The Hierarchie of the blessed Angells :: :: University of Virginia Library

The Hierarchie of the blessed Angells

Their Names, orders and Offices; The fall of Lucifer with his Angells; Written by Thos. Heywood

Heywood, Thomas

[section]

THE HIERARCHIE of the blessed ANGELLS.

Collapse All | Expand All expand section

THE HIERARCHIE of the blessed ANGELLS.

Vita scelesta vale, coelica vita veni.

TO THE MOST EXCELLENT AND INCOMPARABLE LADY, AS FAMOVS FOR HER ILLVSTRIOVS VERTVES, AS FORTVNAT IN HER REGALL ISSVE; HENRETTA MARIA, Queene: THE ROYALL CONSORT AND SPOVSE OF THE PVISSANT AND INVINCIBLE MONARCH, OVR DREAD SOVERAIGNE, King CHARLES: Her Highnesse most lowly and loyall Subiect Thomas Heywood, In all humilitie consecrateth these his well-wishing, though vnworthy Labours.

Lib. 1. The Seraphim.

THE ARGVMENT OF the first Booke.

A Ioue Principium, the Creator,
Of all that liue, sole Animator.
Atheisme and Sadducisme disputed;
Their Tenents argued, and refuted.
A Deitie approv'd by all
Gods Creatures in generall.
Into the world how false gods came,
And first began t'usurpe that Name.
A Quære made the world throughout,
To finde this God, of whom some doubt.

2 Argument.

The blessed Seraph doth implie
The loue we owe to the most High.

Inspire my Purpose, fauour mine Intent,
(O thou All-knowing and Omnipotent)
And giue me leaue, that from the first of daies,
I (Dust and Ashes) may resound thy praise:
Able me in thy quarrell to oppose,
And lend me Armor-proofe t'encounter those
Who striue t'eclipse thy glory all they can;
The Atheist, Sadduce, and Mahumetan.

That there's a God, who doubts? who dares dispute?
Be'ng in it selfe a maxime absolute:
Which fundamentall Truth, as it is seen
In all things, Light or Darke, Wither'd or Green;
In Length, Bredth, Height, Depth; what is done or said,
Or hath existence in this Fabricke, made
By the word Fiat: so amongst the rest,
In mans owne Conscience it is deep'st exprest.

Who's he looks vp, and sees a glorious Star
(Be 't fixt or wandering) to appeare from far
In bright refulgence; can so stupid be,
Not to acknowledge this great Deity?

Who shall the Sun's vnwearied progresse view,
As at the first creation, fresh and new,
In lustre, warmth, and power, still giuing chere
To Plants, to Beasts, to Mankinde euery where?

Wh'obserues the Moon a lower course to range,
Inconstant, and yet constant in her Change;
(Ty'd to her monthly vicissitude)
And doth not thinke she also doth include
A soueraigne power? Looke downe, the earth suruey,
The Floures, Herbs, Shrubs, and Trees, and see how they
Yearely product: The store of Herds and Flocks
Grasing on pastures, medowes, hills and rocks;
Some wilde beasts; others to mans vse made tame;
And then consider whence these creatures came.

Ponder the Wels, Ponds, Riuers, Brooks & Fountains,
The lofty Hils, and super-eminent Mountains,
The humble Valley, with the spatious Plaine,
The faire cloath'd Medowes, and full fields of graine;
The Gardens, Desarts, Forrests, Shelues, and Sands,
Fertilitie and Barrennesse of Lands;
Th' vnbounded Sea, and vastitie of Shore;
“All these expresse a Godhead to adore.

Be not in thy stupiditie deluded:
Thinke but how all these, in one bulke included,
And rounded in a ball, plac'd in the meane
Or middle, hauing nought whereon to leane;
So huge and pond'rous! and yet with facilitie,
Remain immov'd, in their first knowne stabilitie!
“How can such weight, that on no Base doth stand,
“Be sway'd by lesse than an Almighty hand?

Obserue the Sea when it doth rage and rore,
As menacing to swallow vp the Shore;
For all the Ebbs and Tydes, and Deeps profound,
Yet can it not encroch beyond his bound.
“What brain conceiues this, but the Power respects,
“Which these things made, moues, gouerns, and directs?

Do but, ô man, into thy selfe descend,
And thine owne building fully apprehend;
Comprise in one thy Body and thy Mind,
And thou thy selfe a little World shalt find:

Thou hast a nimble body, to all motion
Pliant and apt: thou hast at thy deuotion
A soule too, in the which no motion's seene,
But from all eyes hid, as behind a skreene.
Th' effects we may behold; from whose command
The gestures come: yet see we not the hand
By which Th' are mov'd, nor the chiefe Master, He
Who is prime Guide in our agilitie.

Is not so great, of these things, th' admiration;
So excellent a Worke, of power to fashion
Atheists anew, and bring them to the way?
Let's heare but what their owne Philosophers say.
One thus affirmes: There's no capacious place
In Mans Intelligence, able to embrace
Th' incomprehensible Godhead: “and yet trace
“His steps we may, his potencie still seeing
“In euery thing that hath on earth a being.

Saith Auicen: He reason wants, and sence,
That to a sole God doth not reuerence.
A third: Who so to heav'n directs his eies,
And but beholds the splendor of the skies,
(Almost incredible) and doth not find,
There must of force be an Intelligent mind,
To guide and gouerne all things? A fourth thus:
(and the most learned of them, doth discusse;
Seeming amongst the Heathen most to know)
There is a God, from whom all good things flow.

To sing to the great God let's neuer cease,
Who gouerns Cities, People, and gown'd Peace:
He the dull Earth doth quicken; or make tame
The Tempests, and the windy Seas reclaime:
He hath the gouernment of States, can quell
Both gods and men; his pow'r is seene in Hell;
Whose magnitude all visible things display,
He gouerns them with an impartial sway.

Where e're thou mov'st, where so thou turnst thine eie,
Ev'n there is God, there Ioue thou may'st espie:
His immense pow'r doth beyond limit run,
It hath no bound, for what he wills is done.

What so thou seest throughout the world by day,
Euen that doth him and only him obey.
If he please, from the dull or fertile Earth,
Or Floures or Weeds spring, Fruitfulnesse or Dearth:
If he please, into Rocks hee'l water poure,

Which (like the thirsty Earth) they shall deuoure.
Or from the dry stones he can water spout:
The wildernesse of Seas the world throughout
Submits to him. At his Imperious will
The rough and blustring Winds are calme and still.
The Flouds obey him: Dragons he can slaue,
And make th' Hyrcanian Tygres cease to raue.

He is in the most soueraigne place instated;
He sees and knowes all things he hath created.
Nor wonder if he know our births and ends,
Who measures Arctos, how far it extends;
And what the Winters Boreæs limits are.
What to this Deity may we compare?
Who doth dispose as well the Spade as Crowne,
Teaching the counsels both of Sword and Gowne:
For with inuisible Ministers he traces
The world, and spies therein all hidden places.

Of Alexander, Aristotle thus writes:
It is not numb'red 'mongst his chiefe delights,
That he o're many Kings hath domination;
But, That he holds the gods in adoration.
Who iustly on their proud contemners lower;
But vnto such as praise them, they giue power.

The Times of old, Æneas did admire,
Because he brought his gods through sword and fire,
When Troy was sackt and burnt: for that one pietie,
They held him after death worthy a Dietie.

Pompilius for his reuerence to them done,
An honor from his people likewise wone:
He raign'd in peace, and (as some writers say)
Had conference with the Nymph Egeria.
For him, who knew the gods how to intreat,
And truly serue, no honor was too great.

But the gods Hater, impious and prophane
Mezentius, was in battell rudely slaine.
And Capaneus, after that he had
Assaulted Thebes wall (which the gods forbad)
Euen in the midst of all his glory fell,
And by a bolt from Heauen was strooke to Hell.

The great Epirus, Arcades King, we find,
For spoiling Neptunes Temple was strook blind.
And the Duke Brennus, after many an act
Of strange remarke (as proud Rome hauing sackt,
And conquering Delphos) yet because he dar'd

To rob that Church Apollo would haue spar'd;
The god strooke him with madnesse; who straight drew
His warlike sword, with which himselfe he slew.

The Temple of Tolossa (in their pride)
Great Scipio's souldiers spoil'd, and after dy'de
All miserably. And Alexander's, when
They Ceres Church would haue surpriz'd, euen then
Fell lightning from the skies, which soon destroy'd
All in that sacrilegious Act imployd.

Religion from the first of Time hath bin,
Howeuer blended with idolatrous sin:
Temples, Synagogues, Altars, and Oblations,
Lustrations, Sacrifices, Expiations;
Howe're their zeale with many errors mixt,
“None but vpon some god his mind hath fixt.

The Lybians, Cretans, and Idæans, they
Had Ioue in adoration: None bare sway
Amongst the Argiues in Miceane, but she
That shares with Ioue imperiall soue raignty
Iuno. The Thebans honor'd Hercules:
They of Boetia the three Charites:
Th' Ægyptians, Isis, figured like a Cow:
The Thebans and the Arabes all bow
To Bacchus Bimater, the god of Wine.
Iönia, Rhodes, and Delphos held diuine,
Apollo solely: Cyprus and Paphos boast,
Their Venus, as amongst them honor'd most.
Th' Athenians and Ætolians celebrate
Minerua: Vnto Vulcan dedicate
The Imbrians and the Lemnians, all their vowes.
Fertile Sicilia no goddesse knowes,
Saue Proserpine: Th' Elæans, Pluto make
Their Soueraigne: And the Boëtians take
The Muses for their Guardiens. All that dwell
Neere to the Hellespont, thinke none t'excell,
Saue Priapus. In Rhodes, Saturn hath praise:
Osyris, aboue all, th' Ægyptians raise.
The Latians and the warlike Thraciaus run
To Mars his Shrine: the Scythians to the Sun.
All the inhabitants of Delphos Isle
Pray, That Latona on their coasts will smile.
'Mongst the Lacones, Neptune sacred is:
And through all Asia, powerfull Nemesis.
The Attici haue in high estimation

Fortune. Th' Eleusians haue in adoration,
Ceres: The Phrygians, Cybel: Cupid, Those
That dwell at Colchos. Th' Arcades haue chose
Aristæus: Diana, those of Ephesus.
The Epidaurians, Æsculapius. &c.

So many gods and goddesses did comber
The Nations of the earth, as that their number
In iust account, (if Hesiod speake true)
Vnto no lesse than thirty thousand grew.

As touching Auguries, and their abuse,
(In the precedent Times in frequent vse)
To proue that study to be meerly vain,
Homer hath made great Hector thus complain:

The winged Birds thou bid'st me to obey;
But how they take their course, or to which way,
I nor regard, nor care: whether their flight
Be made vpon the left hand or the right.
Most requisit it is that I be swaide
By the great thundring Ioues high will, and wade
No farther. He hath empire ouer all,
And whom he list, supporteth, or makes thrall.
That's the best Bird to me, and flies most true,
Bids, For my Countrey fight; my Foes subdue.

E're further I proceed, 't were not amisse,
If I resolue you what an Idol is,
And where they had beginning. I haue read
Of one Syrophanes, in Ægypt bred;
Who as he nobly could himselfe deriue,
So was he rich, and by all means did striue,
Like an indulgent Father with great care,
To make his sonne of all his Fortunes heire.
And when he had accumulated more
Than all his Neighbours: in his height of store,
And fulnesse of aboundance, (as his pride
Was to leaue one t'inherit) his Son dy'de;
And with him, all his comfort, because then
(He gone) he thought himselfe the poor'st of men.

In this great sorrow, (which as oft we see,
Doth seeke for solace from necessitie)
He caus'd his statue to be carv'd in stone,
S' exactly made vnto the life, that none
But would haue took it for the childe; agreeing
So neere to him it was, when he had being.
But the sad Father, thinking to restraine

That flux of teares which hourely pour'd amaine
Downe his moist cheeks, the course he tooke to cease it,
Presented him fresh matter to increase it:
Ignorant, That to helpe the woe begon,
There is no cure like to Obliuion.
So far it was his moist eyes to keepe dry,
As that of teares it gaue him new supply.
And this we may from Ειδοδινειν borrow,
The word to vs implying, Cause of sorrow.
Whilest there this new made Image had abode,
The Seruants made of it their houshold god.
Some would bring fresh floures and before it strow:
Others, (lest they in duty might seem slow)
Crowne it with wreathes and garlands: others burne
Incense, to soothe their Lord, who still did mourne:
And such as had offended him, would fly
Vnto that place, as to a Sanctuary;
And (after pardon) seuerall gifts present,
As if that had been the sole Instrument
Of their deliuery. By which 't may appeare,
'Twas not Loues effect, but th' effect of Feare,
To which Petronius seemes t'allude, when he,
Obliquely taxing all Idolatry,
saith, That throughout the world in euery Nation,
Feare first made gods, with Diuine adoration.

Saith Martial: If thy Barber then should dare,
When thou before him sit'st with thy throat bare,
And he his Rasor in his hand; to say,
Giue me this thing or that: Wilt thou say nay
Or grant it him? Take 't into thy beleefe,
He 's at that time a Ruffin and a Theefe,
And not thy Barber. Neither can 't appeare
Bounty, that 's granted through imperious Feare.

Of the word Superstition, the first ground
Was, To preserue to th' future, whole and sound,
The memorie of Fathers, Sons, and Friends,
Before deceast: and to these seeming ends
Were Images deuis'd. Which some would bring
(As their first Author) from th' Assyrian King
Ninus; whose father Belus being dead;
That after death he might be honored,
Set vp his statue, which (as most agree)
Was in his new built city Niniuee:
Whither all malefactors make repaire,

And such offenders whose liues forfeit are
By the Lawes doom: but kneeling to that Shrine,
Were sanctuar'd, as by a thing diuine.
Hence came it, that (as gods) they now abhor'd
The Sun and Moone, which they before ador'd.
With Stars and Planets they are now at strife:
And since by it they had recouered life,
(Late forfeit) hold it as a sov'raigne Deitie;
And therefore as it were in gratefull pietie,
They offred sacrifice, burnt Incense, gaue
Oblations, as to that had power to saue.

This, which in Theeues and Murd'rers first began,
In time so generall grew, that not a man,
But was of that beleefe; and so withdrew
That diuine worship which was solely due
To the Creator, (and to him alone)
And gaue 't to Idols made of wood and stone.
And yet the Poet Sophocles, euen then
When the true God was scarsly knowne to men,
In honour of the supreme Deitie,
Much taunted the vain Greeks Idolatrie.

One God there is (saith he) and only one,
Who made the Earth his Footstoole, Heav'n his Throne:
The swelling Seas, and the impetuous Winds;
The first he calmeth, and the last he binds
In prison at his pleasure: and yet wee,
Subiects vnto this fraile mortalitie,
Of diffident hearts determin, and deuise
To the Soules dammage, many fantasies.
The Images of gods we may behold,
Carv'd both in stone and wood; some left in gold;
Others in Iv'ry wrought: and we (vnwise)
By offring to them solemne Sacrifice;
Thinke we do God good seruice. But the Deity,
(Sole and supreme) holds it as meere impiety.

Saint Austin neuer could himselfe persuade,
That such who mongst the antient Gentiles made
Their Idoll gods, beleev'd in them: for he
Saith confidently; Though in Rome there be
Ceres and Bacchus, with a many more,
Whom they in low obeisance fall before;
They do it not as vnto absolute things,
That haue in them the innate seeds and springs

Of being and subsistence: but much rather,
As to the seruants of th' Almighty Father.

Yet these did worship something ('t doth appeare)
As a Supreme, whom they did loue or feare.
This Age breeds men so bruitsh naturall,
As to beleeue there is no God at all.
Such is the Atheist, with whom can be had
No competition; one obtuse or mad,
Who cannot scape Heav'ns most implacable rod.
The Psalmists Foole, who saith, There is no God;
Would such but spend a little vacant time,
To looke from what's below, to things sublime;
From terrene to cœlestiall, and confer
The Vniuersall, with what's singuler;
They shall find nothing, so immense and hye,
Beyond their stubborn dull capacity,
But figures vnto them his magnitude.
Again, nothing so slight, (as to exclude
It name amongst his creatures) nought so small,
But proues to them his power majesticall.

Tell me, (ô thou of Mankind most accurst)
Whether to be, or not to be, was first?
Whether to vnderstand, or not to know?
To reason, or not reason? (well bee't so,
I make that proposition:) all agree,
That our Not being, was before To be.
For we that are now, were not in Times past:
Our parents too, ev'n when our moulds were cast,
Had their progenitors: their fathers, theirs:
So to the first. By which it plaine appeares,
And by this demonstration 't is most cleare,
That all of vs were not, before we were.

For in the Plants we see their set and ruin.
In Creatures, first their growth, then death pursuing.
In Men as well as Beasts, (since Adam's sinning)
The end is certaine signe of the beginning.
As granted then, we boldly may proclaime it,
There was a Time, (if we a Time may name it)
When there was neither Time, nor World, nor Creature,
Before this Fabrick had such goodly feature.
But seeing these before our eyes haue being,
It is a consequence with Truth agreeing;
Of which we only can make this construction,
“From some Diuine power all things had production.

And since of Nothing, nothing can befall:
And betwixt that which is (bee't ne're so small)
And what is not, there is an infinite space,
Needs must one Infinite supply the place.
“It followes then; The prime Cause and Effector
“Must be some potent Maker and Protector,
“A preualent, great, and eternall God,
“Who before all beginning had aboad.

Come to the Elements: A war we see
Twixt Heate and Cold, Drought and Humiditie:
Now where's Antipathy, must be Annoy,
One laboring still the other to destroy:
And yet in one composure where these meet,
There's Sympathie, Attone, and cons'nance sweet.
The Water doth not fight against the Fire,
Nor doth the Aire against the Earth conspire.
All these (though opposites) in vs haue peace,
Vniting in one growth and daily increase.
“To make inueterate Opposites agree,
“Needs must there be a God of Vnitie.

What is an Instrument exactly strung,
Vnlesse being plaid vpon? it yeelds no tongue
Or pleasant sound that may delight the eares.
So likewise of the musicke of the Spheres,
Which some haue said, chym'd first by accident.
O false opinion'd Foole: What's the intent
Of thy peruersenesse, or thine ignorance?
Shall I defigne what Fortune is, or Chance?
Nothing they are saue a meere perturbation
Of common Nature; an exorbitation
And bringing out of square; these to controule,
“Therefore, must needs be an intelligent Soule.
For know you not, you Empty of all notion,
That nothing in it selfe hath power of motion?
And that which by anothers force doth moue,
“The cause of that effect must be aboue?

Th' originall of Mouing must be Rest,
Which in our common Dialls is exprest.
The Sun-beame prints the houre; the shadow still
From our shifts to another, ev'n vntill
Thou tel'st vnto the last; yet 't is confest,
That all this while th' Artificer may rest.

The Earth in sundry colours deckt we know,
With all the Herbage and the Fruits below.

The Seas and Flouds, Fish in aboundance store:
Fowles numberlesse within the Aire do soare:
And all these in their seuerall natures clad
So fairely, that her selfe can nothing add.
From whence haue these their motion? Shall we say,
From th' Elements? “How comes it then that they
“Should so agree, (being 'mongst themselues at strife)
“To giue to others [what they haue not] Life?

Haue they then from the Sun their generation?
Resolue me then, what Countrey or what Nation
Can shew his issue? Haue they power innate,
As in themselues, themselues to procreate?
If any of them? tell me, 'mongst them all,
Of what extension are they, great or small?

In new discov'ries; if after somewhile,
We touch vpon an vnfrequented Isle:
If there we sheds or cottages espy,
(Though thatcht with Reed or Straw) we by and by
Say, Sure men here inhabit, 't doth appeare;
The props and rafters plac'd not themselues there;
Nor of their owne accord, the reed or straw,
Themselues into that close integument draw.
Nor could the sauage beasts themselues inure
Vnto a worke so formal and secure.
And you, ô Fooles, or rather Mad-men, when
You view these glorious Works, which Beasts and Men
So far from framing are, that their dull sence
Can neuer apprehend their eminence;
And do not with bent knees, hearts strook with terror,
And eyes bedew'd with teares, lament their error,
Submissiuely acknowledge their impiety
And blasphemies 'gainst that inuisible Diety.

If but to what you see, you would be loth
To giue faith to? In Plants, a daily growth
You all confesse: but of you I would know,
When any of your eyes perceiv'd them grow?
In Animals we may obserue increase,
And euery member waxing without cease:
But when did euer your acutest eye
Distinguish this augmenting qualitie?

Force vegetiue and sensatiue, in Man
There is: with Intellect (by which he can
Discerne himselfe and others) to this houre,
Tell me, Who euer hath beheld that Power?

We with our outward sences cannot measure
The depth of Truth, nor rifle her rich treasure:
“Let that Truths spirit then be our Director,
“To bow vnto the worlds great Architector.

Or will you better with your selues aduise,
And beleeue those the antient Times held wise;
And not the least 'mongst these, Th' Ægyptian Mages,
The Indian Brachmans, and the Grecian Sages;
“Ev'n these approv'd a God, before Time liuing,
“Maker, Preseruer, and all good things giuing.

The Poets and Philosophers, no lesse,
In all their works ingeniously professe;
Theognis, Homer, Hesiod, Orpheus, All
Vpon this great Power inuocate and call
To their Assistants. In the selfe same line,
Rank't Plato, and Pythagoras (both Diuine
Held for their reuerence done it.) Let these passe:
To speake of your great man, Diagoras,
The Prince of Fooles, of Atheisme the chiefe Master:
(As was, of Magicke, the learn'd Zoroaster)
Peruse his Booke, you in the Front shall reade
These very words: From a sole soueraigne Head,
All things receiue their Being and Dispose.
What more could he confesse? Which the most knowes.

He, on whose shrinking columes you erect
The whole frame of your irreligious sect;
Holding the statue of Alcides (then
Numb'red amongst the deified men)
It being of wood: To take away the glory
From Idols; in a frequent auditorie
Of his owne Scholers, cast it in the fire:
Thus speaking; Now god Hercules expire
In this thy thirteenth Labour; 't is one more
Than by thy stepdame was enioyn'd before.
To her (being, man) thou all thy seruice gaue;
Thou now being god, I make thee thus my slaue.

The Atheist Lucian held Gods Sonne in scorne;
And walking late, by dogs was piece-meale torne.
Yet for the loue I to his learning owe,
This funerall Farewell I on him bestow.
Vnhappy Lucian, what sad passionate Verse
Shall I bestow vpon the marble stone
That couers thee? How shall I deck thy Herse?
With Bayes or Cypresse? I do not bemone

Thy death; but that thou dy'dst thus. Had thy Creed
As firme been, as thy wit fluent and high,
All that haue read thy Works would haue agreed,
To haue transfer'd thy Soule aboue the sky,
And Sainted thee. But ô, 't is to be doubted,
The God thou didst despise, will thee expell
From his blest place; & since thou Heav'n hast flouted,
Confine thy Soule into thine owne made Hell.
But if thou euer knew'st so great a Dietie,
A Sauiour who created Heauen and thee;
And against him durst barke thy rude impietie,
He iudge thy cause, for it concernes not me.

But for thy Body, 't is most iust (say I)
If all that so dare barke, by Dogs should dy.

Thus saith the Atheist: Lo, our time is short,
Therefore our few dayes let vs spend in sport.
From Death (which threatneth vs) no Power can saue,
And there is no returning from the graue.
Borne are we by meere chance, a small time seen,
And we shall be as we had neuer been.
Our breath is short: our words a sparke of fire,
Rais'd from the heart, which quickly doth expire;
And then our bodies must to dust repaire,
Whilest life and spirit vanish into aire.
We shall be like the moving Cloud that's past,
And we must come to nothing at the last:
Like Dew exhal'd, our names to ruine runne,
And none shall call to mind what we haue done.
Our Time is as a shadow, which doth fade;
And after death (which no man can euade)
The graue is seal'd so fast, that we in vaine
Shall hope, thence, euer to returne againe.

Come then; the present pleasures let vs tast,
And vse the Creatures as in time forepast:
Now, let vs glut our selues with costly wine,
And let sweet ointments in our faces shine.
Let not the floure of life passe stealing by,
But crowne our selues with Roses e're they dy:
Our wantonnesse be counted as a treasure,
And in each place leaue tokens of our pleasure:
For that's our portion; we desire no more.
Let vs next study to oppresse the Poore,
(If they be righteous) nor the Widow spare:
Deride the Ag'd, and mocke his reuerend haire.

Our strength, make Law, to do what is iniust;
For in things feeble 't is in vaine to trust:
Therefore the good man let's defraud; for he
(We know) can neuer for our profit be,
Our actions in his eies gets no applause:
He checks vs for offending 'gainst the Lawes,
Blames vs, and saith, We Discipline oppose.
Further he makes his boasts, That God he knowes;
And calls himselfe his Sonne. Hee's one that's made
To contradict our thoughts: quite retrograde
From all our courses; and withall so crosse,
We cannot looke vpon him without losse.
He reckons vs as Bastards, and withdrawes
Himselfe from vs: nor will he like our Lawes,
But counts of them as filthinesse. The ends
Of the iust men he mightily commends;
And boasts, God is his father. Let's then see,
If any truth in these his words can be;
And what end he shall haue. For if th' Vpright
Be Sonnes of God, hee'l aid them by his might.

With harsh rebukes and torments, let vs then
Sift and examine this strange kinde of Men;
To know what meeknesse we in them can spy,
And by this means their vtmost patience try.
Put them to shamefull death, bee't any way;
For they shall be preserv'd, as themselues say.

Thus do they go astray, as ev'ly minded,
For they in their owne wickednesse are blinded.
For, nothing they Gods mysteries regard,
Nor of a good man, hope for the reward:
Neither discerne, That honour doth belong
Vnto the faultlesse Soules that thinke no wrong.
For God created Man pure and vnblam'd,
Yea, after his owne Image was he fram'd.
But by the Diuels enuy, Death came in:
Who holds with him, shall proue the Scourge of sin.

But in great boldnesse shall the Righteous stand,
Against the face of such as did command
Them to the torture; and by might and sway,
The fruits of all their labors tooke away.
When they shall see him in his strength appeare,
They shall be vexed with an horrid feare;
(When they with an amased countenance
Behold their wonderfull deliuerance)

And change their mindes, and sigh with griefe, and say,
Behold these men we labour'd to betray!
On whom, with all contempt we did incroch,
And held them a meere by-word of reproch:
We thought, their liues to madnesse did extend,
And, there codld be no honour in their end:
How come they now amongst Gods Children told;
And in the list of Saints to be inrol'd?
Therefore, from Truth's way we haue deuious bin,
Nor trod the path the Righteous haue walkt in:
From the true Light we haue our selues confin'd;
Nor hath the Sun of Knowledge on vs shin'd.
The way of Wickednesse (which leadeth on
To ruine and destruction) we haue gon:
By treading dangerous paths, our selues w'haue tyr'd;
But the Lords way we neuer yet desir'd.

What profit hath our Pride, or Riches, brought?
Or what our Pompe? since these are come to nought.
All these vaine things, like shadowes are past by;
Or like a Post, that seems with speed to fly:
Or as a Bird (the earth and heav'n betweene)
Who makes her way, and yet the path not seene:
The beating of her wings yeelds a soft sound;
But of her course there's no apparance found.
As when an Arrow at a marke is shot,
Finds out a way, but we perceiue it not;
For suddenly the parted aire vnites,
And the fore-passage is debar'd our fights.
So we, no sooner borne and take our breath,
But instantly we hasten on to death.
In our liues course we in no vertue ioy'd,
And therefore now are in our sinnes destroy'd.

Th' Vngodlie's hopes to what may we compare?
But like the dust, that's scattered in the aire:
Or as the thin some gathered on the waue,
Which when the tempest comes no place can haue:
Or as the smoke, dispersed by the wind,
Which blowne abroad, no rest at all can find.
Or else; As his remembrance steales away,
Who maketh speed, and tarieth but a day.

But of the Iust, for euer is th' aboad;
For their reward is with the Lord their God:
They are the charge and care of the most High,
Who tenders them as th' Apple of his eye.

And therefore they shall challenge as their owne,
From the Lords hand, a Kingdome and a Crowne:
With his right hand hee'l couer them from harme,
And mightily defend them with his arme.
He shall his Ielousie for Armor take,
And put in armes his Creatures for their sake,
His and their Foes to be reueng'd vpon.
He for a glorious breast-plate shall put on,
His Righteousnesse: and for an Helmet beare
True Iudgement, to astonish them with feare:
For an invinc'd shield, Holinesse he hath:
And for a sword, he sharpens his fierce Wrath.
Nay, the whole World hee'l muster, to surprise
His Enemies, and fight against th' Vnwise.

The thunderbolts, by th' hand of the most High,
Darted, shall from the flashing lightnings fly;
Yea fly ev'n to the marke: as from the Bow
Bent in the clouds: and in His anger go
That hurleth stones, the thicke Haile shall be cast.
Against them shall the Flouds and Ocean vast
Be wondrous wroth, and mightily or'eflow:
Besides, the fierce Winds shall vpon them blow,
Yea, and stand vp against them with their God,
And like a storme shall scatter them abroad.
Thus Wickednesse th' earth to a Desart brings;
And Sinne shall ouerthrow the Thrones of Kings.

You heare their doome. It were not much amisse,
If we search further, what this Atheisme is.
Obserue, That sundry sorts of men there be
Who spurne against the sacred Deitie:
As first, Those whom Idolaters we call,
Pagans and Infidels in generall.
These, though they be religious in their kinde,
Are, in the manner of their worship, blinde;
And by the Diuel's instigation won
To worship Creatures, as the Moon and Sun.

Others there be, who the true God-head know,
Content to worship him in outward show:
Yet thinke his Mercy will so far dispence,
That of his Iustice they haue no true sence:
His Pitty they acknowledge, not his Feare;
Because they hold him milde, but not austere.

Some, like brute beasts, will not of sence discusse:
With such Saint Paul did fight at Ephesus.

Others are in their insolence so extreme,
That they deride Gods name, scoffe, and blaspheme:
As Holophernes, who to Achior said;
Albeit thou such a vaine boast hast made,
That Israels God his people can defend
Against my Lord, who doth in power transcend;
Where th' Earth no greater pow'r knowes, neere or far,
Than him whom I serue, Nabuchadnezzar.

Diuers will seeme religious, to comply
With time and place: but aske their reason, Why
They so conforme themselues? They know no cause
More than, To saue their purse, and keepe the Lawes.

There be, to Noble houses make resort;
And sometimes Elbow Great men at the Court,
Who though they seeme to beare things faire and well,
Yet would turne Moses into Machiuel;
And, but for their aduantage and promotion,
Would neuer make least tender of deuotion.
For their Diuinitie is that which we
Call Policie: their Zeale, Hipocrisie:
Their God, the Diuell: whose Imagination
Conceits, That of the world was no Creation.
These haue into Gods Works no true inspection,
Dreame of no Iudgement, Hell, or Resurrection:
Reckon vp Genealogies who were
Long before Adam; and without all feare,
(As those doom'd to the bottomlesse Abisme)
Hold, There was no Noës Arke, no Cataclisme.

Besides; How busie hath the Diuell bin,
Ev'n from the first, t'encrease this stupid Sin?
Not ceasing in his malice to proceed,
How to supplant the Tenents of our Creed.
Beginning with the first, (two hundred yeares
After our Sauiours Passion) he appeares
In a full (seeming) strength; and would maintaine,
By sundry obstinate Sectists, (but in vaine)
There was not one Almighty to begin
The great stupendious Worke; but that therein
Many had hand. Such were the Maniches,
Marcionists, Gnostyes, and the like to these.
The second Article he aim'd at then;
And to that purpose pickt out sundry Men,
Proud Hereticks, and of his owne affinitie;
Who did oppose the blessed Sonne's Diuinitie.

But knowing his great malice to his mind
Did not preuaile; he then began to find
A cauill 'gainst the Third: and pickt out those
Who stiffely did the Holy-Ghost oppose.
Him from the holy Tria's they would leaue;
Nor yeeld, The Blest-Maid did by him conceiue.

But herein failing; with a visage sterne,
That roaring Lion, Those which did concerne
The Churches Faith, aim'd at: still raising such,
As building on their owne conceit too much,
The other Maximes of our knowne Beleefe
Mainly withstood. Nay after, (to his griefe)
Finding, that in no one he could be said
To haue preuail'd; he after 'gins t'inuade
All, and at once: to that great God retyring,
Who cast him downe from Heav'n for his aspiring.
And to cut off Mans hoped-for felicitie;
Where he before persuades a multiplicitie
of gods to be ador'd: He now from Many,
Blinds the dull Atheist, not to confesse Any:
Striuing (if possible it were) to make
Him, a worse Monster than himselfe; To take
No notice of his God, nor vnderstand,
That both his life and breath are in his hand:
Insensible, That he who from his Treasure
Leant them at first, can take them backe at pleasure:
That Hee created Sorrow, who made Ioy:
(Who reare's, can ruine; and who builds, destroy.)
Which they might gather from bare Natures light;
Obseruing, That t'each day belong's a night:
That as in th' one there is a gladsome cheare;
So, to the other doth belong a feare:
One figuring the Glory of the Iust;
Th' other, that Hell where Atheists shall be thrust.

Next; Let a man be mounted ne're so high,
Were 't on a spire that's mid-way to the sky;
Whilest he look's vp, with comfort he doth gaze
Vpon the clouds and the Sun's fulgent raies:
Nor is he troubled, whilest his eies are bent
Vpon the splendor of the Firmament.
But let him thence suruey the Earth below,
His heart will pant with many an irksome throw;
His body tremble; sinewes and nerues all
Contract themselues, with feare from thence to fall.

The Emblem is; That there's aboue, a place
Long since prepar'd for all the Sonnes of Grace;
Who by a blest and heav'nly contemplation
Looke vpward, even from whence comes their saluation.
But vnto them who seeke not God to know,
And only fix their thoughts on things below;
Although no such place visibly appeare,
Yet there's an Hell that's full of dread and feare.

Which how can These escape, who beleeue lesse
Than do the Diuels? for they both confesse
And know there is a God; a Heav'n, where plac't
They once had been; and for their pride thence cast.
Likewise an Hell, (not threatned them in vaine)
Where they both now and euer shall remaine.
Shall He who giues vs life and length of daies,
Passe vs without due thanksgiuing and praise?
And shall not God be truly vnderstood,
Who in his bounty giues vs all that's good?
Or, Shall he nothing from our hands deserue,
Who, what he makes is carefull to preserue.

We reade of some Beasts, who opprest with thirst,
And hastning to the riuers margent, first
Bow downe their bodies at the waters brinke,
And fall vpon their knees still when they drinke.
Birds (as we daily may obserue) being dry,
At euery drop they taste, looke vp on high;
As vnto Him who sends it them: which speakes,
That without thanks they neuer wet their beakes.
If Beasts and Birds so gratefull be; What then
Shall we imagine of these thanklesse Men,
But, That there's a Gehinnon to contrude
All guilty of such base ingratitude?

That this God is, to Atheists may appeare;
Because by Him so frequently they sweare:
For, Who's so senselesse and obtuse a Sot,
To call to witnesse that thing which is not?
For, By what Power soeuer they protest,
Th' Essence thereof is euen in that confest.

Ev'n Reasons selfe (maugre this grosse impietie)
Illustrates vnto vs, th' eternall Dietie.
If we behold a Barke in th' Ocean swimming,
We say, Some Ship-wright gaue it shape and trimming.
Or, if a Picture in a costly Frame;
It from the Pensill of some Painter came.

Or, where we see an House or Temple stand,
We presuppose some skilfull Workmans hand.

Then, If Below we marke the Earth and Ocean:
Aboue, the Planets in their hourely motion:
So many Winters, Autumnes, Sommers, Springs,
And in them, the vicissitude of things:
When we shall all his glorious Creatures view,
Shall we deny him a bare Artists due?
Or, Can we this high potent Vndertaker
(Who made both Them and Vs) esteeme no Maker?

Philosophy will tell vs by her Lawes,
That no Effect can be without a Cause:
That euery action doth an Agent claime:
And euery motiue, That which moues the same,
Though many Causes, Agents, Motions, be;
They are subordinate: and onely He
Prime Cause, Agent, and Mouer, who (t' our notion)
Is First, of all effect, action, or motion.
Concerning whom, the Psalmist doth thus treat:
O Lord my God, thou art exceeding great
In honour, and in Glory shining bright,
Who couers thy great Maiestie with light,
As with a garment: that Almighty God,
Who, like a curtaine, spreds the Heav'ns abroad;
And in th' vnsounded bosome of the streames
Of thy great chambers, hast dispos'd the beames:
Who for thy Chariot, hast the Clouds assign'd;
And walk'st vpon the swift wings of the wind.
When Man committeth euill, he shall find
A God euen in the terror of his mind.

For, Adam tasting of the Fruit forbid,
(Asham'd) himselfe within a Thicket hid.
When Herod, Iohn the Baptist had beheaded,
He for that act some fearefull vengeance dreaded:
For, hearing of Christs Miracles, he sed,
Surely that Iohn is risen from the dead;
Fearing his ghost did haunt him. So when Cain
Had in his wrath his brother Abel slain,
His count'nance was deiected and cast downe.
For, were there no Accuser but mans owne
Conscience it selfe, he Feare could not eschew;
Because, The Wicked fly when none pursue.
And what are Feares, vnto that height extended,
But a meere dread of a iust God offended?

Euen by Idolaters a God's confest;
Who rather will adore a Bird, a Beast,
A Fish, a Serpent, Planet, or a Stone,
Nay, euen the basest things, rather than none.
Mans appetite, that neuer can be sated,
Approues a God: for let him be instated
In a small means, a greater he desires:
Giue him a Prouince, and he then aspires
Vnto a Realme: a Kingdome let him haue,
(Not yet content) he then a World will craue:
Nor rests he there; for, were 't in his possession,
Yet bring him in the end to his confession,
He will acknowledge, There is somewhat more
To be acquir'd; ev'n God, whom we adore.

That men of knowledge should be so ambitious,
And in the quest thereof so auaritious;
Yet in that amplitude finding such scant,
That still the more they haue, the more they want.
(For in that progresse, as they further go,
The more they learne, the more they search to know:)
Besides, that in this search each one pursu'th
With labour, to inuestigate the Truth.
That simple and pure Truth (th' Atheists deny)
Can be no other thing than the Most-High.

Ev'n these, to whom himselfe he had not showne,
(Saue in his Works) confest him, though vnknowne.
Saith one: Each place hath of Gods Center sence,
But none can challenge his circumference.
The Stagerite giues him the due applause,
Of the first Cause, and, Of all Causes, Cause;
Th' Essence of things, Of whom all things subsist;
Author, first Mouer. And vnto the list
Of his due titles add's, Th' Eternall Light,
The most pure Act, Immense, and Infinite. &c.
Whom, the great Flamin Hiero did accuse;
That, 'gainst the Countries custome, he should vse
The name of one sole God: when all saue he
Acknowledged a multiplicitie.
Goodnesse Inimitable, He's likewise stil'd
By him, who said, The World was first compil'd
For Man, and Man for God. There is no doubt
Of God (saith Cicero:) The earth throughout
Search, and there is no Nation, in whose brest
A God is not by Natures selfe imprest.

To what can any Atheist this impute;
That at Christs birth all Oracles were mute,
And put to lasting silence? Whence 't might grow,
The Emperor Augustus sent to know,
When all the superstitious Rites were past.
The Oracle thus spake, (and spake it's last:)
An Hebrew Childe, God, who all gods doth quell,
Bids me giue place, be silent, packe to hell:
Henceforth forbeare these Altars to adore;
He speakes to you, who neuer shall speake more.
Vpon which answer, his great power t'extoll,
He did erect in Romes great Capitoll,
A Shrine, whereon th' Inscription thus doth run;
The Altar of Gods first begotten Son.

A Childe is borne to vs, I say saith plaine:
An Hebrew Childe, saith Paul; not of the straine
Of Angels; but of Abrahams blessed seed,
And God: There his diuine nature is decreed.
God is become a Childe: which who shall scan,
Must needs conclude, That Christ is God and Man.

The Oracle, you heard, made that reply:
Heare fully now from Sybels Prophecy;
There shall be borne a King, the World to saue.
Yet neither He, nor any Roman, gaue
That honour to him liuing: this they 'xprest,
But lent no faith to that which they confest.
For Lentulus thinking she did diuine
Of him, tooke part with factious Cateline;
In hope, most of the Senat to remoue,
And by that meanes, his Countries Sauiour proue.

Virgil, to Saloninus it apply'd,
(The sonne of Pollio) whom he Deify'd;
Because the Father to that hopefull Lad
Was his great Patron. Some suggest, He had
Knowledge of a Messias, to be borne
Iust at that time, the blest Age to adorne.
Because when Herod (who at that time raign'd
King of the Iewes) was vnto Rome constrain'd
To tender his Allegeance; alwaies guested
At Pollio's house, where he was nobly feasted.
To which place Virgil frequently resorted;
(For so of him Iosephus hath reported.)
But Constantine was first, made Proclamation
'Mongst all the Romans, of Christs Incarnation.

Some of their Prophets, in an Enthean fury,
Predicted, That a King should come from Iury,
To Monarchise the World: which when they knew,
They gaue it not to Iesus, (as his due)
But to Vespasian did the stile resigne,
Because 'twas he that conquer'd Palestine.

At Christs Natiuitie (as some relate)
Those Heathen gods whom they did celebrate
With diuine Worship, and did most extoll,
Fell from their Shrines in the high Capitoll.
Their Stiles in Brasse grav'd, and in Marble rac't,
That Time, by Lightning, blemisht and defac't.
Which had a president of like remarke,
When Dagons Image fell before the Arke.

In the first moneth, and sixt day of the same,
When great Octauius Cæsar tooke the name
Augustus; did the Wise-men Offerings bring
To Christ, saluting him both God and King.
What time, all Forfeits, Debts, Bills of Account,
(Which did vnto an infinite surmount)
Kept in the Empires Chamber, were by fire
To ashes burnt. Which shew'd (if we retire
Into our selues) He came into the World,
That Sauior of Mankinde; on whom were hurl'd
All our transgression, trespasse, sinne, offence:
With which He, and He only can dispense,
Who, to repaire the former Adams losse,
Had all these with him nail'd vpon the Crosse.
Then, out of Wells and Fountains issu'd Oile,
Which from the Earths moist intrals seem'd to boile:
Which did expresse, Hee was the Sole appointed
To beare the title of, The Lords Anointed..
Vpon wich miracle, Augustus made
A solemne Edict to be drawne, which said,
That he no more a Lord would called be,
Since there was borne a greater Lord than he.

Herods great Temple, which did seeme t'aspire
Euen to the clouds aboue, was set on fire
By Titus souldiers; and to such a flame
It grew, no humane helpe could quench the same.
Iust at that time th' Oraculous Temple fell,
In Delphos rear'd; where many a doubtfull Spell
Was vtter'd, (by a fearefull Earthquake shooke
And torne asunder, as being Thunder-strooke:)

And neither of them could be since repair'd,
It being an attempt that no man dar'd.
Th' apparancie of which miraculous ruin,
(In both so famous) to the Times ensuing
Left it to be remark't, That from their fall,
The Gentile Customes were abolisht all;
And the idolatrous worship (frequent then)
Began to steale out of the hearts of men:
That Christ his doctrine, newly set on foot,
Might in our soules take deepe and prosp'rous root.

What thinke you of the pestilent infection
Of those which did deny the Resurrection,
In our blest Sauiors and th' Apostles daies?
A Sect the Sadduces began to raise:
A people of dull braine and diuelish quality,
Denying God, and the Soules Immortality.
These, when they listned to his blessed tongue,
And heard him preach aloud to old and young;
How far his Fathers power and might extended,
With Maiestie not to be comprehended;
The glory of the Saints; and wretched state
Of th' Vnregenerate and the Reprobate:
Mathew can tell you how they did behaue them,
And what reproofe the mouth of Wisedome gaue them.
Thus our blest Sauior said: Haue you not read,
Touching the resurrection of the Dead,
What God hath spoke to Moses? I am the God
Of Abraham, of Isaac, and Iacob:
(So much to your dull vnderstandings giuing)
God is not of the Dead, God, but the Liuing. &c.
Amongst those, with blind Will seduced thus,
Was Theodorus Cyrenaicus
Accounted; one that seeming to looke high
In knowledge grounded on Philosophy,
Would by his Inferences make 't appeare,
We had no God at all to gouerne here;
But all things by meere Nature did subsist
(Which shew'd, he was no good Theologist:)
But when his vaine Positions were disputed
In Athens, they not only were confuted;
But (his weake Tenents hist out of the Schooles)
He rank't in the Nomenclature of Fooles:

For thus he argu'd: If a God there be,
He must be a thing liuing (such as we)

Cal'd Animal: If liue, he must haue sence:
If sensible, ('t was his next inference)
He must of force be subiect to mutation:
If mutable; then, by that transmigration,
Capable of corruption: And if so,
Subiect to perish. Then from hence must grow
This full conclusion; That it may befall
In time, this Being not to be at all.

Nay thus he will not leaue it, but proceeds;
(For Ignorance, an Insolence still breeds)
If to this God (saith he) no body's lent,
He then can haue no soule, by consequent:
Hauing no soule, all action hee's depriv'd.
Or if he haue a body, that's deriv'd
From substance; therefore subiect vnto change.

Appeares not this as friuolous, as strange,
To any Vnderstander? Who but knowes,
That euery action of the body growes
From the Intelligent Soule? whose facultie
Allowes it motion and dexteritie.
Therefore, ô miserable Worme, I can
In this afford thee scarce the name of Man.
Ope but the eyes of Nature, and looke out
Meerely with them, (none else) and thou no doubt
Wilt find thy selfe s' obfuscate and obscur'd
So void of sens'ble light, and so immur'd,
With palped darknesse, to be blind at least,
And nothing diffring from th' irrational Beast.

And therefore that of Zenophantes may
Bewell confer'd on thee. Heare him thus say:
Had Brutes the art of Painting, they of force
Must draw themselues; a Horse, figure a Horse;
An Asse or Mule, their Like: the reason, why
They 're capable of no sublimitie
Beyond themselues; nor haue further extension,
Than meerely their owne brutish apprehension.
Such childish and vnmomentary grounds
These Atheists build vpon: which whoso sounds
But with the line of Reason, shall descry
Their irreligious fond impiety.

He that shall with himselfe exactly way
Those grosse and absurd lies, may soone display,
That they are arrogant, full of vain-glory,
Irregular from truth, and refractorie;

Vnlearn'd, replenisht with all lust and vice;
Seducers, Mockers, full of Riotise;
Time-soothers, Flat'rers, perfidious all,
In word, deed, thought, meere diabolicall.
Now these, because themselues haue left the best,
And, against Nature, heinously transgrest;
Of the Creator hauing no respect,
And casting on their owne soules a neglect;
By ill example, others would persuade,
That Diuine Lawes for policie were made;
That Hell's a Bug-beare to keepe men in feare;
That Scriptures to that end deuised were:
Persuading others, to eat, drinke, and play,
Since after death, there is no further day
To be Accountant in: Their lusts to cherish,
Since that the Soule must with the body perish.
That Man was made vnto no other end,
Than please his appetite, be his owne friend:
And, That all euills, euen with good things runne,
If politiquely, and in priuat done.

Such are their actions and their liues: but when
They 're brought vnto the Test, behold them then!
At the last gaspe most ready to catch hold
Vpon the least hope, durst they make so bold.

Looke on your father Aristotle, the best
(And Ipse) that Philosophy profest:
When vnto him (who all strange Nouels sought)
'Mongst others, Moses his first booke was brought,
Cal'd Genesis: Those few words hauing read;
God in the first beginning created
The Heav'ns and Earth, [&c.] Away with this, saith he,
'T is full of fables and new fantasy,
That speakes of many things, but nothing proues;
And that a true Philosopher not loues.

But drawing neere his end; when he began
More truly to consider, What was man;
He into strange anxieties doth grow,
Whether the Soule, immortall were, or no?
His body trembles, euery ioynt doth shake;
And these ('t is said) were the last words he spake:
Pollutedly into the world I came;
Sad and perplext I liv'd; and from the same,
Much troubled I depart. O, pitty me,
Thou, of all Beings onely knowne to Be.

If from the wisest of you all, this came;
Learne to know Him who onely writes, I am.

He is Heav'ns King, and Lord of Earth alone;
In Person three, but yet in Godhead one;
Truly Omnipotent, All-knowing, and
In Heav'n and Earth, of soueraigne sole command:
His Nature, simple, bodilesse, vnseene;
Vncirconscribed, t'whom nothing hath beene,
Is, or shall be superior vnderstood:
Great, without quantitie; without quality, good;
Most perfect, without blemish; without Time,
Eternall; in his potencie sublime:
Strength, without Weaknesse; Life, without Decay;
Present each where, and yet doth no where stay;
All things at once, without aduice, directing;
All things at once, without least paine, protecting.
He is without beginning, and yet giues
A First, to each thing that subsists and liues:
Who hath made all things changeable; yet He
Stable, and free from mutabilitie.
Himselfe without place; all things else instating;
Without materials, all his works creating:
In greatnesse infinite; goodnesse, incomparable;
In vertue, strong; wisedome, inestimable.
So secret, no man can deceiue his trust:
In Counsels, terrible; in Iudgements iust:
Copious in Mercy, glorious in his Name,
Holy in all his Works; (alwaies The same.)
Eternall, Sempiternall, Liuing God;
Inchangeable, in Essence, or Aboad:
Whom Space cannot enlarge, nor Place confine;
Constant in Purpose; and in Act, Diuine.
Him, Need compells not; nor can Chances sad
Disturbe: neither can Ioyfull things make glad:
Obliuion takes not; nor can Memory add
To him; Vnborne; to whom old Time can lend
No 'ncrease at all; nor casuall Chance giue end:
He before Worlds (Those are, and These must be)
Was, Is, and shall liue to Eternity:
Aboue all Apprehension, Thought, Opinion.
Therefore to Him be all Praise, Power, Dominion;
All singular Honour, Glory (with Congruity
Of Saints, Angels, and Men) to perpetuity

Be ascrib'd; with all the Attributes extending,
Through all vnwearied Worlds, and without ending.
That there's a God, we know:
But what he is, to show,
Beyond our selues we go.
His Height and Depth below.
Him, First and Last, we know;
But more we cannot show.

A Meditation vpon the former Tractate.

I

I Sought thee round about, ô thou my God,
To finde thy aboad.
I said vnto the Earth, Speake, art thou He?
She answered me,
I am not. I enquir'd of Creatures all
In generall,
Contain'd therein: they with one voice proclaime,
That none amongst them challeng'd such a Name.

II

I askt the Seas, and all the Deepes below,
My God to know.
I askt the Reptiles, and what euer is
In the Abisse,
Euen from the Shrimpe to the Leviathan
My enquiry ran:
But in those Desarts, which no line can sound,
The God I sought for was not to be found.

III

I askt the Aire, if that were hee? but know
It told me, No.
I from the towring Eagle, to the Wren,
Demanded then,
If any feather'd Fowle 'mongst them were such?
But they all much
Offended with my question, in full quire
Answer'd, To finde my God I must looke higher.

IV

I askt the Heauens, Sun, Moone, and Stars; but they
said, We obey

The God thou seekst: I askt what Eye or Eare
could see or heare;
What in the world I might descry or know
Aboue, below:
With an vnanimous voice all these things said,
We are not God, but we by him were made.

V

I askt the Worlds great vniuersall Masse,
if That, God was?
Which with a mighty and strong voice reply'd,
(As stupify'd)
I am not he, ô Man; for know, that I
By Him on high
Was fashion'd first of nothing: thus instated,
And sway'd by Him, by whom I was created.

VI

I did enquire for him in flourishing Peace,
But soone 'gan cease:
For when I saw what vices, what impurity,
bred by Security,
(As Pride, Selfe-loue, Lust, Surfet, and Excesse)
I could no lesse,
Than stay my search; knowing, where these abound,
God may be sought, but is not to be found.

VII

I thought then I might finde him out in War;
but was as far
As at the first: for in Reuenge and Rage,
In spoile and strage,
Where vniust quarrels are commenc't, and Might
Takes place 'boue Right;
Where Zeale and Conscience yeeld way to Sedition,
There can be made of God no inquisition.

VIII

I sought the Court; but smooth tongu'd Flatterie there
Deceiu'd each eare.
In the throng'd City, there was selling, buying,
swearing and lying.

I'th Countrey, Craft in Simplenesse array'd:
And then I said,
Vaine is my search, although my paines be great;
Where my God is, there can be no deceit.

IX

All these Demands are the true consideration,
Answer, and attestation
Of Creatures, touching God: all which accited,
With voice vnited,
Either in Aire or Sea, the Earth, or Sky,
Make this reply:
To rob him of his worship, none persuade vs;
Since it was He, and not our owne hands made vs.

X

A scrutiny within my selfe I than
Euen thus began:
O Man, what art thou? What more (could I say)
Than Dust and Clay?
Fraile, mortall, fading, a meere puffe, a blast,
That cannot last;
In a Throne to day, tomorrow in the Vrne;
Form'd from that Earth, to which I must returne.

XI

I askt my selfe, Who this great God might be
That fashion'd me?
I answer'd, The All-Potent, solely Immence,
surpassing Sence;
Vnspeakeable, Inscrutable, Eternall,
Lordouer all;
The onely Terrible, Strong, Iust, and True,
Who hath no End, and no Beginning knew.

XII

He is the Well of Life, for He doth giue
To all that liue,
Both breath and being: He is the Creator
Both of the Water,
Earth, Aire, and Fire: Of all things that subsist,
He hath the list:

Of all the Heauenly Host, or what Earth claimes,
He keepes the scrole, and calls them by their names.

XIII

And now, my God, by thy illumining Grace,
Thy Glorious Face,
(So far forth as thou wilt discouered be,)
Me-thinks I see.
And though Inuisible and Infinite,
To humane sight
Thou in thy Mercy, Iustice, Truth, appearest;
In which, to our fraile sences thou com'st nearest.

XIV

O, make vs apt to seeke, and quicke to finde,
Thou God most kinde:
Giue vs Loue, Hope, and Faith in Thee to trust,
Thou God most iust:
Remit all our offences, we entreat,
Most Good, Most Great
Grant, That our willing, though vnworthy quest,
May, through thy Grace, admit vs 'mongst the Blest.

Condiscendit nobis Deus, vt nos consurgamus ei. Augustine.

Lib. 2 The Cherubim.

THE ARGVMENT of the second Tractate.

A God being found, deny'd by none,
It followes there can be but one
By the Philosophers confest,
And such as were of Poets best.
Him, not the Oracle denies,
Nor those the antient world held wise:
Sage, Sybel, Mage, Gymnosophist,
All in this Vnitie persist.
Next, That this Power, so far extended,
Can by no sence be comprehended:
Neither his Essence, most Diuine,
Be sounded by weake Reasons line.
And last, what names most properly
Belong to this great Deitie.

The second Argument.

Goas Knowledge, treats the Cherubim:
He nothing knowes, that knowes not him

A Deitie confest, (which All adore)
It followeth to be onely One, no more:
The multiplicitie of gods accruing
From Men, their idle phantasies pursuing.
Some thinke, From auaritious Priests they rose,
Vnto themselues, fat Offrings to dispose.
Some, from the Poets fictions; who to grace
Their Friends, or Princes of more eminent place,
Gaue to them, after death, such adoration,
Which after grew common to euery Nation.

These I let passe, as knowne. But to proceed
With what I purpose; Many haue agreed
In this sole Godhoods Vnitie: to which vse,
Although I numerous Authors could produce,
Yet I'le insist on few. One doth thus treat;
Wisedome in man is onely then compleat,
When it vpon this singular point is staid,
There's but one God, that's he who all things made.

He further argueth: If of either sex
You maintaine gods; all such I shall perplex
With this one reason: Where a Male hath being,
And Female; these betwixt themselues agreeing,
Must needs haue copulation: they, to expell
Immodestie, haue place wherein to dwell.
For 'tis not probable, That such, in view,
And openly, like Beasts their lusts pursue,
Or make their amorous meetings; because they,
By their example, teach all things that may
Instruct in Vertue. And if Houses? then
By consequence they Cities haue, as Men.
If Cities? they haue Fields; if Fields? they till;
If plough, and sow, and reape? then needs you will
Allow them mortall: for 'tis vnderstood,
All must be such, as liue not without food.

Begin where we now ended: If not eat?
They neither reape nor sow? not needing meat?
Therefore, no Fields: no Fields? no Houses? so,
No Houses? then no Cities: therefore know,
No chast commixtion can be. Tell me now,
Where's Iuno, Pallas, Venus? I, or you
Sybel or Rhea? Therefore I maintaine,
Gods are th' inuention of Mans idle braine.

Aske Proclus, Tresmegistus, or Simplicius,
Cicero, Philolaus, or Iamblicus;
Theophrastus, Plato: Or of Poets, these;
Sophocles, Orpheus, and Phocilides;
In all their Workes and Learnings great varietie,
They still conclude, There's but one soueraigne Deitie.

Saith Zeno, They're like mad that trust in many,
As those (è contra) that beleeue not any.
Simplicius speaking of the Vnitie
Of this Diuinest Essence, thus saith he;
All things that be, or beautifull, or faire,
From Diuine Pulchritude deriued are:

All Truth, from Diuine Truth; all we can name
T'haue Being, from the first Beginning came:
Hee's the sole God, Beginning, and the Spring
(In his owne Power) of all and euery thing.
All things from Him proceed, to come, or past;
Those which were first, the present, and the last.
From His sole Goodnesse many goods arise;
His Vnitie brings many Vnities.
His one Beginning is the source and ground
Of many more Beginnings, (after found:)
In this Beginning, Vnitie, and Good,
I would haue one God onely vnderstood.
The reason? Because Hee's the Prime of All,
In whom consists the Off-spring generall
Of each thing that hath being. He besides,
Is of all Causes, Cause, and still abides;
The Goodnesse, of all Goodnesses: And so,
Of all gods, the Great God; None else, we know.

When Cicero would distinguish betwixt those
We Idols call, and Him that doth dispose
The Fabricke he hath built; he doth debate
Thus with himselfe: They 're made; He vncreate:
They, weake and feeble in their proud'st ostent;
But He, All-able, and Omnipotent.
They, vnto Natures Lawes subiect and thrall:
But He, the God of Nature, Them, and All.

One God, one Vnitie, in it selfe agreeing,
Is the sole Root and Seed of all things being:
Without which, nothing is, nought hath been made.
Another, thus ingeniously hath said;
There is one God, whose Power is stretched far,
Immouable, and alwaies Singular,
Like onely to himselfe. And (in effect)
The chiefe of the Perepateticke Sect
Affirmes to vs as much: who doth apply
His reasons, grounded on Philosophy
And Nature, thus: All motions (saith he)
Ascend vp to the Primum Mobile,
And the first Mouer; which he there doth name
To be the Sole and Prime, on which Heauens frame,
With vniuersall Nature, doth depend.
And this he elsewhere further striues t'extend,
Thus speaking: The first Mouer's One, and He,
Euer Eternall we conclude to be.

Of Diuine Plato 'tis recorded thus,
Who writing to King Dionysius;
Onely (saith he) by this note shall you know,
Whether my purpose serious be, or no:
You shall obserue how I my Letter frame;
If one sole God I inuocate and name,
What's weighty I intend: but if the rest
I nominate, thinke then I sport and jest.

Orpheus, of Poets the most antient,
(And in that noble Title eminent;)
He, that is said to giue each god his name,
And to deriue the off-spring whence he came;
Yet in his best and deepest Theory,
Left to the world, as his last Legacie,
That there was one sole God, Omnipotent,
Immortall, and for euer Permanent;
Invisible, common Parent vnto all
Mankinde, and other Creatures, great and small:
Author of War or Peace; whose Prouidence
Gouerns the World; and whose high Eminence
Hath in th' Emperiall Heauens a golden Throne;
Whose Foot-stoole is the Earth, to tread vpon:
Who stretcheth his right hand beyond the vast
Vnlimited Oceans bounds; The First and Last;
Before whom, each high Mountaine, and low Vale
(Mov'd at his presence) tremble and looke pale.
The Worlds fixt Columes at his anger shake;
And the Seas bottomlesse Abysses quake.

And elsewhere thus: We may from Reason gather,
Ioue is sole King, the vniuersall Father
And Parent of all things, alwaies the same,
One Power, one God o're all that we can name;
And ouer them great Lord: hauing besides,
One Regall Bulke, or Body, which abides
To all Eternitie: In which, what's being,
Hath revolution, no way disagreeing,
Yet maintaines Contraries. In Him you may
Finde Fire and Water, Earth, Aire, Night, and Day.
As much as this, Phocilides confest:
There is one potent God, sole Wise, sole Blest.

Th' Ægyptians in their curious inquisition,
(A Nation the most giuen to superstition,
And to Idolatrous worship;) and yet they
In all their Hierogliphycks did pourtray

But one sole Iupiter, whose picture was
Plac't o're their ports and gates, in stone or brasse;
So likewise in their Temples: in his hand
A trisulc thunderbolt, or fulminous brand.
And, as the Writer of their story tels,
Him they as God acknowledge, and none els.

Saith one: The God of Nature I will sing,
Infus'd in Heauen, Sea, Earth, and euery thing;
Who this great Masse by impartial cov'nant swayes;
Whom (in alternate peace) the World obeyes,
By which it liues and moues: since but one Spirit
Dwells in each part, and doth the whole inherit;
O're flying all things with inuisible speed,
And giuing shape to all that therein breed.

Vnlesse this Frame, of Members, neere ally'de,
And well context, were made, and had one Guide
And Lord thereof, the Vast to mannage still;
But were to be dispos'd by humane skill;
The Stars could haue no motion, th' Earth no ease;
Time would stand still, and a cold stiffenesse seise
On agitation; Planets would retaine
No influence, but slothfully remaine
In their tyr'd Spheres; Night would not fly the Day,
Nor Light giue place to Darknesse: at a stay
All things should stand: the soft shoures should not dare
To cheare the Earth; nor the coole Windes the Aire:
Racke should not chase the clouds, flouds should not feed
The Sea; nor the Sea, Riuers at their need:
Nor should the soueraigne Part o're all parts stand,
Order'd and sway'd by an equall Parents hand.
For now, neither the Waters nor the Stars
Be vnto vs deficient; nothing bar's
The Heav'ns in their dispose, whereby to ghesse,
They alter in their Gyring more or lesse.

Motion doth cherish but not change; for all
We see the world containes in generall,
Are mannag'd and dispos'd by faire accord,
And still obedient to their Prince and Lord.
He therefore is the God that all things guides,
Who in his Diuine wisedome so prouides,
That Creatures here below, meerely terrestriall,
Haue pour'd into them (by the Signes Cœlestiall)
A strength, infus'd to honour or disgrace,
Not hindred by the distance of the place.

Stars haue a power in Nature, ministring Fate
To Nations, priuat persons, and each State;
Which operation we do hold as sure,
As the Heav'ns giue the Fieldes a temperature,
By which they in their seasons spring and grow;
Or, are the cause that the Seas ebbe and flow.

Hee's only God, that is vnchang'd by Time;
Nor yong, nor old, but euer in his prime:
Who suffers not the Sun, backward t'inuade
The transuerse Arctos, or runne retrograde
And steere a new course: neither from the West,
Returne the same way to his last nights rest;
Nor shewes the same Aurora to stronds new;
Nor lets the Moone an erring course pursue,
Beyond her certaine Orbe; but to retaine
A constant change in her encrease and waine:
Nor lets the Stars (aboue impending) fall,
To circumvolve the Earth, the Sea, and all.

Thinke now you heare this God, long silence breake,
And to a meerly Ethnicke man thus speake:
Thou (slighting me) hast to thy selfe deuis'd
A thousand gods, and equally vs pris'd;
Thinking to minch me into parts, and fleece
Me of my right. But know, no part or peece
Can be from me extracted, no forme ta'ne,
That am a simple Substance: Then in vaine
Thou think'st to parcell me by thy decision.
Of compound things 'tis eath to make diuision:
But I was made by none; nor therefore can
I, piece-meal'd or dissected be by Man.
All things, from nothing, were first made by me;
“Then, part of mine owne worke how can I be?
Therefore to me alone thy Temples reare,
And worship me in honour and in feare.

As those of Marble, so the Minde I praise,
Where stedfast Faith a rich Foundation layes
On golden piles; and when the Buildings rise
In snowy Pietie, to daze mens eyes:
With vnsway'd Iustice rooft, to keepe out raine;
And where the walls within, chast Blushes staine,
In stead of Vermil: and the whitenesse cleare
Proceeds from palenesse, bred by holy Feare.

The Oracles that from the Sybels came,
Who in the former world were of great fame,

(Though 'mongst the Learn'd it be a question still,
Whence they inspir'd were with Prophetique skill,
The good or the bad Sprite) er'd not, to say,
There is but one sole God, Him we obey.
These be their words: In this we all agree;
There's one true God, aboue all Maiestie,
Omnipotent, Inuisible alone,
Vnborne, All-seeing, and yet seene of none.

Apollo, askt by one Theophilus,
How many gods there were? made answer thus:
(His Vnitie not daring to deny)
There's only one true God, Potent, and High;
Begotten by Himselfe, Sufficient, Able;
Vntaught, and without Mother, solely Stable:
To speake whose Name, no Language can aspire
Or reach into: whose dwelling is in Fire.
And such is God, of whom, I and the Rest
Am a small portion, as being profest
His Ministers and Angels. By which Name,
The Diuell exprest himselfe to haue an aime
To Diuine worship; which He that did create
All things, so loth is to communicate.
He, by the mouthes of our forefathers, and
The holy Prophets, (who did vnderstand
His sacred will, The Scriptures) hath so fram'd,
To haue his Singularitie oft nam'd.
As thus: Because the Lord is God alone,
Peculiar, and besides him there is none.
Againe: O Israel attend and heare;
The Lord thy God is One, him thou shalt feare.
The God of gods (I heare the Psalmist say)
Doth only worke great wonders, Him obey:
For 'mongst the gods none's like him. Go and tell
(Saith he) vnto my people Israel,
I am the Lord thy God, and none but I,
Who brought thee from th' Ægyptian slauerie,
And from the house of Bondage set thee free,
“Therefore thou shalt adore no God saue me.

Lycurgus, in the Proëm of his Lawes
To the Locrenses, (not without great cause)
These following words prefixt: Needfull it were,
That all the people which inhabit here,
Should be persuaded. There's one God aboue,
By whom all liuing Creatures breathe and moue.

Who, as in all his Works he is exprest;
So is he not the least made manifest,
In our inspection to the Worlds great frame,
The Heauen, and goodly order of the same.
Be no man of that stupid ignorance,
“To thinke that such things are dispos'd by chance.

The gluttons Belly is his god, (the cause)
In that his Appetite prescribes him Lawes.
The griping Auaritious man hath sold
His Soule, (so dearely bought) to purchase Gold.
Voluptuous men, solely deuote to Lust,
Their Idol's Venus; for in her they trust.
Th' Ambitious, his All-Honour'd makes, his Fame;
As, before Gods, preferring his owne Name.
And is not he, vaine Studies doth prefer
Before his Christ, a meere Idolater?
And do not all those that ought higher prise
Than Him, to Idols offer sacrifise?

But he that shall beleeue in him aright,
Shall haue accesse to his Eternall Light:
When those that haue Religion in disdaine,
And Pietie in contempt, (and so remaine)
They striue to haue no being, (to their shame)
And to returne to nothing, whence they came.
All such as are not numbred 'mongst the Saints
Whom euill thoughts possesse, and Sinne supplants,
Haue lost themselues, as hid behinde a Skreene;
How then can the least part of them be seene?
But those that through their Sauiour proue victorious,
They in Heauens kingdome shall be great and glorious.

Two Principles (as some Philosophers write)
There are, Eternall both, and Infinite;
Makers of things, yet in their Natures vary,
As being in themselues meere contrary.
Their error note: If two such in their prime,
Of power, should haue existence at one time;
Since two so great, must greater be than one,
Euen in that clause the Infinite is gone.

Being distinct in number, and diuided,
Needs must they be by seuerall motions guided.
One borrowes not of the other, for majoritie:
Being equall two, there can be no prioritie.
And contrary (as I before haue said)
In opposition? they must needs inuade

Th' agreeing Fabricke; and so, without cease,
Disturbe old Natures long-continued peace.
Neither from these two Equalls can arise
A third, this their great strife to compromise.
Againe; If two, one needlesse is, and vaine,
Or, as we call it, Empty. Now 'tis plaine,
That Nothing cannot haue in Nature place;
For she hath Vacuum in continuall chase,
And is at war with 't. Therefore I hope none,
But will confesse a Godhood, and that one:
“One Monarch of the world, the great Effector,
Of all therein sole Parent and Protector.

All such as of their multiplicitie speake,
Disable them, as wanting power, and weake;
As if nought gouer'nd were that hath been made,
Which One can do, without anothers aid.

Him only a true Monarch we may call,
That hath no parted kingdome, but swayes all.
But where a Principalitie (misguided)
Is amongst seuerall Optimates diuided;
It needs must follow, In no One can be
An absolute and exact soueraignty:
For none of these, but by vsurping, dare
Challenge the whole, where each haue but a share.
There is a certaine Bound which circumscribes
His Iurisdiction; Each hath seuerall Tribes
To gouerne and dispose. Should we agree
In many gods, it then perforce must be
concluded, There can be no Soueraigne Minde,
Since euery one hath but his Lot assign'd:
When as of Power it is the true condition,
Not to be ty'de to stint or exhibition;
“But as the sole Supreme and Principall,
“Guiding, disposing, comprehending all.

If God be perfect? he can be but one,
As hauing all things in himselfe alone.
The more you make, the more you shall depraue
Their Might and Potencie, as those that haue
Their vertue scanted; so allow not any:
Since all things cannot be contain'd in Many.
By which 'tis manifest, Those that maintaine
More gods than one, be people vile and vaine;
In the like blasphemy ready to fall,
With the dam'nd Atheist, who knowes none at all.

The Manichees, they hold a strange opinion,
That two betwixt them share the high Dominion;
Who as they did create, so guide it still:
One, Good disposeth; and the other, Ill.
The first is Lord of Light, and gouernes Day:
The last, of Night, and Darknesse beares chiefe sway.
One, Heate in charge hath; and the other, Cold:
Yet who, by daily proofe doth not behold,
That by the sole and Diuine Prouidence,
Man, with all Creatures, of them both hath sence,
And from them comfort? That the Night for rest
Was made, to cheare Man, wearied and opprest;
As well as Day, whose cheerefull light prepares
Vs to our needfull and best knowne affaires.
Do we not see, from what we counted bad,
Much good to vs, great solace hath been had?
Againe, That seeming-Good, forg'd by the Deuill,
Hath been to vs th' occasion of much euill?

Heauens blessings let vs taste in their communitie,
Ascribing all praise to the God of Vnitie,
“This sempiternall Minde, this Consummate
“And absolute Vertue, that did all create;
“This Power, who in himselfe hath his Stabilitie,
“Maiestie, Wisedome, Strength, and true Soliditie:
“From whose Sublimitie no man's so mad
“To thinke he can detract: To whom none adde.
“This, of himselfe all Fulnesse, all Satietie;
“Is then the sole Incomprehensible Deitie.

Sometimes, what's proper vnto Man alone,
Is giuen to this Trias, three in One:
As, when we attribute vnto him Wings,
It straight vnto our aphrehension brings,
How he protects and shadowes vs. If Eares?
With what facilitie and grace he heares
Our deuout Prayers. And when, his Arme stretcht out?
That of his Power and Strength we should not doubt.
His Finger nam'd, doth to the world auer
His Vertue, and, that no Artificer
Can worke like him. His Skill; The glorious frame
Of this great Machine, doth to all proclaime.
His Face, sometimes, his presence doth imply;
Sometimes, his fauour and benignitie.

If we reade Wrath; we must consider then,
Those Iudgements that impend o're sinfull men;

And with what terror, when they come, they fall.
His Hand, doth vnto our remembrance call
His Potencie, Protection, Power to guide;
With all such things as are to these ally'de.
His Nosthrils, by which he is said to smell,
Doth vnto vs his Acceptation tell,
Of Sacrifice and Prayer. His Incenst Ire
(Againe) it notes, when thence fly sparks of fire.
His Eyes emblem to vs, that choice Respect
And Fauor which he beares to his Elect.
Sometimes they import his Prouidence Diuine
Sometimes, they wrathfully are said to shine
Against the Wicked. By his Feet are meant,
Stabilitie and Power Omnipotent.
By th' Apple of his Eye he would haue knowne,
Th' Indulgence that he beares vnto his Owne.

The Diuine Wisedome, knowing how dull and weake
Mans heart and braine is, taught the Text to speake
To our capacities. The Prophets, they
Did not of this great Deity display
The absolute perfection; but so leaue it,
That by a glimpse we far off might conceiue it.
His Eyes being nam'd, it must impresse in me,
That God doth euery thing at all times see.
Or if his Eare? then must I presuppose,
That, hearing all that's spoke, he all things knowes;
That, hauing wings to mount himselfe on high,
In vaine can Man his incenst vengeance fly.
O, whither from thy Sprite shall I depart?
Thou, that in euery place at all times art?
Fly thee, none can; but vnto thee repaire,
All may, in their humilitie and prayer,
Appealing to thy Goodnsse. For, What place
Can shadow me, when I shall fly thy face?
If soare to Heauen? thy Presence doth appeare:
Or if to Hell diue? Thou art likewise there.
There is no way an angry God to shun;
But, to a God well pleas'd, for refuge run.

Now to proceed: The Scripture Phrase doth reach
No farther, than our stupid sence to teach;
That by corporeall things we may prepare
Our hearts to know what things spirituall are;
And by Inuisible, make demonstration
Of what's vnseene, beyond mans weake narration.

And for this cause, our passions and affects
Are in the Scriptures, for some knowne respects,
Confer'd on the Almighty; when 'tis said,
God did repent him that he man had made.
Or when hee's wrathfull? herein is not meant,
That He is angry, or, He can repent:
But 'tis a Figure from th' effect arose,
And that the Greeks call Metanumikos.

The Names the Scriptures attribute to Him,
Sometimes Iehouah, sometimes Elohim:
And when the glorious Trinitie's proclaim'd,
The Father, Sonne, and Holy-Ghost are nam'd.
More appellations the Text affords;
As, The Great God of Heauen, The Lord of Lords,
The Lord of Armies, and of Hosts; the God
That in the Highest Heauen hath his aboad;
The God of Abraham, Isaac, Iacob; and,
He that brought Israel from th' Egyptians land;
God of the Spirits, of all Flesh, and he
Lord God of Israel is knowne to be.
Him, by the name of th' Hebrewes God we praise,
God of our Fathers, Th' Antient of all dayes,
And, Dauids God. Yet further denomination;
The God of gods, of Iustice, Ioy, Saluation,
(These titles it ascribes to Him alone)
Israels Redeemer, Israels Holy one;
Protector, Father, Shepheard: then we sing
To Israels God, to Iacobs, the great King:
So, to the Euerlasting King, and than
King of all Worlds, before the World began.
Whose Power, whose Goodnesse, shewn to euery Nation, &c.
Extracts from me this serious Contemplation.

Soueraigne and holy God, Fountaine and Spring
Of all true Vertue, the Omnipotent King;
Of whom, by subtill search in things to acquire,
Is not in Mans conception (a thing higher
Than his weake faculties can comprehend;)
Yet not to know this God, he should offend.
For how can it with reason consonant be,
One Godhood should remaine in persons three?
And they in such a firme connexure linkt,
To be (although inseparat) yet distinct.
Thou art without beginning; and againe,
Thou shalt to all Eternitie remaine,

Knowing no end: The Onely and the Same,
Whom Time cannot impaire, nor Age reclaime.
The space of things, Thou do'st in space exceed,
And art contain'd in none. How shouldst thou need
That which thy Selfe hast made? Or how should Sence
Allot thee place, who only art Immense?
Nor is it in Mans frailtie to deuise,
How, Thee in the least kinde to annatomise,
Or tell what thou art like; thy Image being
A thing excluded from all mortall seeing:
Vnlesse thou, of thy most especiall Grace,
Wilt shew some shadow of thy glorious Face.
No part of thee thou hast presented here,
Saue what doth in thy maruellous Works appeare.
No Strength can moue Thee, (of the Land or Ocean)
By whom we are, and in whom haue our motion:
Thou art the Mind, and Substance of all pure
And holy minds: Thou art the Reason, sure
And stedfast, whence all other Reasons flow,
That are from perfect Wisedome said to grow.
Thou art that Vertue, of all Vertues head:
Thou art the Life it selfe; and thou art read,
Father of Life, as being knowne to giue
Breath, (with their Being) to all things that liue.
The Light it selfe, and yeelding Light to all;
The Cause and Strength of things in generall,
Beginning, it's beginning had from thee;
And what soeuer first began to be,
Vpon the sudden out of Nothing shin'd:
Which, fil'd with thy great Power, were so refin'd,
That either strength of knowledge they retaine,
Or excellent shape, such as doth still remaine.

The sacred Scriptures are sufficient warrant,
By many Texts to make the Trine apparant:
As from the first Creation we may proue;
God did Create, God Said, the Spirit did Moue:
Create imports the Father; Said, the Sonne,
The Spirit that Mov'd, the Holy-Ghost. (This done)
Come to the Gospell, to Saint Paul repaire;
Of him, Through him, and For him all things are;
To whom be euerlasting praise, Amen.
In which, it is observ'd by Origen,
Of, Through, and For, three Persons to imply;
And the word Him, the Godheads Vnitie.

Let Vs in Our owne Image, Man create,
(Saith God:) which Salomon doth thus explicate;
Remember the Creators in the dayes, &c.
Which word, those well verst in the Hebrew Phrase,
Reade in the plurall. So, when God did frowne
On Babels Tower, he said, Let Vs go downe.
When Sodom was consum'd, 'tis said againe,
The Lord that fire did from the Lord downe raine.

So, when Christs Glory Isay would declare,
To expresse, Three Persons in on Godhead are;
He, Holy, Holy, Holy, nam'd: To show,
We might a Ternion in an Vnion know.

Come to Christs Baptisme, you againe shall see,
In the same Trine, the perfect Vnitie:
The Father (the first Person) is compris'd
By sending downe a Voice: The Son's baptis'd
By Iohn in Iorden: and then from aboue
The Third descends, in figure of a Doue.

So likewise when Duke Moses went about
To comment on the Law; lest they should doubt
Of this great Mysterie, Hearke to my word
O Israel, (said) The Lord our God's one Lord:
In which word One, the Vnitie is meant
Of the three Persons, solely Omnipotent.
In which (by One) 'tis well observ'd, That he
The second Person in the Trinitie
Meant in the second word, who hath the name
To be Our God: 'Tis because we may claime
Iust int'rest in him. And though all the Three
May be call'd ours; more (in particular) He.
One reason is, Because he Heav'n forsooke,
And on himselfe our humane nature tooke
In all things like, (so did his Grace abound)
Saue only that in him no sinne was found.
Next, That he bore our sinnes, freed our transgression:
And last, For vs in Heaven makes intercession.

Two natures in one person so ally'd,
Some hold, in Mans creation tipify'd;
From Earth, his body Adam had ('tis said;)
His Soule, from Heauen: both these but one Man made.
Christs humane nature had with man affinitie,
(Being very Man) and from God his Diuinitie,
(Being very God:) In both so to subsist,
Godhood and Manhood make vp but one Christ.

In Iacob's Ladder, figur'd, this we see,
(Which Ladder, Christ himselfe profest to be;)
Of which, the foot being fixt vpon the ground;
The top to heauen; thus much to vs doth sonnd:
That in this Scale, at such large distance set,
The Heauen and Earth at once together met.
So, Christs Humanitie from Earth was giuen;
But his Diuinitie he tooke from Heauen:
As from Earth, Earthy; as from Heauen, Diuine;
Two Natures in one Person thus combine.

The choicest things about the Arke were fram'd
Of Gold and Wood; Wood, worthlesse to be nam'd,
If with Gold valu'd; for the Cedar's base,
Compar'd with th' Ophir Mine: yet had it grace,
With it's rich tincture to be ouerspred.
In this respect the Godhood may be sed
To be the Gold; the Manhood, baser wood:
And yet both these (as truly vnderstood)
Made but one Arke: So, the two Natures raise
Betwixt them but one Christ. He forty daies
Fasted i'th Desart, and did after grow
Hungry: by which the Text would haue vs know
Hee's God, because of his miraculous fast:
Hee's Man, because he hungry grew at last.

He slept at sea, when the great tempest rose;
This shew'd him Man, as needfull of repose:
When he rebuk'd the Windes, and Surges tam'd,
He, his great Godhood to the World proclaim'd.

He wept o're Lazarus, as he was man;
But (foure dayes buried) when he rais'd him, than
He appear'd God. He dy'de vpon the Crosse
(As he was Man) to redeeme Mankindes losse;
But at his death, when th' Earth with terror shooke,
And that the Sun (affrighted) durst not looke
On that sad obiect, but his light withdrew
By strange Eclipse; this shew'd him to be true
And perfect God: since, to confirme this wonder,
The Temples Vaile was seene to rend asunder:
The Earth sent forth her Dead, who had abode
Long in the earth: All these proclaim'd him God.

The tenth of the seuenth moneth, the Hebrew Nation
Did solemnise their Feast of Expiation:
So call'd, because the High-Priest then confest,
How He, with all the People, had transgrest;

(His and Their sinnes:) Obserue how thence ensu'th
A faire agreement 'twixt the Type and Truth.

Aaron the High-Priest went into the place
Call'd Holiest of Holies: Christ (by 'his grace
Made our High-Priest) into the Holiest went,
Namely, the Heauen aboue the Firmament.
Aaron, but once a yeare; He, once for all,
To make way for Mankinde in generall:
He, by the bloud of Goats and Calues; but Christ,
By his owne bloud (the blessed Eucharist.)
Aaron went single in: and Christ alone
Hath trod the Wine-presse, (and besides him none.)
He, with his Priestly robes pontifically;
Christ, to his Office seal'd eternally
From God the Father. Aaron tooke two Goats;
Which ceremoniall Type to vs denotes,
That Christ assum'd two Natures: that which fled,
(The Scape-Goat call'd) to vs deciphered
His Godhoods imp'assibilitie: And compris'd
In th' other, (on the Altar sacrifis'd)
His Manhoods suffering; since that Goat did beare
The Peoples sinnes. Which in the Text is cleare.
Saint Paul in his Epistle we reade thus;
That Christ (without sinne) was made Sinne for vs.

Hence growes that most inscrutable Diuinitie
Of the three sacred Persons, the blest Trinitie:
Which holy Mysterie hath an extension
Aboue Mans braine, or shallow apprehension;
Nor can it further in our brests take place,
Than we are inlightned by the Spirit of Grace.
How should we then, Finite and Mortall, grow
By meditation, or deepe search, to know;
Or dare ambitiously, to speake or write
Of what Immortall is, and Infinite?
And yet, 'mongst many other deuout men,
Heare something from the learned Nazianzen.

The Monady, or number One, we see,
In this great Godhood doth arise to three;
And then this mysticall Trine (sacred alone)
Retyres it selfe into the number One:
Nor can this Diuine Nature be dissect,
Or separated in the least respect.
Three Persons in this Trias we do name;
But yet the Godhood still One and the same:

Each of the Three, by right, a God we call;
Yet is there but one God amongst them all.

When Cicero, with graue and learned Phrase
Had labour'd long, the Godhood to emblaze;
He doth conclude it, of that absolute kinde,
No way to be decipher'd or defin'd;
Because, 'boue all things Hee's superior knowne,
And so immense, to be contain'd in none.
A prime and simple Essence, vncompounded;
And though that many, labouring to haue sounded
This Diuine Essence, and to haue giuen it name,
They were not able: yet to expresse the same
As 't were afar off, Epithites deuis'd,
And words in such strange circumstance disguis'd;
Nothing but quarrels and contentions breeding,
As Natures strength, and Reasons, much exceeding.

The Martyr Attalus (when he was brought
Before a Tyrant, who esteemed nought
Of God or goodnesse) being askt in scorne,
What name God had? A space from him did turne,
And after some small pause made this reply;
(As th' Author doth of him historifie)
“Your many gods haue names by which th' are knowne;
“But our God being but One, hath need of none.

Wise Socrates forbad men to enquire,
Of what shape God was. Let no man aspire
(Saith Plato) what God is to apprehend,
Whose Maiesties immensenesse doth extend
So far; and is so'vnimitably Great,
Beyond all vtterance, or the hearts conceit.

Why then is it so difficult and rare,
Him to define? It is, because we are
Of such streight Intellect, narrow and rude,
Vncapable of his great Magnitude.
Our infirme sight is so obtuse and dull;
And His bright fulgence is so beautifull.

Hence comes it, by no other names we may
Call this great God, than such as best display
His Excellence, Infinitie, and all
Wherein He appeares solely Majesticall.

According to his Essence, Him to know,
Belongs vnto Himselfe: the Angels go
By meere Similitude: Man, by a Glasse
And Shape of things; and can no further passe:

For he, by contemplation in the Creature,
As in a Mirrhor, sees the Diuine feature:
So Holy men by speculation view'd
The nature of this toplesse Altitude.

'Twixt Vs (saith one) and this great Mysterie
There is such distance, such remote degree,
As the Creator (whom we must prefer)
Is 'fore the Creature; and th' Artificer
Is, (than the worke he makes,) more excellent:
As He that hath been before all Discent,
And alwaies is; is of more noble fame
Than that which was not, and from Nothing came.
Then cease not till to this thou hast atcheev'd,
“God is not to be question'd, but beleev'd.

When Gregorie would shew th' Vbiquitie
Of this vncomprehended Deitie;
Th' Almightie and Omnipotent God (saith he)
Is Euery where, At once, and Totally:
In Part he is not, as confin'd to space;
But He is All of Him, in Euery place:
And then least found, when, with vnfaithfull heart,
He, that is All, Each-where, is sought in Part.
Therefore our Sauiour, when he would declare
To his Disciples, That no Mortalls are
Able to view the Father, but the Sonne:

That, by the glorious Fabricke, by him done,
And by his other Creatures, they might see
(As in a Glasse) his Might and Maiestie;
Vseth these words: By Heauen you shall not sweare,
It is the Throne of God, (Hee's resiant there)
Nor by the lower Earth you shall protest,
It is the Basse on which his foot doth rest.

We for our parts, all curious search lay by,
Only submit our selues to the Most-High,
In all obedience humbly to confesse
Him for the Fountaine of all Happinesse,
Goodnesse and Grace: to giue him thankes and praise,
First, for this Life; next, our Encrease of daies;
But chiefely, that we Reason haue and Sence,
With tongues to magnifie his Excellence;
And Lookes sublime, to cast them vp and view
Whence we receiue all Good: and as His dew,
Giue Him the Glory, that He did not frame
Vs Beasts, and Mute, that cannot praise His Name.

Thales Milesius, of the Argiue Nation,
Was (in like sad and serious contemplation)
For three things wont to thanke the gods: The first,
That he was borne in Greece, bred vp and nurst
Not 'mongst Barbarians: And in the next place,
Because no Female, but of Masculine race:
The third and last, (which most his ioyes encreast)
Because created Man, and not Brute Beast.

Boethius saith, It is not fit, fraile Man
Secrets Diuine too narrowly should scan;
Onely to haue them so far vnderstood,
That God disposeth all things to our good.
The knowledge to Saluation tending best,
He in his Scripture hath made manifest:
But not to enquire for that, which should we finde,
Our limited and vncapacious minde
Could not conceiue; or say, in some degree
It did, not make vs better than we be.

Th' office of a true Father God hath don;
This Body He hath made, which we put on;
The Soule, by which we breathe, He hath infus'd:
All that we are is His, if not abus'd.
How we were made, or how these things were wrought,
If in His holy Wisedome he had thought
Fit we should know, no doubt they had been then
Publisht vnto vs by the sacred Pen.
Elsewhere He saith, His will was, we should know
(Besides the generall duty which we owe)
Onely such things as tend to our Saluation:
As for all other curious Intimation,
'Tis most prophane; and therefore Heauen forbid,
We pry into those things He would haue hid.
Why should we seeke for what we cannot know?
Or knowing, by it cannot better grow?
Sufficient 'tis that we enioy the Fire
Vnto our vse; What need is, to enquire
From whence it hath it's heate? We daily finde
The benefit of Water in the kinde;
What more would it auaile (being still the same)
If we did know whence first the moisture came?
So of the rest. Then let vs be content
With the proportion of the knowledge leant.
“Be gratefull for Heauens Blessings, and surrender
“All praise and thanks vnto the Bounteous Sender.

The Tyrant Hiero, in his height of pride,
Willing, What God was, to be satisfied?
Askt Simonides. He, after some stay,
Demanded first the respit of a day:
But that being past, Hiero againe enquir'd.
He told him, That to know what he desir'd,
Two dayes were requisit. These likewise o're,
And being still demanded as before;
The Tyrant once againe requir'd the reason
Of his delay, by doubling still the season:
Who thus reply'de; The more that I the same
Contemplate, still the further out of frame
My senses are. This Plato did pursue,
Saying, Of God he only thus much knew,
As, That no man could know him. Hence exists
The opinion of the best Theologists;
That his great Attributes are by negation
Better exprest to vs, than Affirmation.
As much to say, More easie 'tis to show,
What He is not; than what He is, to know:
As, That god is Not Made; No Earth, No Fire,
Water, or Aire. Ascend a little higher.
God is No Sphere, No Star, No Moone, No Sun;
God is Not Chang'd, suffers No Motion;
God, No Beginning had, therefore No End:
With infinite such, that to the like intend.
All which infer, That by no affirmation
Can be exprest his full denomination.

Leaue thousand Authors at this time alone,
My purpose is but to insist on one.
Before our Mindes eyes let vs place (saith he)
What this great Nature Naturant may be;
Which All things Holds, Fills All, doth All Embrace,
Super-exceedes, Sustaines; and in One place.

Not in one place Sustaines, and in another
Super-exceedes; here Fills, and in the tother
Embraceth: but by Embracing, Fills; and then,
By Filling likewise doth Embrace agen:
Sustaining, Super-exceeds; Super-exceeding,
Sustaines: In all these no assistance needing.

The same saith in another place; We know,
God's Within All, Without, Aboue, Below:
Aboue, by Power; Below, by Sustentation;
Without by Magnitude; in the same fashion,

Within All, by Subtilitie: Aboue, reigning;
Descend Below, Hee's there, All things containing:
Without, He compasseth; Penetrates Within:
Not in one place Superior, (that were sin
To imagin) in another place inferior;
Or seuerall waies exterior and interior.
But He, the One and Same, totally to appeare.
(Vncircumscrib'd) at one time euery where.
By Gouerning, Sustaining; by Sustaining,
Gouerning; by Embracing, Penetrating;
Penetrating by Embracing; Aboue, Guiding;
Below, Supporting: what's without abiding,
Still Compassing; and what's within, Replenishing:
Without Vnrest, All that's aboue Protecting;
Without least Paine, All that's below Sustaining:
Without Extenuation, Inly Piercing;
Without (without Extension) Compassing.

But, Would'st thou haue me what God is discusse?
Thee (with Cardanus) I must answer thus:
“To tell thee that, I should be a God too:
“(A thing which none but God himselfe can do.)

And now, with pious reuerence to enquire
Of that All-Potents Name, which some desire
(No doubt) to be instructed in; as farre
As leaue will giue, a little let vs dare.

Some call Him God, of Giuing; as they wou'd
Infer to vs, He giues vs all that's Good.
Others would by Antiphrasis imply,
That it from Desit comes: The reason why?
As most approv'd, to be that only He
In whom not any thing can wanting be.
Others confer on this inuisible Being,
Theos; as much as we should say, All-seeing.
Some, of Deomai, [i. Timeo] that's, To Feare;
Because that euery Nation far and neare
Should dread His Name. But no Tongue can expresse
His Celcitude and high Almightinesse:
Which in his Wisedome He hath kept conceal'd,
Nor to his Seruant Moses once reueal'd.
Whom, though in all things else He pleas'd to vse
Familiarly, as one whom He did chuse
To be his Peoples Captaine; when he came
To aske that? Answer'd, I Am what I Am.

Which sacred words, the Hebrewes chosen Nation
From Age to Age had in such veneration,
That saue their priests none might pronounce that phrase:
And they, but on some solemne Festiuall daies.

Now therefore, This, long meditating on
(The wisest of all Men) King Salomon;
Finding no word that could define Him right,
Or manifest his Magnitude or Might:
Astonisht and confounded, doth exclaime
In these few words; What might I call His Name?

As should he say; By what Voice, Sound, what Tongue,
Can this Eternall Deitie be sung?
Can a Word do 't? To thinke it, Heauen forbid;
Since from our Frailties 'tis retruse and hid.

Excuse me (Reader) then, if I desire
To search no further than Such durst enquire.

Lumen est Vmbra Dei; & Deus est Lumen Luminis. Plato.

Explicit metrum Trastatus secundi.

108

A Meditation vpon the former Tractate.

I Haue wandred like a Sheepe that's lost,
To finde Thee out in euery Coast:
Without, I haue long seeking bin,
Whilest Thou (the while) abid'st Within.
Through euery broad Street and streit Lane
Of this Worlds City (but in vaine)
I haue enquir'd. The reason why?
I sought thee ill: for how could I
Finde Thee Abroad? when Thou meane space
Hadst made Within, thy dwelling place.

I sent my Messengers about,
To try if they could finde Thee out.
But all was to no purpose still;
Because indeed they sought Thee ill:
For how could they discouer Thee,
That saw not when thou entredst me?

Myne Eyes could tell me; If He were
Not Colour'd, sure He came not there.
If not by Sound, my Eares could say,
He doubtlesse did not passe my way.
My Nose could nothing of Him tell,
Because my God he did not Smell:
None such I Relisht, said my Taste;
And therefore me He neuer past.
My Feeling told me, That none such
There entred; for he none did Touch.
Resolv'd by them how should I be,
Since none of all these are in Thee?

In Thee, my God? Thou hast no Hew,
That Mans fraile Opticke sence can view:
No Sound the Eare heares: Odour none
The Smell attracts: all Taste is gone.

109

At thy Appearance: where doth faile
A Body, how can Touch preuaile?
What euen the brute Beasts comprehend,
To thinke Thee such, I should offend.

Yet when I seeke my God, I enquire
For Light (than Sunne and Moone much higher:)
More cleare and splendrous 'boue all Light;
Which th' Eye receiues not, 'tis so bright.
I seeke a Voice, beyond degree
Of all melodious Harmony:
The Eare conceiues it not. A Smell
Which doth all other sents excell:
No Floure so sweet; no Myrrh, no Nard,
Or Aloës, with it compar'd;
Of which the Braine not sensible is.
I seeke a Sweetnesse, (such a blisse)
As hath all other Sweets surpast;
And neuer Pallat yet could Taste.
I seeke That to containe, and hold,
No Touch can Feele, no Embrace Infold.

So far this Light the Raies extends,
As that no place It comprehends.
So deepe this Sound, that though it speake,
It cannot by a Sence so weake
Be entertain'd. A Redolent Grace
The Aire blowes not from place to place.
A pleasant Taste, of that delight,
It doth confound all Appetite.
A strict Embrace, not felt, yet leaues
That vertue, where it takes it cleaues.
This Light, this Sound, this Sauouring Grace,
This Tastefull Sweet, this Strict Embrace,
No Place containes, no Eye can see:
“My God Is; and there's none but Hee.

Fecisti nos Domine ad Te; inquietum igitur est Cor nostrum, donec requiescat in Te. S. Augustine.

111

Lib. 3. The Thrones

THE ARGVMENT of the third Tractate.

Of th' Vniuerse, the Regions three,
And how their partt disposed be;
How gouerned, and in what order,
In which no one exceeds his border.
That Moses Arke, in all respects,
Vpon the Worlds rare Frame reflects.
Both how and when (by Power Diuine)
The Sunne and Moone began to shine.
The Day of our blest Sauiours Passion
Compar'd with that of the Creation.
How euery Star shines in his Sphere;
What place they in the Zodiacke beare.
And of the twelue Signes a Narration;
Their influence, Aspect, and Station.
To proue no former Worlds haue bin;
And This must perish we liue in.
The vainnesse lastly doth appeare,
Of Plato's Great and Vertent Yeare.

The second Argument.

All Glory to the Holy-One,
Euen Him that sits vpon the Throne.

Wee from the Workman, to the Worke proceed:
The powerfull Doer, to the glorious Deed.
This Vniuerse, Created first, then guided,
Into three ample Regions is diuided:

112

The first is call'd Super-cœlestiall:
The next, Cœlestiall, or Ethereall;
Both constant in their kindes: The third doth vary,
(In which we liue) as meerely Elementary.

The First, of Angels is the blessed dwelling;
(The later two many degrees excelling:)
The Next, of Starres and Planets keeps the features:
The Last, of Man, Beast, and all Mortall Creatures.

The first doth with incredible Lustre shine:
The second vnto it (as lesse Diuine)
Participating both (lest Time should faile)
Darknesse and Light, weighes out in equall Scale.
The third enioyes both these, (as who but knowes it)
But how? So, as the second doth dispose it.

The First, doth Immortalitie containe,
A stable worke, and euer to remaine.
There's in the Second too a stable face,
But yet Mutation both in worke and place.
There's in the Third, all Change, but no Stabilitie,
'Twixt life and death A constant Mutabilitie.

Like the pure nature of his Diuine minde
He made the First: Then, Bodies in their kinde
Void of corruption, He the Next created:
The Third, full of all Frailties fabricated.

Foure Elements He placed in the Lower,
Foure in the Vpper, in the Highest foure:
Terrestriall, these, Earth, Water, Aire, and Fire:
Celestiall and Etheriall, that aspire
To place more eminent, in this order runne,
Luna, Mercury, Venus, and the Sunne.
Super-Cœlestiall, and of highest state,
The Angell, the Arch-Angell, Principate,
And Seraphim the last. The Earth, commixt
Of all things to corruption apt, he fixt
In the Worlds lowest part, but not to moue.
The selfe same Power ordain'd in Heauen aboue
Continuall motion: but to such we call
Natures which are Super-Cœlestiall,
He gaue Intelligent Force abiding still,
And not to suffer change. So (by his Will)
This our inferior Water is in great
Discord with Fire, and suffocates his heat:
Water Cœlestiall feeds it without cease;
To which the supreme Region giues encrease.

113

Terrestriall Aire lends Breath; Cœlestiall, Ioy,
And Solace free from trouble or annoy.
Super-cœlestiall, euery Good thing lends.
So, by the Might that through this Worke extends,
This lower Fire consumes, and all things burnes:
Fire next aboue, the Heate to Liuely'hood turnes:
Fire super-eminent (which to reueale
No Frailtie can) kindleth with Loue and Zeale.

The antient Cabalists and Rabbins say,
(Who knew the old Law well; for those were they
Who tooke vpon them to explain 't) That He,
Whose high incomprehended Maiestie
Is beyond all dimention, when he gaue
Moses direction, In what forme hee'd haue
His Tabernacle fashion'd; that the same
Was a meere modell of the whole Worlds frame.

For instance, 'Twas into three parts diuided;
So the large Vniuerse, Diuinely guided,
On three parts doth subsist, answering to those
God in the former Fabricke did dispose.
Now as that part which is sublunary,
Being lowest of the three, doth alwaies vary,
As subiect to corruption and mutation,
By reason of the Elements alteration;
As seene, in Life begun, then Death pursuing;
Th' originall of things, and then their ruin;
And these in a vicissitude. Euen so,
The Arkes first part (as suting this below)
Was without couerings, open to the aire,
And subiect to all weathers, foule as faire:
For in that Court there was no difference had,
The Iust and Vniust met, the Good and Bad,
Prophane and Holy; Creatures of all fashion
Were to this place brought, in whose Immolation
And Sacrifice, was then exprest the qualitie
Of Life and Death, (the Type of our Mortalitie.)

Now of the contrary two Regions be,
Or Temples, which comparatiuely we
(As in the former references) call
Cœlestiall, and Super-cœlestiall.
And these are plac'd in eminent degree
Beyond the rage of force or iniury,
Of Alteration, or the staine of Sinne,
(Since the proud Lucifer first fell therein,

114

And was precipitate thence:) So that the two
Parts of this earthly Tabernacle do
Answer the former, as alike extended;
'Gainst shoures, storms, haile, snow, cold, & heat defended,
By a faire Roofe, so that all sordid, base,
And vncleane things, in them can find no place.

Againe, as both are Holy, yet the one
Is 'boue the other Sacred, being the Throne
Or place of the blest Angels, seated higher;
In which they in a most harmonious Quire
Sing Halleluia's: so in this below
There be two holy roomes (as all men know)
The first of them we onely Holy call;
The other, Holy, Holiest of all.

Againe, as this Terrestriall world doth yeeld,
As well to Men, as brute Beasts of the field,
Both house and harbor; and the next aboue,
(In which the seuen bright errant Planets moue)
Shines with cœlestiall splendor; but the third,
Beyond these two, blest Mansions doth afford
Vnto the Angels Hierarchy. The same
Was visible in Moses curious Frame:
In the first Court thereof were frequent, Men
And Beasts together; in the second then
The Candlestickes with seuen Lights did shine cleare;
But in the third (most Holy) did appeare
The Cherubims, with wings far stretcht. Againe,
As Moses (so the Scripture tells vs plaine)
Ten Curtaines to his sacred Machine made;
So in the three parts of the world, are said
To be no lesse than ten distinct Degrees.
And first of the Super-Cœlestiall, these,
Th' Angels, Arch-Angels, and the Principates,
Thrones, Dominations, Vertues, Potestates,
The Cherubims and Seraphims; Then He,
(Aboue all these) the supreme Deity.

In the Cœlestiall ten, and thus they run,
Luna, Mercury, Venus, and the Sun,
Mars, Ioue, and Saturne; Then the Starry Heauen,
Crystalline and Empyriall, make them euen.

In this below the Moone, where we now liue,
Are likewise ten Degrees, to whom we giue
These Characters; first, the foure Elements,
Mystæ, Impressions, Herbs, Fruits, Trees, and Plants,

115

Beasts, Reptile Creatures, and the tenth and last,
Materia prima: so their number's cast.

Againe, as in this Tabernacle were
Iust fifty strings or taches, which did beare
So many Rings, by which the Curtaines hung,
All vniformly, and in order strung:
So this Worlds Fabricke, (subiect to fraile end)
Of fifty Rings or Ioinctures doth depend;
And of these, twenty Vniuersall are;
Twenty and nine be styl'd Particular;
Generall the last. The first twice ten amount
Thus in their order, and by iust account:

Vnitie in it selfe; Parts with Parts knit;
Essence with Essence; and the next to it,
Proprietie with Essence; Forme not estrang'd
From Subiect: the Transforming with Transchang'd;
Art, with the subiect Matter dealing sole;
Parts Separable annexed to the Whole;
Inseparable parts on th' Whole depending:
The Cause ioyn'd to th' Effect; and that extending
To the Intrinsicke: then, the Inward Cause
Ioyn'd to the Effect; but subiect to the Lawes
Of a Beginning: Cause Finall with respect
Only vnto the Primarie Effect:
Then the Cause Finall, which doth neuer vary
From the Effect, which is call'd Secondary:
The Primarie Effect with the Cause met;
The Secondary Effect in order set
Euen with the Cause: Forme likewise, that's ally'd
To Forme: the Middle with the Extremes comply'd:
The thing Corruptible, on that to wait
Which no Corruption can participate. &c.

The rest, particular Coniunctions be,
Still corresponding vnto each degree
Of the Worlds triple Regions; Ten Terrestriall;
Cœlestiall Ten; Super cœlestiall,
Nine onely: That which thirty makes complete
(As the most Generall) titled is the great
Coniunction of the world with him that Made it;
(Of the Foundation, and the God that Laid it.)
All these particular steps seeming perplext,
Thus you shall finde amongst themselues connext.

'Twixt the first Matter and the Elements, there
A Chaos is: twixt th' Elements appeare,

116

And what's call'd Mixt, Impressions: Now betweene
The stones and Earth, a kinde of Chalke is seene;
'Twixt Earth and Mettals, that which th' Artist calls
Margasites, with other Mineralls.
'Twixt Stones and Plants, Male Pimpernell hath place:
'Twixt Plants and Animals, Zophita's race,
Participating both: being such as haue
Both sence and growth, and yet are forc't to craue
Their nutriment, (with their encrease and chering)
From their owne roots, but to the stones inhering.

Creatures that Water and of Earth partake,
Are Otters, Beauers, Tortoises, who make
Vse of two Elements: 'Twixt Sea and Aire,
The Flying Fish, that doth to both repaire:
Betwixt meere Animals and Man, is set
The Ape, the Monkey, and the Marmoset:
Betwixt the Bruits that onely haue quicke sence,
And those that haue a pure intelligence,
Man hath his place. From the first propagation,
There is of things a tenfold generation.

The first composure hath a true descent
From the first Matter, and from Accident,
And Cinis call'd: The next exsists of three;
Matter, Forme, Accident, such th' Elements be:
From two sole Elements the third hath being,
Vapor and Exhalation; one agreeing
With Aire and Water; th' other doth aspire
To take his nature from the Aire and Fire:
The fourth, his essence and existence shrouds
Beneath three Elements; such be the Clouds:
The fifth to their Creation haue accited
The whole foure, to their naturall formes vnited;
Such, Mettalls be, and Stones: (Plants, they suruiue
By vertue of a Body Vegetatiue.)
The seuenth hath Life and Sence, and doth include
Beasts of all kinde, Irrationall and Rude.
The eighth, Gods Image, (of far more respect)
Man, who hath Life, with Sence and Intellect.
The ninth, (of a more subtile Essence far,
Inuisibilitie, and Excellence) are
The Angels. But the Tenth! Who dares aspire
Further of his Eternitie to enquire?
Or go about to apprehend, That He
“Who containes all things, should contained be?

117

He, who of Nothing, All things did compact;
Whose Will's his Worke, and euery Word his Act;
Who, as He made all Creatures, still doth feed them,
Of his meere goodnesse, (not that He doth need them:)
Who in all places, without Place doth dwell,
“Soueraigne, Immense, the Only doth excell.

This leades me to a needfull Contemplation,
To thinke how vaine is Wisedomes ostentation;
Since we Gods praise can no way more aduance,
Than by acknowledging our Ignorance.
Which thus th' Apostle doth anatomise:
If any in this world would be held wise,
Let him be then a foole, so, wise to seeme;
Since the Worlds wisedome is in Gods esteeme
Meere foolishnesse. To thinke our selues exact
In any thing; we but from Him detract.

Wisedome shall publish her owne commendation,
Reioycing, in the Centre of her Nation,
Of God be honour'd, in his Temple tryd'e,
And before his great Power, in triumph ride.
Her presence, by her people be desir'd,
And in all holy meetings much admir'd:
In confluence of the Chosen she shall stay,
And by the Blessed be much prais'd, and say,

Of all Gods Creatures, the first borne am I,
And issu'd from the mouth of the Most-High.
The Light that failes not, was by Me first made;
The lower Earth, as with a Cloud, I shade.
My dwelling is aboue, where Light first shone;
And in the Pillar of the Cloud, my Throne.
Alone, the Compasse of the Heav'n I round,
And can the Seas vnbottom'd Channels sound;
All Seas, and Earth, and Nations, I enioy,
And with my Power, all Proud Hearts I destroy:
In all these things I wisht that Rest might cease me,
In some Inheritance that best might please me.

So, the Creator gaue me a Command;
Euen He that made me by his Powerfull hand,
Appointed, That in Iacob I should dwell,
And plac't mine Heritage in Israel;
That I, amongst the Chosen, might take root.
(And willingly I did assent vnto 't.)

From the Beginning, er'e the World was made,
By Him I was created, not to fade:

118

I serv'd Him in his holy Habitation,
And so in Sion had my setled Station.
My power was in Ierusalem, his best
Belov'd of Cities, where he gaue me rest:
An honour'd People did my Name aduance,
The portion of the Lords Inheritance.

Like a strait Cedar I am set on high,
That seemes in Lebanon to braue the Sky.
I like a Cypresse tree my branches fill,
That hath tooke root on top of Hermon hill.
And like a Palme about the banks I grow;
Or like a Rose planted in Iericho:
Like a faire Oliue in a pleasant field;
Or a Plane tree, where furrowes water yeeld.
Besides, like to the Cinnamom I smel,
Or bags of Spices, being mixed well.
I, as the best Myrrh, a sweet odour gaue,
Such as the Galbanum and Onix haue;
That sent which doth the pleasant Storax grace,
Or rich perfume that sweetens all the place.
My boughes I like the Terebinth haue spred,
(Branches, with Grace and Honour furnished.)
As doth the Vine, I made my clusters swell:
My Fruit was of an odoriferous smell;
The floures I bore were of a pleasant hew,
And from their fruit, Honour and Riches grew.

I am the Mother of faire Loue, of Feare,
Knowledge, and holy Hope, (to me all deare.)
And vnto euery Child my wombe forth brings
(As God commands) I giue eternall things.
All grace of Life and Truth in me remaine;
All hope of Life and Vertue I retaine.
Come to me then, you that desire me, still,
And of my blest Fruits freely taste your fill:
For my remembrance doth breed more delight,
Than Hony to the hungry appetite.
My Inheritance is of much sweeter taste
Than Hony-combes: my Name shall euer last.
Who eats me, after me shall hunger sore;
And he that drinks me vp shall thirst the more.
Who so shall to my counsell lend an eare,
Ruine or sad Disaster need not feare.
He that works by me neuer shall offend:
Who makes me knowne, shall life haue without end.

119

These of the booke of Life are the contents,
And Moses Law in the Commandements:
The Couenant of the most high God, to inferre
The knowledge of that Truth which cannot erre,
Commanded as an Heritage most sure,
To Iacobs House for euer to endure.
Then, with the Lord the signes of valour leaue,
And be not faint or weary, to Him cleaue.
The Lord Almighty for your God you haue;
Hee's but one God, and none but He can saue.
Who hath ordein'd, That there in time shall spring
From Dauids Line, a high and mighty King,
To sit vpon the Throne for euermore;
Whom all the heathen Nations shall adore:
He filleth all things with his Wisedome, so
As Physon and as Tigris ouerflow
In time of new Fruits. Th' Vnderstanding He
Makes to abound, as we Euphrates see,
Or Iordan, rise in Haruest. As the Light,
So Knowledge he makes shine, equally bright:
Which in the exercise thereof excells,
As Geon in the time of Vintage swells.

The first man of her knowledge stood in doubt,
Nor shall the last man truly finde her out:
For the conceptions fashion'd in her braine,
Are more aboundant than the boundlesse Maine;
Yea, all her hidden Counsels more profound
Than the great Deepe, which neuer line could sound.

Out of my mouth, I (Wisedome) flouds haue cast;
Am (like a Riuers arme) growne broad and vast,
And like a Conduit pipe of water cleare,
Run into Paradise to hide me there.
I'le water my faire Garden, (then I said)
The pleasant ground which I haue fruitfull made:
Into a Floud my Ditch grew, at the motion,
And instantly my Floud became an Ocean.
For I make Doctrine like the Light to shine,
(The Mornings Light) by me 'tis made Diuine.
Th' Earths lower parts (euen those that are most deepe)
I will pierce through, and looke on all that sleepe;
For I haue power to awake them from the dust,
And lighten all who in the Lord shall trust.

There is a Doubt, in which some men desire
To be resolv'd, (What will not Man acquire

120

To attaine the height of science?) as to know
At what time Time began: further to show,
In which of the foure seasons of the yeare,
The Sun, the Moone, and Planets did appeare.
Some say, When God the Worlds faire frame begun,
And all things else created; That the Sun
Was found in that Signe which we Aries call,
Which is the Summers Æquinoctiall.

Others affirme, It first began to shine
And shew his glorious splendor in the Signe
Call'd Libra (that's the ballance and euen'st Scale)
Which was the Æquinoctiall Autumnale.
Their reason is, because iust at that time,
All the Earths fruits are ripe and in their prime.

[_]

(This was the opinion of the Ægyptians, Arabians, and Græcians; as Lincolniensis reporteth in a Treatise of the World which he wrote to Pope Clement. As likewise of Vincentius in his Historicall Myrrhor.)

Grounded vpon the Text, (whose power is great)
That God made all things perfect and compleat.

Others there be who would begin the yeare,
And say, In Cancer it did first appeare.
Others say Leo: grounding their opinion,
Because in that Signe it hath most dominion.

[_]

As Iulius Firmicus, an antient and approued Author, and of great iudgement in Astrologie, in his third booke De Creatione: being induced to that beleefe, because Leo is called the House of the Sunne.

But that which hath the greatest approbation,
Is, That the Sun had first illumination
In the Signe Aries: for (as Authors say)
“Summer in midst of March claimes her first day.

[_]

Of this opinion were S. Hierome, S. Ambrose, S. Basil, and diuers other Authors Christian and Ethnycke, &c.

And though perhaps amongst the Learn'd and Wise,
In circumstance some difference may arise;
And some of them would haue the World begin
In March; others, in Aprill: 'tis no sinne
To beleeue either, since they all agree,
That in the Æquinoctiall it must be.

121

Which is vncertaine; since by proofe we finde,
It is not to one certaine day assign'd.

[_]

The Æquinoctiall is not permanent and fixt to one day, but ofttimes varieth: for we reade, That our Sauiour Christ suffered in the Æquinoctiall, which was then the fiue and twentieth day of March; and now it is the eleuenth of the same moneth. Whereby it may be presumed, That heretofore in the revolution of Times and Seasons, it hath hapned in Aprill, &c.

Hence likewise may another doubt appeare,
Namely, In what moneth to begin the yeare:
Some say, in March; some, Aprill. To decide
That question, let the Scripture be our Guide,
Which saith, (and credit ought with vs to win)
In the moneth Nisan let your Yeare begin.

[_]

Nisan is March with vs: And Vincentius in his first Chapter of the Historicall Myrrhor saith, That the Hebrewes began their yeare in March, because in that moneth was the Æquinoctial, when the World was created. This opinion was also approued by some Naturalists; as amongst others, Elpacus, in his Historicall Tractate; who affirmeth, that the Chaldæans being great Astrologers, were confident, That the first day of the Creation, the Sunne entred into the first point or degree of Aries.

The Romanes yeare beginneth the first day of Ianuarie, in regard of the superstitious deuotion which the Gentiles had to their God Ianus. According to Macrobius, Marcus Varro, lib. 9. Ovid in Fastis, and others. The Christians likewise begin theirs from the Natiuitie of our blessed Lord and Sauiour.

It likewise is coniectur'd by the best
Of all that haue Astrologie profest,
Both Iewes and Christian Authors, That the Sun
At it's Creation, in that Signe begun,
In which the Sonne of God for Mankinde dy'de,
Was nail'd vpon the Crosse, and crucifi'de:
And that apparantly is knowne to all,
Was in the Sommers Æquinoctiall.
So that the same day that it first shone bright,
And the same houre, his death eclip'st it's light.

Another reason's giuen: For the same day
That the Sunne enters Aries (say they)
There's no part of the Earth, but from the Sky
He lookes vpon, with his All-seeing eye.

122

But when his course Diurnal he doth take,
In any place else of the Zodiack,
There are some parts as hid behinde a Skreene,
In which his glorious lustre is not seene.

Most probable it is, He the first day
He enters his great Progresse, should suruey
All places, and all Creatures, such to cheare,
Which He till then beheld not halfe the yeare.
Besides, Christs Passion did on that day fall,
When it appear'd most visible to All;
That all Gods Creatures hauing sence and breath
Might note th' Eclipse that hapned at his death.

About the Moone too Authors disagree;
Some, when she was created, say, That she
Was in her plenitude and full. Againe,
Some hold she was defectiue, in her Waine:
Such as she now appeares vnto our view,
Thin, and two-horn'd, and (as we call her) New.

[_]

There were two opinions concerning the Moone. Saint Augustine in Genes. Cap. 5. saith, That it were very inconuenient to beleeue, that God in her Creation should make her any way defectiue. Yet diuers haue argued the contrary; and say, it is more probable, that she began her first day in Conjunction, increasing in her age answerable to our account: but their opinions are neither held Authenticke nor Orthodoxall: for amongst others, Rabbanus commenting vpon the twelfth Chapter of Exodus, agreeth with Saint Augustine, as holding conformity with the sacred text, which saith, Gen. 1. 16. God made two great Lights; the greater Light to gouerne the Day, the lesser to illuminate the Night.

To leaue their Arguments, and come more neere
Vnto the point, this doubt we soone shall cleere.
In the same instant that God made the Sun,
With it, this glorious Light we see, begun,
Which luster'd halfe the Earth: and we may say
Truly, In that part of the world was day;
But th' other moity (not yet disclos'd)
To his bright eye, by th' Earth was interpos'd,
And there was night: to which (no doubt) the Moone
Entring into her office full as soone,
Display'd her splendor. As both were created
At one selfe instant; both at once instated
In seueral Orbs, (by the great Power Diuine)
Euen so at once they both began to shine;

123

And still in the same offices abide,
The Sun the Day, the Moone the Night to guide.
Who did at first without defect appeare,
And with a perfect lustre fill'd her Spheare.

[_]

Here I cannot omit a remarkable note borrowed from a learned Gentleman much practised in the Holy tongue; That Shemesh in the Hebrew being the Sun, it properly signifieth a Seruant; and so the very name reproues all such as adore it for a god.

We shall not deviate much, nor order breake,
If something we of Stars and Planets speake.

Not far from the North-pole Starre doth appeare
Vnto our view, the great and lesser Beare,
Those Arcti call'd. The Vrsa Maior, she
Whom Iove held once the Fair'st on earth to be:
And when (her Father slaine) she did professe
Her selfe to be a Virgin Votaresse;
The Amorous god, like one of Dian's maides,
Is soone trans-shap'd, and so the Nymph inuades:
Whether by force or faire means know I not,
But 'tweene them two yong Arcas was begot;
Who proues an Archer, and to strength being growne,
Ready to shoot his mother, then vnknowne.
Iove stay'd his hand, and by his power Diuine,
Made them two Stars; and next the Pole to shine.
Some, that he Archas was, will not endure;
But rather to be Ioves Nurse Cynosure.

'Twixt these the mighty Serpent is confin'd,
Her head and taile about both Arcti twin'd;
Th' Hesperian golden Apples said to keepe,
So wakefull, it was neuer knowne to sleepe:
But after slaine by Hercules, nought bars
Iuno, but she will place him 'mongst the Stars.

The Charioter Boöres, who his Car
Driues 'bout the Poles in compasse circular,
About whom Authors are diuided thus,
Some thinke him Arcas, others Icarus.

The Crowne Septentrionall (as most haue said)
Inamour'd Bacchus fitted first and made
For Ariadnes browes, being first his Bride,
And by the god soone after stellifi'de.

Eugonasin, whom Hercules we call,
And from the Articke Circle seemes to fall,

124

Yet stedfast in his course, conspicuous in
His Club, the Hydra, and the Lions skin.

Lyra the Harpe in by-corn'd fashion made,
Some thinke the selfe same, on which Orpheus plaid;
Who for his Musicks skill was so aduanc't,
That Beasts, and Trees, and Stones about him danc't.

Next him the Swan, with wings displaid and spred,
Stucke full of Stars, one fulgent in her head;
And therefore in th' Heauens thought to be plac't,
Because Iove, Læda in that shape embrac't.

Next whom, Cepheus hath place, King of the blacke
And Sun-burnt Moores; in whom is now no lacke
Of Diuine splendor: him the Authors say
To be the Father of Andromeda.

His wife Cassiopeia durst compare
With the Nereides; therefore in a chaire
Sits with her armes fast bound, not mouing thence:
(A iust infliction for her proud offence.)

Andromeda the sequent place doth claime,
Daughter to these to whom we last gaue name;
Who for her loue to Perseus was so grac't,
Her, 'mongst the Spheres Cœlestiall, Pallas plac't.

Perseus shines next, who in his right hand beares
A crooked Harpee; in his left appeares
The Gorgons head; his burnisht helme of steele,
And plumes like wings fastned to either heele.

Auriga mounted in a Chariot bright,
(Else styl'd Heniochus) receiues his light
In th' æstiue Circle: in that station nam'd,
Because he was the first who Coursers tam'd,
And in a foure-wheel'd Wagon taught them run,
To imitate the Chariot of the Sun.

The Serpentarius (Ophiucus who
Is also call'd) the Astrologians show
To be a yong man rounded with a Snake
Stucke full of starry lights: and him they take
For Æculapius, who a Dragon slew,
And was the first who Physicke taught and knew.

The Arrow plac't in Heauen (still to remaine)
Alcides shot; by it the Egle slaine,
Who then did on Prometheus intrals tyre,
Because from Iove he stole Cœlestiall fire.
Which being risen, you shall finde it fixt
Th' Æstiue and Æquinoctiall line betwixt

125

Next shines the Princely Egle, who is sed
To haue snatcht from earth the Trojan Ganimed,
And beare him vp to Heav'n for Ioves delight;
Both his Cup-bearer now and Catamite.

The Dolphine, figur'd with his crooked traine,
Is therefore said his glorious Orbe to gaine,
Because when good Arion play'd and sung,
He listned to his voice and Harpe well strung,
And from the ship whence he was dropt before,
Swam with him safe to the Tenarian shore.

The Horse amongst the other Stars inroll'd,
The Articke Line directly doth behold;
And is that Pegasus, the winged Steed
Which Perseus backt, when from the Whale hee freed
Andromeda: he in mount Helicon
Strooke with his hoofe cleare water from a stone
(From him call'd Hippocrene) the Muses Well;
Whence all high Raptures may be said to swell.

Deltoton we a meere Triangle call,
'Twixt th' Æstiue Line and th' Æquinoctiall;
Like the Greek letter Delta. It sends light
From foure coruscant Stars: and as some write,
Therein is figur'd the World Tripartite.
Others, because that Delta doth emply
Dios, (the word that God doth signifie)
It had it's place. Next it, appeares the Whale
(By Perseus slaine) i'th Circle Hyemal;
For it's great strength and bignesse so transpos'd,
And Pistrix call'd. Eridanus, inclos'd
As in a bed of Stars, is seene to shine,
The face in obiect of th' Antarticke Line.
Some Writers call 't Oceanus, and those
Not of meane iudgement: others, Canopos,
(Of the bright splendor) Canopos an Isle
Whose bounds are washt still by th' Ægyptian Nile.

The Hare was said to make Orion sport
In hunting, and was stellified for't,
Plac't in the Winters Circle. Next shines He
The Sonne of Neptune and Euriale;
Who in his course was said to be so fleet,
To run o're Riuers and not drench his feet:
Or on the land through well-growne Medowes passe,
Yet with his weight not once to bend the grasse:

126

Slaine by an Arrow from Diana sent;
After, translated to the Firmament,
Arm'd with a Club and Sword in hostile guise;
And in his Course doth still with Cancer rise.

The greater Dog by Iupiter was set,
To watch when he with faire Europa met;
After bestow'd on Procris: and by her,
On Cephalus her husband. Some auer,
It was Orions Dog (who tooke delight
In hunting much:) which Star doth shine so bright,
It for the flame can scarce be lookt vpon;
And therefore by the Greeks call'd Syrion.

The lesse Dog did to Icarus pertaine;
Who 'cause he mourn'd, his Master being slaine,
And was the cause the Murd'rers were descry'd,
Thought therefore worthy to be stellifi'de.
Him, in the Milky Circle you may spy,
Fixt betweene Cancer and the Gemini.

The Ship, call'd Argo (for it's speed was such)
Doth almost the Antarticke Circle touch:
In this, the antient Heroës launcht from Greece
To Colchos, and brought thence the Golden-Fleece.

Chiron, from Saturne and Philiris bred,
You may perceiue to lift his star-crown'd head
Betwixt th' Antarticke and the Hyemal Lines,
And for his justice shew'd on earth, there shines.
He Æsculapius and Achilles tought;
And for his great sinceritie, 't was thought,
The gods would suffer him to liue for euer,
But by a Shaft drawne from Alcides Quiuer:
The head thereof in Hydra's bloud being dipt,
Vpon his foot it through his fingers slipt:
A small wound it appear'd; but searcht and try'd,
Fester'd, Gangren'd, and of that hurt he dy'd.

The Altar, to it's Sphere cœlestiall borne,
With Aries sets; riseth with Capricorne.
On which the gods their Coniuration made,
When Tytans Issue did the Heav'ns inuade.
And Men (since them) who great things enterprise,
Before th' attempt, on Altars sacrifice.

Hydra is figur'd with a Cup and Crow.
The reasons why, would be too long to show.
This ougly many-headed Monster, bred
In Lærna, was by Hercules strooke dead.

127

To take the length of three whole Signes 't is said,
Cancer, the Lion, and the Heauenly Maid.

The Stars of Piscis, whom we Notius call,
Are twelue in number, and Meridionall.
It, with a yawning mouth seemes to deuoure
Water Aquarius from aboue doth poure:
Who for a curtesie to Isis done,
A constant place amongst the Stars hath won.
Since whose translation to that glorious Seat,
Of diuers Fish the Syrians will not eat,
But keepe their shapes and figures cast in gold,
And these to be their houshold gods they hold.

The reason why one Circle in the night,
(When all the rest 's blacke, doth alone shine bright,
(And therefore Lacteus call'd) some hold to be;
Iuno vn'wares tooke Hermes on her knee,
Danc't him, sung to him, and vpon him smil'd,
And vow'd she neuer saw so sweet a child:
To take him as her owne she then decreed,
And call'd for milke, the pretty Babe to feed.
But when him to be Maia's Son she knew,
By Iupiter; the Lad from her she threw,
And call'd him Bastard, and began to frowne,
And in her rising cast the Pitcher downe:
Spilt was the Milke, and wheresoe're it lyte,
The place appeares (than all the rest) more white.

The golden Ramme, styl'd Prince of all the Signes,
Rising, his Crest he tow'ards the East inclines,
In th' Æquinoctiall Circle: with his head
Reacheth Deltoton: with his feet doth tread
Vpon the Pistrix. Thus his story was:
Phrixus and Helles, bred from Athamas
And Nebula, were at domesticke strife
With their proud Step-dame, and pursu'd her life.
But thence cast out, into the Woods they came;
Where wandring long, their Mother brought a Ramme,
Who mounting on his backe, she bids them fly:
They take the sea; but soone the winde growes high,
And, the waues troubled: Helles is afraid,
Lets go her hold, and then downe slides the Maid.
The angry billowes her of life bereaue,
She forc't her name vnto that Sea to leaue.

But Phrixus to the Isle of Colchos steeres,
And, when arriv'd, before the King appeares,

128

Who for he had so past and scap'd the Brine,
There offered vp the Beast at Mars his Shrine.
But the rich Fleece, whose euery haire was gold,
(Which did amase King Otta to behold)
He left to him: which with such care he kept,
That to a monstrous Dragon that ne're slept,
He gaue the charge thereof, till Iason landed,
Who the swift Argo at that time commanded:
But by Medea's aid (as most auer)
He bore from Colchos both the Fleece and her.

Some thinke the Ramme therefore immortalis'd,
By reason that when Bacchus enterpris'd
An expedition into Africa,
And was distrest for water by the way;
A Ram was seene out of the Sands to make,
Whom they pursu'd, but could not ouertake,
Till he had brought them vnto Fountaines cleare;
Which hauing done, he did no more appeare.
Bacchus, who thought him as Diuinely sent,
Because his Army was nigh tyr'd and spent
With heate and thirst; and by that means preserv'd,
Who else in that wilde Desart had been starv'd:
To Iupiter call'd Ammon, there erected
A stately Temple; and withall directed,
(His Statue rear'd) that for the Beasts more grace,
They on his forehead two Rams hornes should place,
(For so we finde him figur'd.) Why the Bull
Hath place aboue? Some thinke, because Ioves Trull
Europa, he from Sidon into Creet
Transwafted; whilest the waue ne're toucht her feet.

Some hold him rather for that Beast of note,
On whom Pasiphae did so madly dote.
Others, for Iö, in an Heifers shape
By Iove transform'd, Queene Iuno's rage to scape.
The reason is, because the head's sole seene;
The hinder parts as hid behinde a Skreene.

He lookes vpon the East, and in his face
The Hyades (fiue Sisters) haue their place.
They, Nurses vnto Bacchus haue been thought,
Call'd the Dodonean Nymphs, and thither brought
By his great Power. Nor are they seen in vain,
Who neuer rise but they portend some raine.
They were call'd Atlas Daughters; and tooke name
From their sole brother Hyas, who to tame

129

A Lion striuing, was depriv'd of breath;
For whom the Sisters wept themselues to death.

The Pleiades, they be in number seuen,
Deare Sisters, and together shine in heauen.
Six only seen at once. The reason why?
Six with the gods congrest: but one did ly
With Sisiphus a Mortall: for which reason
She hides her face, as had she done some treason.

The Gemini, who louingly embrace,
Take on the right hand of Auriga place,
Aboue Orion, who his rise begins
In the mid place betwixt the Bull and Twinnes.
Such as deepe knowledge in the Stars professe,
Castor and Pollux call them. Others ghesse
Them to be Zetus and Amphion, who
Were most kinde Brothers. To which some say no,
But that Triptolimus and Iasion claime
Scite in that Orbe, and in the Heauens the name.
But of the first th' opinion best doth please,
And that they are the two Tindarides,
Brothers to Hellen; two the most entire
That e're could yet boast of Cœlestiall Fire.
They in their life the Seas from Pyrats freed:
And after death, it was by Iove decreed,
To set them so, that from their glorious Sphere
They may behold what euer is done there.
To curle or calme the Ocean they haue power;
To cleare the Aire, or dampe it with a shower;
To tosse the Robbers ships on shelues and sands,
And steere the Merchants safe to forrein lands.
In Wracks they can preserue, in stormes appease;
No stars haue more dominion on the Seas:
O're which th' are knowne to beare such watchfull eies,
That when one sets, the other's seene to rise.

The Æstiue Circle Cancer doth diuide
Iust in the middle; but a little wide
From Hydra (yet aboue) his eyes reflect
Directly on the Lions sterne aspect.
But why the Crab should be allow'd his Sphere,
It may be askt? I'le tell you what I heare.

When mighty Hercules did vndertake
To combat Hydra, neere the Lernian Lake;
As with his club he made the Monster reele,
This crept behinde and pincht him by the heele.

130

At which the Prince (more angry for bee'ng stayd
In his hot fight) lookt backe to see what aid
Hydra had got: and when the Crab he spy'd,
(A Worme so base) his fury was supply'd.
Then, with a looke of anger mixt with scorne,
He stamp'd vpon 't, vntill he saw it torne
And shatter'd all to pieces, with one spurne
Halfe burying it in th' earth. Then did he turne
Againe vpon the Monster; nor withdrew,
Till Hydra (with her numerous heads) he slew.
This seene by Iuno, who the Crab had sent
To vex the Heroë; she incontinent
The limbes disperst did suddenly combine,
And plac'd it one amongst the Twelue to shine;
Who beares vpon him Stars that shine (but dull)
Call'd Asini; yet make his number full.

The cause of their translation, thus we read:
When all the gods assembled, and made head
Against the Gyants, (in that glorious war
Where hills and rockes were tost and throwne from far)
It is remembred how, amongst the rest,
To take the gods part, Liber Pater prest
Satyres and Sylvanes: Shepheards he from Pan,
And Neatheards tooke: not sparing god nor man
That neere to him were knowne to haue abode;
Not his owne Priests, and they on Asses rode.
Now when the battell was to ioyne, the cry
On both sides 'gan to mount vp to the Sky:
At which the poore beasts much affrighted, they
Aboue the rest, were loudly heard to bray.
The Gyants hearing it, not knowing whence
That noise should come; began to hatch suspence,
How Iove had made of such strange Monsters choice,
Whose strengths perhaps might match that horrid voice:
Which made them faint and fly. Away they ran;
And by this means the gods the battell wan.
For which, those Asses which so loud had bray'd,
Lights (though but dull) were then for Cancer made.

Leo, whose looke doth bend vnto the West,
Seems as he did vpon the Hydra rest,
Not far from Cancer; in his Sphere so put,
His middle doth the Æstiue Circle cut:
And is amongst the Signes the Noblest held,
In greatnesse too to haue the rest excel'd.

131

Him in Nemea Iuno's said to breed,
In constant hope that he should after feed
On Hercules; whom sternly she did hate,
Him seeking by all means to insidiate.
But when they came to grapple, he (before
Scarce thought of) vnaffrighted at his rore,
Gaue him a braue encounter; and so faire,
That one hand tangled in his curled haire,
His other on his throat he fastned sure;
And thus they wrestled, who should long'st endure.
His clawes he fixt vpon Alcides Brawnes,
And roar'd so, that he shooke the Woods and Lawnes:
He tore the flesh till the bare bone was seene;
Still the bold Heroë, swell'd with noble spleene,
Kept fast his hold: nor could the Lions grin
(Though terrible) the least aduantage win,
But that he shooke him by the throat, the beard,
Gnasht teeth 'gainst teeth, and was no more afeard.
At length the Lion (almost spent) began
To abate his rage: when this Heroicke man
Redoubled ire on fury, till asham'd,
A Beast by him should be so long vntam'd;
Although invulner'd, he put all his strength
Into one gripe, so strangled him at length:
Then cast him on the ground (scarce seene to sprall)
Being said to make an earthquake in his fall.
Iuno when she beheld her Lion slaine,
Willing his memory should still remaine,
Prepar'd him place in the high Architect,
Where to this day he keepes his sterne aspect.

The Virgin hath beneath Boötes, sted,
Who seemes to driue his Chariot o're her head;
Towa'rds the backe part of Leo she doth shine,
And with her right hand touch the Æstiue Line
She doth: part of her body (seene by chance)
Aboue the Crow and Hidra's head aduance.

Now, who she was, 'tis fit we should enquire.
From Iupiter and Thetis some desire
To claime her birth. Some thinke (and those of name)
She from Ascræus and Aurora came.
Some, That shee's Altergatis, are assur'd;
And others, Fortune; since her head's obscur'd.
Some, Ceres, on whom Proserpine was borne,
(As holding in her hand fresh eares of corne.)

132

Others, her life from Iove and Themis giue;
And say she in the golden World did liue:
As then call'd Iusta: And in her yong dayes,
Nation 'gainst Nation did not forces raise,
To inuade each other: no man then for gaine
Dar'd in a thin rib'd barke to crosse the maine:
No craft was knowne, no fraud was vnderstood.
The vdders of their cattell leant them food;
The Fleece their garment, only to defend
From winde and weather, (for no other end
Was cloathing made) Pride was a Monster then,
Vnheard, vnthought; one fashion was to men,
Women another: for no change they knew,
One garb they kept, and studied nothing new.
None idle was, but liv'd by his owne sweat:
The brooke their drinke; the herbs and roots their meat.
And in those dayes did Iustice reigne sole Queene;
Through all her Court no vice was knowne or seene.
The graue Nobilitie that her attended,
Were from the first most antient House descended;
And all ally'd: Wisedom the Kingdome guided;
And for the Houshold Industry prouided:
Good Prouidence, a man well strook in yeeres,
Ey'd the whole State, and sate amongst her Peeres.
Labour was then a Lord in great request,
Saw nothing want, and claim'd place with the best.
Sinceritie, and Puritie in heart,
In Counsell sate; and these did claime a part
In all her iust proceedings: nothing past
The Table, but by them was first and last
Consider'd of. Her Women that did wait,
Were faire, but simple and immaculate:
Humilitie was one, Chaste Loue another,
And Bashfulnesse a third: These from their Mother
Vertue, a most vnblemisht breeding had,
All bent on Good, as knowing nothing bad.
Zeale and Innocuous Truth became the State;
For none but such did on her person wait.

But when Pride first made her ascent from hell,
To take the Worlds suruey, she 'gan to swell;
And in her tumerous thoughts presum'd to raigne
O're the whole Earth, the Aire, and boundlesse Maine:
With insolent vaine hope to atchieue at last,
(by force) that high place whence she first was cast.

133

Of most assured victorie she vaunts,
When she behold her six Concomitants,
Gluttony, Wrath, Sloath, Envy, Auarice,
Lust; and no one but a notorious Vice,
And able in their owne power to subdue
Mankinde at once, when they shall come in view.
These setting forward in this proud ostent,
Began to fight, and conquer'd as they went:
Few scap'd their fury, sauing those that fled;
And Pride since domineeres in Iustice stead;
Who when she saw those Fiends began to sway,
(For all her subiects were now made their pray.)
The earth quite left, vp to the Heauen she soar'd,
Where, by some good men she is still ador'd.
But reigning there in such high eminence,
She by no prayers can since be drawne from thence.

Some say, Apollo did beget this Maid
Of Chrisotheme; and her Name is said
To be Parthenon: but we are not bound
To credit such as write vpon no ground.
Others, the daughter to Icarius,
Erigone; whose story I reade thus:

When Bacchus trauell'd in an humane shape,
To teach men know the sweetnesse of the Grape,
And so to encourage them to plant the Vine
(As then vnknowne) his course he did encline.
After a tedious long itineration,
To where Icarius had his habitation
With his faire Daughter: he being one of qualitie,
Receiv'd him with such liberall hospitalitie,
That Liber Pater at his parting thence,
(To shew his gratitude) in recompence,
Left with him certain vessels fill'd, and bad,
When he and his their full contentment had;
He the Grapes vertue should to others tell,
And by the taste shew wherein 't did excell.
So left him. After, his obsequious Host,
From his owne Countrey, to the Atticke coast
Made expedition, with a Cart or Waine
Laden with Wine; with no more in his traine,
Than she, and his Dog Mera. Those he met
First with, were certaine Shepheards newly set
To a spare dinner. Here he thought to rest:
But first, because he would augment their feast,

134

He sent his daughter to a village by,
What in his Scrip was wanting, to supply.
The Swaines all bad him welcome in a word,
And told him, what their bottles could afford,
He might command, (coole water from the Well.)
He thank'd them first; and then began to tell,
What a sweet tasted juice he had in store,
Presuming, such they neuer dranke before.
So bad them try, and not the vertue doubt:
They did so; and the Mazer went about.
No one but now on this new liquor dotes,
And sweares, the like went neuer downe their throtes.
They from a taste, a deeper draught desire;
And each one striues, his elbow to lift higher.
Still as they more desir'd, the more he drew,
And dranke so long vntill the ground lookt blew.
Nay after that, they bad him still supply them:
He now through feare, not daring to deny them,
Fill'd vp their woodden dish ev'n to the brim;
Vntill at length their braines began to swim,
Supposing the ground shooke; and much ado
They had to stand, each man appearing two.

Being thus 'toxt, they 'gan to apprehend,
That they were poyson'd, and now neere their end.
Therefore before their deaths, they all agreed
To be reueng'd on him that did the deed.
And with this wicked resolution, tooke
Their staues in hand, and at the good man strooke.
One, with his sheep-hooke aiming at his head,
And thinking with one blow to strike him dead;
Not guiding well his weapon in that state,
Mist him, and hit his fellow on the pate.
A second threats him with a deadly wound;
But his arme swaruing, only beats the ground.
A third saith, Fie, can you not guide your blowes?
And stepping forward, tumbleth on his nose.
Let me come (saith a fourth) with my pell mell:
And with that word, fell ouer him that fell.
A fift saith, Nay, 'tis I must cracke his crowne:
But turning round, he strooke the next man downe.
And then a fixt with fury yawn'd and gap'd;
But by indenturing, still the good man scap'd.

O, but alas his fate was come! and now
All guirt him round, and (though nor where nor how

135

Their blowes were aim'd or fell, they could deuise,
Themselues being batter'd both in face and eyes)
Icarius, whose life they had in chace,
(Poore man) was only found dead in the place.

And then their fury somewhat did appease:
The wine still working, sleepe began to seise
Vpon their eye lids; which they tooke for death,
Now giuing summons, to their parting breath.
Bee'ng friends and neighbours, ready to forsake
The world, a solemne leaue they needs must take
Amongst themselues: and well as they could stand,
They aime to take each other by the hand;
But by the weaknesse of their knees and feet,
Although their hands misse, yet their foreheads meet:
And so they make a staggering shift to embrace
And bid farewell (to one anothers face.)
In drunken teares their parting they deplore,
From that day forward neuer to see more:
Their soules departing now they know not whether:
So, their legs failing, fall asleepe together.

Mera the Dog in th' interim, when he found
His Master to lie dead vpon the ground,
Lookes in his face, doth mourning, by him sit;
(Who in the skirmish had both bark'd and bit.)
Then runnes to finde his Mistresse. When he meets her,
In stead of whining, he with howling greets her;
And that too, so vntunable and shrill,
She doubts it the presage of some great ill.
His taile he wags not, as he wonted erst,
Her tender heart, his looke deiected pierst.
At meeting, he, whose custome still had bin
To fawne and leape, and with a smiling grin
To entertaine her; now with a sad frowne
Doth vsher her the way, (his head cast downe)
And oft lookes backe in such a pitteous guise,
She may perceiue teares dropping from his eyes:
Which, passion in her rather did prouoke,
Because he lookt as if he would haue spoke;
For all the waies he could, he striv'd to tell,
How by those bloudy Swaines her Father fell.

And thus the Damsell followed her sad Guide,
Vnto the place where all the grasse was dy'de
With her deare fathers bloud, (he pale and wan;)
She falls vpon him, striuing if she can

136

To revoke life. But finding at the last,
It was as vaine, as call backe day that's past;
She silent sate, and so the Dog did too;
From her obseruing what he ought to do.
'Tis worthy note, their griefe at this disaster,
She for a Father, Mera for a Master:
If she cry'd out and shreek'd; he howl'd, and so,
As if he would out-do her in her wo.
Then vp she rose; and he starts vp, to see
What she intends. Who then vpon the tree
Beneath which the Coarse lay, casts vp her eye,
Weary of life, and now resolv'd to die.
Then from her knees her garters she vnty'de,
And of them both she makes a knot to slide:
The noose she puts about her necke, prepares
For speedy death. The Dog vpon her stares,
Wondring what shee's about she sees her clime,
And (as he fear'd the worst) now thinks it time
To preuent further mischiefe; from his throat
First sends an howle; then catches by her coat.
Thinking to plucke her backe: but she more quicke,
Ascends; the piece still in his teeth doth sticke,
Torne from the rest. And she hath leisure now,
(By tying fast her garters to a bow)
Her selfe to strangle. There she dangling hung:
At which the Curre a new blacke Santus sung;
Did first on th' one, then on the other stare,
(Him dead on earth, her dying in the aire.)
Dispairing then of both, he runnes among
The drunken Swaines, the cause of all this wrong,
(Who still lay sleeping:) One he bites by th' eare;
Another takes by th' nose; and a third teare
By th' leg and arme; where-euer his teeth light,
Bloud followes after: what is next in sight
He fastens; and withall, such noise did make,
That now (the Wine left working) all awake.
Who rows'd, and stretching of themselues, began
To recollect what past: They spy'd the Man
Lie dead, whom they had murder'd; and the Maid
New hang'd vpon the tree. At which afraid,
(As toucht in conscience) from the place they fled:
But still the Dog remain'd to guard the Dead.

Obserue Heav'ns justice in reuenge of guilt,
And care of bloud innocuous, to be spilt.

137

Bacchus (whom Liber Pater else we call)
So at their deaths griev'd, and incenst withall;
As that th' Athenian Damsels and choice Maids
With such a desperat frensie he inuades,
No night could passe, but of those best ally'd,
Some one or other by their owne hands dy'd.
Therefore vnto the Oracle they send,
To know by what meanes they the gods offend
In such high nature? And withall entreat,
How they may stop a punishment so great.

Answer's return'd, That plague was sent because
They (both against Diuine and Humane lawes)
Had suffered two such to be rest of breath,
And they neglected to reuenge their death.
Resolued of this doubt, they study now,
Neglect, and all contempt to disavow.
Their bodies they enquire, giue them humation;
Build them a monument; an inundation
Of teares is spent, the gods wrath to appease:
By search the Murd'rers are found out, they seise
Vpon their persons; iudge them to be lead
To the same place, there hang'd till they be dead.

This done, they vndertake to plant the Vine,
And of their Tombe, late rear'd, they make a Shrine;
Where yeare by yeare, the first fruits of the Must
They offer vp to their now rotten dust.
But their two Spirits (which can neuer dye)
The gods commanded to be fixt on high:
Icarius, of Arcturus beares the name:
She the Cœlestiall Virgins place doth claime.
Mera the Dog translated too we finde,
Because he shew'd himselfe to both so kinde;
That future Ages might record him, they
Chang'd him into the Star Canicula.

Libra, that swayes the reins, in equall skale,
Aboue weighes Iustice, lest on earth it faile;
(The vpright ballance of all wholsome Lawes)
'Tis held betweene the Scorpions spatious clawes
(Call'd Chelæ.) It, late Writers solely embrace:
The Antients lend it 'mongst the Twelue no place.

The skaly Scorpion's fixt amongst the rest,
Whose former parts appeare to be so prest
By th' Æquinoctiall Circle, that it showes
As if it did support it. Some suppose

138

It is of such dimension, that the taile
Extendeth to the Circle Hyemal:
The clawes expanded, mighty bredth doe cary,
Spreading themselues beneath the Serpentary.

The cause of it's stellation to enquire,
And why so beautify'd with heauenly fire,
Comes next in course. Some render in account,
It was first seene on the Chilippian Mount,
(An eminent hill in Chios) and there bred,
The insolent Orion to strike dead:
Who, for he brav'd Diana in the chase,
And crost her game (not willing to giue place
To any Female,) making boast withall,
No forrest Beast but by his darts should fall,
'Till they were quite destroy'd; she for his pride
This Scorpion sent, which stung him, and he dy'de.
Then the chaste Goddesse, for this seruice done,
So much from Iove by faire entreaty won,
His body after was transfer'd on high,
And no Signe more apparant in the Sky.

The Sagittary with his bow still bent,
Drawes the string vp to his eare, as with intent
To shoot at random. Further hee's exprest,
With his face alwaies looking tow'ards the West.
He from the feet to shoulders stands within
The Winter Circle: vpwards from the chin
He looks aboue it; and his Bow so plac'd,
As that the Milky path (so often trac'd)
Diuides his bow. He dreadfull is to sight,
As setting headlong, rising still vpright.
Some hold him to be Croton, the sole heyre
Vnto the Muses Nurse (of feature rare)
Euschemes call'd, whom Iove did doat vpon.
Her Sonne was said to enhabit Helicon,
Where with his bow and arrowes hunting still,
All such choice game as he was knowne to kill,
He brought to the nine Sisters, and (the sweat
Wip'd from his face) with them sate downe and eat.
After repast, when they together sung,
Or play'd vpon their Viols, sweetly strung;
He danc'd to them, still keeping time and measure,
With his rare postures adding to their pleasure.
For which, at their request, Iove was content
To allot him that place in the Firmament:

139

And in remembrance of his former skill,
His Bow and Shafts to beare about him still.
The shape equinall doth his speed imply,
Since (rather than to run) he seem'd to fly.

Grim Capricorne erects his horned crest,
Whose horrid looks incline vnto the West:
With bristled curles thicke cloathed is his backe,
And compast with the Circle Zodiacke:
His feet display'd, the Poles may almost span:
Some stile him by the name of Ægipan.
Precipitate he tumbles in his set,
(As hurl'd from high) but riseth without let.
The reason why he was transposed first,
Some hold, because that he with Iove was nurst.
He went with him vnto the Tytans war,
And therefore others thinke him made a Star:
What time his Dam the Goat was likewise sed,
To gain her splendant Orbe. 'Tis she that fed
Iove with her milke. His hinde-parts like a Fish
Are pourtray'd in the Heav'ns: the reason this,

When all the gods below here were assembled,
Typhon (beneath whose burthen the earth trembled)
A mighty Gyant, terrible and grim,
Assaulted them. Who all affraid of him,
Fled, and were hotly follow'd: the pursute
Continu'd long, till they nigh destitute
Of their owne power; the Monster to escape,
Each turn'd themselues into a sundry shape:
Apollo to a Crane; the Aire he takes:
Venus, a Fish; and to the Sea she makes:
Hermes, an Ibis figure doth prouide:
And Mars turnes Pigmee, lest he should be spyde.
The chaste Diana much amaz'd thereat,
Is forc'd to change her selfe into a Cat.
Iuno, for feare, forgets her scoulding now,
Appeares 'fore Typhon like a simple Cow.
Bacchus into a Goat; and Iove a Ramme,
By which means safely he to Ægypt came:
Since in his flight, part of the seas he crost,
Some thinke those skales vpon his skin embost.

Ith' Winter Circle doth Aquarius stand,
And points to Capricorne with his left hand;
But with his right to Pegasus doth straine,
Seeming to catch and hold fast by his maine.

140

His obiect is the East; and in his Rise,
His head is first seene, whilest his body lies
Oscur'd some while. Hee's call'd Hyppochoön,
Whom some take to be Ganimed, the son
To Troylus and Callirroë; whose sweet feature
(Scarce to be matcht in any second creature)
Iove was enamour'd of: and whilst he stray'd
On Ida Mount, and with his fellowes play'd;
Sent downe his Ægle (soaring then ith' Skye)
Who snatch'd him thence, and bare him vp on hye.

Some take him for Deucalion, and the ground,
Because when in the Deluge all were drown'd,
Saue He and Pyrra (for those Iove ador'd)
He caus'd, that by them Mankinde was restor'd.

Others would haue him Aristæus, striue
From Cyrene and Apollo to deriue
His breeding. Further say, she was comprest
In the mount Orpheus: which is also ghest
To be Cyrenis. Write him nobly fam'd
For finding Agriculture: He proclaim'd,
To teach men how to plow, sow, plant, and till;
So that they reap'd great profit by his skill.
[Who when he had by obseruation found,
That when the fruits waxt ripe vpon the ground,
The Pest-infusing Dog-star, Mil-dewes sent,
And strange rots, from his rayes malevolent;
Which prov'd not only o're the Graine to haue power,
And Heards and Flocks with Murraines to deuoure;
But by his euer ill-dispos'd aspect,
Mens bodies with diseases to infect:]
Made suit vnto the gods (but Neptune chiefe)
They would be pleas'd to asswage this common griefe.
To which they gaue assent, and order'd so,
That when this bad Star rose, cold winds should blow,
For forty dayes together; by encrease
Of whose pure gusts, th' infection past, might cease.
Which done, the gods amongst themselues agreed,
By joint consent, to inuest him for the deed.

The one of the two Fishes some define
Boræus; plac'd betwixt the Æstiue Line
And th' Æquinoctiall: fixt (they likewise say)
Beneath the right arme of Andromeda,
Eying the Articke Pole. Th' other hath scite
(Call'd Notius) in the Zodiacke, and shoots light

141

Not far from th' Æquinoctiall Line. The last
Call'd Boreal; the first, Austral (so th' are plac't.)

These, in the floud Euphrates an egge found,
Of an huge bignesse, in the riuer drown'd:
Which from the Deepe they 'twixt them gently bore,
And layd it dry and safe vpon the shore.
That a Doue hatcht: and from it Syria came
(That goddesse which we Venus likewise name.)
Who this their kindnesse bearing still in minde,
Sought some faire opportunitie to finde,
To shew her gratitude: and then being great
With Iupiter, of him she did intreat,
He would be pleas'd, their goodnesse to requite,
By whom her birth and being came to light.
He, who the goddesse nothing could deny,
To send her pleas'd thence, fixt them in the Sky,
Where with a radiant fulgence either shines,
Both making one of the Cœlestiall Signes.
Since when, these people, rather than to tast
That kind of Fish, haue vow'd perpetuall Fast:
And with such reuerence they all Doues intreat,
To die themselues, ere these Birds kill and eat.
But let me not (ô Courteous Reader) wrong
Thy patience, with insisting here too long:
I will not bring Philosophers to brall
And quarrell 'bout the Worlds originall.
Of which, their curious Censures some haue past,
That this was euer, and shall euer last.
Others, That many worlds haue bin 'tofore;
And this bee'ng ended, wee shall still haue more.
Some Heretickes so impudently bold,
To draw their grounds from Scripture. These of old
Haue by Authentique Authors been confuted,
Therefore not needfull here to be disputed.

The World it selfe doth to all Tongues proclaime
It's owne first off-spring, and from whence it came.
Ith' Elements first: As thus; The Earth doth shift
Into the Water, (by th' Almighties Gift;)
Aire into Fire doth passe, (as 'tis exprest;)
Aire into Water too. So of the rest.
And yet this permutation cannot be,
But in the course of Time. Now all agree,
Time, of all Motion to be the true Measure:
And where is Motion, cannot be the Treasure

142

Of Durabilitie, and alwaies lasting.

We either see the swelling Ocean hasting,
To fill his Tyde, or to his Ebbe decline:
(There's no cessation in the mouing Brine.)
Sometimes the gentle Aire blowes coole and soft:
Sometimes againe the Whirle-windes beat aloft.
As now the Moone doth in her Waine appeare,
And then some few nights after fills her Sphere.
The Sunne is in perpetuall trauell: so
The Stars: nay euen the Herbs and Plants that grow.
Of what the Earth yeelds, or from Heauen is leant,
“Time is the sole producting Instrument.

This being prov'd, now let vs, if you please,
Examine Time, whilest we consider these.
We reade, how they which sacrificed first,
Religious Abel were, and Cain th' Accurst.

The antient Writer Philo doth make mention,
That Letters had from Abraham their inuention:
Which he the Chaldæans and Phœnicians tought.
These (after) Linus from Phœnicia brought,
And spread in Greece. Cadmus, some say, deuis'd them,
And within Tixteene Characters compris'd them.
To which, they say, Palamides added foure:
Simonides to them, as many more.

Memnon spake Hierogliphycks, thinking so,
To instruct men a neerer way to know.
Another, Writing taught; so by degrees,
First from Palme leaues, then to the rindes of trees,
They grew to Paper and to Pens. Some Rhyme,
Some writ in Prose. All these produc't by Time.

At first, th' Arcadians vpon Acornes fed,
And, saue the Earth, look'd for no softer bed.
Dainties and Downe were both as then vnknowne:
Whence then is our Effeminacie growne;
Now in such vse? Those Surfets we desire?
Superfluous Fare, and Pydenesse in Attyre?
When our first Parents were in skin-coats clad;
(For better Weeds then, were not to be had.)
No food saue Fruits; no drinke saue Water small,
“Time, still in motion, hath produc'd these all.

For, grant that Man from euerlasting were,
Without beginning: How may it appeare
He spent his dayes? Triptolemus, we reade,
And Ceres, were the first that deuis'd Bread.

143

What did they eat before? An idle kinde
Of Creatures sure they were, that could not finde
The vse of Garments, nor of wholsome Food;
With infinite things, since practis'd, and held good.
They built no Cities; for all such of Name,
Knowne Historie directs vs whence they came:
And both by whom, and in whose reignes erected.
Rhemus and Romulus the place selected,
In which to plant great Rome. Paris, that is
Of populous France the chiefe Metropolis,
Paris the Trojan built; after the firing
Of famous Troy, thither himselfe retyring
With Francon one of Hectors noble Sons:
For so the Chronicle with Carion runs.
Naples (that we Parthenope haue read)
Was founded by the warlike Diomed.
Parma, by Trojan Chrysus, Pallas friend.
Ancona likewise boasts her to descend
From the Thessalian Dolopes. Florence grew
From Scilla's souldiers, who did first make new
Those stately walls. Carthage Queene Dido rear'd;
If Virgil or Eusebius may be heard.
Troy, from King Troös. Thebes, from Busiris came.
Of Genoa, Genuinus layd the frame,
(Yong Phaëtons companion.) Brixium, Verona,
Patauia, Aquilæa, Barcelona,
Rhodes, Malta, Nicomedia, Sarragosa,
Venetia, Placentia, and Tolosa:
These for the rest suffice; the Ages tell them
Of their vaine errors, and withall refell them.

The first is by all Writers vnderstood,
From the Creation to the generall Floud.
The next, from Noah to Abrahams birth accounted.
The third, from him to Dauids time amounted.
The fourth, from Dauids dayes, fell iust vpon
The Iewes Captiuitie in Babylon.
The fift, from faire Ierusalems surprise
By Nabuchadnezzar, doth iust arise
Vnto our Sauiors blessed Incarnation.
The sixt descends to this last Generation.
And though some Histriographers diuide
These into Seuen; by Eusebius 'tis deny'de,
And diuers others: all in this agreeing,
(Though not in number) That the World had being

144

In Adam and our Grandam Eve, created
By Gods owne hand; in Paradise instated:
That most of all those many yeares are past,
And, That this Age we liue in is the last.

Grammer, in Greece was by Prometheus sought,
And after was to Rome by Crates brought,
Before the time of the third Punicke warre.
Of Rhetoricke, these the Deuisers are,
Tysias, which Corax after did refine;
With Gorgias, syrnamed Leontyne.

Cleanthes was the first Logicke profest;
Crisippus, Daphila; and 'mongst the rest
Numbred, Dionisodore and Euthidemus were.
The art of Memorie did first appeare
In old Simonides. Euclides found
Geometry: And Sapho layd the ground
Of Musicke; or as some, Thersander will:
Others, Pythoclides. Physickes first skill
Serapius claimes. And Apis, Ægypts King,
To be of Surgerie the source and spring.
Noah, the Ship: and Mercury the Lyre.
Pyseus was the ground of Musicke higher,
Namely the Trumpet. Thales (most haue said)
Was he, the Horologe deuis'd and made.
Astrologie, Anaximander taught:
Pictures and Statues, first Cleanthes wrought.
Chiron, of Herbs and Simples searcht the cause,
With their true vertue. And the first made Lawes
Was Rhadamant. Bacchus did plant the Vine:
And Tharsus vnto Cities, Walls assigne:
Which after, the Cyclopians did adorne
With sumptuous Turrets. The first vse of Corne,
Queene Ceres: Ninus, War: the art of Minting,
And vse of Coine, did Æginata: Printing,
Iohn Gutenburgh. But he that first did finde
That Diuelish enemie to all Mankinde,
Pouder, the Gun and Bombard; his great'st fame
Is, That to future Times he left no Name.

Nay, haue there not new Worlds been found of late?
'Gainst their opinions, who did intimate
There could be no Antipodes. All concur,
(After much factious arguing and huge stur,
By antient Sophists and Philosophers broacht)
That such who either on more Worlds incroacht,

155

Or would th' Eternitie of this maintaine,
Are meere erronious, fabulous, and vaine.
Yet note how cunningly some dare dispute,
Presuming on a knowledge absolute.

Of the Intelligences in their kinde,
The perfectest and best dispos'd, we finde,
Is, their Cœlestial Orbs and Circles still
To keepe in motion; causing them fulfill
Their naturall office: To which purpos'd end,
Their perfectnesse and goodnesse they extend.
For 'tis the nature and the propertie
Of truly Good and Perfect, still to be
Indulgent to th' Inferior, and their State
To them, in some sort, to communicate.
And from this Spring or Fountaine, mannag'd so,
All finall Causes and Efficients flow.

Now if the World, with all contain'd therein,
Eternally before Time hath not bin,
Then these Intelligences, for a space,
Beyond all computation (though in place)
Had idle been, by which 'tis vnderstood;
In that they neither perfect are nor good.

Proceeding further; God and Nature striue,
In all the works they fashion or deriue,
To make things for the best. Now who but knowes,
'Twas better for the World, (in their dispose)
And the more noble worke, To haue been euer,
And so vnto Eternitie perseuer;
Than once not to haue been, (as many say)
And so in time to perish and decay.

Besides, what was made new, might haue been don
In space precedent, before Time begun;
And so from all Eternitie: and God
(Who hath from Euerlasting his aboad;
Whose Potencie and Wisedome we adore)
Vnchanged is, nor can be lesse or more.
And therefore since To be, is better held,
Than Not to be, (which cannot be refell'd;)
So better 'tis, (with reason best agreeing)
The World to haue euer bin, than not to had being.
And so by consequence, alwaies remaine,
Much better, than to be dissolv'd againe.
To conclude which, this graue Philosopher
(By most approued Testates) doth infer

146

Common consent; because none can deny,
But Heav'n to be the Seat of the Most High.
Then, if He be eternall? needs must be
The Mansion which receiues him, old as He.
This onely I haue drawne from Infinites:
Now heare of him, what learn'd Procopius writes.

He that all Natures secrets seem'd to know,
And of vnsounded Learning made great show;
Standing vpon the Nigroponticke shore,
And there obseruing then (with diuers more
Of his owne Sect) how seuen times in one day
It eb'd and flow'd, to their great wonder: they
Demanding from him to be satisfy'de
Of this Afflux and Reflux (Ebbe and Tyde)
The naturall reason: he after long pause,
Not able to resolue them of the cause,
Vtter'd these words; Nay then, since that I see
I cannot take the Sea, the Sea take me:
And from the promontorie where he stood,
Without more stay, he leapt into the Floud.
Now how could he, vncapable to pry
Into a Naturall cause, himselfe comply
To search into that darke and hidden Treasure,
Which is vnbounded, vast, and without measure?
Retyre to Reason, on which they erect
The weake frame of their falling Architect.
What consonance with Reason can there be,
But in so long a perpetuitie,
So many Miriads of yeares; but needs
They must haue knowne what later time new breeds,
Within few thousands? They that wade so far
Into these curiosities, but mar
What they would seeme to make; What vndeuis'd
Is left to vs? or what vnenterpris'd?
Vnlesse their braines they yet would stretch more hye,
And practise how with Dædalus to flye?
To walke inuisible? or by their breath
To make fraile man vncapable of Death?
Great is the confidence (I well might say
Presumption) that these Bodies, Dust and Clay,
Ambitiously assume; who dare aspire,
After things Supernaturall to enquire,
Striuing (if possible) themselues to inuest
Euen in the secrets of th' Almighties brest.

147

What madnesse is it for an heauy load
Of putred Flesh, that onely hath aboad
Here in the lower world, (deny'd by Nature)
Or to adde to, or take off, from his stature;
Being debar'd all possible means to fly,
Or mount himselfe betwixt the Earth or Sky?
Either like bold aspiring Phaeton,
To aime at the bright Chariot of the Sun?
Or with his waxen wings, as Icarus did,
Attempt what God and Nature haue forbid?
What is this lesse, than when the Gyants stroue
To mutiny and menace war 'gainst Iove?

This notwithstanding, plainely doth demonstrate
A great Nobilitie in Mans conceit;
Whose Apprehension, howsoeuer rude,
Yet is still aiming at such Altitude.
Yet note how these, who others would haue school'd,
In seeming most wise, most themselues haue fool'd.
Euen Diuine Plato blusht not to attest,
(Yet he for iudgement honour'd 'boue the rest)
That he in Athens, and the selfe same place
In which he then taught, with much loue and grace;
Had read the selfe same Lectures, yeares ago
Full fifteen thousand, adding some few mo;
And the like terme of yeares expir'd, agen
In the same Schoole he should appeare as then;
To the same Scollers reading the same things.
Obserue but what this ouer-weening brings,
Meere folly, if not madnesse: To the Wise
('Mongst many others) let what's spoke suffice.

But why should I end here, and not discusse
The ground, how Plato came besotted thus.
There is a yeare, that in Times large progresse
Is Annvs Magnvs call'd: Others, no lesse
Trauell'd that way, it Annvs Veryens call:
And some, Annvs Mvndanvs: These are all
The knowne names giuen it; and in this 'tis sayd,
The Stars and Planets, howsoeuer sway'd,
Be they or fixt, or wandring; in this yeare
Returne to their first state, and then appeare
In their owne Orbs, vnwearied, and instated
As fresh and new as when at first created.

Macrobius thus describes it; Then (saith he)
This Great and Vertent Yeare is, when we see

148

All Stars and Planets brought to their first station,
After their much and long peregrination.

By which they would infer, That all such men
As are now liuing, were existent then
In those past Ages: and hereafter too
Shall in that state subsist which they now doo;
Beare the same names and syrnames, haue the same
Fathers and Mothers, from which we first came;
With the same countrey, fortunes, and appeare
(As long before, and now) so in that yeare,
When it shall come in Times long revolution.
And though of vs there be a dissolution,
It is but for a space: Vicissitude
Shall still from time to time see vs renew'd,
Like these Cœlestial Bodies. How absurd
The tenent is? it scarcely doth affoord
A Schoole-boyes answer. For if this were true,
These Bookes which we write now, before were new;
And by all such as now peruse them, read:
And in the future, hauing long been dead,
When this yeare Vertent comes, we shall againe
Be borne as heretofore; on earth remaine
Iust the same time, and leade the selfe same liues,
Haue the same Neighbours, marry the same Wiues,
Get the same children, haue that house, that land
We now enioy; liue vnder the command
Of the same Soueraigne; see iust iudgement done
On Malefactors, who shall after run
Into like forfeit; by that Iudge be try'de,
And dye againe where they before-time dy'de.
To buy, to sell, to build, all that we see
Here done, once was, and shall hereafter be:
And to reduce all parcels to one summe,
So the past Cataclisme must againe come.
Yet these most fabulous assertions, tho
They sweetned Plato, with a many mo
Reputed wise; were by them that respected
Reason 'boue Will, exploded and reiected:
In that, reputing the Professors Fooles;
And their Positions hist out of the Schooles.
The Iewish Rabbins likewise held them vaine:
And I leaue this, to touch an higher straine.

Nihil notum in Terra: Nihil Ignotum in Cœlo. Bern.

189

A Meditation vpon the former Tractate.

True God, true Life, From, By, In whom all things
That truly liue, haue Life, (from Thee it springs:)
God, Good, and Fayre, From, By, In whom, what breeds
Goodnesse, or Beautie; all from Thee proceeds.
From whom to Turne, is to fall Miserably:
In whom to Trust, is to stand Constantly:
By whom to Hold, is to rise Instantly.
Whose Faith, vnto good Actions vs accites;
Whose Hope, to Prayer, and Thanksgiuing inuites:
Whose Charity, Vs vnto Him vnites.

Who to all wretched sinners hath thus spoken:
Aske? haue, Seeke? finde: but Knocke, and I will open.
Whom none can Lose, that to the Right doth leane:
None Seeke, but Cal'd; none Find, but he that's Cleane.
To Know whom, is to Liue: Serue whom, to Raigne:
Praise whom, the Soules eternall Blisse to gaine:

Thou art the God all potent, Keeper alone,
Of all that hope in Thee; without whom none
Can safety find, or be from danger free.
“O! Thou art God, and there is none saue Thee,
In Heauen aboue, or in the Earth below.
Inscrutable things, and wonders great, wee know,
Thou work'st, of which no number can be made.
Praise, Honour, Glorie, (More than can be said,)
Belong to thee. Thou in thy Counsels darke,
First mad'st the World, and after Moses Arke,
To patterne it: that man in It might see
The former glorious Structure fram'd by Thee.

The Sunne, the Moone, the Stars, the Planets seauen,
Pleiades, Arcturus, all the Host of Heauen,
Thy mighty hand created: Times and Seasons
Thou hast for vs appointed; of which, Reasons
Cannot by man be giuen: (who hath presum'd
Of Worlds before, and after this consum'd,

190

More to succeed.) Thy Wisdome all things knowing,
Finds these to be but fancies, meerely growing
From Curiositie; and can affourd
No shape of truth from thy most sacred Word:
From which, let no vaine boaster be so madde,
As the least jot, to take, or ought to adde.
Make it to vs the onely Rule and Square
By which to guide our actions, and prepare
Our meditations solely to incline;
But from that Centre to deriue no Line.
So shall those Soules thou hast so dearely bought,
Be perfect, and we praise thee as we ought.

As far as th' East is distant from the West,
Remoue our sinnes from vs: In euery brest
Plant (in their stead) all Goodnesse. God Immense,
(Whose smallest Attribute, passeth humane sence;
From whom, In whom, By whom, All things subsist,
Visible, and vnseene: who as thou list,
Thy Worke About dost compasse; Within, fill;
Couer Aboue; Below, supportest still.)
Keepe vs, the worke of Thine owne hands, and free
(Whil'st wee put Hope, and Confidence in Thee.)
Vs from all euill, guard vs we Thee pray,
Here, Euery where, at this Time, and for Aye,
Behind, Before, Within dores, and Without,
Aboue, Below, and guirt vs, Round about.

So wee with lips and hearts vnfeign'd, (ô King)
To Thee (for all thy benefits) will sing
This Hymne. O Holy, Holy, Holy: Thee
Wee do Inuoke, ô Blessed Trinitie,
To enter Vs thy Temple; mak't a Place
Worthy thy Inning there, by Diuine Grace.
This, By the Father, Of the Sonne we craue:
This, By the Sonne, good Father, let vs haue.
O Holy Spirit, that this may be done,
Wee Intreat Thee, By the Father, and the Sonne.

Quid noscis, si teipsum nescis? Bucer in Psalm.

193

Lib. 4. The Dominations.

THE ARGVMENT of the fourth Tractate.

What Ternions and Classes be
In the Cœlestiall Hierarchee.
In what degrees they are instated;
How 'mongst themselues concatinated.
Angels and Dæmons made apparant,
By Ethnicks, and the Scriptures warrant.
Of Visions and strange Dreames, that proue
Spirits each where, at all times moue:
Against their infidelitie
That will allow none such to be.
Discourse of Fauour, Loue, and Hate;
Of Poetry, of Deaths estate.
Th' Essence of Spirits; how far they know:
Their power in Heauen and Earth below.

The second Argument.

There is no Power, no Domination,
But from the Lord of our Saluation.

A little further let my Muse aspire,
To take myne eyes from Earth, to looke vp higher,
Vnto the glorious Hierarchy aboue;
The blest degrees in which the Angels moue.
In this, the best Theologists assent,
That they are Substances Intelligent,

194

Immortall, Incorporeall, Mouing still;
Assisting Man, obseruant to Gods will.

In three most blessed Hierarchies th' are guided,
And each into three Companies diuided:
The first is that in which the Seraphims bee,
Cherubims, Thrones; distinct in their degree.
The Seraphim doth in the word imply,
A Feruent Loue and Zeale to the Most-High.
And these are they, incessantly each houre
In contemplation are of Gods great Power.
The Cherubim denotes to vs the Fulnesse
Of absolute Knowledge, free from Humane dulnesse;
Or else Wisedomes infusion. These desire
Nothing, but Gods great Goodnesse to admire.
The name of Thrones, his glorious Seat displaies;
His Equitie and Iustice these still praise.

The second Ternion, as the Schoole relates,
Are Dominations, Vertues, Potestates.
Dominions, th' Angels Offices dispose;
The Vertues (in the second place) are those
That execute his high and holy Will:
The? Potestates, they are assistant still,
The malice of the Diuell to withstand:
For God hath giuen it to their powerfull hand.

In the third order Principates are plac't;
Next them, Arch-Angels; Angels are the last.
The Principates, of Princes take the charge,
Their power on earth to curbe, or to enlarge;
And these worke Miracles. Th' Arch-Angels are
Embassadors, great matters to declare.
Th' Angels Commission hath not that extent,
They only haue vs Men in gouernment.
“God's in the first of these, a Prince of Might:
“He in the second doth reueale, as Light:
“Is in the last, his Graces still inspiring.

To know what's to their Offices requiring;
The formost Ternion hath a reference
To contemplate Gods Diuine Prouidence:
Prescribing what by others should be don.
The office of the second Ternion
Doth his concurring Influence disperse
Vnto the guidance of the Vniuerse;
And sometimes hath a working. Now we know,
The third descends to haue care of things below;

195

Assisting good men, and withstanding those
That shall the rules of Diuine Lawes oppose.

These seuerall Companies before related,
May with good sence be thus concatinated:
First, because Loue, of all things that haue being,
With Diuine Nature is the best agreeing,
As hauing influence and birth from Him;
Therefore the first place hath the Seraphim.

Because from Loue, all Knowledge doth arise,
(For who that loues not God, can be held wise?)
And therefore in it's proper Mansion sits.

The second place the Cherubim best sits:
Because from Loue and Wisedome nothing must
Or can proceed, but what is Good, and Iust.
Therefore the Thrones haue the third place assign'd.
So that to Loue, the Seraphim's inclin'd,
Euen loue vnto the Great and Holy-One:
Cherubim, to Wisedome: Iudgement, to the Throne.

Now because Empire (for so oft it falls)
Must needs submit to Iudgement when it calls;
And that to Empire there of force must be
A Vertue to maintaine that Empiree;
And that this vertue cannot exsist long
Without a Power that is sufficient strong,
Able their molestation to redouble,
That shall this Empire, or this Vertue trouble:
“The second Ternion in these heauenly Bowers,
“Are the Dominions, Vertues, and the Powers.

Further, since Power or Might nothing preuailes,
Whereas a Light illuminating failes;
And this Instruction but two wayes can grow,
By Word or Action: therefore they bestow
The next place on the Principates, as those
Who the most eminent actions still dispose.
Then to th' Arch-Angels, who from the blest Trinity,
The chiefest Principles of our Diuinity
Vnto our deare saluation necessary,
'Twixt heauen and earth immediatly carry.
To th' Angels, last; whose industry extends
To Creatures, Men; and so their Power ends
In things inferior: this is the Oeconomy
Of the most blest and sacred Hierarchy.

Yet notwithstanding some there are, and those
Pretending no small iudgement, that oppose

196

Not onely this faire Order and Degree,
But hold, No Spirits at all, or Angels be.

The Sadduces thus argue; If such were?
We doubtlesse should of their Creation heare,
From Moses, who his first Booke doth begin
Both with the World, and all things made therein;
But makes of them no mention. And againe,
If they be nam'd in Text? 'tis tore straine
Man within moderate bounds, and keepe in awe
Th' Irregular, that would transgresse the Law:
Else, to our dull capacities conuey
(By naming such) things, that our weakenesse may
The better vnderstand. Therefore they blame
Plato, who Spirits doth so often name:
And Socrates, with all the Stoicke Crew,
Who to foole men, and make them thinke they knew
Things hid from others; in ambitious pride
Deuis'd such toyes, neuer exemplify'de.

Besides, if there be Spirits? it implies,
They must be either Friends or Enemies.
If Friends? they would continue vs in health,
Bestow vpon vs Wisedome, Empire, Wealth:
But these, we see, are otherwise obtain'd;
Knowledge and Arts by Industry are gain'd;
Empire, by Vertue; Riches purchac'd are
By Labour; Health, by keeping temperate Fire.

If Enemies? they hourely would extend
Their Powers malevolent, Mankinde to offend;
Especially those that themselues assure
There are none such; and that's the Epicure
And Sadduce; yet these they hate in vaine:
None are from Rocks precipitate, few slaine;
But they with others in like safety stand,
As well secur'd by water, as by land.

But in opinion contrary to these,
Plato, Plotinus, Proclus, Socrates,
Iamblicus, Porphirius, Biton, were;
The first of whom thinke you thus speaking heare:

The Nature that's Intelligible, growes
To nine distinct degrees; which he thus showes:
The first is God; Idea's haue next place;
Soules of Cœlestiall Bodies haue the grace
To be third nam'd, (Intelligences they
Are styl'd;) Arch-Angels in the fourth beare sway;

197

The fift, the Angels; the sixt, Dæmons claime;
Heroes the seuenth; the Principates haue name
In the eighth forme; to Princes doth belong
The ninth and last; Mens Soules are not among
This Catalogue; for these, as they incline
To Vertue or to Vice, he doth confine
Either vnto those Angels that be good,
Or the bad Dæmons, (so hee's vnderstood;)
Being accordingly in that regard
Subiect to sence of torment, or reward.
I'insist on these too long, and now proceed
To proofes more pregnant, such as we shall need.

As God's eternall, void of all dimension,
Not subiect vnto humane apprehension;
And as of all things th' Vniuersall Cause,
Them gouerning: not gouern'd by the Lawes
Of ought which is aboue him. And we finde,
Men, Beasts, and Plants, each Creature in his kinde
Is gouern'd; but it selfe doth beare no sway.
Reason to Truth thus points vs out the way,
That in so distant and remote a state,
Needs must be Creatures intermediate.
And as we see in Nature, bodies be
(As Mettals, Stones, and of like qualitie)
Which haue no life; others againe there are,
As Men and Brutes, that haue in either share.
So betwixt these must be by consequence;
Vnbodied things that haue both life and sence,
And these the Spirits, Dreames will teach vs plaine,
By their euents, that such about vs raine,
To warne vs of the future. Thus we read;
Simonides finding a body dead,
Gaue it due rights of buriall; with intent,
Next day to take leaue of the Continent,
And to be shipt to sea. But the same night,
This body, without terror or affright,
Appear'd to him, and warn'd him to refraine
His purpos'd voyage; for if he the Maine
Prov'd the next day, in that Barke he did hire,
He should by Shipwracke perish and expire.
Forewarn'd, he left his passage; and 'twas found,
The Ship was that day sunke, the people drown'd.
Now whence can any guesse this Vision came,
Vnlesse 't were from a Spirit? for what name

198

Can they else giue it? Sylla in a dreame
Was told, his death was neere: in feare extreame
He wakes, he rises, calls his friends, him state
In order sets; yet all this while no Fate
Did seeme to threat him: neither sence of paine
Had he that time either in breast or braine.
Which his Friends seeing, did his dreame deride:
Yet he that day was apoplext, and dy'de.

Brutus and Cassius in a battell set,
With great Augustus at Philippi met:
The night before the conflict, Cæsar, cras'd,
Kept both his tent and bed; which much amas'd
The generall Host. Marcus Artorius, then
His chiefe Physition, (of all other men
Most chary of his person) in his sleepe
Was by Minerva warn'd, The Prince should keepe
His bed no longer, but in any case
Be in the battels front, the Foe t'outface:
For of this (done or not done) was ensuing
His future safety, or his present ruin.
Augustus was persuaded, left his tent,
And mounted on his steed. Obserue th' euent:
The toile and labour that he tooke that day,
Did not alone his Feuer driue away,
Restoring him to health; but as it hap'd,
Was cause that he a greater danger scap'd.
For Brutus souldiers thinking him still weake,
Did with maine force into the Battell breake;
Seising his Tent, his Bed away they beare,
Presuming still they had Augustus there.

'Tis noted, how Calphurnia did complaine
The very night before her Lord was slaine,
Beseeching him, with sighs and many a teare,
That he the next dayes Senat would forbeare;
Because of her sad dreame, which told his fate.
But he in his ambition obstinate,
Holding such vaine predictions of no force,
With poniards stab'd, was made a liuelesse Corse.

Nay he himselfe not many dayes before,
Dream'd, He was snatcht away from earth, and bore
Aboue the Clouds; where, with Majesticke looke,
To welcome him, Iove by the hand him tooke.

Amilcar, who the Carthaginians led;
Besieging Syracusa, in his bed

199

Him thought, That in his depth of sleepe he saw
A souldier arm'd, inuiting him to draw
His Army neerer; for (his fame to crowne)
He the next night should sup within the Towne.
Encourag'd thus, he early rose next day,
His Carthaginian Ensignes to display;
And gaue a braue assault: and yet he found
But a false Omen, being tooke and bound,
Was to the City led, Fate to fulfill,
Where he both supp'd and lodg'd against his will.

Wise Socrates, the night which did precode
The day that Plato came to heare him reade,
Dream'd, That he saw into his bosome fly
A milke-white Swan, that sung sweet melody.
This at the instant though he did neglect,
Yet on the morrow, pleas'd with his aspect,
He tooke him in his armes, and with extreame
Rapture of ioy, he call'd to minde his dreame.
And though the childe was then of tender age,
Th' euent did aptly fit with his presage.

Nor do I these from prophane Authors cull,
As if the sacred Scriptures were not full
Of like examples; Stories manifold
Are in the Testaments both New and Old.
Ioseph, from his owne Visions did diuine;
And so from Pharaoh's, of the Eares and Kine.
The Baker and the Butler dreamd; it fell
To both of them as Ioseph did foretell.
Nabuchadnezzars Image and his Tree,
Were of such things predictions, as should bee.
God call'd to Samuel in his sleepe, and told
What should betide to Ely, being old.
Like Visions too haue been conferr'd vpon
Good David, and his sonne King Salomon.

And in the Gospell, Ioseph in his rest,
Was bid to take to wife the euer-blest
and holy Virgin. After, To forsake
That Countrey; and his Spouse and Infant take,
And with them into Ægypt make all speed,
Till the Kings death, which shortly did succeed.
We likewise reade, The Wise men of the East
Were in a dreame forewarn'd, to see that Beast
Herod no more; nor turne the way they came.
How many of this nature might I name?

200

As that of Shimeon, and of Pilats wife:
Examples in the holy Text are rife,
And each where frequent. Then there is no doubt
But there are such to leade vs in and out.

In visible forme they likewise haue appear'd,
Been seen to walke, to eat, to drinke, and heard
To speake more oft. Three Abraham did receiue
Into his Tent; and hauing (by their leaue)
First washt their feet, they dranke with him, and eat;
At least vnto his seeming, tasted meat.
An Angell to yong Toby was a friend,
And trauel'd with him to his journies end.
An Angell 'twas, of the Cœlestiall Crew,
That in one night all Ægypts First-borne slew.
When Daniel was with hunger almost dead,
Him in the Lions den an Angell fed.
An Angell came to Lot. An Angell 'twas
Met Balaam, and put speech into his Asse.

Like stories from the Gospell we may gleane,
Both of good Angels, and of Spirits vncleane.
The Angell Gabriel in full forme and fashion
Brought to the Virgin her Annuntiation.
He that before our blessed Sauiour stood,
To bring him comfort when his sweat was blood.
He that from prison did Saint Peter free,
And made that night a Gaole-deliuerie:
He that tooke Philip vp, and to the place
Brought him where then Candaces Eunuchwas;
Those that vnto the women did appeare,
(When Christ was rose from death) in Vesture cleare;
All these were blessed Angels. Of the Bad
We likewise many presidents haue had:
As those with which mens bodies were possest,
Some dumbe, and others speaking; who confest
Our Sauiour to be God. Some deafe; and when
One did torment the wretched Gadaren,
With many other of that hellish Rout,
Whom Christ himselfe extermin'd and cast out.

But now, with leaue, a little to digresse,
To finde some Learned, (or esteem'd no lesse)
What they of Spirits thought. It doth exist
Vpon Record, The Iewish Cabalist
Rabbi Achiba was of constant minde,
(And wrot) We Spirits should in all things finde;

201

In Earth, in euery Riuer, Brooke, and Fountaine;
In Floud, in Well, in Valley, Hill, and Mountaine;
In Plant, Herbe, Grasse, in Shrubs, in euery Tree:
And when these Spirits 'mongst themselues agree,
Earth yeelds aboundance, and affords encrease,
Trees swell with fruits, Fields flourish by this peace:
The Seas are calme, the Riuers wholsome, and
Yeeld Fish in plenty, floating on the sand:
The Aire is temperate. But when they contend,
The Earth growes barren, fruitfulnesse hath end;
Mildewes and Rots destroy both Grasse and Graine,
And then the labouring ploughman toiles in vaine.
Fruits wither on the trees, Riuers rebell,
Leaue bare their channels, or in torrents swell:
The Fountaines grow vnhealthfull, and distaste;
And in this mutinie all runnes to waste.
The mustring Clouds obscure from vs the Sun;
The Heav'ns themselues into disorder run;
By Shoures tempestuous, and rough stormes of Haile,
Then Inundations on the earth preuaile.
The Lightnings flash, and loud-voyc'd Thunders rore,
As if Time, tyr'd, his journey had giuen o're.
Now, as th' agreeing Spirits cause our health,
Pleasure, strength, gladnesse, with encrease of wealth:
So those that are dissentious breed disease,
Want, sorrow, dearth, with all things that displease.

Learn'd Abram Avenzara the Magition,
And Rabbi Azariel (making inquisition
By carefull study) in their Works relate
The cause to vs, of extreme Loue or Hate:
Why that a man, his Kindred and Allyance,
Ev'n his owne naturall Bloud, sets at defiance;
And yet his strange loue should so far extend,
One that's meere forreigne to select his friend.

Againe, as we by proofe finde, there should be
'Twixt man and man such an antipathee,
That though he can shew no iust reason why,
For any wrong or former injurie;
Can neither finde a blemish in his fame,
Nor ought in face or feature iustly blame;
Can challenge or accuse him of no euill:
Yet notwithstanding hates him as a Deuill.

They giue this reason; The good Angels, they
So far to peace and vnitie obey,

202

That in the first they labour to attone,
And (could it be) to make ev'n Opposites one;
Bee'ng still at hand, a friendship to persuade
'Twixt such as seeke each other to inuade.
When the malignant Spirits sole intention
Is to set men at discord and dissention;
To kindle malice, and the spleene inflame,
To hate, yet shew no reason whence it came;
Ready to make him fly in that mans face,
Whose friendship others gladly would embrace.

King Ferdinand of Spaine (their Annals say)
In his Procession on a solemne day,
Attended by his Traine; in Barcelon
Was by a Traiterous Spaniard set vpon
With a short dagger, and had then been slaine,
Had he not worne that time a golden chaine,
Which stayd the fatall blow. The Traitor tooke,
And put to th' Racke; with an vndaunted looke
And constant suffering, could no other reason
Giue to the King, of his vnnaturall treason,
But, That the cause which to that act compeld him,
Was, He ne're lov'd him since he first beheld him:
Nor could he brooke him then, or reason why
Shew of this deepe and strong Antipathy;
But in the midst of all his tortures vow'd,
If instantly he freedome were allow'd,
And that the King would him againe restore
To his first state, hee'd kill him ten times o're.

Hence comes it, that some Iudges are not cleare,
When Malefactors at the Bar appeare.
Of this they are made conscious, when theres brought
Euidence 'gainst one, bee't for a thing of nought,
His Crime he aggrauates; and in his fury,
If they Not guilty bring, sends backe the Iury;
Stretches each quiddit of the Law, to finde
Him culpable, onely to please his minde.

Againe; If for some capitall offence
Another's brought: though Law hath no pretence,
Nor Conscience, colour, how to make his peace;
Yet he shall striue th' offendor to release;
Cite Statutes in his fauour; what appeares
Most grosse, seeke to extenuate; and with teares,
If so the Iuries Verdict 'gainst him run,
Pronounce the Sentence as against his Sonne:

203

Neither by him perhaps before-time seene.
Whence is the cause then of this Loue or Spleene?

Ev'n Princes are not from this passion free:
In some Kings Courts how many rais'd we see?
One ev'n as high as Hamon lifts his head,
And yet for all that, no desert can plead:
When as poore Mordechai, envy'd, out-brav'd,
Who notwithstanding the Kings life he sav'd,
Obscurely liues, his seruice not regarded,
Nor with a single Sheckle once rewarded.
Nor doth the Prince in this, his Power abuse;
Which by a story I can thus excuse.

Two Beggars, as an Emperor once past by,
Saith one, O, would this Great man cast an eye
Vpon our wants, how happy were we than?
Saith the other; How much happier were that man,
On whom the prouidence of Heav'n would daine
A gracious looke? These words were spoke so plaine,
The Prince o're-heard them; and commanded both
To come to Court. The silly men were loth,
Fearing they had spoke some treason. Brought they were
Into a stately roome, and placed there
In two rich chaires; and iust before them spread
A table with two bak'd meats furnished;
Both without difference, seeming alike faire,
One cram'd with Gold, the other nought saue Aire.
For these, they two cast lots: To him that said,
He that trusts Heav'n, that man is only made,
Hapned the Gold. To the other, (that said, Well
Shall he thriue that trusts man) th' empty fell.
The Emperor made this vse on't: Lords you see
What a great Traine hourely depends on me:
I looke on all, but cannot all preferre
That in my seruice merit. Nor do I erre;
'Tis their fate, not my fault: such onely rise
By me, on whom Heav'n bids me cast mine eyes.

How comes it, that a Poet shall contriue
A most elaborate Worke, to make suruiue
Forgotten Dust? when no King shall expire,
But he brings fuell to his funerall fire:
No Optimate falls from the Noble throng,
But he records his Elegeicke Song
In mourning papers: and when all decayes,
Herse, Shewes, and Pompe; yet That resounds his praise.

204

Of euery Match and Royall Combination,
His Pen is ready to make publication:
When all proue ag'd, forgotten, and blowne o're,
“His Verse is still as youthfull as before;
“And sounds as sweetly (though it now seeme dead)
“To after-Times it shall be euer read.

What's Gentry then? Or Noblesse? Greatnesse what?
The Ciuill Purple? or the Clergy Hat?
The Coronet or Mitre? Nay, the Crowne
Imperiall? What's Potencie? Renowne?
Ovations, Triumphs, with victorious Bayes?
Wisedome or Wealth? Can these adde to thy dayes?
Inquire of Roman Brutus, (syrnam'd Iust)
Or Salomon the Wise, they both are Dust.
Learn'd Aristotle, Plato the Diuine;
From Earth they came, and Earth, they now are thine.
Where are the Worthies? where the Rich, or Faire?
“All in one common bed involved are.

Mans Life's a Goale, and Death end of the race;
And thousand sundry wayes point to the place:
From East, the West, the North, the South, all come;
Some slow, some swift-pac'd, to this generall Doome.
Some by the Wars fall, some the Seas deuoure;
Certaine is Death, vncertaine though the Houre.
Some die of Loue; others through Griefe expire;
Beneath cold Arctos these; they by the Fire,
The Torrid Zone casts forth; forc'd to endure
The scorching and contagious Calenture.
Some the Spring takes away; and some the Fall;
Winter and Sommer, others; and Death, All.
Consider well the miserie of Man,
And weigh it truly; since there's none but can
Take from his owne and others, thousand wayes;
But yet not adde one minute to their dayes.

For now the Conqueror with the Captiue's spread
On one bare Earth, as on the common Bed:
The all-commanding Generall hath no span
Of ground allow'd, more than the Priuat man.
Folly with Wisedome hath an equall share;
The Foule and Faire to like Dust changed are:
This is of all Mortalitie the end.
Thersites now with Nereus dares contend;
And with Achilles, He hath equall place,
Who liuing, durst not looke him in the face.

205

The Seruant with the Master; and the Maid
Stretcht by her Mistresse: both their heads are laid
Vpon an equall pillow. Subiects keepe
Courts with Kings equall; and as soft they sleepe,
Lodging their heads vpon a turfe of grasse,
As they on Marble, or on figur'd Brasse.
Blinde Homer in the graue lies doubly darke,
Against him now base Zoylus dares not barke.

To him what attributes may we then giue?
And other Poets, by whom all these liue?
Who as their putrid flesh is long since rotten,
So in their Sepulchres had lay'n forgotten,
Like common men; had not their Muse high-flying,
Kept both these Worthies and themselues from dying.
How in these dayes is such a man regarded?
“No, not so much as Oile or Inke rewarded.

Yet shall a Sycophant or ballading Knaue,
If he but impudence and gay cloathes haue;
Can harpe vpon some scurrilous Iest or Tale,
(Though fifteene times told, and ith' City stale;)
Command a Great mans eare; perhaps be able
To prefer Sutes, and elbow at his table;
Weare speaking pockets; boast, Whom he doth serue:
When meriting men may either beg or starue.

Past Ages did the antient Poets grace,
And to their swelling stiles, the very place
Where they were borne, denomination leant.
Publius Ovidius Naso had th' ostent
Of Sulmonensis added, and did giue
The Dorpe a name, by which it still doth liue.
Publius Virgilius likewise had th' addition
Of Maro, to expresse his full condition.
Marcus Annæus, Lucanus Seneca,
Bore title from his city Corduba.
Caius Pedo was styl'd Albinovanus:
Aurelius Olympius, Nemesianus.

Some from the nature of their Poëms: Thus,
Caius Lucilius was call'd Satyrus:
So Livius Andronicus, Epicus:
And Lucius Accius syrnamed Tragicus. &c.
Some, from their seuerall Countries, because they
Were forrein borne: Terens, from Africa,
Is Publius Terentius Afer read.
Titus Calphurnius, Siculus, as bred

206

In Sicily. So many others had
(And that for sundry causes) meanes to add
Vnto their first: for with their worth encreast
Their stiles; the most grac'd with three names at least.

Our moderne Poets to that passe are driuen,
Those names are curtal'd which they first had giuen;
And, as we wisht to haue their memories drown'd,
We scarcely can afford them halfe their sound.

Greene, who had in both Academies ta'ne
Degree of Master, yet could neuer gaine
To be call'd more than Robin: who had he
Profest ought saue the Muse, Serv'd, and been Free
After a seuen yeares Prentiseship; might haue
(With credit too) gone Robert to his graue.
Marlo, renown'd for his rare art and wit,
Could ne're attaine beyond the name of Kit;
Although his Hero and Leander did
Merit addition rather. Famous Kid
Was call'd but Tom. Tom. Watson, though he wrote
Able to make Apollo's selfe to dote
Vpon his Muse; for all that he could striue,
Yet neuer could to his full name arriue.
Tom. Nash (in his time of no small esteeme)
Could not a second syllable redeeme.
Excellent Bewmont, in the formost ranke
Of the rar'st Wits, was neuer more than Franck.
Mellifluous Shake-speare, whose inchanting Quill
Commanded Mirth or Passion, was but Will.
And famous Iohnson, though his learned Pen
Be dipt in Castaly, is still but Ben.
Fletcher and Webster, of that learned packe
None of the mean'st, yet neither was but Iacke.
Deckers but Tom; nor May, nor Middleton.
And hee's now but Iacke Foord, that once were Iohn.

Nor speake I this, that any here exprest,
Should thinke themselues lesse worthy than the rest,
Whose names haue their full syllable and sound;
Or that Franck, Kit, or Iacke, are the least wound
Vnto their fame and merit. I for my part
(Thinke others what they please) accept that heart
Which courts my loue in most familiar phrase;
And that it takes not from my paines or praise.
If any one to me so bluntly com,
I hold he loues me best that calls me Tom.

207

Heare but the learned Buchanan complaine,
In a most passionate Elegiacke straine;
And what emphaticall phrases he doth vse
To waile the wants that wait vpon the Muse.
The Pouertie (saith he) adde vnto these,
Which still attends on the Aönides,
As if that Pœnia were their Queene and Guide,
And vow'd, amongst them euer to reside.
Whether thou do'st of Turkish battels sing,
Or tune thy low Muse to a softer string:
Or whether thou the gentle Socke dost weare,
Tickling with pleasure the Spectators eare:
Whether thou in the lofty Buskin rage:
When the long Tragicke Robe doth brush the Stage,
Thou, Pouertie along with thee shalt bring,
Whether thou Poëms write, or Poëms sing.

Seuen Cities warr'd for Homer being dead;
Who liuing, had no roofe to Shrowd his head.
Poore Tityrus deplores his fathers fields;
Rome, to the hungry Statius scarce bread yeelds,
Naso, who many in that kinde surpast,
Beyond the Hyperborean Pole was cast:
Nor could shew cause for being thither chac'd,
But, That he lov'd the Sisters; They, him grac'd.
Nor hath the Poets Patron's selfe been free
From the strict lawes of dire necessitie;
But forc'd, through want, amidst the fields and groues,
To keepe and feed th' Æmonian Herds and Droues.
Wherefore Calliope (who sung so well)
Did liue so long a Maid; Can any tell?
She had not been a Virgin to this houre,
But that (to marry her) she wanted dower.

Meane time we spend our fruitlesse houres in vaine,
And Age, of Want and Hunger doth complaine;
It grieues vs now, although too late, at last,
Our Youth in idle Studies to haue past;
And what a folly 'tis, we now haue found,
To cast our Seed in an vnfaithfull Ground:
That in our Youth we haue layd vp no store,
Which might maintaine vs when our heads be hore;
And that our shaken Vessell, torne and thin,
Can finde no easie Port to harbor in.
Then Barren Muses, seeke some other Friend,
For I henceforth a Thriuing Course intend.

208

None with fresh Violets my Ashes grace,
Or strow sweet fragrant Roses in the place.
If any loues me, and intends to giue?
I wish to taste his bounty whilest I liue.
What care I, when the Fates my Thread haue spun,
Though Briers and Thornes my Graue shall ouer-run.

Thou Tragicke Buskin, and thou Comicke Socke,
Prime Muses of the Novenary stocke;
At length awake from your long bedded sloath,
And giue me but one answer from you both:
Whence growes this Innovation? How comes it,
Some dare to measure mouthes for euery bit
The Muse shall tast? And those, Approv'd Tongues call,
Which haue pleas'd Court and City, indeed All;
An vntun'd Kennell: When the populous Throng
Of Auditors haue thought the Muses sung,
When they but spake? How comes it (ere he know it)
A Puny shall assume the name of Poet;
And in a Tympa'nous and Thrasonicke stile,
(Words at which th' Ignorant laugh, but the Learn'd smile,
Because Adulterate) and Vndenizen'd, he
Should taske such Artists as haue tooke Degree
Before he was a Fresh-man? and because
No good Practitioner in the Stage Lawes,
He miss'd th' applause he aim'd at; hee'l deuise
Another course, his fame to immortalise:
Imploring diuers Pens, (failing in's owne)
To support that which others haue cry'd downe.

It was not so of old: Virgil, the best
Of Epicke Poets, neuer did contest
'Gainst Homer. Ovid was so far from hate,
That he did rather striue to imitate,
Than maligne others: for of him we reade,
That he did honour all who did precede:
To loue those that came after, present, all,
Indeed the Muses friends in generall.

I spare to speake of those that liue; I embrace
Their loues, and make them Vmpires in this case;
Who would, to curbe such insolence (I know)
Bid such yong boyes to stay in Iericho
Vntill their Beards were growne, their wits more staid;
And not to censure others, till they'aue made
Works to exceed theirs; to abide the test
Of rough censorious Browes; Better the Best:

209

To attract the eares and eyes of Princes. When
They haue done this, (as some they enuy) then
They may be admitted Free-men, and so striue
By Industry, how in that way to thriue.
These at the Bench aime; but mistaken far,
For they must first be brought vnto the Bar.

Perhaps too, there's some other matter in't,
These so ambitious are to be in print;
And fearing their owne Weakenesse, therefore raile,
Hoping to get their Bookes the better sale.
But 'tis a foolish pride to awake those Muses
(Which otherwise had slept) at their abuses.

Of this neglect, or rather grosse despight,
Will you the reason? As these Rabbins write;
In Learned men (or Morall, or Diuine)
There gouerne Spirits they call Saturnine,
That only dote on pouerty, and which
Will not endure that such men should be rich:
But still against those Ioviall Spirits, that ar'
About Great men, they be at mortall war.
Who (though these Magnates be of generous mind,
And in themselues to Bounty well inclin'd,
With euery other Goodnesse) thus inuade
The Noble Patriot, (th' Author to vpbrade;)
This Pamphlet borrow'd is perhaps, or stolne;
Either the stile too pinching, or too swolne:
Else, by the mouthes of others they complaine,
'Twas done in flatterie, or hope of gaine;
And so diuert them from their good opinion.
“I hope such Spirits haue not still dominion.

Now those whom they Mercuriall Spirits call,
Possessing Them of no desert at all,
(Of whom I speake) aptly their humors bend,
To sooth vp such as Great men stil attend;
And (as by a conspiracie) so apply
Their mutuall paines and common industry,
That (by the Saturnines not bee'ng offended)
What er'e they do is fauour'd and commended.
I write not this in a persuasiue way
To giue faith to; but tell you what such say
As were great Iewish Doctors: make expression
Of what they writ. Excuse then my digression.

Yet all this while we haue not gon so far,
As to define to you what Angels ar'.

210

It is a question difficult and hard,
And hath been in the holy Text much spar'd.
Much more perspicuous 'tis, to signifie
The nature of th' eternall Deitie,
Than th' Angels Essence: because that relation
Is much more neerer vnto our saluation.
Yet notwithstanding, Mans industrious reach
(As far as probabilitie can stretch,)
Hath sought to plumbe that Depth with Reasons Line.
Much better 'tis (saith One) of things Diuine,
Cœlestiall, and Superior, to enquire
Something, (although but little) and admire;
Than of the things Inferior, and Below,
Be able to demonstrate much, and know.

Now the word Angelus doth not imply
His proper essence, but doth signifie
His Place and Office, as Gods Messenger.
It is a name, to no Philosopher
Was knowne of old: Spirits and Minds they knew,
But not the Angels; they to them were new.
All that aboue the Moone haue their aboads
And residence, the Platonists call gods.
All those sublunary, they Dæmons styl'd;
As Apuleius, in his booke compyl'd
De deo Socratis, makes ample mention,
According to his humane apprehension.

We know their Places, and their Offices,
But of their Natures and their Substances,
Onely so far (no farther) we dare skan,
Than that they are more excellent than man.
Thus by the Psalmist warranted, who sayes,
(When our Nobilitie he semees to praise,
And what Man was before he did transgresse)
Thou mad'st him than the Angels little lesse.

Some would allow them Bodies: and of them,
Tertullian one; another, Origen.
From Genesis: The Sonnes of God ('tis there)
Seeing Mens Daughters, and how faire they were,
Tooke them to be their Wiues. Now both agree,
That these no other could than Angels be.
Who if they married, must haue Bodies; those
Compos'd of Forme and Matter, to dispose,
Else how should they haue Issue? And againe;
How are bad Sprites sensible of paine,

211

In Hells eternall torments, if there faile
That Substance on the which Fire may preuaile.
So diuers of the Fathers were of minde:
For in Saint Austines Comment you may finde,
The subtile essence of the Angels (pure
At first, that they more fully might endure
The sence of Fire) was grossed in their Fall,
Of courser temper than th' Originall.
Moreouer, Damascenus is thus heard;
Each thing created, if with God compar'd,
(Who onely incorruptible is) shall finde
Them Grosse, and all materiall in their kinde.
For He alone 'tis, we may truly call
Vnbodied, and Immateriall.
Ambrose, Lactantius, and Basilius,
Rupertus, Atlas, Athanasius,
With Firmianus, did beleeue no lesse,
As more at large their publique Workes expresse.

To these, oppos'd in censure others are,
Who in their best of judgements, not once dare
Allow them Bodies, but meere Spirits to bee,
Void of all matter: and in this agree
Nazianzen, Gregorie, Thomas Aquine,
Saint Chrisostome, and Thomas Argentine,
Alexander Alexandri, and Marselius,
Bonaventura, Augustinus Niphus,
Hugo de S. Victore, Scotus; men
Generally approv'd, and with these Damascen:
Who saith, That in respect of God on hye,
(His Pewer and most inscrutable Qualitie)
They may be said to haue Bodies; yet he wou'd
Not haue it be so simply vnderstood,
But that they are not all so exquisite,
As mutable, confin'd to place finite.
When as his Nature, more Diuine by farre,
Is subiect to no Change, as Angels ar';
An Infinite, a Majestie so Immence,
No place can circumscribe his Eminence.

To leaue Authorities, yet make this plaine,
Let's see what grounds from Reason we can gaine:
If they haue bodies? they must needs be linkt
Of members, as Mans is; Organs distinct,
And like composure; else they must be fram'd
Confus'd, and without those which we haue nam'd.

212

If Limbs and Organs? consequently then
They must haue Sence: if Sence? Passions, as men;
And therefore capable of Perturbation,
So of Corruption, and of Alteration;
As bee'ng compos'd of Contraries? If we say,
Th' are from Corruption free? t'infer that they
Their bodies neuer can put off, and so
Into a grosse absurditie they grow,
To make them in worse state than Man: for he
Puts off all Cares with his Mortalitie.
But on their perpetuitie doth depend
Trouble and Toiles sence, which can neuer end.

Againe, if Bodies? they must either be
Hard, to be felt, and of soliditie;
Or else Liquid and soft. If stand vpon
The last, th' are signes of imperfection,
Subiect to be diuided, and to take
Strange shapes vpon them, and the first forsake:
As, to be chang'd to Water or to Aire.
Which doth not stand with sence: or if we dare
Allow them hard and sollid, we are deluded;
Since such, from other Bodies are excluded,
(As in dimention limited, and space;)
“Because two Bodies cannot haue one place.
Nor can they with that quicke celeritie
Moue in one Sphere, then in another be.
'T must likewise follow, That such as are sent
Downe to the Earth, cannot incontinent,
But with much difficultie or'ecome the way;
First in one Heav'n, then in another stay;
Haue time to penetrate (as needs it is)
Now that Cœlestiall Body, and then this.
When as (if Alphraganius we may trust,
Or Thebit, Arabs both) of force it must
Be a great distance. For these Authors write,
If that an Angell in his swiftest flight,
Should from the eighth Heauen, to the Earth descend,
A thousand miles in three score minutes to spend,
(So far remote they are, if truly told)
Six yeares six moneths his journey would him hold.

But now, what difficult to some may appeare,
To reconcile, and all those doubts to cleare:
Ev'n as Mans wisdome being lustly way'd
With Gods, to be meere Foolishnesse is said;

213

Not that it is in its owne nature so,
And that, than Brutes, he doth no further know;
But in respect of God's, so pure and holy,
It in that sence may be reputed Folly.
So th' vncorporeall Spirits, Bodies claime,
Which if we with th' Almighties Essence name,
In that regard, 'tis palpable and grosse,
No better to be styl'd than Dung and Drosse.

Now by the Sonnes of God, who beheld then,
The Daughters which were said to be of Men,
Is meant the Sonnes of Seth, (to make it plaine;)
Seeing those Daughters which were come of Cain,
Of them tooke wiues, each where he liked best.

Heare in a Lateran Councell, what's exprest
Touching Spirituall and Corporeall Creatures;
Distinguisht thus: The great God, of all Features
The sole Creator, Visible and Vnseene,
Spirituall, and those which Bodied beene;
Who from Times first beginning hath both fram'd,
Spirituall, and those Corporeall nam'd;
By which we vnderstand Angelicall,
And Mundane here below. He after all,
Did then create Man in his blest estate,
Both Soule and Body to participate.

The Phrase of Scripture doth confirme as much,
As oft as it doth on the Spirit touch:
A Substance without Body it approoues.
The Spirit is God (saith Iohn) and it behooues
All such as will in worship fall before him,
Meerely in Spirit and in Truth t'addore him.

Besides, Saint Luke doth witnesse, One mans brest,
At once of a whole Legion was possest
Of vncleane Spirits. Which had they Bodies, How
Could it sufficient place to them allow
To inhabit? when each Legion doth by List,
Of six thousand six hundred sixty six consist.

If there be any of Saint Gregories mind,
To thinke that Angels are to Place design'd?
All such must vnderstand, it is not meant
According to the limited extent
Of their Angel-like Substances, but rather
(Which from their great employments we may gather)
Of their owne vertues the determination,
In the determin'd place of operation.

214

Nor is't of force, That Angels by their Fall
Should gaine a Substance more materiall,
On which th' infernall Fire it selfe might feed:
Of such a spissed Substance there's no need,
Since of their lasting torments, without pause,
The Fire is not the sole and principall cause;
But as an Instrument, a power it hath
From Gods owne hand and iust incensed wrath.

To the three Ternions I returne againe,
Linkt fast together in a nine-fold Chaine;
'Mongst whom there's difference in Intelligence,
As there is in degrees of Excellence:
For the more Noble, to the Lesser still
Infuseth Knowledge, by th' Almighties will.
The Second to the Third is like industrous,
And, as degreed, 'tis more and more illustrous.

This Knowledge more perspicuous is and cleare
In the first Chorus, than it doth appeare
Ith' Second, Third, or Fourth, so to the Last,
Of those that are o're things Terrestriall plac't.

This in the Prophet Zacharie's made plaine:
When God his People would redeeme againe
From their Captiuitie in Babylon;
He in his Vision saw the Holy-One
Reueale it vnto one of the Superiors,
Which he communicates to his Inferiors;
They to the Prophet. Vnto this coheres
What in Saint Austines Booke as plaine appeares;
As we perceiue the Moone, the Stars t'out-shine,
And the Sunnes light more splendrous and Diuine,
Than the Moone's shewes; so 'tis in the degrees
Of those forenam'd Cœlestiall Hierarchees.

Foure Angels, as foure Vice-royes, are exprest,
To sway the foure Windes, plac'd aboue the rest;
All Princes, and with mighty power endu'd,
Remarkable for that their Celsitude.
The East, whence Eurus blowes, swayes Michael:
The West, whence Zephyre breathes, guides Raphael:
The North, whence Boreas blusters, Gabriel:
The South, whence Auster comes, rules Vriel.
Which from th' Evangelist some Doctors ground,
Because 'tis in th' Apocalips thus found:
On the foure Angles of the Earth I saw
Standing foure Angels, those that kept in awe

215

The foure great Windes, restraining them from blowing
On Earth, on Sea, or any Tree then growing.

Some write, That ouer euery Heauen or Sphere,
A seuerall Angell's plac'd, and gouernes there.
The Sophists, those Intelligences call:
The Hebrewes, Cherubims: whose lots thus fall;
Metraon doth the Primam Mobile guide:
Ophaniel, in the Starry Heav'n reside:
The Sunnes Sphere, Varcan: the Moones lower rayes
Arcan disposeth: Mars (his) Lamach swayes;
Mercuries, Madan: Ioves, Guth: Venus Star,
Iurabatres: and Saturne's seene from far,
Maion: And all these in the height they enioy,
Haue power, Inferior Spirits to employ.

Seuen Angels (as the Scriptures witnesse) stand
Before th' Almighty, prest at his command;
And these by his Diuine infusion, know
How to dispose of all things here below,
As those Cœlestiall: who doth institute
Those Seuen, his Diuine Will to execute.
Yeares, Dayes, and Houres, amongst them they diuide;
The Planets and the Stars they likewise guide.

The President of Sol is Raphael;
The Guardian of the Moone, call'd Gabriel:
Chamuel the third, Mars his bright Star protects;
Michael, the Sphere of Mercury directs:
Adahiel, o're Iove hath domination;
And Haniel, of Venus gubernation:
Zaphiel is Saturnes Prince. And of Spirits seuen
Saint Iohn makes mention, with their place in Heauen:
I saw seuen Angels stand before the Throne
Of the Almighty; and to euery one
A seuerall Trumpet giuen. [&c.] The Rabbins, they,
And Cabalists, further proceed and say,
(How warranted I know not) That there be
Twelue Potents of this Diuine Facultie;
Three Orientall, and three Occidentall;
Three Septentrionall, and three Meridionall.

Chaoz the first great Easterne Power they call,
Whose Prince Malthidielis, and he swayes all
That doth belong to Aries: the next place.
Corona hath; and Varchiel hath the grace
Of that to be chiefe Regent: Leo hee
Hath subiect in his second Empyree:

216

Hermaus the third; Adnachiel doth carry
That potencie, and rules the Sagittary.

The first Power Austral they Panthæon stile;
Asmodes Prince, in that doth reconcile
The Signe call'd Taurus: and the second, Tim,
Hamabtel is the Prince that gouernes him.
In the Signe Virgo, Haim is the third borne,
Hannuel the Prince, and gouerns Capricorne.

The first Septentrionall, Bethzan, Manuel Prince,
And he the Signe of Cancer doth conuince.
The next, Zonocharel by name they know,
Barchiel the chiefe, and rules o're Scorpio.
Ouer the third, Elisan, Varchiel reignes;
He Pisces in his Principate containes.

The first of th' Occidentall, Gelphor, and
Ambriel the Prince; the Gemini they stand
Beneath his sway. Bleor the next; his Lord,
Zaniel, who guides the Scepter and the Sword.
Caphet the last; Cabriel the President,
And o're Aquarius hath the gouernment.

Others there be that do not doubt to say,
That the foure Elements are forc'd t'obey
Foure seuerall Angels: Seraph reignes o're Fire;
Cherub the Aire; and Tharsis doth aspire
Ouer the Water: and the Earths great Lord,
Ariel. The Hebrew Rabbins thus accord.

But since of these the Scriptures make no mention,
Far be it that the least of mine intention
Should be ro create Angels. Hence it came,
That at a Roman Councell, in the name
Of Zachary then Pope, one Aldebert,
Another Clement, seeking to subuert
The Church by Schismes; were to the Consistorie
Summon'd, and there conuict of Heresie.
For thus they pray'd; O Angell Vriel,
Angell Adimus, Angell Raguel,
Angell Sabaothe, Angell Michael,
Angell Tubuas, Angell Semibel, &c.

This in the Synod was no sooner read,
But they thus instantly were censured.
The very words of that Decree these are:
Of all those names, most of them new and rare,
Of whom they invocate, Michael alone,
An Angell we acknowledge; the rest none.

217

By that, and elsewhere it is manifest,
That other names than are to vs exprest
In sacred Scriptures, none ought to deuise;
Since from such Curiosities arise
Schismes, Heresies, Opinions execrable,
(Erring from Truth) diuellish and damnable.
Nor are these darke words, by these Rabbins vs'd,
Other than Phancies, not to be excus'd;
Wherein some things significant are exprest,
Borrow'd from Naturall causes at the best.
For instance; Seraph, if we but retyre
To the words force, importeth nought saue Fire:
Cherub, Aire; Tharsus, Water; Ariel, Earth:
And these at first had from those Doctors birth,
Ev'n by their owne confession. If you please,
Thinke of the rest as hath been said of these.

Creaturæ quædam æterna sunt à posteriore; à priore solus Deus est æternus.

Explicit Metrum Tractatusquarti.

266

A Meditation vpon the former Tractate.

I

To Thee, the Saints that in thee trust;
To Thee, the Soules of all the Iust;
And wretched I,
To Thee now cry,
That am indeed no more than Earth and Dust.

II

The Heav'nly Hierarchies aboue,
That are to Thee conjoyn'd in Loue,
In Hymnes and Layes
To Thee giue praise,
And to the innocent Lambe and spotlesse Doue.

III

The Angels and Archangels all,
Vertues and Powers Cœlestiall,
Who stand before Thee,
And still adore Thee,
As Messengers still ready at thy Call:

IV

All magnifie Thee without cease,
Not fainting, rather with encrease
Of Will and Voice,
Laud and reioyce
In Thee, that art the God of Power and Peace.

V

And I, fraile Man, that am not least
Of thy Creation, would thy Heast,
Far as I may,
Serue and obey,
And beg in thy great Mercies, Interest.

267

VI

Light therefore in my Heart infuse;
Instruct my Tongue, Thy Name to vse:
That I may finde
Both Heart and Minde,
Hourely on Thee, and onely Thee, to muse.

VII

Clense, to that end, and make me cleane,
That am polluted and obsceane:
My sinnefull Soule,
Spotted and foule,
Dares not for that cause on thy Mercies leane.

VIII

From Outward things, to what's Interior;
To what's Aboue, from Things Inferior;
My Thoughts transcend
To apprehend
Thee solely, that or'e all things art Superior.

IX

O blessed Spirits, bright and pure,
You that the Sacred Throne immure!
That Place Sublime,
In first of Time,
Was made for you alwayes therein to endure.

X

Your Makers Face you there behold,
In numerous Bands and Hosts vntold,
You, to Him solely
Sing, Holy, Holy,
Holy; Whose Brightnesse no Tongue can vnfold.

XI

You, in your sweet and musicall Quire,
See what to Loue, and to Admire,
(That Ioy and Blisse
Which endlesse is)
And to attaine vnto, we all desire.

268

XII

For from that Place Cœlestiall,
From henceforth there can be no Fall:
In that Congruity
Is Perpetuity,
Which, as Before it hath bin, Euer shall.

XIII

No refractorie Spirits there,
Since Lucifer dar'd to appeare,
In Battell fell
By Michael,
All these rebellious Angels captiv'd were.

XIV

He, the old Dragon gyv'd and bound,
Who, Mankinde labors to confound;
Still day by day,
Vs to betray:
And to that end the World doth compasse round.

XV

With Him, the Sp'rites of Aire and Fire,
The Water, and the Earth, conspire,
Early and late,
To insidiate
All such as after Heav'nly things acquire.

XVI

But Thou, the blest Angels of Light
Against them hast made opposite,
Both to direct vs,
And to protect vs
From their knowne Malice both by day and night.

XVII

Therefore to Thee (ô God) alone,
In Persons Three, in Substance One;
The Trinity
In Vnity,
To search in whose Identity, there's None

269

XVIII

So bold as dare, so wise as can.
The Father, God; Sonne, God and Man;
The Spirit Diuine,
Third in the Trine;
All Three, One God, before the World began.

XIX

Father Vnborne, the Sonne Begot,
Spirit Proceeding; let vs not
Through their procurements,
And sly allurements,
Be stain'd with Sinne, but keepe vs without spot.

XX

O Thou, the glorious Trinitee,
Whose pow'rfull Works insep'rable be;
Support and aid
What Thou hast made,
And keepe our Soules from their Temptations free.

XXI

Thou President, of an vnequal'd Parity;
Thou Plurall Number, in thy Singularity;
Those Diuellish Foes
Still to oppose,
Grant vs firme Faith, strong Hope, and constant Charity.

XXII

Whom (Father) thou hast Made, do not forsake;
Of whom thou hast redeem'd, (Son) pitty take:
Good Spirit guyde
Those sanctify'd,
And keepe vs from the euer-burning Lake.

XXIII

That, We, with Saints and Angels, may
Thy Honour, Pow'r, and Praise display;
Thy Glory bright,
Mercy and Might,
Within Thy New Ierusalem for ay.

Deus est indivise vnus in Trinitate, & inconfuse Trinus in Vnitate. Leo Pap.

271

Lib. 5. The Vertues.

THE ARGVMENT of the fifth Tractate.

The Consonance and Sympathy
Betwixt the Angels Hierarchy.
The Planets and Cœlestiall Spheres;
And what similitude appeares
'Twixt One and Other. Of the three
Religions that most frequent be,
Iew, Christian, and Mahumetist:
Vpon what Grounds they most insist.
Ridiculous Tenants stood vpon
In Mahomets blinds Alcaron;
Where he discourseth the creation
Of Heav'ns and Angels. A relation,
What strange notorious Heresies
By the Prescillians and Manechies
Were held: The truth made most apparant,
By Text and holy Scriptures warrant.

The second Argument.

We aime at the Cœlestiall Glory.
Below the Moone all's Transitorie.

Three things hath God shew'd in this Worlds Creation,
Worthy mans wonder and great admiration:
In making it, his Power most exquisit;
In ord'ring it, his Wisedome infinit;

272

And in conseruing it, his Goodnesse such,
As neuer can by man be extold too much.

The Angels in the next place we confer
Wi'th' second part of this Worlds Theater:
Namely, what reference the Seraphim
Hath with the Primum Mobile. Then, what kin
The Cherub from the Starry Heav'n doth claime;
Or Thrones with Saturne: in what consonant frame
With Iupiter, the Dominations trade:
What 'twixt the Vertues can and Mars be made:
The neere similitudes that hourely run
In league, betwixt the Potestates and Sun:
With Venus, how the Principates agree:
And with the great Arch-Angels, Mercurie:
Last, how the holy Angels are accited
To be in friendship with the Moone vnited.

First, as the Seraphims in Loues pure heate,
Next God himselfe in his supernall seate,
Still exercise their faculties, and turne
(By that inflaming zeale by which they burne)
Towards His Essence; so in a swift motion,
The Primum Mobile shewes his deuotion
To the First Mouer, from whence it doth take
Those Vertues which the Heav'ns inferior make.
Go round with it: the Seraph's feruor's great;
So That, hath lasting and perpetuall heat:
By benefit of whose swift agitation,
The Heav'ns are wheel'd about in wondrous fashion,
Maugre of that huge Machine, the great force
And magnitude, that still resists his course.

The Seraphims are sharpe, so needs must be
The needle-pointed Primum Mobile;
Which by transfusing influence (we know)
Doth penetrate inferior Orbs below.
And as the Seraphims most feruent are;
To them, in that, we fitly may compare
The Primum Mobile, whose feruor's such,
And so incessant, that where it doth tuch,
And is in hourely motion, it (no doubt)
The other Heav'ns doth whirle with it about.

Inflexible the Seraphims motion is,
So likewise is the turning round of This;
Which though it be as swift as thought can thinke,
Yet in it's course doth neither quaile nor shrinke.

273

As at a becke (by power that God them gaue)
The Seraphims all other Angels haue:
So by the motion of that Primum, all
The motions of the Heav'n in generall
Are gouern'd and vnited: Seraphs be
Actiue Exemplars call'd: This Mobile
Beares the same stile, because it not alone
Incites the Heav'ns to motion, one by one;
But as a Guide, least they should take the wrong,
Still goes before, and hurries them along.

And as the Seraph's with Loues fire inflam'd,
(A zeale so hot that neuer can be nam'd)
Ev'n so this fierie globe, still without cease
Gyring about, doth grow to that encrease
Of sultry heate, the feruor, by reuerses,
A warmth into all other things disperses.
But with this difference, that as they their might
Immediatly take from the God of Light;
From the twelue Revolutions it receiues
What power and vertue to the rest it leaues;
And purg'd by labour, winding in a frame,
Returnes still to the place from whence it came.

The Seraphs haue no creature that can vaunt
To be aboue them as predominant.
Ev'n so this Orbe is next th' Imperiall Throne,
Gods proper Mansion, and aboue it none.

The Seraphims, for their vicinity
To God, are full of Diuine purity;
And such a fulgence through their Essence runnes,
That they are brighter than ten thousand Sunnes:
So this Orbe to the Imperiall Heauens, so neere,
Shines by the light of that incredi'bly cleere.

And as these Spirits with flaming ardor burne,
And at no time from their Creator turne;
So this high Orbe, by the celeritie
And inextinguishable claritie,
Prodigall of it's Vertues, doth bestow them
To purge and to make perfect things below them;
So that all dregs and drosse consum'd and wasted,
They, new refyn'd, are in swift motion hasted
Vnto their first beginning, where in sweet
And most mellodious harmonie they meet.

As Those from God immediately are,
Without the interpose of Minister;

274

Ev'n so from the first Mouer it doth take
Immediate force, which doth it's motion make.

Herein the Diuine Wisedome doth appeare,
That so the Angels with the Heav'ns cohere,
Heav'ns with the Elements concur, and then,
These Spirits are in such a league with men,
And all so conjoyn'd and concatinate.

A Picture euery way immaculate,
Cherub doth in the Chaldæan tongue imply:
What picture fairer, or more pure, hath eye
Beheld, than the Cœlestiall Firmament?
Imbelished and stucke with th' ornament
Of so many bright Stars, luminous and cleare,
Incorruptibly decking euery Sphere,
All full of influent vertue in their places.
So the Cherubicke Spirits are stucke with Graces
And Diuine gifts, so many, that indeed,
In countlesse number they the Stars exceed.
And as this Orbe is circum gyr'd and wheel'd,
As to the Primum Mobile forc'd to yeeld;
So doth the Cherubs second order moue
From the first Seraph, next to God in Loue.

'Twixt Saturnes Sphere and the Thrones eminence;
Is the like semblance and conuenience:
By Thrones, the Seats of Monarchs are exprest:
On Saturne's seuenth day God himselfe did rest
From his great Worke. Now Saturne is a word
Which in th' Originall, nothing doth afford
(If we together shall compare them both)
Saue, Cease from Labor, or a Sabaoth.

The Thrones on Loue and Veritie consist;
And so the Planet Saturne (whoso list
Giue credit vnto Firmicus) endues
Man both with Loue and Truth, prompts him to chuse
Vertue, good Manners, Diuine Contemplation,
Iudgement mature, in a true conformation;
And with a sollid industrie desire
Things that are hidden and abstruse to enquire.

And as the Thrones, each in his office knowes,
How of all sacred Wisedome to dispose,
(As Dei formes call'd;) so Saturne he,
Ianus Bifrons, from all antiquitie,
Is styl'd, and Wisedomes Father held to be.

275

The Golden World beneath his Scepter was,
(Before the Silver; or the third, of Brasse;
Or this Iron Age) in which th' vnlabor'd ground,
Not forc'd by man, with plenty did abound:
The Earth of her free-will gaue all encrease;
Springs flow'd with milke; the Wolfe and Lambe had peace:
And therefore we by congruent reason finde,
That the seuenth day to Saturne was assign'd,
As the seuenth Planet, and agreeing best
With the Cœlestiall Thrones, which imply Rest.

Besides, in Saturne there is one thing rare,
As sole vnto him peculiar;
Which he may iustly aboue others claime:
(For none of all the Planets we can name,
But are in mixture and conjunction;) Hee
Ioyns, nor is joyn'd with any, but still free;
And as a Prince vnrival'd, keepes his state,
In which none can with him participate.
So Moses Law, since it was first recited,
Was with no other coupled or vnited;
But doth immediatly on God depend,
Yet many other Lawes from that descend,
As borrow'd thence, And in like mysterie,
The Chorases of the whole Hierarchie,
Reflect with all the seruice on the Throne;
But He his Power communicates to none.

The Seraph's Loue, to Iudgement doth adhere;
The Cherubs Wisedome placeth it selfe neere:
The Dominations (which some haue defin'd
To be, Th' vnyoked libertie of minde)
Assist the Iudgement Seat: The Vertues, they
Vpon the high Tribunall wait and stay:
And so the rest, with all their seuerall Graces;
But them the Thrones assist not in their places.

The Dominations we must next confer,
And fashion to the Star of Iupiter;
And by comparing them together, see
How in their semblant Vertues they agree.
First, at Cœlestiall things they solely aime,
Them, no tyrannicke seruitude can tame;
A free Lord they must serue, and beare a minde
Vncheckt, to nothing base or vile enclin'd:
All difficulties ready to disclose,
That shall their faithfull seruice interpose.

276

On none saue their Creator they rely,
To his sole pleasure they themselues apply;
Others to their obedience they persuade,
Their contemplations being fixt and stayd
On the Diuine Light: which rare pulchritude,
To enioy in a more ample plenitude,
They stil conforme themselues vnto the Throne,
If possibly, to be with it all one.
All these (if Astrologians we may trust)
Fall on Ioves Star, in number ev'n and iust.

In Noble bloud this Planet takes delight,
To illustrous thoughts it doth the minde accite,
Prudence to gouerne, science how to know,
His liberall influence doth on man bestow;
Plac'd in his Horoscope, he doth inspire
Our eleuated soules with a desire
To attaine to Fame, to Empire, and High things:
Th' vncurbed and irregular minde it brings,
Not onely to deuise, but keepe good Lawes.
And Iupiter is for that onely cause,
In Hebrew, Zedek call'd, which imports Iust.
In Goodnesse and in Iustice such as trust,
Them he spurres on to spend their houres and time,
To aime at things superior and sublime:
By the reflex of Iustice and true Piety,
It drawes to contemplation of a Diety:
It doth not onely Man himselfe impell
To charitable acts, and do things well;
But to stirre others to good workes: And styl'd
Iove, for his Faith and Trust; hauing exyl'd
All Incredulitie. Last, by the hand
He leadeth others with him, till they stand
In the like state of Goodnesse, Knowledge, Faith.
Pythagoras more of this Planet saith,
That he is the Mindes Vertue, Temperament,
Health, and Disposer of all Ornament
That doth belong to Man. Now let vs find
How those call'd Vertues, are to Mars inclin'd:
And that too may be done with much facilitie,
If we consider but what true Virilitie
And Fortitude in this Star doth consist.
In one place we thus reade th' Evangelist:
The Vertues of the Heav'ns are mov'd, or ar'
Arm'd on their side, who in Gods cause shall war.

277

These, their Cœlestiall operations take
Immediatly from Him, and for His sake
Disperse them to His Glory and great Praise.
Note what the Psalmist of the Planets sayes;
Praise Him you Sun and Moone, praise Him the Light;
Praise Him yee Stars [&c.] The Vertues by foresight,
As Captaines ouer the Church Militant,
Know which amongst them is best Combattant;
Guide and direct him to the Place aboue,
To receiue there the Crowne for which he stroue.
Ev'n so this Mars, by th' influence of his Star,
Styl'd by th' antient Poets, God of War,
Makes men of generous Spirits, elate and hye,
Ambitious after Palme and Victorie.
The Vertues in their Pow'r finde no defect;
Nor is this Planet any way deiect,
Weary'd or faint. Those of authentique skill,
Write, His Fires force is indeficient still.

The Diuine Vertues study to enlarge
Their courage, who are giv'n to them in charge;
To make them like spirituall Souldiers stand,
'Gainst Lucifer and his reuolted Band;
Then bring them off to safety and securitie,
Making them like themselues in God-like puritie.
So this Stars Fire, to shew their true proximitie,
Burnes vpward, as still aiming at sublimitie;
And in his feruour catching at things neere,
To turne each Substance to a Nature cleere,
As it selfe is, in lustre like to shine.

Yet to this Planet, many learn'd assigne
Malevolent aspects, Wars prouocations,
Home-bred Seditions, Discord amongst Nations,
Broiles, Garboiles, Tumults, and combustious Rage,
Depopulation, Murthers, Slaughter, Strage;
Call it, The worst of Planets: whose reflect
Contaminates and poysons with th' aspect.

But Tresmegistus was not of that minde;
Saith he, The seuirall Planets in their kinde
(Their vertues being truly vnderstood)
Are vnto men beneficent and good.
This great Philosopher would haue vs know,
Of bad Effects the Cause is here below:
Stars influences in themselues are pure,
No putrid stuffe their natures can endure:

278

And if from their aspects ought chance amisse,
They are not to be blam'd, for the fault is
In our fraile weakenesse: for who but hath read,
That nothing bad aboue the Moon is bred?

Now as the Potestates to worke are said
Both by the Vertues strength, and the co-aid
of the Dominions Iustice: so the Sunne,
When he his beames transfusiuely shall run
Through Mars his Sphere, or Ioves benigner Star,
All his effects, Power, Strength, and Honour ar'.

Legions of Fiends the Potestates expell;
And with them, all blinde errors driue to hell.
So when the Sunne doth his bright beames display,
The tenebrous Night flies, and giues place to day.

And as those Mindes and Essences Diuine,
By nature with miraculous fulgor shine:
So the bright Sunne instated all alone,
Amidst the Planets, in his Regall Throne,
Casts an incredible lustre, and to all
Doth honour, in his seat Majesticall;
Distributing abroad in large extent,
Vnto the Stars, both Light and Ornament:
By whom th' are gouern'd, and their motions sway'd,
Their splendor at his will dark't or display'd.
From whom they receiue names; as Day-Stars, some;
Nocturnal, others; but the most part come,
Styl'd by his course: Orientall, those we call
That moue from his Vp-rise; they from his Fall,
Are Occidental. Other Stars put on
Names from the South and the Septentrion.

The Potestates, their pow'r or'e things Inferior,
To mannage and dispose from the Superior,
Of all aboue's, immediately receiue.
Ev'n so the Sun shines only by his leaue;
The light it giues is but a shadow meere,
Of His that is so vnspeakeably cleere
In Glory, that all Glory doth transcend,
Which Humane Eye can no way comprehend:
And so his borrow'd lustre doth disperse
To Men, to Beasts, and the whole Vniuerse.

The Potestates, with things below dispense,
Without all tyrannie or violence:
The Sunne doth shine with amitie and loue
On all alike; and with the Starre of Iove

279

Bee'ng in conjunction, Mans minde it inflames
With honour, and to purchase glorious names,
Inspires with magnitude and claritie,
And these without all force or tyrannie.

By speculation in the Sun, we see
The glorious Trinity in Vnitie.
We from the Body or the Substance gather
The Diuine Essence of th' Almighty Father.
In his bright Splendor we the Sonne include,
Who is the sole and onely Pulchritude.
The third proceeding persons (God as great)
We see it plainly figured in his Heat.

Our Sauiour, when he would exemplifie
To vs his Fathers Power and Majestie,
Did it by this bright Planet; Perfect be
As is your Father that's in Heav'n, (saith he)
Who causeth that his Sonne alike doth rise
Vpon the Good and Bad. We must deuise

In the next place, how we may mak't appeare,
The Principates with Venus Star cohere.
As she from all antiquitie hath been
Styl'd by th' imagin'd name of Beauties Queene,
Because by obseruation, euerie creature
Borne vnder her, she doth endow with feature;
Faire shape, Good-grace, and Amabilitie,
All which to her disposures best agree.
Ev'n so the Principates striue to bring neare
To God himselfe (whose Image they do beare)
All Soules beneath their charge, make them to be
Partakers of his Diuine Claritie:
“For than Gods Image, nothing is more bright,
“Or more to ougly darkenesse opposite.

As the Platonicks vnder Venus name
Including Loue, make him the cause, this Frame
Was first by God built; which from Chaos rude,
Was brought by him to this rare pulchritude,
Than which, nothing more louely can be thought,
Whose gouernment's as rare, as comely wrought.
And that there's nothing can more ougly be,
Than is Confusion and Deformitie;
So by the Principates (as many hold)
Empires and States are gouern'd and controll'd,
Kingdomes well mannag'd: They are like a border,
To guard without, and what's within to order;

280

Lest Fire or Sword, or any mutinous storme,
(Where they preserue) should study to deforme:
'Tis to their office pertinent by right,
To keepe all things in Beauty and good plight.

These Principates are Dukes and Captaines styl'd;
Yet are they not alone listed and fyl'd
Vnder these Titles: The Dominion claimes,
And Potestates, the honour of these names;
The Principate, for his rare Pulchritude;
The Domination, for his Magnitude;
And for his Claritie, the Potestate,
Antesignani writers nominate.

And vnto them (these great names hauing shar'd)
Iupiter, Sol, and Venus are compar'd:
Iove, because his infusion doth assure
The most compleat and perfect temperature.
Venus, because from her cœlestiall place,
She doth dispose of beauty and good grace.
The Sun set 'gainst the Potestates so bright,
Because he is the Lord that gouernes Light.

The concordance that the Arch-Angels haue
With Mercury, doth now by order craue
The place succeeding: Intermediate
Th' are 'twixt the Angell and the Principate;
From the superior Classes these receiue
Their Diuine Mandates: which beeng done, they leaue
The execution of his sacred will
Vnto the Angels, their Attendants still.
Moreouer, as th' Arch-Angels (eminent
In place) are seldome in Embassage sent,
Vnlesse some weighty matter to declare;
But by their ordination, th' Angels are
More frequently employ'd 'twixt God and Man:
Ev'n so, who Mercury shall truly skan,
Will finde, That Them he in that kinde comes neere:
For to what Star or Planet whatsoe're
He doth apply himselfe, their strength, their state,
Their force, he doth so liuely imitate,
As if he alter'd nature, to the end
That his owne influence might on theirs depend.
Therefore the Poets did on him confer
The name of Hermes, or Interpreter
Vnto the gods. Of him one Author writes,
Bee'ng in conjunction with the Sun, he accites

281

To heate and drowth: he in the Moone breeds cold;
With Saturne, he makes wise; with Mars, Men bold;
And when he doth to Venus rise or set,
They, 'twixt them two, Hermophrodites beget.

Besides, this Star (as wisely one relates)
Seldome to Man, himselfe communicates;
As by the eyes of Mortals rarely seene.
The Poets tell vs, That he oft hath been
Sent to the gods on embassy; as when
To Somnus, in his darke Cimerian den,
To call thence Morpheus: and to Maia' his mother;
And often betwixt one god and another:
But to Man seldome. Now we must deuise,

To know what apt coherences may rise
'Twixt Angels and the Moone: Th' are lowe'st and least,
And in their later ranke conclude the rest.
Next, they the true proprietie retaine
Belonging to all Spirits. And againe,
That sacred name is fitly to them giuen,
Because they are more often sent from heauen,
Than others of more eminent degree,
Hauing conuerst with men familiarly:
Besides, all mundane businesse and affaires
Committed are vnto their charge and cares.
All these conditions, plainly 't doth appeare,
Miraculously vnto the Moone adhere;
For she of all the Planets is the last,
(In a degree below the others plac't)
As bringing vp the Number. She is then
An errant Star, next Planet to vs Men.
Thirdly, the neerer that she hath her station,
The more her influence and operation
Hath power on earth; and the more various she
Is in her change, the more effects there be
Proceeding from her: Nauigators steere
Their course by her, as she, or fills her Spheere,
Or empties it. Astrologers enqueere
From her in their conjectures: sicke and craz'd
Are, as she works, either cast downe or rais'd:
By her the spacious Ocean ebbs and flowes;
By her the skilfull Gard'ner plants and sowes:
So of the rest; and in this sympathee,
The Moone thus with the Angels doth agree,

282

That when from the superior Stars she hath tane
Her influence, she deliuers it againe
Into Mans seuerall parts: there reignes as Queene.

Such a faire correspondence haue the prime
And chiefe of Angels, with the Heav'ns sublime,
Or those which we call highest. Like condition
The middle Ternion hath, and disposition
With the mid Heav'ns; (for so at first 'twas cast)
And the third Chorus with the third and last.

For as the first and supreme Heav'ns are sway'd
By one sole motion; so it may be sayd,
The supreme Angels of the highest Throne
Haue their Commissions sign'd from God alone.
And as the middle Heav'ns are, without doubt,
By the same agitation wheel'd about,
With that which Primum Mobile we call;
So, by their owne Intelligences, all
Are by particular motion hurried round
A way contrarie (as by proofe is found.)
Likewise the intermediate Ternion, tho
They be by God illumin'd, and much know;
Yet in the executing of their places,
And doing His Will, there are such diffrent spaces,
They from the Highest Chorus take their charge:
So, 'twixt the last Diuision (to enlarge
This point more fully) what is most Diuine,
And in it's Greatnesse neerest to the Trine,
In Number is much lesse, as Doctors write;
But greater far in Potencie and Might.

Againe; What farthest we from God diuide,
Of That the Number is most multiply'de;
But is of much lesse Vertue. Thus saith one:
Alwayes, the Best thing from it Selfe alone
Hath his Perfection: That which in degree
Is next to It, guided and sway'd must be
By one sole Motiue: What is far remov'd,
Is subiect vnto Many, we finde prov'd.

To giue more lustre to this Argument;
The like's in euery Kingdomes mannagement.
We see a King in power most absolute,
With whose prerogatiue none dare dispute;
Who with a Breath can mighty Armies raise,
Hath a huge Nauy prest at all essayes,

283

By Land to forrage, and by Sea to inuade,
(And these too, without forreine Princes aid;)
Who can giue life, and take it when he please:
In his owne Person doth not do all these,
But by his Ministers, his Lords, and Peers;
And they, by their inferior Officers:
His awfull word, as by transmission, still
Passing degrees, ev'n from the first, vntill
It ceaseth in the last. So ('t may be guest,
'Tis in the Ternions of the Angels blest.
God is an absolute Monarch; and next Him,
Daniel doth place the holy Cherubim,
As knowing best His Counsels and Intent;
And such are seldome on his message sent.
Th' inferior Angels, with their Charge or'e-joy'd,
'Twixt God and Man haue often been employ'd:
And as the intermediate Spirits be
More oft commanded than the first Degree,
(Yet not so frequently as those below;)
This therefore I would haue you learne to know:

The Primum Mobile doth first begin
To chime vnto the holy Seraphim.
The Cherubim doth make concordance euen
With the eighth Sphere, namely, The Starry Heauen.
The Thrones, with Saturne. The like modulations
Hath Iupiter with the high Dominations.
The Vertues haue with Mars a consonance sweet:
The Potestates, with Sol in symptoms meet.
The Principates with Venus best agree:
Th' Arch-Angels, with the Planet Mercurie.
The Angels with the Moone, which melody
Hosanna sings to Him that sits on high.

Besides the Sects, the Schismes, and Heresies,
Vaine Adorations, and Idolatries;
There haue been three Religions, 'boue the rest
More frequent in the World, and most profest:
And those ev'n to these later Times exist,
The Iew, the Christian, and Mahumetist.
Now, which of all these three should be inuested
In highest honour, hath been long contested,
As well by Armes, as Arguments. To assure
Our selues, of these, which is the onely pure,
And without error; 'twill not be in vaine,
To separate the Cockle from the Graine:

284

Comparing them, it may be easily guest,
Whether Iew, Turke, or Christian beleeues best.

The Iewes thus quarrell with our Faith: We draw
(Say they) what we professe, from Moses Law;
And ev'n the Christians our chiefe Tenents hold.
We likewise in this one thing may be bold
Aboue all other Nations, That by none
God's truly worship'd, but by Vs alone.
Let all th' authentique Chronicles be sought,
Neuer haue such great Miracles been wrought,
As amongst vs. What people can there be,
That dares in Noblesse or Antiquitie
With our blest Hebrew Nation to contend?
For, who's so dull that knowes not, we descend
From Prophets, Kings, and Patriarchs, who pretend,
That this our Off-spring lineally came
From our great Predecessor, Abraham.
And though our Monarchy be quite transverst,
And we as slaues through the wide world disperst;
'Tis not because we put to heauy doome
The great Messias, who is yet to come:
But that so many Prophets of our Nation,
Who preach'd to them Repentance and Saluation,
Were by them slaine and butcher'd. Thus they can
Plead for themselues. Now the Mahumetan
He cavills with the Christian, and thus sayes;
None like to vs the great Creator praise:
We onely vnto One make adoration;
When as the Christian Sect build their saluation
Vpon a Sonne, (this God should haue) and He
Equall to Him from all eternitie.
Proceeding further: Should there be two gods,
They of necessitie should fall at odds;
Since supreme Pow'rs, Equalitie abhor,
And are impatient of Competitor:
Nor can that Kingdome without discord be,
Where Two (or more) haue joint supremacie.

Besides, God bee'ng omnipotent, and thrice-great,
For vs to aduance a Riuall to his Seat,
Were sacriledge: one like Him to adjoine,
Were but his Diuine Honors to purloine.
They say, We Christians more on Him conferre
Than He would willing haue, and therefore erre.

285

Inforcing too, The Roman Church doth ill,
When they adore within their Churches still,
Saints, Images, and Pictures, much vnsitting,
As thereby great idolatry committing.

They likewise boast of great atchieuements done,
And mighty conquests from vs Christians won
In sundry conflicts. Whereupon they infer,
(Because they are in Zeale so singular)
That for their just obedience and true Faith,
Their enterprising such successes hath.

Fast, Prayers, and Purenesse of Diuine adoration,
They wondrously extoll through all their Nation;
Their zeale vnto their Prophet and his Shrine,
Their Temperance, and Abstinence from Wine.
And as for Miracles, they further say,
That such are wrought amongst them euery day:
For some they haue that many weekes abstaine
From meat: some wound their flesh, sencelesse of paine:
Handle hot coles, some without scorching can:
And Maids beare Children without helpe of Man.

They haue their Saints too; Sedichasis, hee
Is call'd vpon in War, for Victorie.
Ascicus hath of Wedlocke free dispose.
Mirtscinus hath of Cattell charge. And those
That trauell vnto Mecha, by the way,
To a new Saint call'd Chiderille pray.

They haue a Relique held amongst them deare,
Which in his life one of their Saints did weare;
Who (as they feigne) so cleare was without spot,
That, throwne into a Furnace seuen times hot,
He walk'd vnscorch'd amidst the flames; ev'n so
As Sedrach, Misack, and Abednego.

But vnto all these brain-sicke superstitions,
As likewise to the Hebrewes vaine Traditions,
Th' infallid testimonie we oppose
Of the most sacred Scriptures; and ev'n those
(Howeuer craft'ly he his engines frame)
Afford not Mahomet so much as name,
Or giue him a knowne Character. Againe,
It might be held most impiously prophane,
Christs Miracles should we compare i'th least,
With the most damn'd impostures of that Beast.
Of whose delirements further I proceed;
Not doubting but the Graue and Wise may reade

286

And search through all Religions, of what kind
And nature how soe're, thereby to finde
Their depths and aimes: and afterward conferring
The Word of Truth, with Falshood vainly erring;
Th' one sileprously may to the World appeare;
The other, truly perfect and sincere.

Thus in the diuellish Alcaron 'tis said,
God i'th beginning onely foure things made,
And those with his owne hands: the first a Pen,
Which all things from the first to th' last (both when
And how they were created) writes at large.
The second thing he tooke into his charge
Was the Man Adam, and the selfe-same day
He fashon'd him of parti-coloured clay:
And that's the reason (neither thinke it strange)
That in mens faces there is still such change
And contrarietie in looke and haire,
Some blacke, some browne, some tawny, and some faire.
The third a Throne, his Maiestie to grace.
The fourth, for Soules a blessed resting place
Call'd Paradice. And vnto these doth add
Such toyes, as in themselues proclaime him mad,
Or meerely sottish, fabulous inuention
All, no way worthy a wise Writers mention.

As yet for instance; Before mans Creation,
The earth had sollid and a firme foundation,
And was inhabited in times forepast,
By Diuels first, then Angels, Adam last.
That Paradice (by him so often nam'd)
Of Smaragds and cleare Hyacinths is fram'd:
That there grow pleasing Fruits of strange varietie,
To giue the blessed Soules their full sacietie:
Riuers of Milke and Hony each where wander,
And some of Wine, in many a crook'd Meander.
Euery Inhabitant there apparel'd is
In costly robes of sundry colour'd Bisse;
Blacke onely there's not seene: That all appeare
Of the same stature Adam and Eue were;
But of like forme with Christ in shape and fashion.
Of Bodies there's no growth or augmentation;
No heate to scortch, no cold but to endure;
The Aire hath a most constant temperature.
No sooner entred, but before them's put
The Liuer of a Fish call'd Albehut,

287

That yeelds an exc'ellent fauor; and then plac't
Vpon a table, Fruits of exquisit tast.
Next after that, they to the view present
All choice delights to giue the Soule content,
And when they haue deliciously been fed,
No excrement at all thereby is bred:
But when these Cates they haue disgested well,
There flowes from them a most delightfull smell.
But to taste Swines flesh there, is worse than Treason:
Why that's forbid? pray heare the Prophet's reason.

The time when Noahs Arke was built (saith he)
All flesh as well in heav'n as earth was free
Then to be eaten. Now when Christ was come
To liue on earth, and being ask'd by some
Of the Disciples, 'bout the preseruation
Of Mankinde, in the generall Inundation;
After some pause, he did command them stay
'Till he had moulded out a Man from Clay:
To whom he said, Rise in my Fathers name,
And answer me directly to the same
That I shall now demand. He soone vp start
A liuing man compleat in ev'ry part;
But haire and beard all white. To whom he said,
Speake who thou art? This answer he soone made,
Iaphet the sonne of Noë. Then Christ reply'd;
Wast thou so old in seeming, when thou dy'd?
He answer'd, No; but he was so appal'd
With sudden terror, doubting he was cal'd
Vnto the last great Doome to make repaire,
The very feare thereof so chang'd his haire.
He then commanded him, freely to tell
All that in the Arkes historie befell.
Which punctually he from the first related,
So far, till that the Arke, much aggrauated
With weight of excrement, lean'd vpon one side;
At which the Pilot Noë much terrifi'de,
Ask'd counsell of his God, to know what best
Was to be done, (he being so distrest)
Who bad him make the elephant appeare
In the same place which he so much did feare.
Where he not many minutes made abode,
'Till he his guts disburd'ned of a lode,
In noisome ordure, with the rest agreeing;
And from that Dung the first Sow had her being.

288

Who was no sooner fashon'd and aliue,
But instantly she far'd as she would striue
To eat vp the whole dung-hill; her nose shooting
Into the midst thereof, turning and rooting
To finde out what she greedily might champe:
Till in the Arke she rais'd so foule a dampe,
Able to poyson those within; and she
So swell'd withall, as if she seem'd to be
With pigs alreadie. Gronting long, at last
She eas'd her o're-charg'd belly of a blast,
And with it a liue Mouse: which Noah saw
No sooner bred, but it began to gnaw
His Notes and Tables, and offend him much:
Kill her he would not notwithstanding, (such
His goodnesse was) but once againe demands
Counsell to rid that Creature from his hands.
He then was bid to strike the Lions brow:
Which done no sooner, (but I know not how)
Than instantly a Cat bounc'd from his face,
And in a trice had the poore Mouse in chace.

You heare his trifling. But obserue the toyes
Deuis'd by him touching Cœlestiall joyes;
All which in his blacke Schedule he inrolles,
Rather becomming Beasts, than blessed Soules.
As, That there is no pleasure or delight
That may content a lustfull appetite:
But there's in plenty, both as oft, and when
They please to taste them. And that all such men
As in this world had Wiues constant and true,
Shall in the other, not enioy so few,
But Concubines aboundance, with eyes cleare,
And great as egges; these still to them are neere,
Of admirable feature and choice graces,
Who neuer looke but in their husbands faces.

Elsewhere he saith, The good Soules are attyr'd
In golden Vesture; nought can be desir'd,
That wanting is: of Damsels they haue store
In that faire Garden; and to please them more,
The white of their cleare eyes, of white hath fulnesse;
The apples, blacknesse, pure blacke without dulnesse.
They eat such fruits as please the pallat best,
Drinke Milke and Honey, and for euer rest
In Paradice. From these and thousand such,
(Of which, though sparingly, I speake too much)

289

These two things may be gath'red, worthy note,
In which he most prodigiously did dote,
(Thinking his damned Errors to aduance)
Their beastly Liues; His brutish Ignorance:
Whose Doctrine, neither of Theologie
Hath the least taste, nor of Philosophie;
But mainly from both these in all points sweruing,
As neither Number, Order, nor obseruing
The Qualities of the Heav'ns. He neither caught
At ought the Arabs or the Chaldees taught,
The Hebrewes, Greekes, or Latines: there's no mention
In all his Works, of the least apprehension
Of Physicks or of Metaphysicks: there
No rules, but all things meerly irreguler.
No disputation of the Liberall Arts,
Or of the World, and it's distinguisht parts,
No argument at all: no true quotation
Of the learn'd Authors sprung from his owne Nation;
As Avempax, Mercurius Tresmegistus,
Adelandus, Ali-Arabs, Moses Ægyptus,
Or Avicen: whose Workes had he but read,
He had not sure, so grossely been mis-led.
In his whole Booke he seemes to be at war
With common Sence, which makes him erre so far.

Further to speake of his impost'rous Lies,
Heare next what this grand Prophet doth deuise
Touching the Angels: First, (saith he) the Deuill
Was made of Fire pestiferous and euill.
The glorious Spirits, Attendants on the Throne,
And faithfull Ministers to God alone;
For euer seated in that blessed Bowre,
Haue Wings, some two, some three, and others foure.
Making of this, as confident relation,
As had he present been at the Creation.

And of these, Two attending on the Throne
Of the great God Almighty; Maroth one;
Haroth another, were from Heav'n downe sent,
With full Commission to haue gouernment
Or'e all Mankinde; not onely to conduct them,
In their affaires, but tutor and instruct them:
With these prouiso's, neuer to incline
Either to Kill, Iudge rashly, or Drinke Wine.
All which of long time hauing strictly kept
In the plaine rode, and to no by-path stept;

290

It chanc'd in processe, an offending Wife
Did with her peruerse husband fall at strife:
A day of hearing bee'ng appointed, she
Inuites vnto a banquet cunningly,
These two impartiall Iudges; 'fore them plac'd
Right costly Cates, made both for shew and taste,
But sauc'd with wine, (which was vnknowne to them;)
And by this close and crafty stratagem,
Spurring them on with courteous welcome still:
Their pallats being pleas'd, they bad her fill
In plenteous cups to them, till both in fine
Were much distemper'd and or come with Wine.
And in this heate, lust breaking into fire,
They then to adulterate her bed desire.
To which she yeelds, vpon condition they
Will teach her Characters, by which she may
Be lifted to those heav'ns aboue the Sun,
And without let behold what's therein done:
And after that, she may haue free transmission
Downe to the earth, and that with expedition.
They grant to her, and she to them applies;
The words no sooner spoke, but vp she flies:
Where seene, and question'd how she thither came,
She opens the whole matter (just the fame
As was before related;) but for feare
She should disclose on earth the Glories there,
Shee soone was chang'd into a fulgent Star,
In light excelling others ev'n as far,
As when in life below she did remaine,
Her lustre did inferior Beauties staine.

Now after this, the Angels were conuented;
Who waking from their drowsinesse, repented
Of their vaine folly, and with terror great
Were brought to answer at the Iudgement Seat.
The fault confest, the processe, and the ground,
With euery circumstance, this grace they found;
To haue (after discussion) in the close,
What punishment they would themselues impose,
Betwixt this World and th' other to endure:
Who made choice, in iron chaines to be bound sure,
And haue both heads and bodies drown'd in mud,
In a most putrid Lake call'd Bebel floud.

One grosse thing more to these I'le adde, and than
To his perdition leaue this brain-sicke Man.

291

Further he saith; In the last dreadfull day,
Th' Angell of Death, that's Adriel call'd, shall slay
All Soules then liuing. And that slaughter past,
Fall on his owne sword, and so die the last.
And when all liuing creatures are destroy'd,
The world shall forty yeares stand after, void.

Infinite are his most blasphemous Fictions,
And eachwhere interlac't with contradictions:
As in feign'd Miracles, the generall Doome,
The dissolution that is yet to come.

Concerning these, a question may arise,
Whether these sottish and most fabulous Lies
More fondly by this Iugler were conceated,
Or by Mad-folke beleev'd, and thereby cheated.

Now something touching the arch-Heresies
Of the Priscillians and the Manechies;
Of whom, thus briefely: They nor blush, nor feare,
To write and teach, That two Beginnings were
Of vniuersall Nature, Good, and Bad;
The one, of cherefull Light; the other, sad
Darkenesse the Author. Of which they retaine
Th' essence within themselues, and from these faigne
A God and Diuell: And that all things made,
From these Materials their condition had,
Of Good and Euill. Both the Sects agreeing,
That from the better Good the World had Being.
Yet they say further, That the mixture knit
Of Good and Bad insep'rable in it,
From these two opposit Natures doth arise;
And therefore in their fancies they deuise,
Fiue Elements to either: There's assign'd
Smoke, Darkenesse, Fire, the Water, and the Winde
To the Bad Nature: out of Smoke they bring
All two leg'd Creatures, and thence Man to spring.
They further fable, and from Darkenesse breed
Dragons and Serpents, with all Reptile seed.
Foure-footed Beasts from Fire they procreate:
From Water, Fish: Fowles, from Winde generate.

The number of the Elements are fiue,
Which from the Better Nature they deriue,
Oppos'd to these: Aire, from the Smoke they draw;
Light out of Darknesse; by the selfe same law,
Fire needfull, from Fire hurtfull: Water thus;
Vsefull, from what's Disaduantagious:

292

From Windes contagious, Windes of healthfull vse;
And betwixt these there can be made no Truce.

They likewise trifle, That all difficultie
To attaine vnto the true Felicitie,
Consists in separating th' Ills contagion
From the Goods purer nature. Which persuasion
Yet leads them further; That since these two first
Pow'rfull Beginnings, term'd the Best and Worst,
Are at perpetuall discord; hence should breed
Of War, that natiue and intestine seed
Betwixt the Flesh and Spirit: in which Strife
None's capable of euerlasting life,
But such as the Good Nature can diuide
From that contagion which the Bad doth guide.

They say, That to the Light, pur'd and refin'd,
Two shapes from Gods pure nature are assign'd,
Namely the Sun and Moone; and these conuey
That perfect splendor which enlights for aye
The heav'nly Kingdome and most glorious Seat
Of High Iehovah, who 's the onely Great
And Pow'rfull, hauing the sole domination;
His Mansion being their blest habitation.

They feigne, Our Grandsire and great-Grandame Eve
(Which none of common Reading can beleeue)
Of Sacla Prince of Smoke were form'd and made.
That by the Serpent, (he who first betrayd
Those our first Parents) Christ himselfe was meant,
Who bad them taste the Apple, to th' intent
That they the Good from what was Ill might know.
And that his body meerely was in show
Phantasticall, not Reall. That the Trine
Sent him to saue the Soule that was Diuine;
But not the Flesh and Body, because they
Were made of impure stuffe, Dust, Earth, and Clay.
Of which Absurds I'le make no more narration,
Vnworthy mention, much more confutation.

Tribus modis in veritate peccatur; 1. Veritatem præ timore tacendo: 2. Veritatem in mendatium comutando. 3. Veritatem non defendendo. Chrisost.

Explicit Metrum Tractatus quinti.

327

A Meditation vpon the former Tractate.

I

If I into my Selfe turne not mine Eyes,
Not possible that I my Selfe should know.
Or if I looke within Me, then I show
So foule and monstrous, I my Selfe despise;

II

Because I nothing can praise-worthy finde,
But rather subiect vnto reprehension:
There, Vice with Vertue are at loud contention,
And hath the conquest both of Heart and Minde.

III

The more my Conscience I examine, still
The more corrupt it to my Sence appeares;
So stain'd, so spotted, that not all my Teares
Can wash it cleane from the least thought of Ill.

IV

From the first houre that I began to sin,
I haue gon on without the least cessation,
Neglecting all the meanes of my saluation:
Nor ending yet where I did first begin.

V

How horrid my Offenres be, I know,
And how dis-tastefull in my Maker's sight:
Yet chuse the wrong path, and forsake the right,
And willingly vnto my ruin go.

VI

I commit blushing sinnes, and without shame,
Sinnes grievous; yet lament them not at all.

328

Wrath I deserue, yet for no Mercy call:
How then, that which I seeke not, can I claime?

VII

And therefore haue deserv'd torments perdurable:
For I am a dead Limbe, sencelesse of paine;
And where's no feeling, Surgeons art 's in vaine:
For all that are so gangren'd are incurable.

VIII

I am a dissolute wretch, yet do not I
Seeke to correct that which I finde amisse.
The aime I haue is to attaine to Blisse,
And yet the meanes by which 'tis gain'd, I fly.

IX

Vnto those sinnes of which I late repented,
And quite abiur'd, with greedinesse I turne:
And when for them I was about to mourne,
My waiward Will to sport and mirth consented.

X

The pit I late fell in, I cannot shun;
To which my Neighbour I together drew:
I follow onely that I ought to eschew,
And meerely into things forbidden run.

XI

When I should weepe, and pray with great deuotion,
For pardon of Ills done, and Good neglected;
I finde my cogitations interjected,
Ready to banish thence each godly motion.

XII

Gods Wisedome, Goodnesse, and his Pow'r I see,
The World to Make, to Order, and Protect:
But I that great and glorious Worke neglect,
Yet knowing it created was for me.

XIII

A Concordance most permanent and stable,

329

'Twixt the blest Angels and the Heav'ns I find,
In what an Vnion they are all combin'd:
Yet I to make mine owne peace am not able.

XIV

I, 'twixt the stubborne Iew, and stupid Turke,
A profest Christian, in the middle rest:
I know their Errors, and their Ills detest,
Yet cannot I my selfe do one good Worke.

XV

And though I am not (like the other) bold
By Arguments or Armes Thee to oppose,
As one of thy profest and open Foes;
Yet in thy Seruice I am weake and cold.

XVI

Though I (like them) do not with might and maine
Make me of thy contempt the common Theme,
And wilfully thy Dietie blaspheme;
O yet, how oft take I Thy Name in vaine!

XVII

Which of vs then deserues the harder lot?
They, who through ignorance Thy mercy fly,
Or else perchance would honour Thee? or I.
That know my Masters will, and do it not?

XVIII

Strengthen my weakenesse then, my shrinking stay;
Support me falling, with Thy powerfull hand,
So onely shall I able be to stand,
To serue Thee truly, and Thy Will obey.

XIX

So shall no Schisme, no Heresie, no Error,
Thy chosen Temple (this my brest) inuade:
So I Thy constant Champion shall be made,
Free from all present Feares, and future Terror.

Agnoscit Reus.
Ignoscit Deus.

331

Lib. 6. The Powers.

THE ARGVMENT of the sixth Tractate.

The Heart of Man bee'ng so adverse
To Goodnesse, and so apt to pierce
Things most Retruse; a course exprest,
On what it chiefely ought to rest.
A Scruteny made, where and when
The Spirits were created. Then,
Of Lucifer, the chiefe and prime
Of Angels, in the first of Time:
His Splendor Pride, and how he fell
In battell by Prince Michael:
Their Fight, their Armes; the Triumph great
Made in the Heav'ns for his defeat.
Their Number that revolted, and
How long they in their Grace did stand.
Some other Doubts may plaine appeare,
Which to this Argument cohere.

The second Argument.

The mighty Pow'r of God was showne,
When the great Dragon was o'rethrowne.

Than th' Heart of man (since made by sinne impure)
There's nothing more inconstant and vnsure;
Through all incertainties trauelling still;
For nothing can it's empty corners fill.

332

Wandring in Deviations crook'd and blinde,
Enquiring after things it cannot finde.
As oft as any vaine thoughts thence arise,
One growing to a second, multiplies;
Till they at length to infinites extend,
And then not one, but doth our God offend.
They hourely toile and labour in vnrest,
And yet when all are sum'd vp, Bad's the Best.

The Hearts vaine thoughts are in continuall warre,
Dissonant 'mongst themselues, and hourely jarre:
They thinke of past things, cast what's to ensue;
Old projects they destroy, and build vp new:
What's ruin'd, to erect; and then the fame
This way and that way diuersly to frame.
They will not now, and then againe they will;
Altring the purpose, changing counsels still:
First this, then that, now early, and then late;
And neuer remaine constant in one state.

And as the Mill, that circumgyreth fast,
Refuseth nothing that therein is cast,
But whatsoeuer is to it assign'd,
Gladly receiues, and willing is to grynd;
But if the violence be with nothing fed,
It wasts it selfe: ev'n so the Heart mis-led,
Still turning round, vnstable as the Ocean,
Neuer at rest, but in continuall motion;
Sleepe or awake, is still in agitation
Of some presentment in th' imagination.

If to the Mill-stones you shall cast in sand,
It troubles them, and makes them at a stand?
If Pitch? it chokes them: or if Chaffe let fall?
They are employ'd, but to no vse at all.
So, better thoughts molest, vncleane thoughts staine
And spot the Heart; when those idle and vaine,
Weare it, and to no purpose. For when 'tis
Drowsie, and carelesse of the future blisse,
And to implore Heav'ns aid, it doth imply
How far is it remote from the most-High.
For whilest our Hearts on Terrhen things we place,
There cannot be least hope of Diuine grace.

Now in this wretched state of our Humanity,
We are besieg'd first by this Mundane Vanitie.
Then, Curiositie one way persuades,
Pleasure vpon the other side inuades:

333

Here Lusts assault, there Enuy makes his battery:
On this part Pride's intrencht; and on that, Flattery:
Then Sloth corrupts it, or Ambition swells it;
Wrath burnes it, else base Auarice compells it
To dote on Drosse; Deceit seekes to disguise it,
And all the deadly Sinnes at once surprise it.
And why? To retaine God it hath no will
Of it's sole power, it's empty Round to fill.
And that's the cause it deviates and strayes
By curious searching into vnknowne wayes,
To finde what best might sate it; but in vaine:
For till it shall returne to Him againe
By whom it was created, (the Sole-Blest)
It well may seeke, but neuer shall finde rest.

Now God, as He commands, so doth persuade
To make that onely His, which he hath made.
But we are (whilest we from his Precepts vary)
Rebellious to our selues, and contrary:
Neither can we our stubborne hearts subdue,
Till we submit vs to the onely true
And liuing God. And that's the reason why,
About, our wandring Cogitations fly,
Fashioning more Chimæra's in one hower,
Than we to compasse in an Age haue power.
For whilest not vnto Him vnited, we
Must in our selues of force diuided be:
To Whom we cannot come, tow'rds Whom not moue,
But by the steps of Charitie and Loue.
In Whom no int'rest we can haue, vnlesse
In all things we Humilitie professe:
Nor can we humble be, so to aspire,
Vnlesse by Industry the Truth t'acquire.

And therefore we must in this sincere Truth
Our selues examine, How we spend our Youth,
Manhood, and Age; and then by searching finde
How fraile we are, how vnstedfast, and how blinde.
And next, when we our miseries haue skan'd,
Sifting all actions that we take in hand,
How vaine they are; Necessitie will leaue
That Consequent behinde, That we must cleaue
Onely to that great Pow'r, nor from it shrinke,
Without which, we nor moue, nor speake, nor thinke.
And because we haue falne from Him by Sin,
To intimate, There is no way to win

334

Our peace and reconcilement, or dispence
With our transgression, but true Penitence.

I thus proceed: Great hath the Decertation
Bin 'mongst the Learned men, 'bout the Creation
Of blessed Angels. Some of them haue said,
They many Worlds before this World were made,
To attend th' Almighty. Others haue againe,
So curious a scrutinie held vaine,
And almost irreligious; aiming still
To penetrate into his secret Will
Without his Warrant: and conclude, That they
Had with the Light subsistence the first day;
Were (with it) made of Nothing, had no Being
At all till then. The Fathers disagreeing
About this point, some haue opinion held,
(But by the later Writers since refel'd)
As Hierome, Ambrose, Gregory Nazianzen,
Cassianus, Damascenus, Origen,
Hilary, Basil: These with others, were
Resolv'd, That because nothing doth appeare
From Moses, in his Booke of things created,
Concerning them, That they were fabricated
Long time before. Againe, Because Saint Paul
(Writing to Titus) saith, God first of all,
Before the World, th' Hope of Eternall life
Promis'd to vs, [&c.] Hence they maintaine this strife,
Interpreting the Text, Er'e the Creation.
Which words include; If Before God did fashion
All things that Being haue in earth or heauen,
There must be some to whom this power is giuen,
And those the Angels. But on this Assertion
Learned Saint Austin layes a great aspersion:
Affirming them with th' Heav'ns Emperiall made,
And that before, they no existence had.
Saint Paul interpreting; Th' Almighty gaue
This Promise and blest Hope, Mankinde to saue
From all Eternitie, to elevate
Mans Fall, in that pure Lambe Immaculate,
His Sonne and our deare Sauiour. And thus
Opinion'd were graue Athanasius,
Gregory, Theodoret, Epiphanius,
With diuers others: Which no sooner mov'd
Was in the Lateran Councell, but approv'd

335

Of all the Bishops, as of both the best.
Which in the sacred Scripture is exprest:
For thus 'tis writ, God ended the seventh day
The Worke He made, (for so doth Moses say)
And in the day whch He his Sabbath nam'd,
Rested from All the Worke which he had fram'd.
Which vniuersall word perforce doth carry
Spirituall things, as well as Elementary.

Such as before the World thinke them created,
In many doubts themselues haue intricated.
I would (besides) haue them resolue me, How
(Vnlesse his Worke imperfect they allow)
It can with reason stand, that if they were
In Time before Time was, and with sincere
Faith and Obedience had so long aboad,
They onely then revolted from their God?
Should this be granted, it must needs inferre
Strong argument, a second way to erre;
Namely, That no Cœlestiall Hierarchy,
Subiects of that eternall Monarchy,
(Who haue remain'd, as by the Word appeares,
In blest estate so many thousand yeares)
But, notwithstanding the great grace th' are in,
May slide like Lucifer, and fall by Sin.
Which the Church holds erronious. Be it then
Granted, That God did make the Angels when
Th' Imperiall Heav'ns were fashion'd, at first pure
And without sin, for euer to endure;
Had they not falne through Proud Imagination,
By which they then incur'd his Indignation.
For nothing Euill can from Him proceed;
So much the Text implyes, where we may reade,
God said, when he his rare Worke vnderstood,
All things that I haue made be greatly good.
And lest the Church might that way be deluded,
'Tis in the Lateran Councell thus concluded:
All Spirits were created pure at first;
But by their selfe-will after made accurst.

To make things cleare: Although we must confesse,
That Moses doth not in plaine termes expresse,
When, how, and in what order Angels were
At first created; yet it will appeare,
How that their Essences, and Natures bright
Were signified by names of Heav'n and Light.

336

And though they seeme forgotten in that Text,
Obserue how other Scriptures are connext,
To giue them Name and Being. In that Oad
In which the three blest Children prais'd their God
In the hot flames; to giue to vnderstand,
That Angels were the Worke of his great Hand,
O all ye Workes of God the Lord (say they)
Blesse, praise, and magnifie his Name for aye:
Praise him ye Heav'ns, ye Angels praise the Lord.
Let vs to Daniels adde the Psalmists word,
Praise Him all ye his Angels. Some haue said,
That Angels were the last worke that God made;
But most absurdly. He in Iob thus sayes;
When the Stars of the Morning gaue me praise,
Then all the Angels (of my Sonnes the choice)
Extold my Name with an exalted voice.

Now when the Great and most Diuinely Wise,
Did the rare Fabricke of the World deuise,
And by the vertue of his Word create
The Heav'n and Earth in their so goodly state;
He made the Angels in the first of Time,
Of Substances most noble and sublime.
Amongst which Lucifer was chiefe; and hee,
As he might challenge a prioritie
In his Creation, so aboue the rest
A supereminence, as first and best:
For he was chiefe of all the Principalities,
And had in him the three stupendious qualities
Of the most holy Trinitie, which include
First, Greatnesse, Wisedome next, then Pulchritude.

The Greatnesse of the Sonne and holy Spirit,
The Father is, which they from him inherit.
Now of the Father and the Holy-Ghost,
The Wisedome is the Sonne, (so stiled most.)
The Father and Sonnes Pulchritude is he
That's the third Person in the Trinitie.

And though of Angels the great pow'r be such
As hath in Scripture been extolled much,
For their nobilitie and excellence:
As first of Michael, whose pre-eminence
Daniel relates, as naming him for one
Of the prime Angels that attend the Throne.
As Raphael, who told Tobit, Of the seuen
That still before th' Almighty stand in Heav'n,

337

Himselfe was one. Or as the Seraphim,
Who (as the holy Prophet speakes of him)
With a cole toucht his lips, (from th' Altar tooke.)
Or as of Gabriel, whom the holy Booke
Mentions; who to the earth made proclamation,
Of our most blessed Sauiors Incarnation.
Yet aboue these was Lucifer instated,
Honor'd, exalted, and much celebrated.
And therefore many of the Learned striue,
His greatnesse from Ezechiel to deriue:
For thus he saith, (and what he doth infer
'Gainst Tyrus, they conuert to Lucifer.)

Thou sealst the Sum vp, art in Wisedome cleare,
Thy beauty perfect doth to all appeare:
Thou hast in Eden, Gods faire Garden, been;
Each pretious stone about thy garment's seene,
The Ruby, Topaz, and the Diamond,
The Chrysolite and Onyx there were found;
The Iasper and the Saphyr, dearely sold,
The Emerald, the Carbuncle with Gold.
The Timbrel and the Pipe were celebrated
For thee in the first day thou wert created.
Thou art th' anointed Cherub, made to couer,
Thee I haue set in honour aboue other,
Vpon Gods holy Mountaine placed higher:
Thou walked hast amidst the stones of fire.
At first, of thy wayes, perfect was the ground,
Vntill iniquitie in thee was found:
Thy heart was lifted vp by thy great beauty,
Therein tow'rds God forgetfull of thy duty,
By reason of thy Brightnesse, (being plac't
'Boue them) thy Wisedome thou corrupted hast.
But to the ground I'le cast thee flat and cold,
Lay thee where Kings thy ruin may behold:
In thy selfe-wisedome thou hast been beguild,
And by thy multitude of sinnes, defil'd
Thy Holinesse: A Spirit still peruerse,
Stain'd by th' iniquitie of thy commerse.
Therefore from midst of thee a fire I'le bring,
Which shall deuour thee: into ashes fling
Thee from thy height, that all the earth may see thee.
This I haue spoke; and who is he can free thee?
Their terror, who did know thee heretofore,
(Most Wretched) thou shalt be, yet be no more.

338

In this, the Prophet (as these would allude)
Striues in this first-borne Angell to include
All Wisedome, Pow'r, Gifts, Ornaments, and Graces,
Which all the rest had in their seuerall Places.

God, this precelling Creature hauing made,
With all the Host of Angels, (some haue said)
He then began the Vniuersall Frame,
The Heav'ns, Sun, Moon, and Stars, and gaue them name.
Then, Earth and Sea, his Diuine Will ordain'd,
With all the Creatures in them both contain'd.

His last great Workemanship, (in high respect,
Of Reason capable, and Intellect,
But to the Angels natures much inferior,
Who with th' Almighty dwell in th' Heav'ns superior,
To all Eternity sounding his praise)

Man, (whom from Dust he did so lately raise)
Subsists of Soule and Body: That which still
Doth comprehend the Vnderstanding, Will,
And Memorie, namely the Soule, (Partaker
Of those great Gifts) is th' Image of the Maker.

The nature of the Body, though it be
Common with Beasts, yet doth it disagree
In shape and figure; for with Eyes erected
It beholds Heav'n, whilest Brutes haue Looks deiected.

This compos'd Man is as a ligament,
And folding vp in a small continent,
Some part of all things which before were made;
For in this Microcosme are stor'd and layd
Connexiuely, as things made vp and bound,
Corporeall things with incorporeall. Found
There likewise are in his admired quality,
Things fraile and mortall, mixt with Immortality.
Betweene those Creatures that haue Reason, and
Th' Irrationall, who cannot vnderstand,
There is a Nature intermediate,
That 'twixt them doth of both participate.
For with the blessed Angels, in a kinde,
Man doth partake of an intelligent Minde;
A Body with the Beasts, with Appetite,
It to preserue, feed, cherish, and delight,
And procreate it's like in shapes and features.

Besides, Man hath aboue all other Creatures,
That whereas they their Appetites pursue,
(As solely sencible of what's in view,

339

And gouern'd by instinct) Mans eminence
Hath pow'r to sway his Will from common Sence;
And (besides Earthly things) himselfe apply
To contemplate things mysticall and hye.
And though his Excellence doth not extend
To those miraculous Gifts which did commend
Great Lucifer at first, in his Majoritie,
Yet in one honour he hath iust prioritie,
Before all Angels to aduance his Seed:
Since God from all eternitie decreed,
That his owne Sonne, the euerlasting Word
(Who to all Creatures Being doth afford,
By which they first were made) should Heav'n forsake,
And in his Mercy, humane Nature take.
Not that he by so doing should depresse
The Diuine Majestie, and make it lesse;
But Humane frailtie to exalt and raise
From corrupt earth, his glorious Name to praise.
Therefore he did insep'rably vnite
His Goodhood to our Nature, vs t'excite
To magnifie his Goodnesse. This Grace showne
Vnto Mankinde, was to the Angels knowne;
That such a thing should be they all expected,
Not knowing how or when 't would be effected.

Thus Paul th' Apostle restates: 'Mongst the rest,
Without all opposition, be 't confest,
Of Godlinesse the mysterie is high;
Namely, That God himselfe apparantly
Is manifest in Flesh, is iustify'd
In Spirit; by the Angels clearely espy'd;
Preacht to the Gentiles, by the World beleev'd;
Into eternall Glory last receiv'd.

With Pride and Enuy Lucifer now swelling
Against Mankinde, whom from his heav'nly Dwelling,
He seemes in supernaturall Gifts t'out-shine,
(Man being but Terrene, and himselfe Diuine)
Ambitiously his Hate encreasing still,
Dares to oppose the great Creators Will:
As holding it against his Iustice done,
That th' Almighties sole begotten Sonne,
Mans nature to assume purpos'd and meant,
And not the Angels, much more excellent.
Therefore he to that height of madnesse came,
A stratagem within himselfe to frame,

340

To hinder this irrevocable Deed,
Which God from all eternitie decreed.
And that which most seem'd to inflame his spleene
And arrogance, was, That he had foreseene,
That many Men by God should be created,
And in an higher eminence instated,
Of place and Glory, than himselfe or those
His Angels, that this great Worke 'gan t'oppose.
Disdaining and repining, that of Men
One should be God Omnipotent; and then,
That others, his Inferiors in degree,
Should out-shine him in his sublimitie.

In this puft Insolence and timp'anous Pride,
He many Angels drew vnto his side,
(Swell'd with the like thoughts.) Ioyntly these prepare
To raise in Heav'n a most seditious Warre.
He will be the Trines Equall, and maintaine,
Ouer the Hierarchies (at least) to raigne.

'Tis thus in Esay read: I will ascend
Into the Heav'ns, and there my Pow'r extend;
Exalt my Throne aboue, and my aboad
Shall be made equall with the Stars of God.
Aboue the Clouds I will my selfe apply,
Because I will be like to the Most-Hye.

To this great Pride, doth the Arch-Angell rise
In boldest opposition, and replies,
(Whose name is Michael) Why what is he,
That like the Lord our God aspires to be?
In vaine, ô Lucifer, thou striv'st t'assay,
That we thine innovations should obey;
Who know, As God doth purpose, be, it must;
He cannot will, but what is good and iust:
Therefore, with vs, That God and Man adore,
Or in this place thou shalt be found no more.

This strooke the Prince of Pride into an heate,
In which a Conflict terrible and great
Began in Heav'n; the Rebell Spirits giue way,
And the victorious Michael winnes the day.

Thus Iohn writes of the Battell: Michael
Fought, and his Angels, with the Dragon fel:
The Dragon and his Angels likewise fought,
But in the Conflict they preuailed nought;
Nor was their Place in Heav'n thence-forward found,
But the great Dragon that old Serpent bound,

341

(The Diuell call'd, and Sathan) was cast out;
He that deceiueth the whole World about:
Ev'n to the lowest earth being tumbled downe,
And with him all his Angels headlong throwne.

This victorie thus got, and he subverted,
Th' Arch-Angell with his holy Troupes, directed
By Gods blest Spirit, an Epiniceon sing,
Ascribing Glory to th' Almighty King:
Miraculous thy Workes are, worthy praise,
Lord God Almighty; iust and true thy waies,
Thou God of Saints. O Lord, who shall not feare,
And glorifie thy Name, who thy Workes heare?
Thou onely holy art: henceforth adore Thee
All Nations shall, worship, and fall before Thee;
Because thy Iudgements are made manifest.

This Song of Vict'rie is againe exprest
Thus: Now is Saluation, now is Strength,
Gods Kingdome, and the Power of Christ. At length
The Sland'rer of our Brethren is refus'd,
Who day and night them before God accus'd.
By the Lambes bloud they ouercame him, and
Before Gods Testimonie he could not stand;
Because the Victors who the Conquest got,
Vnto the death their liues respected not.
Therefore reioyce you Heav'ns, and those that dwell
In these blest Mansions. But shall I now tell
The Weapons, Engines, and Artillerie
Vsed in this great Angelomachy.

No Lances, Swords, nor Bombards they had then,
Or other Weapons now in vse with men;
None of the least materiall substance made,
Spirits by such giue no offence or aid.
Onely spirituall Armes to them were lent,
And these were call'd Affection and Consent.
Now both of these, in Lucifer the Diuell
And his Complyes, immoderate were, and euill.
Those that in Michael the Arch-Ange'll raign'd,
And his good Spirits, meekely were maintain'd,
Squar'd and directed by th' Almighties will
(The Rule by which they fight, and conquer still.)

Lucifer, charg'd with insolence and spleene;
When nothing but Humilitie was seene,
And Reuerence towards God, in Michaels brest,
By which the mighty Dragon he supprest.

342

Therefore this dreadfull battell fought we finde
By the two motions of the Will and Minde;
Which, as in men, so haue in Angels sway:
Mans motion in his body liues, but they
Haue need of no such Organ. This to be,
Both Averroes and Aristotle agree.

It followes next, that we enquire how long
This Lucifer had residence among
The blessed Angels: for as some explore,
His time of Glory was six dayes, no more;
(The time of the Creation) in which they
(I meane the Spirits) seeing God display
His glorious Works, with stupor and amase
Began at once to contemplate and gase
Vpon the Heav'ns, Earth, Sea, Stars, Moone, and Sunne,
Beasts, Birds, and Man, with the whole Fabricke done.

In this their wonder at th' inscrutabilitie
Of such great things, new fram'd with such facilitie;
To them, iust in the end of the Creation,
He did reueale his blest Sonnes Incarnation:
But with a strict commandement, That they
Should (with all Creatures) God and Man obey.
Hence grew the great dissention that befell
'Twixt Lucifer and the Prince Michael.

The time 'twixt his Creation and his Fall,
Ezechiel thus makes authenticall:
In midst of fierie stones thou walked hast,
Straight in thy wayes, ev'n from the time thou wast
First made; (as in that place I before noted.)
To the same purpose Esay too is quoted;
How fell'st thou, Lucifer, from Heaven hye,
That in the morning rose so cherefully?
As should he say, How happens it that thou,
O Lucifer, who didst appeare but now,
In that short time of thy blest state, to rise
Each morning brighter than the morning skies
Illumin'd by the Sunne, so soone to slide
Downe from Gods fauour, lastingly t'abide
In Hells insatiate torments? Though he lost
The presence of his Maker, in which most
He gloried once; his naturall Pow'rs he keepes,
(Though to bad vse) still in th' infernall Deepes:
For his Diuine Gifts he doth not commend
Vnto the seruice of his God, (the end

343

To which they first were giuen) but the ruin
Of all Mankinde; Vs night and day pursuing,
To make vs both in his Rebellion share:
And Tortures, which for such prepared are.
Of this malignant Spirits force and might,
Iob in his fourtieth Chapter giues vs light
And full description, liuely expressing both,
In person of the Monster Behemoth.

The Fall of Adam, by fraile Eve entic't,
Was his owne death, ours, and the death of Christ.
In whose back-sliding may be apprehended
Offendors three, three Offences, three Offended.

The three Offendors that Mankinde still grieue,
Were Sathan, Adam, and our Grandam Eve.
The three Offences, that Sin first aduance,
Were Malice, Weakenesse, and blinde Ignorance.
The three Offended, to whom this was done,
The Holy Spirit, the Father, and the Sonne,
Eve sinn'd of Ignorance; and so is said,
Against the God of Wisedome to haue made
Her forfeit (that 's the Son:) Adam he fell
Through Weakenesse, and 'gainst him that doth excell
In pow'r (the Father) sinn'd. With his offence
And that of hers, Diuine Grace may dispence.
Malicious Hate, to sinne, did Sathan moue,
Against the Holy-Ghost the God of Loue;
And his shall not be pardon'd. Note with me,
How God dealt in the censuring of these three:
He questions Adams Weakenesse, and doth call
Eve to account for th' Ignorance in her fall;
Because for them he mercy had in store
Vpon their true repentance: and before
He gaue their doome, told them he had decreed
A blessed Sauiour from the Womans seed.
But Sathan he ne're question'd, 'twas because
Maliciously he had transgrest his Lawes.
Which sinne against the Spirit he so abhor'd,
His Diuine Will no mercy for him stor'd.

Moreouer, In the sacred Text 'tis read,
The Womans Seed shall breake the Serpents head.
It is observ'd, The Diuell had decreed
To tempt our Sauiour, the predicted Seed,
In the same sort, though not the same successe,
As he did Eve our first Progenitresse.

344

All sinnes (saith Iohn) we may in three diuide,
Lust of the Flesh, Lust of the Eye, and Pride.
She sees the Tree, and thought it good for meat;
The Fleshes lust persuaded her to eat:
She sees it faire and pleasant to the eye,
Then the Eyes lust inciteth her to try;
She apprehends that it will make her wise,
So through the Pride of heart she eats and dies.

And when he Christ into the Desart lead,
Bee'ng hungry, Turne (said he) these Stones to Bread:
There's Fleshly lusts temptation. Thence he growes
To the Eyes lust, and from the Mountaine showes
The World, with all the pompe contain'd therein;
Say'ng, All this great purchase thou shalt win,
But to fall downe and worship me. And when
He saw these faile, to tempt him once agen,
Vsing the Pride of heart, when from on hye
He bad him leape downe, and make proofe to flye.

And as the Woman yeelding to temptation,
Made thereby forfeit of all mans saluation,
And so the Diue'll, who did the Serpent vse,
Was said by that the Womans head to bruse;
So Christ the Womans Seed, making resist
To these seducements of that Pannurgist,
Because by neither Pride nor Lust mis-led,
Was truly said to breake the Serpents head.

Angels bee'ng now made Diuels, let vs finde
What place of Torment is to them assign'd.
First of the Poets Hell: The dreadfull Throne
Where all Soules shall be sentenc'd stands (saith one)
In a sad place, with obscure darkenesse hid;
About each roome blacke waters, such as did
Neuer see day: Tysephone vptakes
A scourge, her vnkemb'd locks craule with liue Snakes;
Of such aspect, th' Immortall eyes abhor her.
She in her rage doth driue the Ghosts before her.
Ixion there, turn'd on his restlesse Wheele,
Followes and flies himselfe, doth tortures feele
For tempting Iuno's Chastity. Titius stretcht
Vpon the earth, and chain'd, whose body reacht
In length nine acres; hath for his aspiring,
A Vulture on his intrals euer tyring.
Starv'd Tantalus there's punisht for his sin,
Ripe Fruits touching his lip, fresh Waues his chin;

345

But catching th' one to eat, th' other to drinke,
The Fruit flies vp, the Waters downeward shrinke.
There Danaus Daughters, those that dar'd to kill
Their innocent sleeping husbands, striue to fill
(With waters fetcht from Lethe) leaking tunnes,
Which as they poure out, through the bottom runnes.

Another thus: The Ghosts of men deceast
Are exercis'd in torments, (hourely encreast)
Where ev'ry punishment's exactly fitted,
According to th' offence in life committed.
Some you shall there behold hang'd vp on hye,
Expos'd to the bleake windes, to qualifie
Their former hot Lusts. Some are head-long cast
Into deepe gulfes, to wash their sinnes fore-past.
Others are scorcht in flames, to purge by fire,
More cap'itall crimes, that were in nature higher.
They with the lesse delinquents most dispence;
But mighty plagues pursue the great offence.
For all men suffer there as they haue done,
Without the least hope of euasion:
The sinne doth call th' offendor to the Bar,
The Iudges of the Bench vnpartiall ar';
No Nocent there the Sentence can evade,
But each one is his owne example made.

For when the Soule the Body doth forsake,
It turnes not into Aire, as there to make
It's last account. Nor let the Wicked trust,
Their Bodies shall consume in their owne dust:
For meet they shall againe to heare recited
All that was done since they were first vnited;
And suffer as they sinn'd, in wrath, in paines,
Of Frosts, of Fires, of Furies, Whips, and Chaines.

Yet contrary to this some Authors write,
(As to the first opinion opposite)
Who to that doubt and diffidencie grow,
To question if there be such place or no.
After our deaths (saith one) can there appeare
Ought dreadfull, when we neither see nor heare?
Can ought seeme sad by any strange inuention,
To him that hath nor fence, nor apprehension?
Shall not all things, involv'd in silence deepe,
Appeare to vs lesse frightfull than our sleepe?
Or are not all these feares confer'd vpon
Th' infernall Riuers, Styx and Acheron,

346

After our deaths, in this our life made good?
No miserable Ghost plung'd in the floud,
Feares any stone impending, full of dread,
Each minute space to fall vpon his head:
'Tis rather a vaine feare that hath possest vs,
(Poore Mortals) of the gods pow'r to molest vs;
That in this life may, by the helpe of Fate,
Our fortunes crush, and ruine our estate.
No Vulture doth on Titius intrals pray,
'Tis a meere Emblem, that we fitly may
Confer on passionat Tyteruss, and inuented
To personate such as are in Loue tormented,
Or with like griefe perplext, [&c.] Heare Seneca:
Is the fame true (saith he) that to this day
Holds many in suspence? That in the jawes
Of Hell should be maintain'd such cruell Lawes;
That Malefactors at the Bar bee'ng try'de,
Are doom'd such horrid torments to abide?
Who is the Iudge, to weigh in equall skale
The Right or Wrong? Who there commands the gaile?
Thus say the Ethnycks: but we now retyre,
And from the Scriptures of this place enquire.

Hell is the Land of Darknesse, desolate,
Ordain'd for Sinne, to plague the Reprobate:
All such as to that dreadfull place descend,
Taste death, that cannot die, end without end;
For life begets new death, (the mulct of sin)
And where the end is, it doth still begin.

Th' originall name, we from the Hebrewes haue,
Sceol, which is a Sepulchre or Graue;
Which nothing else but Darknesse doth include.
To which, in these words, Iob seemes to allude:
Before I go, not to returne againe,
Into the Land where Darkenesse doth remaine,
(Deaths dismall shadow:) to that Land I say,
As Darkenesse darke, where is no sight of Day,
But Deaths blacke shadow, which no order keepes,
For there the gladsome Light in Darkenesse sleepes;
The place where euerlasting Horror dwells.

'Tis call'd Gehenna too, (as Scripture tells)
The word it selfe imports, The Land of Fire,
Not that, of the knowne nature, to aspire,
And vpward flame; this hath no visible light,
Burnes, but wasts not, and addes to Darknesse, Night.

347

'Tis of invisible substance, and hath pow'r
Things visible to burne, but not deuour.
A Maxime from antiquity 't hath been,
There's nothing that's Immortall can be seen.
Nor is it wonder, that this fire we call
Invisible, yet should torment withall:
For in a burning Feuer, Canst thou see
The inward flame that so afflicteth thee?

In Hell is Griefe, Paine, Anguish, and Annoy,
All threatning Death, yet nothing can destroy:
There's Ejulation, Clamor, Weeping, Wailing,
Cries, Yels, Howles, Gnashes, Curses, (neuer failing)
Sighes and Suspires, Woe, and vnpittied Mones,
Thirst, Hunger, Want, with lacerating Grones.
Of Fire or Light no comfortable beames,
Heate not to be endur'd, Cold in extreames.
Torments in ev'ry Attyre, Nerve, and Vaine,
In ev'ry Ioint insufferable paine.
In Head, Brest, Stomake, and in all the Sences,
Each torture suting to the foule offences,
But with more terror than the heart can thinke:
The Sight with Darknesse, and the Smel with Stinke;
The Taste with Gall, in bitternesse extreme;
The Hearing, with their Curses that blaspheme:
The Touch, with Snakes & Todes crauling about them,
Afflicted both within them and without them.

Hell's in the Greeke call'd Tartarus, because
The torments are so great, and without pause.
'Tis likewise Ades call'd, because there be
No objects that the Opticke Sence can see.
Because there's no true temp'rature, Avernus:
And because plac'd below, 'tis styl'd Infernus.
The Scriptures in some place name it th' Abisse,
A profound place, that without bottom is.
As likewise Tophet, of the cries and houles
That hourely issue from tormented Soules.

There the Soules faculties alike shall be
Tormented (in their kindes) eternally.
The Memory, to thinke of pleasures past,
Which in their life they hop'd would euer last.
The Apprehension, with their present state
In horrid paines, those endlesse without date.
The Vnderstanding, (which afflicts them most)
To recollect the great joyes they haue lost.

348

And these include Hells punishments in grosse,
Namely the paines of Torment, and of Losse.

If we enquire of Lucian after these,
Betwixt Menippus and Philonides;
His Dialogue will then expressely tell,
How he and such like Atheists jeast at Hell.

The Dialogue.

Menippus.
Haile to the front and threshold of my dore,
Which I was once in feare to haue seene no more.
How gladly I salute thee, hauing done
My voyage, and againe behold the Sunne.

Philonides.
Is that the Dog Menippus? Sure the same,
Vnlesse I erre both in his face and name.
What meanes that insolent habit he is in?
Hauing an Harpe, Club, and a Lions skin?
I'le venture on him, notwithstanding all.
Haile, good Menippus, 'tis to thee I call:
Whence cam'st thou now, I pray thee? and how ist?
For in the City thou hast long been mist.

Men.
I am return'd from hauing visited
The Cavernes and sad places of the Dead,
Whereas the Ghosts infernall liue and moue,
But separated far from vs aboue.

Phil.
(O Hercules!) Menippus I perceiue,
Dy'de from amongst vs, without taking leaue,
And is againe reduct.

Men.
You iudgement lacke:
Hell tooke me liuing, and return'd me backe.

Phil.
But what might the chiefe motiue be (I pray)
To this thy new and most incredible way?

Men.
Youth and Audacitie, both these combin'd,
Inciting me such difficult steps to find.

Phil.
Desist, ô blest man, thy cothurnate stile,
And from these forc'd Iambicks fall a while;
Giuing me reason in a phrase more plaine,
First, what this habit meanes? and then againe,
The reason of this voiage late attempted?
Since 'tis a way that cannot be exempted
From feare and danger: in it no delight,
But all astonishment and sad affright.

Men.
Serious and weighty was the cause (ö friend)

349

Which vrg'd me to the lower Vaults descend:
But to resolue thee what did moue me most,
'Twas to aske counsell of Tyresia's Ghost.

Phil.
Of him? Thou mock'st me; 'Tis indeed a thing
To me most strange, thou to thy friend should sing
Thy minde in such patcht Verses.

Men.
But be that
No wonder, (man) for I of late had chat
With Homer and Euripides below.
Since when (but by what meanes I do not know)
I am so stuft with Verse and raptures rare,
As that they rush out of my lips vnware.
But tell me, on the earth how matters runne,
And in the city hath of late been done.

Phil.
There's nothing new, Menippus; As before,
They rape, extort, forsweare, (with thousands more,)
Oppresse, heape Vse on Vse.

Men.
O wretched men,
Most miserable! It seemes they know not then,
What against such that in those kindes proceed,
Amongst th' Infernalls lately was agreed:
The Sentence is denounc'd, (which Lots did tye)
And they (by Cerberus) can no way flye.

Phil.
What saith Menippus? Is there ought that's new
Of late determin'd, which we neuer knew?

Men.
By Iove, not one, but many; to betray
Which to the World (Philonides) none may:
I shall incur the censure of impiety,
To blab the secrets of the lower Diety,
(By Rhadamant.)

Phil.
Menippus do not spare
To tell thy Friend, who knowes what secrets are,
(Bee'ng in the secrets of the gods instructed)
How these affaires are mannag'd and conducted.

Men.
Thou do'st impose things difficult and hard,
Safe no way, as all vtterance debar'd;
Yet for thy sake I'le do't: 'Tis then decreed,
That all such money-Masters as exceed
In Avarice, and Riches in their power
Abstrusely keepe, like Danaë in her Tower. &c.

Phil.
Further of that Decree, blest man forbeare,
Till thou relat'st (what gladly I would heare)
The cause of thy discent, and who thy guide,
(Each thing in order) what thou there espy'de,

350

And likewise heard. Most likely 'tis that thou
(Whom for approued iudgement most allow
Curious in objects) sleightly wouldst not passe
All that there worthy thy obseruance was.

Men.
To thy desire I then thus condiscend;
For what is it we can deny a friend?
When bee'ng a childe, I gaue attentiue eare
To Homer first, and next did Hesiod heare;
Who of the demi-gods not onely sung,
But of the gods themselues, with Pen and Tongue,
Their Wars, Seditions, with their Loues escapes,
Whoredomes, Oppressions, Violences, Rapes,
Reuenges and Supplantings, where the Sonne
Expells the Father; and next, Incests done,
Where Sisters to the Brothers are contracted,
And those approv'd in Poëms well compacted:
I thought them rare, they did me much accite,
And I perus'd them with no small delight.

But when I now began first to grow Man,
And had discretion, I bethought me than,
How quite from these our Ciuill Lawes do vary,
And to the Poets taught quite contrary:
Namely, That mulct and punishment is fit
For the Adult'rous, such as Lust commit:
Of Rapine or Commotion who is cause,
Hath a iust Fine impos'd him by the Lawes.

With hesitation here I stood confounded,
As ignorant in what course to be grounded.
I apprehended first, the gods aboue
Would neither whore, nor base contentions moue;
And leaue example to be vnderstood
By men on earth, but that they thought it good.

Againe, That when the Law-giuers intent
Was to teach vs another president,
To th' former quite oppos'd, he would not doo
That 'gainst the gods, but thinking it good too.
I doubted then, and better to be instructed,
My speedy apprehension me conducted
To the Philosophers, into whose hands
I gaue me freely, to vnloose those bands
Which gyv'd me then. I bad them as they pleas'd
To deale with me, so they my scruples eas'd,
And shew me, without circumstances vaine,
The path to good life, simplest, and most plaine.

351

These things advis'd, I to the Schooles proceed,
As was my purpose; ignorant indeed,
I tooke a course repugning my desire,
As flying smoke, to run into the fire.
For such with my best diligence obseruing,
I nothing found but Ignorance; they sweruing
From what I sought, and ev'ry thing now more
Litigious and vncertaine than before:
So much, that I an Ideots life prefer
Before a prating vaine Philosopher.

One bids, That I in nothing should keepe measure,
But totally addict my selfe to pleasure;
Because Voluptuousnesse and Delicacy
Include the soueraigne felicitie.

Another, he persuades me to all paine,
Trauell and labor; saith, I must abstaine
From all things tastefull, and my selfe enure
To Hunger, Thirst, late Watching, and endure
All meagrenesse, no contumely fly,
But run into contempt assiduately.
An in myne eare indulgently rehearses
Those accurate and much applauded Verses
Of Hesiod, touching Vertue, which display
A steepe Hill, and to that the difficult way,
Attain'd to by Sweat onely. One will teach
To abandon Wealth, thrust Riches from our reach;
And if already of good Meanes possest,
To hold it vile, indifferent at best.

Come to another, (contradicting this)
He saith the worlds Wealth is the soveraigne blisse.
Now for the World, of their opinions, what
Should I dilate at all, when all is flat
Foolerie; of their Idæa's, Instances,
And Bodies, such as haue no substances,
Their Atoms and their Vacuum, such a rabble
Of varying names, as that I am not able
In their originall natures to expresse them,
Though I for fashion sake did once professe them.

Of all Absurds, the most absurd reputed
Was, That of Contraries they still disputed,
And Pro's and Contra's, not to be refuted;
So forcibly and pregnantly, that hee
Who maintain'd Hot in such and such degree:
When in the same another Cold suggested,

352

Both were so confident, that I protested
I knew not which was which, nor durst be bold
To distinguish Cold from Heate, or Heate from Cold.
And yet I knew it corresponded not,
That the same thing should be both cold and hot.
And therefore the like posture I did keepe
In hearing them, that men do that would sleepe;
As I distasted, or did rellish well,
(Nodding) my head this way or that way fell.

Yet most absurd aboue these, when their actions
I well observ'd, it bred in me new factions;
To apprehend how each mans word and deed
Repugnant were, and in no point agreed.
Such as seem'd Wealth-contemners, I did marke,
'Boue others avaritiously to sharke;
Professing Temp'rance, yet no time affoording
From base extortion and continuall hoording:
For seruile hire some Art or Trade professing,
Contentious, and with might and maine oppressing;
Thinking nought ill that's done to purchase Coine,
Be it to bribe, to cheat, or to purloine.
In those that most seeme Glory to despise,
Pride in their hearts doth swell and tympanise.
Pleasure, there's no man but doth seeme t'eschew,
And yet in secret his delights pursue.

My hopes againe thus frustrate, I was troubled,
And by that meanes my discontentment doubled:
Yet onely chear'd my selfe, that more beside,
In Wisedome, Iudgement, and Discretion try'de,
Like Fooles and Ideots, stand at the same stay,
Who know the place, but cannot finde the way.

Long pausing, after serious contemplation
About a more exact investigation,
I 'gan a sudden course to thinke vpon,
And trauell ev'n as far as Babylon,
To meet of the Magitians some great Master,
Who had been scholler to learn'd Zoroaster:
For I had heard, these with inchanting Verse
The very jawes of Hell haue pow'r to pierce,
(With myst'ries added) and haue free dispence
To beare men thither, and to bring them thence.
Therefore (as my best course) I had intent
To cov'nant with some such for my descent,
Of graue Tyresius to be counselled;

353

Who being wise, a Prophet, and well read,
Might tutor me, which of all liues was best,
And by the Vertuous fit to be profest.

To Babylon my swift course I applye,
Where once arriv'd, I chanc'd to cast mine eye
On a Chaldæan graue, but in his art
Miraculous, complete in ev'ry part;
His haire mixt white, his beard both full and long,
Of venerable aspect, (for I'le not wrong
His presence) and to tell thee true, his name
Mythrobarzanes: Vnto him I came,
Humbly entreating, but with much ado,
My earnest suit he would giue eare vnto;
Though I then promis'd him sufficient hire
To pathe the way I did so much desire.
At length he yeelds, then instantly new-coynes me,
And for full fiue and twenty dayes enioynes me,
Iust as the Moone (as neere as I can guesse)
Begins to bathe her selfe in Euphrates,
To wash with her. Each morning early then
He to a place conducts me, where and when
I must expose me to the Sunnes vprise;
When, mumbling to himselfe in a strange guise,
A tedious deale of stuffe, (but bad or good
I knew not, for no part I vnderstood.)
As foolish Criers I haue knowne, so hee
Spake at high speed, his voluble tongue was free,
Without deliberat period, not a word
Certaine, or least distinction did afford:
It seemes he invok'd some dead Ghost to the place.
That charme bee'ng done, he spit thrice in my face;
So brought me backe againe without more let,
Turning his eye vpon no man he met.
Our food was onely Mast drop't from the Oke,
We had to drinke (when thirst did vs prouoke)
Milke, Wine, with Honey mixt, (a liquor good)
With Water new drawne from Choaspes flood:
Sauing the Grasse, we had no other Bed.
Our Bottles and our Scrips thus furnished;
And we so victual'd, in the dead of night
To Tygris flood he guided me forthright:
There I was washt againe and dryde. A brand
He kindled then, such as I vnderstand
They vse in purging sacrifice; then takes

354

Vp a sea-Onion, and of that he makes
(With like ingredients) a most strange confection,
Mutt'ring againe, for our more safe protection,
His former Magicke Verse, inchanting round
The circled place in which we then were bound.
And next he compast me with many a charme,
Lest I from fearefull Spectors should take harme;
Then brought me backe, hauing made preparation
In the Nights last part, for our Navigation.
An exorcised robe (such as the Medes
Are vs'd to weare) he then puts on, and leades
Me to his Wardrobe, and there furnisht me
With this disguised habit that you see,
Namely a Lions skin, a Club, and Lyre;
Charging me, that if any should desire
To know my name, I by no meanes should say
I was Menippus, and my selfe betray;
But either the faire-spoken man Vlysses,
Orpheus, or the great Club-man Hercules.

Resolue me yet more plainly, friend, Whence came
This forrein habit, with thy change of name?
I'le make 't perspicuous. Thus much he intended,
If I like those who liuing had descended
Before our times, my selfe could truly shape,
I might perhaps th' Inquisitiue eyes escape
Of Æacus, and so haue free admission
In a knowne habit, without prohibition.

The day appear'd, the Lake we hauing entred,
And through a gloomy vault our selues aduent'red,
For he had all things ready there, the Barge,
The Sacrifice, the mixt Wine, and the charge
Of each concealed mysterie that needed;
All these bee'ng safely stow'd, we next proceeded,
To place our selues, both full of teares, and sad;
Yet through the floud we gentle passage had;
And in short space to a thicke Wood we came,
Much like a Wildernesse, and in the same
A Lake, in which deepe Euphrates is hid.
That likewise past, as our occasions bid,
We anchor'd in a Region, where we view'd
Nothing but Trees, Darknesse, and Solitude.
Where landing (for my Guide conducted still)
We dig a pit first, then fat Sheepe we kill,

355

And with their luke-warme bloud besprinke the place.
Now the Magitian after some small space
Kindles againe his brand, whispers no more,
But with a clamorous voice aloud 'gan rore,
And invocates those Dæmons, such as we
Call Penæ, Erinnes, and sad Heecate;
Who in the night hath pow'r next Proserpine,
And with their dreadfull names doth interline
Words many-syllabl'd, of obscure sence,
Barb'rous, absurd, deriv'd I know not whence.
These spoke confusedly, crannies appear'd,
Through which the hideous yelling throats were heard,
Of Cerberus, ev'n Orcus seem'd to shake,
And frighted Pluto, in his Throne to quake.
Straight many places to be gaz'd vpon
Lay ope to vs, as Perephlegeton,
With many spatious Regions. Sinking next
Into that yawning Gulfe, we found perplext,
Sterne Rhadamant, with terror almost dead.
Now from his Kennell, where the Dog lay spread,
Cerberus rows'd himselfe and barkt: when I
This Harpe into myne hand tooke instantly,
And with my Voice and Strings such measure kept,
The Curre was charm'd therewith, sunke down, and slept.

When to the Lake for waftage we were come,
No passage we could get for want of roome;
The Barge had her full fraight of wretched Soules,
In which was nothing heard saue shriekes and houles.
For all these Passengers had wounded bin,
Some in the brest, some in the thigh and shin,
And in some one or other member; all
These in a late-fought battell seem'd to fall.
But exc'llent Charon when he saw me clad
In these rich Lions spoiles, a great care had
To haue me plac'd vnto mine owne desire,
Then wafted me without demanding hire,
Mistaking me for Hercules. And when
We toucht the shore, he was so kinde agen,
As point vs out the way. Blacke darkenesse now
Involv'd vs round, neither discern'd I how
To place one foot; but catcht hold of my Guide,
And follow'd as he lead. Vs fast beside
(Through which we past) a spatious medow was,
More full of Daffodillies than of Grasse:

356

Here many thousand shadowes of the Dead
With humming noyse were circumfus'd and spread,
Still following vs. On still we forward trudge,
Vntill we came where Minos sate as Iudge,
In a sublime Tribunall: on one hand
The Paines, the Furies, and the Tortures stand,
With th' euill Genij. On the opposit side
Were many Pris'ners brought, in order tyde
With a long cord; and these were said to be
Accus'd for Whoredome and Adulterie,
Bawds, Cut-throats, Claw-backes, Parasites, and such
As in their life time had offended much,
And of these a huge rabble. Now apart
From these appear'd, with sad and heauy heart,
Rich men and Vsurers, megre-lookt, and pale,
Swolne-belly'd, Gouty legg'd, each one his Gaile
About him had, bee'ng fastned to a beame,
Barr'd and surcharged with the weight extreame
Of two maine pond'rous talents of old Iron.
Now whilest these Pris'ners Minos Seat inviron,
We standing by, the while (nothing dismaid)
Behold and heare all that is done or said;
And after many curious inquisitions,
How th' are accus'd by most strange Rhetoricians.

And what are they, by Iove I entreat thee tell,
(Deare friend Menippus) that can plead so well?

Hast thou observ'd such Shadowes as appeare
To dog our Bodies, when the Sun shines cleare?

Yes frequently.

We are no sooner laid
Asleepe in our cold graues, but these are made
The witnesses against vs, and permitted
To testifie each sinne by vs committed:
Ev'n these, that there reproue vs, are the chiefe;
Nor are they (Friend) vnworthy all beleefe,
As they who night and day about vs wait,
Bee'ng from our bodies neuer separat.

Now Minos after strict examination,
And iustly informed by their accusation,
Contrudes them all vnto the sad society
Of such as are condemn'd for their impiety;
With them incessant torments to endure,
A iust infliction for their deeds impure.

357

But against such he is incensed most,
Who whilest they liv'd did of their Riches boast;
Whom Dignity and Stile swell'd with ostent,
Who in their proud hearts could haue been content
To haue had Adoration. He hates Pride,
And doth such haughty insolence deride,
As short and momentary; because they knowing
Themselues vnto their Marbles hourely growing,
As being Mortals: yet in their great glory
Thinke not their wealth and riches transitorie.
But all these splendors they haue now layd by,
Wealth, Gentry, Office, Place, and dignity;
Naked, sad-lookt, perplext with griefe extreame,
Thinking what past in life-time a meere Dreame.
To behold which I tooke exceeding pleasure,
And was indeed delighted aboue measure.
If any one of them by chance I knew,
As priuat as I could I neere him drew,
Demanded what before was his condition,
And whether, as the rest, swell'd with Ambition?
About the dore there was a throng of such
By Pluto's Ministers offended much,
Beaten and thrust together all about,
Who, as it seemes, would gladly haue got out.
To these he scarcely mouing, in a gowne
Which from his shoulders to his heele flow'd downe,
Of Scarlet, Gold, and diuers colours mixt,
Casting his head that way, on some he fixt
An austere eye; such counting it a blisse,
To whom he but vouchsaft a hand to kisse:
At which the others murmur'd. Minos then
Setling himselfe vpon his Throne agen,
Some things with fauor sentenc'd. There appear'd
The Tyrant Dionysius, ev'lly chear'd,
Not knowing what excuses to rely on,
Being of heinous crimes accus'd by Dion:
The Stoicks testates were to that conviction.
And he now ready to be doom'd to infliction.
But Aristippus Cyrenæus now
In th' interim comes, whom all the Ghosts allow,
And giue him before others the prioritie,
As bearing sway, and of no meane authoritie.
The Tyrant, sentenc'd to Chimæra, hee
By oratory acquitted and set free;

358

As prouing, That he Learning did admire,
And gaue to the Professors liberall hire.
From the Tribunall, we our course extend
Vnto the place of Torments, where (ô Friend)
Infinite miseries at once appeare,
All which we freely might both see and heare,
Together with the sound of stripes and blowes;
Loud ejulations, shrieks, teares, passionate woes
Echo'd from those wrapt in invisible flames,
Wheeles, Racks, Forks, Gibbets; to tel all their names,
Not possible. Here Cerberus besmeares
His triple chaps in bloud, rauens and teares
The wretched Soules: the fell Chimæra takes
Others in her sharpe phangs, and 'mongst them makes
A fearefull massacre, limbe from limbe diuiding.
Not far from thence, in a darke place abiding,
Were Captiues, Kings and Prefects, (of these store)
And with them mingled both the Rich and Poore;
These all together, and alike tormented,
Who now too late haue of their sinnes repented:
And some of them whom we beheld, we knew,
Who dyde not long since. Such themselues withdrew,
And as asham'd to be in torments seene,
In darke and obscure noukes their shadowes skreene;
Or if they doubtfully cast backe their eyes,
Blushes are seene from their pale cheekes to rise:
And onely such themselues in darknesse shroud,
Who were in life most insolent and proud.
As for the Poore, whom they in life did scoff,
Halfe of their punishment in Hell's tooke off,
As hauing intermission from their paine,
And after rest tormented are againe.
What by the Poets is in Fables told
Of Phrygian Tantalus, I there behold;
Of Sisiphus, Ixion, and the son
Of our great Grandam Earth, bold Tytion:
O ye iust gods, (like as I oft haue read)
How many acres doth his body spread!
These Objects hauing past, at length wee come
Vnto the Field call'd Acherusium.
No sooner there, but straight we hapt among
The demi-gods, the Heroës, and a throng
Of sev'rall troupes, (it seemes in Tribes sequestred)
Some appear'd old and feeble, as if pestred

359

With Cramps and Aches. These (as Homer writes)
Thin vanishing Shadowes: Others, Youthfull Sprites,
Sollid and sound, vpright, and strongly nerv'd,
As if their bones had better been preserv'd
Beneath Ægyptian structures. And now most
Difficult 'twas for vs to know one Ghost
From other, for their bones alike were bare;
Distinguish them we cannot, though we stare
With leaue and leasure: neither wonder was 't,
They were so obscurely and ignobly plac't,
Shadow'd in holes, our better view t'escape,
And keeping nothing of their pristine shape.
So many fleshlesse bones at once appeare,
Peeping through holes in which their eyes once were,
Who wanting lips, their teeth now naked show.
I 'gan to thinke, by what marke I might know
Thersites from faire Nereus; as desirous,
From great Corcyra's King to point out Irus.
Or else distinguish Agamemnons looke,
From Pirrhia's, the fat and greasie Cooke.
Now remaines nothing of them to be seene,
By which the eye may iudge what they haue beene;
All of one semblance, Incorporeall,
But not to be distinguished at all.
These things beholding, I consid'red than,
How fitly to compare the life of Man
Vnto a lingring Pompe, of which (who knowes her)
Fortune is made the Guide and free disposer,
To prouide Robes and Habits, and indeed
All properties and toyes the Actors need.
On him whom she most fauors, she bestowes
A Kingly vesture: To his head she throwes
A stately Turban, giues him Knights and Squires,
With all such ornaments his pompe requires,
(According to her pleasure) and with them,
Perhaps a rich and stately Diadem.
The habit of a seruant poore and bare
She puts vpon another: makes him faire,
The next deform'd, and to the Stage a scorne,
(A spectacle) in which she doth suborne
All kinde of People, Sexes, and Degrees,
Many of which their States and Garments leese
In the mid-Scœne, nor suffers them to run
In the same passage that they first begun,

360

But changing still their garment: Crœsus graue
She forceth to the habit of a Slaue.
Meandrides then, sitting 'mongst his Groomes,
She brings into the rich and stately roomes
Of Tyrant Polycrates, seemes to smile,
And lets him there perchance abide a while,
Clad in those Regall ornaments: but when
The time of his great pompe is ouer, then
Each Actor must his borrow'd sure restore,
As by him, after to be worne no more;
Now being as at first, and in the end
Nought differing from his Neighbour or his Friend.
Yet some through ignorance, loth to lay by
Those painted Robes in which they late look thy,
Are on the sudden ev'n as pensiue growne,
As had they put off nothing but their owne
They being of anothers goods possest,
In which they had no claime or interest.
I know thou hast seene often in a Play,
Amongst the Tragicke Actors, how still they
In ev'ry passage, as the project's laid,
One in this Dramma is a Cræon made;
A Priam that, an Agamemnon hee:
Perhaps the same too (as the chance may be)
Cecrops or Ericthœus before playd,
And of them both a true resemblance made:
Yet he (if so the Poet but assent)
Next day a seruile Groome shall represent.
But when the Play is done, and that each one
Resignes the golden Vesture he put on;
With that, the person likewise represented,
His pantofles and all: he is contented,
Bee'ng from the Stage acquitted, to walke forth
A priuat man, it may be nothing worth.
Nor doth he looke like Agamemnon now,
The great Atræa's sonne; neither (I vow)
Resembles Cræon, Menicæus heire;
Polus he may, a fellow leane and spare,
Of Cariclæus Samosensis bred;
Of Satyrus, from Theogiton (dead)
Descended. Such as I beheld them then,
Appear'd to me th' affaires of mortall Men.
Phil.
One thing, Menippus, tell me I entreat;
Those that haue Tombes magnificent and great

361

Here on the earth, with Columnes, Pictures, and
Inscriptions large; haue these no more command,
Nor honors done them, than to such as ar'
Priuat, and with the rest familiar?

Men.

Thou sport'st with me: Hadst thou Mansolus seene,
So much affected by the Carian Queene;
Him, o're whose rotten bones erected is
So famous and so rich a Pyramis;
Thou wouldst thy very bulke with laughter swell,
To see how in an obscure nooke of Hell
He lies contruded and oppressed sore,
Skulking himselfe amongst a thousand more.
The greatest benefit that I conceiue
His so great Monument to him can leaue,
Is, That he there below takes lesser rest,
As with so huge a burden ouer-prest.
For (Friend) when Æacus to each one dead
(As Hells old custome is) chalkes out his bed,
The quantitie of ground that he doth score
Is but the measure of one foot, no more:
Therefore perforce they must contracted ly,
When to that small space they themselues apply.

But much more thou wouldst long (in mine opinion)
To see those that haue had such large dominion,
(I meane the Kings and Great Men) Salt-fish sell,
Opprest with want, teach ignorant Ghosts to spell,
And learne their A B C: to all disgraces
Subject, their cares boxt, beaten on the faces,
Like Slaues and Captiues. As I lookt vpon
Philip the mighty King of Macedon,
I could not chuse but smile, in a small nooke,
To see how busie, and what paines he tooke,
Cobling old Shooes, for a poore hire compeld.
Others in high-wayes begging I beheld;
As Xerxes and Darius: besides these,
Many, and amongst them Polycrates.

Phil.
Thou tell'st me (ô Menippus) of these Kings
Newes vnbeleeuable, miraculous things.
Of Socrates and of Diogenes what
Is (with the Wise) become? resolue me that.

Men.

For Socrates, he still repeating is
What in Mans life time hath bin done amisse.
With him are conuersant Nestor, Vlysses,
And Naulus sonne, the wife Palamides;

362

With all such as were voluble in tongue,
Yet in their Beeing spake to no mans wrong.
But by his poys'nous draught, which life expel'd,
I might behold his legs tumor'd and swel'd.

But excellent Diogenes his seat
He hath already tooke vp, by the great
Assyrian Monarch: Phrygian Midas there
Hath residence, where infinites appeare
Of like condition, costly fellowes all:
Whom when he heares aloud to shrieke and yall,
(Comparing with the present, their first state,
Before so blest, now so infortunate)
He laughs and grinnes, and lying with his face
Vpward, chants thousand things to their disgrace.
They willing still some other place to chuse
To lament in, whom still the Dog pursues.

Phil.
Of these enough. But touching the Decree
Of which thou spak'st at first, what might that be,
Publisht against the Rich?

Men.
Thou call'st me well
To my remembrance; what 'twas I shall tell.
But Friend, I feare me I haue done thee wrong,
From what I purpos'd to haue stayd so long.
Whilst I converst there, th' Officers of State
Call'd an Assembly, to deliberate
Of things behoofull for the Common good.
A mighty Conflu'ence gather'd there, I stood
Thronging among the Dead, to heare what newes:
They (after many things debated) chuse
That of Rich Men: all other things or'e-past,
They make it the most serious and the last.
For many Crimes against them bee'ng objected,
As those whose vilenesse was at length detected,
Their Violence, Extortion, Inso'lence, Pride,
Rapine and Theft, with other things beside;
One (as it seemes a prime amongst the Dead)
Starts vp, and by command this Edict read:

Because (saith he) these Rich Men, when of late
They breath'd on earth, did great things perpetrate,
Ravening, extorting, hauing in derision
The Poore, of whose Estates they made division:
Therefore both to the Court and Comminalty,
Who haue concluded it vnanimously,

363

It seemes expedient, That when such be dead,
Their Bodies be to the sad places lead,
To suffer with the Wicked equall paine,
But that their Soules shall be return'd againe
Vnto the vpper world, and each one passe
And shift into the body of an Asse;
Subiect vnto his Dulnesse, Toile, and Feares,
Full fiue and twenty times ten thousand yeares.
From Asses borne of Asses by succession,
O're whom the basest and most vile profession
Shall haue command, with heauy burthens lade them,
And as they please, with whips or staues inuade them.
That time expir'd, they shall againe returne,
That the dull Soules may with the Bodies burne.
This Sentence through Calvarius lips did passe,
He that the sonne of Aridellus was,
A Manicensian borne, and of the Tribe
Of learn'd Alibantiades the Scribe.

This bee'ng denounc'd by publique Proclamation,
Had from the Princes first an approbation:
The Plebe with the motion seem'd content,
Proserpine smil'd, and Cerb'rus howl'd consent:
And thus all matters must establisht bee,
Which the Infernals 'mongst themselues agree.
Such and no other than I haue repeated,
The causes were on which the Court entreated.
But now my selfe I recollect together,
Touching the motion which first brought me thither:
I spy Tyresias, and to him I go,
Tell him my purpose, and entreat him show
What kinde of life was best in his opinion?
At which the little blinde old man (now Minion
To Rhadamant) at first began to smile;
Then with a low voice (hauing paus'd a while)
Bespake me thus: The cause is knowne to mee
Of this thy sad doubt and perplexitie,
From th' hesitation of the Wise proceeding,
Their vaine Disputes nothing saue cauils breeding:
Nor do'st thou well to search these things too far,
Which to divulge, the Dead forbidden ar'.

Not so, my most deare father, I reply'd;
Onely in this, thy judgement do not hide,

364

But (as I know thou canst) instruct me well,
Who walke on earth more blinde, than thou in hell.

He tooke me then aside, and in mine eare
Thus softly whisper'd, so that none might heare:
The best of liues (if thou dar'st trust the Dead)
Is that which meerely Fooles and Ideots leade.
Abjure the madnesse of all such as teach
To apprehend things high aboue their reach.
Study no insight into things forbidden,
Nor striue to finde what Nature would haue hidden:
Enquire no close conceptions or darke ends:
All trifling Syllogismes, on which depends
Nothing of weight, cast off with expedition;
And, with them, all things of that vaine condition.

These Precepts in thy more stayd life pursue,
Catch at the present, aime at nothing new:
Shun Curiositie, be at nothing troubled,
Grieue not at all, so shall thy ioyes be doubled.

This hauing spoke, he suddenly withdrew
Into the place where Daffodillies grew;
So left me. Night grew on, when I affraid,
Thus to my Guide MythrobarZanes said;
Why do we longer in these Shades remaine,
Not instantly returne to life againe?

To which he answer'd, Prethee doe not feare,
(Menippus) for a way more short and neare
I'le shew thee. So conducts me to a Road
Darker than that in which we late aboad;
And with his finger pointed me forthright
(But a farre off) vnto a glimpse of light
Which broke through a small crannie; That (saith he)
Is the direct and plaine path by which we,
Descending by Boëtia, passage finde
To where Trophonias Temple is assign'd.
Climbe vp those steps as I direct thine ey,
And then in Greece thou shalt be instantly.
Pleas'd with these words, saluting the Magitian,
Vnto that place I made all expedition;
And creeping through that straight and narrow way,
Was at an instant in Lebadia.

Humanum est errare.
Diabolicum perseverare.

Explicit Metrum Tractatus sexti.

401

A Meditation vpon the former Tractate.

I

Thou Great God, now and euer blessed,
Thy Seruants wretched and distressed,
Assist with thy Diuinest aid:
Lest We (like Those that did rebell,
And head-long were throwne downe to Hell)
Be Reprobates and Out-casts made.

II

O Thou, who Heav'n and Earth dost guide,
And aboue all sinnes hatest Pride,
(Because soone after the Creation,
The first bright Angell led the way,
And then our two first Parents, They
Trod the same path, to our Damnation.)

III

There is no Sinne that can be nam'd,
But with a strange selfe-loue inflam'd,
Originall 'tis, and In-nate.
And since that time, it is (wee finde)
Dispersed into all Mankinde,
To ouerthrow our blest estate.

IV

He that is with this Sinne infected,
Hath both Thy Loue and Feare reiected.
Although Thou bee'st the onely Holy,
And that Thy Maiestie and Might,
With Thy great Glory shining bright,
Are still to be adored solely.

V

The Heart that's obstinate shall be
With sorrowes laden heauily.

402

He that is wicked in his wayes,
What doth he but heape sinne on sin?
Which where it endeth, doth begin:
Whom nothing (being downe) can raise.

VI

To the persuasion of the Prowd
No remedie there is allow'd:
His steps shall faile, that steddy seem'd:
Sinnes Root in him is planted deepe,
And there doth strong possession keepe;
He therefore shall not be esteem'd.

VII

We know the Sinne from whence it grew;
We know the Torment thereto due,
And the sad place for it assign'd.
And yet the more we seeme to know,
The more we dull and stupid grow;
As if we sencelesse were, and blind.

VIII

Ope then our hearts, our eyes vnmaske,
And grant vs what we humbly aske:
So much of Thy Diuinest Grace,
That we may neither erre nor stray;
But finding out the perfect way,
We may evade both Paine and Place

IX

Though Atheists seeme to jest at Hell,
There is a Tophet, we know well:
(O Atheismes pestilent infection!)
There's a Gehinnon, a sad Graue,
Prepar'd at first for such as haue
No hope in the blest resurrection.

X

Three times our Sauior wept, we read:
When he heard Lazarus was dead,
Bewailing Humane frailty then.
When to Ierusalem he rid,

403

And a poore Asses Colt bestrid;
At the grosse folly blinding men.

XI

He wept vpon the Crosse againe,
'Gainst Humane Malice to complaine;
Seeing their insolence and pride,
When in such bitter grosse despight
They crucify'd the Lord of Light,
Him who for Mans redemption dy'de.

XII

How necessarie then are Teares,
To free vs from all future feares
Of Death, of Torment, of Damnation?
Teares that can wash our Soules so white,
To bring vs to Eternall light,
Instating vs in our saluation.

XIII

A contrite Spirit, a broken Heart,
Moist eyes, whence many dew drops start,
O grant vs then, thou heav'nly King:
So we with Hearts and Tongues vnited,
May with the Psalmist be accited,
And Praise and Glory to Thee sing.

XIV

Ye Sonnes of Men, with one accord
All Strength and Glory giue the Lord:
You that are Sonnes to men of Fame,
Giue them the Lord, they are his due.
For know that it belongs to you,
To magnifie his holy Name.

XV

Within his glorious Temple Hee
Deserueth Worship on the knee:
O kneele then at His sacred Shrine.
His Voice is on the Waters great,
His Glory thunders from his Seat;
His Pow'r doth on the Waters shine.

XVI

His Voice is mighty, glorious too,

404

For all things the Lords Voice can doo.
The strongest Cedars He doth breake;
When the Lords Voice from him is gon,
The Cedars ev'n of Lebanon,
(Torne as they stand) his Pow'r can speake.

XVII

His Voice them of their leaues can strip,
He makes them like yong Calues to skip.
Nor doth the stedfast Mountaine scorne,
Or Hermon, for his Dew so prais'd;
But when his voice aloft is rais'd,
To skip like a yong Vnicorne.

XVIII

When the Lords Voice is lifted higher,
It doth diuide the flames of fire:
It makes the Wildernesse to quake,
Ev'n the great Wildernesse of all,
The Desart which we Kadesh call,
It doth compell to moue and shake.

XIX

His Voice doth make the Hinde to beare,
And all those Forrests that cloath'd were,
Stand at his pleasure nak'd and bare.
And therefore in his Temple now
All meet, and to his Glory bow,
With Sacrifice of Praise and Prayer.

XX

The Lord the raging Seas doth sway,
The mighty Flouds to Him obay;
And neuer shall his Kingdome cease.
The Lord shall giue his People strength,
And will deliuer them at length,
And blesse them with his ioyfull Peace.

Non Delinquenti, sed peccata relinquenti, condonat Deus. Ambros.

407

Lib. 7. The Principats.

THE ARGVMENT of the seuenth Tractat.

Of Gods great Works a serious view,
(For which all praise to him is due.)
The seuerall Classes that are held
Amongst the Angels that rebel'd.
Of Lucifer the principall,
And his strange figure since his Fall.
Of Such as most in Power excell,
And of their Gouernment in Hell:
Their Orders, Offices, and Names,
And what Prioritie such claimes.
The List of Those that fell from Blisse.
The Knowledge that in Dæmons is,
And how far stretcht, Next, of their Wrath
Tow'rds Mankinde, and what Bounds it hath.
Discouery of those Ginnes and Snares
They lay t'entrap Men vnawares.
Of Compacts common in these Ages;
And of the Astrologomages.

The second Argument.

In Heav'n, in Earth, in Hell, some sway:
Others againe are taught t'obay.

Gods wondrous Works that haue before me beene,
I will record, and speake what I haue seene;
(Saith Wisedome) No Worke present, or decay'd,
But by his pow'rfull Word at first was made:

408

The Sun that shines, and doth on all things looke,
What is it else but an illustrious booke,
In which th' Almighties Glory may be read?
Hath not the Lord, who hath accomplished
All things in season, made each thing so rare,
That all his Saints his Glory shall declare?
These wondrous Workes, surpassing humane sence,
T'expresse his Majestie and Excellence?
The Heart he searcheth, and the depth of man,
In his pre-Science, knowing all he can
Or thinke or act; the wonders of the Skies,
And each obscure thing's plaine before his eies:
Things past nor future can escape his brest,
All secret paths to Him are manifest.
No thought can Him escape, (of that be'assur'd)
Nor can the least word be from him obscur'd.
His Wisedomes exc'lent, Works He doth extend
From Euerlasting, Neuer to haue end.
He needs no Counsellor, his Will to act;
To Him can none adde, no man can detract.
O how delectable (Thou Lord of All)
Are thy stupendious Workes in generall!
By vs to be consider'd, from things higher,
Ev'n to the very common sparks of Fire.
They liue, by Thee created firme and sure,
And they to euerlasting shall endure:
And when he calls them to a reck'ning, still
(As His) they are obseruant to his Will.
Doubled they are, one set against another,
And there is nothing his rare Works can smother;
The one, the others workmanship commends.
How far then, ô thou Mighty God, extends
Thy wondrous Pow'r? or Who (to Earth ally'd)
With thy great Glory can be satisfy'd?
Behold this high and sublime Ornament,
The beauty of the Heav'ns, the Firmament,
So glorious to the eye; in it, the Sunne,
A maruellous Worke, by the Creator done,
Which in it's dayly progresse through the Skie
Points vnto vs the hand of the Most-Hye.
He burnes the Soile from his meridian seat,
And who is he that can abide his heat?
Three times more hot the mountaine tops he makes,
Than he that with his great care vndertakes

409

To keepe a furnace in continuall flame.
His fiery vapors He casts out, the same
In their owne kinde so luminous and bright,
As that they dazle the beholders sight.
Great is the Lord that made the Sunne indeed,
And by his Word commands it run with speed.
The Moone He likewise made, in substance cleare,
According to the Season to appeare;
That it should be a future declaration
Of Time, and the Worlds Signe to ev'ry Nation:
Feasts are by it appointed, the Moneths claime
Proper denomination from her Name;
Waining or growing, be she bright or dull,
In her continual Change shee's wonderfull.
Shee's a lampe plac'd aboue our heads, and thence
Sends downe her shining beames in excellence.
The beauty of the Heav'ns, perceiv'd from far,
Is ev'ry great or lesse refulgent Star:
These, lustre to the Firmament afford,
And shine in the high places of the Lord.
From whose command they no way dare rebell,
But all night long keepe watch and sentinell.
Looke on the Rain-bow in it's mixed hew,
Obserue how beautifull it is in view,
What sev'rall colours, with what cunning layd,
And praise Him who so great a Worke hath made:
He into such a spacious arch extends it,
It is the hand of the Most-High that bends it.
At his command the Snow makes haste from hye:
The Lightnings of his judgements swiftly flye.
When He vnlocks his Treasure, Clouds repaire,
And like so many Fowles soare in the aire;
His Pow'r doth giue them strength. When he but speaks,
The mighty Hail-stones into small he breaks.
At his dread sight the mountaines skip like Roes.
'Tis at his pleasure that the South winde blowes.
His Thunders sound the trembling Earth doth beat,
As doth the stormy North the fields entreat.
The Whirle-windes, like so many feather'd Fowle,
Scatter the Snow, the white flakes downeward rowle;
As if so many Grashoppers together
Should light on th' earth, brought in by stormy weather.
The Eye admires the whitenesse: and the Braine
Cannot conceiue the beauty of the Raine.

410

The Frost like Salt vpon the ground he powres,
Which hardned, stickes vpon the Herbs and Floures:
When the bleake North winde from his Quarter blowes,
A congeal'd Ice vpon the Water growes;
Vpon the gath'ring of the waues it rests,
And with a chrystall couering armes their brests.
The Mountaines it deuours, the Desarts burnes,
And (like the Fire) what's greene, to nothing turnes.
Yet by a melting Cloud, and timely Raine,
These, seeming dead, are soone refresht againe.
He by his Word the blustring Windes doth still,
The Seas rough Surges, All obey his Will.
He in the vnknowne Deepes foundations layes,
And in the midst thereof doth Islands raise.
They that the Ocean saile, (which hath no bound)
Tell of the wonders that are therein found:
Which so miraculous to vs appeare
When they are told, we stand amas'd to heare.
For there be his rare Works of Beasts and Whales,
Begetting terror from their finnes and scales.
Through Him all things are aim'd at blessed ends,
And his establisht Word his Worke commends.
When we haue spoken most, yet all 's but vaine;
We neuer to their knowledge shall attaine.
This is the sum of all, That He alone
Must be the sole All, and besides Him none.
Of his true Praise how can we giue account,
Since He (we know) doth all his Works surmount.
The Lord our God is terrible and great;
Who shall his Pow'r and marv'lous Acts repeat?
Praise, laud, and magnifie him all we can,
Yet doth He far exceed the thoughts of Man.
Exalt Him in our strength, and be not tyr'd,
Yet shall not his Least, fully be admir'd.
Who is't hath seene Him, that his shape can tell?
Or who can praise him as He doth excell?
For greater things haue yet escapt our view,
And of his rare Works we haue seene but few.
The Lord hath made all things in Earth and Heav'n,
And vnto such as feare Him Wisdome's giv'n.
The Orders, Names, the Qualities, and Charge
Of the blest Angels, we haue spoke at large.
It followes next, to touch the true condition
Of those malignant Sp'rits, whose proud Ambition

411

Cast themselues head-long both from the blest Place
First made for them; and from th' Almighties Grace.
Nor is it to be doubted, but that those
Who in their peruerse malice durst oppose
Their glorious Maker, and against Him war;
But that they likewise still intentiue ar',
And their peruersenesse totally enclin'd
To Gods contempt, and ruine of Mankind.
Now since those disobedient Sp'rites that fell
(With their grand Captaine) downe from heav'n to hell,
Were out of all the Hierarchies extruded;
It therefore as a Maxime is concluded,
(Not to be question'd) That as th' Angels blest,
Who still inhabit their faire place of rest:
So likewise those by Lucifer mis-guided,
Are into sev'rall Ternions diuided,
And haue amongst them Orders and Degrees.
And though the benefit of Grace they leese,
Yet still that naturall pow'r and force retaine,
At first bequeath'd them: bee'ng reduc'd againe
To Order, and their Offices still keepe,
As once in Heav'n, so in th' infernall Deepe.
To this, the Fathers with one voice agree.
For one writes thus; In the great Hierarchie
Of the blest Sp'rits, some are employ'd to tell
Things futurely to come: others excell
In working Miracles; (for no portent
Is done on earth, but by some Angell sent.)
Some ouer others haue predominance,
Employing them Gods honor to aduance.
By executing Mysteries Diuine,
Others in greater pow'r and eminence shine;
Hauing vnnumber'd Armies in their sway,
Vnto whose Hests the lesse degreed obay.
Some are so plenteously endu'd with grace,
That God himselfe in them hath chus'd a place
In which t'enhabit: and these haue profest
His secret judgements to make manifest.
Others are with so sacred links entir'd
Vnto their Maker, and withall inspir'd
With such re-pur'd zeale, there appeares not much
Place intermediat betwixt Him and Such:
By what degrees they do precell the rest
In ardent loue, so much more interest

412

They challenge with acutenesse to behold
His Wisedome, Iustice, and Grace manifold.
Now as these sev'rall Functions are aboue
With Those that still persever in their Loue:
So 'mongst the Disobedient is remaining
Like order still, their naturall pow'rs retaining.
For till the World be quite consum'd and gon,
It is a Maxim to be built vpon,
Angell o're Angell, (which none alter can)
Diuell o're Diuell, Man shall rule o're Man.
Of the Rebellious, Lucifer is prime
Captaine and King; who in the first of Time,
From out the seuerall Classes had selected
Legions of Angels, with like pride infected,
Against Iehovah; and with expedition
Hurld them with himselfe headlong to perdition.
And as in his Creation he was fram'd
More glorious far than others before-nam'd;
More goodly featur'd, beautifull, and bright,
And therefore had his name deriv'd from Light:
So since his Fall, there's nothing we can stile
So ougly foule, abominably vile;
The putred Fountaine, and bitumenous Well,
From whence all Vice and malefactures swell.
Whose horrid shape, and qualities insest,
Are by the Poet Dantes thus exprest:
L'Imperador del Doloroso Regno,
Da mezo l petto vsciva Della Gliaccia.
Et piu ch'un Gigante, is ti conuegno
Che Giganti, nouo fan conte sue Braccia
Vedi Hoggimai quant' effer Dee queltutto
Ch' a Cosi fatta parte si consaccia
Se fu si bello come e Hora brutto
E contra al suo fattore alzo le Ciglia
Ben de da lui procedor ogni lutto,
G quanto parve a me gran meraviglia
Quando vide tre faccie a la suatesta
L' una dananZia, & quella era vermiglia
De l' altre due che s' aggivuge ano a questa,
Sour esso almeZa Di Ciascuna spalla,
Es' agginuge ano al somno de la Cresta
La destra mi parea trabianca & gialla.
La sinistra al vedere, era tal quali

413

Vengon di la onde'l nilo s' aunalla
Sotto Ciascuna vsciuan Due grand Ali
Quanto si Convenina a tanto ocello
Vele di Mar, non vidi Mai Cotuli
Non Havean penna Ma di vespertello,
Era lor modo & quelle ni su Alzana.
Si che tre venti si movean de ello
Quindi Cocito tutto s' Aggellava
Con sei occhi piangena, & con tre menti
Gocciava il pianto & sanguinosa Baua.

In which Description he first notes the place
Where this great Prince of Darkenesse, shut from Grace,
Is now tormented, namely, 'a congeal'd Lake.
His mighty stature next, which he doth make
Two thousand cubits. By his Crest is meant
His Enuy, Arrogance, and proud ostent.
Three Faces with three sev'rall colours stain'd,
Import in him three Vices still maintain'd:
One, fiery red, Wrath and Exorbitation
Denotes to vs, with the Spleenes inflammation.
The pale and meagre, Auarice implies.
From the third, blacke and swarthy, doth arise
Vnprofitable Sloath. From the two eyes
Which to each face belongs, we may deuise
All Appetites immod'rat. In the growth
Of these three Ills, Ire, Avarice, and Sloath,
Two Wings, two great accitements to those Sinnes
Propose to vs: The first of them beginnes
In Turbulence and Fury; from hence grow
The windes of Crueltie that hourely blow.

Rapacitie and Gripplenesse are they
That to the Misers Avarice obey.
The horrid blasts that hence proceed, include
The most vnnat'urall sin, Ingratitude.
Sorrow with Negligence on Sloath attend:
Th' immoderat gusts of Hatred hence ascend.

Those windes of Wrath, Ingratitude, and Hate,
With fearefull stormes trouble and agitate
Cocitus streames, withall suppressing quite
Those good and godly motions which accite
Either to Faith, or vnto Hope and Charity,
Lest any should in them claime singularity.

414

The greatnesse of his Wings improue th' elation
Of his swel'd heart and proud imagination.
That ev'ry face hath a wide mouth and throat,
So much the Morall doth to vs denote,
That all whom such blacke sinnes contaminate,
His jawes and rav'nous throat ingurgitate.

His Teares, which he did neuer yet imploy,
But (as the Crocodile vseth) to destroy,
Imports to vs, that wretched Sinners state,
Whose slacke Repentance euer comes too late.

And so far Dantes. I must now enquire,
To what sphere these Refractories retyre:
Or in what place more seruile they remaine,
Who, as they Knowledge more or lesse retaine,
Accordingly their faculties are squar'd.
One euill Angell takes into his gard
A Kingdome; he, a Prouince, and no more.
One lesser gifted, hath predom'nance o're
A City; and some other but a Tower:
Some ouer one particular man hath power:
Some of one only Vice, and limited there.
Nor striue they in lesse eminence to'appeare,
Either subuerting Man, Forts to demolish,
Cities subuert, good Statutes to abolish,
T'encourage forreine or domesticke strife;
Than are the Angels, the blest Sonnes of Life,
Each of them in their seuerall Place and Calling,
Either industrious to keepe men from Falling,
Preseruing Cit'adels, instituting Lawes
Wholsome and good; or bee'ng th' immediat cause
To secure Cities, Countries, and encrease
(Home and abroad) happy and prosp'rous Peace.

Nor do the lower of bad Spirits obey
Those of superior office, because they
Or loue them, or esteeme them. The cause why
They yeeld themselues to such priority,
Is, for that th' other haue more pow'r, and can
With greater subtiltie insidiate Man:
For in their Fall th' are stain'd with all impuritie,
From whose temptations there is no securitie:
Crafty they are, and prone to all iniquity,
No place debar'd, bee'ng pow'rfull in vbiquity.
With man they are at deadly opposition,
And into all his wayes make inquisition;

415

First, tempt, and then accuse hourely prepare,
By day them to intrap, by night ensnare:
His sences they peruert, his thoughts estrange
From better vnto worse, (a fearefull change.)

They bring Diseases, Tempests, Troubles, Feares,
Not one of them but at his will appeares.

By transformation, a blest Spirit of Light
They challenge also as their proper right,
A Diuine pow'r. And though these Dæmons bee
Amongst themselues at hostile enmitee;
Yet by conspiracie striue all they can,
How with vnanimous force to destroy Man.

Yet this (worth obseruation) we may reade
In holy Scripture, That such as mis-leade
Our humane frailty, haue not might alike
With the good Spirits, nor such force to strike,
As the blest Angels, who the pow'r retaines
To take and binde old Sathan fast in chaines.

One story I haue chosen, out of many,
To shew, the Diuell doth th' Almighty zany
For in those great works which all wonder aske,
He is still present with his Anti-maske.

A man of Greece was with three children blest,
To him so deare all, it could scarce be ghest,
Which he was most indulgent o're. The first
A sweet and hopefull Boy, and therefore nurst
Not with a common care; for his estate
Was great, his birth did him nobilitate.
Two Daughters he had more: the elder faire
And well accomplisht; but the yongest rare,
Not to be paralel'd: for she was one
Whom none was euer knowne to looke vpon,
But with such admiration, that he said,
Nature surpast her selfe, when she was made.
For all ingredients of her choice perfection
Appear'd both in her feature and complexion,
(So faire she was.) Three Lustres being spent,
And not a day but adding ornament
Both to her growth and beauty; now fifteene,
(An age we cannot properly call greene,
Nor fully ripe, not mellow, scarce mature)
Not yet resolv'd, a Virgin to endure,
Nor fancy Man, but staggering betwixt
Both agitations, and her minde not fixt:

416

But sensible (as being much commended)
How far she others of her Sex transcended,
Though quite sequestred from the common road,
Yet much delighted to be seene abroad.
And 'cause emergent Venus from the Seas
Was said to rise; her humor best to please,
It was her dayly custome to rise early,
To greet the goddesse whom she lov'd so dearly:
And hearing what of her the Poets sung,
To view the some from which 'tis said she sprung.

Stirring betimes one morning with the Cocke,
Pyrats had hid their ship behinde a rocke,
And as she tooke her pleasure on the shore,
Snacht her away: and then with saile and oare
Made speed from thence, and proud of such a Peece,
Hurry'd her to the farthest part of Greece,
So far remote from her owne habitation,
That almost it appear'd another nation.

We leaue her there. The father hauing mist
His Darling, in whom chiefly did consist
The solace of his age; hauing most care
Of her, because she was so matchlesse faire:
At first some strange disaster gan to doubt,
And sent to seeke her all the Isle about.
At once hee's troubled with a thousand feares;
As sometimes dreading, that her vnripe yeares
Might be seduc'd, and that some sprightly Youth
Had train'd her thence: (but far alas from truth.)
Againe, he doth imagin a wilde beast
Might seise on her; which more his griefe encreast.

But of such feare there was no certaine ground,
Because no part of her torne limbes was found.
If drencht by falling from a Riuers brim,
Her gall bee'ng burst, she would be seene to swim.
But when no Hill, no Valley, Rocke, nor Caue,
Least signe of her, or of her garments gaue;
A strong suspition in his thoughts did breed,
Pyrats had stolne her thence: (as 'twas indeed.)

Thus confident, he homeward backe returnes;
His breast with ardent inflammation burnes:
To trauell in her search none can dissuade him,
Nor in his quest may sonne or daughter aid him.
Himselfe he will commit to his owne fate,
So parts, and leaues to them his whole estate;

417

With a strict vow, he neuer more will tread
Vpon that ground, till finde her liue or dead.

Suppose him in his voyage, and decreed
(That in his purpose he might better speed)
To saile to Delphos, and that he may take
Instruction thence, in haste doth thither make.
His Offring past, and all things done with grace,
(Best suting with the custome of the place)
This answer from the Delphian Priest he had:
“Thou carefull Father be no longer sad,
“But from henceforth exhilerate thy minde;
“One Daughter thou hast lost, but two shalt finde.
This saying much perplext him; he withdrew,
Long pondring with himselfe, because he knew
He lost but one, he held that answer vaine,
And in that thought return'd to sea againe.

The elder sister seeing both so gone,
The house left desolate, she now alone,
Saue with her Brother, whom nought could persuade
From sighes and sorrow, by their absence made;
The place grew tedious to her, since no cheare
Did in him or the family appeare.
She therefore after some deliberation,
Purpos'd and did prouide for Nauigation.
A Barke she hyr'd, (disguis'd) to sea she makes,
And vndergoes a strict vow for their sakes;
From which she neuer will her selfe vnbinde,
Till she her father or her sister finde.
By chance she lands at Delphos, and bee'ng there,
Desires to know what she might hope or feare.
When (all the ceremonious Rites bee'ng done)
The Oracle thus spake: “Thou that dost runne
“This desp'rat course, if thou expect'st successe
“In this thy journey, then thy selfe professe
“One of my Priests; in comely greene attyre thee,
“Get Bow and Shafts, and note how I'le inspire thee:
“And those loose lockes that 'bout thy shoulders flow,
“Winde vp in curles, like yong Apollo go.
No more he spake: she held his words for true;
Encourag'd, her aduenture to pursue,
And search (so shap'd) all forrein seas and lands.

We left the yonger in the Pyrats hands:
Who after many a dangerous billow past,
By crossing sundry channels, came at last

418

To a safe Harbor, with intent to stay
Till they had made sale of so choice a Pray:
And for no other cause kept her from staine,
But that thereby to raise the greater gaine.
They brought her to the open market, there
Merchants from sev'rall coasts assembled were:
And in those dayes, than Beauty (much commended)
Nothing more soone bought, or more dearely vended.
They set her in an eminent place for view,
When soone a great concourse about her grew,
Thronging to gaze: The first thing they then did,
They tooke the vaile off, which her face had hid;
At which the very aire seem'd to grow proud;
As when the Sunne new breakes out of a Cloud,
To shine with greater fulgence doth appeare,
Than had the Sky in ev'ry part been cleare.
No sooner was the vaile drawne from her face,
But her bright eyes illumin'd all the place:
At once they with such admiration gaze,
As what they onely thought to merit praise,
Doth now beget a wonder. Some suppose,
That a new Goddesse is amongst them rose,
To be ador'd: for most of them agree,
That of a mortall straine she cannot bee.
But they of better iudgement, and more stayd,
Finding what change of face her feare had made,
Because the Rose and Lilly in her cheeke
For mastry stroue; they need no further seeke,
Since they perceiue sad griefe her minde perplex,
But that she is the wonder of her Sex,
Meerely humane: as knowing, To Diuinitie,
Passions and troubled lookes haue no affinitie.
And that she is no other, they may ghesse,
Because a Pyrat, after an O-Yes,
With a loud clam'rous voice, and count'nance bold,
Proclaimes her for a Captiue to be sold.

By which resolv'd, the Merchants neerer grow,
And some demand of them her price to know?
Of whom the couetous Slaues set such a rate,
As would haue shooke a common mans estate.
Yet some there were most willing to haue payd
The entyre summe, to haue enjoy'd the Maid;
So it might with securitie be done.
But now a whisper is amongst them runne,

419

(Which with it some suspitious feare did bring)
That she was onely fitting for some King.
And being of so choice a jemme possest,
If such should heare her fame, (it might be ghest)
She might be forc'd from him. For Tyrants make
Their Will their Law: And what, for Beauties sake,
Will those leaue vnattempted, that sit hye?
This was the cause few cheapned, none did buy.

The Market ends; and now begins her fame,
The brute of which vnto the Kings eare came:
Whose rarenesse had such generall confirmation,
(With such additions too in the relation)
That he begins to loue, before he see her,
And hath a purpose, from the Slaues to free her.

He sends, they come; the Prince lookes, and admires,
Within his amorous brest he feeles new fires:
His loue turnes almost into adoration,
And all the Beauties now of his owne nation
He vilifies, finding in her no want
Of any grace, to make her parauant.
Ten thousand Drachma's are her price; 'tis payd,
The Rouers thinke they good exchange haue made.
O, but the King's so with his bargaine pleas'd,
As if he had a second Empire seis'd;
No price could part him, since he hop'd to finde,
The more she cost, the more she would proue kinde.

She first was to a Princely chamber brought;
Hung with Attalicke Arras richly wrought:
There she was seated in a chaire of state,
And Ladies readie at her call to wait.
A Queen-like robe was sent her from the King,
His chiefest Eunuch brought it, with a ring
Of exc'lent life and quicknesse: both she tooke,
With such a modest and a gracefull looke,
As did amase the bringer. These put on,
And with her answer he no sooner gon,
But straight in comes another, and presents
A Casket full of rich habiliments;
As Carquenets stucke full of shining gems,
Fit to haue grac'd most glorious Diadems;
A jewell for her fore-head, bright and faire,
With other stones t'entangle in her haire:
A pendant Vnion to adorne her eare,
Rarer no Queene was euer seene to weare:

420

Some for her necke, and others for her brest.
And being in all these compleatly drest,
Wonder in them, no change in her doth breed,
But mildely she attends what would succeed.

When through a priuat doore in comes the King,
A youthfull Prince, apparel'd like the Spring,
When he would court bright May: his yeares twice ten,
And somewhat more; you shall not see 'mongst men
A goodlier presence. And when to her view
He giues himselfe, th' Attendants straight withdrew.
She riseth from her chaire, and with so low
Obeisance made, as if she meant to throw
Her selfe beneath his feet; spreading the place;
By which he knew her breeding was not base.

He takes her by the hand, and bids her rise,
Which (by his helpe) she did, whilst from her eyes
Some few pearles drop, which pitty seem'd to craue,
Or else no change at all her visage gaue,
The Prince is pleas'd, those jewels he had sent
Should to her beauty adde such ornament:
If but praise-worthy it appear'd before,
These adjuncts had encreast it ten times more;
Appearing to him of such speciall note,
If then he lov'd, he now of force must doat.
He studieth next, some grace from her to haue;
For he hath quite forgot she is his Slaue,
Rather a goddesse dropt downe from some Sphere,
To depose him, and she to gouerne there.
He grasps her fingers, soft, and white as Bisse,
And then presents her with a modest kisse:
One he bestowes, a second then doth seeke;
Both she receiues, and neuer turnes her cheeke,
But with such modesty she gaue them still,
As if part with, and part against her will.

The Prince hath now to her a further sute,
But still as he would moue it, he growes mute:
Yet in his face such Rhet'oricke she doth spye,
As if his tongue were speaking in his eye.
At length he 'gan entreat her to accept
A Traitor, to betray the Fort she kept,
That maiden Tow'r, which though some had assail'd,
Yet neuer any in th' attempt preuail'd.

Which was a motion she so ill could brooke,
That such a blush into her face it strooke,

421

As none could truly iudge from whence it came,
Whether from sudden Anger, or from Shame.
But when he saw her, with dejected eye
Fixt on the ground, to yeeld him no reply;
Yet he so far pursu'd it, to persuade
An answer to the motion he had made.
Shee's so far distant from all putrid sin,
That though she knew the bondage she was in,
Hereditarie Vertue (in her bred)
Courage infus'd, and thus to him she sed:

From that sad Fate (Great Sit) which hath made mee
Thus wretched, the great'st Princes are not free.
Ev'n I not many months since did deride
That Fortune which so far doth now diuide
Me from my Countrey. Yet (in some part) since
She makes amends, t'expose me to a Prince
So royall, to whose vnexampled feature
If his minde sute, the earth affords no creature
That can out-do his goodnesse. But if 'a case
Of such a golden out-side, enclose base
And sordid mettall, I must tell you then,
These Presents I thus throw you backe agen:
They are not myne, receiue them all in grosse,
And adde not these vnto your former losse.
Which said, like one now almost in despaire,
She tore those gems from necke, brest, brow, and haire,
(But with a modest anger, as 't was meet)
And humbly layd them at his Highnesse feet.
Then spake, I haue one jewell I more prise
Than all the wealth that in your Treas'ry lies:
Which (spight of all disaster) I will keepe
Vnblemisht; (and with that began to weepe.)
Put me to any rest, and you shall finde,
My body you may kill, e're slaue my minde.
But why should I in such vaine doubts proceed,
When of the least suspition there's no need?
Since from your sweet aspect there growes such cheare,
Chastitie need not start, nor Innocence feare.

And this reply she vtter'd with such grace,
(His constant eye bee'ng fixt still in her face,
And listning to her soft and musicall tongue,
Which nothing else saue Truth and Goodnesse sung)
He grasp'd her tender waste his armes betweene,
And vow'd thenceforth t'acknowledge her his Queene.

422

Where we instated leaue her, and the rather,
Because we now must haste to seeke her Father.

Whom no surge frights, how rough soeuer curl'd,
His purpose is to wander 'bout the world,
To crosse all seas, throug ev'ry land to stray,
For if not home, he cannot misse his way.
Who now after a long peregrination,
As hauing sought in many'a forrein nation,
(Some so remoat, scarce heard of him before)
At length he came within the sight of shore
Where his faire Daughter, but a Captiue late,
Was now aduanc'd vnto a Regall state.
(Indulgent Father) this had he but knowne,
Into the Sea himselfe he would haue throwne
With desp'rat haste, his choice Delight to finde;
Thinking the Tyde too slow, too slacke the Winde.

O but obserue I Where Fate intends to crosse,
Our joy to sorrow turnes, our gaine to losse;
And when we to our wishes come most neere,
It often falls we haue most cause to feare.
For suddenly a mighty tempest rose,
With many'a stubborn gust the North winde blowes;
His Barke the billowes heat vpon the shelues,
The poore men forc'd to swim and saue themselues
On planks and rasters; to the shore they make,
And them the Islanders for Pyrats take.
(Haplesse Misprision!) For they, troubled long
With such sea-Rouers, who oft landing strong,
Had many outrages committed late:
And these they thought to suffer such hard fate
By Diuine Iustice, for such rape and spoile
As had been late committed on their soile.

In this suspition, as they swim to shore
Weary'd and faint, and now scarce able more
To helpe themselues; th' Inhabitants surprise
Them one by one, as on the Beach he lies.
But Him, because both by his graue aspect
And habit, he the rest seem'd to direct,
They held for Captaine, bearing him most hard;
For ouer him they set the strongest gard
Hail'd him to th' Dungeon, and so hatefull made him,
That they with heauy gyues and fetters lade him:
His hands they manacle, and harshly speake,
As fearing he the prison walls would breake.

423

Which, had it but arriv'd his Daughters eare,
She soone had rid him both from paine and feare.
Here we haue lost him, wretched and vnknowne,
Till robes proue rags, his head and beard o're-growne.

Where haue we left the elder all this while?
(I now remember me,) In Delphos Isle;
Clad like Endymion vpon Latmos hill,
On whom the Moone could neuer gaze her fill.
Or like Amintas in Arcadian greene,
The very next day he had Phillis seene.
Or like Adonis, fitted to the chase,
Whom Venus met, and sweetly did embrace.
Had she had wings, as she had Shafts and Bow,
Saue in her stature, you could hardly know
Her from the Loue-god Cupid. Now her minde
She fresh and suting with her shape doth finde,
Ceasing her former losses to bewaile.
Thus with a sprightly courage she sets saile:
At ev'ry Coast she landeth she enquires,
But findes no answer fram'd to her desires.
Twelue times the Moone had wain'd, and fill'd her round,
And yet her sister no where to be found.
At length vpon the fortunat Isle she lands,
Where then her wretched father was in bands;
And the bright Damsell new instated Queene.
Not many dayes before, the King had beene
Inuited, two great Princes to attone;
In whose forc'd absence she now reignes alone.
In which short int'rim, newes is brought to Court,
Of a strange ship new landed in the Port:
But chiefely, That one passenger therein
Is of a choice aspect, whose beardlesse chin
No manhood shewes; they tooke him at first sight
To be no other than Ioves Catamite:
(For such was Ganimed, by all account,
What time he snatcht the Boy from Ida Mount.)
The Queene (all spirit before) is now growne fiery
To know him better by more strict enquiry,
Answer's return'd, his person is Diuine,
As one made sacred at Apollo's Shrine;
And there's no greater sacriledge, than wrong
Any that to Apollo shall belong.

A Lord is sent the yong Priest to inuite:
He comes, and she affects him at first sight.

424

For Nature hath a secret working still,
And to her owne ends swayes the captiv'd will.
Nor is it wonder she so soone is woon,
Since such neere bloud in both their veines doth run.

The Delphian Idoll, when he saw the state
The Lady bore, was much amas'd thereat;
Her princely habit, and her numerous Traine,
The distance that she kept, thereby to gaine
The more obseruance, seated in a Throne,
And marking with what gems her garments shone;
The Diamonds that were wouen in her haire,
And ev'ry thing about her then so rare:
For she in all respects so far surpast
His fathers Daughter, when he saw her last,
It neuer once could sinke into his minde,
Seeking a Captiue, he a Queene should finde.
Besides, her port, her gesture, garments strange,
Suting that Countrey, bred in her such change:
The disguis'd Priest hath quite forgot her face,
And apprehends some goddesse is in place.
Againe, The Delphians habit did so blinde
The Princesse eyes, she little dream'd to finde
(Though else he hardly could her knowledge scape)
A woman or a Sister in that shape.
And though they make a serious inter-view,
Looking both oft and long, yet neither knew:
Though an alternate sympathie appear'd,
That one vnto the other was indear'd.

She feasts the Priest, and with such sumptuous cheare,
As if Apollo's selfe had then been there.
Some short discourse they had, the banquet ended,
But nothing to their owne affaires that tended.
All the choice fauors she can well affoord
She freely giues: night growes, he hasts aboord;
But shee'l not suffer him to lye so hard,
For in the Court his lodging is prepar'd;
And in that Island whilst he makes aboad,
He is to her as welcome as his god.
Now (curteously compel'd) Time calls to bed,
And they are both to sundry lodgings led:
His chamber rich, and his Attendants great.

She now retyr'd, begets a stronge conceit;
Which may in her the better be allow'd,
Since there's no Faire-one but is somewhat proud.

425

Thinks she, My beauty is of such rare note,
That all who looke on me, from liking, dote.
My royall husband, Soueraigne of the land,
Swayes all his Subiects; and I him command.
If any of my feature make relation,
His praise he soone turnes into admiration.
I am not seene in publique, but they cry,
She is descended from some Deitie.
But what's all this, if onely these allow
My Beauty, such as neuer tooke strict Vow?
Here's one that's to the Votaries ally'd,
By a religious Oath from Venus ty'd:
Now were there in my face such vertue found,
To pierce his chaste brest with an vnseene wound,
Should it tempt him, whom all lust doth abjure,
To gaine the Palme by merit, I am sure.
But till of such, a tryall I haue made,
To be still equal'd I am much afraid.

Shee's now resolv'd to put her to the test,
And the next morning sends to see her guest.
Hee's brought into her presence; whom she spies
No sooner, but she courts him with her eyes:
Next, change of blushes in her lookes appeare,
As if she would say something, but did feare.
She then began to wooe him with her hand;
But that he would not seeme to vnderstand:
Then with her sighes, but all the while was mute,
And she no whit the neerer in her suit.
But to breake silence she is now decreed;
Knowing, Who spares to speake, oft failes to speed.
To proue how far bright beauty can preuaile,
She to this purpose frames a passionate Tale.

No Sex, (saith she) no Age, Degree, or State,
But all are subiect to the will of Fate:
Their pow'r so strong (I cannot say so just)
As what they bid we shall do, that we must:
Our Wills are not our owne, nor can we do
But meerely that which they enforce vs to.
That their strict Lawes no Mortals can evade,
Ev'n I this day am an example made;
Who apprehend the best, and would pursue it,
But 'gainst mine owne best nature must eschew it.
With that she blusht, and turn'd her cheeke aside,
As if the loue she shew'd, she faine would hide.

426

Proceeding thus; I that am now a wife,
Did once resolue to leade a Vestall life;
And gladly would haue kept it to this hower,
But my chast Will they alter'd by their power.
After my Virgin girdle was vnty'de,
And that I was made both a Queene and Bride;
My best endeauors I did then imply
To keepe vnbroken our conjugall Ty.
But they haue brought thee from I know not whence,
To make me with my nuptiall Oath dispence.
They haue enforc'd my Lord to a far Clime,
To sort to vs conuenient place and time:
If to do what? Thou dost desire to heare,
Looke in my face, and thou mayst reade it there.
And if I to my Lord proue thus ingrate,
What is it but our fortunes, and his fate?
My loue-sicke thoughts are thus before thee layd;
And know, she sues that must not be gain-sayd;
For vnresistable is my desire:
Pause, but returne short answer. I'le retyre.

This spoke, (as much asham'd) away she flings.
Now the yong Priest conceiues a thousand things:
What say or do, he doth both feare or doubt;
Insnar'd he is, and no way can get out.

Such a Dædalian Mase should Theseus try,
He ne're could finde the dore he entred by.
He apprehends, what strange malicious spleenes
Meane women (loue-crost) haue; then, what's in queens:
By them he may coniecture, as to swell
More, by how much in greatnesse they excell.
And than a woman, who hath greater art
To search and diue into a womans heart?
As better finding how the cards were dealt,
By the like passions she her selfe had felt.
But for a while I must her Sex forget,
For by no means I must disclose her yet.

He knowes he is a stranger, and alone,
That to support him 'gainst the Queene there's none:
How doubly now his life is layd to gage.
For if oppose her suit? her insenc't rage
May proue implacable. And then againe,
To yeeld to her late motion were but vaine;
Since Nature (in the moulding) did deny
To lend her that which should the Queene supply.

427

If say he was a Woman, and disclose
His Sex to her? The Princesse might suppose
He was some strange Impostor, to abuse
Apollo's name, which nothing could excuse.
But that which mov'd him most, It might preuent
The aime at which his trauell first was bent.
And in that shape, some hope he still doth gather,
In time to finde a Sister or a Father:
To compasse which he will make future triall,
And giue the lustfull Queene a flat deniall.

In which resolue he waits what shall succeed;
When in the Queene comes, hauing chang'd her Weed,
Which now flies loose about her, her bright haire
More wantonly display'd, her breasts quite bare,
Saue with a slender thin transparent Lawne
(Scarse visible it selfe) before them drawne.
Indeed I cannot to the life expresse
The art she vsed in her carelesse Dresse:
An Habit more for dalliance than for state,
And yet as rich as that she put off late.
In which, great care was mingled, with neglect,
And each thing added to her sweet aspect.

By this, let no man rashly apprehend,
That Lust and hatefull Spouse-breach was her end;
Asperse her spotlesse vertues let none dare,
Since she was ev'ry way as chaste as faire.
It onely was an innate fœminine pride
Which euermore to beauty is ally'de:
For where is a supposed Singularitie,
There (for the most part) can be brookt no paritie.
And in the least kinde should the Youth but bow
To her feign'd motion, and so breake his Vow;
She would haue held him impiously base,
And so dismist him branded with disgrace.
Yet further she is constantly inclin'd,
Like Gold to try him, that's by fire refin'd.

And therefore she appear'd in that loose vesture,
With passionate looks, and an effœminate gesture;
All things so sutable, as if she came
An Icy-vein'd Hippolitus to inflame.
He on his elbow sadly leans the while;
But shee affronts him with an amorous smile,
And plucks him by the sleeue, bids him be'of cheare,
Tells him the way to pleasure is made cleare:

428

Intreats (withall) an answer, since she knowes
There's nothing can their purpose interpose.
He then, as one awakened from a transe,
Rowseth himselfe, and casts a scornefull glanse
Vpon the Queene, striuing to make appeare
Wrinkles in that smooth brow which none could beare.
Then said, Is 't possible that one so yong
Should be so wicked? That so sweet a tongue
Can vtter such harsh discords? Or to finde
In a rare Feature so deform'd a Minde?
Or may it be, that such as to their Will
Haue Pow'r annext, should stretch both to do ill?
Great Ones on earth we to the gods compare,
And whilst they keepe their Goodnesse such they are:
But they, if once they swerue from Vertue, then
In the gods sight are worse than common men.
For my part, proue you ill as can be ghest,
Or worse than yet you haue your selfe exprest,
(Which scarse can be) I'am stedfast in my will,
Constant vnto my Vow, and shall be still.

So turnes aside. At which she seemes inrag'd,
And calls to such as were to her ingag'd
In the Kings absence, with a brow austere
Said, Am I not your Queene, and now most neere
To extreme danger? You who haue dependance
And meanes from vs; I through your weake attendance
Might miserably haue suffer'd. See! this Guest,
Whom almost I had tooke into my brest,
Because of his strict order; gaue him all
Respect and reuerence canonicall:
Nay had his god been present, (as 'tis said
He once came downe, either to court some Maid
On whom he doated; else, when th' Earths proud Race
In mighty battell had the gods in chase,
Apollo 'mongst the rest, not least affeard,
Fled to the earth, and kept Admetus Herd
Till that great Broile was ouer:) had he than
Been cast vpon this shore, as this yong man;
Nay, had I lookt in his best fulgence on him,
No greater fauors could I cast vpon him,
Than on his Priest I'haue done, (let me proclaime
Him to the world vnworthy such a name)
For he, who but adult'rates such a stile,
(I know not whether I should frowne or smile)

429

To vtter it) would such a deed haue done,
As had at that time his owne god the Sunne
By accident beheld his Priest so base,
Behinde a Cloud he would haue shrunke his face.
My meaning you may ghesse: it was a deed
So heinous and so horrid, that it need
No further tongue; my modestie (alas)
Cannot endure to tell you what it was:
Onely imagin it of such distaste,
I had dishonor'd been, the King disgrac't.

This said, her selfe into a chaire she threw,
In such an angry posture, that none knew
But all was serious, and about her came,
Asking what seruice she from them would claime,
T'auenge her in the absence of the King?
When suddenly she from her seat doth spring,
Like an insens't Virago, and then bad,
A sharpe two-edg'd sword quickely might be had.
Scarse had the Princesse spoke, but it was brought:
“Engins for ill are found as soone as sought.
Which peising in her hand, Take this (saith she)
Who of you all loues best the King or me,
And sheath it in the breast of that Imposter,
Whose simple lookes doth many mischiefs foster:
Hasty and bold was his attempt on me;
So, sharpe and sudden my reuenge shall be.

At this they started and drew backe: for tho
They held the Queene chast, and did likewise know
Her strict impose (although seuere) was iust,
As due infliction for such capitall lust;
And that a speedy vengeance was most fit:
Yet none was pleas'd to haue a hand in it,
Because they held it impiously prophane,
To wrong such as had holy Orders ta'ne.

She seeming more insenc't now than before,
Said, Must I then my subiects aid implore,
In absence of a Soueraigne? and their pride
Or neglect such, a Queene must be den'yd?
Hath he all his true-breasted tooke along,
And left no one to right our mutuall wrong?
I now remember me, some nine months past,
How desp'rat Rouers on this shore were cast,
Villeins debosht and bloudy, sterne and bold;
And what is it for freedome or for gold

430

These will not act? or both these ioyn'd together?
Goe fetch the Captaine thence, and bring him hither;
Knocke off his gyues, say I propose his peace,
With large reward added to his release.
A Messenger is sent, who makes what speed
He can t'excuse the rest from that blacke deed:
For ev'ry one in deepe amasement stood,
As loth to dip their hands in sacred blood.

Pray giue me leaue to make a short digression,
Of a most needfull note to make expression;
Fitly'inserted here, t'auoid confusion,
Which else might be some maime to the conclusion.

She was no sooner Partner in the Throne,
But fearing how her father would bemone
Her desp'rat losse; shee's willing that her state
He and her friends should all participate.
And therefore Letters were dispatch'd with speed,
To signifie how all things did succeed:
The journall of her trauels she recites,
With ev'ry circumstance, and then inuites
Her Father, Brother, Sister, (hauing past
So many dangers, and now come at last
To such an eminent fortune) they would please
To leaue their natiue Soile, crossing the seas,
To giue her a wisht visit, since all joyes,
Pleasures, delights, and honors, seem'd but toyes
And idle dreames; nay ev'n the Diadem
It selfe, if not worne in the sight of them.

Too late this newes was, for vpon her losse
Immediatly the good man needs would crosse
To Delphos: then the Sister him pursues,
Of him or her t'enquire some certaine newes;
Resolv'd, abroad their trauels how to frame.
So both were absent when these letters came.
But the glad tydings when the Brother h'ard,
He for a voyage instantly prepar'd:
For till he saw her in her state appeare,
Each day an Age seemes, ev'ry houre a yeare.
Imagin him arriv'd vpon the Coast
Where she whose presence he desired most,
Waits till the Captaine of the Pyrats can
Be thither brought; who meagre, pale, and wan,
Enters, but like the picture of Despaire,
His head, browes, cheekes, and chin o'regrowne with haire;

431

His Cloathes so ragg'd and tatter'd, that alas
No one could ghesle him for the man he was.
Besides, consider but their severall change,
No wonder each to other seem'd so strange:
For none of them could haue least expectation
To meet there, after such long separation.

Therefore the Queene conceiues not the least doubt,
But that he was the same he was giv'n out:
For a meere desp'rat Ruffian she doth take him,
And in the open confluence thus bespake him:

Thou of the Seas, a Rouer and a Theefe,
And of these late wrackt Pyrats, head and chiefe;
By the Heav'ns iust doome throwne vpon our borders,
And for your outrages and base disorders
Doom'd vnto lasting durance; if this day
I shall propose to thee a certaine way
By which thou mayst thine owne inlargement gaine,
With all the rest of thine imprisoned traine,
Wilt thou accept it? He who had not seene
The Sun of long, till then, casts on the Queene
A stedfast, looke, and with some admiration
Of her rare beauty, makes this protestation:
Angell, or goddesse whether? 'Tis my feare
To question which you are? for you appeare
To be the one or other; since that face
Had neuer breeding from a mortall Race:
O, but your language, tun'd to such a motion,
Makes me beleeue you'are she who from the Ocean
Was thought to be emergent. Elce that Maid
Who of the braine of Iupiter was said
To be conceiv'd; not borne (although there bred)
Till Vulcan with an hatchet cleft his head.
Elce Iuno, she that kindles Hymens fires,
The Queene of Marriage and of Chast defires.
One of these three vnto your lot must fall,
Who stroue on Ida for the golden Ball.
You speake of my inlargement: Set me cleare,
And were 't to coape a Tygre or a Beare,
With Theseus Minotaure, or Perseus Whale,
That huge sea-Monster, who had ev'ry scale
Lesse penetra'ble than brasse; set me vpon
A fierce Chimæra, as Bellerephon
Was once implov'd, (three horrid shapes commixt)
An Hiena and a Crocodile betwixt,

432

Place me, and mighty Queene I'le be content
Ev'n thence to purchase my infranchisement.
For neuer can my troubled thoughts haue rest,
Whilst bondage hinders me from my faire quest.

This said, he paus'd. To whom the Queene replies.
I will propose thee no such enemies:
The taske I'enioyne thee shall be free from danger;
Onely receiue this sword, and kill that stranger,
Yong and vnarm'd: see, this is all thy charge;
Which done, thee and thy fellowes I inlarge.
He takes the sword, and with his hand makes show
To proue if point and edge were sharpe or no.
Then first vpon the Queene he casts an eye:
Next, on Apollo's Priest, then standing by,
Awaiting death; which as he did out-braue,
His sweet and chast lookes pitty seem'd to craue.

Doubly distracted is th' old man, to see
In two bright Beauties such antipathie:
That one should be so cruell and so faire,
Th' other so yong and valiant, it seem'd rare:
Which in his breast did greater wonder strike,
Since they in their aspects were both so like.
But these conceptions soone were ouerpast,
And he retires into himselfe at last:
Thinks now how basely he is dis-esteem'd,
And of his Losse (hopelesse to be redeem'd)
Knowes there's no possibilitie to win
His freedome, but to act that bloudy sin.
How can he frame his innocent hands to kill,
Who all his life nought fear'd saue to do ill?
All his disasters stand at once before him,
And to his pristine joyes how to restore him
He sees no means. He next doth apprehend,
Of all his sorrowes Death to be the end;
Which he would search out through all forrein stronds,
Rather than to re-enter gyues and bonds.
He findes his hand is of a sword possest,
A way to bring him to perpetuall rest:
But that he should dye branded in that kinde,
Is no way suting with his noble minde.
Therefore thus frames his speech vnto the Queene:

Madam, I know not whence you ground your spleene
'Gainst this yong man, whose looks beare such a charme,
Him (for a World) I haue no pow'r to harme.

433

But since I needs must into mischiefe runne,
Your Will is Law, and something must be done.
Yet first beare record, you and all your Traine,
I am no such base Ruffian, as to staine
My hands in innocent bloud: I haue nor skill
Nor practise, how to rauish, rob, or kill.
No Pyrat, but a Father much distrest,
By Neptune's fury shipwrackt in the quest
Of a lost Childe, whom might I liue to see,
Death (now a losse) would be new life to mee:
But that's past hope. In search of her I came,
Epyre my Countrey, Thestor is my name:
And be you Testates all of you, how I
A wretched Father, Fortunes Martyr dy.

No sooner had he vttred that last word,
And ready now to fall vpon the sword;
But out the Priest steps from amongst the rest,
And snatcht the weapon from her fathers brest.
Which forc'd out of his hand, she said, No, father,
There is no cause why you should die, but rather
This lustfull Queene; Then aim'd to strike her dead:
Who stands amas'd at what her father sed.
A Courtier next her the keene point put by;
When suddenly the Queene was heard to cry,
O Father, I am she you long haue sought:
And with that word, about his necke him caught.
This when the elder Sister (wondring) sees,
Her haire with strugling fell below her knees;
Seeming to those which did this change behold,
As were she mantled in a shroud of gold:
Which made her Sex apparant to their view;
So by degrees each one the other knew.

How should my barren Braine or Pen be able
T'expresse their joyes, which are not explicable?
For extasies arising from the heart
By sudden chance, surcharging ev'ry part
Of the Soules faculties, in most strange fashion
Make rapture to proceed from admiration:
In such a pleasing diffidence they grow,
They scarce beleeue what they both see and know;
Of what all are assur'd, no one but feares,
Till joyes affects breed the effect of teares.
Much would be said, but none can silence breake;
All full of matter, but none pow'r to speake.

434

In this distraction there's a rumor growne
Of a yong man a stranger, and vnknowne,
Arriv'd at Court; who hearing the great fame
Of that braue Queene, as far as Epire came
To visit her. At the word Epire they
Are startled all: the Princesse bids make way
To giue him entrance. O what expectation
Had they then to behold one of their Nation!
By reason of her Letters, the Queene she
Might happily conjecture who 't might be.
But the two other could not apprehend
What man should be employ'd, or who should send.
Therefore new scruples in their thoughts begin,
When by a Lord-like Eunuch vsher'd in,
Hee's brought into the Presence, and soone knowne,
Because assuming no shape but his owne.
Then suddenly they all vpon him runne;
The Sisters cry out, Brother; Thestor, Sonne:
And all at once their armes about him cast;
But were so chang'd from that he saw them last,
To haue retyr'd himselfe was his intent,
Not vnderstanding what such greeting meant:
Because the elder Sister at first sight
Appear'd to him a strange Hermophrodite:
Nor of the other could he knowledge haue,
The Sire so ragged, and the Queene so braue.
But finding them persist in their embraces,
And seriously then looking in their faces;
Partly by that, part by their tongues, at length
His timerous doubts begin to gather strength.
Assur'd at last, e'r either Sister greet,
He casts himselfe low at his fathers feet:
A Blessing is no sooner crav'd but had.
The Queene commands her Father to be clad
In a rich habit suting his estate.
Which whilst her seruants haste t'accommodate,
The Brother now hath leisure to impart
Cordiall salutes from an vnfeigned heart,
(With his faire Sisters now no longer strange)
Which they with him as freely interchange.
By this, the Queene is giv'n to vnderstand,
The King her Lord and Husband is at hand,
With those two Princes, 'twixt whom he had made
Such peace, not one the other should inuade.

435

Whom by his wisdome, after long hostilitie,
He had reduc'd vnto a faire ciuilitie,
Contracting league betwixt them; and as Guests
To Triumphs, to Ovations, and high feasts
Inuited them: his sole and maine intent,
To make that league more firme and permanent.
The King, before he can approch the Court,
Of all the former newes hath full report,
Of Father, Brother, Sister; and so met,
As that the Island shall remaine in debt
To all posteritie, where hee's instated,
To haue the bruit from Age to Age related.
For where the place he liv'd in was obscure,
The memory of this shall make 't endure,
Whilst there's a Summer to succeed the Spring,
Or Winter, Autumne; whilst vpon his wing
Time hath a feather: and shall credit win,
Till Lachesis haue no more thred to spin.
The patient Reader I am loth to cloy,
T'expresse their meeting, jubilee, and joy;
Who doubtlesse will conceiue it to be such,
Though more than need, yet was not thought too much.
Besides, in Feasts and Banquets (knew I when)
I'de rather blunt my knife, than tyre my Pen.

These and the like occasions were the cause,
Men to their good successe gaue such applause,
That one, vnto the Oracle indeer'd,
A stately Temple to Apollo rear'd.
And Thestor, who through Neptune had the fate
To finde his best lov'd childe, did consecrate
To him an Altar, thinking so to please
The Pow'r that wrackt, then sav'd him from the Seas.
And so the Queene, since Fortune was so kinde
To haue her in all troubles still in minde,
She in a new-built Temple yearely prais'd her,
Who to that height from her dejection rais'd her.

Such as in woods and forrests haue by chance
Escap'd wilde beasts, through their blinde ignorance,
Haue had a strong conception there might bee
A Genius or some Sp'rit in ev'ry Tree,
To whom their safety they ascrib'd. If passe
A brooke or riuer where least danger was;
This or that water-Nymph, they durst protest,
Had leant them aid when they were most distrest.

436

And thus the Diuell did the Ethnycks foole,
That would o're ev'ry Groue, Lawne, Streame, or Poole,
Instate goddesse or god, on whom to call;
That Pow'r neglecting, who created All.
At Diuine worship hath been still his aime,
For all Idolatry from him first came.

Of the Rebellious there be Orders nine,
As corresponding with the Spirits Diuine.
In the first eminent place are those install'd
As would on earth be worshipt, and gods call'd.
As he that did his Oracles proclaime
In Delphos, Shadow'd by Apollo's name:
He that the Pythian Prophetesse inspir'd,
As likewise those th' Ægyptians so admir'd,
Ascribing to themselues Honour and Feare;
And those in sundry Idols worshipt were:
And of these Belzebub is Lord and Master.

Prince of the second is that great Distaster
Of Sanctitie and Truth, Author of Lies,
Who alwayes speakes in doubts and fallacies;
Hee's Python styl'd. The third Classe comprehends
Vessels of Wrath, who haue no other ends
Than to to deuise all Mischiefes; Belial hee
Is call'd, for his approv'd Iniquitie.
I'th fourth Forme are such Spirits as conuince
Man in his sinne, then punish him; their Prince
Is Asmodeus. The fift Scale comprises
Deceiuers full of fraudulent disguises;
And 'tis their function, office, and condition,
T'attend the deform'd Witch, and damn'd Magition:
And of these Sathan's chiefe. The sixt containes
The airy Potestates, who Hailes and Raines,
Thunders and Lightnings haue great dom'nance in:
And of these the prime Lord is Merasin.
In the sev'nth are the Furies; they giue life
To Discord, War, Strage, and contentious Strife,
Then cast them vpon Man in their fierce wrath:
Abaddon ouer these dominion hath.
The eighth includes Explorers that accuse:
Those Astaroth doth as his Vassals vse.
The ninth and last, Tempters who ambush Soules,
Those Maimon in his Principat controules.
Now of these Cacadæmons we haue ground
For many names, in sacred Scripture found.

437

The word Diabolus doth signifie
A false Accuser full of calumnie.
Belial is likewise read there, and the word
Imports an Out-Law without Yoke or Lord.
Knowledge acute, Dæmonium implies:
And Beelzebub is the King of Flies.
Sathan, an Aduersarie; Bohemoth, a Beast:
Leviathan, where grosse sinnes are increast,
And builded vp. Such from Abaddons race
Be styl'd, as are extermined from grace.

We finde in Dantes these by obseruation,
Alchino, i. Vnto Vice an inclination.
Then Calchabrina, i. One who doth despise
All Diuine Grace. Neither did he deuise
Vainly these names. An euill-biting Dog
Cagnazzum; Coriato, a fat Hog;
Barbariccia, i. Fraudu'lent and Vniust:
And Libicocco, One inflam'd with Lust.
Faraffel doth a Trifler intimate;
And Rubicante, Fir'd with Spleene and Hate.

Briefely to passe their names o're, it would well
Become this place, to speake how many fell
In that great Conflict; and 'tis my desire,
As far as leaue permits me, to enquire.

Most probable it is, and best agreeing
With common Sence, since all things that haue Beeing,
By naturall instinct their Pow'rs extend,
And faculties, all aiming at the end
For which they first were made; and Nature still
Her ordinarie course striues to fulfill:
So that all Births which out of order come
Are monstrous and prodigious, of which, some
(Although not many) in each Age we see:
As likewise that Sinne still doth disagree
With Diuine nature, and therefore their Fall
And proud Rebellion most vnnaturall,
As meere Extrauagants, these reasons may
Induce vs to beleeue, and thinke that they
Are more in number that remaine in Blisse,
Than those cast headlong to the deepe Abisse.

Some learned Rabbins haue opinion held,
The number of the Angels that rebell'd,
And in one Conjuration then compacted,
Out of each sev'rall Ternion extracted,

438

Equall one Chorus. Saint Iohn doth auer,
That he beheld the Dragon Lucifer,
The third part of the Stars with his Taile draw
From the high Heav'ns, (which he in Vision saw.)
But of the Angels, th' exact number who
Shall vndertake to tell, he shall but grow
From Ignorance to Error; yet we may
Coniecture, That as in perfection they
Excell all other Creatures; so conclude,
That likewise they exceed in multitude
Those that haue had, still haue, or shall haue Beeing.
For diuers Authors are in this agreeing,
Mans generation hath been multiplyde
Aboue all other Animals beside.

Saith Daniel, Thousand thousands Him before
Stand, and 'bout him ten thousand thousands more.
Which Thousand he thus duplicates, to show
Their countlesse number, which our dull and slow
Nature wants facultie to aphrehend.
As likewise when he further would extend
Their Legions, Miriads he to Miriads layes:
Noting to vs, of those that sound his praise
The infinite Armies, like a Circle round,
The number ending where it first was found.

In Iohn 'tis read, A mighty voice I heard
Of many Angels, and their Troupes appear'd
To be of thousand thousands. Iob said well,
The number of his Souldiers who can tell?

'Mongst others, one much daring, his bold Pen
Seem'd to out-strip his Vnderstanding, when
He would confine each Chorus to containe,
(The meere Chimæra of an idle braine)
Saying, To each belongs (in these blest Regions)
Six thousand six hundred sixty and six Legions:
Each Legion too doth (bee'ng exactly told)
Six thousand six hundred sixty six Angels hold.
But of their number let no man discusse
Further than sacred Scripture warrants vs.

It followes that I next make inquisition
Into the Angels motion, a Position
Needfull to be examin'd. Know then, He
Is not contain'd in place, as Brutes and we;
But Place it selfe he in Himselfe containes,
Bee'ng said to be still where his Pow'r remaines.

439

And though it passe our weake ingeniositie,
Yet He is knowne to be of strange velocitie;
And without passing places, can with ease
Or go or come at all times when he please:
From heav'n to earth He can descend, and bee
Aboue and here in space vnmomentarie:
Hence, thence, He (vndisturb'd) hath passage faire
Through both the elements of Fire and Aire,
Without incumbrance or the least molest.
And though it sinke not into th' Ethnycks brest,
Hee's without circumscription, vnconfin'd.
For if these Spirits, Places had assign'd,
And so from one into another shifted,
How could they then so suddenly be lifted
Into the vpper Heav'ns? or thence apply
Themselues to th' earth in twinkling of an eye?
It is agreed vpon, the Good and Euill,
The blessed Angell, as the cursed Diuell,
Haue all those faculties, and without paine
Or passing intermediat things, can gaine
To what they purpose, in one instant round
The spatious world, and where they please be found.

Those that the Mathematicke Art professe
Tell vs, That 'twixt th' eight Heav'n and earth's no lesse
Than one hundred and sev'nty millions 100 and three
Of spacious miles mete by Geometrie.
By which account, the mighty space extending
Is, from the watry and tenth Heav'n descending,
Ten times so much at least: for if a stone
Should from the starry and eight Heav'n be throwne,
And ev'ry houre passe without intermission
One thousand miles in it's swift expedition,
In motion still, without stay or re-calling,
It must be sixty fiue yeares in it's falling.
To amplifie what hath before been said,
Some Sectists haue their ignorance betray'd;
Affirming Angels are not: If they were,
They, with the Soule, of force must likewise beare
Bodies about them too, and so to bee
Subiect vnto our visibilitie.

How vaine this is it may be eas'ly ghest,
When none that hath Philosophy profest,
But hold, That there are Substances Diuine,
Intelligent call'd, which neuer did incline

440

Into commixtion, or knowne to require
Substance from th' Earth, the Water, Aire, or Fire.

A second thing th' object, That if so great
Their number be, as that the Aire's repleat
With infinit Armies? 't must be needs confest,
That they should hourely whole Mankinde molest.
But these consider not, He that created
All things out of meere Nothing, hath instated
Them in such order, distance, and consent,
One to another's no impediment.
Neither is any of his great Works found
That hath the pow'r to passe beyond his Bound:
As in the Waters element, though far
It exceeds the Earth, yet keepes within it's bar;
And though the proud waues with curl'd billowes rore,
Threatning as if to swallow vp the shore;
Yet by th' Almighties hand their pow'r is stay'd,
No Inundation or great Deluge made:
Vnlesse his Wrath some sudden vengeance brings,
Opening Heav'ns spouts, and letting loose the Springs.

No maruell then, that Spirits be in number
So many, that the very Aire they comber;
And they to vs, and we to them so odious,
They neither hurtfull are nor discommodious:
Their Malice not bee'ng able to withstand
Those bounds prefixt by the Almighties hand.

For so much in Iobs Historie is found;
When Sathan saith, he hath compast the earth round,
He doth not say, In his large progresse hee
Hath done to Man least discommoditie
Or harme at all: not that he wanted Will,
But (in himselfe) the Pow'r to hurt or kill.
Nor durst he touching Iob make inquisition,
Till he from God himselfe had free permission;
Who gaue him limit, and his fury staid
Vpon his outward Fortunes, when he said,
Lo, all he hath now at thy mercy stand;
Onely against his person lift no hand.

Againe, when He his Body to him gaue
Captiue, his Life he did command him saue,
Whence we may ground, Though this rebellious Prince
Great Lucifer, with his Adherents, since
Their Fall retaine th' abilitie and pow'r
To measure th' Earth in least part of an houre;

441

Yet without leaue they neither dare nor can
Vse the least violence on Gods creature Man.

Next, touching the rare knowledge which insists
In them by nature; Some Theologists
Affirme them pregnant in Theologie,
Philosophie, Mathematicks, Astrologie,
In Musicke they are skill'd, expert in Physicke,
In Grammer, Logicke, and Arithmeticke.
Nay, he that is among them the most low,
Contemn'd and vile, more than weake Man doth know.

Nor are their reasons vaine; for in respect
A Spirit is but a meere Intellect,
Not burden'd with a body, of agilitie
Nimble and quicke; therefore with much facilitie
In all materials he acquainted is,
From the Earths superficies, to th' Abisse.
He knowes such vertues as in Stones abide,
Gems, Minerals, creeping Wormes, and Beasts (for hide
From him you nothing can) for he doth vant
Still in the Marble, Porphyre, Adamant,
The Corall, Pumice, and the Chrysolit,
The Smarage, Topaz, and the Margarit,
The Onyx, Carbuncle, Gold, Siluer, Lead,
Brasse, Iron, and Sulphur. He is likewise read
In the proprieties of Creeping things,
Ants, Toads, Snakes, Serpents, (all that the earth brings.)

Of all the sev'rall Fishes he hath notion,
Bred in fresh waters or the briny Ocean.
Of Beasts the sundry qualities he findes,
Lions, Beares, Tygres, Camels, Horses, Hindes,
The Elephant, the Fox, Ape, Asse, Mule, Cat,
Sheepe, Wolfe, Hare, Hedge-hog, with each other, that
The Earth produceth. So in Herbs and Trees,
Plants, Leaues, Fruits, Roots, Seeds, juices, Liquors, these
No Artist hath like skill in. He can tell
The sev'rall qualities of Fowles, and well
Distinguish them; as, such and such belong
To the Earth, Aire, or Water. He is strong
In further knowledge of the Elements,
As in their pow'r, their natures, and extents,
Of Thunder, Tempest, Meteors, Lightning, Snow,
Chasemates, Trajections, of Haile, Raine. And so
With piercing eyes he hath a deepe inspection
Into the Sunne, Moone, Stars, the true direction

442

Of all Stars fixt or wandring; Zodiacke Lines,
Articke and the Antarticke Poles, and Signes,
The courses of the Heav'ns, the qualities,
Their influence, their effects, and properties.
And as they haue a vertuall pow'r to know
All our inferior bodies here below;
So of the Sp'rits of Glory or Perdition,
The Orders, Offices, and the Condition.
Briefely, There is no Creature God hath made,
From the first Chaos, but it may be said,
Whether it be abortiue or full growne,
That to the Angels nature it is knowne.

Since then so great and so profound's their skill,
Infus'd into them by the Makers Will;
No wonder 'tis, that they such strange things can,
Beyond the weake capacitie of Man.
We onely by things sensible attaine
To a small knowledge, and with mighty paine;
And into error we may quickly fall:
For in it is no certaintie at all.
Sp'rits cannot erre and be deceiv'd, as we,
Seeing and knowing all things perfectly,
In their true reall Essence: which is meant
Onely of Naturall things, and hath extent
No further. For, as Angels Creatures bee,
Th' are limited in their capacitie;
In all such things as on Gods Pow'r depend,
Or Mans Free-will, their skill is at an end,
And vnderstand no further than reueal'd
By the Creator: else 'tis shut and seal'd.

Hence comes it that the euill Angels are
So oft deceiv'd, when as they proudly dare
To pry into Gods Counsels, and make show
By strange predictions future things to know.
This makes their words so full of craft and guile,
Either in doubts they cannot reconcile,
Or else for certainties, false things obtruding,
So in their Oracles the World deluding.
Whose answers either were so doubtfull, and
So intricate that none could vnderstand,
Or meerely toyes and lies for their words were,
By interpointing, so dispos'd, to beare
A double sence, and seeming truth to tell,
Whether or this or that way the chance fell.

443

But the good Angels they can no way erre:
The reason is, That they themselues referre
Wholly to Gods good pleasure, from which Square
And perfect Rule they neuer wandring are.
They iudge not rashly, hid things they desire not,
And after future chances they enquire not;
Nor further of ought else to vnderstand,
Than they are limited by his command.

How many thousand traines hath Sathan layd,
By which he dayly doth fraile man inuade;
By entring Contract as a seeming friend,
Thereby to draw him to more fearefull end?
Of which the Fathers witnesse; for one saith,
The Diuell with Magitions compact hath.
Another, That all Magicke cov'nants bee
Meere superstition and Idolatrie;
Which growes from a societie combin'd
Betwixt the euill Dæmons and Mankind.

If these were not, Why should the Ciuill Law,
Firm'd by th' Imperiall sanction, keepe in awe
Such damn'd Impostors? For the words thus run;
Many (we know) abstruse Arts haue begun
To put in practise, to disturbe the Aire:
Vpon the innocent Soules these likewise dare
Vomit their malice, and from the graues call
Spirits from rest, by Diabolicall
And cursed Spells. All such as shall rely
On things preposterous and contrary
To Natures course, Gods people to annoy,
The Churches Curse, them and their Arts destroy.
The like against these selfe-opinion'd fooles
Is Articled in the Parisian Schooles.

Of such like Miscreants 'tis in Esay said,
We haue strooke hands to league with Death, and made
Cov'nant with Hell. How can Man be exempt
From this Seducer, he that dar'd to tempt
The Sonne of God? All these will I giue thee,
If thou wilt prostrat fall and worship mee.

Of these Compacts and Couenants we finde
Two sorts, and both blasphemous in their kinde.
The first, When willingly we seeke inspection
Into that Art, and labour our direction
From Magicke bookes, or vse their Circles, Lines,
Their superstitious Characters and Signes.

444

The second, when without maleuolence
We search into that art, with no pretence
Of Curiositie; onely we vse it
Knowledge to gaine, and got, not to abuse it.
And that is dangerous too; all Such compact
League with the Diuell, as in word or act,
Breathe words vnknowne, obscure, inserted vainly,
Or such things as are holy, vse prophanely;
As by obseruing certaine Characters,
Signes, Figures, Angles, Squares, Diameters, &c.
Certaine Dayes, Houres, Stars, Planets, Constellations,
Graines, Numbers, Instruments, of antique fashions,
And these beyond their naturall operations.
When Sacraments, or any thing that's holy
Shall be abus'd by their ridiculous folly:
When Images of Wax or such like matter
Are cast into a pot and boyl'd in water:
When certaine Numbers, vnknowne Markes or Notes
Writ in strange coloured paper, he deuotes
To superstitious vse. When as to Coine
Of gold or siluer, or of brasse, they ioyne
Stamps of new Characters; and this to bee
When such a Planet is in such degree.
Such Pieces did Pasetis vse to weare:
What e're he bought, he neuer payd too deare;
Who parting from the Merchant, did but name
The sum he payd, and backe to him it came.

When holy Ceremonies (through the Malicious)
Are made idolatrous and superstitious.
When Linnen neuer washt is vs'd; and hee
Must hold a Wand that's cut from such a Tree:
With which he strikes the East, and then the West,
The North or South, (as to his purpose best.)
That all his Haire shaues off by night or day,
Thinking thereby to driue the Div'll away.
That takes dust from a Sepulchre, to vse;
Or from the Graue the Deads bones, to abuse.
Or ought besides that shall seeme retrograde
To Reasons course, or what's by Nature made.

Further, Vnto this Cov'nant doth belong
All such as stand in their opinions strong,
To meditate those fond Bookes bearing name
From Ada, Abelus, Enoch, Abraham,

445

Cyprian, Albertus Magnus, or Honorius
Paulus, with those in Magicke still held glorious;
Who boast ambitiously with great ostent,
This Art had both it's birth and ornament
Either from Adams Custos, Razael;
Or else from Tobits Keeper, Raphael.

Another strange Booke they produce, and say
'Twas Salomons, call'd his Clavicula.
These Magi, by old Sathan thus misguided,
Another Volume in sev'n parts diuided,
Stuft with Spels, Charmes, Oblations, (all Confusions
Of Non-sence, and the Diuels meere obtrusions)
As a Worke learn'd and sacred, still prefer,
To ev'ry curious yong Practitioner.
All these are but his subtill traines, to draw
Men from Gods Feare, and honour of his Law.
For in this Art whoeuer striues t'excell,
He strikes a lasting Couenant with Hell.

And as in these, so likewise in past Ages,
He wanted not his Astrologomages:
For most of this prognosticating Tribe,
Mettals vnto each Planet can ascribe;
Siluer vnto the Moone, to the Sunne was
Gold sacred, vnto Iove Copper and Brasse;
To Venus, white Lead; vnto Saturne, Blacke;
Iron and Steele to Mars; nor doth there lacke
Amber to Mercury. To each of them
They likewise consecrate some seuerall Gem:

Vnto the Sun the Carbuncle is due,
And Hyacinth, of colour greene and blew.
Th' Adamant and Chrystall to the Queene of Night;
To Saturne, th' Onyx and the Chrysolite;
The Saphyr with the Diamond, to Iove;
The Iasper and the Magnet Mars doth loue;
Smaraged and Sardix Venus doth not hate;
Nor Mercury the Topaz and Achate.

Now in these stones at set houres they would cut
Faces, in which the Heav'nly Signes should put
Strange vertue; so that each impressiue fashion
Should haue in it a sev'rall operation:
(The manner would seeme tedious) These imprest,
They held to be much nobler than the rest.

As first, the signet of the Sun to haue
Pow'r to make men wise, valiant, potent, graue,

446

Happy, but full of Thoughts. The Moone's to make
Prosp'rous in Voyages they vndertake,
And gratious amongst women. Ioves Seale-Ring
Doth Friendship, Dignities, and Honours bring,
To Riches, Office, into Princes grace,
To peace of thoughts, Priesthood, and eminent place;
All these, if Saturne nothing shall oppose.

The Seale of Mars makes pow'rfull ouer Foes,
Victorious, full of Fortitude, audacious,
If Mercury shall at that time be gracious.
Th' impression that from Venus they deriue,
Doth make men louely, gratious, to suruiue
In Princes fauors, but in Womens best;
It helps in fortunat Mariage, doth inuest
In gracefull Clergy, banisheth all care,
And makes Man affable and debonaire.

Mercury's, works to be solicitous,
Quicke, nimble witted, and facetious,
Cunning in Trading, crafty, worldly wise,
And apt for all Commerce and Merchandise,
Ingenious in each Mechanicke trade,
And fortunat in ev'ry bargain's made.

Saturne's makes Man of a relenting straine,
A thousand wayes insidiating gaine;
To Rich men deare, to hate Women aboue measure,
And fortunat in finding hidden treasure.
And these are the delirements practis'd still
By those professing naturall Magicks skill.
In th' Heav'ns motion who so dull can bee,
But knowes them of such quicke velocitie,
That before they such pourtraitures can fashion,
The Stars, that are still mouing, change their station.
Nor can a Figure cut in Lead or Gold,
Siluer, or other mettall, that doth hold
No correspondence with the Stars, then take
A second nature, and the first forsake:
Adding to the Materiall a new Power,
Which neuer it assum'd vntill that hower.
But our Theologists and Doctors all
(Without exception) this, plaine Magicke call.

Saith one; These Obseruations, from the first,
Idolotrous are, by God himselfe accurst,
And interdicted by the Church: for sure
We are, That what they by the Stars procure.

447

Is meere deception and illusion vaine,
By Sathans cunning crept into Mans braine.

The Schoole of Paris doth that Art thus tax;
Those Images of Mettall or of Wax,
Or other Matter wheresoeuer sought,
Whether by certaine Constellations wrought;
Or whether they are figures that infer
Sculpture or forme of certaine Character;
Or whether that Effigies be baptis'd,
Or else by Incantation exorcis'd,
Or consecrate, (or rather execrate)
Obseruing punctu'ally to imitate
Bookes of that nature; all we hold to bee
Errors in Faith and true Astrologie.

My Verse no longer shall your patience tyre;
The Prose may yeeld what further you desire.

Amor Dei est in Donatione, Missione.
Amor Dei est in Condonatione, Remissione.

Explicit Metrum Tract. septimi.

488

A Meditation vpon the former Tractate.

I

Aid me, ô Lord my God, for there be three
Grand enemies, the Flesh, the World, the Diuel:
Who with their Nets and Snares insidiat mee,
And now and at all times await me euill.
I cannot free me from this Body, nor
It part from me, but still beare it I must:
Thou gav'st it: to destroy it I abhor;
To mar what thou hast made, I were vniust.
Yet when I pamper what I dare not perish,
What is it lesse than mine owne Foe to cherish?

II

The World inguirts me, and fiue seuerall wayes
At once inuades me; by th' Taste, Touch, and Smel,
Hearing, and Sight: not one Sence but betrayes
The Fort, and 'gainst the Lord of it rebell.
Beauty assaults, and then the Eye giues place:
The Syrens sing, by which the Eare is taken:
Sweet Vanities haue still the Smell in chace:
The Touch by Lust: the Taste by Surfet shaken
Thus the vain world doth with temptations round me,
Making those Gifts that should preserue, confound me.

III

The Diuell, whom our weake Eyes cannot view,
Is therefore to be more bewar'd and fear'd,
As one that Man doth night and day pursue;
His wounds (when made) not felt, his voice not heard.
He baits his hooks with pride, with gold, with treasure.
A thousand ginnes are for our foot-steps layd;
Bird-lime he hath, and that's when aboue measure
We dote on things by which we are betrayd,
Self-loue, Vain-glory, fleshly Lusts, Ambition,
All his meere traines to bring vs to perdition.

489

IV

If I be ignorant, he prompts me then
To dote on Folly, Wisedome to despise,
To prefer Ideots before Learned men,
And striue to be sequestred from the Wise.
Or if that I in reading take delight,
(At sorted leisure my spare houres to spend)
The Legend of some strange aduenturous Knight,
Or fabulous Toy, hee'l to my view commend.
But from mine eye the sacred Scriptures keepe,
Persuading th' are too plaine, or else to deepe.

V

Or if I after Learning shall enquire,
And to the least perfection can attaine;
Either he makes me mine owne Gifts admire,
Or others of lesse knowledge to disdaine.
Or if my Talent to my selfe conceale,
Then to search out things mysticall and hid,
Such as God had no purpose to reueale,
But in his secret Counsels hath forbid.
Assur'd, That 'mongst his other traines and baites,
None more than Curiositie God hates.

VI

If I be held a famous Rhetorician,
Able to equall Herod in his phrase;
Then am I puft vp with that proud ambition,
Preferring 'fore Gods honor, mine owne praise.
If a good Disputant, then in the stead
Of finding out the Truth, with Truth I wrangle;
And trouble with darke Sillogismes my head,
What else might seeme apparant to entangle.
Or if into Arithmeticke incline,
In studying Number, I ferget the Trine.

VII

Or if Theologie, (although the best
And choice of Studies) yet is that not free,
Nor can claime priuiledge aboue the rest:
Therein he rather most insnareth me.
As when I, more than Matter, seeke to please,

490

With curious language or affected straine,
Sow to mens elbowes pillowes for their ease,
More than Gods honor; couet Place, or Gaine:
When I for feare or fauor their sinnes smother,
Or be i'th Pulpit one, abroad, another.

VIII

Or when Gods mercies to that height I stretch,
That Men thereby the more presumptuous are;
Or on the contrary, his judgement preach
So far, as that it puts them in despaire.
Or when I shall exceed my strict Commission,
By adding or detracting from the Letter:
Or when I make too narrow inquisition,
And, than mine owne opinion, thinke none better.
Or in the Church pretending reformation,
I make my Zeale a cloake to Innouation.

IX

Or if Philosophie? the more I striue
Of things the naturall causes to finde out,
I bring the sweeter hony to his Hive;
For of my God he makes me stand in doubt.
And then a thousand arguments he hath,
And ev'ry of them pow'rfull to persuade
(Hoping by Reason to confound my Faith)
And proue that all things were by Nature made:
And bids my weakenesse no beleefe to lend
To any thing that Reason shall transcend.

X

He tells me, The Philosophers were wise,
And that by search they all things needfull knew;
Their morall vertues sets before mine eyes,
Saith, They in act and word were iust and true:
With their vprightnesse bids me then compare
Our liues that Christianitie professe;
Consider but how different they are,
And how we more beleeue, and practise lesse.
Then, whither hath to heav'n neerer affinitie,
Moralitie in them, or our Diuinitie?

491

XI

Or if he proue this stratagem too weake,
He wills vs after secret things enquire,
Into the cabinet of Nature breake,
And there to finde what's worthy to admire.
For there is two-fold Magicke, Blacke and White,
Studies at first ordain'd to beget wonder;
Such as at once both profit and delight,
Amaze the gods, and keepe the Furies vnder:
Thus lulls mans Sences in a pleasing dreame,
Till he be made his Maker to blaspheme.

XII

His darts and arrowes are Lust, Enuy, Wrath,
Whose poysonous heads are dipt in Stygian fire,
And more of that corrupted Nature hath,
T'enflame the Spleene, and poyson the Desire,
Mortiferous all. Then what shall me betide,
Poore wretched Man? or which way shall I turne?
Thus hedg'd, thus guirt, thus ambusht on each side,
Immur'd with hooks, with lime-twigs, darts that burne;
When Sorrow, Ioy, Soure, Sweet, alike appeare,
To be but the iust causes of my feare?

XIII

I am iealous both of Hunger and Repast,
Of Sleepe, of Watch, of Labour, and of Ease:
Nor know in which I more secure am plac't,
Because I am hourely tempted in all these.
My Iesting, as my Anger I suspect,
Left in my mirth I might some one abuse,
Or speake what might to his disgrace reflect,
And that's a sin I know not how t'excuse.
Though t'offend in Wrath be greater far,
Yet from the first it doth not take the skar.

XIV

Prosperitie I feare, as things aduerse:
For as the one by sweetning oft deceiues,
So when the other hath with vs conuerse,
Despaire or Murmuring it behinde it leaues.
Of sinnes in secret I am more afraid

492

Than those in publique, because that's vnseene
(Being vnknowne) doth all reproofe evade:
Secure, we thinke them hid behinde a skreene.
And when Securitie lulls fast asleepe,
The Tempter shoots his arrowes, and strikes deepe.

XV

The Flesh, in Delicacie doth suggest;
The World, in Vanitie; the Diuell, he
In better things; for when I am possest
With carnall thoughts, the Flesh then speakes to me,
Either importuning to lust or sleepe,
To idlenesse, to pleasure, or to play,
T'excesse, by feeding high, and drinking deepe.
When as the World assaults another way,
By Arrogance, Ambition, and Vain-glory,
Tumor of heart, and things like-transitorie.

XVI

When Ire and Wrath, and bitternesse of Spleene
Prouokes vs vnto mischiefe, bloud, and strage;
The Diuell then hath made his arrowes keene,
And in such passions he doth rore and rage.
When I shall feele such in my breast arise,
Let me assure my selfe the Tempter's there:
Therefore at that time ought I to be wise
And valiant, to oppose him without feare.
His study is to compasse and inuade;
We ought to watch there be no entry made.

XVII

As oft as we resist, we do subdue
The great Seducer. Then the Angels sing,
And Saints reioyce (those that are still in view
Of the Creator, Heav'ns almighty King.)
That GOD who to this Battell doth persuade vs,
And looks vpon vs when we enter list,
Still as he spurres vs on, doth likewise aid vs
Against that old and crafty Pannurgist:
Supports the Weake, the Willing doth defend,
And crownes such as continue to the end.

XVIII

O giue me courage then, make strong my hand,

493

Thou that dost teach my fingers how to fight;
And lend me pow'r their fury to withstand,
Who would depriue me of thy glorious Light,
That I, who all my life time haue oppos'd
My selfe against my selfe, and against Thee,
May by thy tender mercies he inclos'd,
And so be sure they shall not ruin mee.
That when this Body is confin'd to Dust,
My Soule may yet finde place among the Iust.

Ut Pila concussus, resurgo.

495

Lib. 8. The Arch-Angell.

THE ARGVMENT of the eighth Tractat.

Of Sathans Wiles and Feats præstigious,
Appeæring wondrous and prodigious,
Confirm'd by Histories far sought.
Of Novels by bad Dæmons wrought:
And first of such is made expression,
That still with Mankinde seeke congression,
(To whose Fall they themselues apply)
Call'd Succubæ and Incubi.
To finde those further we desire,
Of Water, Earth, the Aire, and Fire;
And what their workings be to know,
As well aboue, as here below.
How Authors 'mongst themselues agree,
What Genij and Spectars bee,
Faunes, Syluanes, and Alastores,
Satyres, with others like to these.
With Stories mixt, that grace may win
From such as are not verst therein.

The second Argument.

Michael, whom Sathan durst oppose,
Can guard vs from inferior Foes.

Those Sp'rits call'd Dæmons, some haue apprehended,
Are with mens iniuries oft times offended;
And when againe they humbly shall submit,
They are soone pleas'd all quarrels to forget.

496

They after Diuine worship are ambitious,
And when fond Men grow vainly superstitious,
(As thereto by their ignorance accited)
In their idolatrous Rites th' are much delighted.
To them belongs the Augurs Diuination,
And such coniectures as by th' immolation
Of Beasts are made: whateuer did proceed
From Pythia's raptures, or hath been agreed
To issue from vaine Dreames; all Calculation
By such like signes, came first by th' instigation
Of Dæmons. Homer therefore gaue them stile
Of gods; nor doubted in the selfe same file
To number Iupiter. But we, whose faith
On Gods knowne workes more firme assurance hath,
By sacred Scriptures, title Dæmons those
Who (by him first created) dar'd t'oppose
His Diuine Will, and being ill affected,
Were for their Pride headlong from heav'n dejected.
Some in their fall still hanging in the aire,
And there imprison'd, till they make repaire
To the last dreadfull doome; and such await
Mans frailties hourely to insidiate:
Prone to his hurt, with tympanous pride inflam'd,
Burning with Enuy not to be reclaim'd;
Deceitfull, from bad purpose neuer chang'd,
Impious, and from all justice quite estrang'd;
And with th' inueterat malice in them bred,
Inuading Bodies both aliue and dead.

But whatsoeuer war they shall commence
Against vs, whether vnder faire pretence,
Or hostile menace, do well, and not feare;
He that the Soule created, will appeare
In it's defence, and if we boldly fight,
Put their strong forces and themselues to flight.

Plato, acknowledged one God alone;
The rest, whom others in the heav'ns inthrone,
He Dæmons calls, and Angels. Thermegist
Doth likewise on one Deitie insist;
And him he names Great, beyond all extension,
Ineffable, not within comprehension.
The other Sp'rits lye vnder Statues hid,
And Images, whose worship is forbid:
And these the breasts of liuing Priests inspire,
And from the Intrals (e're they touch the fire)

497

Pronounce strange Omens. These the Birds flights guide,
And mannage such things as by Lots are tryde:
The doubtfull Oracles they lend a tongue,
Prounouncing Truths with Lies, Lies Truths among,
Confounding them: all things obvolved leaue,
(Deceiv'd themselues, they others would deceiue.)
They waking trouble vs, molest our sleepe;
And if vpon our selues no watch we keepe,
Our bodies enter, then distract our braine,
They crampe our members, make vs to complaine
Of sickenesse or disease, and in strange fashion
They cause vs to exceed in Ioy or Passion:
And making vs one vniuersall wound,
Pretend to loose what they before had bound;
When as the wonder-seeming remedie
Is onely their surcease from injurie.
For all their study, practise, and delight,
Is but to moue vs to proue opposite
To the Creator, as themselues haue bin,
That, guilty of the same rebellious sin,
By their accitements being made impure,
We with them might like punishment endure.

Let's heare how Apuleius doth define them;
(Saith he) these proper adjuncts we assigne them,
Of a thin Airy body they exist,
And therefore can shift places as they list;
Of rational apprehension, passiue minde,
Eternall, and no end can therefore finde.
Another writes, These Spirits are much joy'd
At Bloud-shed, when man is by man destroy'd.
At riotous Feasts they 'bout the tables stalke,
Prouoking to vaine words and obscene talke,
Persuading Man in his owne strength to trust;
Deuise Confections that stirre vp to lust:
And when their pow'r on any Wretch hath seis'd,
Persuade, That with the sin God's not displeas'd.
Th' assume the shape of such as are deceast,
And couet to be counted gods at least.

Surcharg'd with joy these are not, to behold
When troubles and afflictions manifold
Pursue the Saints of God, and his Elect;
As hauing in themselues a cleare inspect,
By persecution, such, and tribulation,
Are lab'ring in the path to their saluation.

498

But when they finde our hearts obdure and hard,
To Pietie and Goodnesse vnprepar'd;
Or when they see vs deviat and erre,
And before Vertue, Vanitie preferre,
Then are they merry, they clap hands and shout,
As hauing then their purpose brought about.
The Hunter hauing caught vs in the Toile,
Seiseth his prey, and triumphs in the spoile.
We do not reade, That Sathan did once boast
When patient Iob had all his substance lost,
Nor seeing (by th' aduantage he had tane)
His Sonnes and Daughters by a Whirle-winde slaine;
When hauing lost all, he could lose no more,
And now from head to heele was but one fore:
Not all this mov'd him. Had he made reply
To her that bad him to curse God and dye,
By vtt'ring any syllable prophane,
Then he and his would haue rejoc'd amaine.

Nor in Pauls thirst or hunger was he pleas'd,
Nor when he was by cruell Lictors seis'd,
And hurry'd to the Gaole, (there gyv'd and bound)
Or shipwrackt, in great perill to be drown'd,
The Barke beneath him bee'ng in pieces torne;
Nor when the bloudy Iewes his death had sworne,
Scourg'd, buffetted, and bandied vp and downe:
They knew this was the way to gaine a Crowne;
To them 't was rather torment worse than Hell,
That in these conflicts he had fought so well.
Who gladly had exulted in the aire,
If they could once haue brought him to despaire.

Some Sophists held Dæmon the part to be
Of the Soules intellectuall Facultie.

We reade th' Apostle thus: The Wisedome wee
Of God, speake to you in a Mysterie:
Ev'n the hid Wisedome which to our saluation
He did ordaine before the Worlds creation.
But to the Princes of this world not showne,
As left to them meere doubtfull and vnknowne:
Which had it been reueal'd to them, they than
Would not haue crucify'd that God and Man,
The Lord of Glory. Some this Text expound.
(Building it seemes on no vncertaine ground)
That by the Princes of this World, he meant
The Dæmons, who of th' Aire haue gouernment,

499

Call'd Pow'rs and Potestats. It cannot stand
With reason, That the Iewes (without command
Or pow'r within themselues) so styl'd should be,
Bee'ng subiects to the Roman Monarchie.
Neither can properly we make restriction
To Pilat, who had then the jurisdiction
Of Rome in his owne hand, because that hee
Labor'd in all he could to set him free;
Said, he could finde no fault with him. And when,
At th' instance of those bloudy minded men,
He spake that Sentence, (which he would haue stayd)
He call'd for water, and in washing said
Vnto all those that then about him stood,
Lo, I am guiltlesse of this iust. Mans blood.

These were the Princes, by whose ignorant pride
The Lord of Glory was condemn'd, and dy'de.
They knew him to be Man, cleane, without spot;
But for the Sonne of God they knew him not.
Had they but knowne his innocent Bloud was shed
To revive those who in their Sinnes lay dead;
And ransome them from their insidiation,
(As being the sole meanes of our Saluation)
Sathan then durst not boldly to haue venter'd,
And into Iudas (call'd Iscariot) enter'd:
For he by finding that, might eas'ly know
'Twould be of his owne Kingdome th' ouerthrow.

Let's heare Prudentius: Of the sincere way,
We may presume God is the Guide and Stay:
There's but one path, through which, whom hee electeth,
(Lest they should wander) he himselfe directeth.
It lies vp a steepe hill that's hard to clime,
And the more difficult, the more sublime.
At the first entrance nothing doth appeare
But what is intricate, horrid, austere,
Sad, and still threatning danger: when thy feet
Hath measur'd it to the end, thou then shalt meet
With all things sweet and pleasant, sights excelling,
And pretious Riches with aboundance swelling.
All objects then shall shew both cleare and bright,
As being luster'd by eternall Light:
Then nothing shall seeme difficult or hard,
But of thy labor thou shalt reape reward.

Yet in thy trauell vp this craggy Hill
Thou shalt finde Sathan at thine elbow still,

500

Persuading thee a smoother Road to tread,
To which a thousand paths and by-wayes lead;
Through which the bearded Sophist he mis-guides:
The Vsurer there, with vnsuspected strides
Walks merrily; and he whom Honor blindes,
A pleasant journey to destruction findes.
Some by the tongues of Birds he doth allure,
And others by vaine Auguries assure,
By trusting too much to vaine Prophesies,
And the mad Sibils trifling Ambages.
Some he by Magicke spels doth headlong driue;
Others by Knowledge, though demonstratiue.
But take thou heed of this sweet erring way,
In which by thousand turnings thou mayst stray;
Hauing a Guide that teacheth Diuiation,
And turnes thee from the path of thy saluation.

Incredible it seemes, beleev'd by few,
And yet by antient Writers held for true,
That the bad Spirits at their pleasure can
Assume the shape of Woman or of Man,
And with each Sex carnall commixtion vse,
Fraile Mankinde to dishonor and abuse.

Those that in masculine shape with women trade,
Call'd Incubi: the other that are said
To put on fœminine feature, and so lye
Prostrat to man, are called Succabæ.
Nor do they vse such damned copulation
Because in it they take least delectation:
But rather by such diuellish commission,
To draw men headlong with them to perdition.
The substance by the which they generat, and
How 't is transfus'd, whoso would vnderstand,
Let them the bookes of Scotus well peruse;
It is no subiect for my modest Muse.

Yet that such are, (though I should silent be)
Heare what Saint Austin saith; 'T is told to me,
(By men of worth, whose faith I cannot blame,
And such as were eye-witnesse of the same)
The Faunes and other Sylvan beasts most rude,
Gotish in act, and by the multitude
Call'd Incubi, insidiat by the way
Women, to make of them their lustfull prey.

All Germany with Witches much annoyd,
Two graue and learned men, before employd

501

In many Causes both of depth and weight)
Were chosen by Pope Innocent the eight,
And a large Patent granted therewithall,
T'extirp the Witches thence in generall.
These two affirme, They oftentimes haue been
Where such old Crones and Beldams they haue seen
Flat on their backes, vsing th' immodest fashion,
As in the very act of generation,
Mouing their bodies; yet to th' outward eye
No Sp'rit perceiv'd of any stander by.
But the foule act imagin'd to be past,
A filthy noysome Vapor rose at last,
(In bignesse of a man) from her embrace,
And at the instant vanisht from the place.

In their large stories it is likewise read,
Husbands haue tooke these Incubi in bed
With their faire wiues, their figures by them stretcht:
Which seeing they haue run and weapons fetcht.
But th' one soone vanisht from their soft embraces;
Th' other call'd jealous fooles, vnto their faces.

Not far from Rotemburch this chance befell:
One of these Sp'rits (it seemes new rais'd from Hell)
Makes himselfe suitor to a Maid, yong, faire,
Louely, wel featur'd, and a Great mans heire:
He haunts the house, makes shew of mighty treasure,
But, more than all, to loue her aboue measure:
Yet that his Liuing lies far off, pretends.
His noble Host inuites him, with his friends,
To diuers feasts and banquets. My braue Wooer
Before he comes, rich Presents sends vnto her:
To make his way, the Seruants he bribes round,
Bespeakes the rarest musicke can be found;
The night he reuels, and he sports the day,
And all in hope to beare the Wench away:
His prodigall expences grow so hye,
His Host suspects whence he should haue supply,
Especially his land lying so remote.
Meane time the Maid from liking growes to doat,
Thinking to haue her fortunes much encreast,
And she be made a Princesse at the least.

But e're the Contract, the good man in feare
He might be other than he did appeare,
Inuites one day, together with his Ghest,
A retyr'd man that deuout life profest,

502

And was of most religious conuersation.
He at the table frames a disputation
Concerning Sanctity and holy things,
And still for euery proofe he Scripture brings.
At which my lusty Louer alters face,
And saith, That a full table is no place
For such discourse, but sportiue jests are best,
And pleasant talke, to make the meat disgest.
The good old man perceiuing by his looke
And change of cheare, he Gospell could not brooke,
Rose at the table, and cry'd out amaine,
Auaunt thou Fiend, with thy infernall traine;
Thou hast no pow'r (howeuer thus disguis'd)
O're them who in Christs name haue beene baptis'd:
The roaring Lion shall not vs deuour,
That in his bloud are ransom'd from thy pow'r.
These words, with such like, were no sooner spoke,
But he with all his traine vanisht like smoke,
And of his people they no more could finde,
Sauing three ougly bodies left behinde,
(With a soule stench) and they were knowne to bee
Felons before-time strangled on a tree.

Now of those Sp'rits whom Succubæ we call,
I reade what in Sicilia did befall:
Rogero reigning there, a yong man much
Practis'd in swimming (for his skill was such
That few could equall him,) one night bee'ng late
Sporting i'th sea, and thinking then his Mate
Had been before him, catcht him by the haire,
To drag him to the shore; when one most faire
Appear'd to him, of a most sweet aspect,
Such, a censorious Cynicke might affect,
Though he had promis'd abstinence. Her head
Seem'd as in golden wires apparelled;
And lo, quite naked shee's before him found,
Saue that her modest haire doth cloath her round.
Astonisht first to see so rare a Creature,
Richly accomplisht both in face and feature,
He viewes her still, and is surpris'd at last;
And ouer her his vpper garment cast,
So, closely brought her home, and then conueyd
Her to his priuat chamber, where she stayd
So long with him, that he with her had won
Such grace, she was deliuer'd of a Son

503

Within some forty weekes. But all this while,
Though she had lent him many a pleasant smile,
(Not making anything betwixt them strange,
That wife might with her husband interchange)
She neuer spake, nor one word could he heare
Proceed from her; which did to him appeare
Something prodigious. Besides, it being knowne
How this faire sea-borne Venus first was growne
In his acquaintance: Next, how his strange sute
Came first, and that she still continu'd mute;
A friend of his that had a seeming care
Both of his bodie and his soules welfare,
Told him in plaine termes, he was much mis-led,
To entertaine a Spectar in his bed.
At which words both affrighted and inrag'd,
To thinke how desp'ratly he had ingag'd
Both soule and body; home he posts with speed,
And hauing something in himselfe decreed,
First mildely treats with her, and after breakes
Into loud termes, yet still she nothing speakes.
At this more angry, to haue no reply,
He takes his sword, and sonne, (then standing by)
And vowes by all the oathes a man can sweare,
Vnlesse she instantly deliuer there,
Both what she is? how bred? and whence she came?
And vnto these, particular answer frame;
His purpose is (receiue it how she will)
The pretty Babe (betwixt them got) to kill.

After some pause, the Succubus reply'd,
Thou onely seek'st to know what I would hide:
Neuer did Husband to himselfe more wrong,
Than thou in this, to make me vse my tongue.
After which words she vanisht, and no more
Was thenceforth seene. The childe (threatned before)
Some few yeares after swimming in the place
Where first the father saw the mothers face,
Was from his fellowes snatcht away and drown'd
By the same Sp'rit; his body no where found.

Besides these, Marcus vpon Psellius, findes
To be of maligne Spirits sundry kindes,
That beare in the foure elements chiefe sway:
Some Fiery, and Ætherial are, and they
Haue the first place. Next, Spectars of the Aire,
Water, and Earth, (but none of them that dare

504

Beyond their bounds) Others that all light fly,
And call'd Subterren, or Lucifugi.

Vnto the first, those prodigies of Fire
Falling from heav'n (which men so much admire)
The Learn'd ascribe: As when a burning stone
Dropt from the Sky into swift Ægion.
A Floud in Persia, in Darius dayes:
As when three Moones at once in splendant rayes
(With a huge bearded Comet) did appeare
To all mens wonder, in the selfe same yeare
Pope Iohn, the two and twentieth, by his pow'r
Curst Lewis Bavarus then Emperour,
Because he cherisht in litigious hope,
Petrus Carbariensis, Anti-Pope.
As when three Sunnes at once shon in the Sky,
Of equall sise, to all apparantly.

Neere to the Village cal'd Taurometane
In Sicily, a Merchant bred in Spaine,
Coasting that way, sees where before him stand
Ten Smiths, and each a hammer in his hand,
About them leatherne aprons: and before
He can aduise well, he espies ten more;
And one aboue them all (like Vulcan) lame,
So shapt, that you would take him for the same
Describ'd in Homer. Him the Merchant asks,
To what place they were bound? About ont tasks,
Vulcan replies: Is it to thee vnknowne,
How famous we are late in Ætna growne?
Which if it be, lag but a while behinde,
And see what thou with thousands more shalt finde.
To whom the Merchant; What worke can there bee
For men of your profession, where we see
Nothing but drifts of snow, the mountaines clad
In Winters cold, where no fire can be had?
That shall be try'd (said Vulcan once againe)
And with that word he vanisht with his traine.
At which the Merchant with such feare was strooke,
That all his limbes and joints were Ague-shooke:
To the next house his faint steps he applies,
And had no sooner told this but he dies.

His life set with the Sun. E're mid-night came,
The vast Sicilian Mount was all on flame,
Belching forth fire and cinders, and withall,
Such horrid cracks as if the rocks would fall,

505

And tumble from their height, into the Plaine,
Mixt with such tempests both of Haile and Raine,
Such bellowing shriekes, and such a sulphur smell,
As had it been the locall place of Hell.
This dismall night so dreadfull did appeare
Vnto all such as did inhabit neere,
They left their houses, to seeke dens and caues,
Thinking no place so safe then as their graues.

And of this nature are those fires oft seene
Neere Sepulchres, by which many haue beene
Deluded much, in Church-yards and such places,
Where the faint-hearted scarce dare shew their faces.
Such are the Ignes Fatui that appeare
To skip and dance before vs ev'ry where.
Some call them Ambulones, for they walke
Sometimes before vs, and then after stalke.
Some call them leaping Goats; and these we finde
All to be most malicious in their kinde,
By leading Trauellers out of their way,
Else causing them mongst theeues or pit-falls stray;
And such are Sulphur-colour'd: others, white,
And these haunt ships and Sea-men in the night,
And that most frequent when a tempest's past,
And then they cleaue and cling close to the mast.
They call it Helena if one appeare,
And then presage there's some disaster neere.
If they spie two, they iudge good shall befall them,
And these (thus seene) Castor and Pollux call them.

And from that kinde of Sp'rits the Diuination
Held in fore-times in such great adoration,
Okumanteia call'd, seemes to haue sprung;
As likewise those by th' antient Magi sung,
Onichomanteia, Libonomantia,
Capnomantia, Piromantia,
And Thurifumia. But I cannot dwell
On circumstance, their sev'rall Rites to tell.

Spirits of th' Aire are bold, proud, and ambitious,
Envious tow'rd Mankinde, Spleenfull, and malicious:
And these (by Gods permission) not alone
Haue the cleare subtill aire to worke vpon,
By causing thunders and tempestuous showr's,
With harmefull windes: 'tis also in their pow'rs
T'affright the earth with strange prodigious things,
And what's our hurt, to them great pleasure brings.

506

Of their so rare effects Stories are full;
Amongst the Attribates, it rained wooll.
In good Saint Ambrose time two armies fought
In the aires Region, and great terror brought
Vnto all France; Hugh Capet making claime
Vnto the Crowne, (if we may credit Fame,
And Histories, which are not writ in vaine)
There fell from heav'n great store of Fish and Graine.

Philostratus (in whom was found no flaw)
Writes, Apollonius 'mongst the Brachmans saw
Two Tombes, which opened, windes disturb'd the aire;
But shut, the sky was calme, the season farre.

Eunapius and Suidas both record,
How Sopater could with one Magicke word
Command the Windes; and was adiudg'd to dye,
Because he kept them fast, when as supplye
Of corne vnto Byzantium should be brought.
But (to spare these) had we no further sought
Than sacred Historie; In Iob we finde,
How Sathan did stir vp a mighty winde,
Which where his sonnes and daughters feasting were,
Did the whole house demolish, rend and teare.

The Finnes and Laplands are acquainted well
With such like Sp'rits, and Windes to Merchants fell,
Making their cov'nant, When and how they please
They may with prosp'rous weather crosse the seas.
As thus; They in an hand-kerchiefe fast ty
Three knots: vnloose the first, and by and by
You finde a gentle gale blow from the shore.
Open the second, it encreaseth more,
Fo fill your sailes. When you the third vntye,
Th' intemperat gusts grow vehement and hye.
Of Ericus the King of Goths 'tis said,
That as he turn'd his hat, the winde he stayd:
Nor did there euer any neere him know
The piercing aire vpon his face to blow.

It is reported of learn'd Zoroaster,
(Who of art Magicke was the first Art-master)
That by such Spirits, in a stormy day,
And mighte whirle-winde, he was borne away.
And from this kinde that diuination springs
Call'd Æromantia; by which thousand things
Haue been conjectur'd from the conjur'd Aire.

When mustring Armies in the clouds repaire.

507

Chariots, and such; to iudge what shall befall
From them, they Terotoscopcia call.
A third there is, (I almost had forgot)
Ornithomanteia, when by Birds they wot.

Spirits that haue o're Water gouernment,
Are to Mankinde alike maleuolent:
They trouble Seas, Flouds, Riuers, Brookes, and Wels,
Meeres, Lakes, and loue t'enhabit watry Cels;
Thence noisome and pestiferous vapors raise.
Besides, they Man encounter diuers wayes;
At wrackes some present are; another sort
Ready to crampe their joints that swim for sport.
One kinde of these th' Italians Fatæ name;
Fee the French; We, Sibils; and the same
Others, White Nymphs; and those that haue them seen,
Night-Ladies, some, of which Habundia Queene.
And of this sort are those of which discusse
Plutarch and (out of him) Sabellicus.

Numa Pompilius, who did oft inuite
The best of Rome to feast with him by night,
Neuer made vse of market to afford
Rich choice of dainties to his sumptuous bord;
Each tastefull Delicat that could be thought,
Without all cat'ring, or prouiding ought,
Did of their owne accord themselues present,
To giue th' invited ghests their full content,
To all their admiration: Which is said
Was onely by the Nymph Egeria's aid,
With whom he had conuerse; and she we finde,
Of force must be a Spirit of this kinde.

Scotus Parmensis but few yeares ago,
(As some report) his Magicke Art to show,
Practis'd the like, inuited mighty States,
And feasted them with princely Delicates:
And yet these seeming viands were of all
That tasted them, merely phantasticall.
Though they rose sated, yet no sooner thence
Departed, but they had no feeling sence
Of feeding Hunger, or of quenching thirst,
But found themselues more empty than at first.

And with such banquets (as Philostratus
Writes) was Apollonius Tyanæus
Receiued by the Brachmans. With like cheare,
Petrus Albanus and Pasætis were

508

Custom'd to feast their Ghests. And of this sort
(Namely White Nymphs) Boëthius makes report,
In his Scotch Historie: Two Noblemen,
Mackbeth and Banco-Stuart, passing then
Vnto the Pallace where King Duncan lay;
Riding alone, encountred on the way
(In a darke Groue) three Virgins wondrous faire,
As well in habit as in feature rare.

The first of them did curtsie low, her vaile
Vnpinn'd, and with obeisance said, All haile
Mackbeth Thane Glavius. The next said,
All haile Caldarius Thane. The third Maid,
Not the least honor vnto thee I bring,
Mackbeth all haile, that shortly must be King.
These spake no more. When Banco thus reply'de,
Ill haue ye done, faire Ladies, to diuide
Me from all honors: How comes he thus growne
In your great grace, to promise him a Crowne?
And I his sole companion, as you see,
Yet you in nothing daigne to guerdon mee.

To whom the first made answer, Yes, we bring
To thee much happier Fate; for though a King
Mackbeth shall be, yet shall he reigne alone,
And leaue no issue to succeed his Throne.
But thou ô Banco, though thou dost not sway
Thy selfe a Scepter, yet thine Issue may,
And so it shall; thine Issue (do not feare)
Shall gouerne Scotland many an happy yeare.

This spoke, all vanisht. They at first amas'd
At the strange Nouell, each on other gas'd;
Then on they road, accounting all meere fictions,
And they vaine Spectars, false in their predictions:
And sporting by the way, one jeasted thus,
Haile King of Scotland, that must gouerne vs.
To whom the other, Like salutes to thee,
Who must of many Kings the Grand sire bee.

Yet thus it happen'd after; Duncan slaine
By Mackbeth, he vsurpt and 'gan to raigne,
Though the dead King had left two sonnes behinde.
More seriously then pondring in his minde
The former apparition, casts about,
How Banco (of the Scotch Peeres the most stout)
Might be cut off, doth solemnely inuite
Him and his sonne Fleanchus one sad night

509

Vnto a banquet, where the Father dies;
But shadow'd by the darknesse, the Sonne flies.
Now the small sand of Mackbeths glasse bee'ng run,
(For he was slaine by Malcolme, Duncans son)
In processe, the Crowne lineally descended
To Banco's Issue; and is yet extended
In ample genealogie, remaining
In most renowned CHARLES, amongst vs reigning.

My promis'd brevitie be mine excuse,
Else many stories I could here produce
Of the like nature, purport, and condition.
For we may reade Ollarus the Magition
Commanded like Familiars; who 'tis sed,
With his inchanted shooes could water tred,
And neuer hasard drowning. The like fame
Another, that Othimius had to name,
Behinde him left. Hadingus King of Danes,
Mounted vpon a good Steed, by the raines
Th' Inchanter tooke, and crosse the main sea brought him
Safe, whilest in vaine the hot pursuer sought him.

Oddo the Danish Pyrat, by the aid
Of the like Sp'rits, whole Nauies durst inuade,
And with his Magicke Charmes could when he please
Raise mighty stormes, and drowne them in the seas.
At length by one of greater practise found,
Aiming at others Wracke, himselfe was drown'd.

Some Authors, vnto this accursed Tribe
Of watry Dæmons, Deluges ascribe,
And flux of waters. Such we reade were knowne
Whilest Damasus was Pope, when ouerthrowne
Were many cities in Sicilia. And
By Historiographers we vnderstand,
The like chanc'd in Pope Alexanders dayes
In Italy, afflicting diuers wayes.

Both losse of beasts, and great depopulation
In Charles the fifts time, by an Inundation
Happend in Holland, Zeeland, Friseland, these
Had their maritime shores drown'd by the seas.

In Poland, neere Cracovia, chanc'd the same:
And in one yeare (if we may credit Fame)
In Europ, besides Townes and Cities, then
Perisht aboue fiue hundred thousand men.

To these belong what we call Hydromantia,
Gastromantia, Lacomantia, Pagomantia.

510

Touching the Spirits of the Earth, there bee
Of diuers sorts, each knowne in his degree,
As Genij, the Domesticke gods, and those
They Lares call, Spectars, Alastores,
Larvæ, Noone-Diuels, Syluanes, Satyrs, Fawnes,
And they frequent the Forrests, Groues, and Lawnes.
Others, th' Italians F'oletti call.
Paredrij there are too; yet these not all.

Now what these Genij are, Philostratus,
Eunapius, Athenæus, Maximus,
With all the other Platonicks, profest
Them to be Sp'rits of men before deceast;
Who had they liv'd a good life, and vnstain'd,
By licence of th' Infernall Pow'rs obtain'd,
In their owne houses to inhabit still,
And their posteritie to guard from ill;
Such they call'd Lares. But all those that lead
Liues wicked and debosht, they being dead,
Wandred about the earth as Ghosts exil'd,
Doing all mischiefe: such they Larva stil'd.

And of this kinde, that Spirit we may guesse
Remembred in the booke of Socrates;
Who in the shape of Moses did appeare
The space together of one compleat yeare
I'th Isle of Creet; persuading with the Iewes
There liuing, That he such a meanes would vse,
That if they met at a fixt day, with ease
He would traject them dry-foot through the seas.
To which they trusting, by appointment meet,
All, who that time were resident in Creet,
And follow their false Captaine, lesse and more,
Ev'n to the very margent of the shore.
Then turning tow'rds them, in a short oration
Bespeakes them thus; O you the chosen nation,
Behold as great a wonder from my hand,
As your fore-fathers did from Moses Wand.
Then with his finger points vnto a place
'Twixt them and which a Creeke ran, (no great space,
And seeming shallow) All of you now fling
Your selues (saith he) and follow me your King,
Into this sea; swim but to yonder strand,
And you shall then arriue vpon a land,
From whence I will conduct you ev'ry man
Dry-foot into a second Canaan.

511

He plungeth first, they follow with one minde,
In hope a second Palestine to finde.
But hauing past their depths, the rough windes blew,
When this Seducer straight himselfe withdrew,
Leaues them to ruin, most of them bee'ng drown'd,
Some few by fish-boats sav'd, he no where found.

With these the Spectars in some points assent,
Bee'ng tow'rds Mankinde alike maleuolent:
Whose in-nate malice nothing can asswage,
Authors of death, depopulation, strage.
By Origen they are Alastores nam'd:
By Zoroaster, bloudy, and vntam'd.
Concerning which, the learned mens opinion
Is, That Abaddon hath of them dominion.

What time Iustinian did the Empire sway,
Many of these did shew themselues by day,
To sundry men both of good braine and sence;
After which follow'd a great Pestilence,
For to all such those Spectars did appeare,
It was a certaine signe their death drew neare.

King Alexander, of that name the third
That reign'd in Scotland (if Boethius word
May be beleev'd) by match himselfe ally'de
With England, tooke Ioanna to his Bride,
Sister to the third Henry. She bee'ng dead,
(And issuelesse) he after married
Marg'ret his daughter; Did on her beget
Prince Alexander, David, Margaret.
These dying in their nonage, and she too,
(With sorrow as most thinke) the King doth woo
Iolanta the faire daughter (as some say)
Vnto the great Earle of Campania:
Being (as 't seemes) most ardently inclin'd,
After his death to leaue some heire behind.

In the mid Reuels the first ominous night
Of their espousals, when the roome shone bright
With lighted tapers; the King and the Queene leading
The curious Measures, Lords and Ladies treading
The selfe-same straines; the King looks backe by chance,
And spies a strange intruder fill the dance;
Namely a meere Anatomy quite bare,
His naked limbes both without flesh and haire,
(As we decipher Death) who stalks about,
Keeping true measure till the dance was out.

512

The King with all the rest afrighted stand;
The Spectar vanisht, and then strict command
Was giv'n to breake vp reuels, each 'gan feare
This Omen, and presage disaster neere.
If any aske, What did of this succeed?
The King soone after falling from his Steed,
Vnhappily dy'de. After whose death, ensuing
Was to the land sedition, wracke, and ruin.

The Syluanes, Fawnes, and Satyrs are the same
The Greekes Paredrij call, the Latines name
Familiar Spirits; who though in outward shew
They threat no harme, but seeme all good to owe
Poore ambusht mankinde; though their crafty Mines
And snares do not appeare by ev'dent signes,
Yet with malicious hate they are infected,
And all their deeds and counsels are directed
To make a faire and flatt'ring preparation
Vnto the bodies death, and soules damnation.
And of these Spirits (as Macrobius saith)
The mount Pernassus in aboundance hath,
Neere to mount Hecta. And Olaus writes,
The like appeare most frequently by nights,
And verbally deliuer kinde commends
To men, from their deceast and shipwrackt friends.

Vsing their helpe, one Iohn Teutonicus
By Acromaticke Magicke sported thus.
This Iohn was knowne a bastard, and yet had
Great fame for learning: who in Halberstad
Had for his worth admittance to a place
Where none but the Nobilitie had grace
To be in Commons; yet it seemes, so great
Was his repute, with them he sate and eat.
But yet with small content; the yong men proud
Of their high noble births, much disallow'd
His company, and tooke it in great scorne
To sit with one, though learn'd, yet basely borne;
And whether they were serv'd with flesh of fish,
His bastardy was sauce still in his dish.

But skil'd in hidden Arts, I will (thought he)
Some sudden means deuise, henceforth to free
My selfe from all their scoffes and taunts. Hee then
Inuites vnto his chamber those yong men
Who most seem'd to oppose him; feasts them there,
Where seemes no want of welcome or of cheare.

513

The table drawne, and their discourse now free,
Iohn asks of them, if they could wish to see
Their fathers present, they desire him too't,
Prouing to finde if he by Art can doo't.

He bids them to sit silent: all are mute,
When suddenly one enters in a sute
Greasie, before him a white apron tyde,
His linnen sleeues tuckt vp, both elbowes hide;
He stands and eyes them round, and by his looke
None there but needs must guesse him for a Cooke.
Which of you know this fellow now? (saith Iohn)
What say you Sir, whom he so gaseth on?
He soone reply'de on whom he fixt his eye,
Aske you who knowes him? Mary that do I,
Hee's of my fathers kitchen. Nay Sir rather
(Iohn answer'd him) this is your owne deare father:
For when that noble Sir whose name you beare,
Was trauel'd on some great affaire else-where.
This well fed Groome, to whom you ought to kneele,
Begot you then all ouer, head to heele.
It seemes your mother knew not drosse from Bullion,
That in a great Lords stead embrac'd a Scullion.

He chases, the Sp'rit doth vanish in the while;
The rest seeme pleas'd, and in the interim smile.
When suddenly in middle of the roome
Is seene a tall and lusty stable-Groome.
A frocke vpon him, and in his left hand
A Curri-combe, the other grasps a wand,
And lookes vpon a second. Here I show him
Amongst you all (saith Iohn) doth any know him?
I must (saith one) acknowledge him of force,
His name is Ralfe, and keepes my fathers horse.
And kept your mother warme too, doubt it not,
The very morning that you were begot,
Her husband bee'ng a hunting. The Youth blusht.
The rest (afraid now) were with silence husht.
Then to the third he brought a Butler in,
And prov'd him guilty of his mothers sin.
A Tailor to the fourth. So of the rest,
Till all of them were with like shame opprest.

Teutonicus this seeing; Nay, (quoth hee)
Since I am likewise stain'd with bastardie,
You shall behold my father. Soone appeares
A well-flesht man, aged some forty yeares,

514

Of graue aspect, in a long Church-man's gowne,
Red cheekt, and shauen both his beard and crowne:
By his formalities it might be guest
He must be a Lord Abbot at the least.
Who disappearing; This man (I confesse)
Begot me of his smooth fac'd Landeresse,
(Saith Iohn) and somewhat to abate your pride,
Iudge now who's best man by the fathers side.
Some vext, and other turn'd the jest to laughter;
But with his birth did neuer taunt him after.

Of many such like things Authors discusse,
Not only sportiue but miraculous.
We reade of one in Creucemacon dwelling,
In this prestigious kinde of Art excelling:
Who by such Spirits helpe could in the aire
Appeare an Huntsman, and there chase the Hare
With a full packe of dogs. Meaning to dine,
A teeme of horse, and cart laden with wine
He eat vp at one meale; and hauing fed,
With a sharpe sword cut off his seruants head;
Then set it on his shoulders firme, and so
As he was no whit dammag'd by the blow.

In Saxonie, not from Torgauia far,
A Nobleman for raising ciuill war
Had been confin'd, and forfeiting his wealth,
Was forc'd to liue by rapine and by stealth.
He riding on the way, doth meet by chance
One of these Sp'rits, submisse in countenance,
In habit of a Groome; who much desires
T'attend his Lordship. Who againe requires,
What seruice he can do? I can (quoth he)
Keepe an horse well, nothing doth want in me
Belonging to a stable: I for need
Can play the Farrier too. So both agreed;
And as they rode together, 'boue the rest,
His Lord giues him great charge of one choice beast,
To tender him as th' apple of his eye:
He vowes to doo't, or else bids let him dye.
Next day his Lord rides forth on some affaire;
His new-come seruant then to shew his care,
This much lov'd Iennet from the stable shifts,
And to a roome foure stories high him lifts;
There leaues him safe. The Lord comes home at night;
The Horse of his knowne Master hauing sight,

515

Neighs from aboue: The Owner much amas'd,
Knowing the sound, vp tow'rd the casement gas'd,
Calls his new seruant, and with lookes austere
Asks him, by what means his good Steed came there?
Who answers, Bee'ng your seruant, I at large
Desirous was to execute your charge,
Touching your horse; for since you so well like him,
Loth any of the rest should kicke or strike him,
I yonder lodg'd him safe. But little said
The Nobleman; and by his neighbours aid
(For to his house he now must ioyne the towne)
With cords and pullies he conuey'd him downe.

This Lord for some direptions being cast
Into close prison, and with gyues bound fast;
In (vnexpected) comes his Groome to see him,
And on condition promiseth to free him,
If he forbeare to signe him with the Crosse,
Which can (saith he) be to you no great losse:
Likewise refraine t'inuoke the name of God,
And you shall here no longer make aboad.
This bee'ng agreed, he takes vpon his backe,
(Gyv'd as he was, and chain'd, nothing doth lacke)
His noble master, beares him through the aire:
Who terrify'de, and almost in despaire,
Cries out, Good God, ô whether am I bound.
Which spoke, he dropt the pris'ner to the ground,
Ev'n in an instant: but by Gods good grace
He light vpon a soft and sedgy place,
And broke no limbe. Home straight the seruant hyes,
And tells them in what place his Master lies:
They to his Castle beare him thence forth-right,
Which done, this seruant bids them all Good night.

Arlunus a more serious tale relates;
Two noble Merchants, both of great estates,
From Italy tow'rd France riding in post,
Obserue a sterne blacke man them to accost,
Of more than common stature; who thus spake,
If to Mediolanum you your journey take,
Vnto my brother Lewis Sforza go,
And vnto him from me this Letter show.
They, terror'd with these words, demand his name,
Both what to call him, and from whence he came.
I Galeatius Sforza am, (saith hee)
And to the Duke deliuer this from mee.

516

So vanisht. They accordingly present
The Letter to the Prince. The argument
Was this; O Lewis, of thy selfe haue care,
The French and the Venetian both prepare
T'inuade thy Dukedome, and within short space,
From Millan to extirpe thee and thy Race.
But to my charge deliuer, truly told,
Three thousand Florens of good currant gold,
I'le try if I the Spirits can attone,
To keepe thee still invested in thy Throne.
Farewell. The Letter was subscribed thus,
The Ghost of thy brother Galeatius.
This, though it seem'd a phantasie vnminded,
With selfe-conceit Prince Lewis Sforza blinded,
Soone after was by all his friends forsaken,
His City spoil'd, himselfe surpris'd and taken.

One other to your patience I commend,
And with the close thereof this Tractar end.

A Youth of Lotharinge, not meanly bred,
Who was by too much liberty mis-led,
His boundlesse prodigalitie was such,
His exhibition he exceeded much:
And when his money was exhausted cleane,
His credit flaw'd, and there remain'd no meane
Either to score or pawne; he walks alone,
And fetching many a deepe suspire and grone,
His melanch'ly grew almost to despaire:
Now, as we finde, the Diuels ready are
And prest at such occasions; ev'n so than
One of these Sp'rits in semblance of a man
Appeares, and of his sadnesse doth demand
The cause: Which when he seem'd to vnderstand,
He makes free protestation, That with ease
He can supply him with what Coine he please.
Then from his bosome drawes a Booke, and it
Presents the Youth, and saith, If all that's writ
Within these leaues thou giv'st beleefe to, I
Will furnish all thy wants, and instantly;
Vpon condition thou shalt neuer looke
On any page, or once vnclaspe the booke.

The yong man's pleas'd, the contract he allowes,
And punctually to keepe it sweates and vowes.
Now (saith the Spectar) note and vnderstand
What thou seest done: Then holds in his left hand

517

The fast-shut booke; his right he casts about,
Then with his thumbe and finger stretched out,
(Meaning the middle of that hand) holds fast
The charmed Volume, speaking thus at last,
Natat as saliat Aurum: and instantly
Six hundred Crownes into his pocket fly.
This shew'd and done, he stands himselfe aloofe,
Giues him the Booke, and bids the Youth make proofe
As he before did. The same order kept,
The selfe same summe into his bosome leapt.
They part; the youthfull Schollar is surpris'd
With ioyes incredible: and well advis'd
Within himselfe, thinks he, How should I curse,
To lose this, (more than Fortunatus Purse.)
Which to preuent, the surest way I'le chuse,
Transcribing it, lest I perchance might loose
Th' originalll copy. Then downe close he sits,
Shuts fast his dore, and summons all his wits,
From hand to hand the Booke he moues and heaues,
Weighing and poising the inchanted leaues;
Then layes it ope. But in the stead of Histories
Or Poëms, he spies nought saue Magicke mysteries.
First page by page he turnes it ouer all,
Saue Characters most diabolicall,
He nothing sees: then pausing a good space,
His eye by chance insists vpon a place,
At which he wonders; namely a circle that
Is fill'd with confus'd lines, he knowes not what
Their meaning is; and from the Center riseth
A Crucifix which the Crosse much disguiseth,
Clov'n through th' midst, and quite throughout dissect,
Aboue, an head of horrible aspect,
Resembling the great Diuels, ougly foule,
Which seemes on his rash enterprise to scoule.
On the right side two Crosses more appeare,
That after a strange guise conioyned were;
And these are interchangeably commixt,
And vpon each a Caca-Dæmon fixt.
Vpon the left, that part exposed wide,
Which modest women most desire to hide.
Oppos'd, as ev'n as iust proportion can,
Was plac'd th' erected virile part of man.

At these much wondring, and asham'd withall,
He feeles a sudden feare vpon him fall,

518

Which Feuer shakes him, his eye's dull and dead,
And a strange megrim toxicates his head,
Imagining behinde him one to reach,
Ready t'arrest him for his promise-breach.

He calls aloud, his Tutor is by chance
At hand, beats ope the dore, and halfe in dance
He findes his Pupill, and before him spies
This booke of most abhorrid blasphemies:
And questions, how it came there? He tells truth.
Then he in stead of chiding, cheares the Youth:
And hauing caus'd a great fire to be made,
Now sacrifice this cursed Booke, he said.
The Pupill yeelds, the flame about it flashes,
Yet scarse in a full houre 'tis burnt to ashes,
Though it were writ in paper. Thus we see,
Though these Familiar Spirits seeming bee
Mans profest friends, their loue's but an induction
Both to the Bodies and the Soules destruction.

Explicit Metrum Tractatus octavi.

558

A Meditation vpon the former Tractate.

I

To rip vp Gods great Counsels who shall striue,
Or search how far his hidden works extend?
Into the treasure of his wonders diue,
Or thinke his Maiestie to comprehend?
These things are granted vnto none aliue.
For how can such as know not their owne end,
Nor can of their beginning, reason show,
Presume his Pow'r and Might vnspeakable to know?

II

If He should say, Weigh me the weight of Fire?
Or striue to call backe Yesterday that's past?
To measure out the Windes I thee desire,
Or search the dwellings of the Ocean Vast?
How the Seas flow, or how their Ebbes retyre,
Or in what moulds the Sun and Moone were cast?
Whence thou hadst life and fashion in the wombe,
Or wherfore (born thence) now to seek a second tomb?

III

Sure thou wouldst answer, Fire cannot be weigh'd.
Or if? What ballance can the heat sustaine?
And of the Windes what measure can be made?
For I shall striue t'imprison them in vaine.
And how the chambers of the Depth are layd?
Which none hath seene that hath return'd againe.
Or who the Houres already past can summe?
Or by his art preuent those seasons are to come?

IV

How should I frame a Modell so capatious,
In which to cast the body of the Sunne?

559

Or of the Moone? (so infinitely spatious)
Or truly tell the courses that they run?
Neither can humane wit proue so audatious,
To question of his end e're he begun.
Neither with our weake sence doth it agree,
To find, how meere from nothing we first came to bee.

V

If of the Fire, which thou dost hourely try?
If of the Winde, which blowes vpon thy face?
If of the Day, which dayly passeth by?
(And what is now, to morrow hath no place)
Or those bright Planets mouing in the sky,
Which haue Times Daughters in perpetuall chase.
Or if the Seas abisse thou canst not sound?
To search whose chanels yet there neuer line was found.

VI

If of thy selfe thou canst no reason show,
By all the vnderstanding thou canst claime?
How in the wombe thou first beganst to grow?
Or how thy life into thy body came?
Yet all these things, to be, we see and know,
They lie before vs, and we giue them name.
But if we cannot show the reason why,
How can we search the mysteries of the most Hye?

VII

Number we may as well the things to come,
Gather the scatter'd drops of the last raine,
The sands that are vpon the shore to summe,
Or make the wither'd Floures grow fresh againe;
Giue the Mole eyes, or speech vnto the Dumbe,
Or with small Vessels th' Ocean striue to draine:
Tell all the glorious stars that shine by night,
Or make a Sound or Voice apparant to the sight.

VIII

The Forrest of it's lofty Cedars prowd,
Whose spatious boughes extended neere and far,
And from the earth the Sun did seeme to cloud.

560

Much glorying in it's strength, thinks none should bar
His circumscribed limits; therefore vow'd
Against the mighty Ocean to make war,
Calling a Councell of each aged Tree,
Who with vnanimous consent thereto agree.

IX

Like counsell did the curled Ocean take,
And said, Let vs rise vp against the Land;
Let's these our spatious borders larger make,
Nor suffer one tree in his place to stand:
The Earths foundations we haue pow'r to shake,
And all their lofty mountaines countermand.
Much honour by this conflict may be had,
If we to these our bounds can a new Countrey add.

X

Yet was the purpose of the Forrest vaine,
For a Fire came, and all the Woods destroy'd:
And 'gainst the raging practise of the Maine,
Sands interpos'd, and it's swift course annoy'd.
Some Pow'r there was which did their spleens restrain:
For neither of them their intents enioy'd.
'Twixt these I make thee Vmpire, vse thy skill;
Which canst thou say did well, or which of the did ill?

XI

Both their intents were idle, thou wilt say,
And against Nature that they did deuise:
The Woods were made within their bounds to stay,
And therefore to transgresse them were vnwise.
The Seas that quiet in their channels lay,
And would so proud an action enterprise:
Be thou the judge betweene each vndertaker,
Whether they both rebelled not 'gainst their Maker.

XII

For as the Earth is for the Woods ordain'd,
Fixt there, not to remoue their setled station:
And as the Flouds are in their shores restrain'd,
But neither to exceed their ordination;

561

So must all Flesh in frailty be contain'd,
(For so it hath been from the first Creation)
And only the things heauenly vnderstand,
Who are in heav'n, and prest at Gods almighty hand.

XIII

If then things supernaturall we finde,
The depth whereof we cannot well conceiue;
So abdite and retruse from Mans weake minde,
Them we into our frailty cannot weave:
(As what's aboue Capacitie assign'd)
Those to the first Disposer let vs leaue.
What's common amongst men is knowne to all;
But we may faile in those things metaphysicall.

XIV

But be it euer our deuout intention,
To be so far remote from all ambition,
That whatsoeuer's aboue apprehension,
(If it be true, and of Diuine condition)
To quarrell with it in no vaine dissention,
But rather yeeld thereto with all submission.
Man, made of earth, to Earth God did confine;
Grace from aboue is the free gift of Pow'r Diuine.

XV

This Grace is the third Person in the Trinitie:
The second, Wisedome; and the first, all Power.
To whom that we may haue more free affinitie,
Let vs submit vs henceforth from this hower:
And that we may attaine to true Diuinitie,
Pray, That they will their mercies on vs shower;
Here in this life, from Sathan vs defend,
And after bring vs to that joy which hath no end.

Crux pendentis est Cathedra docentis. S. Augustine.

563

Lib. 9. The Angell.

THE ARGVMENT of the ninth Tractat.

To Spirits call'd Lucifugi
(From shunning Light) I next apply
My neere-tyr'd Pen; of which be store
In Mines where workmen dig for Oare.
Of Robin Good-fellow, and of Fairies,
With many other strange Vagaries
Done by Hob-goblins. I next write
Of a Noone-Diuell and a Buttry-Sprite,
Of graue Philosophers who treat
Of the Soules essence and her seat.
The strange and horrid deaths related
Of learn'd Magitians, animated
By Sathan, the knowne truth t'abiure,
And study Arts blacke and impure.
Of Curious Science (last) the vanity,
Grounded on nothing but incertainty.
And that no Knowledge can abide the Test
Like that in Sacred Scripture is exprest.

The second Argument.

The Angell, vnto Man knowne best,
As last of Nine concludes the rest.

Three Yong-men of Darius Court contend
What thing should strongest be? One doth commend
Wine to haue chiefe dominion. The other sayes
The King hath prime place. And the third doth praise

564

The pow'r of Women to make others thrall;
But (aboue these) that Truth transcendeth all.
The King's inthron'd, his Peeres about him stated,
To heare this strife betwixt them three debated.

The first begins; O men who can define
Vnto the full, the pow'r and strength of Wine?
For needs must that be said to tyrannise,
Which tames the Strong, and doth deceiue the Wise.
The minde it alters, and 'tis that alone
That makes the Scepter and the Sheep-hooke one:
For you in Wine no difference can see
Betwixt the Poore and Rich, the Bond and Free.
It glads the heart, and makes the thoughts forget
Trouble and sorrow, seruitude and debt.
It doth inrich the minde in ev'ry thing,
That it remembers Gouernor nor King;
And causeth those who are in state most weake,
(Not thinking of their wants) of Talents speake.
It puts a daring in the cowards brest,
To loue those Armes he did before detest;
To draw his sword in fury, and to strike,
Opposing his best friends and foes alike:
But from the Wine, and when the tempest's o're,
He soone forgets all that had past before.
Then ô you men (for I'le not hold you long)
Thinke Wine, that can do these things, is most strong.

He ceast; the next began, (and thus) O men,
Are not you strongest, first by land, and then
By sea? Are not all things in them contain'd,
Yours, as at first vnto your vse ordain'd?
But yet the King is greater, he rules all,
And is the Lord of these in generall:
Such as negotiate by sea or land,
Are but meere Vassals, and at his command.
If he shall bid them war, with least facilitie
They take vp armes, and run into hostilitie.
And if he send them against forrein Powers,
They breake downe Citadels, demolish Towers:
Mountaines they with the vallies shall make ev'n,
Or in the dales raise structures to braue heav'n;
They kill, or they are slaine, in ev'ry thing
They do not passe the precept of the King:
And if they ouercome, by right or wrong,
The spoile and honour doth to him belong.

565

Nay, those which do not to the battell go,
But stay at home to plow, to till, to sow,
The fruits of all their labours and increase
They bring vnto the King, to keepe their peace;
Yet he is but one man. If he bid kill,
There is no sauing, (then much bloud they spill:)
But if the word passe from him, they shall spare;
To shed least bloud who's he so bold that dare?
If he bid smite, they smite: or if he frowne,
And bid demolish, all things are torne downe.
If he say Build, they build; or if destroy,
All goes to hauocke: and yet he in ioy
Meane time sits downe, doth eat, doth drinke, doth sleep,
And all the rest a watch about him keepe;
Neither can any tend his owne affaires,
But the Kings only, ev'ry man prepares
To do him seruice, (reason too) for they
Dare not but his great potencie obey.
Then aboue others is not he most strong?
This hauing said, the second held his tongue.

The third reply'd, O men, neither confine
Strength to the potent Monarch, nor to Wine,
Nor to the Multitude: 'gainst their opinion,
Hath not the Woman ouer these dominion?
Woman into the World the King hath brought,
And all such people as haue Empire sought
By land or sea, from them had Being first,
Bred from their wombes, and on their soft knees nurst.
Those that did plant the Vine, and presse the juice,
Before that they could taste it to their vse,
Had from them their conception; they spin, they weaue
Garments for men, and they from them receiue
Worship and honour: needfull th' are, no doubt,
As being such men cannot liue without.
If he hath gath'red siluer, or got gold,
Or found out ought that's pretious to behold;
Doth he not bring it to his choice Delight,
Her that is faire and pretious in his sight?
Leaues he not all his bus'nesse and affaire,
To gaze vpon her eyes, play with her haire?
Is he not wholly hers? doth he not bring
Gold to her, siluer, and each pretious thing?
Man leaues his Father, Mother, Countrey, all,
(What he esteemes most deare) to become thrall,

566

In voluntary bondage with his Wife,
To leade a priuat and contented life:
Which life for her he hasardeth, and her
'Fore Father, Mother, Countrey, doth prefer.
Therefore by these you may perceiue and know,
Woman, to whom Man doth such seruice owe,
Beares rule o're you: Do you not trauell, sweat,
And toile, that of your labors they may eat?

Man takes his sword, (regardlesse of his weale)
And (Madman-like) goes forth to rob and steale;
He sailes the seas, sounds Riuers, (nothing feares)
He meets a Lion, and his way he steares
Through darknesse, and what purchase, spoile, or boot
Is got, he prostrats at his mistresse foot.
This shewes, his Woman is to him more deare
Than he that got, or she that did him beare.
Some haue run mad; some, Slaues to them haue bin;
Others haue err'd, and perisht in their sin.

Do I not grant, the King in pow'r is great,
And that all Nations homage to his seat?
Yet I haue seene Apame her armes twine
About his necke, the Kings lov'd Concubine,
And daughter to the famous Bartacus;
I haue beheld her oft times vse him thus,
From the Kings head to snatch the Royall Crowne,
And smiling on him, place it on her owne;
Then with her left hand on the cheeke him smite:
Yet he hath gap'd and laught, and tooke delight
To see himselfe so vs'd. If she but smil'd,
(As if all pow'r from him were quite exil'd)
He laught on her. If angry, he was faine
To flatter her, till she was pleas'd againe.
'Tis you, ô men, whom I appeale vnto;
Are they not strongest then, who this can do?

At this the King and Princes in amase,
Began each one on others face to gase.
When he proceeded thus; Say, ô you men,
Resolue me, Are not Women strongest then?

The Earth is spatious, and the Heav'n is hye,
And the Sun swiftly in his course doth flye;
For in one day the Globe he wheeleth round,
And the next morning in his place is found.
Him that made these things must we not then call
Great? and Truth therefore great'st and strong'st of all?

567

All the Earth calls for Truth; Heav'n doth proclaime
Her blessed; all things tremble at her name.
For Truth no vniust thing at all can doo:
The Wine is wicked, so the King is too,
Women are wicked, all the sonnes of men
Most wicked are, and such must needs be then
Their wicked works, there is no Truth therein,
And wanting Truth, they perish in their sin.
But Truth shall abide strong, and still perseuer,
For it shall liue and reigne euer and euer.
With her, of persons there is no respect,
She doth to this way nor to that reflect:
She knowes no diffrence; what is just she loues,
But what's impure and sinfull she reproues.
And all men fauor her good works, because
Her judgements are vpright, and iust her lawes.
Shee's the Strength, Kingdome, Power, Dignitie,
And of all Ages Sov'raigne Majestie:
Blest be the GOD of Truth. At this he stay'd.
Then all the people cry'd aloud and sayd,
(With publique suffrage) Truth is great'st and strongest,
Which (as it was at first) shall endure longest.

This is that Truth in quest of which we trade,
And which, without invoking Diuine aid,
Is neuer to be found. Now lest we erre
Concerning Sp'rits, 'tis fit that we conferre
With sacred Story. Thus then we may read,
(Where of the fall of Babell 'tis decreed)

Saith Esay, Thenceforth Zijm shall lodge there,
And O him in their desolate roofes appeare:
The Ostriches their houses shall possesse,
And Satyrs dance there: Ijim shall no lesse
Howle in their empty Pallaces, and cry,
And Dragons in their forlorne places fly.
Againe: The Zijm shall with Ijim meet,
And the wilde Satyr with his parted feet
Call to his fellow. There shall likewise rest
The Scritch-Owle, and in safety build her nest.
The Owle shall lodge there, lay and hatch her brood;
And there the Vultures, greedy after food,
All other desolate places shall forsake,
And each one there be gath'red to his Make.

568

Some moderne Writers speaking of this Text,
Because that they would leaue it vnperplext,
Say, That by these strange names be either meant
Mis-shapen Fowles, or else it hath extent
Further, to wicked Sp'rits, such as we call
Hob-goblins, Fairies, Satyrs, and those all
Sathan by strange illusions doth employ,
How Mankinde to insidiate and destroy.
Of which accursed ranke th' appeare to bee
Which succeed next in this our Historie.

Subterren Spirits they are therefore styl'd,
Because that bee'ng th' vpper earth exyl'd,
Their habitations and aboads they keepe
In Con-caues, Pits, Vaults, Dens, and Cauernes deepe;
And these Trithemius doth hold argument
To be of all the rest most pestilent:
And that such Dæmons commonly inuade
Those chiefely that in Mines and Mettals trade;
Either by sudden putting out their lamps,
Or else by raising suffocating damps,
Whose deadly vapors stifle lab'ring men:
And such were oft knowne in Trophonius den.
Likewise in Nicaragua, a rich Myne
In the West-Indies; for which it hath lyne
Long time forsaken. Great Olaus writes,
The parts Septentrionall are with these Sp'ryts
Much haunted, where are seen an infinit store
About the places where they dig for Oare.

The Greeks and Germans call them Cobali.
Others (because not full three hand-fulls hye)
Nick-name them Mountaine-Dwarfes; who often stand
Officious by the Treasure-deluers hand,
Seeming most busie, infinit paines to take,
And in the hard rocks deepe incision make,
To search the mettals veines, the ropes to fit,
Turne round the wheeles, and nothing pretermit
To helpe their labour; vp or downe to winde
The full or empty basket: when they finde
The least Oare scatter'd, then they skip and leape,
To gather 't thriftily into one heape.
Yet of that worke though they haue seeming care,
They in effect bring all things out of square,
They breake the ladders, and the cords vntwist,
Stealing the workmens tooles, and where they list

569

Hide them, with mighty stones the pits mouth stop,
And (as below the earth they vnderprop)
The Timber to remoue they force and striue,
With full intent to bury them aliue;
Raise stinking fogs, and with pretence to further
The poore mens taske, aime at their wracke and murther.
Or if they faile in that, they further aime,
(By crossing them and bringing out of frame
Their so much studied labor) so extreme
Their malice is, to cause them to blaspheme,
Prophane and curse: the sequell then insuing,
The body sav'd, to bring the soule to ruin.

Of these, that to mans hurt themselues apply,
Munsterus writes in his Cosmography.
Such was the Dæmon Annebergius, who
Twelue lab'ring men at once did ouerthrow
In that rich siluer Mine, call'd to this day
By Writers, Corona Rosaica.
The like (where choicest mettals they refine)
Snebergius did in the Georgian Mine.
These are the cause the earth doth often cleaue,
And by forc'd crannies and deepe rifts receiue
Robustious windes, her empty cavernes filling:
Which being there imprison'd, and vnwilling
To be so goald, struggle, and wanting vent,
Earthquakes thereby are caus'd incontinent,
Such as remoue huge mountaines from their scite,
And Turrets, Tow'rs, and Townes demolish quite.

In Arragon (Alphonsus) bearing sway
In Brixim, Apulia, and Campania,
Happen'd the like. So great an earthquake chanc't
(When Bajazet was to the Throne advanc't)
In Constantines great City, that of men
Full thirty thousand in one moment then
Perisht, th' Imperiall pallace quite destroy'd.
In the same kinde Dyrrachium was annoy'd
Vnder Pope Fœlix; and great Rome together
Three dayes, so shooke, the people knew not whether
The latest day was come. Like terror strooke
The World, when most part of the East was shooke,
In Hadrians reigne. Like terror did encroch
Vpon the famous city Antioch,
When Valentinian and Valens bore
Ioint scepter; what was neuer knowne before

570

Then hapned: for by an earths mighty motion
The waters were diuided in the Ocean,
And those concealed channels appear'd bare,
Which till then neuer saw the Sunne nor Aire.
Ships riding then in Alexandria's Bay,
Are tost on tops of houses, and there stay;
With as much swiftnesse bandied from the seas,
As balls at Tennis playd, and with like ease.

Illyria, Pannonia, and Dalmatia,
Morauia, Bauaria, and Dacia,
Were with the earths like-horrid feuers shaken,
And many townes and cities quite forsaken.
But in Bauaria (as my Author sayes)
One of these Tremors lasted forty dayes,
When six and twenty tow'rs and castles fell,
Temples and Pallaces, supported well;
Two great vnited hills parted in twaine,
And made betweene them a large leuel'd plaine:
It, beasts and men in the mid fields or'ethrew.
But that which aboue all things seem'd most new,
Of bodies fifty, not inhumated,
Were to mans sight miraculously translated
To statues of white salt. Then dwelling neere,
Of this strange prodegie eye-witnesse were
Conrad of Medenberch, a Philosopher,
And the great Austria's Arch-Dukes Chancellor.

These Spirits likewise haue the pow'r to show
Treasures that haue been buried long below:
By Gods permission, all the veins conceald,
Of gold or siluer, are to them reueald.
Of Vnions, Stones, and Gems esteemed high,
These know the place and beds wherein they ly;
Nay ev'ry casket and rich cabinet
Of that vnrifled rocke wherein th' are set.
But to dispose these, some are of opinion
It lies not in their absolute dominion:
For God will not permit it, as fore-knowing
Such auaritious thoughts in mansheart growing,
His corrupt nature would to Mammon bow,
And his Creator leaue he car'd not how.

Others yeeld other reasons: Ev'ry selfe-
Spirit is so opinion'd of this pelfe,
(I meane those seruants of God Plutus) that
The least they will not part with, no not what

571

They might with ease spare. Some thinke they persist
To keep 't to the behoofe of Antichrist,
Inprejudice and dammage of th' Elect.
Nay, to their owne sonnes whom they most affect,
Either their bounty is exceeding small,
Or else the substance meere phantasticall.

Stumpsius recites this story, which ('t m' appeare
By computation) hapned in the yeare
One thousand fiue hundred twenty: There's a place
Neere Basill, which hath entrance by a space
Narrow and strait, but is within capatious,
And (as fame goes) possest with Sp'rits vngratious.
The like is in our Peke-hills to be seene,
Where many men for nouel-sake haue beene.
Another that's call'd Ouky hole, neere Wells;
All vnder earth, and full of spatious cells,
Both wondrous caues. Nor can't be truly said,
Whether by Art or Nature they were made.

But to the first; A Botcher of that towne,
Rude of behauior, almost a meere clowne,
Yet bold and blunt, vncapable of dread,
Especially when wine was in his head;
Into that Caue this Groome presum'd to enter
Further than any man till then durst venter.
He lights a waxen taper, which before
Was consecrate, then enters at a dore
Of sollid iron, which difficulty past;
Then chamber after chamber, comes at last
To a fresh fragrant garden, ev'ry thing
Seeming as if there had been lasting Spring.
In midst of which a goodly Pallace stands,
The frame appeares not built by mortall hands,
So curious was the structure, no inuention
There, but exceeding humane apprehension.
When entring the great Hall, he may espye
Vpon a throne magnificent and hye,
A Virgin of surpassing beauty plac't,
(Incomparable vpward from the wast)
Her golden haires about her shoulders hung,
Smooth brow'd, cleare ey'd, her visage fresh and young:
But all below the girdle seem'd to twine
About the chaire, and was meere serpentine.
Before her stood an huge great brasen chest,
Crosse-barr'd and double lockt, it seemes possest

572

Of mighty treasure, and at either end
A blacke fierce ban-Dog couched, to defend
That Magosin; for such as approch neere,
With their sharpe phangs they threat to rend and teare.
She checks their fury, makes them stoope and lye
Flat on their bellies: She doth next vntye
A strong and double-warded Key that hung
About her necke, (in a silke Ribbond strung.)
The Chest she first vnlocks, then heaues the lid,
And shewes th' Aduent'rer what was therein hid
Gold of all stamps, and siluer in great store,
(Midas it seemes of Bacchus askt no more)
A small piece of each Coine to him she giues,
Desiring him to keepe it whilest he liues;
(Her bounty stretcht but to an easie load)
All that he got he after shew'd abroad.
And when she gaue it, thus she him bespake;
A Princesse see, who for a step-dames sake
Am thus transform'd, my fortunes ouerthrowne,
And I despoyl'd both of my state and Crowne.
But were I by a yong man three times kist,
Who from his childe-hood euer did persist
In modesty, and neuer stept astray,
I by his meanes should be remov'd away;
And as his vertues guerdon, for a dower,
He should receiue this masse, now in my power.
Twice (as he said) he stroue her lips to touch;
But in th' attempt her gesture appear'd such,
Her face so alter'd, her aspect so grim,
Her chattring teeth so gnashing, as if him
She would haue instantly deuour'd; it seem'd,
'Twixt hope and feare to be as then redeem'd.
But yet so terrible his offer was,
That for the worlds wealth added to that masse,
He durst not on the like exploit be sent,
But turned thence by the same way he went.
Yet by this strange relation, after mov'd
(By some of his Allyes whom he best lov'd)
To second his attempt, he neuer more
Could finde the way backe to that charmed dore.

Not many yeares ensuing this, another
Of the same towne, a kinsman or a brother
Hoping thereby a desp'rat state to raise,
By his direction had made oft essayes,

573

This strange inchanted Pallace to discouer,
And to that Queene to be a constant Louer.
At length he entred, but there nothing found
Saue bones and skulls, and Coarses vnder ground:
But was withall so far distract in sence,
He dy'd some three dayes after parting thence.

The like vaine hope did Apollonius blinde;
Who though he studied by his Art to finde
Hid gold, and wholly gaue his minde vnto 't,
His fare thereby not better'd by a root,
(For so mine Authors say) The great Magition
Agrippa minding to make inquisition
By Magicks helpe, and search for treasures hidden;
Not only by the Emp'ror was forbidden,
Carolus the fift; but histories report,
He for that notion banisht was the Court.
Andrew Theuerus tells vs, One Macrine
A Greeke, labor'd the earth to vndermine,
In Paros Isle, and in that hope resolv'd,
Him suddenly the earth quite circumvolv'd.

Of Cabades the mighty Persian King,
Two Authors, Glycas and Cedrenius, bring
This Historie to light: 'Twixt the confines
Of Persia and of India, there be Mines
In Mount Zudaderin, of stones and gems,
Some valu'd at no lesse than Diadems:
But how to compasse them was found no meane,
The passage being kept by Sp'rits vncleane.
Th' ambitious King, for such a masse of pelfe
Daring to tug with Lucifer himselfe,
Brings thither an huge army, sundry wayes
Assaults the mountaine: still the Diuels raise
Tempests of fire and thunder to their wracke,
And maugre opposition force them backe.
After retreat, the covetous King persists
In his attempt, and of the Cabalists
And Magi calls a Councell, and of them
Demands, By what vnheard of stratagem
This Treasure may be compast. They agree,
It by one onely meanes atchiev'd may bee;
Namely, That in his prouinces reside
A Sect of Christians, at that time denyde
Their liberty of conscience: now if they
Will to that God they serue deuoutly pray,

574

Their Orisons haue sole pow'r to withstand
The force and fury of that hellish Band.

By one of his great Princes the King
Vnto the Patriarch many kinde commends;
Of him desiring their spirituall aid,
Those damned Caca-dæmons to inuade.
The Bishop grants, proclaimes a gen'rall Fast,
All shrieue them of their sinnes; which done, at last,
Betwixt the Mountaine and the Campe they bend
Their humble knees, and in their pray'rs commend
The Sultans safety. This no sooner done,
But these infernall Fiends afrighted runne,
With horrid cries and yells the aire they fill,
And leaue to him the conquest of the hill.

Of Faustus and Agrippa it is told,
That in their trauels they bare seeming gold
Which would abide the touch; and by the way,
In all their Hostries they would freely pay.
But parted thence, myne Host thinking to finde
Those glorious Pieces they had left behinde,
Safe in his bag, sees nothing, saue together
Round scutes of horne, and pieces of old leather.
Of such I could cite many, but I'le hye
From them, to those we call Lucifugi.

These in obscurest Vaults themselues inuest,
And aboue all things, Light and Day detest.
In Iohn Milesius any man may reade
Of Diuels in Sarmatia honored,
Call'd Kottri, or Kibaldi; such as wee
Pugs and Hob-goblins call. Their dwellings bee
In corners of old houses least frequented,
Or beneath stacks of wood: and these conuented,
Make fearefull noise in Buttries and in Dairies;
Robin good-fellowes some, some call them Fairies.
In solitarie roomes These vprores keepe,
And beat at dores to wake men from their sleepe;
Seeming to force locks, be they ne're so strong,
And keeping Christmasse gambols all night long.
Pots, glasses, trenchers, dishes, pannes, and kettles
They will make dance about the shelues and settles,
As if about the Kitchen tost and cast,
Yet in the morning nothing found misplac't.
Others such houses to their vse haue fitted,
In which base murthers haue been once committed.

575

Some haue their fearefull habitations taken
In desolat houses, ruin'd, and forsaken.

Examples faile not to make these more plaine;
The house wherein Caligula was slaine,
To enter which none euer durst aspire
After his death, till 'twas consum'd by fire.
The like in Athens; of which Pliny writes
In his Epistles. As Facetius cites,

In Halberstad (saith he) there is a Dwelling
Of great remarke, the neighbour roofes excelling
For architecture; in which made aboad
A mighty rich man, and a belly-god.
After whose death (his soule gon Heav'n knowes whither)
Not one night fail'd for many moneths together,
But all the roomes with lighted tapers shone
As if the darknesse had beene chac't and gone,
And Day there onely for his pleasure stay'd.
In the great chamber where before were made
His riotous feasts, (the casements standing wide)
Clearely through that transparance is espy'de
This Glutton, whom they by his habit knew,
At the boords end, feasting a frolicke crew
Of lusty stomacks that about him sate,
Serv'd in with many a costly delicate,
Course after Course, and ev'ry Charger full:
Neat Seruitors attended, not one dull,
But ready to shift trenchers, and fill wine
In guilded bowles; for all with plate doth shine:
And amongst them you could not spy a guest,
But seem'd some one he in his life did feast.
At this high rate they seem'd to spend the night,
But all were vanisht still before day light.

Of Bishop Datius a learn'd Clerke thus saith;
He for the true profession of his Faith,
Sent into exile, in his difficult way
Opprest with penurie, was forc'd to stay
In Corinth: nor there lodging could he haue
In any Inne or place conuenient, saue
A corner house, suppos'd to be inchanted,
And at that time with sundry Diuels haunted.
There taking vp his lodging, and alone,
He soundly slept till betwixt twelue and one:
When suddenly (he knew not by what cranny,
The dores bee'ng fast shut to him) came a many

576

Of Diuels thronging, deckt in sundry shapes,
Like Badgers, Foxes, Hedge-hogs, Hares, and Apes.
Others more terrible, like Lions rore:
Some grunt like hogs, the like ne're heard before.
Like Bulls these bellow, those like Asses bray;
Some barke like ban-dogs, some like horses ney:
Some howle like Wolues, others like Furies yell,
Scarse that blacke Santus could be match'd in hell.
At which vp starts the noble Priest, and saith,
O you accursed Fiends, Vassals of wrath,
That first had in the East your habitation,
Till you by pride did forfeit your saluation:
With the blest Angels you had then your seat,
But by aspiring to be god-like great,
Behold your rashnesse punisht in your features,
Being transhap'd into base abject creatures.
This hauing spoke, the Spirits disappeard,
The house of them for euer after clear'd.

One thing, though out of course it may appeare,
Yet I thought fit to be inserted here:
The rather too the Reader I prepare,
Because it may seeme wonderfull and rare.
Receiue 't as you thinke good; or if you please
To beleeue Plutarch, then his words are these:
One call'd Enapius, a yong man well bred,
By the Physitions was giv'n out for dead,
And left to his last sheet. After some howers
He seem'd to recollect his vitall powers,
To liue againe, and speake: The reason why
Demanded of his strange recouerie?
His answer was, That he was dead 't was true,
And brought before th' infernall Bar. They view
Him o're and o're, then call to them who'haue charge
The spirit from the body to inlarge:
Whom Pluto with the other Stygian Pow'rs
Thus threat; Base Vassals can we thinke you ours,
Or worthy our imployment, to mistake
In such a serious errand? Do we make
You Officers and Lictors to arrest
Such as are call'd to their eternall rest;
And when we send for one whose dismall fate
Proclaimes him dead, you bring vs one whose date
Is not yet summ'd, but of a vertue stronger,
As limited by vs to liue much longer.

577

We sent, that with Nicander you should meet,
A Currier that dwells in such a street:
And how haue you mistooke? This Soule dismisse,
And fetch his hither to our darke Abisse.
With that (saith he) I waken'd. His friends sent
Vnto the Curriers house incontinent,
And found him at the very instant dead,
When he his former life recouered.
And though meere fabulous this seeme to be,
Yet is it no impossibilitie
Fiends should delude the Ethnicks, and on them
Confer this as a cunning stratagem,
To make them thinke that he dispos'd mans breath,
And had the sole pow'r ouer life and death.
At nothing more these auerse Spirits aime,
Than what is Gods, vnto themselues to claime.

Others there are, as if destin'd by lot,
To haue no pow'r but ouer goods ill got.

For instance; One long with the world at strife,
Who had profest a strict religious life,
And taken holy Orders, at his booke
Spending his spare houres; to a crafty Cooke
Was neere ally'de, and at his best vacation
Findes out a time to giue him visitation;
And greets him with a blessing. The fat Host
Is glad to see his Vncle; Sod and Rost
He sets before him, there is nothing (fit
To bid him welcome) wanting: downe they sit.
The good old man, after some small repast,
More apt to talke than eat, demands at last
Of his Lay Nephew, (since he toiles and striues
In this vaine world to prosper) how he thriues?
The Cooke first fetcheth a deepe sigh; then sayes,
O Vncle, I haue sought my state to raise
By ev'ry indirect and lawlesse meane,
Yet still my couetous aimes are frustrat cleane.
I buy stale meat, and at the cheapest rate;
Then if my Guests complaine I cog and prate,
Out-facing it for good. Sometimes I buy
Beeues (haue been told me) of the murrain dye.
What course haue I not tooke to compasse riches?
Ventur'd on some haue been found dead in ditches;
Bak'd dogs for Venison, put them in good paste,
And then with salt and pepper helpt their taste.

578

Meat rosted twice, and twice boyl'd, I oft sell,
Make pies of fly-blowne joints, and vent them well:
I froth my cannes, in ev'ry jug I cheat,
And nicke my Ghests in what they drinke or eat:
And yet with these and more sleights, all I can,
Doth not declare me for a thriuing man;
I pinch myne owne guts, and from others gleane,
And yet (though I shew fat) my stocke is leane.

The good old man, though at his tale offended,
No interruption vs'd till he had ended.
First hauing shooke his head, then crost his brest,
Cousin (said he) this lewd life I detest:
Let me aduise you therefore to repent;
For know, ill-gotten goods are lewdly spent.
Pray let me see your Buttry. Turne your face
(Saith the Cooke) that way, you may view the place,
That casement shewes it. Well done, (saith the Priest)
Now looke with me, and tell me what thou seest?
When presently appeares to them a Ghost,
Swolne-cheekt, gor-bellied, plumper than myne Host;
His legs with dropsie swell'd, gouty his thighes,
And able scarse to looke out with his eyes,
Feeding with greedinesse on ev'ry dish,
For nothing could escape him, flesh or fish:
Then with the empty jugges he seemes to quarrell,
And sets his mouth to th' bung hole of a barrell,
(Lesse compast than his belly) at one draught
He seemes to quaffe halfe off, then smil'd and laught,
When jogging it he found it somewhat shallow:
So parted thence as full as he could wallow.

Mine Host amas'd, desires him to vnfold
What Monster 't was made with his house so bold.
To whom his Vncle; Hast thou not heard tell
Of Buttry-Sp'rits, who in those places dwell
Where cous'nage is profest? Needs must you waine
In your estate, when such deuour your gaine.
“All such as study fraud, and practise euill,
“Do only starue themselues, to plumpe the Deuill.

The Cooke replies, What course (good Vncle) than
Had I best take, that am (you know) a man
Would prosper gladly, and my fortunes raise,
Which I haue toil'd and labour'd diuers waies?
He mildely answers, Be advis'd by mee,
Serue God, thy neighbour loue, vse charitie,

579

Frequent the Church, be oft deuout in pray'r,
Keepe a good conscience, cast away all care
Of this worlds pelfe, cheat none, be iust to all,
So shalt thou thriue although thy gaine be small;
For then no such bad Spirit shall haue pow'r
Thy goods directly gotten to deuour.
This said, he left him. Who now better taught,
Begins to loue what 's good, and hate what 's naught;
He onely now an honest course affects,
And all bad dealing in his trade corrects.
Some few yeares after, the good man againe
Forsakes his cloister, and with no small paine
Trauels to see his Kinsman, in whom now
He findes a change both in his shape and brow;
Hee's growne a Bourger, offices hath past,
And hopes (by changing copy) at the last
To proue chiefe Alderman, wealth vpon him flowes,
And day by day both gaine and credit growes.
Most grauely now he entertaines his Ghest,
And leads him in the former roome to feast.
Some conf'rence past betwixt them two at meat,
The Cooke spake much, the Church-man little eat;
But findes by many a thankfull protestation,
How he hath thriv'd since his last visitation.
The table drawne, the Ghests retyr'd aside,
He bids him once more ope the casement wide
That looks into the Larder: where he spies
The selfe-same Sp'rit with wan cheekes and sunke eies,
His aspect meagre, his lips thin and pale,
(As if his legs would at that instant faile)
Leaning vpon a staffe, quite clung his belly,
And all his flesh as it were turn'd to gelly.
Full platters round about the dresser stood,
Vpon the shelues too, and the meat all good;
At which he snatcht and catcht, but nought preuail'd,
Still as he reacht his arme forth, his strength fail'd;
And though his greedy appetite was much,
There was no dish that he had pow'r to touch.
He craules then to a barrell, one would thinke,
That wanting meat, he had a will to drinke:
The Vessels furnisht and full gag'd he saw,
But had not strength the spigot forth to draw;
He lifts at juggs and pots, and cannes, but they
Had been so well fill'd, that he vnneths may

580

Aduance them (though now empty) halfe so hy
As to his head, to gaine one snuffe thereby.
Thus he that on ill gotten goods presum'd,
Parts hunger-starv'd, and more than halfe consum'd.
In this discourse far be it we should meane,
Spirits by meat are fatted or made leane:
Yet certaine 'tis, by Gods permission they
May ouer goods extorted beare like sway.

'Twere not amisse if we some counsell had,
How to discerne good Spirits from the bad,
Who since they can assume the shape of light,
In their discov'ry needfull is foresight.
In one respect th' agree; for both can take
Bodies on them, and when they please forsake
Their shapes and figures: but if we compare
By circumstance, their change, they diffrent are;
As in their true proportion, operation,
Language, and purpose of their transmutation.
Good Angels, though vndoubtedly they can
Put on all formes, still take the shape of Man.
But the bad Dæmons, not with that content,
When they on their curst embassies are sent,
In figures more contemptible appeare,
One like a Wolfe, another like a Beare:
Others resembling Dogs, Apes, Monkies, Cats,
And sometimes Birds, as Crowes, Pies, Owles, and Bats.
But neuer hath it yet been read or told,
That euer cursed Sp'rit should be so bold
To shew his damned head (amongst them all)
In th' innocent Lambes, or Doues that haue no gall.
Some giue this reason; God would not permit,
Since by the Lambe his deare Sonne thought it fit
Himselfe to shadow, and the Holy-Ghost
(As in that Bird whom he delighted most)
T'assume her figure in his apparition,
That Fiends should in these shapes shew any vision.

Whoso will sift their actions, he shall finde
(By their successe, if well or ill inclin'd)
The one from other; for the blessed still
Square all their actions to th' Almighties will,
And to mans profit: neither more nor lesse,
The limit that's prescrib'd them they transgresse.
The Cacadæmons labour all they can
Against Gods honour and the good of man:

581

Therefore the end of all their apparitions
Are meere idolatrous lies and superstitions:
They to our frailties all grosse sinnes impute,
That may the body staine, or soule pollute;
And when they aime against vs their chiefe batteries,
They bait their deadly hookes in candy'd flatteries,
In golden bowles they poys'nous dregs present,
Make shew to cure, but kill incontinent;
And therefore it behooues man to haue care,
Whom thousand wayes they labour to ensnare.

Take Saint Iohns counsell; Be not you (saith hee)
Deceiv'd by your too much credulitie:
Beleeue not ev'ry Spirit, but first try
Whether he doth proceed from God on hy.
Examine ev'ry good thing they pretend,
Whether they likewise doo't to a good end.
To diuers maladies they can giue ease,
Comfort and helpe, vprores sometimes appease,
Predict mischances, teach men to eschew
Mischiefes which they prepar'd as well as knew.
In all their speech Gods name they neuer vse,
Vnlesse it to dishhonour and abuse.
Another speciall signe they cannot scape,
Namely, That when they put on humane shape,
To giue man iust occasion to misdoubt them,
Some strange prodigious marke they beare about them
In one deficient member. These be notes
To finde them out, either the feet of Goats,
Foreheads of Satyrs, nailes deform'd and crooked,
Eyes broad and flaming, noses long and hooked,
Hands growne with haire, and nosthrils broad and wide,
Teeth gagg'd, and larger than their lips can hide.

The Crosses signe (saith Athanasius) they
Cannot endure, it puts them to dismay.
Lactantius tells vs, When vpon a season
An Emp'ror of his Idoll askt the reason
Of some doubt that perplext him, a long space
He answer'd not: the cause was, that in place
A Christian then was present at that time
Who had new blest him with the Crosses signe.

Good Angels when to man they first appeare,
Although they strike him with amase and feare,
Their em assies bee'ng done, before they part,
They leaue him with great joy and cheare of heart.

582

As he at whose dread presence Daniel shooke;
As th' Angell Gabriel, whom the Holy-Booke
Makes mention of, who when he came to bring
To the blest Maid a message from heav'ns King,
Frightfull at first appear'd his salutation,
But th' end thereof was full of consolation.
But the bad Spirits bringing seeming ioy,
The end thereof's disaster and annoy.
From circumstance might many more arise,
But these for this place at this time suffice.

Be it held no digression to looke backe
From whence I came, inquiring if I lacke
No fit accoutrement that may be found
Behoofull for the journey I am bound.
Something I had forgot in my great speed:
Of Musicke then, e're further I proceed;
I must deriue it from the first of dayes.
The Spheres chime Musicke to their Makers praise.
In the worlds first Creation it begunne,

From the word Fiat spoke, and it was done,
Was sound and sweetnesse, voice, and symphonie,
Concord, Consent, and heav'nly harmonie.
The three great Orders of the Hierarchie,
Seruants vnto th' eternall Majestie,
In their degrees of Ternions hourely sing
Loud Haleluiahs to th' Almighty King.
The Seraphins, the Cherubins, and Thrones,
Potestates, Vertues, Dominations,
The Principats, Arch-Angels, Angels, all
Resound his praise in accents musicall:
So doe the Heav'ns and Planets, much below them.
Touching the first, those that seeme best to know them,
Thus of their quicke velocitie relate:
As the supreme and highest, agitate
Their wheeles with swiftest motion, so conclude,
The lowest finish their vicissitude:
That is, their naturall courses much more soone.
As first, in nine and twenty dayes the Moone,
The Sun and Venus in one twelue-month theirs,
And Saturne his in thirty compleat yeares;
But many thousands must be fully done,
Before the starry heav'ns their course haue runne.

Such and so great is mans innate ambition,
Into all knowledge to make inquisition,

583

The depth of Natures hidden wayes to sound,
Mysteries to search, and diue in arts profound.
As if we looke into the first of Time,
When as the World was in it's youth and prime,
Ev'n to this latest Age, those much commended
For deepe conceptions, greatly haue contended
(Almost aboue capacitie indeed)
Laboriously, each other to exceed.

But as the Fable of Ixion proud
Saith, he in Iuno's stead embrac'd a Cloud:
So for the most part those of wits refin'd,
Building vpon their amplitude of mind,
And by their owne vaine apprehensions sway'd,
In their maine course erroneously haue stray'd;
Either in all mistaking, or some part,
Error for Truth, and Ignorance for Art.
The reason is, That in things vndecided,
By selfe-conceit bee'ng obstinatly guided,
And not acquiring out the perfect ground,
What's finite they with infinite confound;
What's humane, with diuine; what's wrong, with right,
As out of darknesse striuing to draw light.
Hence comes so many Sects and Schooles t'arise
Amongst the Sophists, thinking themselues wise;
As Pyrhagorians, Epicures, Platonicks,
Pythonicks, Scepticks, and Academicks,
Eleaticks, Perepateticks, Stoicks too,
With others more: And all these as they doo
Differ in names, so in opinions, and
Vpon diuersitie of judgements stand.

For instance; First, as touching the foundation
Of things that since the Chaos had creation,
And cause efficient; some hold Earth, some Fire,
Some Water, others Aire: some Sects conspire
Vpon the full foure Elements to impose it.
One names the Heav'ns; another saith (he knowes it)
The Stars were workers; Atoms this man names;
Another, Number; and the former blames;
Some, Musicall consent drawne from the Spheres;
Some Full, some Empty: by all which appeares,
Those things are only quarrel'd with, not prov'd;
For nothing's constant, sollid, or immov'd,
In all their doctrines each with other jar,
And are indeed still in seditious war.

584

And therefore God reproues Iob for aspiring,
And to his hidden wayes too deepe inquiring:
Thus saying, Who is he that doth obscure
Knowledge with words imperfect and impure?
Gird vp thy loines, thee like a man prepare,
I will demand, and thou to me declare;
Where wast thou when I layd the earths foundation?
If thou hast knowledge, giue me true narration?
Who measur'd it? now (if thou canst) divine:
Or ouer it what's he hath stretcht the line?
Vpon what are the solid Bases made?
Or who the corner stone thereof first layd?
When all the Morning Starres (as but one-voic't)
Prais'd me together: when all Saints reioyc't.
Who shut the Sea with dores vp, when the same
As from the wombe it selfe issu'd and came?
When for it I the Clouds a cov'ring found,
And as in swathing bands, in darkenesse bound;
And said, Thou hitherto shalt haue free way,
No further, thou shalt here thy proud waues stay.
And after this, the secrets doth pursue
Of Snow, Haile, Tempests, with the Light and Dew,
Raine, Ice, Death, Darknesse; and so further runnes
To th' Pleiades, Arcturus and his sonnes.

Saith Paul, In this world none himselfe deceiue,
To thinke hee's wise; but such vaine phansies leaue,
And let him be a foole, so to be wise.
For this worlds wisedome is a meere disguise
Of foolishnesse with God. Scriptures thus treat,
The Wise he catcheth in his owne conceit.

In Esays Prophesie the words thus sound;
The wisedome of the Wise I will confound,
The prudence of the Prudent reprehend.
Where is the wise man? Where's the Scribe now, or
He of this world the great Inquisitor?
Hath not God made all the worlds Wisedome Folly?
Who then dares thinke himselfe or wise or holy.

What was it that to Socrates first gaue
Wisedomes great attribute and honour, saue
That he confest, In all he did pursue,
He only knew this, That he nothing knew.

What saith the Preacher? When I did apply
My heart to search out Wisedome curiously,

585

And to behold on earth the secrets deepe,
That day nor night the eyes of man take sleepe;
Gods entire worke before myne eyes I brought,
That Man could not finde out the worke he sought
Beneath the Sun: for which mans busie minde
Labors to search, but it can neuer finde.
And though the Wise man thinke it to conceiue,
He cannot doo't without th' Almighties leaue.

When as the Academicks, of the rest
Of all the Ethnycke Sophists were held best;
Yet in their then supreme authoritie
None durst contest and say, So this shall be.

The Pyrhonicks, of no lesse approbation,
Would not of any thing make attestation;
But made a doubt in all, and held for true,
Whoeuer humane Science shall pursue,
No other base he hath whereon to sit,
Sauing the fraile opinion of mans wit:
No certaine principle at all th' haue lent,
Grounded on firme and sollid argument;
Which Principles no sooner are deny'de,
But all their doctrine 's ruin'd in it's pride.
Therefore these Academicks did inact
A Maxim, (held amongst themselues exact)
Let none dispute, or into termes arise
With any that the Principles denies.

Obserue but the Philosophers inuentions,
And amongst them the Fencer-like contentions,
Concerning the Creator of vs all,
The Angels, and the Worlds originall.
Some impiously and foolishly deny,
That there 's to gouerne vs a Deity.
Others that say there is a God, there are,
But he of humane actions takes no care.
And some remaine in doubt, and will not know
(At least confesse) there is a God or no.

Who in his best conceptions doth not storme
At their Idæa's, Atoms, Matter, Forme,
Full, Empty, Infinite, first Essence, Beeing,
With thousands more, and all these disagreeing.
Touching the Soule hath been more strange opinions,
Than now beneath the great Turke are dominions.
One, That man hath no Soule at all, will proue,
And that the Body of it selfe doth moue.

586

Some grant a Soule, but curiously desire
To haue th' essence thereof deriv'd from Fire;
Of Water, some; others, of Aire compound it;
And some as brain-sicke as the rest, would bound it
In Earthly humor: other Sectists dare
Affirme the substance to be Fire and Aire.
One, Heat, or an hot constitution: he
Saith (in 's great wisedome) it of force must be
Of the foure Elements the pure complexion:
Others will haue it Light, or Lights reflexion.
One calls it restlesse Motion; he, a Number
Mouing it selfe, &c. Thus one another cumber,
Warring with contradictions infinite.

As vainly too of the Soules seat they write;
To the braines ventricle some one confines it:
Come to anothers censure, he assignes it
Vnto the Epicranion: 'Mongst the rest,
Epicurus makes her mansion in the brest:
In the Hearts arteries some say it dwells;
Another, in the Heart, and no where els.
Empedocles would haue it vnderstood,
The sole place she resides in, is the Bloud.
In the whole Body others seeke to place it,
And with no seeming arguments out-face it.

Like diffrence hath amongst them been to know
Whether the Soule immortall be or no.
Democritus and Epicurus they
Beleev'd the Soule was mortall. Others (say,
And it seemes better warranted) incline
To make the world beleeue it is Diuine.
The Stoicks held opinion, with the breath,
All bad Soules are extinguisht ev'n in death:
But that the better are exalted hye
To place sublime, and neuer more to dye.
Some so ambiguous in their censures were,
Nothing saue doubt in all their Works appeare.

Then to conclude, Studies that haue foundation
Like these, vpon mans meere imagination,
Than the Chamælions are more variable,
Lighter than winde, than the sea more vnstable,
Than th' Elements th' are at more deadly hate,
And than the Labyrinth more intricate;
Than th' Moon more changing, Darknesse more obscure,
Than Women more inconstant and vnsure.

587

He then that in his best thoughts doth desire,
After the Truth ingeniously t'inquire,
And to the perfect path to be conducted,
May it please that man to be thus instructed;
Seeke not from Man, but God that can dispose,
Who all things, not from him that nothing, knowes.
Of Truth the Scriptures plenally report,
Of which our weake and dull conceit comes short.
Note what our Sauior saith, (to end all strife)
I am the Way, I am the Truth and Life.
Againe he saith, Into the world I came
To declare truth, and testifie the same.

No wonder then if ev'n the Wisest dote,
Who from the Scriptures were so far remote;
And that the more they labour'd Truth to finde,
The more they were made stupid, dull, and blinde.
By muddy streames it is an easie thing
To know a troubled and vnhealthfull Spring:
By bright and Chrystall rivelets we are sure
By consequence the fountaines head is pure.
And in this water so refin'd and cleare,
Our blessed Sauior makes himselfe appeare,
When he thus saith (as Iohn doth plainly tell)
To the Samaritan at Iacobs Well,
Who so shall of the Water drinke that I
Will giue him, shall no more thirst till he dye:
The water that I giue, in him shall be
A Well of water euerlastingly,
Springing to life eternall. Now if any
Of the great Doctors differ, (as th' are many)
Retire we to the Scriptures (the true test)
To know of their opinions which sounds best.
Nor let their works further authoris'd bee,
Than punctually they with the Text agree:
Neither let any (of his knowledge proud)
Dare further search than is by them allow'd.
From the wise men heav'ns secrets are conceal'd,
And vnto Infants and to Babes reveal'd:
Therefore let Arrogance no man delude,
Whilest humbly with Saint Austin I conclude;

Whoso shall reade this Worke, where he shall finde
Truth certaine, let him ioyne with me in minde:
Where he shall doubt with me, I next desire,
That he with me will labour to enquire.

588

If he haue err'd in iudgement, and finde here
To be resolv'd, from hence his error cleare.
If he my error finde, (with some respect
Of my good meaning) let him mine correct.

Explicit Metrum Tractatus Noni.

Eatenus rationandum est, donec veritas invenitur. Cum inventa est Veritas, ibi figendum est Juditium; & in victoria Veritatis soli Veritatis inimici pereant.

S. Chrisost.

619

A Meditation vpon the former Tractate.

I

Betimes awake thee,
And vnto sad and serious contemplation
Dull Soule betake thee;
Thy selfe retyre,
And after the great GOD of thy Saluation
With care enquire.
Withdraw thy selfe within thy hearts close center,
Whither, saue him alone, let nothing enter.

II

Then let thine Heart
Thus say; My GOD, let me behold thy face;
Shew in what part,
Or in what ground
Of the vast world; what corner, or what place
Thou mayst be found?
How shall I finde thee, if thou bee'st not here?
Or why not present, being ev'ry where?

III

'Tis Thou excellest,
And in thy great incomprehensible Light
For euer dwellest.
How can fraile Eyes
A Glory that 's so luminous and bright
By Sence comprise?
Yet of thy Grace so much to me impart,
That, though it check my Sight, 'tmay chere my heart.

IV

Who shall abide
Thine anger, if thou beest insenc't with vs?

620

Or if Thou hide
From vs thy face,
Poore wretches then how darke and tenebrous
Would be our place?
Without the lustre of thy louing kindenesse,
Grope should we euer in Egyptian blindenesse.

V

Great GOD imprint
The Seraphs Loue into this Heart, scarce mine;
Once Flesh, now Flint:
Stirre vp an heate
In this my frozen brest, by Pow'r Diuine,
I thee entreat;
And neuer let thy Grace from me remoue,
Since Loue is God, and thou my GOD art Loue.

VI

It was th' ambition
Of knowing Good and Euill, that first brought
Man to perdition.
The Cherub who
Is Knowledge, and can teach vs as we ought,
Our God to know,
Is He, the first Transgressors did expell,
And chac't from the blest place, in which they fell.

VII

Iust is the Throne;
Iudgement is thine, ô GOD, and it pertaines
To Thee alone:
In ballance ev'n,
Vnpartiall thou weigh'st all that doth remaine
In Earth or Heav'n.
Yet though all Iustice be to Thee assign'd,
In thy good Grace let me thy Mercy find.

VIII

As thou art Iust,
Beyond all apprehension, all opinion;

621

Ev'n so we trust,
That since to Thee
With Maiestie, likewise belongs Dominion
Of all that bee:
Thou, which with mighty sway the World maintainst,
Wilt pitty haue of those o're whom thou raign'st.

IX

The Vertues they
In their high Classe vpon thy Will attend,
And it obey:
Ready they are
In dangers, those that feare thee to defend,
And still prepare,
In hostile opposition to withstand
Sathan, with all his proud infernall Band.

X

The heav'nly Pow'rs
As Ministers about thy Seruants wait,
And at all how'rs
Assistant bee,
From such as would our Soules insidiate,
To set vs free.
And when these Champions in the List appeare,
The Tempter flies, surpris'd with dastard feare.

XI

Should the great Prince
Of this vast World muster his hellish Legions,
Vs to convince;
From Water, Aire,
The Earth, or any of the other Regions,
To make repaire:
Where any of the Principats are nam'd,
They leaue the place, confounded and asham'd.

XII

Proud Lucifer
The first of Angels, bearing name of Light;

622

Who durst prefer
Himselfe before
His pow'rfull Maker the Great GOD of Might,
Whom we adore;
Was in an instant by Prince Michael
Cast from high Heav'n, into the lowest Hell.

XIII

Gabriel, imploy'd
I'th' Virgin Mothers blest Annuntiation,
Mankinde o're-ioy'd,
He first proclaim'd
Vnto the World, the LORD of our Saluation,
Emanvel nam'd:
Who though on earth revil'd and dis-esteem'd;
Yet by his Suffring, Mankinde he redeem'd.

XIV

O Holy, Holy, Holy,
Three Persons, and but one almighty GOD,
Vnto Thee solely
Our Pray'rs we tender;
And in thy Kingdome hoping for abode,
Freely surrender
Our Soules and Bodies. Whilest we liue when die.
Protect vs with thy heav'nly Hierarchie.

Obsecro Domino ne desperem suspirando, sed respirem sperando.

FINIS.