Since her interpretations, and our deeds, Unto a like infinity arise;

As b'ing a fcience that by nature breeds
Contention, ftrife, and ambiguities,
For altercation controversy feeds,
And in her agitation multiplies:
The field of cavil lying all like wide,
Yields like advantage unto either fide.

Which made the grave Castilian king devife A prohibition, that no advocate

Should be convey'd to th' Indian colonies; Left their new fetting, shaken with debate, Might take but flender root, and so not rife To any perfect growth of firm eftate. "For having not this skill how to contend, "Th' unnourish'd ftrife would quickly make an end."

So likewife did th' Hungarian, when he faw These great Italian Bartolifts, who were Call'd in of purpofe to explain the law, T' embroil it more, and make it much less clear; Caus'd them from out his kingdom to withdraw, With this infeftious fkill, fome otherwhere; Whose learning rather let men farther out, And open'd wider passages of doubt.

See'ng ev'n injuftice may be regulate; And no proportion can there be betwixt Our actions, which in endlels motion are, And th' ordinances, which are always fixt: Ten thousand laws more cannot reach fo far, But malice goes beyond, or lives immixt So close with goodness, as it ever will Corrupt, difguife, or counterfeit it still.

By giving hand a little; and doth gain,
By a gentle relaxation of the law:
And yet inviolable doth maintain
The end whereto all conftitutions draw,
Which is the welfare of fociety,
Consisting of an upright policy :

Which first b'ing by neceffity compos'd,
Is by neceffity maintain'd in best estate;
Where when as juftice fhall be ill difpos'd,
It fickens the whole body of the state.
For if there be a paffage once difclos'd,
That wrong may enter at the self same gate
Which ferves for right, clad in a coat of law;
What violent diftempers may it draw?

And therefore doft thou ftand to keep the way, And stop the course that malice feeks to run, And by thy provident injunctions stay This never-ending altercation;

Sending contention home, to th' end men may There make their peace, whereas their ftrife begun; And free these pester'd streets they vainly wear, Whom both the state and theirs do need elsewhere.

Left th' humour which doth thus predominate, Convert unto itself all that it takes; And that the law grow larger than debate, And come t' exceed th' affairs it undertakes: As if the only science of the flate, That took up all our wits, for gain it makes; Not for the good that hereby may be wrought, Which is not good if it be dearly bought.

What shall we think, when as ill caufes fhall Enrich men more, and fhall be more defir'd Than good; as far more beneficial?

Divide with God the style of majesty,

For being good; and had a care to do
The world right, and fuccour honesty)
Ordain this fanctuary, whereunto

Th' opprefs'd might fly; this feat of equity,
Whereon thy virtues fit with fair renown,
The greatest grace and glory of the gown.

Which equity, being the foul of law,
The life of juftice, and the fpir't of right;
Dwells not in written lines; or lives in awe
Of books deaf pow'rs, that have nor ears nor fight:
But out of well-weigh'd circumstance doth draw
The effence of a judgment requifite;
And is that Lefbian fquare, that building fit,
Plies to the work, nor forc'th the work to it.

Maintaining ftill an equal parallel Joft with th' occafions of humanity, Making her judgment ever liable To the refpect of peace and amity; When furely law, ftern and unaffable, Cares only but itself to fatisfy; And often innocencies fcarce defends, As that which on no circumstance depends.

But equity, that bears an even rein Upon the prefent courfes, holds in awe

To entertain a right, whofe gain is small?
Unless the advocate that hath confpir'd
To plead a wrong, be likewife made to run
His client's chance, and with him be undone.

So did the wifeft nations ever strive
To bind the hands of juftice up fo hard;
That left the falling to prove lucrative,
Might bafely reach them out to take reward:
Ordaining her provisions fit to live,
Out of the public; as a public guard,
That all preserves, and all doth entertain;
Whofe end is only glory, and not gain,

That ev'n the fceptre, which might all com-
mand,

See'ng her f' unpartial, equal, regular;
Was pleas'd to put itself into her hand,
Whereby they both grew more admired far.
And this is that great bleffing of this land,
That both the prince and people use one bar;
The prince, whofe caufe (as not be withstood)
Is never bad, but where himself is good.

This is that balance which committed is
To thy moft even and religious hand,
Great minifter of juftice! who by this
Shalt have thy name ftill gracious in this land.

This is that feal of pow'r, which doth impress
Thy acts of right, which fhall for ever stand!
This is that strain of state, that pompously
Attends upon thy rev'rent dignity!

All glory elfe befides ends with our breath;
And men's refpects scarce brings us to our grave:
But this of doing good, muft outlive death,
And have a right out of the right it gave.
Though th' act but few, th' example profiteth
Thousands, that shall thereby a bleffing have.
The world's refpect grows not but on deferts;
Pow'r may have knees, but justice hath our hearts.

PRAISE, if it be not choice, and laid aright,
Can yield no luftre where it is bestow'd;
Nor any way can grace the giver's art,
(Though 't be a pleafing colour to delight)
For that no ground whereon it can be fhew'd,
Will bear it well, but virtue and defert.

And though I might commend your learning, wit,
And happy utt'rance; and commend them right,
As that which decks you much, and gives you grace,
Yet your clear judgment beft deferveth it,
Which in your course hath carried you upright,
And made you to discern the truest face,

And beft complexion of the things that breed The reputation and the love of men ; And held you in the tract of honesty, Which ever in the end we fee fucceed; Though oft it may have interrupted been, Both by the times, and men's iniquity.

For fure those actions which do fairly run In the right line of honour, ftill are those That get most clean and fafeft to their end; And pass the best without confufion, Either in those that act, or else dispose; Having the scope made clear, whereto they tend. When this bye-path of cunning doth f' embroil, And intricate the paffage of affairs, As that they feldom fairly can get out; But coft, with lefs fuccefs, more care and toil; Whilft doubt and the diftrusted caufe impairs Their courage, who would elfe appear more ftout. For though fome hearts are blinded fo, that they Have divers doors whereby they may let out Their wills abroad without disturbancy, Int' any course, and into ev'ry way Of humour, that affection turns about ; Yet have the beft but one t' have paffage by; And that fo farely warded with the guard Of confcience and refpect, as nothing muft Have course that way, but with the certain pafs Of a perfuafive right; which b'ing compar'd With their conceit, muft thereto answer juft, And fo with due examination pass.

Which kind of men, rais'd of a better frame, Are mere religious, conftant and upright; And bring the ableft hands for any 'ffect; And beft bear up the reputation, fame,

And good opinion that the action's right,
When th' undertakers are without fufpect.

But when the body of an enterprize
Shall go one way, the face another way;
As if it did but mock a weaker trust;
The motion being monftrous, cannot rise
To any good; but falls down to bewray,
That all pretences ferve for things unjust:

Efpecially where th' action will allow
Apparency; or that it hath a course
Concentric, with the universal frame
Of men combin'd: whom it concerneth how
Thefe motions run, and entertain their force;
Having their being refting on the fame.

And be it that the vulgar are but grofs;
Yet are they capable of truth, and see,
And sometimes guess the right; and do conceive
The nature of that text that needs a gloss,
And wholly never can deluded be:
All may a few; few cannot all deceive.

And these ftrange difproportions in the train And course of things, do evermore proceed From th' ill-fet difpofition of their minds; Who in their actions cannot but retain Th' encumber'd formswhich do within them breed, And which they cannot fhew but in their kinds. So fort with valour and with manliness, Whereas the ways and counfels of the light As that they carry things affuredly, Undazzling of their own or others fight: There b'ing a blessing that doth give success To worthinefs, and unto conftancy.

And though fometimes th' event may fall amifs, Yet fhall it ftill have honour for th' attempt; When craft begins with fear, and ends with shame, And in the whole defign perplexed is: Virtue, though lucklefs, yet fhall 'fcape contempt; And though it hath not hap, it shall have fame.

TO THE LADY MARGARET,

COUNTESS OF CUMBERLAND.

He that of fuch a height hath built his mind,
And rear'd the dwelling of his thoughts so strong,
As neither fear nor hope can fhake the frame
Of his refolved pow'rs; nor all the wind
Of vanity or malice pierce to wrong
His fettled peace, or to disturb the fame :
What a fair feat hath he, from whence he may
The boundless waftes and weilds of man furvey?

And with how free an eye doth he look down
Upon thefe lower regions of turmoil?
Where all the forms of paffions mainly beat
On flesh and blood: where honour, pow'r, renown,
Are only gay afflictions, golden toil;
Where greatness stands upon as feeble feet,
As frailty doth; and only great doth seem
To little minds, who do it so esteem.

He looks upon the mighti'ft monarchs wars
But only as on ftately robberies;
Where evermore the fortune that prevails
Must be the right: the ill-fucceeding mars

The fairest and the best fac'd enterprize.
Great pirate Pompey leffer pirates quails:
Juftice, he fees, (as if feduced) ftill
Confpires with pow'r, whofe caufe muft not be ill.
He fees the face of right t' appear as manifold
As are the paffions of uncertain man;
Who puts it in all colours, all attires,
To ferve his ends, and make his courfes hold.
He fees, that let deceit work what it can,
Plot and contrive base ways to high defires;
That the all-guiding providence doth yet
All disappoint, and mocks this smoke of wit.
Nor is he mov'd with all the thunder-cracks
Of tyrants threats, or with the furly brow
Of pow'r, that proudly fits on others crimes;
Charg'd with more crying fins than those he checks.
The ftorms of fad confufion, that may grow
Up in the present for the coming times,
Appal not him; that hath no fide at all,
But of himself, and knows the worst can fall.
Although his heart (fo near ally'd to earth)
Cannot but pity the perplexed state
Of troublous and diftrefs'd mortality,
That thus make way unto the ugly birth
Of their own forrows, and do still beget
Affliction upon imbecillity:

Yet feeing thus the course of things must run,
He looks thereon not strange, but as fore-done.
And whilft diftraught ambition compasses,
And is encompass'd; whilft as craft deceives,
And is deceiv'd: whilft man doth ranfack man,
And builds on blood, and rises by distress;
And th' inheritance of defolation leaves
To great expecting hopes: he looks thereon,
As from the fhore of peace, with unwet eye,
And bears no venture in impiety.

Thus, madam, fares that man, that hath prepar'd
A reft for his defires; and fees all things
Beneath him; and hath learn'd this book of man,
Full of the notes of frailty; and compar'd
The best of glory with her fufferings:
By whom, I fee, you labour all you can

To plant your heart; and set your thoughts as near
His glorious manfion, as your pow'rs can bear.

Which, madam, are fo fondly fashioned
By that clear judgment, that had carry'd you
Beyond the feeble limits of your kind,
As they can ftand against the strongest head
Paflion can make; inur'd to any hue

The world can caft; that cannot caft that mind
Out of her form of goodness, that doth fee
Both what the best and worst of earth cau be.
Which makes, that whatsoever here befals,
You in the region of yourself remain :
Where no vain breath of th' impudent molests,
That hath fecur'd within the brazen walls
Of a clear confcience, that (without all stain)
Rifes in peace, in innocency refts;

Whilft all what malice from without procures,
Shews her own ugly heart, but hurts not yours.
And whereas none rejoice more in revenge,
Than women ufe to do; yet you well know,
That wrong is better check'd by b'ing con
temn'd,

'Than b'ing purfu'd; leaving to him t' avenge,

To whom it appertains. Wherein you fhew,
How worthily your clearness hath condemn'd
Base Malediction, living in the dark,
That at the rays of goodness still doth bark.

Knowing the heart of man is fet to be
The centre of this world, above the which
These revolutions of disturbances

Still roll; where all th' afpects of mifery
Predominate whofe ftrong effects are fuch,
As he must bear, b'ing pow'rless to redress :
And that unless above himself he can
Erect himself, how poor a thing is man!

And how turmoil'd they are that level lie With earth, and cannot lift themselves from thence;

That never are at peace with their defires,
But work beyond their years; and ev'n deny
Dotage her reft, and hardly will dispense
With death. That when ability expires,
Defire lives ftill-So much delight they have,
To carry toil and travel to the grave.

Whofe ends you fee; and what can be the best

They reach unto, when they have cast the sum
And reck'nings of their glory. And you know,
This floating life hath but this port of rest,
A heart prepar'd, that fears no ill to come.
And that man's greatness rests but in his shew,
The best of all whose days confumed are
Either in war, or peace-conceiving war.

This concord, madam, of a well-tun'd mind
Hath been so set by that ill-working hand
Of heav'n, that though the world hath done his
worft

To put it out by discords most unkind;
Yet doth it still in perfect union stand
With God and man; nor ever will be forc'd
From that most fweet accord; but still agree,
Equal in fortunes in equality.

And this note (madam) of your worthhiness
Remains recorded in fo many hearts,
As time nor malice cannot wrong your right,
In th' inheritance of fame you must poffefs:
Yon that have built you by your great deferts
(Out of small means) a far more exquifite
And glorious dwelling for your honour'd name,
Than all the gold that leaden minds can frame.

TO THE LADY LUCY,

COUNTESS OF BEDFORD.

THOUGH Virtue be the fame when low fhe ftands
In the humble fhadows of obfcurity,
As when the either sweats in martial bands,
Or fits in court clad with authority;

Yet, madam, doth the ftrictness of her room
Greatly detract from her ability.
For as in-wall'd within a living tomb,

Her hands and arms of action labour not;
Her thoughts, as if abortive from the womb,
Come never born, though happily begot.
But where the hath mounted in open fight