Nocturnal Lucubrations: OR MEDITATIONS DIVINE and MORAL. Whereunto are added EPIGRAMS AND EPITAPHS: WRITTEN BY ROB: CHAMBERLAIN. In mundo spes nulla boni, spes nulla salutis: Sola salus servire Deo, sunt caetera frauds. LONDON, Printed by M. F. for Daniel Frere, at the sign of the Red Bull in Little-Brittaine. 1638. TO THE WORSHIPFUL, And his honoured Master, PETER BALLE Esquire, Solicitor general to the Queen's Majesty. SIR, THE envious condition of these carping times (like a frost in the Spring) so nips Invention in the bud, that for the most part she dies like a blasted Plant, and never lives to see her proper fruit. Many are the Volumes of History, Antiquities, and other Pieces of learning your Worship hath volved and revolved, and yet I think scarce ever saw the person or work hath not one time or other had the long lash of censure. Dic quibus in terris, & eris mihi magnus Apollo. fain would I know where the man lives, on whose works or repute are not to be seen some stripes of detraction. May your Worship therefore be pleased to spread the wings of your protection over these poor thoughts, whereby they may be sheltered from the critical crew of Zoilus, which will be not only an inexpressible obligation, but a great encouragement to Your humble servant, ROB: CHAMBERLAIN. Nocturnal Lucubrations: OR MEDITATIONS Divine and Moral. LEARNING is like Scanderbegs Sword, either good or bad according to him that hath it: an excellent weapon if well used, otherwise like a sharp razor in the hand of a child. Where impossibilities are apparent, it is indiscretion to nourish hopes. The gentle hand of Patience in the strongest streams of Adversity, makes our afflictions sweet and easy. Gloriosius est injuriam tacendo fugere, quam respondendo superare. Patience out-faceth the lowering front of the most dismal fate. To insult over misery is the undoubted character of barbarous inhumanity. To incur God's displeasure for man's favour, is for a man to kill himself to avoid a hurt. Roaring oblations with sighing tears fetched from a faithful spring, are only able to penetrate the everlasting gates. Good rewards in the end, never fail to crown the end of a well prosecuted good. Though the ways of virtue seem rough and craggy, yet they reach to heaven, and in the end invest humanity in the bright robes of immortality. Tendit in ardua virtus. Humility is a grace itself, and a spotless vessel to entertain all other graces. As the ball rebounds according to the force wherewith it was thrown; so the more violent the afflictions of a good man are, the higher mount his thoughts. A good conscience seats the mind in a rich throne of endless quiet; but horror waits upon the clogging burden of a guilty soul. Face commendation sets a fool in the chair of ostentation; but dies the cheek of wisdom a scarlet blush. The richest treasure mortal times afford, is the spotless garment of an untainted reputation. Quando actùm est de nomine, actum est de homine. Nature hath too slow a foot, closely to follow the heels of Religion; and 'tis too hard a task for dull flesh clogged with corruption, to wing with the high flying quill of the heavenly soul. Sorrow for ills past brings back man's frailty to its first innocence. Majesty is like Lightning, it never hurts but where it finds resistance. Man is a Ship laden with riches, the world's the sea, heaven the intended haven: hell sends out his Pirates to rob him, sometimes endeavours to run him upon the rocks of his ruin, but yet heavens eye guards him: His soul is the Pilot, which through various seas of time and fortune, brings him to the long desired Port of his endless quiet. I have read of the Hart, in the time of his liberty and jollity, of all creatures will not come near a man; but when he is hunted by the dogs, he will fly for succour to the next man he meets: So it is with man; Prosperity cannot engender so high a tympany of pride, but misery can abate it. Halcyon days make a man forget both God and himself: but afflictions make us run to seek GOD early. To master a man's self is more than to conquer a world; for he that conquered the world, could not master himself. The malicious thirst of revenge out of a flinty cowardice strikes the hot fire of manlike unmanly valour. The falling of a house is more perilous than the rising of a flood. Evils foreseen are half cured; but mishap coming with the sudden thunderclap of inexpectation, scares the minds faculties, from all consideration of wise prevention. Learning is the only precious jewel of immortality; it well becomes the outward frame, and with immortal glory decks and adorns the never dying part. Non habet inimicum praeter ignorantem. The most transcendent offenders transgress not so much against the rules of humanity, as do the black monsters of prodigious ingratitude. Happy, thrice happy were man's condition, could he but ransom home the lamentable loss of that pristin command over his intemperate passions. Man is the Emblem of misery, the subject of sorrow, and the object of pity; and so will be so long as he wanders up and down in the gloomy fenn of this weeping wilderness. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Success seldom fails to crown the enterprise according to the integrity of the cause. All men wear not one habit of the mind, nor are all dispositions clothed alike with nature's habiliments. Posterity may well be called the eternity of life: he may be said never to die, whose name the eternal providence never fails to underprop with the lasting pillars of a numerous issue. There is not half so much danger in the desperate sword of a known foe, as in the smooth insinuations of a pretended friend. Unwise is that man that will be either dejected or exalted with the frowns or smiles of various fortune. Mortals must subscribe to whatsoever is writ in the adamantine tables of the eternal providence. quicksands quid patimur venit ab alto. Seneca: The greatest canker that can be to love, is the bosom nursing of a concealed grudge. Reason at first produceth opinion; but afterwards an ill received opinion may seduce the very soul of reason. Strange is the nature of an ill opinion: it stands fast when it is once set, though grounded upon nothing. Miraculous is that water that scours away the seeming dirt from the object of an ill conceit. Let thy desires have the length and breadth of reason, & at length thou shalt have the breadth of thy desires. That man is commonly of a good nature, whose tongue is the true Herald to his thoughts. A prejudicated opinion makes the judgement look asquint, and the most injurious informer is an ill conceit, because it is ever ready to blemish the beauty of the best intended action. In the clearest sunshine of fair prosperity, we are subject to the boisterous storms of gloomy adversity. He that always observes the censuring murmur of idle people, shall never let the suspected blush depart from his cheek. A malevolent mind is like a boisterous sea tumbling in the swelling billows of indignation, till dire revenge sets it in a conceited liberty, and never till then is it locked in the griping gins of soul tormenting captivity. Devilish is that disposition, which to wait an opportunity of revenge, will seem, to rake up its malice in the cinders of oblivion; but when the time serves will not stick to give fire to the whole heap of its hellbred mischief. It is a prodigious thing to see a devilish disposition put on a godly face, and loathed baseness clothed with a scarf of unstained purity. The Sun's eye never saw the man that lived not under the controlling hand of Fate. Many gaze on the glorious outside of a Prince's diadem, but few consider the tempestuous affairs that do environ it. Hope of remedy, and continuance of grief, should be both of one length: when hope of remedy is past, grief should make an end. Too much to lament a misery, is the next way to draw on a remediless mischief. Bootless grief hurts a man's self: but patience makes a jest of an injury. He that is indebted to Grief, let him borrow of Patience, and he shall soon be out of debt. Patience rides it out in the most boisterous storms of adversity, and is armour of proof against the thick flying bullets of the most malicious assaults. Where the scale of sensuality weighs down that of reason, the baseness of our nature conducts us to most preposterous conclusions. It is a madness to be much affected with vanity: for though in youth we neither do nor will consider it, yet in the end the winter of age comes, and with the bosom of time sweeps away the summer of our youthful follies. Quicquid Sol oriens, quicquid & occidens, Novit, caeruleis Oceanus fretis, Quicquid vel veniens, vel fugiens lavat, Aetas Pegaseo corripiet gradu. Senec. in Trod. Opinion is the sovereign mistress, or rather the sole Midwife of either good or bad effects. It is not fit for an● man though never so miserable to despair of his own future good hap: for many are the events that lie in the teeming womb of Time. Ill words bewray foul thoughts: but sweet behaviour is the index of a virtuous mind. Praecipitis linguae comes est poenitentia. Labour in good things is sweet in the issue; but pleasure in evil things turns to a torment. Fair words without good deeds to a man in misery, are like a saddle of gold clapped upon the back of a galled horse. A foolish man in wealth and authority, is like a weak timbered house with too ponderous a roof. Heaven without earth is perfect but earth without heaven is but the porch of hell. There are no riches like to the sweetness of content, nor no poverty comparable to the want of patience. I have read of the Hart, that he weeps every year for the shedding of his head, though the losing of the old be the way to make room for a better: So is it with worldlings, they weep to part with any thing here, though it be for never so great a treasure hereafter: though no less a matter than the eternal joys of heaven crown the end of faith and good works, yet that, i, vend totum quod habes, & red pauperibus, is such a durus sermo, that it makes them block up their ears against the wisest Charmer. The Hart likewise when he sees himself taken by the hounds, or other devise, will shed tears, thinking thereby to intenerate the hearts of the hunters, and move them to pity, or else because he sees himself irrecoverably catcht: So every true penitent, whence he sees himself overtaken by the wiles of Satan, should never stop his tears, till he sees his own blessed recovery out of the claws of the devil: for he that is on high, keeps our tears in his bottle, and though his tender mercy will not press upon a broken heart, yet he is always pleased to see a sorrowful soul baptise himself in the trickling drops of repentant dew. He that consults with his body for the saving of his soul, shall never bring it to heaven. If we hope to reap in joy, we must sow in tears. He that stands up against the vices of great Ones, had need to be treble guarded with Law, Friends, and Authority. The longer we live, the more misery we endure: life is like a span forced from a gouty hand, the more the hand is extented, the more pain it suffers. Supposed goodness, by the blab of time, will have her close baseness set upon the scaffold of public shame. The fierce flash of too violent fire, soon burns out itself. The old proverb saith, Fair and softly goes far: but he that spurs too fast, tires betimes. It is a wise man's part in a case of extremity, with patience to swallow down the bitter potion of indignity. Harsh reproof is like a violent storm, soon washed down the channel: but friendly admonitions, like a small shower, pierce deep, and bring forth better reformation. A wise man will digest with patience the sad tidings of calamity, when a fool by grumbling at a cross, hurts himself. Life is a continual march towards the grave, and a dangerous sailing towards death through the bellowing waves of a troublesome world. Labitur omnis homo, momento extinguimur uno, Namque oleo lampas deficiente perit. Within the very crown that adorns the sacred temples of a King, death hath his lurking den. Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede Pauperum tabernas, regumque turres. Horat. A willing mind is able to steer a man against the stream of the strongest impediments. Neither the shot of Accident, nor dart of Chance, penetrates the impregnable walls of a resolved Patience. Love, when his links are once cracked, turns to the so wrest and most dismal Hate. Sordid manners in a comely feature are like black clouds in a fair sky. Outward perfection without inward goodness, sets but the blacker die upon the minds deformity. If the hand of Omnipotency should please to try us with all manner of affliction, to lock us in the griping gins of misery, to steep us in the dregs of poverty, to rain down shame and defamation on our heads; we are to fly only in this depth of extremity, to the safe sanctuary of faith & a good conscience, which turn the bitter waters of affliction into the sweet Nectar of never dying comfort. Goodness with a smiling patience shakes off the dust that is thrown in the face of her despised fortune. Tears and smiles are not always the badges of grief and patience. There is no anger or sorrow like to that which boils with a constrained silence. Thoughts tending to ambition, are always wont to plot unlikely wonders. It is the easiest thing in the world to be invective; and amongst all sorts of men, none are so quick at censuring as the ignorant: he will still give the first lash, whilst himself is at the best but a lump of ignorance, a pretender to learning, & his head stuffed full of nothing but titles of books: for if he be questioned beyond the Epistle Dedicatory, he is presently like an Egyptian valley in the latter end of june. From an immaculate Fountain (by reason of an ill passage) may proceed unwholesome and corrupt water. A Tradesman had need to be a good husband; for it is somewhat a difficult task in these times, for a man with his nails or bare hands to tear himself a passage through the flinty ways of this hard world. I commend a man that will draw like a horse, but not him that will carry every thing that is put upon him like an ass. Sacred learning is Wisdoms prudent Queen; studied arts are degrees unto some wished ends, and steps whereby we ascend the high top of our hopes and thoughts. An ill beginning is commonly the prodigious sign of a dismal end. Anger makes the tongue bewray the most secret thoughts. The top of honour is a narrow plot of ground, where if a man tread but one careless step, down he tumbles into the jaws of ruin. The darkest clouds of misery or affliction, cannot overshadow the bright shining lustre of a clear conscience. The only way to wash off the guilt from a spotted conscience, is to lay open her bosome-crimes to the world's broad eye. Ill news flies with Eagles wings, but leaden weights are wont to clog the heels of gladsome tidings. Inconsiderate desires rashly fulfilled, are able to set the world in an unquenchable combustion. He that wanders too far into the wilderness of this world, cannot when he please creep back to the lodge of safety. It is not in the power of man when he please to tread the happy steps of heavenly repentance. He that desires a good, and suspects his right to it, is bold and turbulent in the pursuit, whilst the man that's conscious to himself of good, rests happily content till time crown with the guerdon of a patient expectation. Time, Patience, and Industry, are the three grand Masters of the world: they bring a man to the end of his desires, when a turbulent murmur oftentimes jerks him out of the way to his proposed ends. The best compliment is but a kind of a handsome foolery; & crooching feats are so far from testifying the hearts inward loyalty, that they carry in their front the lineaments of flattery. As it is a sorrowful thing when a man's means is too low for his parts, so is it a preposterous sight to see a man whose mind is too big for his fortune. There is not a more lamentable spectacle than to see a man of parts in misery, especially if the fault be not in himself: The worst sight in the world is a rich Dunce and a poor Schooller. The more actions of depth are preconsidered, the worse sometimes they are performed. The spurs of necessity are almost able to put a nimble spirit into the senseless body of a dead stock. It is Love that makes the Eternal Mercy to bear so much the foul crimes of transgressing humanity. Sea, nor land, nor gates of brass, are able to withstand the indefatigable hand of a willing mind. So violent is the beastly passion of inordinate lust, that it subjects a man to base thoughts, perturbs his Spirit, and never leaves him till it hurry him headlong into the chambers of death. Patience is the best Midwife to a disastrous misfortune. Beauty is but a vain thing, though ne'er so rich: for in the fairest woman it is but skin deep: under the skin there is no more than ordinary. If a man be not so happy as he desires, let this be his comfort, that he is not so wretched as he deserves. The only reason why some men have not what they desire, is because their desires are not grounded upon reason. It is better to be well deserving without praise, than to live by the air of undeserved commendation. Happy is man that his time is but short, because it is miserable. Happy are those miseries that terminate in joy, happy those joys that know no end, and happy is his joyful end whose dissolution is eternal joy. As he that climbs is in danger of falling, so is he that lies on the ground subject to be trampled on by every peasant: he is in the happiest condition, that moves in the middle region of the world, considering that as want is a misery, abundance is but a trouble. Medio tutissimus ibis. Ovid. Meta. As Contemplation altogether without Action is idleness, so constant Action altogether without Contemplation is too bestial. Wise is that man that steres an even course betwixt the Scylla & Charybdis of this world, prodigality and covetousness; that on the one side will not lavishly consume God's blessings, nor on the other side embrace covetousness, knowing that riches at the best are but necessary impediments. As the smart of the wound is recompensed by the cure of the body, so the punishment of the body is sweetened by the health of the soul. He that hath a friend, and sees him out of the way, and labours not by timely counsel to call back his wand'ring steps, renders himself unworthy of so rare a blessing. He that snuffs at friendly reprehension, and can better relish the oil of flattery, makes himself the pitiful abstract of too late repenting folly. Not to speak what a man knows, is sometimes discretion; but to speak, and not to know, is always folly, sometimes dishonesty. Audi, vide, tace, si tu vis vivere pace. As it is more honour to teach than to be taught, so it is less shame to learn than to be ignorant. We should all follow the world, as a Servingman followeth his Master and a stranger; whilst they go together, he follows them both; but when the stranger leaves his Master, he leaves the stranger, and followeth his Master: So should we follow the world: as long as the world goes with God, we should follow them both; but when the world leaves God, we should leave the world, and with prepared hearts follow our Master God. Disce mori, nec te ludat spes vana salutis, Nam nescis statuant quem tibi fata diem. As there is a misery in want, so there is a danger in excess: a man may as soon die of a surfeit, as of hunger. It is good for a man to have praise when he deserves it; but it is better to deserve praise when he hath it. Honour is like a Palace with a low door, into the which no man can enter but he must first stoop. The staff of man's comfort is Hope; which once broke, bids a final farewell to the most sweetened cogitations. The most lasting comfort is this sweet companion Hope; which once departed, makes poor man either desperately to plunge himself into the gulf of horror and despair, or with sighing tears to spend the remainder of his pilgrimage in the mournful valley of discontent. God hath an infinite number both of sacred and secret ways as well to punish as to pardon. As the eye of God's providence protects the just, so the bright rays of his divinity pierce the dark and secret caverns of the most hellish intendments. Our breasts & actions are as transparent to his eye, as his Decrees are invisible to ours. Though a plot of malice be never so cunningly contrived, a twinkling of God's eye is able both to detect and punish it. He that sails by the star of Virtue, shall in time land himself upon the shore of Honour. Affections founded on Virtue, have happy ends; but built on lust and vice, begin pleasantly, but terminate in misery. It is a base thing to erect Trophies of Honour to ourselves upon the ruins of another's reputation. High time it is to flee vanity, when the drum of age beats a quick march towards the silent grave. It is for the most part but lost labour to bend a man's force against the stream of another's affections. Justice is the soul of a Commonwealth: for as a Body without a Soul soon stinks, and is noisome; so a Commonwealth without justice, quickly turns to a lump of corruption. There are certain Springs, that when the Sun shineth hottest, they are coldest: at midnight when the Sun is gone, they are then hottest: So it is with Man, his zeal is coldest in the Sunshine of prosperity; but in the gloomy days of dark adversity, begins to gather heat. It is said of the Sea Elephant, that sometimes he will come ashore, and sleep amongst the rocks; where as soon as he is espied, the people surround him with nets & gins to take him; which done, they awake him, who as soon as he is awake, leaps with a violent rush, thinking to leap again into the Sea, but cannot. So it is with those, who straggling out of the ways of piety, oftentimes fall asleep in sin, which (when by death, or sickness they are awakened) think presently to rush into heaven, or upon the instant to leap into the paths of Repentance, but than it is too late; for they are oftentimes catcht as surely, as suddenly; like the fool in the Gospel, that had laid up goods for many years. We should taste worldly pleasures running▪ like the Egyptian dogs upon the banks of Nile; for as they, if they stand to drink long in a place, are in danger of that Serpent the Crocodile; so are those that stay to take full draughts of worldly pleasures, in danger of that serpent the Devil. It is a bootless thing to endeavour the reformation or conversion of a perverse man: there is no meddling with him that loves to be transported with the stream of his own opinions. Heaven is the admired instrument of the glorious God; by the influence whereof he rules and governs the great mass of this corruptible world. It is said of those quagmires of honey, which some say to be in Muscovia, that there are gins & snares set about them, by which the Bear (which out of a love to the honey frequenteth those places) is oftentimes catcht, and thereby constrained to forfeit his life, by pleasing the curiosity of his taste. Nocet empta dolore voluptas The sweetness of sin is the death of the soul. The pleasures of sin carry a fair show; but as the shadow of the richest colour, yea of scarlet itself is always black; so be the colours of sin ne'er so glorious, its shadow is black and hellish; though in taste it be wondrous pleasant, yet in digestion it is bitter as wormwood: the deadly Arsenic of the soul, and the bane of all our happiness, against which no Antidote prevails, but the precious blood of the Immaculate Lamb Christ jesus. It is not good to be always busied in the toilsome shop of Action; that man hath but an earthly soul, which maugre the importunity of the greatest business, will not sometimes sequester himself into the withdrawing chamber of Meditation. Credulity is oftentimes the dream of fools, the drunkard's ape, and the blind nurse of dangerous security. Bonaventure tells us, that the damned shall weep more tears in hell, than there is water in the sea; because the water of the sea is finite, but the tears shall be wept in hell are infinite, never ceasing as long as God is God. Men are not rich or poor according to what they possess, but to what they desire; the only rich man is he that with content enjoys a competency. Mensa minuscula Pace referta, Melior divitiis Light repletis. Miserable is he that chooseth a wife either for by or base respects; but happy is that marriage when the soul is matched as well as the body. Wise is he that shapes his expenses by his means, and cuts the wings of his desires in pleasure, that they mount not above the flight of his fortunes. Nothing more unsatiable than men's desires; he that is poor would be rich, he that is rich would be a gentleman, a gentleman would be a nobleman, a noble man would be a King, a King would be the Monarch of the world, and he that was so, wept, because there was no more to conquer. Heu quòd mortali non unus sufficit orbis! It is not want makes men poor, nor abundance renders them rich; the rich man may say of himself, as Narcissus said when he saw his own beauty in the water, which made him fall in love with himself, Inopem me copia fecit, Ovid. Meta. — quid gentibus auri Nunquam extincta sitis? As there are no better rules than good examples, so there is nothing more perniciously dangerous than bad. Longum iter per praecepta, breve per exemplum. It is good for a man to be industrious in his youth, and to know that if by honest labour he accomplish any good thing, the labour is soon past, but the good remains to his comfort; and if for his pleasure he do any thing that is ill, the pleasure is gone in a moment, but the evil remains to his torment▪ Impia sub dulci melle venena latent. Ovid. de Pont. The strongest argument of a wise man is to be a good husband of his time; for amongst all the things that God created, there is nothing more precious Tempora labuntur, tacitisque senescimus annis, Et fugiunt fraeno non remorante dies. Lent is a time of fasting; but the soul's great festival: for the pampering of the body is the starving of the soul; and when we macerate the body, we make the soul a feast: if depressio carnis lead not the way, elevatio mentis will never move. There is a creature, saith Pliny, in the North parts of Sweden called a jerfe, of so ravenous and devouring a nature, that though his belly be ne'er so full, he is not satisfied; he will eat till by his fullness he is scarce able to go, and then run to the trees that grow near together, and there by forcing his body through, disgorgeth himself, purposely to repair his stomach for a fresh prey: those that are minded to take him, throw a carcase in his way, and then observe the trees that he runs to when he is full, when they once perceive him fast betwixt the trees, they run to him, and kill him. So it fares with those that never think of any thing but how to please their senses, which the devil observing, throws divers temptations before their eyes, which they never suspecting are oftentimes confounded in the very act of sin. Of all other things necessity hath the largest patent: maugre the greatest commands, necessity will first be observed. To husband well a small talon is the only way to mount a low fortune. To be too full of compliment is ridiculous: to be altogether without it, rusticity. Of all conditions the most lamentable is that of ignorance: an ignorant man is like one of those that live directly under the North or South Pole, with whom it is always night. The only way to be rid of a domineering vice, is to avoid all occasions thereto tending. Prosperity cast at the feet of the wicked, is like a rich carpet cast over the mouth of a bottomless pit, which allures the feet of the ungodly, along the path of security, into that bottomless tophet of eternal misery. A ruinous end attends a riotous life. Well were it for the drunkard, as he hath lived like a beast, if he could so die. If the world did but truly consider that there is a Tophet prepared for the wicked, it would rather run mad through fear and despair, than thus wallow in dreadful security. The rich may offend more for want of charity, than the poor in stealing things necessary. He that rectifies a crooked stick, bends it the contrary way; so must he that would reform a vice, learn to affect its mere contrary, and in time he shall see the springing blossoms of a happy reformation. It is dangerous in holy things to make Reason the touchstone: he that disputeth too much with God about things not revealed, all the honour he gets, is but to go to hell more learnedly than the rest. It is good to be pius pulsator, for then the more importunate, the more pleasing; but a temerarius scrutator may be more bold than welcome. He that would hit the mark he aims at, must wink with one eye: Heaven is the mark, he that would hit it, must wink with the eye of Reason, that he may see better with that of Faith. Action is the crown of Virtue, Perseverance the crown of Action, Sufferance the crown of Perseverance, a good cause the crown of Sufferance, and a crown of Glory the crown of a good cause. Esto fidelis usque ad mortem, & dabo tibi coronam vitae. FINIS. EPIGRAMS AND EPITAPHS Written by ROB: CHAMBERLAIN. Beatus ille, qui procul negotiis, Vt prisca gens mortalium Paterna rura bobus exercet suis, Solutus omni foenore. To his honoured, and dear affected Master, Mr WILLIAM BALLE, Son and Heir to the Worshipful PETER BALLE Esquire. SIR, I Am the more emboldened to Present you with these fragments of Poetry, in regard you begin to be one of the little darlings of the Muses. It is not the least of my comforts to see from a sprig of my own pruning, such timely blossoms of Poetical ingenuity: somewhat rare it is to see Plants of wit agree with the hard coldness of our Climate; for this aurum cuncta movens hath so stupefied the times, that Ignorance hath almost outfaced Invention. Apuleius may wander up and down the Arcadian plains to find Parnassus or the Heliconian Well, and meet none but the dull brood of Midas to direct him. Go on therefore hopeful Sir, towards that sacred Spring; you shall never want the prayers, assistance, and manuduction of Your humble servant, Rob: Chamberlain. To his well beloved friend, Mr ROBERT CHAMBERLAIN, the Author, in praise of his following Poems. THe wisest of Philosophers conclude, Best Contemplations spring from solitude: And wanting outward objects, the minds eye Sees clearest into every mystery. Scipio's last life, in's Villa spoke him man More than his conquest of the African. So are the seasons helpers unto Art; And Time to industry applies each part. These thou hast made the subjects of thy Lays; And they for praising them, return thee praise. So that to praise again would show to be But repetition, and Tautology. And thine own works allow thee better note Than any friends suspected partial vote. Thomas Nabbes. In praise of a Country life. THe winged fancies of the learned quill, Tell of strange wonders, sweet Parnassus hill, ●astalia's Well, the Heliconian Spring, star-spangled valleys where 〈◊〉 Muses sing. Admired things another Story yields, Of pleasant Tempe, and th' Elysian fields; Yet these are nothing to the sweet that dwells In low built cottages, and country cells. What are the Sceptres, Thrones, and Crowns of kings, But gilded burdens, and most fickle things? What are great offices but cumbring troubles And what are honours but dissolving bubbles What though the gates of greatness be frequented With chains of glittering gold? he that's contented Lives in a thousand times a happier way, Than he that's tended thus from day to day. Matters of State, nor yet domestic jars, Comets portending death, nor blazing stars Trouble his thoughts; he'll not post hast run Through Lethe, Styx, and fiery Phlegeton For gold or silver: he will not affright His golden slumbers in the silent night For all the precious wealth, or sumptuous pride That lies by Tiber, Nile, or Ganges side. th'embroidered meadows, & the crawling stream Make soft and sweet his undisturbed dreams: He revels not by day, nor in the nights, Nor cares he much for Musical delights; And yet his humble roof maintains a choir Of singing Crickets round about the fire. This harmless life he leads, and I dare say Doth neither wish, nor fear his dying day. On the Worshipful, and worthy of all honour, Mrs ANNE BALLE, Wife of Peter Balle Esquire. IF worth can mortals to advancement bring, If birth, or beauty be a precious thing, Meekness be great Honour's Palace gate, ●nd the forerunner of some happy fate, ●appy, then happy thou, that art the sweet ●nd little centre where all these do meet. In Dominum Gulielmum Ball filium & haeredem Petri Balle Armigeri. Graeci laudantur, Musis laudatur Apollo, Virgilii fama et scandit ad astra poli: Laude vigent multi, sed jam puerilibus annis Ingenio supexas tu Gulielme senes. En mare tu terras, urbes atque oppida fando Laurigerum nostro temporenomen habes. Magna canunt magni pueris incognita parvis Umbris quae mortis non adeunda nigris. Sed teneris doctrina tuis non convenit annis, Bis puerique senes, tu puer atque senex. Astra fuere tuo natu foelicia coeli, Lavo quoque nunc foelix est adhibenda tibi. Laurum tolle, latet quod pectore teque docebo, Et dii dent studiis vela secunda tuis. The same in English. Apollos' skill, the Grecian pen for wars, And Virgil's too, transcend the glittering stars: Praise makes men live, but thou a child unfit, Transcends the limits of an old man's wit. Both sea and land thou knowst, & for thy praise Our times shall give thee thy deserved bays. Great Poets sing great things that children know not, Which to the places of oblivion go not. Thy learning fits not with thy tender mould, Old men are children, thou a child, art old. The heavenly stars upon thy birth did shine, To make thee happy, now the praise is thine. Take up thy bays, I'll teach thee what's in me, And may the Gods give prosperous fates to thee. In praise of Learning. HAppy, thrice happy, o ye sisters still, That love and live on sweet Parnassus' hill; Blest be your times and tunes, that sit and sing On flowery banks by Aganippe's Spring. Blessed be the shady groves where those do dwell Which do frequent that Heliconian Well, Where learning lives, whereby when men expire, They are made chanters in the heavenly choir. That sacred learning, whose inspired notions Makes Mortals know heavens high alternat motions: Trumpets their names unto the crystal sky Though in the grave their bones consuming lie. Thrice happy those then, to whom learning's given, Whose lives on earth do sympathise with heaven. Whose thoughts are still on high, longing to see Heavens Tabernacles of Eternity; Slighting the world, and spurning at its praise, Which like Meander runs ten thousand ways. They (when pale death to dust their corpse shall bring) With quires of Angels shall in heaven sing. To his honoured friend, Mr Giles Balle Merchant. On the Spring. THe lofty Mountains standing on a row, Which but of late were periwigd with snow D'off their old coats, and now are daily seen To stand on tiptoes, all in swaggering green▪ Meadows and gardens are pranked up with buds, And chirping birds now chant it in the woods. The warbling Swallow, and the Larks do sing, To welcome in the glorious verdant Spring. To his dear friend and cousin, Mr Allan Penny, Citizen of Exeter. On the Morning. THe morning golden horse rush forth amain, Spending their breath, sucked from the Eastern plain; And posting still with speed through gentle air, Hurl their perfumes from out the glittering chair. The Sun's bright Steeds come running up again To Taurus' top, still glad to see the plain Of Indolstan: and now begins t'approach The winged Messenger of heaven, in's Coach Of ruddy flames; night-wandering stars have done Their straggling course, and now the day's begun. Bright burning Luna drags her dazzling tail Into the dungeon of a darksome veil. To his dear friend and brother, Mr Thomas Bowdon. On the Evening. RIse, rise, ye sooty horse from dusky dale, And draw your Mistress in a sable veil: Who rides it out with her knot curled hair, Like to an Aethiope in an Ebony chair: Whose dark unseemly face is wrapped in shrowds, With Styx died curtains of congealed clouds. Rise thou pale Queen of night, prepare thy cars, And climb you glittering glorious mount of stars. To his dearest brother, Mr. William Holmes, Citizen of Exeter. Death's impartiality. Carmen Hexametrum. HIgh minded Pyrrhus, brave Hector, stout Agamemnon, Hannibal, and Scipio, whom all the world did attend on, That worthy Captain, world conquering great Alexander, That tender, constant, true hearted, lovely Leander, That cunning Painter, that curious handed Apelles, Myrmidon insatiate, that kept the Tent of Achilles, Alphonsus Arragon, that great Mathematical Artist, That stately Queen of beauty, that Lady Mars kissed, Wit, wealth, and beauty, yea all these pomps that adorn us, Must see black Phlegeton, rough Styx, and fatal Avera●s. To his kind and loving friend, Mr Henry Prigg, Citizen of Exeter. On the sweetness of Contentation. THe world still gazeth on the glittering show Of Sceptres, Crowns, and Diadems, but few Consider truly the tempestuous cares, And tumbling troubles of the State affairs. Honour's the spur that pricks th'ambitious mind, And makes it puff and swell with th'empty wind Of self conceit: But yet me thinks I see A state more full of sweet security. The russet Farmer, more contentment yields Unto himself, whilst toiling in his fields, Beholds upon the pleasant fertile banks, Wise Nature's flowery wonders in their ranks. And when the half part of the day is spent, His wife her basket brings, they with content Do both sit down by some sweet straggling Spring And make a Feast, whilst 'bout his table sing The chirping birds; he when the day is past, Home to his children, and his wife makes haste: The children joy to see their father there; The father joys to see his children dear: Then they begin to him their pleasant prattle, One shows his pins, another brings his rattle. With these contents the good man's overjoyed, When thus he sees his dear affections cloyed, Whilst others toil for honour, and in vain Deny themselves those sweets they might obtain. O than thou great Commander of the skies, That dings down pride, and makes the poor man rise, Let them that will dote on these gilded toys, Let me account it chiefest of my joys T' enjoy a mean estate, and nothing more, If't be thy pleasure that I still be poor. Give me this sweet content, that I may die A patient servant to thy Majesty. To his dear affected friend, Mr George Leach of Broadelist in Devon. On the vanity of Man. LIke to the Swan on sweet Meander's brink, Like flowers that flourish in the morn, and shrink Down with their heads, when sable night appears; Such is our frailty in this vale of tears. The gilded gallant, and the tortured slave Cut down by death, come tumbling to the grave. Not Europe's riches, nor an Ajax bold, Nor men, nor Angels, nor our bags of gold, Nor he that was the spacious world's Commander, Caesar, Pompey, nor an Alexander, Nor can green youth, well, wit, or tender age, The raging fury of thy Sword assuage. O than thou Star Commander, dreadful King, Whose Fiat makes the trembling world to ring, Teach us, o teach us so to know our days, Thereby to rectify our crooked ways; That when with Angels, and Archangels thou Shalt come to judge the world, and make it bow, We then may render up a good account, And live with thee upon that starry mount. In Hyemem. PApula canescunt, tremebundi turbinis horror Fulminat, heu Boreas nimbosa grandinatira Torva laboriferi fulgentia cornua quassi Tauri nix tegit, pelagus vult tangere stellas, Cerberus horrendo baculo nunc Tartara plangit, Flammiferosque locos dicit spoliasse pruinam. On the death of Mr. Charles Fitz-Geffrays, Minister of God's Word. O Thou the saddest of the Sisters nine, Add to a sea of tears, one tear of thine. Unhappy I, that am constrained to sing His death, whose life did make the world to ring With echoes of his praise. A true Divine In's life & doctrine, which like Lamps did shine Till they were spent and done, did never cease To guide our steps unto eternal peace. Thy habitation's now the starry mount, Where thy great Maker makes of thee account. Farewell thou splendour of the spacious West, Above th' Etherial clouds for ever blessed: The loss of thee a watery mountain rears, With high springtide of our sad trickling tears. On Sack. O Thou so much admired by every soul, That lives 'twixt th' Arctic & th' Antarctic Pole; Apollo's drink, drawn from the Thespian spring, Whereof the silver Swans before they sing Do always drink: though thy sweet simpering smiles Some mortal creatures of their coin beguiles, Yet from black Limbo's gate thou bring'st man's soul, And makes his spirits knock the highest Pole. On Tobacco. THou hellbred lump of sin, infernal drink, Pernicious, damned, soule-fascinating stink, Time's great consumer, cursed child of hell, Scum of perdition, sprung from Pluto's cell: Thy barbarous nature likes no soil so well, As where the Devil and his Pagans dwell. Bewitched then are those that stand-up for thee, Till they have grace t'abandon and abhor thee. IN OBITUM HENRICI BLUETT Generosi. RVsticus in agro, Opifex in pago: Omnes hoc mundo Nituntur in vano. Mercator in mare, Vir officina, Cum vult pulsare Mors, quid medicina? FINIS. Imprimantur hae Nocturnae Lucubrationes. SA: BAKER. Ex Aedibus Londin. Apr. 2. 1638.