University of Virginia Library

The Authors Induction.

Man of polluted lips, dar'st thou aspire
So great a Worke? call for Cælestiall Fire,
Invoke some Holy hand to guide thy Pen,
Some Circumcized heart to teach thee: when
Thou but conceiu'st a Verse, set'st down a line,
Sigh for thy state: weepe for those sins of thine,
(Those Actuall-ones) that Iustice haue call'd down
And caus'd th' Almighty with an angry frowne
Fright Blessednesse from thee: making thy life
A Vale of Miserie, a Den of Strife,
Scarce suffering thee in almost seuentie yeares
See ought but dangers, mischiefes, debts, & feares.
Laying on thy soule such heauynesse, such woe,
As but his Mercy helpe thee, thou must goe
(And speedily) vnto a Graue forlorne,
With Iob complayning thou wert euer borne.
Oh my deiected spirit, rowse thy selfe,
Be not with Care (as worldlings are with pelfe)
Wholy benum'd: thy God (benigne & good)
Knows, eu'n for Thee, thy Sauiour shed his blood;
Be thou but penitent, and he will smile;
Wash thee with Teares, & he with sacred Oyle
Will cheere thy looks, & thou shalt cleerly see
The louing kindnesse he intends to thee.
The Scales are falne already: I behold
Diuine Infusion: (happy man) am told
That his great Prouidence (neuer-forsaking)
Did first excite thee to this vnder-taking:
He bids thee write: rely on him, and send
Thy prayers vp, and he will fairely end
This thy designe, and thou shalt comfort finde
Both for thy trauail'd life, and troubled minde.
Led by this Fierie-Conduct, this darke night,
Lo thus I wander (hopefull Israelite.)
Beginning with mine owne liues-storied-truth,
Which (now & in my graue) may purchase ruth
To see the dāgerous spurns the world hath giuē me
And strange aduētures wherto Time hath driuē me,
In which, this Comfort to my selfe I'll make
I neuer yet dishonest course did take;
No Sirens voyce could euer me betray
To th' hands of Iustice by a shamefull way:
Oh no, let Enuy speake her worst (in hate)
Shee can but say, I was vnfortunate.
But to my story (whence I haue declin'd)
Thus put I forth to Sea, heauen send faire winde.
The Citie had my birth: My Father free

Marchan-taylors

Of a much fam'd and Royall Company,
With good esteeme bore Offices of worth.
My Education past; I then went forth,
And tride the Ayre of diuers noble Counties,
There tasted some free fauors, gen'rous Bounties,
Yet could not find there (as th' euent exprest)
Sufficient grounding for my foote to rest,
With Noah's first Doue (after much flight, much paine)
Vnto my Arke, (my Natiue home againe)
I backe return'd; but could not bring with me
The Oliue-leafe of faire Tranquilitie.
Much variation I haue had since then,
With one blest gift (a ready writers pen)
The vse whereof (without vaine glory told)
Is not extinguish't yet (though I am old)
'Tis not extinct indeed: But yet (alas)
It's a cas'd Instrument, no sound it has:
Time hath worne out (with Teares I strike this straine)
Beliefe of what I can: now young ones raigne,
Whil'st I (too old to cry about the street
Worke for a Writer) no Imployment meet,
But all dismayed, and dis-ioyfull sit
As one had neither Pen, nor Hand, nor Wit:
Or as Ierusalems sad famish'd Mother,
Feed on mine owne begotten flesh; (no other)
Quite lost; vnlesse (in this) Speed meet Desire,
And hap doe answere hope. But I retire
To shew the Protean-changes, and the Chances,
My life hath touch'd at: as an Arrow glances,
And slides from ground to ground, yet neuer hits
The aymed Marke; so my vncertaine fits
Obserue with patience, 'twill not hurt at all:
(Experience is a doctrine medinall.
First was I seuen yeares-seruant, painfull Clarke,
Vnto a

Sr. Auth. Ashley.

Clarke o'th Counsell; & did marke
Within the cōpasse of those hopeful yeers
The Goodnesse, and Nobility o'th Peeres;
Those Reuerend Lords, those Councellors of State
Vpon whose Vertues I must meditate
While I haue breath: and in my soule adore
These great Succeeders of those gone before:
Heauen fix thē in their Seates: long stand they thus
Like sheltring Cedars on Mount Lebanus:
Their Counsels blesse: al their decrees reuown thē;
Their Soueraigns honor here: There Glory crown them.
Goe on my Zeale, & praise, while thou art able
Each gracious Second of that honour'd Table:

Clerkes of the Counsel

And as a thankfull Riuer that doth send
His Tribute to the Ocean, I commend
One speciall sacrifice (with heart sincere)
Vnto his worth, whom I call'd Master here:
May his In-vrned Bones in quiet rest
Till the last sounding Trumpe, and then rise blest:
That (haplesse) thence I slipt (wanting firme hold)
I sadly sigh the fate; but leau't vntold:
Onely thus much (that no aspersion bide
Vpon my front) I did no talent hide.
The Signet and the Priuy Seale was next
Those deare Collegues, that giue me for my text
A field of honour, and shall be my Song
While Fame a Trumpet hath, or I a tongue:
The Gentlenesse which there I did possesse
Did make their goodnesse more, my sorrowes lesse:
But those sweet after-drops of comfort I
Sometimes receiu'd from thence, are now growne dry:
Those Conduit-pipes, that did my thirst allay
Are frozen vp: and now in the highway,
(Poore Trauellor) wounded, and rob'd I lye,
Vntill some good Samaritan come by,
And with the Wine, and Oyle of Ioy agin
Set me on Horsback, helpe me to some Inne.
To th' Tribe of Leuy, (heau'ns chiefe Miracles)
I haue done seruice; writ their Oracles,
Which so Diuine Instinction doth infuse,
For their bles'd sakes Ile make my soule their Muse
And pray with the best power, my Zeale affords
All happy Gifts to crowne their sacred words;
The Holy Ghost, (in Clouen tongues, and Fire)
Descend on them, when they good things desire.
But most of all doth my laborious hand
'Mongst the renown'd and learned Lawyers stand
A Monument; each Office and each Court
Vouchsafeing me such matter of report,
That if my voice to th' vtmost world could stretch
Euen thither should their Fames, & honors reach.
And some imployment hath my vsefull Pen,
Had 'mongst those ciuill well-deseruing Men,
That grace the Stage with honour and delight,
Of whose true honesties I much could write
But will compris't (as in a Caske of Gold)
Vnder the Kingly-seruice they doe hold.
Lo this hath beene the Sceane
that my poore life hath plaid,
Happy in nothing but the Meane,
whereby I ne're betray'd
To Fortunes fickle Chance
my Liberty and Name,
For whom she neuer did aduance
can neuer loose a Fame.
Had I (like others) sought
the top of any hill
When she a Mischiefe would haue wrought,
s'had had me at her will:
But lying on the ground,
and could now lower fall,
I safely view'd the world a-round,
and made some vse of all.
And this I finde to be
a ready way to Rest:
What others doe, to heare, and see
but still to say the best:
Nor can I think't a sinne
to haue this Tenet got,
To vse the world and all therein
as though I vs'd it not.
But should there be a harsh obiection cast,
Who hauing tride so many wayes, and past
So many places: all or none of these
Could me establish; oh let them but please
To note what I haue heard some Merchants say,
That what they'haue got on land, they'ue lost at sea,
'Twill stop the current of that crook't cōceit
And light vnto Constructions far more streight;
For so (God knowes) haue I by Stormes and Floods
Of Time, and sicknesse lost my Land got Goods.
And for a Confirmation of the rest;
One Argument how Time hath me opprest,
And how th' Almighty (in his fixt decree)
Hath pleas'd to lay his Tryalls vpon me,
Lend patient Eare: a sad Relation 'tis
A most disconsolate Parenthesis.
Yet of those Soules from Pittie not exempt
Excuse may purchase, for this bold attempt,
And good Appliance too: Thinke of that yeare,
(In Marble hearts too soone forgot, I feare;
In those that haue Compassion, and Remorse
It needs must sticke an euerlasting force:)
That Pestilentiall yeare; that heauy Time,
(A Parallel to that, which (for his Crime)
Dauid selected, when he chose to lie
Vnder Gods hand, and not Mans Tyrannie)
Wherein depopulating sicknesse, want,
And famine, (Ram-like) did their Forces plant
To batter and lay leuell with the ground
This City (glorious famous and renown'd)
(For whom my selfe had cause ('fore many other)
Much to lament, (because she was my Mother)
And for whose sake (with Ionathans swift Boy)
To serue her I would run with eager Ioy:
She was my Nurse; but (which was worst of all)
Shee (in my cradle) gaue me such a fall,
That howsoeuer yeares might heale the same,
Yet (with Mephibosheth) I still goe lame.
This holy Place, for which the Iewes would mourne
As for Ierusalem, (besieg'd, forlorne)
This beauteous Temple, for which Dauid must
Needes weepe, to see her honour in the dust:
From whence no Child of hers (if they had power)
But fled (vnkindly) lest she should deuoure
(As Myriam did) the Fruit of her owne wombe,
And so be both their chamber, and their Tombe,
Onely some Pillars stood to keepe it vp,
(The City Pretors:) Of this bitter Cup
They ventur'd drinking: honour'd be their worth,
That then so good examples did bring forth:
But for those silly Soules, that staid behind
(Either for loue, or need) they could not find
(Like Noah's Doue) a place to rest their feet,
But crept from lane to lane, from street to street;
where naught was seen, felt, tasted, toucht or heard
But Coffins, pits, Bels-knowling, things prepar'd,
To drag Poore wretches, (dog-like) to the earth,
And that sometimes, ere consummating death
Had fully taken on them his possession,
Such was the fearefull hast, such the expression
Of Horrors shape: such griefe, such Tragick sights,
The Sufferer feeles, and the Spectator frights;
For one man to another was a Caine,
No sooner met, but fearing to be slaine
By him they met: take East, West, North, or South,
No wind that blew, but blew death in their mouth;
Vntill the bitter raging of that Stound
Had laid most vnder; left but few 'boue ground:
Thus, thus she was, ô thus (like Iob) she sate
A patient-bearer of a ruin'd state:
In Sorrow, Fasting, Sack-cloth, Ashes she,
Shewes as her elder sister Niniue:
Nor shop nor house, naught open, but her Eyes,
And those but ope to see her Miseries:
Nothing was gratious in her at this time,
But that she had the Grace to know her Crime,
And with repentant Marie, wash in Teares
Her Sauiours feet, and wipe them with her haires:
Eu'n thus she was: Thus (like Iosephus) I
Partooke of her distresses heauily:
And though a heauenly Titus kept mee free,
And (with Tobias Angell) guarded me,
So that I neither had the sores, nor dyde,
(For which my sacrifice of Thankes shall bide
A Monument eternall:) yet (alas)
I from her Markes not so exempted was,
(Her Markes of Penury, Expence, and Woes)
Of Debts, engagements, all heart-breaking throes;
But that I still about me beare the signe,
And still shall doe, till by some Power Diuine,
(As this of yours) I from the same be cleer'd,
My heart reuiued, and my soule re-cheer'd.
So deepe: so deepe did then that Iron enter
Into my Soule and so with sorrow rent her,
That had I then expir'd, I scarce had found
A friendly hand to lay me in the ground
With decency: no (which I much desir'd)
there was not one that could (for loue) be hir'd
T'haue but en-sculp't vpon a peece of stone
This simple Epitaph which I alone
Before-hand for my selfe, had thus compos'd,
And yet affect to haue it so dispos'd,
That some remembrance may remaine of me
By this my Swan-like, dying Elegie.
Behold a wonder (Friend) oh stay and read,
and make this spectacle thy President,
Here buried lies a Man, that is not dead,
Deaths dart was tipt with life: death then repent
And cease to vaunt: Thou hast not made him bow,
For (he thankes God) he neuer liu'd till now.
Though City, Countrie, Court, Church, law & stage
I haue pass'd thorough in my Pilgrimage,
Yet here I stand Fortunes Anatomie,
A spectacle of Times Inconstancy:
And what's to come (to keepe me from despaire)
Must rise from you (great Obiects of my prayer)
In you it rests to fit me (now so poore)
To giue you Offrings oft, (but thus no more)
Nor shall I more Egyptian bondage see,
But by your Grace and Loue enfranchiz'd be:
For in each Place (whereof I made report)
I some haue seene, of each degree, each sort,
Of each sexe too, (for eu'n my willing duties
Reflected haue vpon some Female beauties)
To whom my soule hath vow'd such deare affection,
I shall not giue it ample satisfaction,
If deaths darke night, my sight-depriued Eyes,
A shaking hand, or ought else should arise
Ere I had consecrated with my Name
Some liuing Glory to their lasting Fame.
And 'mongst all those, whō I haue thus obseru'd
You stand in a chiefe place, and are thus seru'd:
True worth will ne're esteem't a wandring shift
For a poore man in a poore New-yeares gift
To tender his hearts zeale, but tak't aright
As Christ accepted the poore widowes Mite:
Nor from true wisedome doth it disagree
To light the smallest Lampe heauen giues to mee
With this induement more: the time is free,
Now Custome speakes for Liberalitie:
Now Trumpets, and Musitians (sounds of Ayre)
Are welcom'd nobly: (Mine mounts heauens high Chaire)
True Noblenesse is now so publike shown
'Twill entertaine those vtterly vnknowne.
Nor will't (I hope) abortiue proue, or brittle
Though it should come posthumately a little:
Twas not my wills, but hasty times preuention,
And some disasters hindred my intention:
Once in a yeare sanctum sanctorum stood
Open to th' Priest: Oh be you then so good
Now once for all your holy holiest heart
Set open wide, whil'st I (in Priest-like part)
Attend your Offrings: Of the Lepers ten
Ile proue the tenth, and humbly come agen
And pay my vow; yea, in a way more knowne
Giue double honour, to your Vertues showne:
The world shall (publique) see Ile not omit
The meanest Benefactor fauors it:
Which done, with joy Ile sing, and sweet alacritie,
Inueni portum, spes & fortuna valete.
Then my Herculean Pillers I will fixe,
And (with Non vltra) all your honours mixe:
But till my strength reach that intendiment
I here addresse me to my first intent,
Perplexed Muse, this thy Oblation done,
All vn-abasht, (as I doe thee command)
With this one farther Errand, goe thou on:
Say to his worth now holds thee in his hand,
This is my Vltimum Refugium, and
My Vale vltimum: For (Lo:) I stand
Like one that at our English Lotteries
Hath ventur'd all he hath: (Goods, hope and land)
And drawing blank, he straight sinks down & dies
But happing on a Lot, he loudly sounds a Prize.
Say to them all, and to each seuerall man
(Be he or Peere, Noble or Gentle Spirit
Thou hast not yet (in This) done all thou can,
(Nor all thou wilt:) for to the glorious Merit
Of such, whose Entertainment shall prefer it,
Thou (in a free-borne Taske) thy Pen will strip
To recordate their worth: oh none deter it;
Lest Fame should plucke her Trūpet from her lip,
When his Memoriall comes, & his fair name 'oreslip.
Should any one (as some vnkindly did,
When that well meaning woman (to aduance
Her pious heart) did on her Master rid
Her rich, and bounteons Box of Oyntment, chance
T'vpbraid your good Intent: I'le thus aduance
Your Glory in't: You here your hands did ope
To Bury me: and (in your Remembrance)
I'll call't no more my Project, or my Scope,
But heau'ns fulfilled will, and my accomplish't hope.
Our Sauiour, nor of Persons, nor of Place
Was e're Respector knowne (so is it writ)
To learne of him, you'll hold it no disgrace.
Then to your free considerings I commit
(And heauens disposure (the successe of it:
Beseeching pardon for my Errors blames
Not Marshalling, or missing Titles fit:
I onely ayme to memorize your Fames.
But want experiēce how to heraldize your names.
Once more in your conceiuings (gracious) frame
A Pilgrimes habit, lookes, and Pilgrimes pace,
Bound to Iehouah's Court: Ere there he came
Tobias Angell (to refresh his case)
Conducts him to a bounteous Ladies place,
Seated vpon a Rocke: she (Mercy height)
With pardons, Almes-deeds, and like workes of Grace
Had al her Rooms hung round: he praies this wight
That she wil him instruct; she bids him thus to write.