and inspiring Genius whilst he compos'd some of his immortal Works He desired much to have had Issue by her and perform'd the last Offices to her in the following Verses which express with Passion his Conjugal Affection HELPES dicta fui Siculae Regionis Alumna Quam procul à patria Conjugis egit amor Quo sine moesta dies nox anxia flebilis hora Nec solum Caro sed Spiritus unus erat Lux mea non clausa est tali remanente marito Majorique animae parte superstes ero Porticibus sacris tam nunc peregrina quiesco Judicis aeterni testificata Thronum Ne qua manus Bustum violet nisi fortè jugalis Haec iterum cupiat jungere membra suis Vt Thalami CumulÃque comes nec morte revellar Et socios vitae nectat uterque Cinis In English thus Led by the Charms of my kind Lord I came To Rome Sicilian HELPES was my Name My Days Nights Hours he did with Pleasure crown One were our Bodies and our Souls were one Though forc'd from hence I do my Fate survive Whilst still my nobler Part in him doth live A Stranger in this sacred Porch I lie And of th' Eternal Judg I testify O let no Hand invade my Tomb unless My Lord would mingle this my Dust with his As once one Bed then should we have one Grave And I in both shou'd him my much-lov'd Partner haue His other Wife was RVSTICIANA Daughter to Quintus Aurelius Memius Symmachus who was also Chief of the Senate and Consul in the Year CDXXCV By her he had many Children two of which were Consuls viz. QVINTVS ANICIVS SYMMACHVS and ANICIVS MANLIVS SEVERINVS BOETIVS in the Year DXXII. this bearing the Name of his Father the other of his Grandfather Boetius well considering that Symmachus his Father-in-law being without Heirs-male he shou'd do a grateful thing to him if he gave his Name to his eldest Son by his Daughter 'T is likely that his Wealth was not small because besides that he owns in his Writings that he liv'd in great Plenty and Splendour and that he had an Abundance and Affluence of all worldly things his Father supported the honourable Office of the Consulate and his Grandfather in the most difficult times of the Empire commanded the Pretorian Bands Nor was he only considerable by his Patrimony for he had a great Accession to his Fortune by his Wife RVSTICIANA to whom and her Sons the whole Estate of Symmachus did descend since Galla the other Daughter of Symmachus upon the Death of her Husband who died young soon after the time of his Consulship was expir'd vow'd perpetual Chastity and associated her self to the Vestals To these Ornaments of Birth and Fortune Nature added also the considerable Faculties of Speaking and Writing in which he so excell'd that himself acknowledges the first and that the second was not wanting to him will appear to any one who examines what he has written upon the several Subjects of Mathematicks Logick and Divinity But this Divine Work of the Consolation of Philosophy doth far exceed the rest for it abounds in various and difficult Arguments and yields many choice Sentences and Rules of Life Upon every Subject which he attempts he does so acquit himself that none can be said to have taught more accurately to have prov'd more irrefragably or to have illustrated with more Perspicuity To be short he had so much Strength of Soul and Thought and he shew'd so much Judgment in all his Managements that even a most knowing Prince fear'd his Parts and his Vertues and Integrity became his Crime and wrought his Ruine These were the Causes of his Banishment and Death With these he studied to defend the good and to curb and restrain ill Men whenever it was in his Power For whilst he sustain'd the Dignity of Master of the Offices it being dangerous for him then to refuse to do so he was made President of the Council to whom it belong'd to oversee the Discipline of the Palace and being Partaker of many of the Secrets of his Prince was call'd often to advise him in his weightiest Affairs of State and on all these Occasions he gave great Proofs of his Abilities and inviolable Equity Amongst other of his generous and good Actions he defended Paulinus and Albinus both Consulars and the Senate it self with the rich Province of Campania against the Rapine and Violence of King Theodorick Cyprian Triguilla and Conigast and also against the devouring Avarice of the Captain of the Guards and other barbarous Spoilers By these Proceedings he became the Object of ill Mens Hate and incurr'd also the Displeasure of the King But at this very time the Orthodox Emperor Justin succeeding to Anastasius the Arian like a new Sun enlightned the Oriental Regions with the Light of the true Faith He confirm'd that Peace which was desir'd by Theodorick King of the Gothes who then Odoacer being slain reign'd in Italy He having reconcil'd the Church of Constantinople and also several others to Hormisda Bishop of Rome did immediately by his Edict banish all Arians except the Gothes out of the Eastern Empire Theodorick the Goth was troubled at this Action above measure however he dissembled his Resentment when behold three Informers Men of desperate Fortune and worse Lives Gaudentius and Opilio for several Offences being condemn'd to Banishment and Basilius lately dismiss'd from being Steward of the King's Household and also much indebted apply to the King and accuse BOETIVS for that he should hinder an Informer from bringing in his Witnesses to prove the whole Senate guilty of Treason that he declar'd his Design by several Letters of restoring the Liberty of Italy and that he had endeavour'd to raise himself to Honours by magical Arts and other unlawful Means Theodorick jealous as all are of the Rights and Safety of his Crown and fearing too that if the true Religion should be asserted the Romans being more addicted to Justin would attempt some Great thing and knowing that what was done in the East against the Arians was done at the Request and in favour of Hormisda and the Senate of Rome did give ready Faith to those Accusers and immediately sent them to the Senate at Rome from which Place this good Man was then far distant where they were to present their Accusations and to declare that the Lives and Safety of the Prince and of all the Gothes were now in great Jeopardy So to the Grief of all good Men the innocent Boetius absent unheard and undefended was condemned to Death and to Proscription But the King fearing that Justice and all the World would have but too good Cause of Offence against him if this Man should die he changed his Sentence from Death to Banishment that so he might be a Terror to other People and he might still have him in his Power to make a Sacrifice of when his barbarous Soul should thirst after Blood Therefore in the Year
But if Dominion and the Rule over many People be the efficient Cause of Happiness doth not it follow that if it be defective in any Part it must necessarily diminish that Happiness and introduce Misery But although humane Empires extend themselves far and wide there must of necessity be many People over which every King can have no Command and on whatsoever Hand this Power which constitutes Happiness shall fail there must Impotence enter which causes Misery Hence therefore it is natural to aver that Princes must have a larger Portion of Misery than of its contrary A (r) A Tyrant He means Dionysius King of Sicily who hath been noted by all succeeding Ages for his tyrannical Government His History is so well known that I need only mention here that one Damocles flattering Dionysius and extolling the Happiness which he thought he did enjoy in the possession of great Power and Wealth the Tyrant attired him one Day as a King and ordered a Royal Table and Service to be prepared for him that he might have a Taste of that Felicity which he so much applauded but whilst Damocles was in his Royal Robes with delicious Fare before him Orders were given to hang a naked Sword with the Point downwards just over his Head and only fastned by an Hair which when Damocles perceived he could not eat nor take any Pleasure in his Royal Attendance By which Dionysius made him perceive that the Life of a Prince though living in great State and Plenty is very uncomfortable since he is continually wrested and tormented with Cares and Fear Districtus Ensis cui super impiâ Cervice pendet non Siculae dapes Dulcem elaborabunt saporem Non avium citharaeque cantus Somnum reducent Hor. l. 3 Carm. Ode 1. certain Tyrant who well understood the Danger of his Condition did well express the Fears and Cares which attend Government by the Terror of a naked Sword hanging over a Man's Head What then is this thing call'd Power which cannot expel Care nor banish Fear Men desire to live secure but cannot and yet they glory in and boast of their Power Canst thou believe him to be powerful whom thou seest not able to do what he would or him mighty who goes surrounded with a Guard to terrify those of whom he himself is more afraid and whose Power is seated in the Number of his Attendance And now why should I trouble my self to discourse of the Favourites of Princes when I have shew'd even Kingdoms themselves to be subject to so much Imbecility especially since these gaudy things are often disgraced and ruined as well when the Prince is fortunate as when he is unhappy Nero would allow (s) Seneca He was a Philosopher of the Sect of the Stoicks and born at Corduba in Spain he was Uncle to Lucan the Poet and Tutor to the Emperor Nero anno Ch. 60. who afterwards sentenced him that he might possess his Wealth to drink Poison which working not its Effect with him he ordered him to be put into an hot Bath and his Veins to be opened out of which the Blood flowing he gently expired Tacitus saith that when one of the Centurions was sent to him to denounce the Certainty of his Death he said Neque aliud superesse post matrem fratremque interfectos quam ut educatoris praeceptorisque necem adjicere That there was nothing now left for him to do after the Murder of his Mother and Brother but to add that of his Teacher and Master to them Seneca his Friend and Tutor this only Favour to chuse the manner of his Death after he had condemned him The Emperor (t) Antoninus He was sirnamed Caracalla and was Successor to Severus in the Roman Empire having killed his Brother Geta. The Impiousness of which Fact he ordered Papinian to excuse or wipe off to the Senate and the People Papinian refused to do it saying that Parricide was sooner committed than concealed and that it was another kind of Parricide to accuse an innocent Person murdered which Refusal so irritated Antoninus that he commanded he should be killed by his Souldiers Antoninus exposed (u) Papinian He was a most famous Lawyer and is said to have excelled all those who preceded and followed his time in the Knowledg of his Profession He succeeded to Scaevola whose Disciple he was in the Administration of the Affairs relating to the Treasury of the Emperor Severus to whom he was related by his second Wife and was so well esteemed by that Emperor that when he died he left his Sons to his Care Papinian who had long been great at Court to fall by the Swords of his Souldiers Both of them would willingly have renounced their Authority and Seneca was willing to have given his whole Estate and all his Riches into the Hands of Nero and to have retired but whilst the Force of Fate pushed them on towards their Fall neither of them could accomplish what they desired to have done What then is this Power of which Men even when they enjoy it are afraid of which when they are desirous they are not sure nor safe and which when they would lay it down they cannot be acquitted of it Are those Friends to be trusted to in time of need whose Friendship is not founded upon Vertue but upon thy Fortune Believe it they whom thy happy Estate have made so will change when that is altered and when thou art miserable they will be thy Enemies And what Plague in the World can be greater or hurt thee more than such an Enemy who hath gain'd an Intimacy with thee METRUM V. Qui se volet esse potentem Animos domet ille feroces c. He to his Passions Laws must give Who would at Fame and Power arrive He must not too himself forget And to Lust's servile Yoak submit Although thy Laws and Power extend To fruitful (w) India 'T is so called from the River Indus and is a vast Territory terminating Asia towards the East although here it is taken for the East India's distant Land Though frozen (x) Thule Was the last of the Islands which the Romans had discovered and lay the most Northerly of all towards the West wherefore here it is taken for the West It is generally believed to be Iceland and depends upon the King of Denmark as King of Norway About the End of the 9th Century it began to be frequented by the Europeans Thule's stubborn Brow Should to thy dreadful Scepter bow Yet if black Care invades thy Breast If Grief and Plaints do thee molest Thou neither powerful art nor bless'd PROSA VI. BUT O how deceitful oft and how deformed is the thing called Glory Hence not without Reason did the Tragedian exclaim 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O Glory Glory there are thousands of Men who have deserved nothing whose Lives nevertheless thou hast rendred famous for many have surreptitiously gotten to themselves great Names by the false
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
their Souls but only from the Principles of Nature for the Will often pushed on by urgent Causes affects and imbraces that Death which Nature fears and abhors And on the contrary we see that the Works of Generation by which alone the Race of Men is propagated and which Nature always affects often restrained by the Will Therefore this Love which every thing beareth to it self doth not proceed from the Motions of the Soul but from the Intentions of Nature For Providence hath given to all things created by it this greatest Cause and Principle of Duration to wit a Desire of existing as long as it can Therefore doubt not but every Being hath a natural Appetite towards Living and an Abhorrence of Dissolution Bo. I now confess that plainly and without doubting I see those things which before seemed uncertain to me Ph. I go on then Whatever doth desire to subsist and endure doth also desire Unity for if this be taken away its Essence is dissolved Bo. That is most true Ph. Then all things desire one thing Bo. I assent Ph. But I have before demonstrated that that one thing must be that which is good Bo. You have so Ph. All things therefore desire Good which Good you may describe to be that which is desired of all Bo. Nothing is truer For either all things must be reduced to nothing and so being destitute of an Head float and rove about without Governance and Order or if there be any thing to which all things do tend that must be the chief of all Goods Ph. I rejoice but too much O my Pupil for thou hast fixed in thy Mind the very middle and manifest Note of Truth but this thing hath been discovered to thee because a little before thou saidst thou wert ignorant of it Bo. What is that Ph. Thou didst not know what was the End of all things And this is it which every one desires And because we have from our former Arguments gathered that Good is that which is the Subject of all Mens Desires we must necessarily confess that Good is the End of all things METRUM XI Quisquis profunda mente vestigat verum Cupitque nullis ille deviis falli c. Who into Truth doth deep Researches make And would not in his Quest his way mistake Let him into himself revolve his Eye Collect his Thoughts each Property espy Of Beings let him too instruct his Mind That what she seeks without she in her self may find Then that which cloudy Error did o'r spread Will like the Sun exalt its radiant Head For when Oblivion did the Mind invade It did not wholly Light exterminate The generous Seeds of Truth lie close beneath And rise when Learning 's gentle Zephyrs breath Else how could Truth in thy Discourse appear Vnless its hidden Principles lay there So if what (m) Plato in his Phaedo toucheth upon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Reminiscence It is said there that Socrates had frequently this Saying in his Mouth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is that to learn is no other thing than to remember what had been forgotten before Plato's Muse did sing is true To learn is but Remembrance to renew PROSA XII Boet. I Now very much assent to Plato since this second time thou hast brought these things to my remembrance At first when my Memory was drowned by the contagious Conjunction of my Body with my Soul and then when I afterwards lost it in those Pressures of Sorrow under which I laboured Ph. If thou wilt a little recollect what thou hast granted above thou wilt not be far from remembring that thing of which a little before thou didst confess thy Ignorance Bo. What thing was that Ph. It was by what Power the Universe is governed Bo. I confess I did in that own my want of Knowledg but although I have a Prospect of what thou wilt infer yet I desire to hear it made more plain from thy Mouth Ph. A little time before thou didst think that there was no Reason to doubt but that this World was governed by God Bo. Nor do I think otherwise now nor shall I ever think that it ought to be doubted and I will briefly recount to you the Reasons which lead me to this Opinion The differing and contrariant Parts of which this World is compos'd had never been brought together into one beautiful Form without the Assistance of a powerful Hand to join them And even after such a Conjunction the disagreeing Qualities of their Natures had dissociated the Parts and ruined the Fabrick if the same conjoining Hand had not kept them together For the Order and Methods of Nature could not so certainly proceed nor produce so regular Motions disposed and limited according to Times Places Actings Spaces and Qualities unless there were one remaining fix'd and immovable Being to mesnage so great Varieties of Change I give this excellent Being whatever it is by which all things created endure and are actuated and informed the known Denomination of God Ph. Seeing that thou hast so right a Sentiment of these things there is but little more to be done now that thou mayst once more be happy and safe and that thou mayst revisit thy own Countrey But let us reflect a little upon what we have before proposed Have not we agreed that Sufficiency is of the Nature of true Happiness And have we not granted that God is that true Happiness Bo. We have Ph. And that towards the Government of this World he shall need no Helps or foreign Instruments for if he should he should not then be self-sufficient Bo. That necessarily follows Ph. Therefore by himself alone he disposeth of all things Bo. It cannot be denied Ph. And I have shewed that God is the real Good Bo. I remember it well Ph. By that Good then doth he order every thing because he governs all things by himself whom we have granted to be the Sovereign Good and he is that great and certain Rule and Method of Government which keeps the Machine of the World together giving it Stability and preserving it from Corruption Bo. I entirely agree to this and I did foresee before that this was it which thou wert about to say Ph. I believe it and now I believe thy Eyes are more intent upon these great Truths But what I shall say is not less open to thy View Bo. What is that Ph. Since God is rightly believed to govern all things by his Goodness and all those things as I have before taught to hasten by a natural Bent and Intention towards Good can it be doubted but that they voluntarily submit to his Government and that of their own Accord they willingly comply with and yield up themselves to him their Ruler Bo. That must necessarily be otherwise the Government could not subsist if People were suffered to draw different ways there would be no Safety for those who obey Ph. Is there any Being then which follows the Dictates of
which are to be done and he doth in several Ways and according to Time administer by Fate those very things which he hath so disposed So then whether Fate be exercised and moved by some Divine Spirits which attend upon Providence or by some Soul or by the Ministry of the whole Body of Nature or by the Celestial Motions of the Stars or by Angelick Vertue or by the manifold Subtlety of Demons whether good or bad or if by any of these or if by all of them the Series of Fate is woven This certainly is manifest that the immovable and simple way of doing things is Providence and that the movable Contexture and temporal Order of those things which the Divine Purity fore-disposed and ordered to be done is Fate Hence it is that all things which are under the Dominion of Fate are also subject to Providence which commands even Fate it self But some things which are placed under the Guidance and Protection of Providence are wholly exempt from the Jurisdiction of Fate and surmount the Series of it and those are such things as are stably fixed near to the Divinity and are above the Order of fatal Mobility For even as amongst several Circles turning about the same Centre that which is innermost approacheth most to the Simplicity of the middle Point and is as it were a Centre round which they may turn to those placed without it and that which is outermost rolling in a greater Circuit the further it departs from the middle Individuity of the Point so much the more Space it doth fill but yet if any thing should join and fasten it self to the Point it is constrained to be immovable and ceaseth to be dilated By parity of Reason the further any thing departeth from the first Mind that is from God it is so much the more embarassed and faster bound in the Bonds of Destiny and every thing is by so much the freer from Fate by how much it approacheth nearer to the Centre of all things And if it closely adheres to the Firmness of the supreme Mind without moving it goes beyond the Necessity and Power of Destiny As Ratiocination then is to the Intellect as that which is begotten is to that which hath a proper Being as Time is to Eternity as the Circle is to the Centre so is the movable Order of Fate to the stable Simplicity of Providence This Order moveth the Heavens and the Stars tempereth the Elements and maketh them agree amongst themselves and by an alternative Change transforms them It reneweth all things which are born and which die by the like Progressions of Sexes and Seeds This binds together the Actions and Fortunes of Men by an indissoluble Connection of Causes which since they proceed from the Origine of immovable Providence must also themselves necessarily be unchangeable For so things are always best governed if that pure Simplicity or Singleness dwelling in the Divine Nature may produce that unalterable Order of Causes for this Order by its own Unchangeableness and Constancy may restrain those things which in their Nature are mutable and which would otherwise rashly and irregularly float about Hence it is that although things may seem confused and disturbed to Men who cannot aright consider this Order nevertheless the proper Manner and Course of every thing directs and disposeth it to the true Good For there is nothing done for the sake of Evil no not by the most flagitious Wretches who as I have fully before demonstrated are in their Researches after Good diverted by crooked Error whilst the Order proceeding from the Centre of Sovereign Good doth not mislead any from its Principles But thou mayst say what greater Confusion can there be that both prosperous and adverse things should by times happen to good Men and that evil Men can enjoy what their Hearts can desire and yet be afflicted too with things which they hate Do People live now a-days so vertuously and with so much Integrity that those whom Men think good or bad must necessarily be either But in this the Judgments of Men disagree much For those whom some judg worthy of a Reward others think to deserve Punishment But let us grant that it is possible that some one may be able to distinguish betwixt the Good and the Bad Is it possible therefore that he should look into the inward Temperament of the Mind and pronounce of it as one may of the Body But it is miraculous to him who knows it not why sweet things should be agreeable to some Bodies and bitter to others and why some sick People are eased by Lenitives others are helped by sharper Medicines But it is no wonder to the Physician who knoweth the Measure and Temperament of Health and Sickness But what other thing is it that makes the Mind healthful and strong than Goodness And what is its Sickness but Vice Who is the Preserver of Good and the Driver away of Evil other than God the great Ruler and Physician of the Mind who when he looks about him from the high Observatory of his Providence sees and knows what is convenient for every one and then accommodates him with the Convenience Hence then proceeds that remarkable Miracle of the Order of Destiny since the all-knowing God doth that at which the Ignorant are astonished But now that I may glance at a few things concerning the Depth of the Divine Knowledg which humane Reason may comprehend that Man whom thou believest to be most just and the greatest Observer and Maintainer of Equity of that Man I say the all-knowing Providence doth think otherwise And (q) My Familiar Lucan Lucan is here stiled by Philosophy Familiaris noster Lucanus because he was a Philosopher and a Vein of Philosophy seems to run through the whole Work of his Pharsalia my Familiar Lucan told us that the vanquishing Cause was pleasing to the Gods but the vanquish'd to Cato Know this then that whatsoever thou seest done contrary to thy Hope or Expectation that notwithstanding the Order of things is preserved right and entire but to thy perverted Opinion it seemeth Confusion But let us suppose that a Man may have behaved himself so well that the Approbation of God and Man may both agree in him but he is perhaps of a weak Courage so that if any thing cross should befal him he will forgo his Innocence since with it he cannot retain his Fortune The wise Dispensation of Providence then spareth him whom Adversity may make worse lest he should be put to labour and travel who is not able to undergo such Hardship nor to bear Afflictions Another Man is Master of all Vertues is holy and one who draws nigh to God Providence judgeth it Injustice that that Man should be oppressed by any Adversity so that it will not suffer him to labour even under any bodily Distemper But as (r) One more excellent than I. It is supposed that our Philosopher meaneth here Hermes Trismegistus He
Fountain and Source The Law and the wise Judg of Equity Those things to which he did a Motion give He stops and thus being mov'd he doth confirm For if their direct Motions he did not Revoke and forc'd them in a Round to move Those things which now by Order do endure Would straight from their Beginning fall and soon Would into nothing be resolv'd This Love to every thing is common then And all things do propose Good as their End For otherwise they could not last unless By Love's kind Circulation they revert To that first Cause which gave them Being God PROSA VII Phil. DOST thou not see now what follows from all the things which I have spoken Bo. What is the Consequence Ph. That all Fortune is good Bo. And how I prithee can that be Ph. Observe then that since all Fortune is either prosperous or adverse it is given either to reward or exercise the Good or to punish or correct the Bad and all Fortune is good which appears to be either just or profitable Bo. The Reason is most true and if I consider the Doctrine either of Providence or Fate which a little before thou taughtest me thy Opinion is founded upon a firm Ground But let us range it if thou pleasest amongst those Positions which a little before thou saidst were not commonly believed by the People Ph. Why so Bo. Because it is the common and frequent Phrase of Men that the Fortune of such an one is bad Ph. Wilt thou then that I shall for a while draw nearer to the Peoples way of Discourse lest we should seem too much to have receded from the Usages of Mankind Bo. As thou pleasest Ph. Thinkest thou not then that every thing which is profitable is good Bo. Yes surely Ph. But whatsoever doth either exercise or correct is profitable Bo. I confess it Ph. Therefore 't is good Bo. Why should it not Ph. But this is the Fortune of them who are either fixed in Vertue and wage a constant War against Adversity or of those who abandoning Vice take the way of Vertue Bo. I cannot deny it Ph. But what sayst thou of that pleasant Fortune which is given as a Reward to good Men do the Many conceive it to be ill Bo. Certainly no but rather they believe it to be very good as it is indeed Ph. But what sayst thou of that other which although it be sharp and inflicts just Punishment upon the Wicked do Men take it to be good Bo. No sure but rather the most wretched and tormenting thing that can be thought upon Ph. Behold then and mark well if we following the Opinion of the People have not concluded something which is very contrary to the common Opinion Bo. What is that Ph. It followeth clearly to the things before granted that whatsoever the Fortune of all those who are either in possession of or growing in Vertue or otherwise in search after her may be it is good but that the Fortune of those who live in Impiety and Sin must be the worst of any thing Bo. That is true although no one dare confess it Ph. Why so for the wise Man ought not to be cast down when he is brought into the Field to wage War with Fortune no more than the valiant Man ought to be dismayed when he hears the Trumpet sound to Battel For Difficulty and Hardship giveth the Occasion to one that he may encrease and propagate his Glory and to the other that he may confirm and improve his Wisdom From hence is Vertue denominated because leaning upon its own Strength and confiding in its proper Force it is not to be overcome by Adversity Nor thou who art so far advanced in the Course of Vertue art not to be carried away by Delights and to wallow in Lust thou must engage valiantly and fiercely against every Fortune And lest Adversity should oppress thee or Prosperity corrupt thee possess thy self of the Golden Mean and retain it with all thy Strength For whatsoever is below or goeth beyond that implies a Contempt of true Happiness and loseth the Reward of its Labour It lieth in thy own Hand to choose what Fortune thou likest for all Fortune which seemeth sharp and grievous unless it exercise the Vertues of the Good or chastise the Impiety of the Wicked is a Punishment METRUM VII Bella bis quinis operatus annis Ultor Atreides Phrygiae ruinis Fratris amissos thalamos piavit c. By ten Years bloody War and (Å¿) Phrygia It is a Region of the Lesser Asia situated towards the West according to Ptolomy and Strabo Phrygia's Fate (t) Atreides Agamemnon Paris the Son of Priam King of Troy having equipped a Fleet went into Greece to visit Menelaus King of Sparta and against the Laws of Hospitality stole away his Wife which Agamemnon the Son of Atreus and Brother of the aforesaid Menelaus very much resenting he did call together the Grecian Chieftains and sailing into Phrygia besieged Troy and having taken it after a Siege of ten Years destroyed it with Fire and Sword The same Agamemnon when he was going upon this Expedition when he arrived at Aulis a Port of Boeotia and had made a Review of his Army did ignorantly kill an Hart which had been consecrated to Diana with which the Goddess being offended did send a Pestilence and suppressed the Winds so that he laid Wind-bound in the Haven He consulted in this Exigence the Oracle which gave for Answer that the Gods would not be appeased till he had sacrificed Iphigenia his Daughter Agamemnon obeyed and himself performed the Office of the Priest by sacrificing his Daughter so that after many Labours and Perils he accomplished his Enterprize Hence Virgil. Aeneid lib. 2. Saepe fugam Danai Troja cupiere relictâ Moliri longo fessi discedere bello Fecissentque utinam saepe illos aspera Ponti Interclusit byems terruit Auster â—…untes Praecipuè cum jam hic trabibus contextus acernis Staret equus toto fonuerunt aethere nimbi Suspensi Eurypylum scitatum Oracula Phoebi Mittimus isque adytis haec tristia dicta reportat Sanguine placastis ventos virgine caesâ Cum primum Iliacas Danai venistis ad oras c. Atreides did revenge and expiate His Brother's Loss Whilst his unquiet Mind Press'd him to sail with Blood he buys a Wind For the Argolick Fleet he puts off all Compassion and vows his Daughter shall A Victim to the injur'd Goddess fall The wise Ulysses did with Tears lament His slaughtered Friends whom (u) Polyphemus Feigned to be one of the Cyclops and the Son of Neptune a huge Giant who had but one Eye and that feigned to be in his Forehead He took Vlysses and four of his Company and kept them in his Den he devoured his Companions but Vlysses having a Bottle of strong Wine he gave it to him to drink which cast him into a deep Sleep so that Vlysses with his Staff
created Consul should in this Place make a great Expence in entertaining of the Roman People with the usual Games otherwise they did not ingratiate themselves with them nor did seem to support honourably their Character Circus thou sitting betwixt the Consuls didst satisfy the Expectation of the Multitude which stood about thee with a triumphal Largess Thou then didst flatter Fortune by thy Expressions when she seemed to hug and caress thee as her Friend and Delight Thou then receivedst from her such a Gift as was never before made to any private Man Wilt thou then come to an account with her This is the first time that she hath looked unkindly upon thee and if thou wilt equally weigh the Number of thy Blessings and Afflictions thou canst not but in Justice acknowledg that thou art yet happy For if therefore thou dost esteem thy self unfortunate because the things which heretofore seem'd pleasing to thee are passed away there is no reason for it because even those things which do now afflict thee do also pass Art thou but just now entred a Stranger upon the Scene of this World Dost thou but now appear in this Theatre Believest thou that there can be any Constancy or Stability in humane Affairs when thou seest that an Hour or a quicker Minute dissolves humane Nature and separates the Soul from the Body For although there is seldom Hope that the things of Fortune will continue with us yet the last Day of a Man's Life seemeth to be the last also of that Prosperity which remains with us Where then is the great Difference What doth it import then whether thou by Death leavest it or it by Flight doth leave thee METRUM III. Cum Polo Phoebus roseis quadrigis Lucem spargere coeperit c. I. When Phebus from his roseal (o) Roscis quadrigis The Sun was feigned by the Poets to be drawn in a Coach by four Horses viz. Pyrois Aeous Aethon and Phlegon by which Fire Light Heat and Flame the four principal Effects of the Sun as also the four chief Hours of the Day may be signified Ovid. l. 2. Metamorph. Interea volucres Pyrois Aeous Aethon Solis equi quartusque Phlegon binnitibus auram Flammiferis implent pedibusque repagula pulsant Coach Dispenses Light and opens Day The Stars grow pale at his Approach And shun the Glories of his Ray Hiding their Heads whilst he 's upon his way II. The Woods the Vernal Roses wear When the Life-breathing (p) Zephyrs Zephyrus is a soft and warm Wind blowing from the West and by its Quality it makes the Earth fruitful therefore it is called by the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a bringer of Life by the Latins it is termed Favonius à fovendo from cherishing or keeping warm as if it were the Genital or Elemental Spirit of the World as Pliny saith l. 10. c. 25. Parturit almus ager Zephyrique tepentibus auris Laxant arva sinus Virg. l. 2. Georg. Zephyrs blow If to the (q) Auster Is the Wind blowing from the South and is of a moist and warm Nature It is esteemed moist because it gathers again those Humours which the North-wind had dispelled and scattered Hence by Virgil it is called humidus by Horace Vdus by Ovid Aquaticus by St. Augustine Pincerna pluviarum and by Boetius Nebulosus It is esteemed hot and warm because it bloweth from the South or because by its Moistness or its Heat or by both it is hurtful to living Creatures and to Plants but particularly to Flowers from whence Virgil l. 1. Arboribusque satis Notus pecorique sinister And Eclog. 2. Eheu quid volui misero mihi floribus Austrum Perditus liquidis immisi fontibus apros This Wind is a particular Enemy to Roses Hence Statius l. 3. Sylvarum Pubentesque rosae primos moriuntur ad Austros Therefore Auster by our Author is said spirare insanum to blow madly and whilst it blows decus abire spinis that is it makes the Rose to wither or die which as it is the Queen of Flowers and as it is produced from a Thorn so it is the Glory of that Vegetable Hence Antonius Hallaeus a Norman Writer very elegantly expresseth himself Ortûs tamen ipsa memento O Rosa pulchralis te informis spina creavit South the Wind doth veer No more those Beauties then they show Which charm'd our Eyes when the gay Flowers did grow III. Sometimes I have the Ocean seen Clear undisturb'd and free With Looks all radiant and serene But if the Winds awaken'd be The Waves then swell and roll outragiously IV. If all things vary thus their Forms And nothing certain doth appear Wilt thou commit to the wild Storms Thy Vessel and let Fortune steer 'T is sure that nothing can be constant here PROSA IV. Boet. ALL this which thou recountest O thou Source and Nourisher of all Vertues is most true nor can I deny the quick and early Arrival of my Prosperity But one thing when I remember it doth most sensibly afflict me for nothing doth more add to a Man's Infelicity than the remembrance that he was once happy Phil. That thou dost yet groan under the Torment of thy ill-grounded Opinion is not to be imputed to the evil Estate of thy Affairs for if this empty Name of uncertain Happiness moves thee do but recollect with me what Plenty thou enjoyest and what is yet reserved safe to thee And therefore if thou yet dost possess that which in the best times thou didst account most precious it being yet by the Hand of Heaven preserved safe and inviolate canst thou justly then complain of the Injuries of Fortune Symmachus thy Father-in-law the Delight and Ornament of Mankind whose Welfare thou wouldst readily purchase at the rate of thy Life one who by an admirable Temper and Mixture is wholly made up of Wisdom and Vertue is yet safe and fearless of his own Concerns only laments thy Injuries and grieves for thy Misfortunes Thy Wife yet lives an Example of Modesty and a Pattern of Chastity and that I may in one Word include all her Endowments and Perfections the true Resemblance of her Father She lives I say and being weary of Life breaths only for thy sake and in which thing alone I will yield that thy Happiness receives Diminution she pines away with Grief and Tears and with the Desire of once more enjoying thy sweet Conversation Why should I mention thy Consular Sons in whom being yet so young so much of the Wit and Spirit of the Grand-father and Father doth shine Since then it is the chief Care of Men to preserve Life thou art most happy if thou wouldst but know it to whom so many Advantages and Blessings yet remain which all Men value above Life Wherefore dry up thy Tears Fortune hath not expressed her Rage and Malice against you all nor hath the Tempest been too violent whilst thy Anchors yet hold and afford to thee Cause
of present Comfort and Hope of future Felicity Bo. And may they ever hold for whilst they are firm however things go I shall shift so as to keep my Vessel above the Water and perhaps to escape but notwithstanding you may see from what Advantages and Dignities I am fallen Ph. I should think that we had made a good Advance if thou didst not yet retain a Concern for the Diminution of thy former Estate But I cannot suffer that thou shouldest with so much Delight mention thy Fortunes and in so much Anxiety bewail the Loss of so small a part of them For whose Felicity is so well grounded who hath not in some things cause to quarrel with his Lot The Condition of humane Goods is anxious and inconstant for either they do not all at once arrive or if they do they make no stay with us One Man is blessed with a great Affluence of Wealth but he is ashamed of the Baseness of his Blood The Nobility of that Man's Descent makes him conspicuous but being uneasy within the Bounds of a narrow Estate and so unable to bear up the Port of his Ancestors he had rather live retired and unknown Another abounds with Wealth and is nobly born too but he is unmarried and to compleat his Happiness he would have a Wife Another is happy in Wedlock but he wants Children and is troubled that he must gather Riches for another Man's Heir Another hath the Joy of many Children but is soon again mortified by seeing the evil Courses which they take Therefore we fee that no Man can easily agree with the State of his Fortune for in all Conditions there is something which untry'd a Man doth not know and which after trial he doth not approve Add also to this that the Senses of the Happy are refined and delicate and unless every thing happens to them as they desire or when it pleaseth them they are impatient He who is not used to Adversity is overcome and thrown down by every cross Adventure and the least evil Acccidents discompose him upon so minute and slender things doth the Happiness of the most Fortunate depend How many Men are there in the World dost thou believe who would think themselves advanced almost to Heaven if they could attain but to the least part of the Remainder of thy Fortunes This very Place which thou callest a Place of Banishment is their Country who inhabit it And thy Miseries arise only from the ill-grounded Opinion that thou art miserable And again every Lot may be happy to that Man who can with Equanimity and Courage bear it Who is he so happy who when once he grows impatient doth not desire to change his State of Life How much is humane Felicity imbittered which though it may seem sweet to the Enjoyer yet is not to be retained but when it pleaseth takes its Flight So that hence it may appear how miserable even the greatest Felicity of Men is since it will not remain with those who with Equality bear every kind of Lot nor will bring Comfort to those whose Minds are anxious and oppressed Why therefore O wretched Mortals do ye so industriously seek abroad for that Felicity which is placed at home within your selves Error and Ignorance mislead and confound you But I in short will shew you the very Hinge upon which the truest Happiness doth turn Is there any thing more pretious and estimable to thee than thy self No thou wilt say Then if thou wilt weigh things well and gain the Command over thy self thou wilt possess that which thou wouldst never lose and which Fortune can never take from thee And that thou mayst see that Beatitude cannot consist in those things which are in the Power of Fortune only consider thus If Happiness be the Sovereign Good of Nature living and subsisting by Reason then that thing cannot be it which can by any means be withdrawn from us because that which cannot be taken away is worthily esteemed the most excellent Hence it appears that Instability of Fortune is not susceptive of true Happiness Add to this that he who is carried away by fading Felicity doth either know that it is mutable or he doth not If he knows it not what Happiness can he take in the Blindness of his Ignorance If he knows it he must necessarily be afraid lest he should lose that which he knows is easily to be lost and in that case his continual Fear will not suffer him to be happy Perhaps he cares not if he should lose it and he would not be much troubled at its Loss Even truly the Good is but very small and inconsiderable the Loss of which a Man can bear with such Equanimity and Unconcernedness And because I know that thou art one who hast been fully perswaded and by many Demonstrations convinced of the Immortality of the Souls of Men it also being evident that the Goods of Fortune receive a Period with our Bodies by Death it cannot then be doubted but if Death can put an end to our Happiness that all Men when they die are plunged into the Depths of Misery And since we know well that many Men have endeavoured to obtain Felicity not only by undergoing Death but by suffering the most cruel Pains and Torments how then can it be imagined that this present Life can make Men truly happy since when it is ended Men do not become miserable METRUM IV. Quisquis volet perennem Cautus ponere sedem c. Who warily would fix his Seat On which no Eastern Winds should beat Nor Waves which rage against the Shore Have any Power He must not build upon the high And lofty Hills which brave the Sky Nor will his House securely stand Vpon the Sand. Each Blast will one of them annoy And all its Force on it employ The other being loose and light Can't bear the Weight Seeing the Danger then is great To him that loves a pleasant Seat Lay thy Foundation upon The firmer Stone And then though Air and Sea conspire Contemn their Rage and slight their Ire So happily in thy strong Hold Thou mayst grow old PROSA V. Phi. BUT forasmuch as the Applications of my Reasons have sunk into thee I think it is now time to use some more powerful Medicines Go to then if the Gifts of Fortune were not fading and momentary as they are what is there to be found in them which may at any time be accounted thine or which if it be thorowly considered and looked into will not appear to be vile and unworthy Are Riches in their own Nature or by the Estimation of Men pretious What sort of Riches is most excellent Gold or a great Mass of Silver gathered together But this appears more glorious by spending it than by treasuring it up for Avarice always makes Men odious and Bounty makes them famous and renowned And if that which is conferr'd upon another cannot continue with any Man then certainly is Money most
exsecant pestem aliquam tanquam Strumam In Vatin Strumae denique Ebore improbo demigrârunt and elsewhere humidum habemas Oratorem Nonius the Consul even when he was sitting in his Ivory Chair the * Strumam appellat Botch or Impostume of the State Dost thou not see what great Inconveniences Dignities have wrought to wicked Men Their Deformities would less appear if they were more obscure and could be content to be without honourable Titles And let me now ask thee if thou thy self notwithstanding the Dangers which hang over thee couldst condescend to be Colleague with (n) Decoratus This is the Person to whom Theodorick in Cassiodorus writes Var. l. 5. Ep. 31. That he should compel some Men to pay the Money demanded of them if he should truly find that they were Debtors because he was an Assessor to the Master of the Offices which however did not hinder but that he might be called nequissimus Scurra Delator Scurra because he followed great Men and by Scoffing and Taunting did gain his Living Mimum agit ille Vrbani qualem foecundus Scurra Catulli A Delator i. e. an Informer because he had secretly accused other Men. Domitian did order that this sort of Men should be punished saying as Suetonius doth relate it Qui delatores non castigat invitat Decoratus in the Magistracy who hath discovered himself to be a saucy Buffoon and an officious Informer For it is not reasonable to reverence those Men who have arrived at Honours without deserving them but if thou seest a Man endowed with Wisdom thou couldst not but think him worthy of Reverence and Esteem and of the Wisdom with which he is endowed Boet. No surely for Vertue hath her proper Worth which she transfers to those who are her Votaries And forasmuch as Honours conferr'd by the People cannot make a Man worthy of them it is clear that they do not contain the genuine Beauty of true Worth and Dignity In this Men also ought to be wary for if a Man be so much the more abject by how much the more he is despised of every one then Dignities which cannot procure Reverence or Esteem to ill Men whom they expose to the World do necessarily make them more the Subjects of Contempt and Scorn Nor do Dignities themselves come off clear for impious Persons are reveng'd on them since they fully and stain the Brightness of them by their contagious Villanies And that thou mayst know that Esteem and Reverence cannot be purchased by these transitory and empty Dignities consider that if a Man who hath often been Consul and run through many other honourable Degrees of Magistracy should perchance arrive in a barbarous Nation would his Honours dost thou think make him be reverenced by those Barbarians Further if it were of the Nature of Dignities to make Men venerable and reverenc'd it would perform that Office in all Places amongst all Nations and at all times as Fire where-ever it is never parts with its innate Quality of being hot But because Honours do not proceed from any Power in themselves but arise from the false Opinion of Men they immediately vanish when they chance to be amongst those who do not esteem them to be Dignities But this is amongst foreign Nations Let me then ask thee if they always endure even with those from whom they have their Beginnings The (o) Pretorship The Roman Pretors as their Lawyers relate at the Beginning were the Magistrates who proposed only the Edicts and the Matter of which the Senate was to consult but in process of time they obtained by the Consent of the People the Power of making Edicts and Laws themselves Afterwards much of their Business was to take care of and to exhibit at their own Expence the Circensian and Scenick Plays From hence the Pretorian Dignity is here called by our Author Inane Nomen gravis Sarcina Pretorship heretofore was a great and honourable Employ and much sought after but now it is only an empty Name and an heavy Addition to the Senator's Expence who ever heretofore had the (p) The Praefectus annonae or he who provided the publick Corn was heretofore so great an Officer amongst the Romans that Augustus himself accepted of that Prefecture and either held it so long as he lived or but a little before his Death he did substitute C. Turrianus but in the time of Boetius that Office was so embased that it only had the Inspection of the Bakers and Sellers of Swine as Cassiodorus relates lib. 6. variar form 18. Superintendency of the Markets and was to provide Corn for the People and had the Care of the publick Victuals and was esteemed great and honourable but now what is there more vile and abject than that Employ So that what I said a little before is very clear that the thing which hath no proper innate Beauty must necessarily sometimes be splendid and admired and sometimes undervalued and slighted as the Opinion of the People flows or ebbs If Dignities therefore cannot give Men Reverence and Esteem if they become vile by the Contagion of ill Men if they lose their Lustre by the Change of times if they are esteemed worthy or otherwise according to the Estimation of Men what Beauty then is there in them which should make them desirable or what Dignity can they confer on others METRUM IV. Quamvis se Tyrio superbus Ostro Comeret niveis Lapillis c. Nero with Purple and with Pearl adorn'd Was hated and by all Men loath'd and scorn'd The Senators with (q) Curule This as was said before was the Chair made of Ivory and carved in which the Chief Magistrates were carried to the Senate-house Cuilibet his fasces dabit eripietque Curule Cui volet importunus Ebur frater pater adde Hor. l. 1. Ep. 6. Sigua quoque in sellâ nôssem formata Curuli Et totum Numidae sculptile dentis opus Ovid. l. 4. de Pont. Ec. 9. Praetor adest vacuoque loco cessere Curules Lucan lib. 3. Nero did confer this and other Ensigns of Dignity upon those Senators whom he favoured most and because they were disposed rather at the Will of the Emperor than upon the Consideration of Desert in those who possessed them they are stiled by our Author indecoros Curules Curule Chairs he grac'd Which Gift the Giver's Luxury yet embas'd Who then can think that true Felicity Resides in Honours which we daily see An impious Tyrant's gaudy Donatives to be PROSA V. Phil. CAN Kingdoms or the Familiarity of Princes make a Man mighty Boet. How can it be otherwise since their Felicity doth always endure Ph. But mistake not for both Antiquity and the present Times abound with Examples of Kings and Potentates who have been forced to change an happy for a calamitous Estate And then we may justly cry out how great and glorious a thing is Power which is not of Ability to preserve even it self