the sovereign Good but can it be thought that it shall ever be found in these Acquisitions which I have shewed already not to be able to perform any thing they promise Bo. No surely Ph. In these things therefore which are believed able to satisfy our Desires we must by no means seek for Happiness Bo. I confess it and nothing can be said more truly than this Ph. Thou hast now then the Form and Causes of that adulterate sophisticate Felicity now turn again the Eyes of thy Consideration upon the contrary Prospect and thou shalt soon comprehend that true and genuine Happiness which I so long have promised thee Bo. That a blind Man may see and who runs may read it for thou shewedst it to me before when thou didst endeavour to open to me the Causes of its Counterfeit for if I be not mistaken that is the true consummate Felicity which makes a Man self-sufficient powerful reverenced noble and pleasant And that thou mayst know that thy Sayings have sunk deep into my Understanding I say I know that that which one of these for they are all one can truly perform is without doubt the chief Good and true Happiness Ph. O my Pupil thou art most happy in this Opinion provided thou wilt add this to it which I shall offer to thee Bo. What is that Ph. Thinkest thou that any thing on this side Heaven can confer that Good of which thou speakest Bo. I think not indeed and thou hast already shewed me that nothing can be desired beyond such a State of Perfection Ph. These things then above-mentioned either confer the Likeness of the true Good or else they seem to give me some imperfect Good but the true and perfect one this can by no means afford Bo. I agree with you Ph. Seeing then thou knowest already which is the true Happiness and which the false one it remains thou shouldst be informed from what Fountain to derive that true one Bo. That I indeed expect with much Impatience Ph. But as Plato says in his (d) Timaeus Timaeus amongst his Verses mentions this Precept of Pythagoras 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Finem dein ante precatus Numina opus facito Pythag. in aur Carm. From whence Plato saith in his Book which he nameth Timaeus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That every one who hath but the leaâ—â—… more of a good Mind and Inclination when he beginneth any thing be it great or small is always wont to call upon God Timaeus that even in the least things the Divine Assistance ought to be implored what dost thou think is fit to be done that we may deserve to find the true Source and Seat of the sovereign Good Bo. I think we ought to invoke the Father and Governour of all things for without such an Invocation no Work is well begun Ph. Thou sayest right And then she warbled out this Divine Orison METRUM IX O qui perpetua mundum ratione gubernas c. O thou who with perpetual Reason rul'st The World great Maker of the Heaven and Earth Who dost (e) From Ages Philosophy makes a difference betwixt Eternity Age and Time which are several kinds of Duration Eternity belongs to that Being which was without a Beginning and will be without an End as God An Age or Aevum is of that thing which is indeed without an End but not without a Beginning viz. of a created thing such as is the Mind and Body of which there is no other than an exteriour Cause for those being created by God shall endure for ever Time is of that thing which is neither without Beginning nor without End as of a Corporeal Form such as is the Form of a Beast the Form of a Plant and the Form of inanimate Bodies from Ages make swift Time proceed And fix'd thy self mak'st all things else to move Whom (f) Exteriour Philosophy usually assigneth four Causes viz. the Final the Efficient the Material and the Formal the two former are called Exteriour the two latter Interiour Causes The Bodies which they call Physical or Natural such as are the Heaven and the Earth have both interiour and exteriour Causes and created Minds have not interiour but only exteriour ones But God hath neither interiour nor exteriour Causes therefore he could not be compelled to create this World either by a final or an efficient Cause exteriour Causes did not force to frame This Work of (g) Floating Matter The word is rightly called Matter because it is a thing extended every way as Matter is It is well also called fluitous or floating since the Heaven the Earth and all other Bodies of which the World consists are perpetually moved if not in all yet in most of their Parts floating Matter but the Form Of sovereign Good (h) Above black Envy God is rightly said here livore carere because being not forced to create the World by any external Cause but by the Form of the chief Good which was fixed in his Mind that is by his Will and his infinite Wisdom Livor in our Author means no other than Envy and God is rightly said to want Envy having no Being which he can envy himself being the chief Good by whom and for whom the World was made and there can be nothing better than the chief Good above black Envy plac'd Within thy Breast thou every thing dost draw From the supreme Example fairest thy self Bearing the World's Figure in thy Mind Thou formedst this after that Prototype And didst command it should have perfect Parts Thou by harmonious Measures fast dost bind The Elements that cold things may with hot And moist with dry agree lest subtil Fire Should fly too high or Weight should press the Earth And Water lower than they now are plac'd Thou dost the (i) The Middle Soul Here our Philosopher meaneth the Spirit or Soul of the Universe which was born with the Law of Nature after the Production of the Elements of the World It is rightly also by our Author called 1. Anima 2. Triplicis naturae media 3. Cuncta movere 4. A Deo connecti 5. Per consona membra resolvi 6. Secta circuire First this Universal Spirit or Soul is acknowledged not only by the sacred Authors but also by the profane as Plato Aristotle and many others Principio coelum terras camposque liquentes Lucentemque globum Lunae Titaniaque astra Spiritus intus alit totamque infusa per artus Mens agitat molem magno se corpore miscet Inde hominum pecudumque genus vitaeque volantum Et quae marmoreo fert monstra sub aequore pontus Igneus est ollis vigor coelestis origo Seminibus quantum non noxia corpora tardant Terrenique hebetant artus moribundaque membra Hinc metaunt cupiuntque dolent gaudentque nec auras Respiciunt clausae tenebris carcere caeco Virgil. Aeneid l. 6. v. 724. Secondly this Soul is said to be of a
SEVERINUS BOETIUS ANICIUS MANLIUS Ex veteri Natua marmorea quâ—… est Roma ANICIUS MANLIUS SEVERINUS BOETIUS OF THE CONSOLATION OF Philosophy In Five BOOKS Made English and Illustrated with NOTES By the Right Honourable RICHARD Lord Viscount PRESTON LONDON Printed by J. D. for Awnsham and John Churchill at the Black Swan in Pater-noster-Row and Francis Hildyard Bookseller in York MDCXCV TO THE READER A Long Retirement in the Country having afforded me many Hours of leisure I considered that I could not employ them better than in giving an English Dress to this Part of the Works of Boetius intituled Of the Consolation of Philosophy Chaucer the antient Poet of our Nation was the first whom I find to have attempted a Translation of this Book into our Tongue but that is now almost as unintelligible to the English Reader as the Original is the Alterations of our Language which he is said before any of our Country-men to have endeavoured to refine having been very many and great since the times in which he flourished I have also seen two other Translations the one of them published in the Year 1609. The other only of four Books in that of 1674 imprinted at Oxford and though I shall not censure either of them I may modestly say that I see nothing in them which may hinder me from offering one to the Publick which may be more correct In this small but most admirable Book are to be found great Variety of Learning many weighty Sentences much well-digested Morality and exact Rules for Life This and the other Works of our Author shew him to have been a Man of comprehensive Learning and of great Piety and Devotion and his Constancy in Suffering makes him appear to have been of as great Vertue and Courage He fell into ill Times living when the Roman Empire was just expiring being brought to its Period by the violent Irruptions of several Northern Nations which flowed down upon it like an impetuous Torrent whose Force was not to be resisted but did carry all things before it it being then the Custom of those People who lived Northwards beyond the Rhine and the Danow born in an healthful and prolifick Climate to abandon their native Countries when they were over-stock'd as they often happened to be and to seek new Habitations By this Means the Face of Italy and indeed of a great Part of Europe was overspread with Barbarism Arts and Civility were buried in their own Ruines and all was subjected to the Will and Violence of bloody Conquerors In the worst of these Times this good Man endeavoured to maintain the Rights of his Country and was the great Supporter of that small Part of the Roman Liberty which remained desiring nothing more than to see it one day restored but it was not the Pleasure of Heaven to grant his Desire it rather thought fit to permit him to fall into the Hands of his Tormentors whose Persecutions and Cruelties only ended with his Life and under the more barbarous Treatment of those who gave a Liberty to their Tongues as appeareth in several Parts of this Book to traduce and vilify his afflicted Vertue to debase and decry his Sufferings who handled his Wounds without Compassion and who by stabbing his Fame and Reputation became more criminal than those partial Judges who condemned him to Death and more bloody than those Executioners who acted the Tragedy upon his Body Hence it is that we may find him to have been the Subject of Reflection and Discourse to the Assemblies of the Pretenders to Policy the Enquirers after and Tellers of News who were generally the Knaves and Fools of his Country and of those mean-spirited Men who being at a Distance from the Dangers and Misfortunes with which he was oppress'd thought they might safely pass a Censure upon his Actions and Carriage like Plowers plowing upon his Back and making their Furrows long and so at his Expence advance a little Trophy of Reputations to themselves by pretending perhaps that their Demeanour should have been with more Firmness if they had been in his Circumstances when most of them had not Souls calmly to think upon what he with Constancy and Bravery did endure It is true that this way of treating Unfortunate though Good Men as it had a Beginning long before the Times of Boetius so daily Experience shews that it hath been carefully continued since even to our own and will be carried on doubtless till all things shall have an End He from whom Fortune hath withdrawn her kinder Influences and upon whom those who under God govern the World do not think fit to shine whatever his Merits may have been before will find himself exposed to all the Injuries which his Superiours Equals or Inferiours shall think good to heap upon him He becometh a Reproof to all his Enemies but especially amongst his Neighbours his Kinsfolks and Acquaintance stand far off him and are afraid of him and they who see him without do convey themselves from him He becomes like a broken Vessel and is clean forgotten like a dead Man out of Mind He heareth the Blasphemy of the Multitude which is always as ill-grounded as it is loud and the Drunkards make Songs upon him So that the Observation made by the ingenious and learned Mr. Dryden in his Dedication before the Translation of Juvenal pag. 35 36. appears to be very just which is that amongst Men those who are prosperously unjust are entituled to a Panegyrick but afflicted Vertue is insolently stabbed with all manner of Reproaches No Decency is considered no Fulsomness is omitted no Venom is wanting so far as Dulness can supply it for there is a perpetual Dearth of Wit and Barrenness of good Sense and Entertainment But these are the ordinary Turns of Providence to which all Men ought to submit as those who are endowed with Piety and good Sense do with Willingness ever making the right Use of them without being surprized at them because they know that that Happiness is only to be found within themselves which others so anxiously hope and seek for from foreign Objects This makes the worst of Evils Banishment or Death to be endured with Chearfulness by Men of great Souls they knowing that the Persecution of this World is to be the last Proof of their Patience and Fidelity and that when that is at an end their Vertue shall be rewarded and crowned It now remains that I acquaint the Reader with the Design of this Book and also that I say something concerning my Performance upon it Our Philosopher here attempts to bring Man to a true Understanding of the Sovereign Good of humane Minds for some time after the Creation of the World he lived and acted according to the Divine Rules and the Law of Nature but being fallen into a State of Sin and Impiety he soon lost all his natural and glorious Idea's and Forms and was no longer cherished with the kind Favours
Attendance do of these Men thinking that they draw a Respect Admiration and Honour from others by them Fit strepitus tectis vocemque per ampla volutant Atria dependent lychni laquearibus aureis Incensi noctem flammis funalia vincunt Virgil. 1. Aenid v. 729. and Horat. lib. 2. Ode 18. distinguishing himself from the great Men of his time saith Non Ebur neque dureum Meâ renidet in domo Lacunar Library the Walls of which were so well inlaid with Ivory and adorn'd with Glasses as that noble Cabinet and curious Repository of thy Mind and Thoughts But I did depose that there which makes even thy Books valuable these choice and observable Sentences which are the Quintessence of my voluminous Writings Thou hast indeed spoken much Truth upon the Subject of thy great Merits from the Publick but considering what and how many they have been all that thou hast said of them is but little The Particulars which thou hast recounted of thy Integrity and the Falseness of thine Accusation are well known to all Men And thou hast done well in being short in the Account of the Frauds and Villanies of thine Accusers because it will sound better out of the Mouth of the People who know all this Thou hast also severely inveighed against the unjust Decree of the Senate Thou hast been much concern'd for the Injury done to me and thou hast bewail'd the Loss of the good Esteem which Men had of thee Thy last Complaint was against Fortune and that Rewards and Punishments were not equally distributed according to the Merits of Men And in the end thy distemper'd Muse wishes that the same Peace which makes the Felicity of the calm Regions above might also govern and reside upon Earth But because thy Affections are yet tumultuous and disorder'd and because the mutinous Passions of Grief Anger and Sadness do variously and successively draw and distract thee Thy Mind I say being in such a State strong and vigorous Medicines are not proper for thee therefore for the present we will use more mild ones so that those Humours which by frequent Disturbances flowed in upon thee being now gather'd to a Head and come to a Consistence may by gentle Applications be mollified and be fitter to bear the more powerful Workings of stronger Remedies which in time may dissipate them METRUM VI. Cum Phoebi Radiis grave Cancri fidus inaestuat c. WHen Phoebus in his yearly way To (r) Cancer Is one of the Twelve Signs of the Zodiack and is placed in that part of the Heaven which the Sun going towards the North touches about the end of June and maketh the longest Day of the Year turning from thence Southward from whence the Circle which Astronomers make to pass through this Sign is called the Tropick of Cancer Cancer doth a Visit pay Who to th' unwilling Earth commits the Seed Shall have no Crop but may on Acorns feed When arm'd with Frosts and crown'd with Snow Swell'd Boreas from the Hills doth blow No one or to the Groves or Woods then goes To crop the purple Violet or Rose If thou wouldst press the winy Grape Let Tendrels in the Spring escape For the great Patron of Mirth and Wine Doth for Autumnus Head his Chaplets twine To every Work God doth assign A proper and a fitting time Nor suffers any thing to pass it s bound Which Nature in her Actings would confound For he who leaving Order strays And wanders in untrodden Ways Can never hope that glad Success should crown That Work which he with smiling Hopes begun PROSA VI. Phil. First then wilt thou suffer me to try the Estate and feel the Pulse of thy Mind by a few Questions that so I may better understand thy Malady and prescribe the Methods of thy Cure Boet. Ask me what thou pleasest and I will answer thee P. Thinkest thou that this World is manag'd by blind Chance and Fortune or dost thou believe that Reason hath any share in the Government of it B. I do by no means believe or imagine that things so certain in their Methods and so regular in their Motions should be mov'd and informed by so unsteady a Cause but I know that God the Master-workman doth preside over his Work nor shall any Time or Accident ever move me from the Truth of this Opinion P. So 't is indeed and of this a little before thy Muse did sing when thou didst also deplore the Misfortune of Man whom alone thou didst believe not to be under the Care of Providence though that every other thing was govern'd by Reason thou didst not doubt But it is miraculous to me that thou who hast so just Notions of all things shouldst be in so ill a State of Health I will therefore search further for I believe thou yet labourest under some notable Defect But tell me because thou dost not at all doubt but that the World is govern'd by God by what kind of Government are its Affairs managed B. I can not well comprehend thy Question therefore I cannot readily answer it P. I was not then deceiv'd when I thought there was something wanting some Vacuity or Breach by which this whole Train of Perturbations found a way into thy Mind But tell me dost thou remember what is the chief End of all things and whither the whole Mass and Body of Nature doth tend B. I have heard what it is but my Griefs have dulled my Memory and eras'd almost every thing out of it P. But how then dost thou know from whence all things have their Being B. That I remember well and told thee it was from God P. And how then doth it come to pass that thou knowing the Cause and Beginning of all things shouldst be ignorant of their End It hath ever been of the Nature of these Perturbations to have a Power to unsettle Mens Minds and to interrupt the Regular Course of thinking but they never yet could wholly alienate them from the genuine Sentiments of true Reason But I pray thee answer me this Dost thou remember that thou art a Man B. I am not so much distemper'd but I remember that P. Canst thou then tell me what Man is B. If thou askest me if I know my self to be a rational and a mortal Creature I answer I do know and confess my self to be so P. And dost thou not know that thou art somewhat more than that B. No. P. Now I know another and the greatest Cause of thy Distemper which is that thou hast lost the Knowledg of thy self So that I have plainly found the Source of thy Distemper or rather the way of restoring thee to thy Health For because thou art confounded with the Oblivion of thy self thou complainest of thy Banishment and of the Loss of thy Estate And because thou dost not know what is the End of things thou dost believe wicked and lawless Men to be powerful and happy And because thou hast forgotten by
praecipiti petit Summumque credit gloriam c. I. Who Glory vainly doth pursue And dreams it is the Sovereign Good Let him the starry Countries view And then 't will soon be understood How small Earth is compar'd to that vast Frame And then he will despise not seek a glorious Name II. Why to be freed from Death should Man desire For though his Fame doth widely fly Though splendid Titles he acquire At last the mighty thing must die And in the Grave is no Distinction made Betwixt the Great Low the Scepter the Spade III. Where is the good (f) Fabritius He was a Roman Consul and celebrated by both Orators and Poets especially for his Fidelity and Truth First because he was tempted with the Offer of great Gifts by Pyrrhus King of the Epirotes and even of the Promise of the fourth part of his Kingdoms if he would leave the Interest and Service of his Country which he refused And also because he sent back to the same King Pyrrhus Tymochares his Physician who offered for a Reward to give Poison to his Prince Which generous Action was so admired by that King that he said it was more easy to divert the Sun from its Course than Fabritius from the Paths of Honesty From whence Claud. Carm. 26. v. 130. Et nulli pervia culpae Pectora Fabritii donis invicta vel armis Fabritius now And where the noble (g) Brutus This was Lucius Brutus so called for the Stupidity which he acted for fear of the Tarquins It was he who after the Expulsion of the Tarquins for the Rape committed upon Lucretia did assert the Roman Liberty together with Collatinus for which Reason they were constituted the first Consuls Brutus Where Is (h) Cato As Brutus had his Name imposed from his feigned Stupidity so Cato derived his from his Wisdom because catus signifieth Wise from whence Cato There were two excellent Men who were famous by this Sir-name of one or both of whom Philosophy may here speak viz. Cato major and Cato minor sprung both at different times from the Portian Stock settled at Tusculum now called Trascat within a few Miles of Rome where there are many pleasant Villa's magnificent Palaces Gardens adorned with Grotto's Cascades and other Water-works belonging to the Roman Princes and Nobility The first who was called the Censor flourished about the Year 570 from the building of the City and arrived at a great old Age. Cato minor who was called Praetorius lived in the very time of the Civil Wars betwixt Caesar and Pompey of whom Lucan singeth something too profanely Regard being had to the Heathenish Superstition of those times thus Victrix causa Deis placuit sed victa Catoni Horace also l. 2. Carm. Ode 1. thus Audire magnos jam videor duces Non indecoro pulvere sordidos Et cuncta terrarum subacta Praeter atrocem animum Catonis Cato with his rugged Brow 'T is little of them doth appear In a few Letters now their Fame doth live But nothing of their Persons can the knowledg give IV. Men lie in dark Oblivion's Shade Nor are their Vertues spread by Fame Nor can they think t' outlive their Fate By a poor airy dying Name To conquering Time that fancied Life must yield So Death will twice victoriously have won the Field PROSA VIII BUT lest thou shouldst believe that I am an inexorable Enemy to Fortune and wage an endless War against her I shall confess that there are sometimes when that faithless One may deserve well of Men then I mean when she opens and discovers her self and freely confesses her self to be what she really is Thou dost not perhaps yet understand what I am about to say The thing is wonderful which I desire to tell thee and therefore I almost want Words to express this Paradox to wit that adverse Fortune doth more profit and truly more advantage Men than prosperous For this under the Cloak and Shew of Happiness when she smileth and caresses lies and deceives the other always fairly and openly declares her Enmity and shews her Instability by her constant Changes That deceives this instructs that by a precious Shew of Good binds the Minds of those she favours this by the Knowledg of her Fickleness frees and absolves them therefore thou mayst observe the one always faithless airy wavering and ignorant of its own Condition the other sober stay'd and even prudent in managing and making the best use of Adversity Lastly prosperous Fortune by her Allurements and Blandishments draws Men from the right aside and out of the direct way leading to that which is the sovereign Good whilst for the most part the other doth not only lead Men but as it were draw them with a Hook to true and genuine Happiness Further thinkest thou that it is to be esteemed the least Good which we receive from this hard and at the first sight horrible Fortune that she doth discover to thee the Hearts of thy faithful Friends since she distinguisheth between the constant and doubtful Countenances of thy Companions and Acquaintance and when she departeth that she taketh away her Friends and leaves thine At what rate wouldst thou have bought the knowledg of this when thou wert as it seemed to thee in thy prosperous Estate Forbear then to deplore the Loss of thy Riches and Honours since thou hast found the most valuable Jewel the most pretious kind of Riches I mean the Knowledg of thy unalterable and sincere Friends METRUM VIII Quod mundus stabili fide Concordes variat vices c. That this great Fabrick of the Vniverse Doth by a constant Order suffer Change That Elements which by Nature disagree Are by a Line perpetual firmly bound That Phebus in his Chariot brings the Day And that the Moon doth rule the sable Night Which Hesperus officiously leads on That the salt Waves are kept within their Bounds Lest they should on the Right of Earth encroach Is all the Effect of Love which rules the Sea Which doth command the many-peopled Earth And even to Heaven its Empire doth extend If he his Reins should carelesly remit Those things which now affectionately love Would presently declare an open War And would the well-mov'd Machine soon dissolve This People of a different Lip doth bind With sacred Cords this ties the Nuptial Knot And with chaste Vows does what is bound confirm This doth to Friendship dictate binding Laws O happy Men if Love which rules in Heaven Had an Ascendant o'r your noble Minds The End of the Second Book ANICIUS MANLIUS SEVERINUS BOETIUS OF THE Consolation of Philosophy BOOK the Third The ARGUMENT Philosophy now urgeth stronger Arguments to wit that all Men do seek after Happiness but that they do very much err in the way of obtaining it whilst some believe to find it in Riches others in Dignities in the Favour of Kings in the Glory of great Atchievements in Nobility or in the Pleasures of the Body