Of vanity or malice pierce to wrong His settled peace, or to disturb the same;
What a fair seat hath he, from whence he may The boundless wastes and wilds of man survey!
And with how free an eye doth he look down Upon these lower regions of turmoil!
Where all the storms of passions mainly beat On flesh and blood; where honour, power, renown, Are only gay affections, 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 mightiest monarch's wars But only as on stately robberies; Where evermore the fortune that prevails Must be the right; the ill-succeeding mars The fairest and the best fac'd enterprise. Great pirate Pompey lesser pirates quails: Justice, he sees, as if seducèd, still
Conspires with power, whose cause must not be ill.
He sees the face of Right t' appear as manifold As are the passions of uncertain man;
Who puts it in all colours all attires,
To serve his ends and make his courses hold. He sees, that let deceit work what it can, Plot and contrive base ways to high desires, That the all-guiding Providence doth yet All disappoint, and mocks the smoke of wit.
Nor is he moved with all the thunder-cracks Of tyrants' threats, or with the surly brow Of Pow'r, that proudly sits on others' crimes, Charg'd with more crying sins than those he checks The storms of sad confusion, that may grow Up in the present for the coming times, that hath no side at all
But of himself, and knows the worst can fall.
Although his heart so near allied to earth Cannot but pity the perplexèd state Of troublous and distress'd mortality, That thus make way unto the ugly birth Of their own sorrows and do still beget Affliction upon imbecility;
Yet seeing thus the course of things must run, He looks thereon not strange, but us fore-done.
And whilst distraught ambition compasses, And is encompass'd; whilst as craft deceives, And is deceiv'd; whilst man doth ransack man, And builds on blood, and rises by distress; And th' inheritance of desolation leaves To great expecting hopes; he looks thereon
As from the shore of peace, with unwet eye, And bears no venture in impiety.
Thus, Madam, fares that man that hath prepar'd A rest for his desires; and sees 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 sufferings : By whom, I see, you labour all you can
To plant your heart; and set your thoughts as near His glorious mansion as your powers can bear.
Which, Madam, are so soundly fashionèd By that clear judgment, that hath carried you Beyond the feeble limits of your kind,
As they can stand against the strongest head Passion can make; inur'd to any hue
The world can cast: that cannot cast that mind Out of her form of goodness, that doth see Both what the best and worst of earth can be.
Which makes, that whatsoever here befalls, You in the region of yourself remain : Where no vile breath of th' impudent molests, That hath secur'd within the brazen walls Of a clear conscience, that without all stain Rises in peace, in innocency rests;
Whilst all what Malice from without procures, Shows her own ugly heart, but hurts not yours.
And whereas none rejoice more in revenge Than women use to do; yet you will know That wrong is better check'd by being contemn'd Than being pursu'd; leaving to Him to avenge To whom it appertains. Wherein you show 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 set to be The centre of this world, about the which These revolutions of disturbances
Still roll; where all th' aspects of misery Predominate; whose strong effects are such As he must bear, being 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 desires, But work beyond their years; and ev'n deny Dotage her rest, and hardly will dispense With death. That when ability expires, Desire lives still-So much delight they have To carry toil and travail to the grave.
Whose ends you see; 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 glory rests but in his show, The best of all whose days consumed are Either in war, or peace conceiving war.
This concord, Madam, of a well tun'd mind Hath been so set by that all-working hand
Of Heaven, that though the world hath done his worst To put it out by discords most unkind;
Yet doth it still in perfect unison stand With God and man; nor ever will be forc'd From that most sweet accord; but still agree Equal in fortune's inequality.
And this note, Madam, of your worthiness Remains recorded in so many hearts, As time nor malice cannot wrong your right In th' inheritance of fame you must possess: You that have built you by your great deserts, Out of small means, a far more exquisite
And glorious dwelling for your honour'd name Than all the gold that leaden minds can frame.
HY soul within such silent pomp did keep, As if humanity were lull'd asleep;
So gentle was thy pilgrimage beneath,
Time's unheard feet scarce make less noise, Or the soft journey which the planet goes: Life seem'd all calm as its last breath. A still tranquillity so hush'd thy breast, As if some Halcyon were its guest, And there had built her nest;
It hardly now enjoys a greater rest.
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