The Christian Scholar :: :: University of Virginia Library

“First worship Gods above ordain'd by law;
Respect thine oath; next Heroes hold in awe;
And pay due reverence to the Dead below;
Honour to Parents, love to kindred shew;
Of others for thy friend the best man choose;
Yield to mild words, nor kindly deeds refuse;
For a slight fault hold not thy friend at bay,
Long as thou canst,—and can dwells next to may.
These things observ'd in constant mastery keep
Thy belly, and thy lust, thy wrath, thy sleep.
Nought base do with another, nor alone,
To thyself most of all be reverence shewn.
In deed and word keep justice still in view;
Nor without Reason any end pursue.
Remember we are destin'd all to die,
That riches come to one, another fly.

110

But in Divine-sent ills which mortals bear
Resist not, but with meekness take thy share;
Much may be remedied, and of such woes
On good men seldom much the God bestows.
Many are the reports which range abroad,
Be not by these o'er-awed to quit the road
Of self-restraint; if Falsehood should assail,
Bear it with meekness; hold this without fail,
That none by word or deed thy purpose wrest
To do or say but what appeareth best.
Think before action, lest it come to nought;
Fools only act and speak without a thought.
Do nothing which may leave a grief behind;
Know what thou doest, and, if ignorant, find
Instruction; so thy life shall please thy soul.

“Nor of thy body's health neglect control,
Keep to the mean, in food, drink, exercise,—
That mean from which no after-pains arise:
Let not thy food be delicate, but plain.
Avoid what may to envy cause a pain.
Thrift marks a weak, expense a vulgar mind;
In all things it is best the mean to find.

“Always with fore-thought look unto the end;
Nor with sweet slumber let thine eyelids blend
Ere each of thy day's works thou thrice review,—
Where have I err'd? what done? what fail'd to do?
As each successive action comes to sight
Mourn o'er the ill, and in the good delight.

111

“Labour in these, these meditate, and love,
To Virtue they as steps divine will prove,
Through him who in man's soul hath made thus rife
A fount quaternion of immortal life.
In every action first ask aid of Heaven,
Then do thy work. Thus to the soul is given
To know of gods and men the eternal laws,
The course they hold and the restraining cause.
To know the nature which doth each contain,
That nought should 'scape thee, nor thy hopes be vain.
Mark what self-chosen evils mortals bear,
Nor see nor hear the good that lies so near.
Few from these ills the refuge know to find,
Such destiny o'er-clouds the human mind.
As on a wheel, from care to care, through life
Men pass, and heap up woes, and seek for strife;—
Strife, their own birth-companion, ever nigh;—
They have no need to seek it but to fly!

“O Father Jove, release us from these woes,
Or shew to each what demon with him goes.
But be thou hopeful, man's race is Divine,
His nature all things sacred would design,
Divinely-born. Let self these Rules control,
They shall from evil save and heal thy soul.

From interdicted meats, as rites ordain,
And for deliverance of thy soul, refrain.

112

Let Wisdom o'er thine actions still preside,
As charioteer ; so thou, as she shall guide,
To the free skies mayst from the body soar,
As an immortal God, and man no more.”

“The Passions, which arise in the soul from the influence of the body, must be kept under by Reason as by a scourge; lest by relaxing the reins to pleasure we neglect the mind, which thus is dragged and borne away like a charioteer by headstrong horses that obey not the rein. Rather should we remember the saying of Pythagoras, who, when he observed one of his acquaintance too much strengthening the flesh by exercise and food; ‘will you not,’ said he, ‘cease from thus rendering your prison-house more severe to yourself?’”—S. Basil, De leg. lib. Gen.