he that I am a Philosopher Then replyes the other very Bitingly I had understood it indeed if thou hadst held thy peace But what is Fame to Excellent Men for of such is our discourse who seeke for Glory in the way of Virtue what I say is Fame or the Glory of this present World to them when their Bodies return to the Dust For if Death seize on the Whole Man which my Doctrine will not suffer you to believe ther 's no such thing as Glory sith he who is said to be the Owner of it is depriv'd of his Being But if the Soule that is cleansed from all Impurity being deliver'd from this Earthly Prison Ascendeth into Heaven will she not despise all that is done here upon Earth whilst she being an Inhabitant of Heaven rejoyceth that she is Exempted from all Earthly Concerns The SEVENTH VERSE Of the smalness and shortness of fame WHoever thinks that Earthly Glory is The thing that brings true Bliss Let him Comtemplate the Large Skye and see Earths small Capacity Sith that such Narrow Space Exceeds his Fame Hee 'll Blush at his Great name Why do Proud Men in vain Desire to be Free'd from Mortality Though their Fame pass through People far and near And make Whole Nations hear And though their House toth ' Highest Titles rises This Glory Death despises It spares not Humble Heads the Lofty neither Layes High and Low together Where lye the Bones now of Fabricius Wher 's Cato or Brutus Some Letters after Death preserve their Fame That is Their Empty Name But may we Know Men long since Dead and gone Because those Words are Known You surely turn'd to Dust we cannot Know Fame can't your Persons show If you conceit that 't is a Life to be Mention'd in History When Time deprives you of the Peoples Breath That is a Second Death The EIGHTH PROSE Adversity more profitable than prosperity BUT that thou mayst not think me to be an Irreconcileable Enemy to Fortune Ther 's a Time when she deserveth well of men though she be so Deceitful To wit Then when she shewes Her selfe and discovers what Disposition she is of Perhaps thou dost not yet understand what I mean That which I vehemently desire to tell thee is a Wonderful thing so that I have much adoe to fit Words to the Thoughts I have of it For I Judge that Adverse Fortune is more Profitable for Men than Prosperity For the one allwayes cheats us with the empty shew of Felicity whilst she seems to be very Kind the other is allwayes True to us whilst by her Change she demonstrates her Instability The one Deceives the other Teaches and Instructs us the one Fetters the Minds of those that Enjoy it with the Allurements of False Goods the other sets them at Liberty by making them to understand the Vanity of all Earthly Happiness Therefore thou mayst observe that the one is Windy Loose and allwayes void of the Knowledge of her selfe the other is Sober Strict and encreasing in
doth guide By This do Contraries abide In their Alternate Force Drought yields to Moisture Cold to Heat Fire strives the highest Place to get Earth downwards bends it's Course And by those Causes doth the Spring New Leaves and Flowres most fragrant bring Hot Summer brings Ripe Corn Autumn's the Time for Apples then Black Winter brings the Cold agen And makes large Showres return Both Nourishment this Temper gives And Birth to ev'ry thing that Lives i th' Waters or the Earth And 't is the Same that Takes away What was Brought forth All things Decay That ever had their Birth Whilst the Creator Sits on High And Orders things both in the Skye And in this World below Almighty Lord Eternal King The LAW and JVDGE the Boundless Spring From whence All Beings flow He stops those Motions which He gave And settles things that fleet and wave For if Right Motions He Did not to Circlings turn again Their Being things would not retain But Vanish Instantly All things Partake of this Great Love That they may Rest in Good they Move For nothing could them save From Perishing but Love that drawes Them back again to the First Cause Which Being to them gave The SEVENTH PROSE All fortune is good DOST thou not see now what is the Consequence of all that I have said What quoth I That Every Fortune or Outward Condition as it comes from GOD is Good How is that said I observe what I say quoth she sith Every Condition being either Pleasing or Grievous comes for the Rewarding or Exercising of Good men or else for the Punishing or Reforming of the Wicked whatsoever it is it must needs be Good which 't is manifest is the Instrument either of the Divine Justice or Mercy The Reason thou givest said I is most true And if I consider Providence and Fate which thou didst shew me a little while since this Conclusion is most Firm and Irrefragable But if thou wilt let us put it into the number of those Positions which as thou saydst a little before are contrary to the Common Opinion How so quoth she Because quoth I this speech is often in the Mouthes of men that some have Ill Fortune Wilt thou therefore said she that we yeild a little to the speeches of the Vulgar least we seem to go too far from the Use and Custome of Mankind As thou thinkest fit said I. Dost thou not then judge that to be Good which is Profitable yea surely said I. But that Fortune which either Exerciseth or Correcteth is Profitable True said I. Therefore it is Good Who can deny that But this belongs to them who being either Establisht in Virtue make War with Affliction or being Convinc'd of the Misery that comes on them by their Vices Break forth into the way of Virtue I cannot but Acknowledge this said I. But what a Pleasing Condition which is given as a Reward to Good men do the Vulgar esteem it to be Evill In no wise but as it is they judge it to be Exceeding Good What of the other Condition which sith it is Sharpe and Grievous is for the Restraining of the Wicked by Just Punishment do they suppose it to be Good Nay quoth she they judge it to be most Miserable See then if following even the Opinion of the Vulgar we have not Prov'd somewhat very contrary to the Common Opinion what said I For from those things said she which have been granted it must of necessity be infer'd that to Those who have Attein'd to the Full Possession of Virtue or have made some Progress towards it or are Really Inclin'd therunto Every Condition is Good but to Those who remain in their Wickedness Every Condition is Exceeding Evill This is true said I though ther 's hardly any one that dares Acknowledge it Wherefore said she A Wise man ought not to be Troubled when he is to Fight with Fortune as it becomes not a Stout Souldier to be any way disturb'd when the Trumpet sounds an Alarm For Hardship and Difficulty is to the one an Occasion of enlarging his Renown to the other of improving his Wisedome And hence it is that True Goodness in the Hearts of Men is called VIRTUE because it 's Virtue Power and Efficacy is such that it can never be Overcome by any Adversity For being Plac'd on the Borders of Virtue you are not come hither to indulge to your vain Desires and to lose your strength in the Enjoyment of Sensual Pleasures but here you must prepare your selves for a Fierce Encounter with Both Fortunes that you may not be Cast down by Adversity nor Corrupted by Prosperity Stick to the Mean with all your Force Whatsoever is beneath it or goes beyond it implies a Contempt of True Happiness gives you not any Recompence for all your Labours 'T is put to your Choice what kind of Fortune you would rather have For whatsoever seemeth to be Grievous if it do not Exercise or Reform it Punisheth The SEVENTH VERSE Philosophy exhorteth to labours HArd Labours made Alcides Great He did the Boasting Centaurs Beat He Skin'd the Lion strong and Feirce With his own Clawes His Arrowes pierce The Harpyes He those Apples tooke And scorn'd the Furious Dragons Looke He Chain'd Black Cerbe'rus and 't is said That He Curs'd Diomedes made Food for 's own Horses which he fed With Men whose guiltless Bloud he shed He made Achelous loath to shew His Head His strong Arm Hydra Slew Antaeus on the Sands He cast And made stout Cacus breath his last He Kill'd the Wild Bore and at length High Atlas crav'd his Helpfull Strength To bear up Heav'n He labour'd hard And Heav'n it selfe was His Reward Go Valiant Men where you are Led By Great Examples let no Dread Or Sloth oppress your noble Brest Endure these Pains you 'll come to Rest O're th' Earth extend your Victorys And Heav'n above shall be your Prize FINIS ΗΣΥΧΙΑ THer 's no disturbance in the Heav'ns Above And Heav'nly Soules Do nothing else but Love No Anger no Remorse no Discontent Can seize a Soule that 's Truly Innocent And Aims at nought but that she may Combine With All she finds Like to Herselfe Divine And Seeing things in such Confusion hurl'd Does not Contend with but Despise the World DIVINE SOLITUDE 1. BLest Solitude In Thee I found The only Way to Cure the Wound Of My Perplexed Heart Here I Escap'd the Worlds loud Noise That Drowns Our Blessed SAVIOVRS Voice And makes Him to Depart 2. Whilst thus Retir'd I do Attend To th' Words of MY Eternal FRIEND How My Heart Leaps for Joy Love and Rejoyce sayes He but Know Ther 's no such thing as Joy Below The Pleasures There Destroy 3. If Thou wilt Creatures Love Be Sure Thou Keep Thy Heart In Me Secure Know that I 'm ALL IN ALL. Then Whatsoe're those Creatures prove Thou never shalt Repent Thy Love Thy Hopes shall never Fall 4.
had no traffick with Spain For their trifles as strange and as vain Then men might sleep whole in their skins Not affrighted with warlike Dins And America thought not upon The greedy and merciless Don For who could have thought 'em worth killing When they had not one poore shilling To pay for the wounds should be made Then Warr was a pityful trade Would God that our Saints and Wise men Would be but so Holy as Then But a Fire more Cruel than Hell Love of Wealth is mixt with our Zele Oh what was their bloudy Zele who Sought out the long hidden Peru And brought home that dangerous Ore By the Murther of so many score To make Pay for the Murthring of more P. G. The SIXTH PROSE Of dignity and power BUT what shall I say of Dignities and Power which you being Ignorant of the True Dignity and Power do so highly Extol If they fall to the lott of Wicked men what Aetna with all the Flames it belcheth forth what Deluge that rageth never so horribly did ever make so great Desolation Verily as I suppose thou dost remember the Government of Consuls which was the begining of the Roman Liberty for the Pride of Consuls your Ancestors had a desire to Abolish who for the same Pride had formerly Banisht the Name of King out of the City But if at any time which is very seldome Good men are invested with Power and Dignities what is there in them that may give any Satisfaction but the Vertue and Integrity of those that use them Thus it is that Honor doth not accrue to Vertue from Dignities but to Dignities from Vertue But what kind of Power is that which you so Prayse and Desire Do you not consider O ye Earthly Creatures What Your selves are and What they are whom You are Set over For if amongst the Mise thou shouldst see one to assume to himselfe a Power over the rest wouldest thou not break forth into Laughter But if thou considerest the Body what canst thou conceive to be more Weak than Man whom a Little Fly may have strength enough to Destroy And in what respect can one Man be said to exercise his Force on another but only in respect of the Body and that which is beneath the Body I mean Fortune what canst thou Enforce upon a Soule that has Attein'd to it's proper Freedome canst thou remove a Mind settled upon the Firm Principles of Truth and Virtue from the State of Peace and Tranquillity When a Tyrant thought by Torments to constrain a Couragious Man to discover those who were Privy to a Conspiracy made against him he bi tt off his Tongue and Spit it in the Face of that Cruel Tyrant Thus did that Wise man make those Pains the Opportunity of exercising his Fortitude whereby the Tyrant exercis'd his Cruelty But what is there which any one can do against another which he may not suffer from another We have heard how Busiris who was wont to Kill Strangers was Slain by Hercules a Stranger Many Carthaginians had Regulus lay'd in Chains but not long after He 's Bound himselfe by those very men whom he had formerly Conquer'd And dost thou think that such a Man hath any true Power who is not Able so to Defend himselfe that none shall Prevaile against him as he doth against others Moreover if there were any Natural and Proper Good in Dignities and Powers they could never be the Portion of Wicked men For things so Repugnant will not be Brought together Nature forbids that Contraries should be in one and the same Subject Thus sith it is unquestionable that very often leud and Ungodly men have the management of Dignities 't is also manifest that these things are not Good in their own Nature which Adhere to Persons so void of Goodness Which indeed we may Judge of all the Gifts of Fortune of which the most Wicked men in the World have the greatest share Here let us also consider that no man doubteth but that he is Valiant in whom he seeth any Valour or Fortitude and 't is manifest that he is Swift and Active in whom there is Swiftness and Activity Thus Musick makes Musicians Physick Physicians Rhetorick Rhetoricians For the Nature of Every thing Acts according to it's Property nor doth it Mix it selfe with the Operations of Contrary things and it Drives away whatsoever is Repugnant thereunto But neither can Riches extinguish the Desires of the Covetous man neither can Power make a man Able to Overcome Himselfe who is Bound with the Chains of his lusts And Dignity confer'd on Persons of Base Inclinations doth not only not make them Worthy men but discovers them rather and shewes them to the World as such who deserve the greatest Scorn and Indignity You take Pleasure to call Things by False and Improper Names which are easily confuted by the Effect of the Things themselves Therefore neither can those Riches nor that Power and Dignity be Truly so Call'd And we may conclude the same of all that comes from Fortune in which 't is manifest ther 's nothing that we should Absolutely Desire nothing of Native Goodness since it neither Joins it selfe allwayes to Good men nor doth it make those Good to whose lot it falls THE SIXTH VERSE Philosophy declareth by the example of Nero that dignities or power do not make men better HOw did He wast with Fire and Sword The City and the Senators Who to his Brother could Afford No Safety from his Bloudy Force Who likewise his own Mother Slew And in that Horrid Slaughter Joy'd He did Her Naked Body View And Prays'd the Beauty He Destroy'd Yet This man did All Nations Sway They trembled at his Dreadful Name Could NERO'S Power make him Obey His Reason and his Fury Tame O Grievous Fate Abiss of woe What Poyson cann't the Sword must do The SEVENTH PROSE Of glory THEN quoth I Thou knowest that I have never been Enslav'd to the Desires of perishing things but I was Desirous to have some Matter for my Virtue to worke on in Publick Affairs that it might be made Known to the World This indeed saith she is one thing which some Generous Minds but such as have not yet attein'd to the highest pitch of Virtue may be much taken withall to wit the Glory or Fame that appertains to Persons that have Deserv'd well of the Common-Wealth which Fame or Glory how small a thing it is and of no Importance at all thou mayst Understand thus Thou hast learnt by Astronomical Demonstrations that All the Compass of the Earth is but as it were a Point or the Least thing Imaginable in comparison of the large Space of the Heavens that is to say if it be compar'd to the greatness of the Celestial Globe it would be judg'd to have no Space at all And of this so small a Region of the World 't is about the Fourth Part as thou hast learnt from Ptolemy
Prudence by the most profound Exercise of Wisedome in the Conquest of All Perturbations Lastly Prosperity enticeth men and drawes them away from the True Good Adversity drawes them back to it as it were with an Hooke And dost thou think this but a small thing that this Sharpe this Horrible Fortune makes thee Know who are thy Faithful Friends she hath Distinguisht the Certain and Doubtful Countenances of thy Companions At her Departure she carryed Her own Friends away with her Thine she hath left with Thee At how high a rate wouldest thou have purchac'd this when thou seemedst to thy selfe to be a Fortunate Man Cease now to looke any longer after the Riches thou hast Lost thou hast found the most Pretious Kind of Wealth viz. True Friends THE EIGHTH VERSE Philosophy praiseth true love and friendship THat the World so Constant is In Alternate Variety That so many Contraries Observe their League so Faithfully That the Sweet Day Queen of Light Sol in his Golden Chariot Drawes And that Hesperus brings Night That Night is Rul'd by Phaebes Lawes That the greedy Sea's restrain'd Least it 's proud Waves should seiz the Land Things thus to each other Chain'd Are held by LOVES Almighty Hand Who Rules the Heav'ns Earth and Seas If He let goe the Reins they run Straight from the safe way of Peace And Perish by Dissention He keeps Men in Vnity He Joyns in League far Distant Lands He confirms by Chastity The Sacred Force of Nuptial Bands He shewes True Friends how to prove That To Love is the Greatest Gain Happy Men if that same LOVE Which Raigns in Heav'n did in You Raign THE THIRD BOOK OF THE Consolation of Philosophy The FIRST PROSE Philosophy promiseth to explicate true felicity SHE had now ended her Song when the Sweetness of the Verse had fixed me in the deepest Attention Therefore after a short pause thus I spake O Soveraign Consolation of wearied Minds how much hast thou refreshed me both with the weight and importance of the Sense of this Excellent Song and the pleasantness of it's Aire so that for the future I shall not looke on my selfe as one that wanteth strength to grapple with any kind of Fortune Therefore I am not only not afraid of those Remedies which thou saidst were somewhat more Sharpe and piercing but I vehemently desire that thou wouldest impart them unto me Then quoth she I Thought so when thou didst so greedily receive my words in such profound Silence and with such earnest Attention and I expected that thou shouldest have this Temper and Disposition of Mind or which indeed is rather the very truth I wrought it in thee Such are the things that remain to be spoken of that when first we do but touch them with our Tongue they are very Tart and Biting but being receiv'd and swallow'd down they become exceeding Sweet and Delightsome But since thou sayst thou art so desirous to hear what I have to say how wouldest thou be Enflam'd if thou didst understand whither I design to Conduct thee Whither quoth I To True Felicity said she which thy Mind apprehends as it were in a Dream but it 's Sight being employ'd about Images and Phantasms it cannot have any clear Prospect therof Then quoth I Do I pray thee as thou hast said and shew without delay what is that True Felicity I will do it quoth she most willingly but first I will lay down in plain words that State and Condition with which thou art most acquainted that casting thine Eye the other way thou mayst clearly Discern the Nature of True Happiness THE FIRST VERSE False felicity must be forsaken that true happiness may be embraced WHoso will sow his ground first he free That ground from Stons and Thorns must That Ceres may Find a plain way Most sweet's the Hony that comes next When Tasts unpleasant have us vext We Joy to see the Stars Appear When Wind and Rain have left the Aire How Lovely is the Youthful Day When Lucifer hath chac'd away The dismal Shades Thou whose dull Eye Could never yet True Good descry Lift up thine Head thine Eye-sight shall be clear And thou shalt see That Instantly To him that Seeks for Truth Truth shall Appear The SECOND PROSE How all men desire happiness but many mistake it THEN with a stedfast Looke recollecting all her Thoughts into the depth of her Mind thus she began All the Care of Mortals which is exercis'd in the labour of various Studies and Designs Proceeds in Divers wayes but yet it Tends to One and the same End viz. to True Happiness And that is such a GOOD which when any man hath Attein'd unto his Desires can go no further Which indeed is the Chiefe and Soveraign of All Good things and conteineth in itselfe All the Good that is or ever can be To which if any thing were wanting It could not be the Soveraign Good because some thing would be left our of it which migh be Wisht or Desir'd 'T is manifest therefore that Bliss or True Happiness is a Perfect State consisting in the Collection of All Good things into One. This State as we have said All men desire to Attein unto by Divers wayes or Means For there is Naturally in the Minds of Men a Desire of the True Good but Error draws them aside to things that have but the meer Shew or Appearance of Good Some there are who believing that it is the Soveraign Good to want nothing endeavour with all their strength to Heap up Riches but others judging that to be the Soveraign Good which is most worthy of Veneration endeavour by the getting of Honors or Illustrious Titles to render themselves Venerable to their own Country-men Others there are that hold the Soveraign Good to consist in the Greatest Power or Dominion These men would either Raign themselves or they endeavour to be Next to Him that holdeth the Scepter And it seemeth to others that Glory or Renown is the Soveraign Good These make all possible speed to get a Glorious Name by the Arts of War or Peace But the greatest Number of men measure the Fruit of Good by Joy and Mirth These think it the most Happy State to overflow with Pleasure And some there are that exchange the Ends and Causes of these Goods viz. why they Desire them one for another as they who desire Riches that they may attein to Power and Dignities and have all the Means of enjoying such Carnal Pleasures to which they are most inclin'd or they who would fain be in Power that they may get Money or a Great Name To these and such like things is the Bent or Intention of Humane Actions and Desires Nobility and the Favour of the People seem to procure an Illustrious Name A Wife and Children are desir'd for the Pleasure and Delight men hope to receive from them But as for Friends which are the most Sacred kind of Goods we do not judge of them as apperteining
neglected and suffer'd to lye in the Dirt but it is not so For if those things which were concluded a little before be Fixt in thy Mind thou shalt Understand by His Instructions whose Kingdome we speak of That Good men are allwayes Powerful and Evil men are allwayes Weak and Contemptible and that Vices are allwayes Punisht Vertues are allwayes Rewarded that All things that happen to Good men are Good for them but that Mischiefs allwayes betide the Wicked and many things of this nature which will allay all thy Complaints and establish thy Mind in the most firm and solid Apprehensions of Truth and Goodness And sith I have already shewn thee wherin True Happiness doth consist and thou hast learnt in Whom it is to be found all things being run over which I think necessary to promise I shall shew thee the way that leadeth to Thine House And I shall fasten Wings to thy Soule by which she may raise her selfe on high that all Perturbations and Disorderly Thoughts being done away with these Wings by my Conduct in my Path thou mayst be Carryed Safe into Thine own Country THE FIRST VERSE How Philosophy bringeth men to the contemplation of God FOr I have nimble Wings that soare Above the Starry Skyes Which when the Mind puts on no more Will she Earth's Treasures prize Beyond the Clouds she doth Aspire ' Boue th' Aire she bends Her Force And so transcends the Lofty Fire Stir'd by the Heav'ns Swift Course Then she Ascends the Starry Plain And runs with Phaebus bright Or followes th' Tract of the Old Swain And to His joyns Her Light And wheresoe're the Night lookes Clear She runs among the Stars And when her fill she ' hath taken here She goes beyond Heav'ns Bars And on the Top of Aether Treads The Fields of Awful Light Here Sits He o're Imperial Heads Who guides the World aright Who Vnmov'd Rules the nimble Sun Whose Power doth All things sway If hither thou wilt come anon Recov'ring thy Lost Way I well remember 't thou wilt say This is my Country Dear Hence I came I 'll stay Here. And if thou shalt be pleas'd to see This Darkned World agen Thou wilt find that stern Tyrants be Themselves but Banisht Men. The SECOND PROSE That good men are powerful and evil men weake THEN said I O how Great things dost thou Promise which I doubt not but thou art Able to Performe But see thou do not slacken and coole him whom thou hast excited and enflam'd In the first place then thou mayst easily understand that Good men are allwayes Powerful that the Wicked are void of all Power of which Assertions one is prov'd by the other For sith Good and Evill are Contraries if it be manifest that Good is Powerful 't is no less evident that Evill is Feeble and Impotent but if the Frailty of Evill be made to appear the Strength and Firmness of Good cannot but be known likewise That the Truth of that I say may be most clearly and abundantly demonstrated I shall go sometimes this way and sometimes that in the pursuit of the Matter I have undertaken to treat of There are Two things wherin all the Effect of Humane Actions doth consist to wit Will and Power of which if one be wanting nothing can be Done For if the Will faile no man Attempteth any thing but if Power be wanting 't is in vain to will any thing So that if thou seest any man Willing to Get that which he does not Get thou canst not doubt but that he wanteth the Ability to Obtein what he would have 'T is as clear as the Sun quoth I. But canst thou doubt but that he had Power whom thou seest to have Effected what he Will'd and Design'd No. But what any man is Able to do in that he is Powerful but what he is not Able to do in that he is judg'd to be Feeble and Impotent I confess it quoth I. Dost thou not Remember quoth she that it has been already Prov'd that All the Bent or Intention of the Will of Man which is exercis'd in Divers Studies and Endeavours tends unto True Happiness I well Remember quoth I that This has been Demonstrated Dost thou Remember that True Happiness is the Soveraign Good so that sith True Happiness is sought for by All men Good must needs be Desir'd by them I cannot be said to Remember it quoth I because it is never out of my Mind Have All men therefore Good and Bad one Intention viz. To Attein to the Possession of GOOD It must needs follow quoth I. But it is most certain that by getting of GOOD Men become Good 'T is certain Do Good men therefore get that which they Desire So it seems But Evill men if they could get the Good that they Desire would cease to be Evill 'T is true Sith therefore Both sorts of Men Desire Good but some Attein therunto others come short of it it cannot be doubted but that Good men are Powerful but they that are Wicked are Feeble and Impotent Whoever doubts of this said she is neither capable of considering the Nature of Things nor the Consequence of Reasons Moreover said she If there be Two persons who have one Purpose or Design to Perform that which their Nature requires and one of them Performs his Intention but the other is not Able to execute that Natural Office but takes some such course which is not Agreeable to Nature whereby he doth not Accomplish his Purpose but Imitates one that doth Accomplish it whether of these Two dost thou judge to be the more Able man Though I conjecture said I what thou wouldest be at yet I desire thou wouldest speak it out more plainly Wilt thou deny said she that to Go is a Motion Natural to men No said I. And dost thou doubt that 't is Natural to the Feet to perform that Office Neither can I deny that If any one then should Go on his Feet and another who wants this Natural Office of Feet should endeavour to Go on his Hands who of these might be rightly judg'd to be the more Able man Proceed said I for it is unquestionable that he who has a Power to perform those Actions which Nature requires has more Strength than he who is not Able so to do But the Soveraign Good which All men Aim at Good and Bad Good men Attein unto by the Natural Office of Virtues but the Wicked earnestly endeavour after this very Good by gratifying their various Lusts and unruly Affections which is not the Office that Nature requires us to perform that we may Attein to the True Good Dost thou think otherwise No surely said I the Consequence also is very clear For from what I have granted it must of necessity follow that Good men are Powerful that Wicked men are altogether Feeble and Impotent Thou dost well quoth she thus to run before me and this as Physitians are wont to hope is a sign that