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
Earth did give Who Nature 's kindly Products thought the best They yet not lost in Luxury Did with the Acorn Hunger satisfy And the most carving Stomach fill They knew not Hypocras nor Hydromel Nor could the differing Elements join Of Honey and of racy Wine Nor did the (r) Serian The Seres were People who Orosius saith L. 3. C. 23. did inhabit a Country betwixt the Rivers Hydaspes and Indus in whose Territories groweth a Tree covered with a small Down according to several Authors as Virgil. Georg. l. 2. Veileraque ut foliis depectant tenuia Seres And Seneca in Oct. v. 667. Nec Moeni â distinguit acu Quae Phoebeis subditus Euris Legit eois Ser arboribus Claudian also Car. v. 179. Stamine quod molli tondent de stipite Seres This Down is produced from the Bowels of the Silk worm which Worm is elegantly described in the following Verses by Antonius Hallaeus mentioned before Est Olli mater sanies dat frondea Nutrix Pabula Thysbaeo Morus polluta cruore Queis avidam ut clausus latebroso in carcere pavit Ingluviem totoque Satur jam corpore turget Viscera dum vacuans paulatim huic molle figurat Lanicium illuviemque modis in tenuia miris Nec fila teretem glomerans convolvit in orbem Vt verò emeritus perfecit nobile pensum Exanimo similis pretiosâ ut conditus Vrnâ Hic jacet at luci mox redditur induit alas Jamque avis vermis neutrumque denique monstrum est Serian Fleece in (s) Tyrian Is the Purple with which Silks are died and it is called Tyrium venenum because it is a Liquor drawn from a Shell-fish and enters into and infects the Wool or the Silk as Poison doth the Bowels and Veins of those who take it It has the Epithet of Tyrium because Tyre a City of Phoenicia was famous for the Fishery of the Murex which was the Shell-fish yielding this Purple Liquor Tyrian Colours shine II. Our Fathers on their grassy Beds did sleep Had smiling Visions and inspiring Dreams The passing Rivulets and lucid Streams Gave wholsom draughts Vnder the spreading Shade Of the tall Pine through which no Ray could peep The gentle Mortal careless lay Shunning the Heats of the Meridian Ray. III. No Man did plow the Deep or stem the Floods With swelling Canvass and with busy Oar Nor did the Merchant then expose his Goods To sale upon an unknown Shore The threatning Notes of the hoarse Trumpet then Did not the Man of War awake Ambition did no hateful Quarrels make Nor shining Blades wich Purple stain For headlong Fury never could Move Men to go to War When what was got was but a Wound or Scar And there was no Reward for shedding Blood IV. O that those Days would come again Which long ago went floating by And swallowed in the mighty Gulf of Time Make now an useless part of vast Eternity The Love of Wealth doth all engage And more than (t) Aetna The Love of Riches is fitly here compared to the Fire of Aetna for Aetna is a Mountain in the Island of Sicily called now by the Italians il Mont Gibello which always burns and flames and is celebrated by most of the antient Poets Virg. 1. Georg. Vidimus undantem ruptis fornacibus Aetnam Flammarumque globos liquefactaque volvere saxa And by several others whose Descriptions of it are common Aetna's Flames doth rage And nothing can the burning Thirst asswage Ill fare the Man who broke the deep And secret Closets of the Earth And gave to Gold and Diamonds a Birth Which in their Causes did desire to sleep And whence a thousand Troubles Men do daily reap PROSA VI. BUT why should I discourse of Dignities and Powers which Men wholly ignorant of the true Nature of Dignity and Power advance and extol to the Skies which if they are conferr'd upon a wicked Man not the raging Flames of Aetna nor the most impetuous Deluge ravage so much nor do so much harm as those Weapons in such an hand I believe you remember your Ancestors desired to abolish the (u) Consular Tarquinius Superbus the last of the Roman Kings being become hateful by his Tyranny to the People who were also the more inraged by the impious Violence of Sextus his Son committed upon the Chastity of Lucretia was expelled by the Assistance of Brutus after he had reigned twenty five Years Then Lucius Junius Brutus and Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus were first created Consuls At length as the Form of the Roman Government had changed from Regal to be Consular so according to Livy it was again changed from that of Consuls to that of the Decem-viri For the Pride of the Consuls every Day encreasing or rather the Fierceness of the People being not wholly subdued which had derived its Original from Shepherds and other savage People who at first for their Defence had gathered into a Body the Consuls were laid aside and the Decem-viri succeeded whose Power because they had acted many things very tyrannically was condemned and taken away the third Year after it had been introduced into the Government Consular Government which gave beginning to the Roman Liberty because of the Pride of the Consuls as their Ancestors before for the same Consideration had banished Kings out of their City But if sometimes which seldom happens good Men arrive at them what other thing is there pleasing in them besides the Probity of those who use and enjoy them So it comes to pass that Vertue receives not Honour from Dignities but Dignities derive Honour from Vertue But what is this Power so much celebrated and so much desired O ye terrene Animals do you not consider who they are over whom you seem to exercise Authority If thou shouldst see an ambitious Mouse claiming a Superiority with her self over the rest of her Species wouldst thou not almost burst with Laughter So then if thou considerest the Contexture and Temperament of his Body what canst thou find in the World more feeble than Man or more subject to Casualties and Misfortunes to whom even a Fly one of the smallest Products of Nature by a Bite or by creeping into the secret Recesses of his Body may be the Cause of Death But why should any Man exercise Authority over another unless it be over his Body or what is yet inferiour to that over his Possessions which are the Gifts of Fortune Shalt thou ever gain an Ascendant over a free and clear Soul Shalt thou ever move the high-born Mind consistent with it self and knit together by the Bands of Reason from the proper Centre of its Quiet When a certain Tyrant once thought by Torments to compel a (w) Philosophy speaks here of Anaxarchus the Philosopher a Follower of Democritus This Anaxarchus having incurred the Displeasure of Nicocreon King of Cyprus was ordered by him to be put into a Mortar and to be pounded with great brazen Pestles He
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
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
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