force for the weight he laid on it gave way and so falling counted every step backwards till at last he came to the Earth where he was stifled in the ill Air of Mire and Filthiness Of all the present Spectators of his Fall there was not one so much as to assist him untill looking on all sides to see if any would compassionate his case he spied an old Man whose age he thought was past the wagery of Youth to him he reached his hand and desired his help which he readily gave and not only assisted him with his hand but lifted him on his shoulders but but he being lame with age and no less false then the rest in a few paces strumbled on his Crutches and fell into a secret snare of Flowers and greeness of effeminacy where he slited him off catching at his flying Coat let his Body drop where it was no more seen nor heard of at which the Mechanick Theater shouted with acclamations and thereby performed the Obsequies of his dying Memory Every one even Andrenio himself clapt their hands applauding the Jest and Trick of the one and the ridiculous Folly of the other Andrenio turning himself to Critilo perceived he did not only laugh as the rest but sighed to see the madness of this age What is the matter said he is it possible that you with so much affected singularity should go in opposition to the common humour when some laugh you Weep and in their rejoicings you lament It is true said Critilo for this hath been rather a torment and spectacle to exercise my Patience then a pastime for my pleasure and if your experience and judgment knew how to interpret these passages you would side with me and be partaker in the same resentment Why who is this replied Andrenio but a credulous Forraigner whose folly is his destruction and his ears being open to all Stories is subject to all Frauds and is paid with that gullery which his indiscreet facility hath deserved such an one I would rather deride then pity and in this case be rather a Democritus then an Heraclitus Tell me replied Critilo if you were in his condition whom you thus despise What would you say Who I said he in his condition how is it possible that I who am alive healthful and perhaps more in my Wits than he should so far out-run them as to arrive at this pitch of madness This is the error replied Critilo know then that this unfortunate Stranger is a Man as we all are who enters Weeping on this Tragick Theater is encountred with the Songs and Enchantments of Falsity as a remedy of his Melancholy naked he comes in and as empty goes out which is all the treatment he receives from ruinous Masters his entrance is encountred by the first Deceiver which is the World who proffers and complies in nothing gives and enriches him with the spoils of another which he suddenly returns to challenge again and to draw away with one hand what the other offered that all those Gifts and Caresses of Fortune at last like Smoak vanished in nothing The other which invited his Appetite to the Feasts of Sensualities was a Deceiver who importunately vext this Guest till he was fallen into the Sins of Lust and after as much tormented him with the pangs of Conscience the Meat was without substance and nourishment the Drink a poisonous Potion or at the best but a falsified Liquor which fumed and intoxicated the Brain that cast him down and his fall received with the Songs of Sorrow and the Acclamations of Misery the vile Rabble of Fortune Lastly that old Hypocrite the worst of all inveterate with Malice was Time which tript up his heels and cast him into the Grave where he left him dead solitary naked and forgotten So that if we observe well all take advantage on miserable Man The World deceives him Life flatters him Fortune derides him Health forsakes him his Youth passes Felicity withdraws Years fly away and Contented ones come not Time runs his Life ends Death catches him the Grave devours him the Earth covers him Putrifaction dissolves him Oblivion swallows him and he who yesterday was a Man to day is Dust and to morrow nothing But how long shall we loose pretious Time let us return to our former Road our streight and direct way for here is nothing that we can expect more unless to entangle our selves in a Labyrinth of Errors but Andrenio bewitched with this Vanity and having found gratious reception in the Palace became an Idolator of this Kings Greatness which was fantastick without reality or substance The many favours he had received there and the good eye with which he was looked on by the greatest Ministers made him promise himself no small Preferment he made often means and friends to be admitted to the presence of his Majesty and to kiss his Feet though he wanted those Parts being an imperfect piece of Nature Critilo returned again to him desiring and perswading with what Arguments he could his departure and being at length wearied with his importunity and requests at last consented to his demands But being come to the Gates of the City with an intention to leave it O unhappy Fortune they were stopped by the Guards who suffered all to come in and none to go forth so that they were forced to return again and to lament the misery of this Snare into which they were fallen Andrenio returned again to the former folly of his antient pretentions who was yet entertained with large promises but no performance Which Critilo objected as an argument to wean his affections But which way their escape was effected is related in the following Crisis together with the Acts of the famed Artemia The Eighth CRISIS The Miracles of Artemia A Resolute Courage is a good remedy against an unconstant Fortune an humble Nature will bear patiently the severity of Laws Art and Science overcomes the unpolished rudeness of Nature and a discreet Judgment is a secure protection in all difficulties For Art perfects Nature is a second Being endeavors to adorn the first and pretends to exceed the rude lines of her work with a better Air and neater Curiosity Well may she glory to have created another World and reformed its rudeness that what blots and errors Nature hath committed and blurred Art hath expunged and been an assistant to her feeble Operations This without doubt was the employment of Man in Paradise when God invested him with a Power of Predominancy over the World to rule and make up the discomposed Breaches which was but to polish Nature and to teach rude clownery a more artificial Behaviour So that art is a trimming of Nature the mount of this level Simplicity and miraculous in her Works so that if a desart by the Gardners hand may be turned to a Paradise Why should it not take the same effect in the Soul and cultivate the over-grown Soil of Mans Reason Let then our Roman
ravished my Sences their Quavers Stops and sweet Airs kept time with the Woods and Vallies which were instruments of their louder Sounds and by Eccho bore part with them in the same Musick the shrubs also and twigs dancing at the noise seemed to salute the Sun at his first arise I observed here and that with no small admiration that nature had bestowed the Gift of melody in Voice which is the recreation of our Lives on Birds only Beasts with an ungrateful Voice offended my Ears and the sound they made was more of horrour than harmony The reason is said Critilo because Birds as Inhabitants of the Air are of more refined Spirits in that subtle Region and therefore have the advantage of other Creatures and only can imitate the words of men through the Purity of that place they live in and abiding in a Region of nearer vicinity unto Heaven have need of sweeter Voices to resound continually Divine Praises Another thing I would have you to observe that amongst all the diversity of Birds none is affected with a venemous quality like those Animals who crawling on the Earth suck in noxious qualities which should admonish man to avoid the dangers of this Region and retire from the filth of this infection I was much taken said Andrenio to see them so neat and so pretty in their variety of colours But here observe said Critilo that the Male hath more variety in his colours than the Female resembling the like in man whom nature it self hath so sufficiently decked that he needs no other foils to set him off but Women being subtle in their inventions know ways to deceive with the snare of their dresses and to cover their defects with counterfeited Feathers That which I much observed said Andrenio was that admirable correspondence and rule by which the distinct multitudes of Creatures were distinguished The Subordination of Creatures and disposed without one being troublesome unto the other but rather every one in their several natures lik a well-ordered Commonwealth helpful and assistant amongst themselves This is another effect said Critilo of Divine Wisdom the ballance of all things in weight number and measure for every Creature hath its Centre his natural place of residence his duration in time his proper end both in being and operation By this you may see the link and chain of Creatures their orderly situation and the due degree of their Perfection Of the Elements the meanest Servants of nature are composed mixed Bodies and the inferiours are subordinate to the Superiours Herbs and Plants which are in the lowest order and degree of life are Vegetables moving and increasing until they arrive at the full point and period of their perfection In the second order of life are Sensitives the Animals of the Earth which prey on the Vegetables making them Food and Nourishment for their own sustenance and these are the Beasts of the Field the Fishes of the Sea and the Birds of the Air these feed on the Grass people the Trees peck the Buds build in the Branches and make the Leaves their defence and security but both these one and the other are bound to obey a third sort of Nature viz. the Vegetable and the Sensitive are made Servants to a higher Master Reason and Understanding which is Man and he subordinated to a greater Soveraign which is God whom he ought to know love and serve In this wonderful order and harmony all things are disposed one Creature being made helpful to assist the Wants and Necessities of another The Water hath need of the Earth to support it the Earth of the Water to bedew it the water in rarefaction becomes Air and the Air Food to nourish and foment the Fire every part being ordained mutually to maintain the other all generally concur to the preservation of the whole Besides it is worth observation to consider those ways and means the Divine Providence hath invented for the preservation of that being which he hath given to every Creature especially to the Sensitive as the most considerable which is a natural instinct to know the good and avoid the bad whence we may better admire than relate the apt hability some have to deceive and that others have to escape and fly the danger Though all this diversity of Prodigies said Andrenio was but as one continued Series of Novelty yet my wonder was still dilated with the sight and survey of that immense Ocean The Sea seemed as envious of the Earth to form Tongues in the water to chide my sluggishness The Sea and by the noise of its Waves to invite my curiosity to a new admiration Thus wearied with my Walks but not with my Thoughts I sate me down on one of yonder Cliffs oppressed with as many fits of astonishment as the Sea hath Waves I contemplated much on those slight bounds that imprison the Sea and the obedience of that furious Monster to the gentle Curb of the unstable Sand. Is it possible said I there should be no stronger Wall than that of Dust to limit the violence of this furious Enemy Hold said Critilo Divine Providence hath with much lenity circumscribed the rage of two boundless enemies which being let loose would have destroyed the World and its Inhabitants The Sea he hath terminated with the limits of the Sands and the Fire he hath imprisoned in the hard intrails of the Flint * The Author speaks here with more Rhetorick than Philosophy which being called by two stroaks only comes forth and serves our occasions when we have no farther need of it it retires or is extinguished if this were not two days could not pass before the Earth were consumed by the Fire or drowned with the Waters I could not satiate my self said Andrenio in beholding the transparent clearness of the Waters and my eyes were hydropically thirsty to view the constant motion of those liquid Chrystals They say answered Critilo that the eyes being composed of those two humours Watrish and Chrystaline are so much pleased with beholding Waters that they are never wearied in beholding them Above all said Andrenio when I saw so many Fishes within the Bowels of the Sea so differently formed from Birds and Beasts it was here that I can properly say my admiration was at a stand and being wholly exhausted was reduced to a ne plus ultra Upon this Rock being set alone without other admonition than my own weak Meditations I began to consider the rare harmony of the Universe Composition of Contraries which being composed of Contraries one would think in so near a conjunction should like irreconcilable Enemies as they are combate both to their own and the Worlds destruction This held me for some time in contemplation for who would think a League could be made to compose things so contrary and opposite It is true answered Critilo the World is compounded of Contraries and Agreement of Discords as the Philosopher saith there is nothing but hath
make an addition to the least Atome of Natures perfection And if that King for only knowing four Stars was so highly commended by one of his Parasites so much is Wisdom esteemed in a Prince and with that extravagant applause saying That if he had been Counsellor to the Divine Workman at that time when he created and ordered these things that his Humane Wisdom would have outdone the Divine and better contrived the composure of his Fabrick But this saying proceeded not from an effect of Reason but from a defect of Judgment incident to the nature of the Spanish Nation which in the swellings of their boasting humour cannot moderate their ostentation though with God himself Hear me said Andrenio this last truth the greatest and most sublime of any that I have yet declared The Descriptition of Divinity I confess that though I have admired four strange Prodigies in this Universe The multitude and variety of Creatures viz. the harmony and agreement in Contraries their beauty and ornament mixed with profit and convenience and their mutations with Permanency Yet above all I remained confused in the knowledge of the Creator who is so manifest in his Creatures and yet hid in himself whose Attributes are imprinted on every step and action of his Work as his Omnipotencey in the execution his Providence in the Government his Beauty in the perfection his Bounty in the communication and so the rest of his Attributes of which as none were unemployed at the beginning so in succeeding ages are maintained and conserved by the existence and operation of his power And notwithstanding this great God is hid though known not seen though manifest far distant though near this is that riddle which hath confused my Understanding and left me in an extasie of love and adoration Man said Critilo is naturally inclined to love his Maker as the beginning and end he tends unto Nor is there any Nation so barbarously ignorant in whom the Light of Nature hath not infused the awe and reverence of a Deity sufficient to curb the most audacious profaneness and convince them of the Divine Essence Omnipresence Nature having made nothing but to some end the inclinations and propensities of every Creature are useful in their several Operations If the Loadstone turns unto the North it denotes a simpathy between them and its trembling till it returns unto its Point shews that a violence is offered to its nature whilst it remains in the state of Separation If the Plant turns with the Sun the Fish to the Water the Stone to the Centre and Man to God there must be a God who is his attracting North his Centre and Sun to which his head bends and with whose vigor and heat the deadness of his Soul receives vigor to revive From this Great Sire do all Creatures acknowledge to have received their Being he only is from himself and therefore is Infinite in all kind of Perfection whose Being none is able to circumscribe with Place or Time Though he is not seen yet he is known and like a Soveraign Prince keeps a distance agreeable to his Majestick Greatness not admitting unless rarely his Vassals to a familiar Audience and yet is familiarly present with all by the representation of his Creatures So that a Philosopher defines this World to be the Grand Looking-Glass of God Philon Ebreus terms it the invitation of the Soul and the only nourishment which feeds Minds Pythagoras calls it a Tuned-Harp whose measure and harmony wraps up our Contemplations and Thoughts with uncontainable Ravishments Tertullian names it the Pomp of Increated Majesty And Trismegistus the Musical Consonancy of the Divine Attributes These are and so concluded Andrenio the first Rudiments of my Life better conceived than related for where the Thoughts are screwed beyond their natural power there must consequently want words to utter them That which I must now desire of you is that you would satisfie my longing expectation to know what you are and from whence you came and how you passed the rowling Waves of this Ocean tell me if there be more Worlds or more People than this to all which my Curiosity will render me as attentive as you can desire To which Relation Critilo willingly consented being the great Tragedy of his Life declared in the following Crisis The Third Crisis THE Destroyer of Life Critilo Relates the Misfortunes of his Love in the time of his Youth and the occasion of his Shipwrack THey say that Cupid complained of the Injuries he had received from Fortune in that she had slighted and undervalued the Power of his Mother by not appealing as she was want to her Arbitrement and Judicature What want you Blind Boy said Fortune and he again replyed this is agreeable to those reproaches and scorn which Envy and Dissention hath cast upon me Fortune With whom have you this enmity Cupid With all the World Fortune I am sorry you should contend with so powerful an Enemy and that the Justice of your Cause should invite none to defend it Cupid Had I but only you on my side I should be sufficiently defended and this my Mother daily tells me and often preaches to me that I should get you to my Friendship and Party Fort. But do you not revenge your self Cupid Yes both of young and old Fort. Well but what is the occasion and reason for your anger Cupid The cause is as great as just Fort. Perhaps those ordinary reproaches of having been born in the Family of a Mechanick or your Education to be no other than amidst the Anvile and Hammers of a smooty Forge Cupid No not these for never was I so disingenuous as to deny Truth Fort. Nor should it trouble you to be called the Son of your Mother Cupid This less for I triumph and glory rather to proceed from the Race of so Divine a Progeny neither can I be without her nor she without me neither Venus without Cupid nor Cupid without Venus Fort. Now I know your distaste you are vexed to be thought the heir of your Grandfathers defects or to imitate the Sea that troubled and unconstant Element Cupid No for these are but Fables Fort. If these be Fables what are Truths Cupid That which unquiets me is that they impose upon me false Aspersions unseemly Epithites and Slanders Fort. I understand you now without doubt it is that they say you have changed your Bow with Death and are not called Amor from Amare but from Mori as if Love and Death were both one your Profession being to destroy Life to unrip the Heart and lodge it in another rather where it loves than where it animates Cupid This is all true Fort. If this be true what other reproach can you complain of as false or injurious Cupid Are those true that speak me Blind and whose Malice would pluck out my Eyes If I am blind let those well-shot Arrows declare or those marks hit be mended by the shasts of a
sickness Andrenio turned his eyes and looked toward the Palace to see if he could espy any glimpse or appearance of that hidden Majesty but he perceived that it was all in vain for the Windows were shut the Latices obstructed and the Glass so thick as no sight could penetrate it This is not the way said this grave Instructor to behold and take a prospect on the World but turning his back upon it advised him to consider all in a different nature from what they appear the inward and most natural Affections having another force then the outward Visions with that he drew out his Looking glass and uncasing it of its Silken-cover put it before his eyes in that manner that the reflections of the Palace whose view deceived the eyes of common beholders gave here a perfect description of all its infirmities Look now said he contemplate on it and glut your longing desire with a full enjoyment With which Andrenio was so astonished and amazed that every Joint began to tremble What is the matter now quoth the old Man What is it affrights and dismays you I see said he what I never desired nor ever believed I see a Monster the most horrible my life hath seen one that hath neither feet nor head a most disproportionate piece of Nature one part not corresponding with the other a prodigious shape of Monstrosity his hands cruel and bruitish a counterfeit composition of all kinds and yet of none in reality his mouth like a Wolf where never Truth hath had a habitation and is so prodigious in all respects that a Chimera is an Ass in comparison hereof take me take me away lest I faint with these affrighting Apparitions but his prudent Companion told him and bid him observe well his Mouth which at the first glance represented the lively features of a Man but in reality was a Foxes Snout his Middle a Serpent his Body was so crooked and his Bowels so twisted that he seemed as if he would vomit them up His back was rising like a Camels Bunch his Nostrils stuft with knobs his upper parts like the Syrens countenance and his lower Supporters of no nobler substance then the rest of his composure Do you not see with what pain and trouble he walks forward how he turns his neck how a Bunch on his Back depresseth his steps how ill inclined he bends his Hands lame his Feet splaed his sight a-squint his Speech stammering and scarce Intelligible In fine all is bad to consummate the full Catalogue of all imperfections It is sufficient said Andrenio that these deformities are so contrary to my Nature that I start in beholding them And it is sufficient said his Instructor that it is with you as it is with others who having once seen these things they have enough and never desire to see them more Deceit But who is this crowned Monster demanded Andrenio Who is this horrid Spectacle of a King This is one replied he as famous as unknown this is one to whom the whole World yields obedience the general discourse and speech of all whom all would rather visit in their Neighbors house than entertain in their own This is that grand Hunter who entraps the whole World in his universal toil This is that Lord who commands the half of the first year and afterwards possesses himself of the other half This is the powerful Commander of weaker Heads the Judge who condemns all those who make their appeal to his Sentence This is that universal Prince of all not only of Men but of Birds of Fish of Brutes In fine this is that famous that renowned and that common Deceit Let us not then stay longer here said Andrenio for methinks my affections are more estranged from him at this distance then when I was nearer to him Hold said his Tutor this is not enough but I would have you know and view his whole Kindred and Family and so having laid aside the Glass on a sudden appeared a Fiend more mad and furious then Orlando an old Hag more fraudulent and crafty then the Wife of Sempronio Who is this Meguera demanded Andrenio This is the Princes Mother said she who commands and governs all which is Lie and Falsity Old and Decrepid and almost as antient as the World being not long produced after its Creation It seems said Andrenio then that she is very antient O! the monstrous deformity of this Creature when she discovers her self she halts so that the slowest pace of those that follow may overtake her What great attendance is that which accompanies her These are said he the whole World her two Dwarfs are Yea and No which waited on her in her Promises Offers Excuses Complements Favors and Flatteries With that turning the Glass on the other side they perceived an honourable Train if Antiquity and antient Bloud may more ennoble a Family then Honesty for there was Ignorance the Grand-mother Malice the Spouse Folly the Sister Calamities Troubles Discontents Shame Repentance Perdition Confusion Contempt and the rest of the Brood and spurious Off-spring of so vile a Parentage Those who stand Attendants at her side are the Brethren and Kindred of her nearest Bloud and Cheats Wheedles and Intrigues are her Grand-children born in this present Age. Art thou now content Andrenio demanded his Instructor Content No but yet I am glad I am thus undeceived Let us depart therefore from hence for every minute seems to me an age and every thing produces to me a double torment First by an importunate desire to enjoy it and after enjoyment to hate and abhor it So they went forth by the Gate of Light from that Babel of Fraud Howsoever Andrenio was not yet fully satisfied nor could he say that he was perfectly recovered complaining that though he had found half of himself yet the other half was lost that is his Friend or rather Brother or his own self for such is a Friend whose real sincerity knows no Falshood Friends If you have lost a Friend said his Instructor you have reason to lament your loss But tell me was he discreet Yes Why then fear not to recover him He told me said Andrenio he went to the Court of a wise Queen called Artemia If he were wise replied he he must needs reside there and let this banish all farther care from your thoughts for whether can he go who hath drawn you from the confines of Deceit but by the path of Wisdom to the Court of that discerning Queen Who is this famous Woman this Lady so renowned in all parts of the World demanded Andrenio With Reason you stile her Queen said his Instructor for there is no power without discretion and who hath that hath a sufficient ability to command the World But those who deduce her Pedigree from the first original of her long descended Ancestors account her rise from Heaven it self as being a ray and glimpse of that Glory which descends from the immense Wisdom
cannot express with how much content and pleasure I was deceived I reflected again on my self and methought I was not yet so foolishly ignorant as I was contemplative The first thing I observed was this composition of my whole Body which is straight and direct not inclining to one side nor to the other Man said Artemia was created as a Servant of Heaven and so he ought to have his Mind and Body incline thither for the material rectitude of the body often simpathizeth and correspondeth with the Soul that where accidents and mishaps have made a deformity in the Members the Mind hath often been mishapen with them and both have become crooked and humoursome in their Actions It is true said Critilo for in a crooked composition doth seldom dwell a plain The Crooked and direct intention in the nooks and bendings of a Body we may fear some folds and doublings in the Soul The eyes which are dull and misty are accustomed to grow dim with Passion whom we do not compassionate as we do Blind-men but rather fear them as those who may kill with the Squints of an indirect glance Squint Eyes the Lame often stumble in the Road of Vertue and their Will halting between their Affections makes these maimed Cripples uncapable to walk with equal steps but Reason and Understanding in better Judgments hath prevented the Prognosticks of such sinister infirmities The head said Andrenio I know not whether I speak improperly I call the Castle and Fortress of the Soul the Court of her Powers and Faculties You have reason said Artemia for as God is assistant and present in all parts yet the Glory of his Court is most apparent in the Celestial Ierusalem so the Soul manifests it self most in her superiour Stations which is a lively resemblance of the heavenly Orbs. Who believes not this let him look into the Soul through the Windows of the Eyes hear its Voice through the Mouth and speak to it through the Crevices of the Ears the upper and most eminent place doth best become the Authority of the Head that its Office may be best executed in its command and rule over other parts and here I have observed said Critilo with much attention that though the parts of this Republique are so numerous that to every day of the year may be allotted a Bone yet this variety is with so much harmony that there is no number that may not be applied to it for the Sences are five the Humours four the Powers three and the Eyes two all which come to reduce themselves and terminate in one common Unity and Centre of the Head resembling the first and Divine Mover in whom the whole Series and Degrees of Creatures come to end by an universal dependance The Understanding said Artemia possesseth the most sublime and purest spirituality of the Soul and hath no small interest in the Government of the material Faculties but as King and Lord of the Actions of Life soars aloft penetrates subtiliseth discourses understands and hath fixt its Throne in a candid and flexible disposition the true Essence of the Soul banishing all obscurity and darkness from Conceptions all prejudice from Affections and as a good natured Creature encourages the gifts of docility with moderation and prudence The Memory looks on what is passed and eyes that behind as the Understanding doth that before so that what we pass we still see and because we cast that commonly behind which most concerns us every Wise man becomes a Ianus and sees as well behind as before The hair seems to me said Andrenio a Gift bestowed on Man more for his adornment than necessity They are roots replied Artemia of this humane Tree which radicate him in Heaven and by one hair he is drawn thither there ought his cares to be and there he ought to receive his substantial nourishment They are the Index and Almanack of our Age and change their colour as we our affections the Forehead is the heaven and sky of the Mind which is sometimes clouded anon serene and clear the Seat of the Sences where a shame of our Crimes discovers it self and is the place where Passions sport and delight Anger in the stretched Forehead Sadness in the fallen Countenance Fear in the Pase Modesty in the Sanguine Deceit in the wrinkled Brow Good nature in the Smooth Immodesty in the Bald and a good Capacity in the spatious Forehead But that which I most admired said Andrenio in this artisicial Fabrick of Man was his Eyes Do you know said Critilo with what name that great Restorer of Health stiles them Galen that retainer of flying Life and searcher into Nature he calls them Divine parts who in this spake well for if we observe they are invested with a kind of Divinity which infuseth Veneration they work with a certain Universality that they resemble Omnipotency producing the Images The Eyes have something Divine and Species of external Objects in the intimate and inward rooms of the Soul they seem to be indued with a kind of Infinity being present and assistant in all places and commanding at one instant the whole space and circumference of the Hemisphere At one thing said Andrenio I have been much amused that though the Eyes see all yet they see not themselves nor those Beams that usually obstruct them a Condition and Paradise of Fools who are acute Spies of disorders in their Neighbors house and Bats of Blindness in their own It were no small conveniency if Man could retort his own Eyes upon himself that he might start at his own deformity moderate his passions and compose himself again into the beauty of that form he hath destroyed with the loss of his original Perfection It were of much advantage said Artemia if the Cholerick could come to see the lowring Frowns of his own Brow and his own fury affright himself if the finical and amorous Lover could come to the sight of his effeminate Gestures and the rest of vain Fools to see their own Follies But wary Nature hath omitted these small advantages to prevent more dangerous inconveniencies for could the Vain reflect and retort his Eyes he would be enamoured of himself court and adore his own shadow which how deformed and monstrous soever yet his fond affection would still limit and confine to the sole prospect of himself it is sufficient he can behold his own hands before another or view his Life and attend to his Actions which may be as many as perfect that he can see his own Feet and know where to direct them that he knows where to fix his footsteps on a secure and firm Foundation this is the chiefest use to employ our Eyes It is true replied Andrenio but yet two Eyes seem to me too small a Light for so spatious a Prospect and this animate and lively Palace could not have been better adorned then with ranks of this precious Furniture which since they are but two their order
The Mouth Objects enter so this is reserved only with respect for the Mind to go forth and to manifest her self by the help of her expressions It is true said Artemia for in this artificial composure of Mans countenance the Mouth is the Gate of its Royal Person and the Teeth the Guards all set and composed in a decent rank and order in this resides the best and worst part of Man which is his Tongue having its root radicated in the Heart There is one thing said Andrenio I have beaten my Brains to understand What was the intent of wise Nature in making our Speech and Eating to have one and the same instrument for both operations that our words which are most peculiar and proper to Man should dwell in the same office wherein is acted and framed the vile occupation and exercise of Brutes were it only those inconveniences that proceed from hence it were enough to perswade us of Natures oversight were it only that change of the Tongues accent which sometimes speaks smooth and gentle and anon with bitterness and choler breathes out rage and varies with the relish of material Food this makes the Tongue trip and stammer equivocate and talk at large that it were better this nobler Member were set apart and consecrated as a Temple of the Souls Oracle Hold said Critilo the Argument you urge well and a little more difficulty would puzzle my Reason to resolve but howsoever I appeal to the Providence of Heaven which governs and directs the Function of Nature and therefore I may boldly affirm the conveniency which Speech enjoys by joining Houses and Mansions with their taste that so the relish may examine and tell us the nature of our words before we pronounce them inform us how sweet or bitter they are chew and prove them whether they be substantial and accordingly sweeten those which may embitter and dress and comfect them for the Stomach of the receivers besides the Tongue is employed in the taste and eating for Speech well moderated ought not to be so long but that the instrument of it may afford time for other Duties Actions ought to follow or accompany our words and our hands readily to execute that which our mouth promiseth Is it said Andrenio that the Hands are called Manus Diligent Hands from Maneo denoting by an antiphrasis their duty of continual employment They are called so replied Critilo not from their continual employment and unwearied motion but from that constant permanency they ought to retain in their travels or because they are the Fountain from whence * Manare to flow spring our works of Piety and they like branches from the Hearts roots which are laden with Fruit of famous and immortal Actions by their Palms are obtained victorious Lawrels and they are the Source from whence distil the precious sweat of heroick Labours and the Ink which memorizeth their Actions to all Posterity Dost thou not consider and admire their artificial and commodious composure which are as Slaves and Servants to the other Members and are fitted to serve all our necessities they help us to hear assist our Tongue and give a life and vigour to our Actions they administer Meat to our Mouths Flowers to our Smell they are prospectives to strengthen our sight in a large view and help some so to discourse and reason as if their Genius and Wit were more lodged in their Hands then in their brain So that they are the officious Ministers to all our Necessities they defend us clean us cloath us cure and protect us and sometimes rub and ease our itching All which offices said Artemia because they agree with Reason Nature hath ordained them in number weight and measure In the ten Fingers of the Hand consists the beginning and principals on which numbers are founded So that all Nations count till they arrive to Ten afterwards proceed in Multiplication Weight it self is judged by waving with the hand and guessing at its quantity This punctuality is necessary for information of Man who operates in number weight and measure and to raise our thoughts yet higher the Tables of the Law were included in Ten Precepts that Men might not only carry them in their Heart but that so small a bulk might be likewise portable in the Hand These put in execution the intent of the Soul which are not imprinted on those common lines which divide the Palmes but signified and made manifest by their own Works These are they which form our Letters and with silence speak in Writings the three principal Fingers concurring with an admirable dexterity in the several Offices the first fortifies the Motion the Thumb teaches and the Middle as corresponding with the Heart rules and directs that our Writing may record the Testimonies of Valour Subtlety and Truth since then that the hands put the Seal and Stamp on Vertue it is no wonder if other Members of the body should in Courtesie and Estimation seal them to their Lips and give them a Besolas Manos in gratitude for their Works of Vertue And because we now anatomatize Man and contemplate from head to foot his Mysterious being it would not be from our purpose to cast our Eyes on his Feet and consider his steps and progress as he moves the Feet are the Pillars and Foundation on which the Body is established The firmness of the Feet they tread the Earth and trample on it in contempt they make it serviceable to the Bodies burden and measure out the paces of their stage that they may tread on a plain and secure foundation I observe said Andrenio and admire too the firmness with which Nature hath planted the Body for lest it should fall forward it hath placed the Feet before nor stagger on either side it hath underpropt it with equal supports but yet you cannot deny but she hath negligently overseen the dangerous Precipice of a backward relapse where the hands cannot with their usual diligence apply themselves to their help which inconveniency might be easily remedied by enlarging the same proportion of the Feet as much behind as before This is but a fond conceit replied Artemia for this would give Men occasion to retreat backward from the path of Vertue whose unconstant humour being apt to retire would give a fuller turn had they found in Nature encouragements for this motion Such is the outward proportion of Man and visible Anatomy whose harmony of powers proportion of Vertues agreement of affections and passions is a more interiour inspection and must be referred to Philosophical conclusions Yet above all I would have you know and admire that principal part of Man the Original of all the rest the Fountain and Spring of Life which is the Heart The Heart replied Andrenio What is that and where is it placed It is answered Artemia the King of other Members and therefore is placed in the Centre of his Dominions The Heart greatly and inwardly conserved and
continually spit upon their delight and in revenge cast forth a perpetual flux on the Bestiality of their Sin Those who rounded in By-ways of repose lingered something in their fall but being down were more sluggish to arise for meer idleness had deprived them of all active motions of Life and these being a people of an unprofitable weight to the Earth only served to fill up the number of Mankind and to suck the fat of the Earth and having never done any thing with dexterity being once down had neither courage nor strength to recover themselves But in the Lodgings of Arms and Weapons there was heard so great a noise and confusion that it seemed a Hell or Bedlam from whence proceeded Men so hacked and torn by those blows they had received that they spit Blood from their valiant Breasts and vomited also that of their Enemies which they had drank in plentiful Bowles so usually doth Revenge extort our Victories from our hands Only those of the Lodgings of Poison remained secure whilst they beheld the miseries of others delighted themselves whilst others lamented and one there was who that another should break an Arm or pluck out one Eye would loose both they laught whilst others wept and lamented at what was the common joy their pleasure being to rejoice at the miseries of others Critilo stood all this while looking on this unhappy end and at the evening of a day of some years he perceived Andrenio appear at the Window amidst the Thorns of those Flowers he had elected at which he was affrighted fearing his total destruction but he durst not call to him lest he should discover himself but made signs that he should remember and meditate on his deceived condition but how and which way he got down is related in the following Crisis The Eleventh CRISIS The dangerous Golf of the Court. WHen we have seen a Lion or Lamb in them we discover the full nature and disposition of the Species but in seeing a Man we see but one and his humour and condition too almost unknown All Tygers are naturally cruel the Dove innocent but every Man is variously disposed and tempered The generous Eagle engenders a Brood like himself but noble Worthies are not sure to propagate their elevated Spirits in their Posterity nor is the vitious Father certain to make his Son Heir of his depraved Works as well as of his Fortunes For every one hath his several pleasure his different behaviour and fashion and opinions in all ages have found heads and brains like those that first invented them Wise Nature hath bestowed on every man a Countenance and Complection peculiar to himself a Voice and Gestures different from others to serve sor Characters and marks to know him by that so the Good may not be confounded among the number of the Bad that Women may be distinguished from Men and that none may pretend to conceal his own faults under the guise of another There are many who spend much time and study in knowing the nature and quality of Herbs but how much more would it import and advantage them to know the nature and operations of Men with whom they are to live and die for all are not Men who appear so outwardly but horrible Monsters and * Rocks so called Acroceraunian Rocks in the gulfes of great Populations There are wise Men without Works aged Men without Experience Youths without Subjection Women without Modesty Rich without Compassion Poor without Humility Lords without Nobility Commonwealths without Government Deserts without Reward and Men without Humanity These were the reflections of this wise person in sight of the Court after he had rescued Andrenio with so exemplary prudence Whilst Critilo stayed for Andrenio at the Free-Gate he observed him at the Window involved in the common danger howsoever he comforted himself with this that there was none now could tempt him farther before he might take the Garland from his Head the which having done himself he untwisted it and having tied some other Bowes to it made a Roap and thereby let himself down and without any danger or hurt had the happiness to come safe to ground At the same time also appeared his wise Instructor at the door a double joy to Critilo who now thought it not time to use Complements or Embraces but hasted away as fast as they could Only Andrenio turning his Head to the Window said Hang there thou Cord the Ladder of this my Liberty and trophy of eternal memory to be dedicated to my undeceived condition Their way was the direct road to the Court which this wise Philosopher called a Falling upon Scylla to avoid Caribdis Howsoever he accompanied them to the Gate being much taken with their society and converse which was the best pastime of this tedious journy and travel of our Life Let me know said Critilo what House this is and inform me of what passages and accidents have happened to you The wise Philosopher by the courtesie of Andrenio taking the upper hand Know said he this is the deceitful House the Inn of the World The Gate at which Men enter is Delight The Tyranny of Delight and through which they go out is Charge and Expence That famous Robber is Volusia whom we call Delight and the Latin Voluptas she is the gratious Protectress of Vice and draws Mortals to their Execution on the Slid or Delight This is she who enslaves and captivates Men imprisons them where they please some she lodgeth in upper Rooms of Pride others in the Dungeon and Cellers of Sloth but none inhabit the Middle all situations being Extremities in Vice All enter in as you see with Songs and Musick but go out with no other melody than their own Sobs except the Envious who do all things in a contrary humour The remedy not to miss of the End or be destroyed in the Conclusion is to cast an eye first upon the beginning which was the counsel and advice of the wise Artemia and the only means for me to escape secure And for me said Critilo not to enter in for I usually go with more content to the House of Sorrow then of Mirth for the Holy Days of Rejoicing are always the Vigils of Repentance Believe me Andrenio he that founds his Beginnings in his pleasure shall end in his sorrow It is sufficient said he that this way we tread is full of Snares for thereby we become more wary nor without reason hath Fraud set a guard at the beginning to intercept our entrance O house of Fools what little respect hast thou deserved O false Enchantment of bewitched Loadstones which at first attract and entice and then betray God deliver us said their Philosopher from what begins with the smiles of Content Never flatter your selves with prosperous and easie success of the first Beginnings but attend always to the difficulties of the Conclusion The experience of this I have tryed in the Inn of Volusia and in that Dream
is no Book without something good and commendable he therefore premiseth as a capital Precept and fundamental point of his ceremonious Office that a Gallant of his making should endeavour above all to shine with the Endowments of Fortune and upon the Basis of Gold to erect a Scheme of Courtesie Discretion Gallantry and other Parts which commend an accomplished Gentleman for if his Fortunes be small his Treasury of Knowledge will be esteemed but Poor nor shall he have the reputation of Wise Discreet Courteous as if his inward Perfections were to be set off with an outward foil this is my opinion of Galateus If this doth not content you said the Bookseller because he treats of material Ceremonies his Doctrine being only of outward carriage Here is then and it may be better to your liking the judicious and grave Instruction of Iuan de Vega which he gave his Son when he sent him to the Court This sublime Doctrine is not delivered with the affected gravity of a Portagues but is as much as the Count of Portalegre could say when he sent his Son upon the like occasion The Count of Portalegre This Work replied the Courtier is too sublime and high for me and fit for those only who move in the supream Sphere of the Commonwealth for he is not to be esteemed a judicious Workman who shall think to fit a Dwarf with the Shooe of a Giant believe me there is no other Book which Art could form more for the purpose or accommodated to the humours of Madrid I know that my Heterodox and perhaps Stoical Tenents may have caused Men to censure me as Cynical yet I shall sooner prefer Truth then flatter others in their own sense and fancies Let me tell you the Book that you should seek and read is Homer's Vlysses But hold and let me declare my self lest there be a mistake Do you think the dangerous Golf he writes of is in Sicily and that the Syrens inhabit on those Sands with their Faces like Women and their Tails like Fish or that the Cirze performs her Enchantments in her Isle and the proud Cyclops in his Cave Know that the dangerous Sea is the Court environed with the Cylla of Deceit and Caribdis of Falsity those Women you see pass yonder so wantonly Modest and so desolutely composed are the true Syrens and false Women whose end is monstrous and the remembrance of them displeasing It was not sufficient that cautious Vlysses stopt his Ears unless he had bound himself to the Main-mast of Vertue and flying from these Enchantments steered his Ship to the Haven of Security There are Cirzes who with the force of Magick Charms have bewitched men in that manner that they have transformed them into Brutes What shall I say of so many Cyclopses as foolish as arrogant who having bnt one eye have yet fixed that on the Objects of their own appetite and presumption This very Book you turn over shall as I say direct your steps and teach you like Vlysses to escape this Rock and as I hope divert you from those monstrous encounters which threaten your destruction Upon this recommendation they took his counsel and passed forward much guided by what the Courtier had advised and Vlysses taught They met with no Friend nor Kinsman no Acquaintance because they were poor and in a mean condition Nor could Critilo discover his desired Felistuda and so finding themselves destitute of all relief and despised because in want Critilo determined to make use of the vertue of some Oriental Stones which the favour of the Seas had reserved to him in his Shipwrack but especially to make experience how well the solidity of his Diamond could conquer difficulties and whether the rich Emerod as Philosophers write had the virtue to reconcile Wills and gain Affections With that he brought them to light which at the same time worked such miraculous effects that he soon obtained the good will and wishes of all those of the best Blood of Spain the most gallant discreet and understanding were ambitious of his acquaintance So great was the Fame of this Diamond that it betrayed them into the Covetous hands of some Soldiers but were freed from them by a multitude of Friends who courted their Friendship and desired to be of their Kindred they gained more Cosins then a King and Nephews then a Pope all which the Fame of this Diamond had created But the most pleasant accident was that which happened to Andrenio for in passing through the great Street to the Palace came a Page to him gaudy in his Livery and free in his Garb drew out a fold of a Letter which he kept close up giving him only leave to look on the Firm which was subscribed a Cosin and Servant of yours in it she congratulated his safe arrival at the Court much complaining that he who was of so near Blood to her was yet so much a Stranger and unknown with all desiring him not to fail to come and see her for that Page was there to direct him the way and show him her lodging Andrenio was much surprized to hear the name of Cozen who believed he had no Mother but being more excited with curiosity to try the event then with hopes of unknown embraces together with the Page went directly to the house But what strange successes befel him there is related in the following Crisis The Twelfth CRISIS The Charms of False Syrens THough Solomon was the wisest of Men yet he was the most deceived by Women and having been the most amorous person in the World he was best able to give a Character and a report of their Nature which was this That an Evil Woman is a great Evil to Man and his worst Enemy she is more strong then Wine more powerful then a King and being all Falsity is not afraid to bid open defiance unto Truth Less dangerous to us are the Rancours and Malice of an Enemy then the Embraces and Caresses of a false Woman said he who spake the wisest for less hurtful is it to be pursued by the threatning Dart of a Man then to have a Woman follow our steps with pretensions of Love She is not one Enemy alone but many complicated in one and in her hath Malevolence placed its Ammunition and Artillery against us she is composed of Flesh to discompose carnal Man the World cloaths her and that she may conquer Man makes a World of her and the Devil over those Garments which the World gave her casts a Cloak of deceitful Embraces She is a Gerion of Enemies the triple Cord and Snare of our Liberty which is hardly broken Hence doubtless it is that all the evils of the World have Attributes of the Feminine Gender as the Furies Destinies Sirens Harpies for all those Evils may be united in the wickedness of one bad Woman Different Passions have their several times and seasons of age in which their strength is most vigorous to encouter Man
whether in the form of a Beast sold to his own own Lusts he wanders through this City O my Andrenio said he sighing where art thou He sought him in every house which gave occasion of Mirth to some but to himself of Sorrow and so taking his leave of them he retired to his former Lodgings He gave a thousand turns through the Court and none could give any account or advice concerning him for of a good and happy success there are but few informers he having with diligence broken his Brains and drained his Wits to discover him at last he resolved to return again and consult with Artemia and so he departed from Madrid The Sixth Sence according to custom poor deceived repenting and melancholy He had not gone far before he met with a Man of a far different disposition then those that he had hitherto seen he seemed to be a strange Prodigy of Nature for he had six Sences one more then ordinarily Men are endued with This was a Novelty to Critilo for many with less then five he had seen but none with more Some there are without eyes that see not clearly but grope in the dark stumble against Blocks and yet never slacken their pace not knowing where they go There are some that are deaf to words and capable of nothing but the sound of air of noise of flattery vanity and falsity there are some who have no smell and least of any smell out the savour of their own Houses at home whilst all the World besides receives it hot in their Nostrils and those whom it least concerns have the strongest Sent of it These sensless Animals are stuft in their Heads against the Smells of a good repute either of their own or that of their enemies and having Noses only to wind the sent of small Punctilio's of Honour are not touched with the fragrancy which proceeds from the perfume of true Vertue There are some also without any kind of Taste disrelishing all things of substance and wholesome Nutriment and are distasteful in their Society others being unsavoury to them as they are to others Another thing they hinted which was very observable that he had met with many and those he could nominate who had no feeling and least in their hands where that sence commonly is most tender for they handle not their affairs first and make tryal before they proceed but being hurried with a certain eagerness their hands neither ponderate their actions nor their reason compares them with former examples But he whom Critilo thus occasionally met was one different to all others for besides those five Senses which were most acute and vigorous in him he had another Sense which was more advantageous then all the rest for it is that which gives life to Men and awakens them to discourse and searches out the most hidden secresie contrives invents remedies gives us tongues with confidence to speak feet to run and wings to fly and a prophetick spirit to divine future accidents and this is necessity it is a thing very admirable and useful for though the Object wants yet the defect is supplyed by the ingenuity it begets it is witty inventive cautious active acute and is a Sence which for its excellency hath preheminency over all the others Critilo had no sooner this knowledge of him but how well said he may you and I join in company together I am glad I have met with you and though misfortunes do usually attend me yet now I account my self happy and so related to him the whole story of the misfortune which had befallen him in the Court I believe you said Egenio for so was both his name and nature and though my Journy is to the Grand Fair of the World published on the Confines of Youth and Manly age the great Gate of Life yet to serve you let us go to the Court where I will employ all my six Sences in search of him and whether Man or Beast I make no doubt but to discover him so having entred in they sought him with all attention first on the Theaters and amongst the Comedians in the commonest Streets in the openest Markets where they met great Mules tailed one to the other every one followed treading on the heels of him that went before their Baskets were so laden with Gold and Silver that they groaned under their Burden their Sumpter-Cloaths were fringed with Gold and Silk and some of these wore Plumes of Feathers on their Heads being oftentimes the Trappings of Beasts The Nobility and their Pectorals of Gold made a gingling as they moved He may be some of these said Critilo No replyed Egenio for these are I mean have been great Men on whose backs the heavy Burdens of the Commonwealth have been laden and though you now see them gallanty adorned yet take but off their rich Saddles and you shall discover their backs so galled and festered that there is scarce a place free from the Boyles of Vice See if he be amongst any of these Country people who drag and draw the Cart with creaking Wheels Nor none of these neither for these cast their eyes downward having no thoughts of Honour and therefore contentedly suffer See yonder is a Parrot which calls us perhaps it may be he No no don't give ear to his call for this is but a Flatterer which never meant what he speaks There is a kind of a Politician of this sort that hath one thing in his Beak and another in his Heart a Prater which only repeats the words of others Idle Praters that imitates Men but is not such and goes clad like a Parrot all in green expects to receive the reward of Jests and accordingly receives it in earnest nor doth this formal Cat seem to be he which hides his Claws and shows his Beard There are many said Egenio of this sort who lie at the catch and strike not only at open but at secret and guarded evils but to judge rightly we may call these Men of the Pen and that old Dog which stands barking yonder What is he He is a bad Neighbor one who never spake well of any A Backbiter he is emulous of a bad intention melancholy and that passes for one of the seventy I know he cannot be that Baboon which makes mimical Faces and screws himself in so various postures in yonder Balcony O he is a grand Hypocrite who would seem and only imitate good Manners and Piety of the Religious and yet is not so he may be some grave Accountant or some Licenciado some Clerk or Writer of Burlesque and being a Man always in jest never deals in earnest but is made up all of flashes and little substance A place where Lyons are kept Nor can he be amongst the Lions and Tigers of the Retiro for those are a People made up of Processes Writs and Executions Nor yet is he amongst the Swans in this Pond for those are Scriveners and
very difficult for every one to find his other half for all things are confused and shuffled together so that the half which belongs to the Chollerickman we give to the Phlegmatick that of the Melancholy to the Chearful that of the Handsome to the Hard-favoured and sometimes that of a young Man of Twenty to an old decrepid Dotard of Seventy which is the occasion that most married Men live in a repenting state But Mr. Matchmonger by your leave said Critilo you have no excuse in this for the inequality is sufficiently apparent between fifteen years and seventy What would you have me do replied he they are blind and will have it so and the reason hereof is Sir because that they being Girls desire speedily to be Women and the Men being old and doating turn Children and as ill luck will have it when they have not young Men by their sides they are displeased to have such lie by them who are troubled with Coughs Ptisicks and Rheumes But as to this Woman now there is no remedy take her as you desired but the Chapman reviewing her again found that she came short in two or three particulars both as to her Age her Quality and her Riches and willing then to disclaim his Bargain declared she was not agreeable to his desire Take her however said he for in time you may accommodate her to your Mind for otherwise she may become much worse but have a care you afford her not all that is necessary for in giving her that she will quickly come to arrogate that which is superfluous One being invited to see a Wife was much praised for his answer That he would not choose a Wife by his Eyes but by his Ears and in reward thereof obtained one who had a good Fame for her Dowry At length they were invited to the House of Good Chear where there was a Banquet prepared This must be the quarter of Gluttony said Andrenio It may be so replied Critilo but those that enter seem the Eaters and those that go forth appear to be the Meat that is devoured and here were rare Sights for there was a great Lord set up in State encircled with Gentlemen intermixed with Dwarfs Buffoons and Flatterers like the Ark of he eats well but the account was large for they avouched that he had eaten One hundred thousand Ducats a year Rent which account was passed without any question or scruple Critilo considering hereof said how can this be for he hath not eaten the hundred part of what they pretend It is true replied Egenio but what he hath not devoured these have Then according hereunto said he let them not say that such a Duke hath a hundred thousand Crowns a year but only a thousand and that the rest only consists in troubles and vexations of Mind There was a sort of people like Camelions that sucked in Air and pretended that they grew fat with it but at length all vanished into Air. Some eat all and some drank all some sucked in their Spittle and others chewed upon an Onion and at length those that eat were eaten themselves and that to the very Bone In all these Shops was sold nothing of substance or true benefit howsoever on the right hand were Wares of the most pretious quality and Truths of the purest Touch which were sold to Mens own selves such as these The Wise man is with himself and God is All-sufficient In this manner they came out from the Fare discoursing as they went Egenio being other then what he was before because now rich intended to return to his Lodging for in this life we have no House or abiding Mansion But Critilo and Andrenio resolved to pass the Gates of Virile Age in Aragon of which the famous King gave this testimony that he was born to make as many Knights of St. Iago as should be Conquerors of several Kingdoms and comparing the several Countries of Spain to the different Ages of Man attributed the robustious and manly Age to that of Aragon The Conclusion Being the Vniversal Reformation IF Men change their inclinations every seven years how much more must their Judgments alter in every Period of their four Ages He that understands little or nothing lives but by halfes the Faculties of our Souls are feeble in our infancy and the common or inferiour as well as the more noble Powers lie buried in an unsensible Infancy exercising only an animal Life and encreasing with a Vegetation like Flowers or Plants But the time comes when the Soul proceeding out of its Mantles enters into the Jovial Stage of Youth which being Sensual and Luxurious is most naturally expressed by such Epithites He that understands little indulges his Genius and pursues those Inclinations to which Youth and Nature prompt him neglecting the use of the sublimer Faculties Howsoever at length though late he arrives at the Rational Life which appertains to Man his Judgment being awakened he reasons and discourses desires to be esteemed The Employments of Manhood thirsts after great Actions embraces Vertue cultivates Friendships pursues Knowledge treasures up Wisdom and attends to every noble and worthy Action He that compared the life of Man to the swift current of a Stream did apply an apt similitude rightly fitted to the transient condition of Humane nature which glides away like a passing Water The life of Man compared to a Stream For Infancy is a lively Brook springing from amidst little Sands the Muck of our Bodies being produced from the Dust of nothing It twinkles as bright as a little spark it smiles but doth not laugh it runs after the little bubbles of Wind tumbles amongst the Pots and binds it self with the green Stays with which the Nurse keeps it from falling But Youth fallies forth like an impetuous Torrent runs leaps precipitates its Waters like Cataracts bubbles on the loose Pebbles turns into a thousand Eddies troubles the clearness of its Streams and casts all into Froth and Fume But the fury of this Brook tumbling into the Age of Manhood glides then with a more quiet Stream and is as smooth and still as it is deep It then diffuses it self without noise towards some good end or design it overflows the Meadows to make them fertile and rich it encompasses Cities to carry their Vessels of Provisions and fortifie them against their Enemies and in short enriches whole Provinces with all things necessary and useful But alas at length this placid River comes to discharge it self into the froward Sea of Old age emptying every drop of it self into the profound Abyss of Infirmities and Diseases Here it is wherein Rich men loose the vigour of their strength their pleasures and the remembrance of their very names Here it is wherein the shattered Vessel drives to Leeward leaking in a hundred places and being beaten on all sides with Gusts and Storms is at length cast away being shipwracked in the Gulf of the Grave and swallowed up in the Sands of perpetual Oblivion Critilo and Andrenio our two Pilgrims of Life were now arrived in Aragon which Travellers call The Good Spain Aragon the Good Spain where being entered they found themselves ingaged in the greatest stage and course of Humane life They had now insensibly passed the chearful and pleasant Fields of Youth and the plain and wanton Paths of Delight and were ascending upwards on the steep Mount of Manly age which was full of sharp Rocks covered over with Briers and Thorns and in every respect a most difficult and troublesome passage Andrenio like such who would arise unto Vertue strained hard to mount aloft he laboured and sweat and was out of breath whilst Critilo encouraged him with prudent remembrances and comforting him in a way where no Flowers grew with the prospect of Trees above laden and overcharged with Fruit which were more plentiful and in greater abundance then the leaves of those Books which they carried in their hands At length they were got so high that they seemed to be raised above all that this World contains and to rule and govern inferiour things What is your opinion said Critilo of this new Region Do not you think that we do now breath in a more pure Air Yes indeed replied Andrenio methinks we now carry another sort of Air with us We are entered into a good station where we may repose and recover our strength Let us now reflect said Critilo on the Journy which we have made Do not you observe those green and trampled paths which we have left behind us how mean how vile do all those matters seem which we have already passed How childish and vain appears every thing in respect of that great Province into which we are now entred How empty and void do past matters appear How little do they show from our sublime place of residence It were a madness to return to them again by the same steps which have wearied us already without satisfaction or contentment And here we will leave our Pilgrims in the Confines of Aragon having attained to the Virile and robustious Age of Manhood FINIS
unto every one his Order and apart all Kinds in their several and most natural Stations So he summoned all Creatures from the Elephant to the Fly and shewing them the several distinct Regions and Elements left the choice of all to their Free and voluntary Election The Elephant answered That he would content himself with a Wood the Horse with a Meadow the Eagle with one of the Regions of the Air the Whale in the Ocean the Swan in a Fish-pond the Barbel in the River and the Frog in a Pool The last of all came Man though the first in Dignity who to the Question propounded answered that he could not content himself with less than all and that too seemed but little for his enlarged desires This exorbitant Ambition struck no small wonder to those present though it was soon applauded by a flattering Sycophant as a demand agreeable to the greatness of his Mind though by one with better Judgment term'd the defect of his depraved corporeal composition The superficies of this Globe seemed too narrow a confinement for his enlarged desires until in quest of Gold and Silver he found a way to undermine and rip up the Bowels of the Earth His Pride makes him climb to possess the Air by the lofty Pinacles of his Edifices lest his Ambition should be suffocated and stifled in the lower Region He compasses the Seas sounds the Ocean dives for Pearls Amber and Corral to nourish his Folly and swell his Vanity He taxes each Element according to its quality to pay him Tribute the Air her Birds the Sea her Fish the Earth her Beasts the Fire its heat to entertain not to satisfie his Luxury And yet as if all this were unsufficient nothing can appease his Complaints of a Penurious Portion O monstrous Covetousness of Man The Supream Creator took him by the hand See said he and know that I have formed Man by my own Hands for my Servant and your Lord and like a King as he is pretends to Govern all But understand O man that this is to be with your Mind and not with your Belly as a Man not as a Beast You ought to be Lord of all Creatures and not a Slave to them they ought to follow you and not you attracted by them You ought to possess all with Knowledge and Acknowledgement that is contemplating in all these Created Mirrours the Divine Perfections making a step of the Creature to pass unto the Creator This Relation of Prodigies though a Lesson amongst us common to the meanest and most vulgar Capacities was yet strange and unheard of to Andrenio who recovering himself from his deep Contemplations thereon and passionate Aspirations towards the Divine Essence began to proceed in this manner My sleep said he prosecuting his former Discourse was the ordinary pastime of my hours and the chiefest ease of my Melancholy and Solitariness to that I inclined as a Remedy of my Discontent when one night for all to me were such a more than ordinary deadness of sleep possessed me an infallible Presager of Evil and so it was for startling from my Slumber awakened by the vehemency of a Gust burst from the deepest Caverns of yonder Mountain which shook the whole Fabrick and firm Pillars which support it and whistling through the Breach it made diffused it self into a general Tempest with so much Rage and Violence as to shake the foundation of the neighbouring Rocks as if its force had been sufficient to have shattered this grand Machine into their first nothing Hold said Critilo the Mountains themselves are not exempted from change but exposed to Earthquakes and Thunder their power of resistance being the cause of their subversion But if these Rocks shook said Andrenio what should I All the Joints of my Body seemed to be loosed and dissolved my heart ready to break with Throbs my Senses failed me that I found my self half dead and almost buried between the Rocks and my own fears whil'st this Eclipse of my Soul remained the Parenthesis of my Life neither can I know nor can any other inform me concerning it at length I know not how nor when I returned by little and little to recover my self from this total dereliction of my Spirits I unclosed my Eyes to the dawnings of the day a day clear great and happiest that ever my life hath seen a day which I have noted on the Stones and engraved on the Rocks I instantly perceived the Doors of my tedious Prison broke open a comfort so transporting me that I delayed no time to unbury my self and as one new-born in the World to leap into it through that Gap in which appeared the Rayes and Light of the chearful Heaven At first not fully satisfyed of the reality I went round the Rock still suppressing with what power I could the strong rebulliency of my Passions but at length well assured I returned to the confused Balcony of my Life and Prospect diffusing my Eyes in a general view over this grand Theater of Heaven and Earth the whole vigour of my Soul applying it self to the Windows of my Eyes with that Contentment and Curiosity that it disabled the rest of my Senses to perform their Function that for a whole day I remained immoveable unsensible and dead being overwhelmed by over-powering of too strong a Life I would here express but it is impossible the intense violence of my Affections the extravagant Raptures of my Soul I can only tell you that there still remain impressions thereof upon me and the wonder and amazement I then conceived are not so clearly forgotten but that the sense thereof do strongly affect me I believe said Critilo that when the Eyes see what they never espied the Heart feels what it was never sensible of I beheld proceeded Andrenio the Sea the Land the Heaven and each severally and altogether and in the view of each I transported my self without thoughts of ever ending admiring enjoying and contemplating a fruition which could never satiate me O! How much I envy thee said Critilo this unknown happiness of thine the only priviledge of the first Man and you the Faculty of seeing all at once Novelty and that with Observation the Greatness Beauty Harmony Stability and Variety of this created Fabrick Familiarity in us takes off Admiration and Novelty affects little those who have neither Knowledge or advertency to enjoy it For we enter into the World with the Eyes of our Understanding shut and when we open them unto Knowledge the Custom of seeing hath rendred the greatest Wonders neither strange nor admired at the Judgments disclosure Therefore the wise Worthies have repaired much of this defect by reflections looking back again as it were to a new Birth making every thing by a search and examination into its Nature a new subject of astonishment admiring and criticizing on their Perfections Like those who walk in a delicious Garden diverted solely with their own Thoughts not observing at first the artificial
adornments and variety of Flowers yet afterwards return back to view each Plant and Flower with great Curiosity So we enter into this Garden of the Universe walking from our Birth until our Death without the least glance on the Beauty and Perfection of it unless some wiser Heads chance to turn back and renew their Pleasure by a Review and Contemplation This Andrenio considered to be his greatest Happiness in that he arrived to that height of Perfection which he had so long expected and desired Your happiness said Critilo was your restraint since afterwards you knocked off your Bolts and arrived at a full fruition both of your own desire and them for things that are worth our Wishes and obtained are twice enjoyed the greatest Wonders if familiar and common soon loose their Repute and an easie access and a free use makes but a toy of the greatest Prodigy The Sun hath done us a courtesie in absenting himself at night that his return may be the more grateful in the morning What a conjunction of Affections must you needs feel What over-flowings of your Senses How must your Soul have been ravished and employed in its attention on those Objects 'T was much you were not over-boarn with a Contemplation so violent and admirable I believe answered Andrenio that whilst my Attention was busied in Seeing and Observing it was so fixed on the present Object that it found no force nor power to communicate unto another But those chearful emanations of the Grand-Monarch of Light which you call the Sun crowned with his own Beams The Sun and encircled with Rayes stroak an awfulness to Eyes to render him the Reverence and Admiration At the Glory of his Throne at the Soveraignty and Silence of His Majesty which triumphs in the Christaline Waves and fills all Creatures with his bright Presence I was wholly swallowed up in Amazement envying the Eagle should be more intent than my self At his naming the Sun Critilo could contain no longer but instantly cryed out and applauded the Comfort the Bliss the Happiness enjoyed in that immortal and glorious Light the Sun My admiration still encreased said Andrenio until my Attention grew dim and amazed because I desired him at a distance to whom I feared to approach near my Reason telling me what I observed that no other Light but his could dim my Eyes and that no nearer Access could be to him but only by Contemplation The Sun said Critilo is that Creature which is the most lively Esfigies and Abstract of the Creators Majesty and Greatness He is called Sol because he solely runs the compass of the Heavens his Presence out-shining the Glory of the other Luminaries his situation is in the midst of the Celestial Orbs as the centre and heart of Light the perpetual fountain of Rayes a constant and an unchangeable Essence whose Virtue assisted us to see other things and yet covers and hides his own Beauty with the Vail of his Brightness his influence concurs with more immediate Causes to the Production of all Creatures nor can Man deny him to be the Author and Parent of his Life His Light is most effectual in being communicated for diffusing it self into all parts and piercing the very Bowells of the Earth doth with an admirable Vertue strengthen foment rejoice and nourish his influence is not Partial but common all having need of him and he of none In fine he is a Creature of the greatest Pomp and Glory the most resplendent Beam of the Divine Majesty A whole day said Andrenio I was employed in beholding him sometimes in himself and sometimes his Reflections in the Waters being forgetful of my time and self At this Critilo remembred what the Philosopher said That he was born to behold the Sun which was well said though ill understood for his meaning was that in this material Sun he did contemplate the Divine Glory for if but an Emission and Shadow of him be so bright what must be the true Light of that infinite and uncreated Beauty But alas said Andrenio how soon like the unconstancy of this World was the height of my comfort changed into displeasure the joy of my birth into the horrour of my Death the throne of the morning into the Grave of the night The night the Sun being descended through the Waters into another World left me drowned in a Sea of my own Tears but whilst the apprehensions of never seeing him again did grievously affect me behold on a sudden a new Wonder diverted my Thoughts the appearance of a Heaven adorned with Stars changed the Scene and renewed my Contentment This Prospect was no less welcome than the other the variety and strangeness of the Objects affording me an entertainment to busie my attention O that immense Wisdom of God! said Critilo which hath found a means to make the Night no less beautiful and admirable than the Day Absurdly hath vulgar ignorance imposed the Epithites of drowsie dark and uncomely upon the twinklings and serenity of the night those descriptions of being the repose of Labour the refreshments and diversion of Cares are but reproaches of its Sluggishness and Melancholy but better is it expressed by a Person of Wisdom who calls it the time of Contemplation and Thoughts and for that reason was the Owl at Athens celebrated as the Hieroglyphick of Knowledge The night is not so proper for the Ignorant to sleep as for the Wise and Studious to watch the Night being to prepare that which the Day must execute In this entertainment my Thoughts were soon engaged in a Labyrinth of numbring the Stars some whereof only twinkled others shined clearly observing their various Magnitudes Degrees Motions and Colours whilst some appeared others withdrew all resembling said Critilo humane Fortune which is no sooner up but inclines to his setting But what I much considered said Andrenio with small satisfaction was that disorderly and yet admirable disposition of them for seeing the Superiour Artificer had adorned and sealed the Convexity of the Heavens with Stars why he did not dispose them with Order and Method interweaving them with pretty Knots and flowry Circles I know not how to declare or express my self I already understand you said Critilo your meaning is that the Stars should have been disposed in Order and Rank like some rich Embroidery or the Flowers of some delicious Garden or studded like Rows of Dâ—amonds that the lustre of one might with an artificial correspondency have set off the Beauty of another Yes said he for besides that the disposition of this resplendent Artifice would have been a prospect more delicious to the Sight so it would have cleared that fond imagination of some who suppose Chance to have been Framer of this Universe and by a foolish Prophaneness hoodwink the Providence of the Almighty Your Query said Critilo is not from the purpose for you must know that the Divine Wisdom directing and disposing of them in this manner had more Sublime