AENEAS HIS DESCENT INTO HELL: As it is inimitably described by the Prince of Poets in the sixth of his AENEIS.  
Made English by JOHN BOYS of Hode-Court, Esq  
Together with an ample and learned Comment upon the same, wherein all passages Critical, Mythological, Philosophical and Historical, are fully and clearly explained.  
To which are added some certain Pieces relating to the Public, written by the Author.  
Invia virtuti nulla est via. — Ovid. Met. 
LONDON, Printed by R. Hodgkinson, living in Thames street over against Banards Castle, 1661.   

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE Sir EDWARD HIDE, Knight, Lord High Chancellor of England, etc.  
MY LORD,  
SHould I recount what your Lordship hath both done & suffered for your King, it would not only make our present discourse swell beyond the just proportion of an Epistle, but also anticipate the pains of those more able penns, which are designed to write the Story of our times, to which your particular actions will necessarily contribute ample supply of matter, and in which your single name will (doubtless) with high honour to yourself be often repeated.  
That unenvied, because deserved Dignity which your Lordship (through the grace and favour of your wise and discerning Master) now stands possessed of, is a clear demonstration as well of your great abilities, as untainted loyalty: and from hence we must take the true height and prospect of them both. How happy then is the Prince where so prudent and trusty a Minister hath the chief management of affairs? and how secure the People where so experienced and watchful a Pilot sits at the helm?  
But, MY LORD, whilst I give your Lordship your due Character, I make myself guilty of a too rash presumption, thus to adventure to interpose between your Lordship and your more weighty affairs, and with a discourse of so different and inferior a mixture, to divert your more material and serious Cogitations: but again, when I consider that your Lordship is the person to whom those, who by the rigour of the Law are oppressed, make their appeal, and who, by virtue of your office, mitigate that summum jus, which is indeed summa injuria, I then begin to resume new spirits, and to hope that I shall find, by your candid acceptance of this my Dedication, that you carry a constant Chancery in your breast, as well when out of the Court, as when you sit in Judicature. Had I any thing better I should with all humilty cast it at your Lordship's feet; and did my abilities bear proportion with my desires, I should make you a more suitable present: but since that is denied me, I earnestly beseech you to accept this, (such as it is) as a testimony of that unfeigned reverence I have for your virtues, both public and private, for your accomplishments both Civil and Moral; whereof the one denominate you a good Statesman, and the other a good man: qualifications rarely meeting in one and the same subject. And for this, My Lord, for the contemplation of your inherent worth I mean (which, with those who make a true judgement of things, is much more attractive than the splendour of your adherent greatness) be pleased to give me leave, though obscure, unknown, and as great a stranger to the world as I am to your Lordship's person, to assume the title of  
MY LOKD, Your Lordship's true Admirer and most devoted Servant, JOHN BOYS.   

THE PREFACE TO THE READER.  
THis our Master (the undoubted Prince of all Heroic Writers, whether Greek or Latin) had, in the compiling of his excellent Aenëis, a double design; the one was (in the general) to represent heroical virtue in the person of his most accomplished Aeneas; which he hath performed with that acute judgement, discreet choice, and constant decorum, that not only those of the following ages, (when the teeth of envy by't no more) but even those of his own time and profession (in whom emulation might have begotten detraction) did, with a general consent, give him the precedence, and contented themselves only 
* Stat. Theb. 12.  Longè sequi, & vestigia adorare; to follow him at a distance, and to worship his footsteps. The other was (in particular) to celebrate the Name and Family of the Emperor Augustus, in extolling his Aeneas, from whom that Caesar, by the Mother's side, deduced his Pedigree; that Augustus, who, as he was a favourer of the Muses, so was he favoured by those who were conversant with the Muses, and especially by the incomparable Virgil, in whose divine writings he hath obtained such a monument, 
— 
* Ovid. Met.  quod nec Jovis ira, nec ignes,  
Nec poterit ferrum, vel edax abolere vetustas.  A Memento to Princes to cherish men of abilities and parts, from whose pens they may rationally expect a more lasting and commendable fame, then from all their trophies and triumphs whatsoever.  
And although our most excellent Author never composed any thing but what smelled of the Lamp, and what discovered as much the exactness of his judgement as the variety of his reading, yet the second, fourth, and sixth books of his Aeneis are by the learned preferred to the rest of his elaborate productions, as having been (as Donatus affirms in his life) revised and corrected by his own judicious pen, and vouchsafed the imperial ear of his great Patron Augustus; before whom in an honourable Assembly he, with high applause, recited the same. The first of these (which contains the destruction of Troy) hath been so happy as to fall into the hands of a Translator inferior only to the Author himself; I need not add the Gentleman's name, his own worth rendering him sufficiently conspicuous. The fourth (whose subject is the passion of Dido for Aeneas) hath been equally blest, as having been made speak English by the united Studies of two Gentlemen no less eminent than the former. I wish that the whole Aenëis had learned our modern dialect from such excellent Masters.  
But since the long and pertinacious silence of those Gentlemen, is a sufficient assurance to me, that they intent to wade no further in their begun undertaking, I have (as ill-fitted as I am) ventured upon the traduction of the sixth of the Aeneis, a book as far transcending whatsoever our Master wrote, as myself (his Interpreter) am inferior to those deserving persons I have now mentioned; a book which (as Servius testifies) is so replete with sublime speculations, that divers learned men of former times judged it worth their pains to write large Commentations upon particular parts and passages thereof. Neither will we here omit the censure of the judicious Nasimboenus, since it is a truth tending so much to the honour of our accomplished Author: his words run thus; Anteponendus est hic liber caeteris sine controversiâ, in quo splendour, etc. This book of Virgil is more excellent than any of his writings, as wherein the very Quintessence of Learning and Knowledge doth most wonderfully appear: if in the rest he show himself copious and grave in his expressions, in this he is admirable. Nor seven Homers, or all Greece beside, should they summon their whole strength of wit and learning together, were able to match this sixth book of the Aenëis. Thus far that learned Critic.  
What can be said more? I am sure there is more then enough, to have discouraged me, not only from the publishing of what I have undertaken, but even from the undertaking of what I have published. The more excellent a work is in the Original, the more difficulty it still gives to the Translator. But since I have ventured upon it, although the charge of a rash undertaker may (haply) be made good against me, yet my weak performance herein may in some measure be excused, because (as I have said) the work in itself is so inimitable.  
However, Reader, I hope that although this illustrious Writer appear not in his native glory and splendour, through that glimmering and imperfect light we have lent him, yet there may be some weak rays and reflections of him, by which thou mayest discern that it is Virgil's: and that although we cannot say, as himself did elsewhere: 

* Aeneid. 3.  Sic oculos, sic ille manus, sic ora ferebat.  Yet there is not such a 
— 
* Aeneid. 2.  tantum mutatus ab illo.  But that some glimpses, some lines and features will discover the Original. The truth is, I am a very great admirer of this Author, and therefore my affection may (haply) prompt me to attempt what the Mediocrity of my parts was not able to make good: However, Reader, what is wanting herein, I hope thy candour will supply; in confidence whereof I subscribe myself  
Thy humble Servant JOHN BOYS   

To my ever honoured Cousin, JOHN BOYS of Hode-Court, Esq upon his elaborate Translation of the sixth book of Virgil's Aeneis; and learned Annotations upon the same.  
VIRGIL'S divine; let him alone for me:  
Few can a 
a Translated the fourth.  Waller, or a 
b Translated the second of the Aeneis.  Denham be.  
How should I tyre to climb up 
* A Poem written by Mr. Denham.  Cooper's hill?  
How desperate is the chase of Stags, I will  
With thanks confess amongst the learned throng,  
Those two have done this Poet the least wtong.  
He's hard to imitate in any sort:  
He shoots well that comes near, though always short.  
When I peruse the pains that some have spent  
To show us what the Poet never meant,  
How wisely they a constant Art have got  
There to exspatiate, where there is no knot:  
I am confirmed, as Selden said of Ben,  
Virgil is to be known I know not when.  
But since there are essays, 'tis nobly fixed,  
Of all the books to undertake the Sixt.  
Dear Cousin, I applaud thy well-placed pains,  
Of Poetry the fountain, and the veins  
Thy learned mind contains; each line I prise;  
To Virgil's sense you do the best arise.  
But, you're my kinsman; nothing must be good  
'Cause we do touch the same degree of blood.  
Base! barbarous! humour, not to hold them dear,  
But make them furthest off, who are most near.  
When I difwaded thee, I was unkind;  
In error 'tis allowed to change our mind.  
Do it not; do, but hold; well, let it go;  
It is not friendly to suspend thee so:  
Well; then begin; for I am much too blame  
To be thus overtender of thy fame.  
Fear not Sibylla's cave, but take the honour  
To write her rapture when the God's upon her.  
Thy Stygian Sloven Charon when I view,  
'Tis an unruly, nasty God; but you  
Have postured him aright; what can more please  
Then your description o'th' Eumenideses?  
How do you make th' infernal Hags to stare?  
Not one Snake's missing in their ugly hair.  

* Juvenal Sat. 8.  Virgil was furnished well, with boy and bed,  
Those Hydra's else had fallen from their head.  
He that wants means may have a tickling itch  
To verse, but ne'er shall soar Virgilian pitch.  
Now should some upstart judge thy labours slight,  
Turnebus, Servius, and the 
* Dela Cerda.  Jesuit  
Do guard thy pen: none may thy sense deny,  
Each weighty word hath its authority.  
But all that's nothing, thine, and every book  
Is now, or good, or bad, as it hath luck;  
None can confront the world; to chastise it  
Requires Ben Jonson's face, at least his wit.  
He that enough of money hath, or land,  
Is free; all are not bound to understand.  
Charles Fotherbie.   

To his learned Friend John Boys of Hode-Court, Esq upon his Excellent Translation of the Sixth Book of VIRGIL'S AENEIS, and his most exquisite and choice Commentations upon the same.  
LEt the dull Miser brood upon his Earth  
So long, until he hatch it to a Birth  
Of many Crowns; yet when this Muckworme dies,  
And heaps of earth close up his sordid eyes,  
His memory will wear away and rust,  
And in one Tomb grow inmate to his dust:  
But (Sir) your lines become the Thread of life  
Unto your fame, which will decline that knife  
The fatal Sisters manage, and even be  
Spun out in length to an Eternity:  
For you have built a Trophy to your name  
Shall dull the teeth of time, and from that flame  
Which burned in Virgil, you have raised a light  
Both to yourself and memory, so bright,  
And so enamelled o'er with beams, that we  
May those dark notions now even naked see,  
Stripped of their Roman dress, that slept so long  
Behind the Traverse of a foreign tongue.  
Since you with artful hand his knots untwine,  
And with new rays gild o'er his cloudy shine,  
Making your soft and easy numbers meet  
At every close with harmony of feet.  
As for your Notes, your lines oblige the ear  
As much as doth your sense the mind endear;  
For those severer things, which you indite,  
Do this instruct, as they do that delight:  
And though not words, but things are your design,  
Yet with such artifice you both conjoin,  
That strong conceits you in trim clothing show,  
And so, in one, teach both to write and know.  
Thomas Philipott.   

The ERRATA.  
Reader,  
THe escapes of the Press (which are either verbal, literal, or in pointing) impute not to the Author, whose shoulders are not broad enough to bear his own faults, much less those of others; if any such occur (as indeed they do too frequently) pray do him that right, as to turn to the Errata, and amend them as followeth. Page 15. line 3. for salace, read solace. p. 22. l. 5. for they Aloides, the Aloides. p. 41. l. 8. for remigum, remigium. ibid. l. 18. for Auus se pennas, Ausus se pennis. p. 43 l. 23. for hallowed, hollowed. p. 44. l. 10. for Decanus, Becanus. p. 55. l. 12. for mediae, media, p. 60. l. 29. for knidred words, kindred words. p. 73. l. 8. for to the Furies, to the Furies Mother. p. 74. l. 25. for guocunque, quascunque. p. 73. l. 16. for Altar, Alter. p. 81. l. 16. for repullulave, repullulate. p. 81. l. 16. for kind. bird. p. 87. l. 2. for Beleares, Baleares. p. 89. l. 21. for suage, sway. p. 95. l. 6. for hand, had. p. 116. l. 9 for Noon, Moon. p. 121. l. 21. for Ephialte, Ephialtes. p. 123. l. 20. for Elata▪ Elara. p. 126. l. 10. for therefull, therefore. p. 157. l. 21. for polices, policy. p. 169. l. 13. for policy, polity. p. 170. l. 19 for trivivial, trivial. p. 171. l. 4. for City, abode. p. 174. l 32. for because, became. p. 176. l. 27. for K. Philip's father, K. Philip, his father. p. 182. l. 22. for unreasonable, unseasonable. p. 204. l. 5. for facesque salignes, fascesque salignis.   

AENEAS. his DESCENT INTO HELL.  
The ARGUMENT.  
Aeneas, (according to the predication of Helenus in the third Book, and the Precept of his Father in the fifth,) having Sibylla for his Guide, descends into Hell, (both delightfully and learnedly here described;) where he is by Anchises instructed concerning his posterity, and the ensuing wars of Italy.  
THis [1] weeping said, the sails 
* Aeneas.  he bids display,  
And (now arrived in the [2] Cumaean Bay)  
The prow's to sea, the carved poops to shore  
They turn; the ships whilst holding anchors 
* A Sea-phrase  moor:  
On Latian ground the glad youth footing set:  
These fire do [3] strike; those from the used retreat  
Of savage beasts, the woods, do fuel bring:  
A third descries a thirst-allaying spring.  
But, good [4] Aeneas to the stately Fane  
Of high Apollo, and the mighty Den  
Of dreadful Sibyl doth repair; whose great  
Soul was by Phoebus, with prophetic heat.  
Inspired: now Diana's sacred groves  
They enter; and her gold-enriched roofs:  
When [5] Daedalus (if fame no liar be)  
From Minos' rage through yielding air did fly,  
(An untraced path) his course he Northward bend;  
And made at last at Cumae his descent:  
His wearied wings where, great Apollo, he  
Did, with this Temple, consecrate to thee:  
The slain [6] Androgeos carved on the gate,  
The yearly tribute on th' Athenian State  
Imposed, and fatal urn you might behold;  
With Creets fair Isle, which Neptune's arms enfold:  
And here thy beastly love, Pasiphaë,  
Thy stolen delights, and monstrous progeny,  
The Minotaur, the 
* Daedalus.  Artist did present,  
Of filthy lust a lasting Monument.  
Here you that 
* The Labyrinth.  pile epitomised might see  
From whose Meanders none themselves could free.  
But pitt'ing the 
* Ariade, daughter to Minos.  Queen's over-pow'rfull flame,  
The subtle mazes of that winding frame  
Wise Daedalus discovers, with a clue  
Guiding the doubtful steps: in this work thou  
(Had grief consented) Icarus thy part  
Hadst had Twice thy sad fate, and his own art  
He strove to show: the Father twice let fall  
His hand: thus they soon had surveyed all,  
Had not Achates with the 
* Sibylla.  Maid appeared,  
Who 
* A name of Diana.  Trivia's and Apollo's Fane did guard:  
" Who thus bespeaks Aeneas: on these sights  
" To gaze 'tis now no time; for holy rites  
" Prepare: seven Steers, yet-never-yoaked choose  
" For sacrifice: and seven unblemished Ewes.  
This said, she them (whilst some were busied  
About the Rites) into the Temple led.  
A mighty [7] vault out of the hollowed side  
Oth' solid rock was cut: a hundred wide  
Paths to the same Conduct; a hundred gates,  
Whence rush as many voices, Sibyls fates:  
They now approach; when thus the 
* Sibylla.  Prophetess,  
Behold the God: to him thyself address.  
As she thus spoke nor ⁹ colour, face, nor hair  
Appeared the same; but, discomposed were;  
Rage's wholly seizing her inspired breast.  
But, when more fully with the God possessed  
She was, her limbs extended did appear,  
Nor did her voice, as humane, strike the ear.  
" Why dost thou, 
* Aeneas.  Trojan, vows, and prayers neglect?  
" No answer without vows, and prayers expect.  
Thus she: but, whilst fear doth the rest surprise,  
Aeneas to the God himself applies: 
His prayer.   
" Phoebus, who still for suffering Troy didst stand:  
" Who 'gainst Achilles' didst direct the hand,  
" And dart of Paris: often under thy  
" Protection have I put to sea: oft I  
" O'er dangerous 
* The Syrteses.  quicksands sailed have: 
* The Africans  remote  
" And barbarous Nations visited: let not  
" The Trojan luck us still pursue: at last  
" Let us repose, where we ourselves have placed:  
" And all ye Deities, who ever have  
" 'Gainst Troy offended been, now deign to save  
" Us the remains of Pergamus: Last thou  
" Blest 
* Sibylla.  Virgin. who things future dost foreshow,  
" Let (since the fates conspire with my request)  
" Us, 
His Vow.  with our wandring-gods in Latium rest:  
" To Phoebus then and Diana ' will I raise  
" A stately [9] Pile, ordaining annual [10] plays  
" To his great name; nor [11] Virgin unto thee  
" Shall Temples (fates befriending) wanting bee.  
" My offspring I shall charge, religiously  
" Thy answers to observe: for thy Rites I  
" Shall chosen men appoint: only forbear  
" Thy fates to [12] writing to commit: for fear  
" They do a sport become to th' ruffling wind:  
" Let thy tongue bear the Message of thy mind.  
But Sibyl yet unwilling to comply  
With the impulse of Phoebus, furiously  
Raves in her Cell, and strives out of her breast  
The God to cast: who still doth her infest  
The more; her foaming mouth, and her enraged  
Heart over pow'ring, till he both assuaged.  
And now the hundred Gates do open fly  
Of their accord: whence issues this reply.  
" O thou [13] who hast great dangers of the Sea  
" Surmounted now at last; know, greater thee  
" On Land attend: On the Italian shore  
" The Trojans shall arrive (nor be thou more  
" For this Solicitous) but soon repent  
" Of their attempt; Mine eyes to me present  
" Wars; horrid wars. I Tiber swollen see  
" With human gore: nor Simoïs' to thee  
" Shall wanting be; Xanthus, nor Grecian Hosts,  
" Or an Achilles, who as proudly boasts  
" Of his divine extract; nor ever shall  
" Juno let her immortal hatred fall.  
" What Nations, in thy great extremity  
" Shalt thou not Court, and to what Cities fly?  
" Thou all thy woes again unto a wife  
" Shalt owe; from Stranger beds this fatal strife  
" Shall once more be derived.  
" Yet stoop not to cross fates: but still appear  
" The more resolved; the more adverse they are.  
" Thy first supplies (which thou wilt scarce believe)  
" Thou from a Grecian [14] City shalt receive.  
Thus from her Cell th'inspired Prophetess  
In dark [15] ambages did herself express;  
Obscurely hinting truths. Thus Phoebus does  
Her fury stir, and then the same compose.  
When (rage repressed) the silent Virgin ceased,  
The Trojan Hero from his generous breast  
These words did pour▪ No dangers unto me  
" Are strange, or, Virgin, shake my Constancy  
" 'Gainst worst of accidents I am prepared:  
" This boon I only beg (for I have heard  
" That here the way to the infernall-king  
" Doth lead: that here the Acherontic spring  
" Its Sulphurous streams doth vent) that I my deer  
" Father may visit; and with him confer:  
" Through fire and sword, him on these shoulders I  
" Did bear: through thickest of the Enemy  
" Made his retreat: aged, and weak with me  
" All dangers on the Land, all storms at Sea  
" He did sustain: He also did enjoin  
" That I should humbly to thy sacred Shrine,  
" And thee repair; and thine assistance crave:  
" Than of the 
* Aeneas,  Son and 
* Anchiaes',  Father pity have;  
" For in thy power it lies: sure 
* Diana.  Hecate  
" Did not in vain this Grove intrust to thee,  
" If [16] Orpheus' could (relying on his skill)  
" Deceased Eurydice recall from Hell;  
" If Pollux could (by his own death) release  
" His Brother; and so oft between did pass.  
" If Theseus, and 
* Hercules.  Alcides did the same,  
" Why may not I? from Jove I also came.  
In these words he the Altars did [17] embrace,  
Whilst she replies: sprung of Celestial race  
" Great 
* Aereas son to Anchisis.  Anchisiades: with ease to [18] Hell  
" Thou may'st descend; those Gates are patent still  
" But, to retreat, and this world to review,  
" That is a task: the labour of some few,  
" To Whom Jove grace indulged; whose fames the praise  
" Of active Courage to the skies did raise:  
" Some offsprings o'th' immortal Deities:  
" Such have ('tis true) amidst dark woods it lies:  
" With black Cocytus' lazy stream embraced.  
" But, if so longing a desire thou hast  
" Hell twice to see, and twice that Stygian lake  
" To ferry o'er: if thou wilt undertake  
" A task so uncouth; then thou art to know  
" What thou, in order to the same, must do.  
" Hid in a thick and shady Tree [19] a bough  
" With golden leaves, and golden stem doth grow.  
" To Hells-Queen 
* Proserpina  sacred: hardly to be found  
" 'Midst those dark Coverts which do it furround.  
" But none can to those lower parts descend;  
" Till from the Tree its golden-fruit they rend.  
" This to her to be brought, fair Proserpina,  
" As a most grateful present doth enjoin:  
" Nor wants the ravished branch a golden heir,  
" But, is succeeded by a shoot as fair.  
" Around thee look, and (when descried) the bough  
" With care break off; if fates of thee allow,  
" It, willingly will yield; if not, nor force,  
" Or sharpest weapon can the same divorce.  
" Beside [20] (unknown to thee) unburied lies  
" Thy friends dead body: his last exequys  
" To him perform: him to his Grave commend,  
" Who (whilst consulting here thou dost attend)  
" Thy Fleet pollutes; this done, black Beefs for thee  
" Must to Hell's powers an expiation be.  
" Then thou shalt ro those Stygian Realms descend,  
" Which, living, none approach: she here doth end.  
In gesture sad Aeneas leaves the vaued,  
Th' event of things in his perplexed thought  
Revolving, whilst him his still constant friend  
Achates [21], alike thoughtful doth attend:  
They with themselves debated as they went;  
For what dead friend these funeral Rites were meant,  
When they no sooner came to the Seaside,  
But, they Misenus murdered there espied.  
Misenus; then [22] whom none more Martial fire,  
Could into men by Trumpets sound inspire:  
As Hector's friend he him accompanied,  
Famed for his Art, as for his valour tried.  
When him of life Achilles spoiled had,  
The valiant 
* Mesenus.  Hero a near friendship made  
With brave Aeneas? nor in this did he  
Join in a lesse-deserving amity,  
But, him, whilst with shrill notes the Ocean he  
Alarms; and does the Gods themselves defy.  
Triton (his exc'llence envying) betrays;  
And drowns amidst the rock-surrounding Seas.  
Wherefore around him all lamenting stand:  
The good Aeneas chiefly: the Command  
Of Sibyl the whole Company obeys:  
And a vast pyre of pyled timber raise:  
Unto an ancient wood their course they bend,  
Fat Pitch-trees fall; redoubled strokes extend  
The yielding Holm; the Ash, the Wedg-rived Oak,  
And Alder feel the weighty axe's stroke.  
Aeneas also (whom like arms invest)  
By his example doth excite the rest:  
And, as the lofty Forest he surveys,  
From his minds sad reflections thus he prays;  
" Oh! That I could this golden bough descry;  
" Since too too true it is whate'er of thee  
" The Prophetess, Misenus, hath foretell,  
" Oh that I could that golden-bough behold:  
He scarce had ended when of Doves [23] a brace  
Before him light upon the tender grass:  
His 
* Venus.  Mother's birds he knew; and, joyed doth pray;  
Be ye my guides, to those groves show the way;  
Where the rich bough doth with its shade invest  
The fruitful ground: nor cease thou to assist  
Me (Goddesse-Mother) in all straits: then He,  
Making a halt, observes the Augury.  
And marks their course; who 'fore him [24] feeding fly,  
As far as he could follow with his eye.  
Arrived then at Avernus' noisome Lake,  
With nimble wings, through liquid air, they make:  
Until that tree their wished perch became,  
Where through the boughs the glittering gold did flame.  
As [25] Misletoe (of the tree where it grows 
☜   
No seminal production) verdant shows  
In winter's cold; as that its yellow leaves  
Around its tender branches interweaves.  
So the rich metal grew; the 
* Bractea, lamina.  Goldfoile so  
Did crackle, when the whispering wind did blow:  
Then hastily Aeneas at it caught,  
And, when broke off, it to Sibylla brought.  
Mean [26] while the Trojans for Misenus mourn,  
And, to his ashes the last deuce return.  
First they a mighty Pyre erect, whose base  
Of rived Oak, and oily pitch-trees was:  
They with dark boughs the sides, th' extremities  
With Cypress trim: a top, his armour lies.  
Warm Baths than they prepare; his cold stiff joints  
Part with the same foments, part them anoints:  
Then him, as dead bewailing, on a bed  
They lay, o'er which they purple garments spread,  
The usual Hears-cloths; these support the Bier,  
Whilst those (their faces turned) flames to the Pyre  
Apply: into the same than others do  
Sweets, costly meats, oil with the vessels throw.  
Then into ashes, when the hungry fire  
The Corpse had turned, and did itself expire,  
The flames remains, and thirsty embers they  
With Wine (upon them poured) do allay:  
In a brasse-Urn Chorôneus doth enclose  
Th' assembled bones, thrice with fair water does  
Th' 
* Th: standers-by.  Assistants purge, them sprinkling with the same,  
Then the last words (lustration done) doth name.  
But, good Aeneas a fair [27] tomb doth rear  
His arms his Oar, and trumpet carving there,  
Under [28] a lofty Mountain, from his name  
Misenus [29] called, to his eternal fame.  
This ended he proceeds: There was a [30] Cave,  
To whose deep womb a vast mouth entrance gave,  
Surrounded with dark shades, and a black [31] Lake  
O'er which no birds their flight could safely take.  
Such noisome vapours were from thence exhaled,  
Hence by the Greeks it was Aornos called.  
To this [32] Caves mouth 
* Aeneas.  he four black Bullocks led;  
Upon whose heads the Priest wine having shed,  
The hairs he (as a praevious offering)  
Plucked from between the victims horns, doth fling  
Into the sacred flames: on Hecate  
(In Heaven and hell a powerful Deity)  
He calls: their yielded throats these cut, whilst those  
In Bowls their blood receive: Aeneas does  
With his own hands, unto the Fury's Dam,  
And her great sister, slay a black-fleeced Lamb:  
To Proserpina a barren Cow: then he  
Doth nightly Altars, Pluto, raise to thee,  
On which, of Bulls, a Holocaust he fries,  
Pouring fat oil upon the Sacrifice.  
But, when Sol first his morning rays did shed,  
The Ground beneath to groan, the Trees o're-head  
To shake began: 
* Proserpine, who by these incantations was raised.  Goddess near  
Did draw, of fiends they yells and howl hear  
" Through the dark shades: Avaunt, avaunt, profane  
" The 
* Sibylla cries thus to the Fiends, etc.  Virgin cries, and from these groves abstain;  
But, thou with thy drawn steel advance: behold,  
It now behoves Aeneas to be bold.  
This said, into the yawning Gulph she leaps.  
His 
* Sibylla.  Guide he follows with undaunted steps:  
" Gods of dislodged Souls, and silent Ghosts, 
The Poet's invocation.   
" Chaos, and Phlegeton, night's dismal coasts:  
" Let me relate what I have heard; reveal  
" What e'er in its dark womb earth doth conceal.  
Through 
* Pluto.  Dis [33] his void & empty Mansions they,  
In darkness shrouded, grope their doubtful way:  
Under a shady woods thick coverts so  
Men by the Moons uncertain glimm'rings go,  
When Jove in clouds hath wrapped the darkened sky,  
And night with-drawn all colours from the eye.  
'Fore Hell's [34] base-Court, Sadness with poignant care,  
As everwaking Sentinels appear:  
Pale Sickness, peevish Age, Death, Labour, Fear,  
Ill-prompting Hunger, sluttish Want dwell there,  
(Forms dreadful to behold) Death's brother Sleep,  
Self-hugging Sin; dire War next station keep:  
Last th' iron beds of the 
* Furies.  Eumenideses,  
And witless Discord neighbouring were to these:  
With bloody fillets bound about her head.  
Within the Court a shady [35] Elm did spread  
Its aged branches; Here the vulgar tell  
That vain Dreams (under each leaf shrouded) dwell;  
Beside, of divers forms there monsters were:  
Centaurs [36] stalled at the Gates: mixed [37] Scylla's there,  
Hundred armed [38] Briareus, with [39] 
* Hydra.  Lerna's beast,  
Whose fearful hissings the whole place infest:  
Chimaer ' [40] with flames environed [41] Gorgon's there,  
And [42] Harpies, with three-bodied-Elves [43] appear,  
Aeneas (whom surprisal made afraid)  
As they approach, presents his threatening blade.  
And, 
Sibylla.  had he not by his wise * Guide been told,  
That he but apparitions did behold,  
Forms without bodies; them he charged had,  
And on the Ghosts a vain impression made.  
The way hence to infernal [44] Ach'ron leads,  
That troubled and unfathomed gulf here spreads  
Its enlarged bosom, whence it up doth fling  
Its noisome sands into Cocytus' spring.  
A dreadful Ferryman doth guard this pass,  
Horrid, old, nasty [45] Charon, on whose face  
A wood of snarled, and grizly hair doth grow:  
His eyes (like saucers) stare, like fire do glow:  
Tied on his shoulders hung his sordid coat:  
A Pole did steer, and sails advance his Boat,  
Wherein his airy freight he o'er did pass:  
And (though in years) the 
* Chiron.  God yet lusty was,  
Matrons, and men, with Ghosts of Heroes stout,  
Boys, and unmarried Virgins throng about  
These banks, with youths imposed on the Pyre,  
Before the face of their lamenting Sire.  
Trees do not faster shed their withered locks 
☜   
In Autumn's cold, nor in more numerous flocks  
Do Birds from Northern-blasts make their retreat  
To Regions blest with more indulgent heat.  
They for praecedence striving, prayed; and did  
(Desirous of the Rivers further side)  
Stretch forth their hands: But the grim Boat-man those,  
Now these receives: but others doth oppose  
In their desired passage: Here the good  
Aeneas (who, at this throng, wondering stood)  
" Tell, Maid, doth say; what means this confluence?  
" What would those Souls? and why this difference?  
" That those should from the banks depart, whilst these  
" With joyful Oars do sweep the livid Seas,  
The aged Priestesse briefly thus replies:  
" Anchiseses son, of the great Deities  
" Th' undoubted offspring, thou dost here survey  
" Cocytus' noisome streams: that Stygian bay,  
" By which the Gods do fear an Oath to take;  
" But, more that Oath, which they have ta'en, to break:  
" Those troops are such, as yet no burial have:  
" That Boat-man, Charon: those he wafts, a Grave  
" Have found: None may be ferried o'er this Deep,  
" Till in the Earth their quiet bones do sleep.  
" A [46] hundred years about these banks they stray:  
" This term expired, the passage than is free:  
Aeneas stopped, with various thoughts oppressed,  
And for their harder fate much grief expressed:  
Leucaspes, and Lycian Orontes he  
Sad (as deprived foe funeral Rites) did see,  
Whom stormie-Winds (both men and ships) did drown  
As they fled from their sacked and flaming 
* Troy.  Town.  
His master [47] Palinurus here appears, 
Master of Aeneas his Ship.   
Who (whilst from Lybia sailing, the bright stars  
He did observe) into the Deep did fall  
To him (whom he to mind could scarce recall.  
Amidst those shades) Aeneas doth begin:  
" By what God hast thou from us ravished been?  
" Say Palinurus, who hath drowned thee?  
" Phoebus' (who ne'er before deluded me)  
" Herein hath me deceived: He made believe  
" That on 
* Italy.  Ausonia's shore thou shouldst arrive  
" Safe from all dangers of the faithless flood:  
" What? doth the God his promise thus make good?  
" But he, nor Phoebus hath deluded thee  
" Great Chief, or in the surges drowned me.  
" The helm (by which, as Steersman I our Course  
" Did govern) from the vessel rend by force,  
" Falling, I with me drew: by Seas I swear,  
" That none, me lost, could be ingreater fear,  
" For thee then I, least void of guide and helm  
" The swelling waves thy ship should over whelm:  
" Three winter nights by stormy Auster tossed,  
" I floated on the waves: th' Italian coast,  
" (As I a rolling billow did bestride)  
" On the fourth morning hardly I descried.  
" ay safe now gain the shore, to which I made,  
" When wet and tired, a savage rout my invade,  
" Guided by hopes of prey, as I did climb  
" And grasp the craggy Rock: now dead I swim,  
" A sport to winds, and waves rolled to the shore:  
" But, by heaven's blessed light I thee implore,  
" By thy dead 
* Anchises, Ascanius.  Sire, and by thy living * Heir,  
" Me from these miseries, great Conqueror,  
" Rescue, or me inter; which thou mayst, do  
" If to the Port of Velia thou wilt go,  
" Or if some other way there be, if thy  
" Fair 
* Venus.  Mother it to thee doth show: (for I  
" Believe without the Auspice of the Gods,  
" Thou ventur'st not to pass these dreadful floods)  
" Help wretched me, me o'er these streams convey,  
" That quietly, in death, repose I may.  
But, to him thus the Prophetess replies,  
" From whence doth this accust desire arise?  
" Think'st, Palinure, unburied to sail o'er  
" The Stygian sound, or to the other shore  
" Without thy passport wilt thou go? forbear,  
" The stubborn Fates mill not be bowed by Prayr:  
" Take this for salace of thy sadder chance,  
" By prodigies compelled, th' Inhabitants  
" Both far, and near, thy 
* Ghost.  Manes shall appease,  
" And to thy memory a tomb shall raise  
" After thy name to all eternity;  
" The place shall Palinurus called be.  
" This speech, the grief which he conceived, abates:  
" He's pleased that he that Coast denominates.  
Wherefore proceeding they do now draw nigh,  
The River, whom when Charon did espy,  
Tending that way, he [48] rudely thus began speak;  
" Who e'er thou art, who armed to this Lake  
" Guidest thy bold steps, what is thine errand here?  
" Say man, and further to advance forbear.  
" Of Ghosts, sleep, drowsy night thou viewst the place,  
" No living bodies in our Bark may pass:  
" Nor [49] that Pirithous, and Hercules  
" With Theseus came aboard me, did it please,  
" Though from the Gods they were descended; though  
" For matchless valour none could them outdo:  
" One Hell's grim Guardian bound, 
Hercules, who ●ound Cerberus  and trembling drew  
" From our great Sov'raigns' Throne: the other two  
" From This his arms his Queen designed to force. 
A name of Pluto.   
The [50] Virgin briefly speaks to this discourse,  
" Be not offended, we no treason bear,  
" No violence, though we be armed, fear:  
" That 
* Cerberus.  Porter may to all aeternity  
" Lie barking in his Den, 
Pluto was Uncle to Proserpine, as well as Husband.  and terrify  
" The bloodless Ghosts: the Empress of Hell,  
" May unattempted with her Uncle dwell;  
" For piety and arms Aeneas great  
" Doth seek his father in hell's lowest seat:  
" If so great piety persuade not, see  
" This bough; (the Bough in her vest hidden she  
Did then display) He pacifed replies,  
No more; but viewing with admiring eyes  
The honoured Branch, not seen long time before,  
He turns his Boat, and doth approach the shore.  
Then he (the Souls which here, there scattered sat  
Displacing) clears the Decks; this done, the great  
Aeneas he receives: the crazed Bark sinks  
Under the weight; and the waves (leaky) drinks:  
At last his freight on th' other side the flood  
He safely lands amidst the sedgy mud.  
Vast [51] Cerberus (who makes those realms resound  
With his deep yells) lies couchant on the ground,  
In a near Den, whom when the maid did see  
Rousing his Snakes, a sop in honey she,  
And sleepy juices steeped, to him did fling:  
Three mouths at once the Monster opening  
It snatched: now his vast sides he doth display:  
His whole Den covering, as he sleeping lay:  
The 
* Cerberus,  Guard secured, the Prince the pass doth gain:  
And quits those banks, 
* Aeneas.  whence none return again.  
Voices [52] forthwith, and lamentable cries,  
Of deceased Infants here his ears surprise:  
Whom from their mother's breasts, as soon, as born,  
Untimely death, and hasty fates had torn:  
Next were [53] who wrongfully condemned had been;  
For even in Hell is formal Justice seen:  
Th' Urn Minos shakes, Of Ghosts a Court he calls,  
Where he, as Judge, sits on the Criminals:  
Bordering on [54] these, a troop of such appears,  
As had been their own Executioners:  
How gladly would they (though they did sustain  
All wants, all hardships) see blest light again?  
Fates thwart: an unrenavigable sound,  
And Styx's ninefold Moat doth them surround.  
Not far from [55] hence they on vast plains arrive,  
The Mourning fields; this name to them they give.  
Here secret walks, and myrtle groves do hide,  
For cruel love who (languishing) have died.  
Nor are their flames (though dead) assuaged; here he  

* See the Comment.  Phaedra and Procris, Eriphil ' did see.  
Of her unnatural son the wounds who showed:  
Evadne with Pasiphaë here were viewed:  
Laodomîa these accompanied,  
With Coeneus, change of sex so oft who tried.  
Amongst whom Dido (her wounds bleeding yet)  
Wandered in a vast Grove, whom when Troy's great  
Hero approaching, through thick darkness knew,  
(In her first quarter, so the Moon doth show,  
Veiled in obscuring clouds) he tears did shed,  
And thus, to her (through deep resentment) said  
" Unhappy Dido! it was therefore true,  
" That thou wert dead; that thine own hands thee slew:  
" Alas! I was the cause, by Stars I swear,  
" By th' powers above, by those who govern here,  
" Queen, I did thee unwillingly forsake:  
" But those divine Commands (by which I take  
" On me this journey, through unfathomed Hell,  
" These shades, and squalid places) did compel  
" Me to that act: nor could I ere believe,  
" That for my loss thou couldst so deeply grieve.  
" Ah! stay: thyself withdraw not from my sight:  
" Whom shun'st thou? stay: we never more shall meet.  
Thus he with tears, and sweetening words allayed  
The Queen's just grief: whilst she the same bewrayed  
In scornful frowns, and looks from him averse;  
As unconcerned, at what he did rehearse,  
As hardest flint, or 
* Paros, is one of the Cycladeses, famous for marble. Marpesus is a hill there; so that Parian and Marpesiam are all one.  Parian rock: last she  
Away did fling, and in a rage did fly  
Unto a shady Grove, where she repairs  
To her old Lord, who answers to her cares,  
Her dear 
* Dido's first Husband.  Sichaeus: nor did her sad fate  
Less pity in Aenaeas breast create,  
By trickling tears expressed. Then on his way  
He doth proceed; and now those regions they  
Approach, which by famed [56] warrior's haunted were:  
Here Tydeus he, Parthenopaeus here,  
That gallant youth, and pale Adrastus' Ghost,  
Here he those worthy Trojans (who had lost  
Their lives in fight) beheld: here he did see  
Thersil'chus, Glaucus, Medon: here the three  
Antênors, Polybete, Idaeus here,  
Who in his Chariot armed did appear:  
These Ghosts him round, both on the left and right,  
Nor could be sated with one single sight:  
They must gaze on, and nearer to him stand;  
They must of him his journey's cause demand:  
But the Greek Peers; And Agamemnon's men  
Through heartless fear began to tremble, when  
They him beheld in his bright armour clad:  
These fled, as when towards their ships they made;  
Whilst others raise a shrill and feeble cry,  
Which, while they yawning strive to speak, doth die:  
And [57] hear Deiphobus of Priam's race,  
All over wounds, with cruelly mangled face,  
Face, and both hands, appears; whose bleeding head  
Of ears was spoiled, and nose disfigured  
With an unseemly wound: in this disguise  
Scarce to be known, to him the 
* Aeneas.  Prince applies  
" Himself in friendly words: Deiphobus,  
" The valiant seed of Teucer, who hath thus  
" Cruelly thee abused? who on thee could  
" Take this advantage? It to me was told,  
" That the last night, with Grecian slaughter tired,  
" You on a heap of the dead foes expired:  
" Then I did raise on the Rhaetaean shore  
" For thee an empty Tomb; thrice did implore  
" Thy Ghost; thy name and arms still there abide:  
" I could no better then for thee provide.  
" Then here Priamides: 
Deiphobus, son of Priam.  not aught by thee  
" Hath been omitted, friend; thou hast to me  
" All Rites performed: but mine own Fates, and spite  
" of that Greek 
* Helen.  Strumpet me hath buried quite  
" In these disasters, and bequeathed to me  
" These sad mementoes: for whilst vainly we  
" Troy's 
* Of Troy's surviving.  final night in jollity did spend:  
" (It too just cause we have to call to mind)  
" When th' fatal Horse our lofty walls did scale,  
" Pregnant with its armed birth, a solemn brawl  
" Feigning, as chief th' unhappy dance she led,  
" The Phrygian Dames did the same measures tread,  
" Singing wild 
* Hymns in the praise of Bacchus.  Orgies: whilst a blazing light  
" Holding, she did her Greeks to th' sack invite.  
" Then my unhappy bed did me detain,  
" Where profound sleep did all my Senses chain:  
" Mean while my 
* Helen. Ironicè  virtuous wife my arms did hide,  
" And stole my trusty Sword from my bedside.  
" Then Menelaüs calling in, she opened  
" The gates; this she a grateful office hoped  
" Would to her 
* Menelaüs, her first Husband.  lover prove; that thereby she  
" Of her past crimes the hated memory  
" Should quite abolish: why more words? they forced  
" Into my Chamber: with the rest th' accursed  
" Aeolides rushed in: 
Ulysses Grand son of Aeolus.  if I aright  
" do pray, just Gods, alike those greeks requite:  
" But, likewise tell, what fates have thee alive  
" Brought hither? Did the stormy Sea thee drive?  
" Or Gods command? what moved thee, my friend,  
" To this dark noisome place thy course to bend?  
Whilst thus they talk, 
* See the Comment.  Morn with her rosy wain  
Had more than measured the Meridian:  
And happily thus they more time had spent,  
But, that the 
* Sibylla,  Maid did these delays prevent:  
" Thus interposing, Night, brave Prince, doth haste,  
" And we in tears our precious hours do waste.  
" Into two paths this way itself doth spread:  
" The right doth to great Pluto's Palace lead,  
" Where the Elysium lies: the left directs  
" To Hell, where torments do the damned vex:  
Diephobus in answer then replies:  
" Let not, great Priestess, anger thee surprise:  
" i'll go, in darkness my set time to spend:  
" But thee, our 
* Aeneas.  glory, better fates attend.  
" This [57] having said, himself he did withdraw.  
T' his left hand then Aeneas turning, saw  
Vast buildings, which three towered walls enclose,  
A round which Phleg'tons flaming torrent flows,  
Rolling huge stones: The Gate (whose Pillars were  
Cut of solid adamant) did bear  
Th' imposed burden of an iron Tower,  
And was so strong, that it no humane power  
Nor Gods themselves (were they turned Engineers)  
Could force: Here fell 
* One of the Furies.  Tisiphone appears,  
Gyrt with a bloodstained coat: she at this gate,  
An everwaking Centinel did wait:  
Here groans were heard, clashing of whips here sound,  
Grating of iron, with chains drawled on the ground.  
Aenaeas stopped, and (frighted) to the noise  
" Listened; what dreadful sights, say Maid, are these?  
" What tortures? and what hideous yells invade  
" Mine ears? Renowned Trojan, than she said,  
" No hallowed person may this cursed place  
" Approach, but when by 
* Diana, in hell called Hecate, in heaven Luna  Hecate I was  
" Entrusted with Avernus Grove, than she  
" In all particulars instructed me.  
" [59] Hear Rhadamant, that stern Inquisiter  
" Praesides; compelling to confess what ere  
" Crimes cunningly above contrived have been,  
" And, by him unrepented, who the sin  
" (In vain concealed) hath perpetrated: Here  
" Tisiphone [60] doth with a whip appear,  
" Insulting o'er the guilty: her foul snakes  
" With her left hand the 
* Tisiphone.  Fury at them shakes,  
" Her bloody sisters calling to her aid:  
" The damned Gate gave way, whilst this she said,  
" Groaning on its hoarse hinges: Didst thou see  
" (She than proceeds) what fearful guards did lie  
" At Hell's first entrance, and that pass did keep?  
" More filthy Monsters crawl within its deep  
" And ugly womb, which twice as far descends  
" Beneath the Centre, as the heaven extends  
" Above the same. In this foul Dungeon I  
" The [61] Titan's, 
See the Comment.  earth's firstborn, did wallowing spy:  
" I also then Aloïdes surveyed,  
" Whilst they their vast proportions there displayed.  
" These the high heavens did attempt to raze,  
" And from his starry throne Jove to displace.  
" I saw Salmôneus cruel pains sustain, 
See the Comment   
" Whilst he jov' lightning did, and thunder feign.  
" Drawn by four horses, he through 
* Salmoneus was King of Elis, a Province of Peloponnesus, whereof Pisa was the capital City.  Pisa rod  
" With brandished torch, and would be thought a God.  
" Mad man, who ' inimitable thunder strove  
" To feign with brass, and horn-hoofed steeds: but Jove  
" At him from heavens high Arcenal let fly  
" A shot (with brands and smoking torches he  
" Used most to sport) and down to th' lowest Hell  
" Therewith did in a dismal storm compel.  
" Moreover earthborn 
* See the Comment.  Tityus there I 'spyde,  
" Whos's large dimensions did nine acres hide:  
" On his immortal liver (growing still  
" As 'twas devoured) a vulture with his bill  
" Did ever tyre, and (parched upon his breast)  
" To his renewed bowels gave no rest.  
" Pirithous why should I mention? Why  
" Ixion, or the bloody Lapithae?  
" O'er whom a fearful stone (a sudden fall  
" Menacing) hangs, whilst they on 
* Torus genialis, is properly the Bridebed, and because this used to be richly adorned, genial here is taken for rich, stately, or magui ficent.  genial  
" Couches with golden frames supported, feast,  
" But, th' eldest of the Furies (here a Guest)  
" With threatening torch doth rise up from her seat,  
" And them forbids to touch th' inviting meat.  
" Those [62] who their brothers have pursued with hate,  
" Their Clients cheated, or their Parents beat;  
" Or for themselves alone, who gold did hoard,  
" (Whose number's greatest) nor a part afford  
" To their near friends, whose fates unbridled lust  
" Hath hastened on, who have deceived their trust,  
" And 'gainst their King and lawful Sovereign  
" (In impious broils engaged) their Swords have drawn,  
" Their Doom do here expect; nor ask what Doom,  
" Or by what form condemned; 
As did Sisyphus.  how hither come:  
" Some a huge stone do 
* The punishment of Ixion.  roll; some fasten dare  
" To a swift * wheel: unhappy Theseus there  
" Doth sit, and shall to all eternity.  
" The wretched Phlegyas aloud doth cry,  
" And through the shades thus constantly advise,  
" When warned, learn Justice; nor, the Gods despise:  
" Of's Country's freedom this made Merchandise;  
" He made Laws, and unmade them at a price:  
" This his own daughter bedded: 
* Such were, for a time, the late Traitors, to whom this verse may well be applied: Ausi omnes immân: nefas; ausoque polite. Virg.  All have been  
" As happy in success, as bold in Sin:  
" Had I a hundred mouths, a hundred tongues;  
" An iron voice, and had I brazen lungs,  
" I could no way all sorts of Crimes comprise,  
" Or tortures, wherewith sinners they chastise:  
The aged [63] Priestesse having this expressed;  
" Go on (doth cry) and perfect now the rest:  
" With haste proceed: the arched Gates appear,  
" And walls, which by the Cyclops framed were,  
" Our golden gift we here must leave: This said,  
Through gloomy paths with equal pace they tread;  
Their way they soon dispatch; and now draw near  
Great Pluto's Gates: Aeneas entering there,  
And himself with fair water sprinkling, does  
Within the Porch the precious branch depose.  
These Rites performed, to [64] joyful places they,  
Pleasant green-Groves, blessed seats themselves convey:  
The fields with [65] cheerful light the freer sky  
Invests: their own both [66] Sun and Stars they see:  
Some in green Meads, contending for the prize,  
Or on the bright sand their limbs exercise:  
Some nimbly foot it to a well tuned song,  
The Thracian 
* Orpheus.  Poet, clothed in a long  
Robe, the [67] seven notes of music warbling, sings:  
This hand doth stop; that strikes the answ'ring strings.  
Teucer's old race, and fair Descendants here,  
Brave Heroes, born in better times, appear:  
Here Dardanus, sad Troy's first founder, and  
Ilus with brave Assaracus did stand:  
Their empty [68] Charets, arms, erected Spears,  
Beholding, at a distance, he admires:  
Their steeds unbridled range the fields all o'er:  
With what care they their arms, and Charets, before  
They left the living, kept: with what their sleek  
And stately Coursers they did keep, the like  
Continued was by them, when dead: here he  
On either hand a multitude did see  
Spending in banqueting their careless days;  
Dancing, and singing great 
* (Poean) the word here used by Virg. is a hymn in the praise of Apollo.  Apollo's praise  
In a sweet laurel Grove, through which the [68] Pa  
Doth gently with its liquid Crystal flow.  
Here those, who for their Country wounds, received  
In fight, could show; those Priests, who, whilst they lived,  
Were chaste; those 
* For thus Vates is to be rendered; not Poers, (as Mr. Ogilby hath done) see Servius, with whom the rest of Virgil's Interpreters agree.  Prophets who religious were,  
And things of Phoebus' worthy did declare.  
Who had been Authors of some useful Arts;  
Who others had obliged by good deserts;  
All such in these blessed mansions did reside,  
Having their temples with white fillets tied:  
To whom (surrounding her) Sibylla said,  
But, chiefly to [70] Musaeus (by the head  
Taller than those, who wondering him invest)  
Say blessed Souls, and thou of 
* Musaeus.  Poets best,  
Where may we find Anchises, for whose sake  
We ventured have to pass the Stygian Lake?  
Then briefly he: None here have constant seats,  
In shady Groves we have our known retreats:  
The flowery banks, and stream-veined Meadows we  
Do here, and there frequent; but (if so be  
You it desire) that hills unforced ascent  
(Your readiest way) o'ercome. This said, he went  
Before, as Guide, and from above did show  
Delightful plains; then down the hill they go.  
But Aged Anchises, in a cheerful vale  
Souls, from the rest apart, survay'd, which shall  
heavens blessed light again review: here he  
Numbered his own renowned progeny:  
Their Gests, and power, what fates should them betide:  
But, when Aeneas coming he espied,  
With tears of joy, and hands erected he  
Cries; Art thou come? Hath thy known piety  
Mastered all hardships? Son, do I thy face  
Behold? and doth discourse between us pass?  
Upon compute I did the time foresee,  
Nor have I erred in mine Augury.  
After what storms both on the Sea and Land,  
After what hazards, Son, by thee sustained  
Do I embrace thee? Oh! how did I fear  
Lest thee the Court of Carthage should ensnare?  
But he: thy Ghost, Father, thy woeful Ghost,  
Often appearing, forced me to this coast:  
Our Fleet rides in the Tyrrhene sea: give me  
Thine hand, dear Sire, nor my embraces fly:  
He spoke, and wept; thrice his embraces sought  
In vain thrice at the fleeting shadow caught;  
Like wind which vanished, or a winged dream.  
Mean while Aeneas the Lethaean stream,  
(Which by those pleasant seats did softly glide)  
And fair enclosures in the vale espied:  
About whose banks a multitude did stray,  
As buzie Bees do on a Sunny day 
☜   
Upon the flowërs' brood, and sport about  
The painted Meadows; with the murmuring rout  
The Plains resound: This unexpected sight  
To wonder, and enquiry did invite  
The stranger Prince, who asked what streams those were?  
What those, who in such numbers did repair  
Unto the same? The Father doth reply;  
" Those unhoused [78] Souls (for whom by fates Decree  
" New Mansions are reserved) on Lethe's brink  
" Oblivion, and thought-quelling draughts do drink:  
" Long since I these before thee to present  
" Have wished; and to recount, who their descent  
" From me derive, that thou mayst thence the more  
" Rejoice, when thou shalt touch the wished shore  
" Of Italy: 
* The words of Aeneas.  Father can it descend  
" Into our thoughts, that Souls from hence ascend?  
" That they shall their dull bodies reinvest?  
" Are th' wretches with such love of life possessed?  
" Anchises then: Son, I'll not thee delay,  
" But all things in due order here display:  
" The [72] heaven's, the earth, the watery plains, the bright  
" And round-faced Moon, the Sun's unborrowed light  
" A Soul within Sustains; whose virtues pass  
" Through every part, and mix with the whole mass.  
" Hence Men, beasts, birds take their Original;  
" Those Monsters hence, which in the Sea do dwell:  
" [73] But, those Souls there, of fiery vigour share,  
" The Principles of them celestial are,  
" Unless they from the body clogged be,  
" And ill-contrived Organs do deny  
" To them their operations, hence Grief, Joy,  
" Fear, Hope, and all wild passions us annoy:  
" Nor do they their Original regard  
" Whilst shut up in the bodies darksome ward:  
" Nor, [74] (though they disembodied be,) are they  
" Freed from those stains, which (whilst inhoused in clay,)  
" They did collect: having so long conversed,  
" They with much filth from thence must be aspersed.  
" Hence to their crimes their pains proportioned are:  
" Some are exposed to the all-searching Air;  
" Some are in Waters plunged, in fire some tried:  
" Our Purgatory thus we all abide:  
" Than through the vast Elysium we are sent:  
" But few these joyful Champaign's do frequent:  
" Until the fate-praefixed time have ta'en  
" And purged away what e'er contracted stain:  
" [75] Leaving of spots that heavenly 
* The Soul.  Being clear,  
" Of fire a compound, and uninixed Ayr.  
" A thousand years (the destined period)  
" Fulfilled, the 
* Mercury who was said with his Caduceus, or rod, both to drive souls to hell, and to bring them from thence.  God calls them to Lethe's flood:  
" That all things passed forgot, they may review  
" The upper world, and bodies reindue.  
[76] This said: his Son together with the Maid  
Into the thickest of the throng healed:  
And mounts a hillock, whence he might discern  
Them march in order, and their faces learn.  
" 
* The words of Anchises.  Lo! now thy future fates to thee I'll show,  
" What glory shall to Dardan's race accrue,  
" What Nephews shall from Latian stem be born,  
" Illustrious Souls, who shall our name adorn.  
" That youth (dost see?) supported on his Lance  
" Shall next to light, 
See the Comment.  by fate's Decree, advance,  
" Silvius an Alban name thy, posthume Son,  
" (In whose veins Latium's royal blood shall run)  
" Shall next above appear: the same thy dear  
" 
* Lavinia.  Consort a king, and Sire of kings shall bear  
" Amidst the woods, from whence our princely line  
" Derived, shall over long Alba reign.  
" That next is Prccas, 
See the Comment.  who the Trojan name  
" Shall aeternize; then those of no less fame,  
" Capys and Numitor: That fourth, like thee,  
" Silvius Aeneas shall surnamed be:  
" Alike for piety, and arms extolled,  
" If ever he the Alban Sceptre hold;  
" The goodly limbs of these brave youths survey.  
" But, who with Civiek [77] wreaths are shadowed, they  
" Nomentum, 
See the Comment.  Gabii, and Fidenae shall  
" Found, and erect Collatia's toured wall;  
" Pometii, Castrum, Bola, Cora too,  
" Shall then be names, though they be nameless now.  
" But, 
* Numitor.  with his [78] Grandsire martial Romulus'  
" Shall reign: whom Ilia (from Assaracus  
" Sprung) shall bring forth: behold! his double crest:  
" Him Jove himself doth even now invest  
" With Deity: Son, under his command  
" Renowned Rome shall to the utmost land  
" Her Empire stretch, her prowess to the skies;  
" And, blest with a stout race of men, comprise  
" seven hills within her walls. With towers thus crowned 
☞ See the Comment.   
" Cybel ' doth Phrygias' towns in triumph round,  
" Proud of her divine offspring, numerous race,  
" Which in Olympus all, as Gods, take place.  
" But [79] both thine eyes here bend; thy Romans see  
" This Caesar is, this the whole progeny  
" Of thy Iülus, ready now t' ascend:  
" This, this is he, whom fates to thee commend,  
" God-sprung Augustus; the golden age again  
" He shall restore, as in old Satur's reign:  
" Beyond the Garamants, and Indians he  
" Shall rule, beyond the Stars a land doth lie,  
" Beyond the walk both of the Sun and year,  
" Where Atlas doth the spangled axle bear:  
" Now from all quarters of the Sea-girt earth  
" The Oracles foretell his dreaded birth:  
" Both from the Caspian, and Maeotick coast,  
" And, from whence Nile into the sea doth post:  
" Nor did 
* Hercules.  Alcîdes so much ground run o'er,  
" the brasse-hoofed hind, and Erymanthian Boar  
" Although he slew, and Lerna terrified,  
" Nor the victorious Bacchus, who doth guide  
" With vine-bound reigns his Chairet, hurrying down  
" His Tigers, 
* A Mountain in India.  Nysa, from thy airy crown:  
" And doubt we of our valour proof to give?  
" From Italy shall dastard fear us drive?  
" But, [80] who is he, who with the Olive bough.  
" And offerings comes? His hoary locks him show  
" To be that Roman King, 
* Numa, born at Cures, a Village of the Sabines.  who (to a great  
" Empire From a small Dorp advanced) the State  
" On wholesome Law's did build. Then [81] Tullus shall  
" Succeed, and the unpractized people call  
" To warfare; he (an enemy to peace)  
" Disused Triumphs shall revive. Next these  
" The haughty [82] Ancus struts: already he  
" With popular breath inflated seems to be.  
" Wouldst [83] thou the Tarquins, and stout [84]  
" The fasces from the kings recovered? He  
" The Cons'lar power, and cruel Rods the first Brutus see?  
" Shall exercise; his rebel Sons (who durst  
" New wars excite) th'unhappy father shall  
" To punishment for rescued freedom call:  
" What e'er Posterity'othe fact shall say,  
" Him love of fame, and's Country shall o'resway  
" But, see the [85] Decii and the [86] Drusi there,  
" With [87] Torquate who a blood-stained axe doth bear:  
" With ensigns laden brave [88] Camillus see:  
" But, those [89] two Souls, who alike armed be,  
" And friendly now, whilst shrouded in death's night,  
" What war's (when raised to lives more cheerful light)  
" What slaughter shall they cause? the 
* Julius Caesar.  Father from  
" The Alps shall with his northern forces come;  
" The Son to him oppose the armed East: 
* Pompey▪   
" Brave Souls, proceed not in this dire contest,  
" Arm not your Countrey'gainst yourselves; but thou  
" My 
* Caesar, who truly used his victory with much moderation, and clemency.  offspring, whom heavens for their own avow,  
" Forbear, and first thyself disarm:  
" [90] He (Corinth razed, and with Greek blood bedied)  
" Shall to the Capitol in triumph ride:  
" The same (having avenged our native Troy,  
" And Pallas profaned Temple) shall destroy  
" Argi, Mycaenae (Agamemnon' s seat)  
" And Pyrrhus, proud Achilles' race, defeat:  
" Who [61] Cato would omit? or [92] Cossus thee?  
" The [93] Gracchis who? who the [94] Scipiadae?  
" War's thunderbolts, and Libya's overthrow:  
" [95] Fabricius, great in a small fortune? who  
" [96] Serranus, thee tilling thy ground? but ye  
" Whether [97] O Fabii! do you hurry me  
" All ready spent? thou art that Maximus,  
" whose wise delays shall raise declining us.  
" Some brass shall cast, that it to breathe shall seem,  
" Work marble, that you it alive would deem,  
" Plead better; better th' heavenly motions tell,  
" But, Roman, thou learn thouart of ruling well.  
" Such be thy craft, in peace thy custom such:  
" The loyal cherish, the Rebellious Crush.  
" Thus spoke Archîses, and to this subjoins;  
" In royal spoils see how [98] Marcellus shines,  
" See how he marcheth raller than the rest:  
" The Roman State (tumultuous rout's suppressed)  
" He shall from falling keep; he shall inthrawl  
" The Carthaginian, and the Rebel Gaul,  
" Father 
* A name of Romulus.  Quirinus, He also to thine  
" The third spoils (ravished from the Foe) shall join:  
And here Aeneas (for before him there  
A goodly youth did in bright arms appear  
But, sad his look, dejected was his face)  
" What is he, Father, who with equal pace  
" The other doth accompany? his Son?  
" Or some of our Descendants? how they run,  
" And round him flock? 
* To the other Marcellus.  how graceful is his Mien?  
" But, gloomy night doth with a cloudy screen  
" His head involve. Tears flowing from his eyes,  
The good Anchîses thus to him replies.  
" The griefs of thine, desire not Son, to know,  
" Him to the world the fates shall only show:  
" The Roman name, O Gods! too powerful had  
" Appeared, had you such blessings lasting made:  
" With what laments shall great Rome's burial place  
" Resound? what funeral pomps as thou dost pass  
" By his new grave, sad Tiber, shalt thou see?  
" None ever of the Trojan stem shall be  
" Of equal hopes with him; Rome's joyful coast  
" Of a more worthy birth shall never boast:  
" His piety, and antique singleness,  
" Or who his matchless valour shall express?  
" Whether on foot, or his brave Courser armed,  
" None ever had encountered him, unharmed:  
" Deplored youth! (if this sad doom by thee  
" Can be eschewed,) thou shalt 
* See the Comment.  Marcellus be:  
" Bring Lilies; I will purple flowërs strew,  
" At least let me return this tribute, due  
" To the 
* Marcellus.  deceased, an empty Monument  
" Let me erect: thus they together went  
Through those void airy Wastes; and all surveyed,  
Which when the 
* Anchises.  Father had at large displayed,  
And his son's mind with the heroïck thought  
Of future fame inflamed, him he taught  
What wars he was to wage, with whom to fight,  
Latinus strength, and did at large recite  
How he should or encounter, or decline  
All hazards waiting on his vast design.  
[99] Of Sleep two gates there are: the one of horn.  
Whence real dreams to th'upper world are born;  
Th' other's made of polished Ivory,  
From whence deluding fancies mount the sky:  
His Son thus entertaining and the Maid,  
Anchises them out at this gate conveyed:  
Aeneas to his friends and ships repairs,  
And to Cajeta's Port directly steers.  

ANNOTATIONS upon the Sixth Book OF VIRGIL'S AENEIS.  
§. 1 THe coherence of this Book with the precedent depends upon the two last verses thereof, where Aeneas in these words laments the death of his drowned friend Palinurus; 
Heu! nimium coelo & pelago confise sereno,  
Nudus in ignotâ, Palinure, jacebis arenâ:  
Sic fatur lacrymen.—  
O Palinure, trusting fair-seas and sky,  
Thou naked on some coast unknown mustly:  
This weeping said.—  Which Hemistich our Poet translates out of Homer, 〈◊〉: nor must we lay any thing of disproportion to our Author, in that he makes his heroïck Aeneas to weep. Homer did the same in the person of Ulysses. Tears are not always the excrement of a moist brain, but many times the exudations of a generous heart, springing from a commendable sensibleness of another's calamity; and may become the manly countenance of a Caesar, or an Alexander, whereas (to the contrary) cruelty and cowardice are terms convertible, and generally the unhand some inmates of an ignoble breast.  
§ 2 The Poet here speaks proleptically; for Cumae was not then built, 
Aeneas arrived in Italy anno Mund. 2823. Cumae was built an. Mun. 2953. Simps. Chron.  but a long time after, viz. in the reign of Latinus Silvius, the fifth in descent from Aeneas: It was founded and planted by the people of Chalchis, the principal City of Euboea, a noted Island in the Aegaean Sea, and not far distant from the Coast of Attica; now known (as I take it) by the name of Negroponte; whence Virgil gives it the epithets of Euboïca, and Calchidicae, both expressing its original: It was called Cumae either from a City of that name in Asia Minor, or (according to Servius) 〈◊〉, because situated near the seaside; or from a woman with child, which the Greeks call 〈◊〉, found there sleeping by the first Adventurers; and taken (as it also proved) for a good Omen of future fecundity, though at present it survives only in the fame and memory of its past greatness, little or no remains thereof being at this day to be seen.  
§ 3 Virgil has indeed expressed that with more Poetical pomp, which we have but barely rendered in the English. 
— quaerit pars semina flammae  
Abstrusa in venis silicis.—  Some think that he speaks here more like a Poet then a Philosopher, ascribing those sparks (for that he means by those semina flammae, following Homer herein, who calls them 〈◊〉) to the collision of two solid bodies, as the flint and the steel; and this is Alex. Aphrodisaeus his opinion, denying that there is any latent or secret fire in either of them. But since 
* We speak according to the opinion of the Peeripatetics.  all mixed bodies are compounded of the 4. elements, and by consequence have a proportion of fire in them, why may we not more rationably conclude that these semina flammae are potentially in all solid bodies, and brought into act by a violent and often-repeated collision. Hence Mills and Chariot-wheels often fire: nor must we conclude to the contrary, because they are outwardly cold: So is wine, which hath a virtual heat and spirit in it; which appears when awakened by the natural heat of the stomach. Again, should fire (which is a substance) owe its birth to the collision of two solid bodies only, than an Accident (for such is that collision) would produce a substance; but that is, 〈◊〉, against the principles of Philosophy: we shall therefore conclude, that Virgil spoke as well like a Philosopher as a Poet, when he said, 
— quaerit pars semina flammae  
Abstrusa in venis silicis.—  Whose opinion we may strengthen by the Authority of Symposius, in silice, who affirms, 
Semper inest intus, sed rarò cernitur ignis;  
Intus enim latitat, sed solos prodit ad ictus;  
Nec lignis, ut vivat, eget; nec ut occidat, undis.  
Though seldom seen, the sparks within remain,  
There sleeping, till repeated strokes constrain  
Them to awake; nor want they fuel there,  
Or do from water their extinction fear.   
§ 4 Whilst others were busied about more servile offices▪ Aentas, (as it became his person and dignity) in pursuance of the main design, repairs to the Temple of Apollo, not far distant from Cumae, and situated upon the highest part of the Cumaean rock, (whence Virgil gives him the epithet of altus, or from a Statue of him there found, which, as Servius observes out of Caelius, was 15 foot long) and to the Grot of Sibylla, which was in a certain place within the same: she was a Priestesse to the God, and a Prophetess also by him inspired: but we must note that this Temple, with the adjacent Grove, was sacred as well to Diana as to Apollo, whose Deities were here jointly worshipped; whence the Poet says, 
Jam subeunt Triviae, lucos, atque aurea tecta.  
And Sibyl is by him also styled  
— Phoebi Triviaeque saccrdoes.  But because there were many Prophetesses which bore the name of Sibylla; (for this is a name appellative, denoting any one to whom God pleaseth to communicate his counsels; and derived from 〈◊〉, which in the Aeolic dialect signifieth God, and 〈◊〉 Counsel,) it will not be altogether impertinent to make a short discourse of these inspired women, whereof there were ten more eminently famous, as Lactantius observes out of Varro, in a Treatise of his not now extant.  
§ 5 The first, 
1. Sibylla Persica.  and eldest of them was Sibylla Antiqua, surnamed Persica, and Chaldaea, from the place of her birth or abode: she was by Suidas supposed to be the Wife of Noah; but we may more probably conjecture her to be born of some of his Descendants in the parts about Babylon. She lived in the time of Heber and Abraham: with these two as she was contemporary, so she might haply be conversant, and learn of them what she delivered, and left to posterity.  
The second was Delphica, 
2. Delphica.  whose proper name was Artemis, the known Greek name of Diana: She lived before the wars of Troy, which happened in the time of the Judges. Troy was taken Anno mundi 2820. Ibzan being Judge: 407. before the first Olympiad, and 1179. before our Saviour, who was born Anno Mundi 4001. according to the computation of the learned Jesuit Gordonus: She was said to be the Daughter of Jupiter and Lamia: She prophesied of the rape of Helen, of the wars and sack of Troy. It is said that Homer (who died 272. after the subversion of that City: Gordon.) took much out of her verses; which she foresaw, and foretold that he should do: She was called Delphica, because she was a Prophetess to the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi.  
The third was Cumaea, 
3. Cumaea.  Daughter of Glaucus, and (as Virgil says) named Deiphobe. This is she to whom Aeneas in his travels had access: she was also called Cimmeria, from the Cimmerians, inhabiting betwixt Baiae and Cumae: She was Contemporary with Elon Judge of Israel; but of her, her Cell, and manner of prophesying, more anon.  
The fourth was Erythraea, 
4. Erythraea.  so denominated from the place of her birth and abode: Erythrae was a City in Asia Minor, a Greek Colony, built by the Athenians in the time of Codrus, who was Contemporary with King David: and this is she whom the primitive Fathers, Justin Martyr, Clem. Alexandrînus, etc. so often cite, and who spoke so plainly and demonstratively of our Saviour's incarnation, whose Acrostich consisting of so many verses as there be letters in these words, 〈◊〉, Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour, Cicero mentions with much admiration l. 2. de Divinatione: Her proper name was Herophile.  
The fifth was Samia, 
5 Samia.  properly called Phyto; she lived (as Eusebius affirms) when Numa Pompilius reigned in Rome, and Manasses in Samaria, about 700 years before the incarnation of Jesus Christ.  
The sixth was Cumâna, 
6. Cumâna.  who (although almost the same in name with Cumaea, and therefore confounded by Baronius with her, as the learned Bishop Montague observes, and by Virgil here, as we shall hereafter prove) was different from her in birth, time, place and predictions: Her name is said to have been Amalthaea, or, as some will have it, Demophile: She flourished Ann. Mundi 3388. and in this very year came to Rome, and presented her books of Prophecy to Tarqvinius Priscus, as Gordonus gathers out of Solînus, Varro, Lactantius: though as A. Gellius affirms, it was to Tarqvinius Superbus, the others Grandson, to whom she addressed herself; of which story more anon: And this is she whose Books and Oracles are so often mentioned lie Livy, Halicarnassaeus, and other Roman Writers.  
The seventh was Hellespontiaca, 
7 Hellospontiaca  or Trojana; for Troy was not far from the Hellespont: Her proper name was Symmachia; she dwelled at Gergythus, a Town not not far distant from Troy, where in the Temple of Apollo Gergythius she delivered her Oracles: She is said to have flourished in the times of Cyrus and Solon.  
The eighth was Lesbiaca, 
8. Libyca.  or Libyca, remembered by Euripides, the tragic Poet, as Lactantius affirms: she lived in the reign of Xerxes, about the year 3534.  
The two last are Phrygia and Tiburtina, 
9 Phrygia. 10. Tiburtina.  of whom there is little or nothing recorded, The first (as her name imports) was haply an inhabitant of Phrygia: The latter lived at Tibur in Italy, seated upon the River Anio, or Anien: she was called Albumea, or Leucothea, the white Goddess.  
Virgil here relates who was the first Founder of this Temple, and upon what occasion it was founded; 
The Story of Pasiphaë and Taurus, etc.  but before he enters into a story, the truth whereof might rationally be questioned, he premised, ut fama est; and this is solemn with this wary Writer, whensoever he reports any thing strange, or beyond the common assize; as, fama est Enceladi, etc. observed by Scaliger, and propounded by him, as an example to be followed in the like case: But the story is this; Pasiphaë, the Daughter of Sol, and Wise of King Minos, fell in love with a Bull, which by the assistance of Daedalus she enjoyed: The witty Artist framed a wooden Cow, covering it with a real hide, and then shutting the lustful Queen up in it, left her to the satisfaction of her own filthy desires. The prodigious Domitian acted that to the life which is here but fabled, as appears by that known Epigram in Martial, lib. 1. ep. 6. a Writer no less impudent in flattery then excellent in Poetry.  
Junctam Pasiphaën Dictaeo credit Tauro;  
Vidimus; accepit fabula prisca fidem:  
Nec se miretur, Caesar, longaeva vetustas,  
Quicquid fama canit donat arena tibi.  
Believe, Pasiphaë with a Bull did lie;  
We saw 't; that fable's now made history:  
Nor, Caesar, let Antiquity be proud,  
Thy Shows present what fame hath sung so loud.  
§ 6 The Minotaur was the production of this horrid copulation which the Poet calls here— mixtum genus, prolemque biformem, as being partly a man, and partly a Bull. This monster was kept in the Labyrinth, and fed with man's flesh; but Daedalus being accused and convinced to have been the ingenious Pander to the Queen's lust, was with his Son Icarus imprisoned in the Labyrinth, where he (providing for their mutual preservation) with wax and feathers made wings for himself and his beloved Son, and flying out of the top of the House, made his escape: Daedalus arrived safe at Cumae, but Icarus (an emblem of an aspiring mind) soaring too high, melted the waxen cement of his wings, and was drowned near to the Island of Icaria, to which, and the circumfluent sea he gave name. Daedalus having thus escaped, built this Temple, consecrating both that and his wings, (for it was the manner of the Ancients to hang up such things as had been to them either of use or ornament in the Temples of the Gods) to Apollo, by whose propitious Deity he had been saved. 
Hic pro nubivago gratus pia templa meatu  
Instituit Phoebo, 
Sil Ita. Lic. l. 12.  atque audaces exuit alas.  
The 
* Daedalus.  Grateful did, for his safe-conduct, here  
To Phoebus a devoted Temple rear,  
And his bold wings put off.—  And this is the story which Virgil premiseth with an ut fama est; but the History which gave rise to this Fable, is this; Taurus (which in the Greek signifies a Bull) was (as Servius says) Secretary to King Minos, but (according to Plutarch in the life of Theseus) chief Captain or General, a goodly proper young Gentleman, with whom the enamoured Pasiphaë was said to lie in the house of Daedalus, who was privy to the Adultery; and because she brought forth twins, the one resembling Minos, the other Taurus, she was feigned to have brought forth that double-shaped Monster called the Minotaur. Daedalus as a Confederate was imprisoned, but corrupting his keepers, escaped, himself in one ship, and his Son Icarus in another; but the unhappy youth bearing too much sail, was was with his ship overset and drowned, whilst the more wary Father came safe to his intended Port. Hence, because he was the first who invented that kind of sail, which the Greeks call Dolon, (by which addition of Canvas he outstripped his pursuers) he was said to fly. Although the English would not so handsomely bear it, yet in the Latin the Poet hath ingeniously mingled the Fable of flying with the history of sailing: whilst he useth these words of (Enare) and (alarm remigum) terms more proper for sailing then flying. We will conclude this history with that imitation of it which we find in Sil. Italicus, l. 12. a great emulator of Virgil's Muse: but the truth is, (as Pliny the younger saith of him) that he wrote, majore curâ quam ingenio; the verses are these:  
— Cum regna teneret  
Dictei regis, (sic fama est) linquere terras  
Daedalus invenit; nec toto signa sequenti  
Orb dare: aetherias alienâ tollere in auras  
Auus se pennas; atque homini monstrare volatus:  
Suspensum hic librans media inter nubila corpus  
Enavit: superosque novus conterruit Alice:  
Natum etiam docuit falsae sub imagine plumae  
Attentare vias volucrum lapsumque solutis  
Pennarum remis, & non foelicibus alis  
Turbida plandentem vidit freta.—  
His freedom Daedalus (in Crect detained)  
By this invention, as fame sings, obtained:  
He, that no tracts by his pursuers might  
On earth be seen, through the air took his flight  
On borrowed wings: He first that Art devised,  
And ('midst the clouds his hov'rings body poised)  
Made his escape. The sight the Gods did scare.  
His Son he also taught through untraced air  
With feigned plumes to move; but him alas!  
(His wings dissolved) on Neptune's wrinkled face  
He fluttering saw.—  
Daedalus, the founder of this Temple, had adorned the Gate, 
The story of Androgeos and the Athenians.  or Porch with admirable Sculpture, representing therein these following stories: First the death of Androgeos, Son of King Minos by Pasiphaë this young Prince was an active and gallant Gentleman. and particularly famed for his great skill in wrestling, an exercise in those times in great request: He had foiled herein some of the Athenian Youth, who maligning him therefore, treacherously surprised, and slew him, as he was returning home in great pomp and triumph. The Athenians for this were not only infested with a sharp war from the injured Father, but also (as Plutarch relates) pursued by the justly angry Gods with plague and famine: And now no longer able to oppose themselves to the assaults both of heaven and earth, they make their address to Apollo at Delphi who advised them to appease Minos, and to make an agreement with him, till which time they were not to expect a cessation of the divine judgements. In fine, a peace was treated upon, and concluded; but upon hard terms (as it always is) on the conquer'ds part, who were by their articles to send every year seven of their sons, and as many of their Daughters (upon whom the lot should fall) Captives into Crect, there to remain in perpetual bonds. This unnatural tribute was constantly exacted, and duly paid for certain years: at last the lot (amongst the rest) fell upon Theseus, the Son of Aegeus King of Athens: but he behaved himself so gallantly there at all his exercises, especially in his encounters with the valiant Taurus (whence sprung the Fable of his slayling the Minotaur) that at last he became not only Conqueror of those who opposed him, but also of those who opposed him not; for he won the heart of the fair Ariadne, the King's Daughter, by whose help he freed himself and the rest of the captive Children, carrying her also away with him. Here he also had carved the representation of the Island of Crete, 
The Labyrinth  with the Labyrinth there built by himself, in imitation of that of Egypt; a prodigious piece, containing so many windings & turnings in it, that no man (once engaged therein) could ever extricate himself, unless by the help of a clue of thread. But of this in the time of Pliny there remained no footsteps. That which is now showed to Travellers for the Labyrinth, is supposed by Mr. Sandys to be only a Quarry, out of which they digged the stones which built the neighbouring Towns of Gnossus and Gortyna: But Virgil, as great an Artist as Daedalus himself, doth with him break off in the story of Icarus.  
§ 7 Whilst Aeneas amused himself with the contemplation of these pleasing objects, Sibylla brought thither by Achâtes (which we must understand 〈◊〉, 
Apollo's Temple, & Sibylla's Grot.  as the Critics term it, there having been no mention made of Achâtes before) arrives; and, whilst some were preparing for the sacrifice, leads him with the rest into the Temple; which the Poet doth here describe: For the illustration whereof set us hear Justin Martyr, an eye-witness, as we find him translated by the learned Bishop Montague in his Acts and Monuments, Sect. 3. When I was at Cumae in Campania (says that holy Father) about six miles from Baiae, I viewed diligently and curiously a certain place there, wherein stood a large and spacious Chapel or Oratory, which was hewn out of the main rock, being all but one stone; an admirable and strange piece of workmanship it was; in which Oratory (as the inhabitants made report to me, and they had it by ancient tradition from their fathers) Sibylla gave forth her Oracles. In the midst of the Oratory they showed me three hallowed places, hewn also out of the same rock, in which (as they related) she used to bathe and wash herself; which done she cast her mantle about her, and so retired herself into the inmost Cell, and Revestry of that Chapel. This, as the former, was also cut out of the main rock. There, when she had composed herself upon a high advanced seat, she uttered and gave forth Oracles. Thus Justin Martyr. Hence Virgil not Poetically, but historically says, that this Temple was latus rupis Euboicae, id est Cumânae: excisum in antrum, id est, in formam antri: in which also was that, antrum immane, atque horrenda secreta Sibyllae. Sibyl's Grot, mentioned at the beginning of this book, with both these descriptions, agrees that of Agathias, l. 1. wherein speaking of the siege laid to Cumae by Narses that gallant Eunuch, he writes thus: Ad orientalem callis flexum antrum quoddam suberat, ex omni parte tactum, etc. On the East-side of the winding of the hill (where Cumae stood) there was a certain Grot or Cave, covered on every side, and so hollow, that it had some natural adyta, or secret places, and a bottom vast and deep as hell. In this that great Italian Sibyl was said to dwell, and to deliver her Oracles. She was said also to have foretold to Aeneas, the son of Anchises, all what should befall him in the ensuing wars of Italy. Thus far Agathias. Lastly, (if the Reader will not think that we insist too long upon quotations) we will, as well for the credit of our Author, as for the farther illustration of this place, give you Gerop. Decanus his words, lib. 4. rer. Hisp. Virgilius, si quis alius mortalium, non in Homero tantum, sed in omnibus, etc. Virgil (if ever any man were) exactly read not in Homer only, but in all other Writers, both Poets and Historians, made the descent of his Aeneas (whom he composed of Achilles and Ulysses, and adorned with the virtues of them both) about Cumae and Baiae, near Avernus, where myself entered Sibyls Grot, and saw her Chapel; which, as it was a thing famous even in Ogyges his time, so it is not unworthy of admiration for the length and depth of the Cave cut out of the main Rock, at the inmost parts whereof we found a hot vapour not a little offensive. And this continued to be seen (as Onuphrius witnesseth) till the year of Christ 1539. in which year all Campania was terribly shaken, rend and defaced with an earthquake. At Puteoli huge Mountains of gravel, sand and slime were belched forth, and cast up from the bottom of the Sea; with which Sibyls Cell and Chapel was totally overwhelmed, utterly ruined and abolished. Let us hear the relation of Mr. George Sandys, who had diligently surveyed those parts concerning this prodigious accident. In the year (saith he) 1539. on the 29 of Sept. when for certain days foregoing the Country was so vexed with perpetual earthquakes, as no house was left so entire, as not to expect an immediate ruin: After that the sea had retired 200 paces from the shore (leaving abundance of fish dead, and fresh water rising in the bottom) a Mountain of a stupendious height, (called at this day by the Inhabitants the new Mountain) visibly ascended about the second hour of the night, with hideous roar, horribly vomiting stones, and such store of cinders, that it overwhelmed all the buildings thereabout, and the salubrious Baths of Tripurgulae, for so many years celebrated; consumed the Vines to ashes, killing birds and beasts; the fearful inhabitants of Putzoli flying in the dark with their Wives and Children, naked, defiled, crying out, and detesting their calamities, etc.  
§ 8 And this is the difference betwixt those who were inspired by God, and those who were acted by the Devil; the true Prophets of God were not (as those who were possessed with unclean spirits) distracted, enraged, violently carried, haled, and distorted in body or mind; but spoke the words of knowledge and understanding, using the gesture of gravity, sobriety, and quiet behaviour. See Bishop Montague largely and learnedly discoursing of this, Acts and Monuments, Sect. 3.  
§ 9 Aeneas here makes a prayer and a vow to Apollo and Diana, the Deities of this Temple; the like he does to Sibylla. He vows to consecrate to Apollo a Temple, and certain annual Plays: and here in the person of Aeneas, and in favour of Augustus (who was of the Family of Aeneas, and, as it was amongst the vulgar believed, the Son of Apollo. See Sueton. in August. c. 94) he alludes to that Temple which Augustus, in honour of his putative 
* Apollo.  Father, built, and dedicated to Apollo, in that part of the Palatium which had been fired with lightning; from whence Apollo was called Palatinus; Sueton. in August. cap. 29. and by the way note, that upon this Palatine Hill (one of the seven hills upon which Rome was built) stood the Seat of the Roman Emperors, which from thence was called Palatium, from which all stately edifices have their denomination of Palaces: Rosin. lib. 1. c. 4. to which word Ovid speaking of the Assembly of the Gods in Jupiter's royal Palace, handsomely alludes, Met. lib. 1. f. 5. 
Hic locus est, quem si verbis audacia detur,  
Haud timeam magni dixisse Palatia Coeli.  Which Mr. Sandys hath as handsomely translated; both of them meaning to pass a compliment upon their Prince, he on Augustus, the best of Heathen Monarches; this on K. Charles the First, the glory of all Christian Kings and Martyrs.  
This glorious roof I would not doubt to call,  
Had I but boldness lent me, heavens White-Hall.  
§. 10 Here he also alludes to those Ludi Apollinares, 
Ludi Apollinares.  certain Games or Plays which were instituted in the seventh year of the second Punic war, in honour of Apollo; the original of which and manner of celebrating them, you may read in Livy lib. 25. These having been for many years disused, were restored by Augustus. At the first celebration of them (as it is reported by Macrobius Saturn, lib. 1. c. 17.) a sudden invasion of the enemy enforced the Roman people to forsake their sports, and to betake themselves to their arms; in which time of distraction a cloud of arrows was seen to fall upon the unseasonable invadors, so that they presently returned Conquerors to their sports; where at their return they found C. Pomponius, an old man, dancing to a Minstrel, and being very joyful that they had been continued without interruption, they cried Salva res est, saltat senex; which speech afterward became proverbial, and is fitly used when a sudden evil is seconded with a good event beyond hope and expectation.  
§ 11 We cannot here excuse the Poet from a very gross Parachronisme; for these words, which he speaks in the person of Aeneas, are not in the least applicable to this Sibylla Cumaea, to whom they are directed: (a particular not observed by any of the interpreters of Virgil) but to her who was called Cumâna, who (as contemporary with Tarqvinius Priscus, or rather Superbus, his Grandson, notwithstanding the Authority which Gordonus allegeth out of Solinus, Varro, Lactantius▪ to which I oppose Pliny lib. 13. c. 13. A. Gellius lib. 1. cap. 19 Halicarnassaeus lib. 4. with that inscription, which, if Dela Cerda speak truth, is at this day to be read in the Vatican Library. Tarqvinius Superbus libros Sibyllinos tres, aliis a muliere incensis, tandem emit) was more than 600 years younger than Cumaea: nor can it be imagined that she could live from Aeneas his time (at which time she was very old, and therefore by Virgil styled— Phoebi Longaeva sacerdos) to Tarqvinius Superbus his reign; notwithstanding she was said by Ovid to have obtained of Apollo for her Virginity, to live as many years as she could grasp sands in her hand; for that is but a Poetical fiction; Ovid Met. lib. 14. fab. 4. Therefore what Virgil makes Aeneas speak here (indeed improperly) to Sibylla Cumaea, is more properly to be understood of Cumâna, whose prophecies were so religiously observed, and diligently preserved by the Romans. A. Gellius l. 1. c. 19 relates the story thus. 
Sibylla Cumâna  A certain old woman presenting herself before King Tarquin, surnamed the Proud, offered him nine books in three Tomes, wherein, as she affirmed, were contained remedies and redresses, for all evils which should betid the Roman people; 
Servius indeed makes the coin to be Philyppei, i Phillppines; so called from Philip. King of Macedon, but improperly; for Philip was 150 years younger than Tarquin.  for these she asked 300 Philippines, a golden Coin then much in esteem. The King prising his money above her unrequired Merchandise, laughed her to scorn. She before his face casting three of the nine into the fire, burned them, ask the same price for the remaining six; whereat Tarquin concluding that the old woman was mad or doted, began to be out of patience. Then she having condemned three more to the same flames, asked him, if he would yet give what she demanded for the three which were left? The King moved at the constancy of this strange Guest, and advised thereunto by his Augurs, commanded the money to be given her, who having delivered the books with a strict charge to lay them up safely, suddenly vanished, nor was ever after seen or heard of These books so bought were (according to her direction) laid up in the Capitol, under Jupiter's Shrine, in a Chest of stone, and committed to the custody of two men first, then of ten, and lastly of fifteen; thence called the Quindecimviri; which number was afterward increased to 60. (as Servius notes) but still retained the name of the Quindecimviri. By the by take this note; amongst the 10. about the time of the second Punic war, Cornelius Rufus was one, (for at that time there were no more) whom for his great judgement in interpreting Sibylla's, Prophecies, they surnamed Sibylla,, which afterward by corruption was changed into Sylla, which gave a surname to a branch of the illustrious family of the Cornelii, from whence that great Sylla, called the Happy (though to his native soil no man more unhappy) deduced his pedigree; Macrobius. Sat. l. 1 c. 17.  
§ 12 Nor were these only the Guardians and Keepers of those Oracles, but the interpreters and expounders of the same; none other upon pain of death being permitted to peruse them. To these books those Officers used to make their address upon intestine seditions, commotions, general plagues, pestilence, public calamities, prodigious apparitions, and such like, as you may read in Halicarnassaeus. These books were so preserved until the Marsick or Social war, 676 years from the building of Rome: when the Capitol being set on fire, whether casually or purposely it is not known, these Oracles were also burned and consumed; wherefore those Sibyline Prophecies which we find mentioned by Cicero and the priimitive Fathers, and which now pass under that name, are not the answers of this Sibylla Cumâna, (for that is impossible) but such a collection as the Roman Ambassadors (employed by the Senate for that purpose) got together at Cumae, Erythrae, and at other places, where any of the Sibyls had lived. These Commissioners collected and brought home with them (as Varro and Pliny report) a thousand Oracles in verse, which were laid up in the Capitol new built; under the charge of ten men first, then of fifteen: nor were these the Prophecies of any one Sibyl, but a miscellaneous composition of the answers of sundry of those inspired women.  
Sibylla used to write her Oracles in the leaves of the Palmtree (as Servius out of Varro) which being left at the mouth or entrance of her Grot, the wind did oftentimes so scatter, that they could never be brought into order again, insomuch, that when we would show the difficulty of digesting things discomposed into order, we use Politian's words, Laboriosius est quam Sibyllae folia colligere: And this is the reason why Aeneas prayeth her to deliver her Oracles by word of mouth: but Virgil is the best interpreter of himself; lib. 3.  
Insanam vatem adspicies, quae rupe sub imâ  
Fata canit; foliisque not as & nomina mandat:  
Quaecunque in foliis descripsit carmina virgo  
Digerit in numerum; atque antro seclusa relinquit.  
Illa manent immota locis, neque ab ordine cedunt,  
Verum eadem verso tenuis cúm cardine ventus  
Impulit, & teneras turbavit janua frondes,  
Nunquam deinde cavo volitantia prendere saxon,  
Nec revocare situs, aut jungere carmina curate:  
Inconsulti abeunt, sedemque odere Sibyllae.  
There shalt thou see the frantic Prophetess  
Sing destinies in a deep Caves recess,  
Which she to leaves commits; what verse soe'er  
She writes, in order placed she leaveth there;  
They firmly keep the place to each assigned:  
But when the opened door th'intruding wind  
Admits, and doth the lighter leaves disperse,  
She ne'er reorders the disordered verse,  
Or cares them to rejoin: 
Who come to inquire of the Oracle.  unanswered * they,  
And Sibyl's Cell detesting, go their way.  
§ 13 Sibylla in her answer compares the difficulties which Aeneas had sustained in Phrygia, in the late Trojan wars, with those which he was to undergo in the ensuing wars in Italy, viz. that at Simois and Xanthus (Rivers of Phrygia) flowed with the blood of the slain, so should Tiber: that as he had found the Greeks and Achilles descended of the Goddess Thetis his enemies in the Trojan war, so he should find Turnus, Son of the Goddess Venilia, with his Rutilians' (I will not call them Red-coats) as restless and implacable enemies here; with whom Juno should also join against him & his weatherbeaten Trojans, as she had done with the Greeks formerly. And lastly, that as the Trojan war proceeded from a Wife; Causa mali tanti Conjux, namely from Helena, the rightful Wife of Menelaüs, stolen away, and ravished by Paris; so should this mortal quarrel take birth from Lavinia, Latinus his Daughter, formerly betrothed to Turnus; and by force of arms (an uncouth way of wooing) sought in marriage by Aeneas. And thus is the dark Oracle expounded:  
§ 14 Viz. from Evander of Arcadia, a Province of Peloponesus, a known and famous part of Graecia. The reason of whose quitting his native soil and Kingdom, Servius affirms to be this: Evander unnaturally slew his aged Mother, by some called Carmentis, by others Nicostrata; for which fact being expelled by his Subjects, he came into Italy, where warring with, and conquering the native Aborigines, he possessed himself of that place where Rome now stands, and there founded a small Town on the Palatine Hill, naming it Pallantêum; in remembrance of King Pallas his Great-grand-sire: and this is that urbs Graia obscurely hinted by the Oracle, but more plainly specified by the Poet, l. 8.  
Arcades his oris, genus à Pallante profectum,  
Qui regem Evandrum comites, qui signa secuti  
Delegêre locum, & posuêre in montibus urbem,  
Pallantis proavi de nomine Pallantêum.  
Arcadian strangers, Pallas mighty race  
Conducted by Evander, in this place  
A City chose to build; and did the same  
From's Grandsire Pallas Pallanteum name.  
§ 15 It was the subtlety of the Devil, who could not positively affirm any thing of future contingencies, lest his Prophets and Oracles should by the non-successe of his predictions be had in disrepute, to deliver his answers in dark and obscure riddles, in intricate and involved terms, and such as might be taken two ways; that whether they succeeded or not, his credit might not suffer: such were these; 
Aio te Aeacida Romanos vincere posse.  
Pyrrhus, I say, thy force the Romans shall subdue.  
Croesus Halim penetrans magnam pervertet opum vint.  
If Croesus Halis pass great wealth he shall o'erthrow.  
See Cicer. l. 2. de divinat.  And such was that wicked riddle (as our Histories report it) of Adam d'Orleton, Bishop of Hereford, concerning the murdering of Edward the Second; 
Edvardum occidere nolite timere bonum est.  All which according to the pointing of the words had a different, nay a contrary meaning and construction; whence Apollo is surnamed by the Greeks 〈◊〉, i. e. obliquus, 〈◊〉 from his doubtful and perplexed answers.  
§ 16 Aeneas not only from the opportunity of the place where the descent into those infernal mansions was held to be, urgeth his request, but also from that Topick of example pursues it further: First from Orpheus, 
Orpheus.  whose story, skill in Music, descent into Hell, with other particulars ascribed to that ancient Hero, are so well known, that we shall not at all dwell upon them; we will only give you the mythology thereof. Orpheus was said to be the son of Apollo and Calliope, one of the Muses, first in general, because all good and gallant men were said to be descended from the Gods, and their souls to be dropped into their bodies from one of the Spheres, especially from that of the Sun; then in particular for his great skill in Music and Poetry, as the undoubted son of Apollo and Calliope. But that trees and bruit beasts were feigned to be attentive auditors of his harmonious Lyre, is, that by his eloquent tongue and good example he brought the rude and barbarous of that age to a more civil and sociable way of living.  
Sylvestres homines sacer interpresque Deorum  
Caedibus & victu foedo deterruit Orpheus:  
Dictus ab hoc lenire tigers, rapidosque leones:  
Dictus & Amphion Thebanae conditor arcis  
Saxa movere sono testudinis; & prece blandà  
Ducere quo vellet: fuit haec sapientia quondam  
Publica privatis secernere, sacra prophanis:  
Concubitu prohibere vago, dare jura maritis,  
Oppida moliri, leges incidere ligno.  Horat. de art. Poet. 
'Cause sacred Orpheus, that interpreter  
Of the great Gods, did brutish men deter  
From their enormous living, it was famed  
That savage Lions he and Tigers tamed:  
Amphion so (Thebe's founder) with his Lyre  
Moved stones, and led men to his own desire  
By sweetening words. It was the sapience  
Of elder times, to put a difference  
Betwixt things sacred and profane, betwixt  
Public and private interests: Commixed  
And rambling lust by marriage to restrain,  
And by sound Laws Republics to maintain.  
§ 17 You see the office of the ancient Poets, and the effects of true Poesy, to which Philosophy both natural and moral owes its original. They did not prostitute that excellent faculty in composing flattering Panegyrics, lascivious Epigrams, and saltless Sonnets, as now adays, but (according to the true state and grandeur thereof) employed it in delivering the mysteries of Philosophy, and principles of humanity; so that in the infancy of this profession (and things than are least adulterated) men repaired to Poets as to Oracles, all knowledge and erudition being (as we have said) originally confined to that divine endowment. Neither is any other thing meant then what we have said, by his descent into Hell; by bringing back Eurydice from thence, and working effects, contrary to their nature, on the Devils themselves; but that he, by civilising, and sweetly subduing the irregular affections of brutish men (who render the place where they abide a very Hell) did bring Eurydice (which signifies Justice, under which notion the whole Systeme of morality is comprehended) again among them, who till then lived by rapine, the stronger oppressing the less able to defend.  
Secondly, 
Castor and Pollux.  he allegeth the examples of Castor & Pollux: Jupiter falling, in love with Leda, & not knowing how to gain access to her, changed himself into the likeness of a Swan, & caused an Eagle to pursue him, who took Sanctuary in her lap: Pity in her ushered in love: Beauty and the harmony of the tongue (expressed by the Swan) were his prevailing solicitors. In conclusion he mastered his design, and lying with her, got her with child; who that night also was made impregnat by her Husband Tyndarus. At last she was delivered of two eggs; of the one came Pollux and Helena, both immortal, because the progeny of Jupiter: of the other Castor and Clytaemnestra, both mortal, because the Children of Tyndarus. Hence Pollux (an emblem of fraternal affection) obtained of his Father Jupiter, that since his Brother Castor could not be altogether immortal, he might be so in part; and that by participation of his immortality: whence when Castor died, it was granted that they should live by turns, Castor one day, and Pollux another; wherefore Virgil says, 
Itque reditque viam toties.—   
The Fables of the ancients (wherein their wisdom and learning was mystically couched, and purposely, to procure reverence to them and it, concealed from the vulgar) admit of an interpretation, either Historical, Moral, or Natural, and sometimes Theological. Thus, because Leda, the Wife of Tyndarus, did prostitute herself to a certain King, and because they joined there where fortune had joined them, not in a bed after a royal manner, but upon the alwayes-prepared pallet of nature, the banks of the river Eurôtas, where the Swans used to couple, she was said to be compressed by Jupiter, (for so the Ancients, as simple as they were, flatteringly styled their Kings) in the shape of a Swan: and because a great belly riseth in an oval figure, and the child is wrapped within the womb, in the Chorion or Secundîna, as an egg is within the shell, she was said to be delivered of two eggs. But Castor and Pollux were feigned to live and die by turns, because those two stars which make the constellation of Gemini, and into which they were said to have been changed, never appear together, but rise and set alternately. 
〈◊〉  
〈◊〉.—  Homer. Odyss. 11.  
We shall speak of Theseus and Alcîdes in another place.  
It was the manner of the Ancients, when they made their addresses to their Gods, to lay hold on and embrace the Altars; so Virgil l. 4. speaking of jarbas his prayer to Jupiter, 
Talibus orantem dictis, arasque tenentem  
Audiit Omnipotens.—  
Whilst thus he prayed, and th' Altars did embrace,  
Th' Almighty him did hear.—  Whence Varro derives Ara, an Altar, from Ansa, a handle, or thing to hold by; for anciently it was written with an s, Asa, as plusima for plurima, and asêna for arêna, and Fusius for Eurius; and might easily by the interposition of an n become Ansa: Varro lib. 6. de ling. Lat.  
§ 18 To this place is parallel that of Seneca, in Herc. furent.  
Nec ire labour est, ipsa deducit via,  
Vt saepe puppes aestus invitas rapit,  
Sed pronus aër urget, avidumque Chaos,  
Gradumque retro flectere haud unquam sinunt  
Vmbrae tenaces.  
To Hell to go it is no pains, the way  
(As ships the current drives) will thee convey.  
A profound pit, and a down-pressing air  
Force to descend; but homeward to repair  
Tenacious shades deny.—  
This place by the Mythologists is thus interpreted: 
Hell.  Hell is vice or sin, to which men are naturally prone, and easily fall into; facilis descensus: but to shake off evil habits, and customary vices, hic labour, hec opus, few can make a timely retreat, unless those to whom God is very merciful; quos aequus amavit Jupiter, and are endued with a more particular and especial grace; aut ardens evexit ad aethera virtus, or such as are Diis geniti, as it were by a new birth in Christ regenerated: for the truth is, there are so many obstacles, and so many impediments wherewith we are surrounded, and wherein we are entangled, that it is a very difficult matter to disengage ourselves when once ensnared, as hard as to return from the jaws of Hell, where 
— tenent mediae omnia sylvae,  
Cocytusque sinu labens circumfluit atro.   
But if you will expound this mystically, and according to Plato's Philosophy, the meaning is, that the rational soul, or that divina animi particula, which is the intellect, is so dulled and oppressed by the earthiness of corporeal matter, that few can raise themselves to the contemplation of divine verities, and dive into the more abstracted knowledge of heavenly things, unless by extraordinary endowments of mind, which are granted to none but some few, quos aequus amavit Jupiter.  
§. 19 Sybylla having told Aeneas what difficulties he was to encounter in his descent into Hell, 
The golden Bough.  tells him further, that in case he persist, he must first find out the Golden bough, and that must be his Passport to Charon, & a propitiatory to Proserpina. By the Golden Bough, Virtue, Wisdom, and unwearied Constancy are represented to us, by which we subdue and triumph over the greatest difficulties: but forasmuch as such endowments are very rare, and perfections seldom meeting in any one person, therefore this Bough is said catêre arbore opacâ, etc. to be hid in a shady tree, and to be environed with thick and inextricable woods. Servius says, that the Poet here alludes to the conceit of Pythagoras Samius, who represents the life of man to the letter Y, 
The letter Y.  made in this form: our infancy, or first age is like the lower part or basis thereof; and is a mere tabula rasa, as not defaced with vice, so not beautified with virtue: Our youth is where the bivium or partition begins; at which time we either make choice of a virtuous course of life, which is meant by the right-hand branch, slender and difficult to ascend into; or decline to vice, which is to be understood by the left, more broad, and easy to climb. Hence this golden Bough, (by which, as we have said, virtue is recommended to us) is that which brancheth out os the right side of the Pythagorêan letter Y. of which Virgil writing thus in his Epigrams, is the best expositor of his own sense: 
Litera Pythagorae (discrimine secta bicorni)  
Humanae vitae speciem praeferre videtur:  
Nam via virtutis dextrum petit ardua collem,  
Diffieilemque aditum primum spectantibus offered;  
Sed requiem praestat fessis in vertice summo.  
Molle ostentat iter via lata, sed ultima meta  
Praecipitat captos, volvitque per ardua saxa.  
Pythagoras' his forked letter does  
Of humane life a scheme to us propose;  
For virtues path on the right hand doth lie,  
An hard ascent presenting to the eye;  
But on the top with rest the wearied are  
Refreshed: the broad way easier doth appear;  
But from its summit the deluded fall  
And (dashed 'mongst rocks) find there a funeral.  Others say that Virgil here alludes to this following Custom; for although the mythology of this fiction be as abstruse and hard to be found, as the bough itself was said to be, we will do the best we can to interpret it. In the Temple of Diana Taurica which was in Aricia, a Town of Latium, not many miles distant from Alba, there was a tree, whence no man might break off a bough, unless a fugitive; and he on condition to enter into single fight with the fugitive who was Priest there, usually called Rex Nemorensis, because there was a Grove adjoining to this place, called Nemus Aricinum, consecrated to Diana. The Conqueror presided over this Grove and Temple, until such time as he was deprived both of his charge and life by the like success. We will conclude our discourse of the golden bough, with that description which Claudian makes of it, in imitation of the most excellent Maro, lib. 2. de rapt. Proserpinae.  
Est etiam lucis arbor praedives opacis,  
Fulgentes viridi ramos curvata metallo,  
Haec tibi sacra datur; fortunatumque tenebis  
Autumnum, & fulvis semper dotabere pomis.  
Moreo're, a wealthy tree (whose shining boughs  
Stoop with green metal) in our thickets grows:  
This shall be thine, the crop we give to thee;  
Thou with the yellow fruit enriched shalt be.  
§ 20 The second thing Aeneas was to do in order to his enterprise, was to perform the funeral Rites due to the dead body of his friend Misênus. The story of whose death and funeral is not added here by the Poet rashly, and without design; For this Sciomancie, or ceremonies which were to be performed to the infernal Gods, could not be completed without the intervention of the dead corpse of a man slain. Hence Virgil feigns Misênus to be murdered by Triton in the manner you read, though some say that he was for this purpose murdered by Aeneas himself; though dissembled by Virgil, because he would not make. Aeneas guilty of so foul a fact. Homer doth the like in the person of Elpênor, Ulysses his friend, upon the same occasion. And because the interrement of the dead body (by which the Fleet was polluted) was the proper expiatory for such pollution, and necessarily previous to his sacrificing to the Manes, and his descent into Hell; therefore he is feigned to perform these funeral Rites before he puts in execution the third and last precept of Sibylla, contained in this following verse:  Duc nigras pecudes; haec prima piacula sunto. 
§ 21 Achâtes is always introduced by the Poet as Aeneas his constant Companion, and inseparable Associate; and that not without reason, if we reflect upon the etymology of the word; for Achâtes is derived 〈◊〉 which signifies care and thoughtfulness, the individual adherent to great men and Princes:  
— qui es fidus Achâtes  
It comes.—  
§ 22 It is recorded by Donâtus in Virgil's life, that he broke off, as his manner often is, at Misenum Aeoliden; and that whilst he did recite this book before Augustus he did substitute ex tempore this Hemistich, with the following verse;  
— quo non praestantior alter  
Aere ciére viros, Martemque accendere cantu.  
§ 23 By this brace of Doves (sacred to Venus, Aeneas his Mother, because salacious and fruitful, and esteemed a very lucky Augury) Mythologists understand the two wings of the soul, contemplative, and moral virtue, which serve as guides to go before us to the golden bough of true sapience and verity, and to lead us out of those errors, wherein (without their assisting conduct) we are irrecoverably lost: and this is that sylva immensa wherein Aeneas is said to be. Others more Theologically understand by this Wood the World, with those Labyrinths of temptations, and Mazes of allurements, wherewith (whilst here) we are involved, and fastly engaged: and by the Doves, the blessed Spirit, and grace of God, which leadeth the pious through all worldly impediments to the fruition of eternal bliss, which is the true golden Bough.  
§ 24 It is the nature of this Bird to peck and feed as it goes along; and (according to Interpreters) our Author alludes here to that kind of Augury or Divination which they called Augurium pullarium; 
Augurium pullarium.  the manner whereof was this: There were certain Chickens kept for this purpose in a Coop, before which the Augur, called Pullarius, cast crumbs of bread; if the Chicken leapt hastily out of the Coop, and eat so greedily of the crumbs, that some of them falling out of their mouths, rebounded from the ground, which they termed Tripudium, than it was taken for a good Omen; and those who came to consult, proceeded in their intended design. But, if to the contrary, the Chicken or Pullet's came but slowly out of the Coop, went back again, or flew from the meat, than they took it for an evil sign, and desisted from their enterprise. The Roman History furnisheth us with a pretty tale, and to our purpose: Claudius Pulcher, colleague with L. Junius Pullus, An. urb. 504. designing to surprise Adherbal, the Carthaginian Admiral in the Port of Drepanum in Sicilia, before he put to sea, asked counsel (as the custom was) of the Pullarius; and when the Augur told him, that the Chicken would not come out of the Coop, and therefore advised him at present to desist till he might have a more encouraging Augury, answered, quia esse nolunt bibant, Because they will not eat, let them drink, and so threw them into the sea: but mark the event, the Romans never received a more memorable overthrow at sea; for the Consul escaping with 30 ships, left 93 in the hands of his victorious enemy. This disaster was generally ascribed to his contempt of religion, and slighting the Augury: so careful is the Devil, by such examples to assert the credit of his wicked superstition, and to drill on his followers to their own inevitable destruction. This story you may read in Livy l. 19 Val. Max. l. 1. c. 4. Cicer. l. 2. de Nat. Deor. and in Suet. in Tiber. c. 1.  
§ 25 Misletoe (of which birdlime is made, see the manner in Pliny l. 24. c. 6.) is an excrescence or exsudation of the tree on which it grows; not proceeding from any seminal virtue thereof; whence Virgil says— quod non sua seminat arbos; but is (according to Scaliger, Exerc. 168.) produced as horns are in living creatures, from the abundance of excrement, ex vitali arboris excremento. There is a popular and received error that this plant is generated from the dung of the Thrush, which gave birth to this adagy, Turdus sibi cacat malum, or necem; which is spoken of a man, who is the fond Author of his own mischief: but this is sufficiently refuted by the subtle Scaliger, ib. Of this there are two kinds, the one common, growing in Appletrees; the other more rare, shooting out of the Oak, and therefore called viscum quercinum, Misleto of the Oak; and this is meant here by the Poet. This was esteemed sacred, and much ceremony was used in the gathering of it: Plin. l. 16. c. 44. This similitude is very apt, both in regard of the colour, for the best sort (as the same Author writes) is extra fulvum, intus porraceum, quo nihil est glutinosius. Secondly, in regard of the manner of its growing, for it is an excresence. And lastly, because it was accounted sacred; all which three properties answer to the nature of the golden Bough.  
§ 26 Virgil (who was generally learned) never shows more exactness, then when he treats of ancient Rites and Customs; wherefore I have stuck here, as also in the following description of the sacrifices performed to the infernal Deities, more closely than elsewhere, to the literal sense, and Grammatical construction of the Author, because every word hath its weight and significancy; we shall take every thing in the same order it lies here. 
Of the Roman Funerals.  First, they raised the Pyre, or funeral Pile, which was built of Oak and Pitch-trees, as most combustible materials: — piceae flammis alimenta supremis; Stat. This (according to the quality of the person deceased) was more or less large. Virgil says here that they did struere ingentem pyram; and Homer makes Patrôclus his Pyre to be a 100 foot in every dimension: 〈◊〉. It was built in form of an Altar. By the way, we may observe with Scaliger upon Festus, the difference of these knitredwords. The preparation for the interrement was called Funus: 2. the piling up of the wood, Rogus: 3. the applying of the fire, Pyra: 4 the burning of the Corpse, Bustum: 5. the place, Vstrîna: 6. the Tomb, Sepulchrum: 7. The Inscription or Epitaph, Monumentum. The sides of the Pyre they did adorn with boughs, atri coloris, of a dark green; the ends with Cypress, therefore termed here Feralis, all things appertaining to the Dead being called Feralia. Cypress was therefore used in Funerals, because an emblem of the Dead; for as the Dead never revive, I mean naturally; so that tree once lopped, never shoots forth again. Servius, or (as Varro says) to allay the stench of the burning Corpse by its more powerful and grateful odour. Thus Statius dresseth up the Hearse of Archemorus:  
Tristibus interea ramis, teneraque Cupresso  
Damnatus flammis torus, & puerile pheretrum  
Texitur.—  Stat. Theb. l. 4. 
The little Bier, and bed to the flames destined,  
With mourning boughs, and Cypress are entwined.  
§ 27 Upon the top of the Pyre they used to place the arms of the Deceased; for with great men they burned not only their arms, but their Clothes, Horses, Dogs, with whatsoever they prized in their life time.  
Ditantur flammae, non unquam opulentior illo  
Ante cinis, crepitant gemmae, atque immane liquescit  
Argentum; & pictis exsudant vestibus aurum.  Statius ibid. 
The flames are precious made, no dust before  
Was ere so rich; gems crackle, massy Ore  
Dissolves, and gold out of th' embroidered Vests  
Doth sweat.—  
So Hannibal in the Funeral of Paulus Aemilius.  
— fulgentia pingui  
Maurice suspirans inicit velamina, & auro  
Intextam chlamydem.—  

1 Annibal.  He to the flames, having his death condoled,  
His purple Vest, 
[2] The death of P. Aemilius.  and Soldier's Coat with gold  
Enriched, commits:—  
Silius Ital. L. 10.  
Nay the Indians did use to burn the best beloved of the Wives of the Dead, mingling their ashes together who in their affections had been more nearly conjoined, When the Pyre was in readiness, before they carried forth the Dead to the same, they used to foment and bathe the Corpse in warm water, and anoint the same with oil, that if there were any thing of vitality remaining, it might be awakened by those warm applications, warmth being propitious to Nature, and the cause of life as well as the effect. This story is not altogether from the purpose: Pliny is my Author l. 7. c. 52. Aviola, a man of Consular dignity (after all Ceremonies previous to his burning, as Lotion, Unction, Conclamation, etc. are ended) being laid upon the Pyre, no sooner felt the warmth of the ascending flames, but that reviving, he raised himself up; but the fire prevailed before the Assistants could succour him, and so he was burned alive. I will not say that the custom of Lotion sprung from hence, because it was more ancient: Homer mentions it in the Funeral of Patrôclus: — 〈◊〉. But if this story be true, you see the effects of warmth. After Lotion and Unction (from whence haply the Roman Church, which derives and retains many Ceremonies observed by the Gentiles, borroweth that which they term extreme Unction) followed Conclamation, which Virgil means here by— fit gemitus, they set up a general cry, a valediction to all hopes: hence we proverbially say, Conclamatum est, when we have done our utmost in a business, and cannot effect it. This done, the Corpse was laid up upon a Bed or Hearse, called here Torus: over the Body they cast a purple Covering or Hearse-cloth; for velamina nota is not (as Servius interprets it) Miseno nota & usitata, his own wearing-clothes, which haply were (according to the Custom) burned with him; but velamina nota, & communiter in funerib. usitata, Clothes or Cover known, and commonly used at Funerals, as it is rendered with more reason, and backed with better authority by the learned Jesuit Ludovicus de la Cerda. We could produce many instances out of approved Authors to confirm the use of purple in Funerals, but this one authority out of Suetonius in Caes. c. 84. shall suffice; Intus lectus eburneus, auro & purpurâ stratùs: J. Caesar was carried to his Funeral on an Ivory Hearse covered with purple, inwrought with gold: And now in our day's Kings and Princes mourn in purple. The corpse thus composed, the Hearse or bier was carried by the nearest of kin to the Vstrina, or place of burning, and there placed upon the Pyre; to which some near friend also gave fire with a torch (fancy aversâ) turning away his face, as testifying his unwillingness and grief to perform that sad and last duty. Assoon as the fire began to burn clear, their custom was to cast into the devouring flames all sorts of rich perfumes, termed here thurea dona: So Statius in the Funeral of Archemorus: 
Necnon Assyriis pinguescunt robora succis.  
The Pyre grows with Assyrian juices fat.  Plutarch relates that 210 baskets full of odoriferous compositions were consumed at the Funeral of Sylla, Plut. in Syl. beside these they cast in Dapes, which some interpret to be Adeps hostiar. the fat of the sacrifice: but Mysînus more warrantably affirms, that they were epulae, quib. mortuo parentabatur, the remains of the Funeral Feast or Banquet, which Juvenal Sat. 5. calls coena feralis. Ponitur exiguâ feralis coena patellâ 
The feral Supper in a little Dish  
Is put.—  Virgil makes mention also of oil, which, together with the vessels which contained it, they cast into the flaming Pyre. Servius gives the reason of this custom in these words: Diis superis tantum libabant; inferis autem sacrificantes vasa etiam in ignem conjiciebant. When they sacrificed to the celestial Gods, they only poured the oil or other liquor into the flames; but when to the infernal (the same custom being observed in Funerals) they threw the vessels in also. Beside what Virgil mentions here, Statius in the Funeral of Archemorus, adds Saffron, Wine, Blood, Milk and Hony. The body thus burnt, and turned into ashes, they extinguished the flame with Wine; so the same Statius lib. 6. 
Finis erat, lapsusque putres jam Mulciber ibat  
In cineres, instant flammis, multoque soporant  
Imbre rogum: Imbre i. e. vino.  
Now all was done, nor did there ought remain  
But putrid dust, they busily restrain  
The flames with wine.—  So Homer Iliad. 23. 
〈◊〉  
〈◊〉—  They quench the Pyre with black wine, i. e. a deep dark-coloured wine, as Tent, and the like. But here it may be questioned, how they could possibly separate the ashes of the dead from those of the Pyre, and from such things as were burnt with the Corpse. Natalis Comes is of opinion that the Corpse was laid in a stone Chest, and burned within the same, which he confirms out of Theophrastus. De la Cerda out of Pliny says that the Corpse was wrapped up in a sort of linen, by the Latins called linum vivum, by the Greeks Asbestînum, over which the flames could not in the least prevail: we will give you the place and words of that learned 
* Pliny.  Author l. 19 c. 1. Inventum jam est etiam linum, quod ignibus non absumeretur; vivum id vocant, etc. There is now in our days found out a certain sort of flax called vivum, i. e. living (because it lives as it were in, and is not consumed by fire) I have seen napkins made thereof, red-hot in the flame, by which they are purged and cleansed better than by water. Hence the bodies of Kings being wrapped therein, were preserved unmixed from the other ashes. It grows in the deserts of India, in places scorched with the Sun, amongst Adders and Serpents, and where there falls no rain: he says that it doth, assuescere vivere ardendo, by growing in a hot and sunburnt soil, contract (as it were) an habit of resisting the flames. It is rare to be found, and very hard to be woven or spun, by reason of its shortness. Thus far Pliny. But this is a thing lost long since: See Pancerol. tit. 4. de reb. perditis. Not unlike to this is that linum Creticum mentioned by Strabo, which hath the same property of resisting the fire: but this was rather a stone then linen; for it was made of a certain stone which they beat so long with hammers, till all the terrene or earthy matter was beaten out of it, and there remained nothing but certain threads or strings, which being dressed and combed made a very fine sort of linen. The like is made of a stone found in the Island of Cyprus, called lapis Amiantus: See Salmuth in Pancirol. rerum deperd. tit. 4. And haply both these were well known to the Ancients, and made use of by them. But although we cannot positively affirm how it was done, we may certainly conclude that they had a way, and were very careful therein, to separate the remains of the Dead from mingling with other ashes. The ashes thus extinguished, and bathed with wine, were put into certain pitches called urnae, which were made sometimes of stone, sometimes of earth, & sometimes of brass, as here; Homer made Patrôclus' of gold. The relics of the Dead being thus gathered up, the Priest cleansed and purified the people (who were thought polluted and unclean by assisting at the Funeral, as all those who touched or came near a dead body were) by bespringling them with water thrice, which number had something of mystery in it, and was by the Ancients accounted sacred.— numero Deus impare gaudet. Virgil useth the word circumferre, which with those of elder times was all one with purgare, which Servius proves out of Plautus; te pro larvato circumferam, i. e. purgabo; whence he also derives lustratio, à circumlatione. When this purging or lustration was ended, the Priest with a loud voice pronounced this word, Ilicet, thereby dismissing the company, the word signifying as much as ire licet, which the Poet means here by (verba novissima;) then presently did the company depart, taking their farewell of the Dead in this form of words, Vale, vale, vale, nos te ordine, quo netura permiserit, sequemur. And thus much for the explication of this place.  
The whole Ceremony ended, Aeneas causeth a stately Tomb to be raised over the interred remains of the dead, under a Promontory near the seaside, the usual place where they erected the Monuments of their Heroes, and (according to the custom) carves (for although Virgil useth the word imponere, it cannot be understood of his real arms, for they were burned with him) upon the stone his arms as a Soldier, his Trumpet as a Trumpeter, for, 
Et lituo pugnas insignis obibat & hastâ. Virg.  
he was  
Famed for his art, as for his valour tried.  and his Oar, at which he was excellent also; both which Customs Virgil observes in that of Aeneas to Deiphobus in this very book.  
Tunc egomet tumulum Rhaetaeo in littore inanem  
Constitui, et magnâ manes ter voce vocavi;  
Nomen & arma locum servant.  
Then I did raise on the Rhaetaean shore  
For thee an empty Tomb, thrice did implore  
Thy Ghost; thy name and arms still there abide.  
§ 28 Servius will have Aerius to be the proper name of the Promontory or Mountain, before it was called Misênus; but because Aerius is a proper epithet for any thing which is very high, as Alps aeriae, we have translated it here as an Appellative.  
§ 29 Misenus is called to this day Monte Misêno, of which Mr. Sandys writes thus: 
Misenus.  This Promontory is of all others the most famous for the clemency of the air, for the City here once standing, the Manor-houses adjoining, the Roman Navy here riding, antique Monuments, Grots, Baths, Fish-pools, and other like admirable buildings, surveying all the Sea-coast unto the Promontory of Minerva (if measured with the winding shore, 54 miles distant) all which in the time of the Roman Monarchy showed like one entire City, whereof (Naples excepted) there is little to be seen which hath escaped the fury of fire, water, or earthquake. Tantum aevi longinqua valet mutare vetustas, so great a change attends the dark footsteps of Time.  
§ 30 Aeneas here puts in execution the third and last precept of Sibylla, which was to sacrifice to the infernal Deities.  
Duc nigras pecudes, haec prima piacula sunto.  
§ 31 To which end he first repairs to a certain Cave on the Southeast side of the lake of Avernus, which Virgil here describes. Mr. Sandys, who had entered the same, writes thus of it: On the Southeast side of the Lake opens a-to-be-admired Grot, with a ruined Frontispiece, but affording a large and high-roofed passage into the Mountain cut out of the main rock; agreeing in all particulars with our Author. This although called vulgarly, but erroneously, lafoy Grotta de la Sibylla, was not that Grot whereof we have spoken within the Temple of Apollo, but another adjoining to the Lake of Avernus, as we have just now said. Here the Ancients dreamed Hells entrance to be: Here Homer made his Ulysseses to perform his Necyomancie, in imitation of whom Virgil did the same in the person of his Aeneas. Nay, this present age is so grossly and sottishly ignorant, as to have the same opinion of the place which the more excusable Ancients had, only with this difference; they believed this to be the ingress or inlet into Hell, and ours the egress or outlet from thence; for (as Mr. Sandys reports) there are many of the Inhabitants at this day, who believe and affirm that Christ from thence made his triumphant Resurrection: nor are the credulous vulgar only of this opinion, but also those who ought to be better versed in the history and geography of the holy Scriptures. He citys one Aleadînus a Poet, as an Assertor of this tradition; which he delivers in this Distich:  
Est locus, effregit quo portas Christus Averni,  
Et Sanctos traxit lucidus inde patres.  
There Christ Avernus' black gates broke in two,  
And holy Fathers thence victorious drew.  
Of this Lake of Avernus the same Author makes this relation, viz. 
The Lake of Avernus.  That it is circular in form, and environed with Mountains, and shadowed heretofore with overgrown woods; a main occasion of those pestilent vapours: for they being cut down by Agrippa, the place became frequently inhabited on every side, as approved both healthful and delightful: the water thereof looketh black, so thought heretofore to have been by reason of its unmeasurable profundity; but later times have found it out a bottom, and that it exceedeth not 253 fathoms: No leaf, or whatsoever falleth therein, is ever after seen, etc. Which description doth in all particulars so agree with that which Aristotle gives of it in his book de Mirabilibus Auscultationibus, that either Mr. Sandys transcribes his verbatim from thence, or so long a tract, and interval of time from that great Philosopher to our great Traveller, hath made no sensible alteration. But the major part thereof is now choked up by the new Mountain: This Lake was called by the Greeks 〈◊〉, i. e. sine avibus, void of birds, from whence the Latin Avernus, with some small alteration derives itself. The Poet gives you the reason of this denomination; and it is given by Lucretius as a general name to all places, over which (by reason of the noisome and sulphureous vapours) Birds cannot fly: so that Avernus is not confined to Italy only, but may give name to any place where the same properties are found.  
§ 32 Here Virgil describeth most exactly the manner of sacrificing to the infernal Gods, which was as different as Hell from Heaven from that of the supernals, 
The manner of sacrificing to the infernal powers.  in time, manner, place, and colour of the sacrifice. To these they sacrificed upon an Altar raised above the ground, whence Altar takes its name ab alto; to those in a Cave under ground, digging there a hole or pit, which they termed scrobs or screbicklus into which they let the blood of the Sacrifice run. Thus Ovid Met. l. 7. speaking of Medea: 
Haud procul egestâ scrobibus tellure duabus  
Sacra facit, cultrosque in gutture velleris atri  
Conjicit, & patulas perfundit sanguine fossas.  
Not far from thence i'th' hollowed ground two pits  
Medea digs, and sacrificing slits  
The throats of black-fleeced rams; with reaking blood  
She fills the ditches.—  So Homer makes Ulysses dig a hole a cubit in all its dimensions. 〈◊〉. Into this they did not only let the blood of the Sacrifice flow, but also together with it poured wine and milk. 
Tum super invergens liquidi charchesia vini,  
Alteraque invergens tepidi charchesia lactis,  
Verba simul fundit. Ovid. Met. 7.  
Then pouring bolls of liquid wine, commixed  
With lukewarm milk, she prays.—  Others add honey, eggs, oil, with an infinite number of the like trash, as the foam of mad dogs, the bowels of a beast called Lynx, eyes of Dragons, etc. To the Superi they offered white victims, and an odd number, as always sacred to the Gods; to the Inferi black and an even (as being by the Ancients esteemed unlucky) were presented. Virgil comprehends all these circumstances in this one verse. 
Quatuor hic (id est, ad os hujus speluncae) primum  
Nigrantes terga juvencos  
Constituit.  Lastly, these infernal Rites were always performed in the nighttime; this Law being inviolably observed, viz. to a male Deity or God they still offered a male, to a female Numen or Goddess they constantly presented a female Sacrifice, as well to the Inferi as Superi. The Sacrifice now brought to the place where it was to be offered, the Priest poured wine between the horns, which was a common ceremony used in all Sacrifices, whether to the powers beneath or those above; but with this difference, to these they did pour the wine with the palm of the hand turned upward, supinâ manu, which the Latins called fundere; to those with the palm of the hand turned downward towards the ground, pronâ manu, by them termed invergere: Servius his wordsare these, Fundere est supinâ manu libare, quod fit in sacris superis: Invergere est conversâ in sinistram partem manu ita fundere, ut patera convertatur. Virgil (ever studious of propriety) useth the word invergere: we cannot difference them in the English, but by a long circumlocution; for fundere and invergere with us are rendered promiscuously to pour. This Ceremony was used as a probation of the Sacrifice; for if it did stupescere, stand still and unmoved, it was rejected as sick and diseased, and consequently unfit for sacred uses; if otherwise, it was approved, and they did proceed to the next ceremony, omitted here by Virgil, which was Immolation, from Mola, which signifies a barley Cake kneaded up with salt, which they crumbled and sprinkled upon the head and back of the Sacrifice, drawing the knife wherewith they jugulated the Sacrifice thwart his temples; both which are expressed by Virg. Aen. 12. 
Dant manibus fruges salsas, & tempora ferro  
Summa notant.—  
They salted Cakes present, and with a knife  
His temples marked.—  Which done, one cried with a loud voice, Macta est hostia, i. e. magis aucta, more increased, and rendered more pleasing to the Gods; whence immolare and mactare, though but one part of the ceremony, signify in the general to sacrifice. The next ceremony to this in order was to pluck off the hairs (Virgil useth setae here for pili) which grew between the horns, casting them into the fire, which the Poet here calls libamina prima, the Greeks 〈◊〉, primitias: these three latter Customs are comprehended by Homer in these two verses: Odyss. 3. 
〈◊〉  
〈◊〉.  
Water and Cakes he sprinkling prays, and does  
Hairs (from the temples plucked) to th' flames expose.  Only Homer instead of 〈◊〉, wine, useth 〈◊〉, which signifies water to wash the hands with: but that maketh no difference, as to the probation of the Sacrifice; for water will do that as well as wine. And from hence De la Cerda deduceth the custom of shaving the heads of the Priests in the Roman Church; his words are these, Quemadmodum evulsio pilorum fuit indicium victimae jam devotae, & separatae à profanis usibus; ita hoc quidem indicat clericalis tonsura. This done, the Priest using certain mystical words invoked Hecate, by which Proserpina is meant in this place. But for the fuller understanding of this we must make a more strict and deep research.  
§ 33 Hecate was the Daughter of Perses King of Taurica, and Wife of Aeeta, a neighbouring Prince, and King of Colchis; Mother to Circe and Medêa, worthy shoots of such a stock: She (as were her Daughters) was a famous Sorceress; a woman so transcendently cruel, that when at hunting she could find no other game, she would with her lance or sword kill some of her Attendants. She used to sacrifice all strangers, whose evil stars had unfortunately guided them to those parts: lastly, having poisoned her Father, she usurped his Throne. For which rare endowments and goodly merits she was deified, invoked and sacrificed to by those of her own damnable profession. Thus have I showed you Hecate in the true mirror of history; and now you may behold her through the optics of poesy, where she appears as foul a Monster in her externals, as you have seen her in her internals: She was said to be half a surlong tall, which is the ●6. part of a mile, without question the properest of her sex: She had three heads, the right of a horse, the left of a dog, and the middle of a wild sow; from whence the Poets gave her the epithets of triceps, triformis, and tergemina: instead of hair, serpents and vipers hung hissing, wreathing and curling themselves about her shoulders: She was called Brimo from the ugly howling noise she used to make. I cannot in particular give a reason why they represented her thus; only in general, because she was thought to be an infernal Goddess, and Patroness of Sorceresses and Witches, they imagined that they could not depaint her with too much horror and terribleness. But to the purpose: Hecate is a generical word, applicable to many particulars; for by it sometimes we are to understand Luna, sometimes Diâna, and sometimes Proserpina: In fine, when it is applied to Heaven, it is taken for Luna, when to Earth for Diâna, when to Hell for Proserpina. So the Sun in heaven is called Sol, in earth Liber Pater, in hell Apollo: hence Virgil says that she is Coeloque Ereboque potens, to which he might also have added terrâ. And from these three denominations we may more rationally call her triceps, threeheaded, or else from the threefold aspect of the Moon, at the increase, full, and decrease. At the increase she is said to be in heaven, and to borrow light from the Sun, at the full to impart her own to the earth; and in the wane to decline unto darkness, and as it were to the infernal Mansions. Mayênus gives this reason why Hecate is said to be Coelo Ereboque potens, i. e. apud inferos & superos potestatem habens, because whilst the Moon is above the Horizon she giveth light to us who are Superi or above in regard of our Antipodes, and whilst she is beneath the Horizon, she giveth light to our Antipodes, who are inferi or beneath in regard of us. After this invocation the Sacrificer (whom the Latins call Popa, or Victimarius) slew the sacrifice, using in this also a different ceremony; ●or when they sacrificed to the celestial Gods, having knocked the beast on the head, they laid him upon his back with his throat upward, and so cut it: but when to the Infernals, they let out his blood, holding his head towards the ground: hence Virgil says, supponunt alii cultors: See Turneb. l. 15. c. 12. Cultros supponere does imply in what posture the Victim lay. Nor did the Victimarius always slay the sacrifice; sometimes those who came to offer slew it themselves, which was, as the same Author observes, heroico ritu, after the manner of the ancient Heroes. Homer makes Agamemnon do it, Il. 3. as Virgil doth Aeneas here, who did himself slay, and offer a black-fleeced Lamb to the Furies, which is Nox, or the Night; and to her Sister, which is Terra, or the Earth: they may well be so near akin, for the night is nothing but the interposition or shadowing of the earth. To Proserpina (because she is said never to have been pregnant) he offered a barren Cow: to Pluto an entire Bull, or Holocaust, who because he was deemed (as Nat. Comes observes lib. 1. cap. 11.) that divine mind or spirit, which as the soul thereof was diffused through the whole mass of the earth, and did there preside, order and govern all things, as Neptune in the sea, Juno in the air, and Jupiter in the celestial bodies; I say for this reason there was little or no difference in the Ceremonies used to Pluto, and in those used to the Celestials; for here, as you see, were Altars, Holocausts, Oil; the only difference is, that all infernal sacrifices ought to be performed (as we have said) in the night. But for the better elucidation of this place, and the fuller understanding of those Rites and Customs used by the Ancients in their Necyomancy, Necromancy, Sciomancie, and other infernal Ceremonies, read Statius Theb. l. 4. Sil. Ital. l. 13. Ovid. Met. l. 7. f. 2. * Sen. Oedip. Act. 2. Scen. 1. Lucan. Pharsal. l. 6. out of all which thou mayst learn the wicked and ridiculous superstition of deluded Antiquity.  
Hell is said to be empty and void, either because Death and the Grave are never satisfied, or because there are none but ghosts and shadows there, which being incorporeal, take up no room, nor fill any place.  
§ 34 The Romans, according to A. Gellius l. 16. c. 5. and after him Macrobius l. 6. c. 8. used in their buildings to leave a spacious vacant place, or base-Court before their Palaces, which divided the same from the street or highway: this they called Vestibulum, where those who came to salute or speak with the Master of the house remained a while before they had admittance; whence Vestibulum has its denomination from ve, an augmentative particle, and stare; as vetus from ve, and aetas; and vehemens from ve and mens; ve signifying here as much as valde; ab illâ ergo grandis loci consistione, & quasi quadam stabulatione vestibulum appellatum est. This they used to adorn with Pictures and Statues, as well to feed the eyes of their expecting friends, and to make their delayed reception seem less tedious, as to grace and ennoble the building. To which custom Virgil alluding here, placeth various forms and monsters, as well before the Vestibulum of Hell as within the same. Here Reader thou mayest with Quintilian observe the excellent judgement of the Poet, and great happiness in the choice of his Epithets. Others of the Latins have aspired to imitate Virgil herein, who (though in their attempt not unhappy) yet must submit to this true idêa and prototype of poesy. Thus Claudian. l. 1. in Ruffin. in emulation of our Master describes an Assembly or Sessions of the like Monsters in most luculent verses, and is herein inferior to none, unless to him who never found his equal. Let us not seem to deviate from the purpose, if we make good our assertion by these following instances: 
— glomerantur in unum  
Innumerae pests Erebi, quocunque sinistro  
Nox genuit faetu: nutrix Discordia belli,  
Imperiosa Fames; leto vicina Senèctus,  
Impatiensque sui Morbus, Livorque secundis  
Anxius, & scisso moerens velamina Luctus,  
Et Timor, & coeco praeceps Audacia vultu,  
Et Luxus populator opum, cui semper adhaerens  
Infaelix humili gressu comitatur Egestas.  
Foedaque Avaritiae complexae viscera Matris,  
Insomnes longo veniunt examine curae.  
Hell's numberless plagues meet, all the accursed  
Offspring of night; dire War by Discord nursed,  
Imperious Hunger, Age on Death confining,  
Self-wearied Sickness; Envy still repining  
At others good; Sorrow with garments torn,  
Fear, hoodwinked Rashness violently born;  
Riot wealth's bane, which wretched Beggary  
(Creeping along) doth still accompany;  
Last, a long train of wakeful Cares (which hung  
On their foul Mother Avarice) doth throng.  Neither do those of Seneca in Herc. furent. seem to flow from a less judicious or poetical strain. 
Horrent opacâ fronde nigrantes comae  
Taxo imminente, quam tenet segnis Sopor,  
Famesque moesta tabido rictu jacens,  
Pudorque serus conscios vultus tegit;  
Metus, Pavorque, Funus, & frendens Dolour,  
Alterque Luctus sequitur, & Morbus tremens,  
Et cincta ferro Bella, in extremo abdita  
Iners Senectus adjuvat baculo gradum.  
Rough with dark leaves a Yews black head doth nod  
Over the lake, of lazy Sleep th' abode;  
Sad Hunger here with thin jaws yawning lies,  
And Shame too late shrouding its conscious eyes;  
Fear, Dread and Death, and groaning Pain succeeds;  
Sickness, with Mourning clad in Sable weeds;  
Then armed War; and lastly was espied  
Limping Old-age, whose steps a staff did guide.  Nor les us disdain to hear Silius Ital. his Muse l. 13. 
Quarta cohors omni stabulante per avia monstro  
Excubat, & manes permisto murmure terret  
Luctus edax, Maciesque malis comes addita Morbis,  
Et Moeror pastus fletu, et sine sanguine Pallor:  
Curaeque Insidiaeque atque hinc queribunda Senectus;  
Hinc angens utraque manu sua guttura Livor:  
Et deforme Malum, & sceleri proclivis Egéstas,  
Errorque infido gressu; & Discordia gaudens  
Permiscere fretum coelo.—  
A fourth troop with its Monsters quarters there,  
Self-gnawing Sorrow with its plaints doth-skare  
The Ghosts; there Leanness joined with Sickness, and  
Grief fed with tears, with bloodless Paleness stand:  
There Cares, Ambushments, with repining Age,  
And Envy which on its own throat doth rage:  
Want a deformed Curse, and prone to ill,  
With Error reeling; Discord, which doth fill  
All things with dire Confusion.—   
§ 35 Having described what Monsters-lodged without the Court, the Poet now bringing Aeneas within the same, relates what strange apparitions presented themselves there. And first he says that there was an old shady and vast Elm, the habitation of vain and ridiculous dreams: Seneca and Silius will have it a Yew-tree: The Poets in general feigned sleep to reside aloft in a tree, that from thence it might descend upon Mortals: Hence Val. Flaccus, — dulces excussit ab arbore somnos. And Homer Il. 14. makes somnus climb a tree, that from thence he might shed sleep into the eyes of Jupiter. In particular, it was feigned to be an Elm, or Yew-tree, because the green thereof being not fresh and lively, but sad and drawing upon a black, from the very colour seemed to invite to sleep: Whence Ovid in his excellent description of the Palace of Sleep, Metam. lib. 11.  
At medio torus est Ebeno sublimis in antro  
Plumeus, Uniculor, Pullo velamine tectus,  
Quo cubat ipse Deus membris languore solutis, etc.  
Amid the Eben Cave a downy Bed  
High mounted slands, with Sable covering spread;  
Here lay the lazy God dissolved in rest, etc.  
§ 36 Nor doth the Poet give this tree a dark and uniform colour for the reason above alleged, but also expanded and large branches, and a farre-spreading shade, all which conduce to sleep, the son of Night and Erebus, and brother of Death, and therefore aptly placed in Hell; and father of Dreams, which are those Images of things which are form in our sleep, by the various discursion of the spirits in the brain, which follows concoction, when the blood is least troubled, and the fantasy uninterrupted by ascending vapours. Of these (according to Ovid) there are three sorts, all brothers and sons of sleep; the first called Morpheus, which signifies form; the second by the Gods called Icelos, which is similitude, by Mortals Phobêtor, or a causer of fear, in regard of the terrors arising from fearful dreams; and the third Phantasus, or imagination: all which express the nature and original of dreams, which also are divers, according to the meat we eat, place where we live, the time, the business and discourse of the precedent day, and lastly the variety of every one's temperament and complexion: Coel. Rodiginus l. 9 c. 10. gives a more mystical and abstruse interpretation of this place out of the Platonic Philosophy, to whom we shall refer thee, as also to Macrobius in somn. Scipionis l. 1. c. 3.  
Centaurs were monsters, in their upper part resembling a man, 
Centaurs.  and in their lower a horse: hence the Poet alluding to their equine nature, says most properly, Centauri in foribus stabulant, that Centauris were stalled or stabled at the gates. They are said to have been begotten by Ixion on the cloud which was presented to him by Jupiter instead of Juno, whom he sought to adulterate. They are famed for nothing more than their drunken Counter-skuffle with the Lapithae at Pirithous his Wedding, excellently described by the ingenious Ovid Met. l. 12. fab. 3. This fiction hath an allusion to this history. The Centauris were a mountainous people of Thessaly, subject to Ixion, whose regal City was called Nephele, which signifies a cloud; and because all Kings are, or aught to be fathers of their people, Ixion from hence was said to have begotten them on a cloud. These, because hardy and stout (as Mountainers generally are) the King by propounding fair rewards, invited to destroy the wild Bulls which infested part of his Country; whence they take their name of Centauris, from the Greek words, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, signifying to gore with a javelin, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Bull. They were the first who ever backed horses, who being seen by the Borderers as they watered their horses at the river Peneus; were supposed by them (amazed at so uncouth a sight) to have been really such as we have represented them: and truly an exquisite horseman ought to place himself in such a posture on horseback, as if (Centaur-like) he were one piece with the horse he bestrides. They were indeed a cruel libidinous people, and injurious to strangers, and therefore the Poets invested their beastly minds with such monstrous bodies, imposing also such names upon them as did correspond with their wild and savage natures.  
§ 37 There were two Scylla's, one the Daughter of Nisus, King of the Megarenses, 
Scylla.  who betrayed her Father and native soil to his implacable enemy Minos' King of Crete: See Ovid. Met. lib. 8. fab. 1. the other Daughter of Phorcus, begotten on the Nymph Cretheis: she was Circe's Rival in the love of Glaucus, and by her incantations changed into a most deformed Monster, for infecting the bay where the beautiful Nymph used to bathe herself with her poisonous juices, Scylla contracted a monstrous form, her upper parts retaining her former shape, but her lower were said to be environed with howling wolves, and barking dogs, attracting and destroying all ships which came near her: Hence the Poet calls her biformis, thus by him described in his third book: 
At Scyllam caecis cohibet spelunca latebris,  
Ora e●●●tantem, et naves in saxa trahentem;  
Prima hominis facies, et pulchro pectore virgo  
Pube tenus, postrema immani corpore Pistris  
Delphinum caudes utero commissa luporum.  
But Scylla lurking in dark Caves, displays  
Her face, and ships to crushing rocks betrays;  
A Virgin to the twist divinely framed,  
Her nether parts with shape of Monsters shamed,  
Deformed with womb of Wolves, and Dolphins tails.  Scylla was a rock under the Promontory of Rhegium on Italy side, over against the Promontory of Pelôrus on the coast of Sicily, under which the adverse and equally dangerous rock of Charybdis did lift up its ragged head: The lower part of this rock was full of holes and concavities (the dogs which are said to bark, by reason of the noise of the repercussed waters) frequented by Lamprons and greater Fishes, which devoured the bodies of the drowned passengers. Scylla was said to retain the form and shape of a woman in her upper parts, because this rock appeared to be such to those who beheld it at distance: it took the name of Scylla from the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to spoil, or from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to vex, whence she is said by Virgil (who haply alluded to the Greek) Eccl. 8. Dulichias vexâsse rates.— And from hence sprung this Fable, and her fabulous form; but both these formerly-perillous rocks of Scylla and Charybdis have (as Mr. Sandys tells us, who had sailed those seas) lost their terrors by the changing of the current, expressed by that marble fountain in Messena, where Neptune holds Scylla and Charybdis in chains with these under-written verses: 
Impia nodofis cohibetur Scylla catenis,  
Pergite securae per freta nostra rates,  
Capta est praedatrix, Siculique infamia Ponti,  
Nec fremit in mediis saeva Charybdis aquis.  
Fast-binding fetters wicked Scylla hold:  
Sail safely through our straits; brave ships be bold '  
Th' infamous thief that kept those seas, is ta'en,  
And fell Charybdis rageth now in vain.  But if you will draw this Fable to a moral sense; then Scylla represents a Virgin, who as long as chaste in thought, and in body unspotted, appears of an excellent beauty, attracting the eyes and hearts of all upon her; but if once polluted with the sorceries of Circe, id est, having rendered her Maiden honour to be deflowered by bewitching pleasure, she is transformed into an horrid Monster; and not so only, but endeavours to shipwreck others (such is the envy of infamous women) upon those ruining rocks, and to make them share in the same calamities.  
§ 38 Briareus (which in the Greek signifies strong) was a monstrous Giant, the son of Titan and the Earth; he was said to have had an hundred arms, 
Briareus.  and fifty heads, and to belch forth flames of fire out of his mouth; called by the Gods Aegaeon, as by mortals Briareus, according to that verse of Homer: 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.—  Thus described by Virgil Aeneid. lib. 10. 
Aegaeon qualis, centum cui brachia dicunt  
Centenasque manus, quinquaginta oribus ignem  
Pectoribusque arsisse; Jovis cum fulmina contra  
Tota paribus streperet clypeis, tot stringeret enses.  
Aegaeon (whom an hundred arms fame lent,  
An hundred hands; from fifty mouths who sent  
Destroying flames) when 'gainst Jove's power he rose,  
As many shields did rattle, swords oppose.  This Giant conspiring with the rest of his rebellious brethren against Jupiter, was with a thunderclap struck dead by him, and buried under the weight of imposed Aetna, which is said to tremble and belch forth flames whensoever the wearied Monster changeth his posture. The Giants in general are an emblem of the tumultuous and rebellious Multitude, which from the ignoble and earthy soul wherewith they are animated, may very truly be styled sons of the earth. But that Briareus in particular is said to cause Aetna to cast up stones and flames of fire, whensover he moves, hath a physical meaning; and by him is understood the wind which struggles in the Caverns of the earth, causing it to vomit forth fire, and to cast up stones against Jupiter, by which we are to understand heaven.  
§ 39 This Bellua Lernae, Beast or Monster of Lerna, a famous Lake in the Country of the Argives, 
Hydra.  was that Hydra (so called by the Greeks) or Excetra (the Latin compellation) a prodigious kind of Reptile with 50 heads, which infested the circumjacent Plains, killing and destroying whatsoever man or beast came in its way. Hercules, amongst the rest of his labours, was famed for subduing this Monster, whose heads as soon as cut off did repullulare, three succeeding in the place of one, insomuch that Hydra's head in a proverbial acceptation signifies an endless labour, or a concatenation, and linking of one disaster upon another; it is also a type of popular sedition, and a National revolt, which is no sooner quelled in one place, but that it breaks out with triplicated rage and fury in another; whence the Vulgar is significantly denominated Bellua multorum capitum, that manyheaded beast, as was this Bellua Lernae. But the historical sense of this fable (according to Servius) is this; Hydra, which derives itself from the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, i. e. water, was a certain place whence so great a quantity of water did issue, that it did drown the neighbouring Country; nor could they sooner stop one eruption, but that the hydroraea or water-flux became multiplied, and overran them with greater violence: which Hercules perceiving, he fired those places, by which means he stopped that prodigious dropsy: and that it is possible so to do, we have the authority of Virgil: 
— omne per ignem  
Excoquitur vitium, atque exsudat inutilis humour.  Which is the reason he gives why they burn the stubble when the corn is taken off. Thus Hercules, when by multiplication of blows he could not quell this Monster, was said to effect this conquest by the application of fire, burning those heads which no other force could tame. Others say that this Hydra was a terrible water-serpent, and so fruitful, that they had no way to destroy it, and its ever-multiplying progeny, but by setting fire to the place where it hatched its eggs: Meyênus.  
§ 40 Chimaera was a most celebrated Monster amongst the Ancients, Daughter of Typhon and Echidna, whose upper parts (vomiting fire) resembled a Lion, 
C●imae●a  the middle a Goat, and nether a Dragon; according to these verses of Homer, borrowed of him by Hesiod in his Theogonia: 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  This Monster was said to have been slain by Bellephoron mounted upon the winged horse Pegasus. Chimaera (according to Servius) was a Mountain of Sicilia; but according to the more generally received opinion, of Lycia, out of whose top there proceeded fearful eruptions of fire; which also was frequented by Lions; the middle part abounded with good herbage, and was stocked with wild Goats: the foot thereof (which was sedgy and moorish) was a retreat and receptacle for monstrous Snakes and Serpents. Hence Bellephoron (who rendered it habitable) was said to have killed the Chimaera. Others say that this Chimaera was a certain Pirate of Lycia, a maritime Province in Asia Minor, who had a Lion carved upon the head of his Ship, a Dragon on the stern, and a Goat upon the middle part; who being overcome and taken by Bellephoron (whose Ship was called Pegasus, and from its swiftness said to be winged) gave birth to this Fable. But if we look upon the physical meaning hereof, Chimaera represents to us the nature of rainswollen rivers or torrents, by the Greeks called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there being no great dissonance in the words, which, because they are violent, and make a roaring noise, are said to resemble Lions, because they bear all things along with them; Goats, whose nature it is to crop and catch at whatsoever is in their reach; and Dragons from their Maeanders, or oblique and serpentine course; which Monster Bellephoron mounted upon Pegasus is said to kill, because by the heat and virtue of the Sun (the true Bellephoron) the abundant humour which lent supply to these torrents is drunk up and exsiccated. But if you will consider it ethically, Chimaera sets before us the life of man, who in his youth is as an untamed Lion; in his middle age as a wanton and aspiring Goat, still striving to climb upon the steep rocks, and dangerous precipices of honour; and in his old age becomes as subtle and crafty as a serpent. But because there never was or could be any such thing in Nature as a Chimaera, in our common speech we use by this word to denote any thing that is a mere Ens Rationis, an impossibility, or a fiction.  
§ 41 The Gorgon's were 3 Sisters, Medûsa, Stheno and Euriale, Daughters of Phorcus and Ceto, 
Gorgon's.  a sea-monster inhabiting the Islands of the Darcades in the Aethhiopic sea, over against the Hesperideses. They were said to have had heads lïke Dragons, teeth like the tusks of Boars, iron hands, and wings; and lastly with their aspect to petrify, or to turn into stone those who beheld them. These Perseus, son of Jupiter and Danae slew, being armed with the refulgent shield of Pallas, helmet of Pluto, and with the falchion and wings of Mercury: they were called Gorgon's from their terrible look; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the Greeks signifying truculencie, or fierceness of aspect. But because none could without assured danger of his life look directly upon them, therefore Perseus beholding them in the Mirror of his shield cut off their heads. From whose blood Chrysaor and the winged horse Pegasus sprung up: but we must note, that before Perseus went to the conquest of these Monsters, he did divert to the habitation of the Graeae, two Sisters, Peph●edo and Enyo, who (according to Hesiod in his Theagonia) were grayhaired from their infancy, and had but one eye betwixt them, which they used in common: This Perseus' intercepting as they passed it one from another, made use of it as his guide and Pilot to the Country of the Gorgon's, &c. By the Gorgon's are meant sensual delights, which are the assured destruction and ruin of those who behold or pursue them; and which (although they may seem to their deluded followers to be full of satisfactory contents) yet in reality are as dangerous and untractable as Dragons, as fierce and hurtful as savage Boars, bruising and destroying with their iron hands; lastly, for that they are of short continuance, they are said to have wings, and suddenly to fly from those they have flattered and deluded: Gaudia non remanent, sed fugitiva volant. Perseus on the contrary, the son of Jupiter, is Reason; the image and impress of God, who is the true Jupiter: The hoary-headed Graeae, Experience acquired by long time, and the concomitant of grey hairs: Their eye is the discerning faculty of the Soul: The shield of Pallas, and helmet of Pluto; are our defensive arms, viz. constant good resolutions, and fixed habits of virtue, whereby we sustain and resist all the batteries and assaults of sensual allurements: the falchion of Mercury, our offensive arms, whereby we do not only resist and repel an invading temptation, but (in the grapple and encounter, conquering and surmounting the same) proceed to the highest acts of virtue and true perfection. But forasmuch as pleasure proves sometimes too potent an enemy to deal and contend withal, a wise man is said to put on Mercury's wings, that he may (by flying from what he dares not encounter) elude and disappoint the force of his over-powerfull adversary, according to the Spanish Proverb, qui en quita l'occasion, quita el-peccado, he that shuns the occasion shurs the sin. And this is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or whole armour of a wise man; not unlike to that which is recommended to us by the Apostle Epes. 6. But whereas▪ Perseus' is said not to look upon Medusa and the rest, but in the refulgency of his shield, is to hint to us not too earnestly to behold with our eyes what our hearts are too prone to consent to. Thus, as from the blood of the subdued Monsters the winged Pegasus took his birth; so from the taming of our wild affections, and conforming to the dictates of right reason, an honest and glorious fame (the true Pegasus which flies through the mouths of men, and celebrates victorious virtue) is produced. But the truth is, that these Gorgon's were a race of warlike women in the coasts of Libya, as the Amazons were in Asia, whom Perseus warring upon, subdued, and utterly extirpated.  
§ 42 The Harpies (according to Hesiod in his Theogonia) were the Daughters of Thaumas and Electra, and Sisters of Iris: they were three, 
Harpies.  Aello, Ocypete, and Celoeno. Others say that they were the Daughters of Neptune and Tellus, of old esteemed the Parents of all Monsters and Prodigies. They are called Jupiter's dogs; in hell Furiae, in heaven Dirae, on earth Harpyjae: they were said to have the ears of a Bear, the body of a Vulture, the face of a Virgin, humane hands and arms, but withal most dreadful and monstrous talons: Thus described by the Prince of Poets, Aen. 3. 
Tristius haud illis monstrum, nec saevior ulla  
Pestis & ira Deûm Stygiis sese extulit undis:  
Virginei volucrum vultus, foedissima ventris  
Proluvies, uncaeque manus, & pallida semper  
Ora fame.—  
Then them no Monster's worse, no greater curse  
Or wrath of Gods e'er sprung from Stygian source.  
The fowls have Virgins faces, purging still  
Their filthy paunches, armed with talons, ill  
And ever pale with hunger.—  These was said to infest blind Phineus King of Thrace, to snatch the meat from his Table, and to pollute and defile what they bore not away: they were at last pursued and chased away by Calais and Zetus, the winged issue of Boreas, to the Islands called Strophades, where they, giving over the pursuit, left that name to those Islands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, à conversione, which were formerly known by the name of Plotae. The moderns call them Stivali. And what are these Harpies, but flatterers, Delators, and the inexplebly covetous, who abuse, devour, and pollute the fame of Princes, blinded in their understandings? whom Zetus and Calais (said to be winged from their vigour and expediteness in State-affairs, and the service of their Country) are famed to expel, thereby freeing the Court & Council of the abused Prince from those pernicious Monsters. But Avarice is the vice more properly depainted and reprehended by these Harpies, which take their name from Rapine, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and are said to be Virgins, in that barren, because goods ill gotten descend but seldom to posterity; to fly, in that they are swift in extorting; to be covered with plumes, from cloaking and concealing their prey; to have talons of vultures, from their griping and fast-holding of their unjustly ravished goods. These qualities are also characterized in their names; Aëllo quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. from taking away what was another's; Ocypete from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, from celerity and flying; Celeno, from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies black. Thus a covetous man is an Aello or invader of another's, which like an Ocypete, or kind of prey, he doth with all violence and greediness, being a Celaeno, or close & dark in his proceedings. You may draw this Fable to a physical sense in this manner; by the Harpies is signified the nature of the wind, and all flatulent Meteors, which are therefore said to be born of Thaumas, the Son of Pontus or the Sea, and Electra the Daughter of Sol or the Sun; for such is the wind which is generated from the vapours of the sea, drawn up by the Sunbeams, whereof the more gross and thick parts are condensed into rain, the more thin and subtle extenuated into wind. Their names also are agreeable to the nature of the wind; for what is a greater Harpy, i. e. more violent and rapid than the wind? what more an Ocypete, or swift-flying? what more an Aella, i. e. a storm? for from thence is Aello also derived; or what more commonly accompanied with Celaeno, i. e. obscurity, then windy and tempestuous weather? Lastly, as the Harpies are said to be winged, what is more frequent in our common speech, than the wings of the wind, from its extraordinary swift and rapid motion?  
§ 43 By forma tricorporis umbrae, which we have expressed by three-bodyed Elves, 
Geryon.  the Poet understands the Ghost or representation of Geryon, the Son of Chrysâor and Callirhoë; said to have three bodies, either from the three Islands (the 2 Beleares and Ebûsus, now known by the names of Majorca, Minorca and Ivica) which were under his dominion and Signiory: Or for that (as Justin testifies l. 44. c. 4.) there were three Brethren of them, who lived together in such & concord fraternal amity, as if they had had but one soul to actuate their three bodies. And may not this Fable be verified in this our age? have not we our Geryon? is not our dread Sovereign Lord of three mighty Kingdoms? What is Majorca to England? Minorca to Scotland? and Ivica to Ireland? what in extent? what in fertility? Why did Antiquity boast so of its Geryon, and shall not we proclaim our unparalleled happiness in our Charles the second? second indeed to none in all Princely endowments and royal accomplishments, insomuch that his inherent worth alone and noble personage seem to have designed him for Empire, had he no other title: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. But when we consider in what amity and love, how united and linked together our gracious Sovereign and his two Royal Brethren live, we cannot but affirm that (according to the mythology of this Fable) they seem to have but one soul to actuate their three bodies; the contemplation whereof strikes fire into my Muse, and forceth me into this short Poetical rapture: 
Antiquity, what were the reasons why  
Thou didst so much ascribe to th' number Three?  
What mysteries (to us yet unrevealed  
Through thy dark Counsels) lie therein concealed?  
Three Graces why? and why three Parcaes pray?  
Oth' world 
* The Ancients divided the World into 3. parts, viz. Europe, Asia, and Africa 〈◊〉 our Moderns have added a fourth, v●z. America. vi.  three parts, and 
* Morning, Noon and Night.  three parts of the day?  
The Muses three times three? the Trinity  
(Highest of mysteries) made up by Three?  
Nay, why in hell three Judges didst thou seign?  
Three Furies why, t'inflict on mortals pain?  
If faith assure us that a Trinity  
In heaven doth sway, if by Mythology  
We are instructed that a tripartite  
Power doth preside over those Realms of night;  
Sense I am sure (than faith and story both  
An evidence more clear and certain) doth  
Tell us that earth is destined now to be  
Governed by a Royal Trinity.  
Great Charles, brave York, and sprightly Gloucester,  
The names which to all Nation's peace or war  
Are destined to dispense, where they or frown  
Or smile, they give or take away a Crown.  
Three Brethren thus Nature did once obey;  
Jove ruled the Heavens, Neptune the raging Sea,  
Pluto the parts beneath; their influence  
Did to all things or Good or Bad dispense:  
And thus the little world (man's body) is  
If Aristotle's School teach not amiss)  
By three soul's ruled; we the praeeminence  
To Reason give, the second place to Sense,  
The Vegetative claims the third; and thus  
You, Princely Triade, the three souls which us  
And this our Western world do suage; 'tis you,  
To whom your friends and enemies both bow,  
As those for love, so these for fear: I say  
'Tis you, who hearts as well as Empire's sway.  
This blessed union then let nought divorce,  
And nothing shall resist your matchless force.  But I am engaged in so pleasing and copious a subject, that I can hardly take myself off, or return to our fabulous Geryon, from whom we have so far digressed; wherefore you must know that he was said to be a most merciless Tyrant, and therefore slain by Hercules, who having also killed his two-headed Dog, and sevenheaded Dragon, the Guardians of his purple-coloured Oxen, together with Eurition, the instrument and Minister of his cruelty, is said to drive away that precious Drove out of those Islands into Greece. This story is briefly touched by our Author, lib. 8. Aen.  
— maximus ultor  
Tergemini niece Geryonis, spoliisque superbus  
Alcîdes aderat, taurosque hâc victor agebat  
Ingentes; vallemque boves amnemque tenebant.  
Alcîdes, who in Geryon's death did boast  
And spoils; that great Avenger to our coast  
Did come, and did his Cattle hither guide;  
His Herds possessed the vale and riverside.  
§ 44 Spain was anciently a most fertile Country, abounding in all things necessary, as well for the use and sustenance of man, as serving for superfluous pleasures and luxury; and in those days was esteemed the Granary of Italy and Rome, that insatiable Cormorant and devourer of the riches and plenty of the whole world; as you may read in Justin. l. 44. c. 1. But of all the parts of Spain, those Islands subject to Geryon were most happy, and so abounding in herbage, that if they did not sometimes take their Cattle off from feeding, they would die either of fat, or repletion; so much is the present soil altered and impaired, to what it was in elder times; whence the Droves of Geryon (wherein consisted the sole wealth of that Age) were so famous, that they invited Hercules (that great Land-looper) to an expedition out of Asia into Europe.  
Aeneas having passed through the Vestibulum, or base-Court of Hell, 
The Rivers of Hell.  proceeds to the river Acheron, which next receives those who travel into those dark and irremeable Kingdoms: We shall confine our speculations concerning the infernal Rivers to this Section; they were 5. in number, Acheron, Cocytus, Phlegeton, Styx, and Lethe, all mentioned by Virgil in this Poem. Nor were these fantastical, but real Rivers, and feigned to be infernal streams, either from the unpleasantness and unwholsomness of their waters, or for that (losing themselves under ground) they did disappear, and after a long subterranean course, as if springing from Hell, break forth again. And for these reasons Pausanias in Atticis is of opinion, that Homer confined them to Hell, and imposed on them the names by which they are now known. 
Acheron.  Thus Acheron, so called, as Servius will have it, quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, joyless, or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it is a River which flows with grief and trouble; is a River of Epirus, near the Town of Pandosia, in the Province of the Threspoti, flowing out of the Lake Acherusia, which receiving many smaller streams into its channel, posts along with them into the Bay of Ambracia, and is now known by the name of Velichi. There is another of this name in the Country of the Brutii, a Province of Italy, with a Town so called also, where Alexander King of Epirus, Brother to Olympias, and Uncle to the great Macedonian Alexander, lost his life; for being forewarned by the Dodonêan Oracle to avoid the River Acheron, and the Town of Pandosia; and ignorant that there were any other places so called, passed into Italy, where (partly to shun the danger threatened him, and partly to satisfy his own innate ambition and thirst of Empire) he joined with the Tarentines against the Brutii; but meeting there an Acheron and a Pandosia, he met those fates also which he endeavoured to elude, his life and vain hopes expiring together under the walls of Brutian Pandosia: Justin. l. 12. c. 2. Strabo l. 6. Livy l. 8. But to come to the Mythology; Acheron taken, as here it is, for one of the infernal Rivers, was said to be the Son of the earth, because that Auri sacra fames, that accursed covering of riches, which are dug and forced out of the bowels of the earth, creates very great inquietudes and perturbations of mind, signified by this word Acheron, according to the above given etymology thereof: and because men for the love of wealth often hazard their souls, and pass the River Acheron into eternal damnation, Acheron was said to be thrust down into hell for administering drink to the Titans when they fought against Jupiter: by this are covertly meant the wicked and rebellious togitations, whereby in assisting and cherishing out sins, his enemies, we fight against our great Creator; justly repaid with the worst of punishments, because they have offended the best of Entities. The water thereof is said to be of a most ungrateful and unpleasant taste, because the recordation of our past actions, and the account we are to give, cannot but be very unpleasant and distasteful to us. Lastly, it is the first of all the Rivers which the Deceased are to pass, because when wicked men are upon the point of death, an Acheron, or grief of mind doth thereupon seize them, both in regard of those dearly beloved pleasures they leave behind them, and of those dreaded pains which they expect, as the just guerdon of their former delinquencies. Acheron amongst the Poets is frequently taken for Hell itself.  
§ 45 Cocytus, 
Cocytus.  according to Pausanias, is a River of Epire also, near the Town of Cichyrus in the Province of the Threspoti, and haply may join and mingle with Acheron: Hence Virgil alluding to the true position and topography of these two Rivers, may say that Acheron does eructare omnem arenam in Cocytum, fling up its sand into Cocytus, id est, with its thick and troubled waters, discolour the purer stream of Cocytus. This is also feigned to be a River of Hell, taking its name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which signifies to weep or lament; this was said to receive a continual supply of waters from the tears of the Damned; and is therefore called by Silius, lacrymarum fons: the mythology of this is coincident with that which we have given of Acheron.  
Styx is a fountain at the foot of Nonacris, 
Styx.  a Mountain of Arcadia, whose water (by reason of the intense coldness thereof) was deadly to all who tasted it; dissolving all sorts of metal, insomuch that it could not be kept or contained in any vessel of gold, silver, brass, or iron, or any thing else but an Ass' hoof: and was thought to be that poison which by Antipater's means was administered to Alexander the Great, as you may read in Plut. in his life. This River is mentioned by Herodot. in Erato, by Pausanias in Arcadicis, by Pliny l. 2. c. 103. and l. 31. c. 2. This also for its subterranean passage, and the poisonous quality of its waters, is reckoned amongst the infernal streams, and is called Styx, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, i. e. hateful; which in a literal sense may be verified of it, in regard of its nature and qualities: in a moral, in regard of that hatred which the penitent dying man hath to sin; for as by Acheron we are to understand that sorrow and contrition which an expiring man conceives for his past offences; so by Styx is meant that detestation, loathing and disclaiming which we feel in our souls for the same. Cael. Rhodiginus l. 27. c. 5. alluding to the etymon of Styx from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, hateful, says, that therefore the Gods swore by Styx, or the hateful River, quia â Diis & hominibus odio habentur qui ad dejurium sunt procliviores, because the perjured are hateful both to God and Man. This was therefore that Stygian flood, 
Dii cujus jurare timent, & fallere numen.  as Virgil says of it here, and of which Homer l. 5. Odyss. in the person of Calypso to Ulysses writes thus; 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉;  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
Bear witness earth, and the wide heavens above,  
Yea Stygian waters which beneath do move;  
The highest and most serious oath which ties  
The blessed Gods, who dwell in starry skies.  Nor could the Gods either revoke that promise, or frustrate that oath which they had confirmed by the intervention of that sacred name; if they did, they were for a penalty of their perjury expelled the Council and society of the Gods for 10 years, and interdicted the celestial drink and food of Nectar and Ambrosia, as you may read in Hesiods Theogonia. This honour was conferred upon the River Styx (as the same Author affirms) for assisting Jupiter against the rebelling Giants. The learned Lord Verulam in his book de sapientiâ Veterum, says, that by Styx we are to understand Necessity (which though it hath no law itself, is of all laws the most binding) and Leagues of Princes, which (though with all solemnity and formality concluded) are easily frustrated, unless the Deity of Styx, that fatal and irremeable River, be called to witness, and seal to the Conditions, that is, unless there be a firmer tye then either that of oath or bed, a necessity of keeping the Articles of agreement, by some mutual pledges given, or for fear of some loss, danger, diminution of State or Customs; and then Leagues are held truly sacred, and strictly observed, and as it were confirmed by the invocation of Styx, when there is a fear of that interdiction, and suspension from the society and banquets of the Gods; under which name and title the Ancients signified all rights and prerogatives of Empire, with all affluence and felicity, which good Patriots study to procure for their beloved Country.  
Phlegeton is a fourth River, 
Phlegeton.  called by Homer Pyriphlegeton, from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, fire, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉▪ to burn: This is merely fictitious; and is said to roll rapid and fearful flames of fire down its sultry channel. As this flowed with fire, so Cocytus (as we have said) was swollen up with tears, both which (according to Claudian l. 2. in Ruff.) embraced the infernal Palace of Rhadamanthus. Phlegeton represents to us the burning wrath of God against sinners, and is a type of those torments which the wicked deservedly suffer in Hell in inextinguishable flames.  
The fifth and last River of Hell is Lethe, 
Lethe.  which signifies Oblivion, which whosoever drunk of forgot all forepassed actions or sufferings. Pythagoras, and from him the Platonists held and maintained the transmigration of souls, which after their solution from the body descended into a certain Purgatory, where after a great many years' purgation they were brought to this River Lethe, of which having drunk▪ they forgot whatsoever miseries or incommodities they had suffered, when they were formerly joined with the body, and thence reverted without any reluctancy into the same: but we shall examine this fancy more strictly hereafter. Lethe is indeed (as Stephanus witnesseth) a River in Africa, flowing by the walls of Berenice, which is swallowed up by a great gulf, and running under ground many miles, breaks forth again; which gave occasion to the Countrypeople to think that this River sprung from Hell: All which Rivers are thus described by Sil. Ital. l. 13. Punic.  
— late exundantibus urit  
Ripas sa●vus aquis Phlegeton, & turbine an●elo:  
Parte aliâ torrens Cocytus sanguinis atri  
Vorticibus furit, & spumanti gurgite fertur;  
At magnis semper Divis, regique Deorum  
Jurari dignata palus, picis horrida rivo,  
Fumiferum volvit Styx inter Sulphura limum:  
Tristior his Acheron sanie crassoque veneno  
Aestuat, & gelidam eructans cum murmure arenam  
Descendit nigrâ lentus per stagna palude.  
Rough-swoln Phlegeton its banks doth burn,  
And in its soultry-streames scorched stones doth turn:  
Cocytus torrent then with putrid blood  
Doth flow, driving along its foaming flood:  
But Styx (by which the great Gods, and the King  
Of God's vouchsafs to swear) black with its spring  
Of molten Pitch, its reaking mud, commixed  
With Sulphur, tumbles: Acheron the next  
More sad than this, with poison swells and gore,  
And belching up its noisome sand, doth roar,  
Whilst, slow with its black waters, through a Lake  
It into Hell doth fall:—  
And this is the vulgar and common interpretation of these fictions. Macrobius l. 1. c. 10. in Somnium Scipionis, treading in the steps of the more ancient and primitive Philosophers, (who were of opinion that Hell was nothing but our very bodies, wherein our souls being included, underwent a nasty, horrid and irksome restraint) finds all those things in ourselves which fabulous Antiquity attributed to Hell, the Region of the Damned. Hence (according to their assertion) he affirms that Lethe, or the River of Oblivion, is nothing else but the errors and mistakes of the soul, forgetting the state, majesty, and perfect knowledge wherein it lived before it was confined to the loathsome Dungeon of the body. That Phlegeton, or the River of fire, is nothing else but that preternatural inflammation and exorbitant fire of lust, concupiscence, anger, and other untamed affections, which put the soul out of that equal temper which is natural to it. That Styx is whatsoever doth sink the Soul into dislike and hatred of its own actions: Cocytus whatsoever causeth tears and grief: Acheron whatsoever deprives us of the joy and content of our lives. Hence they concluded that the soul was dead so long as it remained in the body, and that then it recovered its pristine life and liberty, when it by death hand emancipated itself from the bonds and servitude of the same: Hi vivunt qui è corporum vinculis evolaverun; nostra autem quae dicitur vita, mors est: Cicer. in Somn. Scipion.  
Charon, which signifies joy, was the son of Night and Erebus, as Hesiod will have it, 
Charon.  who makes all the infernal Monsters the progeny of those Parents: see him here to the life depainted by Virgil, so that nothing can be added to that genuine and lively Prosopopaea which the Poet hath given us of him; we will only illustrate our description with the like out of Seneca in Herc. furent. 
Hunc servat amnem cultu & aspectu horridus,  
Pavidosque manes squallidus gestat senex;  
Impexa pendet barba, deformem sinum  
Nodus coercet, concavae lucent genae;  
Regit ipse conto Portitor longo ratem.  
A foul old man, frightful in dress and face,  
Guarding these streams the fearful Ghosts doth pass;  
His beard untrimmed hangs, and you might see  
Through his thin hollow cheeks; a knot doth tie  
His nasty coat; himself with a long pole  
His boat doth steer.—  Charon was said to be rough and unpleasant to all his Passengers whatsoever; for seeing all whom he wasted over naked alike, he thought that no one was better than another, that there was no difference between Kings and Princes, and between the inferior and rascally Multitude; for death is that great Leveller which takes away all distinctions of place and degrees: 
Sub tua purpurei venient vestigia Reges,  
Deposito luxu, turbâ cum paupere mixti;  
Omnia Mors aequat.— Claud. 2. de rapt.  
Before thee purpled Kings (of their late pride  
Devested 'mongst the poorer rout espied)  
Themselves shall prostrate; Death doth equal all.  Wherefore to win the favour of this rigid and implacable Boatman, superstitious Antiquity put a piece of money (called by the Latins Naulum, by the Greeks Danace) into the mouth of the Dead. As by the forementioned Rivers are hinted to us those troubles of mind, confusions and distractions of thoughts, which arise from the consideration of having offended a good and gracious Deity, and from the apprehensions or fear which we have of his displeasure, and the consequence thereof, punishments proportionate to our delinquencies; so by Charon, which (as I have said) signifies Joy, we are to understand, that satisfaction and acquiescence which we find in ourselves upon the opinion of our innocence, or, that which is next to it, upon a firm resolution of amendment of life for the future; all which joined with an unfeigned repentance begets in us a hope of God's mercy and goodness, which creates serene thoughts and a real joy within us, the true Charon, which wafts us over those turbulent streams of our late distractions to the Elysian fields of pacified and reconciled thoughts. Before we conclude this Paragraph. we will touch upon a Criticism or two. Virgil says of Charon, 
— Stant lumina flammâ.   
§ 46 The brevity of this expression hath caused the Critics to vary somewhat in their interpretations of this place: Stant, i. e. horrent, Servius; sunt rigida, Scaliger; Plena sunt, Turnebus; non conniventia, sed patula & irretorta, others; all which put together Meyenus doth thus interpret the Poet, Oculi Charontis inflexibiles, & semper aperti & intenti stantes, quasi flammas emittebant: we have here, as you see, rendered the full sense of all these, though paraphrastically, and in more words then the Original; but (if I may judge) our Author hath lost nothing in the traduction: His eyes (like saucers) stare, like fire do glow. Virgil says of Charon, that he did Corpora subvectare cymbâ, a mere contradiction; for he says anon, Corpora viva nefas Stygiâ vectare carinâ. We have therefore both mended the sense, and reconciled the contradiction, whilst we have rendered it thus,  Wherein his airy freight he o'er doth pass. 
The Ancients were of opinion that the unburied could not be passed over by Charon, but that their ghosts wandered an 100 years about the banks of Cocytus; whence nothing was more solemnly observed amongst them then the interment of the Dead, which was done either by a real, or an imaginary sepulture: 
Cenotaphium▪  This latter they called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, when the rites of burial were observed for the dead, when absent, as if the Corpse had been there present, and was thought as effectual as to their transfretation by Charon as the other. Hence Deiphobus his Ghost (as we shall see anon) was transported, for whom Aeneas had raised a Cenotaphium, or empty Monument; which the Poet means also when he speaks in the person of Anchises concerning the young Marcellus; 
— fungar inani  
Munere.—  And for this reason the Egyptian Kings, when they would express an implacable hatred and revenge against their offending and executed Subjects, would not suffer their bodies to be buried, that their punishment might survive their lives. But whereas the Poet says, that the Ghosts of the unburied wand'ring about the banks of Cocytus, were excluded for an 100 years from the Elysium, or place of rest; this is, I say, drawn out of the mysterious doctrine of the Platonists, by whom the number of 10 was held in great veneration, and termed by them numerus perfectus & universus, the perfect and universal number, as being the first compounded number, and containing in it all the kinds and differences of number, as even, odd, the quadrantal, Cube, long and plain, which are the distinctions of those Schools. Hence, as if by Nature preferred to all numbers, we have ten fingers to count upon; and hence it was the custom of the Ancients, upon any solemn promise or contract, to join their right hands, because thereby they did premise this number, as an inviolable pledge of their sincere and real intentions: and hence our Author (a great Platonist) insinuates this number of an hundred years, because it is an universal number arising from ten, ten times multiplied; for ten Denaries make a Centenary: for the same reason also he allots a thousand years for the purgation of souls, as we shall see anon, a thousand being an universal number also; for an hundred ten times multiplied makes a thousand; both which are therefore thought universal, because they arise from the multiplication of ten, the first universal: but if you desire to wade further into these abstruse speculations of numbers. we shall remit you to Cael. Rhodiginus l. 22. lect. antiq. who hath sifted Antiquity herein.  
§ 47 The story and fate of Palinurus, the Master of Aeneas his Ship, 
Palinurus.  is related by Virgil at the close of the precedent book, which is here again repeated by himself, because Aeneas till now knew nothing of the manner of his drowning. In fine, having made a full and perfect relation thereof, he desires Aeneas to carry him along with him over the River Cocytus, but is reprehended for his unseasonable and illicite request by Sibylla, because he was as yet unburied; but withal encouraged, for that ere long those inhuman Lucani, who had murdered him, should expiate their barbarous assassination, by appeasing his Ghost, and by raising a Cenotaphium for him on that Promontory, which from him should bear the name of Palinurus, on which also stood the Town of Velia here mentioned. But Jul. Higinus, as A. Gellius relates, l. 10. c. 16. is very severe here against Virgil, accusing him of a very gross mistake against Chronologie; for Velia was not then built, but a long time after, viz. in the reign of Servius Tulius, by the Phocians, who were expelled their native soil by Harpalus, King Cyrus his Lieutenant: but this must be salved by the figure called Prolepsis, as we have noted §. 2. concerning Cumae. Turnebus l. 22. c. 1. excuseth the Poet thus, saying, Virgil spoke with a reflection upon the notation or etymology of the word Velinus, which is the same with Palustris: Velia, anciently wrote Helia (as Servius notes) coming from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which signifies a fenny place; so that portus require Velinos, is portus require Palustres. But speculations of this nature are not the principal design of these Annotations, we shall herein refer the Reader to the Grammarians. We shall note one thing before we conclude this §. Palinurus desires Aeneas to bury or inter him, tu mihi terram injice. It was a custom among the Ancients, that whosoever light upon an unburied Corpse (were his haste never so great) was bound to bury it, or to cast earth upon it. 
Quanquam festinas (non est mora longa) licebit  
Injecto ter pulvere, curras: Horatius l. 1. Od. 28.  
Though haste thee press, it is no long delay,  
Thrice cast on dust, and then hie thee away.  Quintilian more positively, Declam. l. 5. Insepultum quodlibet corpus nulla festinatio tam rapida transcurrit, ut non quantulocunque veneretur aggestu: hence whosoever omitted this common act of humanity was looked upon as an execrable person; neither do I conceive that they were bound to dig a Grave, unless they pleased; it was enough for the discharge of their duty to cast dust or sand upon the Corpse, which they were bound to do thrice, as Horace witnesseth; which done the party was taken for buried, although it was not quite covered with the earth or sand they cast upon it: and this is the meanest and slightest sort of sepulture, yet enough to prevent the hundred years wand'ring in the other world; for which reason Palinurus desires this last and least kindness of his friend, tu mihi terram injice.  
§ 49 Aeneas and Sibylla approaching the banks of the River Cocytus, are saluted by Charon with rude and Boatman-like language; mark the artifice of the Poet in fitting the speech according to the person and quality of the speaker, imitated herein by Senec. in Herc. furent.  
— dirus exclamat Charon,  
Quó pergis audax? siste properantem gradum.  
Fell Charon cries aloud, whither bold man  
Dost thou advance? thy hasty course restrain.  
Charon terrified by the threats of Hercules transported him, but was for that fact (as Servius notes) held in chains a whole twelvemonth; wherefore he had no reason to be pleased, or to do the like in the person of Aeneas, who for aught he knew might come upon the same design the other did, who, as the fable says, 
Cerberus.  drew Cerberus from Hell; in a moral sense that is, did subdue and conquer all sensual pleasures, all low and earthy delights: for by Cerberus we are to understand the earth, which consumes and annihilates bodies, whence Cerberus takes its name from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, i. e. Carnivorus, a flesh-eater. But this Fable of Hercules, with that of Theseus and Pirithous, 
Theseus & Pirithous.  took its rise from this following story, which you may read in Theseus his life, written by Plutarch. Theseus' Son of Aegaeus and King of Athens, and Pirithous King of the Lapithae, were very intimate friends, and sworn Brothers in arms; both persons of exceeding strength of body, and undaunted courage of mind: Pirithous had assisted Theseus in the rape of Helena; such exploits in those days being esteemed acts of gallantry and manhood; wherefore he desires his friend to do the same for him in a design of the like nature. A●doneus King of the Molossions had a most accomplished and beautiful Lady to his Wife called Ceres, 
Ceres. Proserpina.  with a Daughter called Proserpina, equally deserving. He had a Dog also of a monstrous size, and Lion-like fierceness, with whom he made those ●ight who came to ask his Daughter in Marriage, promising to give her to them who should overcome his Cerberus; for so was the Dog called. But understanding that Pirithous came not like a Suitor, to request her in marriage, but as a Ravisher, to steal her away, he surprising both the Gallants, made him Prisoners; but for Pirithous, he caused him presently to be torn in pieces by his Dog, and shut Theseus up in a close Prison. In the mean time Hercules (Theseus his Contemporary and friend, who traveled through the world, seeking adventures) came also into those parts to combat with this terrible Dog, whom conquering he carried away captive with him, delivering also his friend Theseus out of chains. But for a little variety and diversion, let us see the fight between the imaginary Cerberus and Hercules, as it is lively described by Sen in Herc. furent.  
— Sensit ut motus pedum,  
Attollit hirtas angue vibrato comas,  
Missumque captat aure subrectâ sonum,  
Sentire & umbras solitus. Vt proprior stetit  
Jove natus, antro sedet incertus canis,  
Et uterque timuit: ecce latratu gravi  
Loca muta terret; sibilat totos minax  
Serpens per armos: vocis horrendae fragor  
Per ora missus terna felices quoque  
Exterret umbras. Solvit à laeuâ ferox  
Tunc ipse rictus, & Cleonaeum caput  
Opponit, ac se tegmine ingenti clepit  
Victrice magnum dexterâ robur gerens;  
Huc nunc & illuc verbere assiduo rotat,  
Ingeminat ictus; domitus infregit minas,  
Et cuncta lassus capita submisit Canis,  
Antroque toto cessit: extimuit sedens  
Vterque solio Dominus, & duci jubet;  
Me quoque petenti munus Alcidae dedit.  
Tunc gravia Monstri colla permulcens manu  
Adamant texto vincit; oblitus sui  
Custos opaci pervigil regni Canis  
Componit aures timidus, & patience trahi,  
Herumque fassus, ore submisso obsequens  
Vtrumque caudâ pulsat anguiferâ latus, etc.  
As soon as he his footing heard, he does  
His Brisles (stiff with brandished snakes) oppose;  
With prick'd-up ear (the Ghosts even wont to hear)  
Catching the sound; but when Jove's Son more near  
Approached, the Dog sat doubtful in his den,  
And both did seem to apprehend; lo! then  
Those mute abodes with his deep throat he scares:  
About his shoulders wreathed his threatening hairs  
Of Serpent's hiss; his dreadful voices sound  
(Sent through his treble mouth) doth even confound  
The blessed shades: Then th' other in a rage  
His Lion's spoil divesting, doth engage,  
And himself covering with that mighty shield,  
With his all-conquering hand doth nimbly wield  
His knotty Oak, his strokes he oft repeats;  
And now the vanquished Dog his threats abates;  
He wearied hangs his Heads, and's Den doth quit;  
His 
* Pluto and Proserpina.  Patrons both (spectators of the fight)  
Did fear, and him resign; they also 
* Theseus, the person here speaking.  me  
At the request of Hercules did free.  
The Monsters wearied necks then stroking, he  
Them with an Adamantine chain doth tie:  
No more himself, Hel●s watchful Guardian lays  
His ears for fear, he quietly obeys  
His new Lord, and with a submissive mien  
His Serpent's tail doth wag.—  
§ 50 Sibylla (called here Vates Amphrysia, i. e. Apollinea, from Apollo, who kept Admetus his flocks near the River Amphrysus) with the same decorum replies to every particular of Charon's speech, and answering to all his objections, tells him the true end and intention of Aeneas in this his undertaking. Meyenus doth thus moralise upon this place: By Aeneas his descent into Hell to advise with his Father, is meant the study of Philosophy, or a strict search and diligent, indagation after truth, which is said in abdito latere, to lie in as profound and difficult a place to approach as Hell itself: By the fatal branch is hinted to us the wisdom, will, and conduct of the omnipotent and omniscient God, without which no man can attain to true knowledge; upon the sight of this bough therefore Aeneas his intentions being known to be just, and approved by the Gods, Charon receives him into his Boat, and (though with some difficulty) passeth him over the River Cocytus; which place is thus imitated by Seneca in Her. fur. speaking of Hercules his transportation.  
Non passus ullas natus Alcm●na moras  
Ipso coactum navitam conto domat;  
Scanditque puppim: Cymba populorum capax  
Succubuit uni, sedit, & gravior ratis,  
Vtrinque Lethen latere titubanti bibit.  
Alcmena's Son impatient of delay  
The Boatman makes with his own pole t'obey;  
He goes aboard: under one the boat sinks,  
Which thousands could receive, and o'ercharged drinks  
Lethe at both its tottr'ng sides.  
§ 51 After Aeneas was landed, the first encounter he had was with Cerberus, 
Cerberus.  the infernal Dog and Porter, whose Den was opposite to his landing: He was said to have three heads, and Serpents instead of hair, to be of an immense proportion, fierce and devouring: thus depainted by Sen in Herc. furent.  
Híc saevus umbras territat Stygias Canis  
Qui trina vasto capita concutiens sono  
Regnum tuetur; sordidum caput tabo  
Lambunt colubrae, viperis horrent jubae,  
Longusque tortâ sibilat caudâ Draco;  
Par ira formae.—  
Here by the Stygian Cur the Ghosts are scared,  
Who shaking his three heads those Realms doth guard  
With his deep yels; snakes lick his putrid head,  
About his main themselves soul vipers spread,  
A Dragon at his twisted tail doth hiss;  
Such as his form, his fright full fierceness is.  
§ 52 But Sibylla laying him with all his Hydra's asleep by casting to him this sop, did with Aeneas proceed without any further interruption from this vigilant and terrible guard. Cerberus signifieth the Earth, or the Grave, which devoureth all flesh, and from thence (as we have said §. 49.) receives his denomination: He was said by Hesiod. in Theogon. to flatter all comers, and to fawn upon them, but to assail with horrible yels all such as endeavoured to return: thereby insinuating, that as the grave is the receptacle of all flesh, so that there is no return from thence. But to moralise more parti●rularly upon this place, by Cerberus here we may undestand Obloquy, the oblatration, barking, or snarling of a detracting tongue, to which even Aeneas himself, that is, the most deserving is (through mistakes) many times liable: but the way to break the fury of immerited clamours, is not violently to oppose, that doth more irritate; but to cast a sop to Cerberus, to use seasonable lenitives and discreet Persuasives; for malice is never more disappointed, never more out of countenance, then when we either silently neglect it, or by well-doing convince it.  
Virgil distributes Hell into nine several quarters or regions; the first is of Infants; 
The Regions of Hell.  the second of the unjustly condemned; the third of self-murderers; the fourth of Lovers; the fifth of Warriors; the sixth of Criminals; the seventh of Purgatory; the eighth of those who were to return again into life; the ninth of the Elysium. And that of Infants is very aptly placed in the entrance of Hell, as who were in the very entrance of their lives snatched away.  
§ 53 Next to these were ranged the falsely condemned, as in innocence the most resembling Infants. But because Virgil alludes to the manner of proceeding used in his age in causes criminal, it will not be impertinent to enlarge a little upon this subject; you must therefore know that those who were stituted Judges in criminal or public causes, were by the Romans styled Quaesitores, and by the figure Syncope Quaestore●, from the verb quaerere, to seek or inquire, because they did examine and punish all capital crimes; they were also called Praetores Quaesitores, and Judices Quaestionis: They did not pass sentence by word of mouth, but when they absolved the party accused, they wrote upon certain small pieces of wood or table●s, called in Latin tesserellae, toleolae, tabellae, or calculi, the letter A. i e. Absolvimus: If they judged him guilty, than he wrote C. i. e. Condemnamus: if they found the cause difficult and doubtful, than they inscribed N. L. Non liquet: Not unlike our Ignoramus given in by the grand Inquest, whereby the party accused is delivered from all further prosecution: See cowel's Interpret. And then the Cause was put off, and left undecided for a second hearing, which was termed by the Civilians Ampliatio, or Comperendinatio; see Calv. lex Jurid. and Turnebus advers. l. 1. c. 3. The tables thus written upon were put into a vessel which they called Vrna, and there being shaken together, were drawn forth: Hence Virgil says, Quaesitor Minos urnam movet.— These sentences, because written in tables, were termed sententiae tabulariae, and sorts, because drawn out of the Urn, as lots were out of a Lottery. This does not only give light to this place of the Poet, but to that where he says at the beginning, stat ductis sortibus urna: But whereas Minos is made here by the Poet to be chief of Hell's grand Inquest, is consonant to the received opinion of those fabulous times: Minos was son of Jupiter by Eurôpa, and King of Crete, who from his exact and severe administration of Justice whilst he lived, was feigned to have been made by Pluto one of the infernal Judges, with whom Rhadamanthus and Aeacus were joined in Commission; of whom more anon.  
§ 54 In the third place the Poet reckons those who had killed themselves, which the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Against Self-murder.  who out of a irksomeness of living, laid violent hands on themselves. This Süicide, or self-murder (though coloured over and defended from the practice and example of some few otherwise gallant men, as Themistocles, Cato, Vticensis, Brutus, and others, and allowed of by Seneca, and those of the Stoical School) was by the wiser sort of Heathens not only not thought a virtue, or act of fortitude, but its contrary, direct Cowardice; as Aristotle concludes, Ethic. l. 6. c. 7. his words are worthy the inserting: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. To kill a man's self to avoid want, or for love, or other affliction and cross, is not the part of a valiant man, but rather of a Coward; and proceeds rather from an effeminate and soft nature then otherwise: Nor only so, but it was by Plato, and the Sect of the Acadmicks forbidden as a thing unlawful, and an high offence against the Gods; and concluded so to be by Tully in Somn. Scipion. Nisi cum Deus, cujus hoc templum omne quod conspicis, ist is te corporis custodiis liberaverit, huc tibi aditus patere non potest: Unless God, whose Temple this All is which we behold, free thee from these bonds of the Body, canst thou hasten thy journey to the other world: for to that this particle (Huc) relates: See Macrob. in Somn. Scip. l. 1. c. 13. And therefore Plato (as Servius observes) makes their souls to be grievously punished in Hell, whose late possessors had before the expiration of Nature's Lease over-hastily turned them out of doors. But why Styx is said here novies interfusa, nine times encompassed, Interpreters vary: some say that the Poet alludes here to those sacra novendialia, the Ceremonies and Rites observed about the dead, whose body was kept eight days, and interred the ninth: others to the nine Regions of Hell above mentioned; but De la Cerda and Meyenus conclude with Cael. Rhodigin. l. 22. c. 8. that the number of 9 as being a most perfect and absolute number, is taken here indefinitely for any number or multitude, so that novies here is eqvivalent with multoties.  
§ 55 The fourth station is assigned to such as have died or made themselves away for love: and here we may observe these following circumstances; 
Of Lovers.  First, that this place hath the name of the fields of Mourning, from that grief and melancholy which is the individual companion of impatient Lovers. Secondly, that they spend their time in secret, close, and retired walks, as such who being ashamed of their forepast commissions, eat the light and all conversation, as Ovid speaks of Nyctimene, 
— quae conscia culpae  
Conspectum lucemque fugit, tenebrisque pudorem  
Celat.— Ovid Met. l. 2. f. 9  
— she full of guilt the sight  
And day did shun, and masked her shame in night.  Or because Lovers (for the Poet speaks principally of the unchaste) out of the nature of this vice commit that sin in secret. Thirdly, that they converse in myrtle Groves, as the Slaves and Satellites of Venus, to whom that tree is sacred. Fourthly, that, though dead, they retain their former love and affection; for this vice (we still speak of unlawful love, that is, lust) sticks most pertinaciously, is never, or with much difficulty eradicated; natural inclination seconded with evil habits, rendering the unchaste an irredeemable vassal to his own filthy desires. The examples the Poet presents us with here are all of women, as the sex the most impatient of love, and the most unbridled in their appetite. Of these the first is Phaedra, Daughter to King Minos, and Wife of Theseus King of Athens, who by Antiopa the Amazon, a former Wife, had a Son called Hippolytus. He, as well in his vow and love of Chastity, as in that of hunting, showed himself to be a true Votary of Diana, the Goddess of both. 
Phaedra.  Phaedra falling in love with her Son in Law, courted him to her bed; but the more virtuous Youth, refusing to slain his Father's sheets, disappointed his lustful Mother; who impatient of the affront, as also fearing to be herself betrayed, and accused by Hippolytus, took the advantage of anticipation, and told Theseus that his Son would have forced her. The over-credulous Father vowing revenge, pursues him with curses, whom (because fled) he could no otherwise pursue. The Gods (who oftentimes yield to unjust Petitions, for a punishment to the Petitioner) heard his rash vows, and provided a sad and sudden destruction for the Son, whom the Father had so undeservedly cursed, for as Hippolytus took his flight by the seaside, certain sea-monsters called Phocae (which lay basking themselves on the shore) affrighted at the noise of his chariot, and the trampling of his horses, thre● themselves with great violence into the sea; the horses in like manner affrighted thereat, ran away, and overturning the Chariot, tore the entangled Youth limb from limb; which when the conscious Phaedra knew, after confession of her own wickedness and false accusation, she expiated her crime by becoming her own executioner: See Sen in Hipp●l. and Ovid. in epist.  
§ 56 The second is Procris, 
Procris.  whose story (related at large by Ovid. Met. l. 7.) we shall contract in this manner; Precris was the Daughter of Erectheus, King of Athens, and Wife of Shafalus, who (though a true lover of his Wife, and a great admirer of her virtues) upon I know not what suspicion, incident to lovers, coming to her in a disguise, attempted her chastity; she having made a resistance sufficient to testify her loyalty, at last by his overacted importunity, & all-conquering presents, yields; when he discovering himself, upbra●ds her with her infidelity: Whereupon Procris convinced and ashamed, forsakes her Husband, and hides herself in woods and desert places: but at last peace being made betwixt them, she gave him (who delighted much in hunting) an inevitable dart, and a dog exceedingly swift, called Lelaps: Thus provided, Shafalus was much abroad in the woods, and rising before day from his Wife, went often a hunting: wherefore Pr●cris searing that under pretence of going a hunting he quitted her embraces, for those of some beloved Nymph, followed him privately into the woods, and there as a spy hid herself amongst the bushes. Shafalus being tired with heat and toil, happened to retire himself into the shade near the place where Procris lay, and there (according to his custom) called upon Aura, i. e. the Air, to refresh him; she thinking that by that name he called upon his expected Mistress; that she might make the better discovery, raised herself, and by stirring the bushes gave him a suspicion that some wild beast lay there obscured; wherefore casting his never-missing dart (his unhappy Consorts fatal present) he unwittingly slew his dearest Wife. A story invented to deter from jealous, the bane of all conjugal content, and from imaginary and groundless suspicions, which are oftentimes the cause of real and fatal tragedies.  
Eriphyle was (according to Eustathius) Daughter of Talaüs, 
E●ip●yle.  wife of Amphiaraüs and Adrastus his Sister, who corrupted by Polynîces with a chain of gold, betrayed her Husband, who absented himself that he might not accompany Adrastus in the Theban expedition, where he knew he should certainly perish. But Amphiaraüs resenting very highly the perfidiousness of his Wife, left it as his last legacies with his Son Alcmaeon, that as soon as he should receive the certain news of his death he should slay his Mother, which he (facto pius & sceleratus ●odem) in revenge of his Father performed; therefore the Poet says of her here,  
— moestamque Eriphylen  
Crudelis nati monstrantem vulnera credit.  
The nex was Evadne, 
Evadne.  the Daughter of Mars by Thebes, the Wife of Asôpus; she was Wife to Capaneus, one of those Captains who accompanied Adrastus in the Theban Wars; who loved her Husband so passionately, that when his exequys were solemnised, she cast herself into the same flames which consumed her beloved Consort.  
As for the story of Pasiphaë, 
La●damîa.  we have already enlarged upon it §. 4. we shall therefore proceed to Laodamîa, the most affectionate Consort of the undaunted Protesilaüs, who notwithstanding that it was foretold him by the Oracle, that whosoever of the Greeks should land first upon Phrygian ground, should for his forwardness pay the price of his life, first leapt on the shore, where encountering Hector, he was by him slain. His Wife receiving the sad news of her Husband's death, conceived such invincible grief thereat, that she resolved not to survive him; yet desired, that before her death she might see his Ghost, which seen she immediately expired.  
That last of this Catalogue was Caenis, 
Caenis.  once a beautiful Virgin, who obtained of Neptune, that for her surrendered Virginity she might be changed into a man, and become invulnerable: this was granted her by the grateful God, and so from Caenis, a woman, she became Caeneus, a man, changing her name with her sex: but at last in the fight between the Centauris and the Lapithae, when he could be wounded by no weapon, he was overwhelmed with an heap of wood, and so died: he (as Virgil testifies here) after his death was turned into his primary sex, and therefore is here ranged amongst the women.  
Amongst these the Poet very appositely introduceth the lately deceased Dido, describing with all circumstances, apt to raise passion, the interview betwixt her & Aeneas; we shall not insist at all upon her story, but recommending the Reader to the fourth of the Aeneis (where it is inimitably expressed by our divine Author) proceed to the next region or partition of Hell.  
Where we are presented with a survey or general muster of some of the most eminent Warriors and Chieftairs of their times; whereof the first he mentions are such as died in the Theban Wars: 
The Region of Warrior.  Of these none was more renowned than the valiant Tydeus, 
Tydeus.  the Son of Oeneus, King of the Aetolians, and Father of Diomedes, a person as high in courage as he was low in statute; of whom Statius thus, 
Celsior ille gradu procera in membra, simulque  
Integer annorum, sed non & viribus infra  
Tydea fert animus, totosque infusa per artus  
Major in exiguo regnabat corpore virtus.  Which Mr. Stephens renders thus;  
The Theban was the taller, and had told  
More suns than he; but Tydeus was as bold  
And equalled him in courage; give him's merit,  
In a less room there reigned a greater spirit.  
§ 57 He having unhappily killed his Brother Menalippus, fled from his incensed Father to Adrastus, King of the Argives, where meeting Polynêces, a fugitive also, after sharp conflict between them, they were reconciled, and became Brothers, Tydeus marrying Deiphile, and Polynîces Argîa, Adrastus his two Daughters. He having his native Aetolians under his command, was one of the seven Princes of Greece, who followed Adrastus to the Wars of Thebes, where having given great and frequent proofs of his valour, he was at last slain by one Menalippus a Theban.  
Parthenopaeus was one of those seven Princes also, 
Parthenop●eus.  Son of Atalanta and Meleager, and King of Arcadia; he went very young to those Wars, whence returning with ill success, he did after accompany the Grecian Princes to the Wars of Troy, where having showed himself as bold in fight as he was skilful in conduct, was slain. He was noted as well for his beauty and swiftness of foot, as for his valour: Of him Statius thus lib 4.  
Pulchrior haud ulli triste ad discrimen ituro  
Vultus, & egregiae tanta indulgentia formae;  
Nec desunt animi, veniat modò fortior aetas.  
None of those who did venture to the place  
Of danger, had so sweet a beauteous face;  
Nor is true courage wanting, if his age  
Did lend him strength and power to engage.  
The third was Adrastus' King of the Argives, 
Ad●aqstus.  and chief of the league against the Thebans: He after the loss of all his great officers but Parthenopaeus returned home, where he died ingloriously. Before we proceed, you may observe by the by, that there were three most noted Epoch's or computations of time amongst the Ancients, higher then which profane Story gives us no light. The first was from the expedition of the Argonauts to Colchis for the golden Fleece, which (according to our learned Countryman, and most diligent Chronologer, Dr. Simpson) happened in the fifteenth year of Gideon, of the world 2743. and before our Saviour 1260. The second was from the Theban war, which (as the same Author testifies) fell out in the fifteenth year of Thola, Judge of Israel, in the year of the world 2785. forty two years after the former, and before our Saviour 1218. Lastly, from the Trojan War, which was undertaken by the Greeks in the 19 of Judge Jair, of the world 2812. before Christ 1191. These three memorable expeditions administered matter to the Heroic Muses of divers famous wits; the gests of the Argonauts were celebrated by the Greek Muse of Apollonius Rhodius, and by the Latin of Valerius Flaccus, two Authors esteemed by the learned, though not usually conversed with in our common Schools: The Theban War was sung by the sublime Papinius Statius. Lastly, the Trojan was the Theme of the great Homer, and the greater Virgil, the two glorious Luminaries of heroic poesy, and inexhaustible treasuries of all Phiolosophy & humane literature. But pardon this digression, and we shall return. From the Grecian Worthies the Poet makes a transition to the Trojan, where he makes the interview betwixt them and Aeneas to be with more than ordinary passion. He sighs to behold his Countrymen and acquaintance, whilst they express very great content in seeing a person so deserving, and for his deserts so worthily renowned. The Trojans ' which Virgil names here were Glaucus, soon of Antênor, slain by Agamemnon: who Medon was it is uncertain: Thensilocus was killed by Achilles, Il. 21. who the Antenoridae were it is not decided by Interpreters, as likewise who Polybaetes was; but for Idaeus he was Priam's Charioteer; whence the Poet makes mention here of his Chariot and Arms. Aeneas passeth from his Trojan friends to the Greeks, his enemies, where our Author (whose design it was to magnify his Aeneas, and to undervalue the Greeks) makes them for fear to fly from him in the lower world, whom they so much dreaded in the upper: See, and learn hereby to observe that decorum which is required in writing.  
The Poet, with much delight to the Reader, 
Deipho●us.  doth amplify in the story of Deiphobus, one of Priam's Sons, who after Paris his death, married his relict, the fair, but to her Husbands the ever-fatal Helena. Virgil's narrative of the cruel massacring and dismembering of Deiphobus, agrees with that which Dictys Cretensis the Historian gives of it in his fist book: There is nothing of difficulty in this whole relation, we shall therefore pass it over with a brief note or two. Aeneas hearing of the death of Deiphobus, raised (according to the custom of those times) a Cenotaphium, or empty Monument for him; which was not only to express the duty of a friend, but because such ceremonies were thought efficacious as to the prevention of the hundred years wand'ring about the banks of Cocytus, as we have already hinted §. 46. of which the chief and most material was to call on the dead thrice, which was done by repeating the word vale three times; which were the verba novissima, of which we also have already spoken. The next was to write the name of the Dead, with some brief Epitaph, upon the stone, and there to carve his arms as a monument of his profession: all which are expressed here by Virgil; 
Tunc egomet tumulum Rhaetaeo in littore inanem  
Constitui, & magnâ manes ter voce vocavi  
Nomen, & arma locum servant.—  The next thing we note is the interpreting of these verses of Virgil, 
Hac vice sermonum roseis Aurôra quadrigis  
Jam medium aethereo cursu trajecerat axem.  
Whilst thus they talk, morn with her rosy wain  
Had more than measured the Meridian.  This place hath much perplexed Interpreters; we shall pass by others, and adhere herein to the exposition of our Countryman, the learned Mr. Farnaby; you must therefore know, that these magical Rites were necessarily to be finished within the space of 24 hours: the sacrifices were begun in the nighttime, about sunrising they begun their journey, the forenoon was spent in passing the River Styx, in surveying the Regions of Hell, and in discoursing with Dido and Deiphobus; and now it was supposed to be past noon: How then Virgil should make mention of Aurôra, or the morning, which determines at the appearing of the sun, or say that the morning had passed the Meridian, there is that nodus & crux interpretum, which is thus untied; by Aurôra here we are to understand the Sun, because Virgil puts four horses in her Chariot, whereas both Aurôra and Luna, the Morning and the Noon, are by the Poets allowed no more than two; which indeed is Donat's interpretation, Aurôra cum quadrigis solem significat; so that the meaning of Sibylla's speech is this: The Sun hath passed the Meridîan, and is now declining towards the West, the night draws on; let us therefore hasten that we may employ our remaining hours with Anchises, the chief end of our present undertaking. Thus Mr. Farnaby: See Servius, De la Cerda, Meyênus upon this place, who every one expound it variously.  
§ 58 The last place we shall touch upon is this: 
Discedam, explebo numerum, reddarque tenebris.  
I'll go in darkness my set time to spend.  Some go along with Macrob. l. 1. in Somn. Scip. c. 13. who in my judgement seems to expound this place more subtilely then sound: we shall follow Mr. Farnaby in this also, who says, that Virgil means by number that set time which is allotted for the purgation of souls (of which anon) before they can return into this world, and reassume new bodies. The Purgatory torments (according to Plato's doctrine) were completed after the expiration of 10, an 100, or a 1000 years, according as the soul to be purged was more or less stained; so that the sense of Deiphobus his words is this, Be not angry, I will depart to finish in darkness, or those places of darkness, that number of years which is set or appointed for my purgatory or expiation.  
Aeneas having passed that Region where the Warriors resided, came to a certain Bivium, or place which divided it self into two paths; that on the right led to the Elysium and Pluto's Palace, that on the left to Hell, the place of torments; and this is that which the Ancients call Tartarus, with which our English word, Torture, although not really from thence derived, for it comes from Torqueo, bears some proportion in the sound. This is depainted by Virgil so much to the life, that the very reading strikes a terror and aprrehension in any one who does diligently and in all circumstances consider the same; all things here are so plain and obvious, that we need not vex the Reader with glosses and interpretations where there is no knot. That description which Claudian l. 2. in Rufin. gives of Pluto's Palace, may serve to illustrate this place:  
Est locus infaustis quo conciliantur in unum  
Cocytus Phlegetonque vadis, inamaenus uterque  
Alveus; hic volvit lacrymas, hic igne redundat.  
Turris per geminos flammis vicinior amnes  
Porrigitur, solidoque rigens adamante sinistrum  
Proluit igne latus; dextra Cocytia fundit  
Aequora, triste gemens, & fletu concita plangit:  
Huc post emeritam mortalia secula v●tam  
Deveniunt, ubi nulla manent discrimina fati,  
Nullus honour, vanoque exûtum nomine Regem  
Proturbat Plebeius egens.—  
With direful Phlegeton Cocytus here  
Its waters joins, both streams unpleasant are;  
With tears this swells, that doth o'erflow with fire,  
A tower environed with both these (more near  
The flames) doth stand; the left side Phleg'ton laves,  
Made strong with Adamant; Cocytus' waves  
Do dash against the right; this wailing glides,  
And drives laments down its tear-swollen tides:  
Here Mortals (when life's glass is run) descend,  
Where no distinctions do the great attend,  
No honour: here the poorest Commoner  
The unking'd King doth justle.—  
§ 59 Sibylla here makes a relation of a punishments which the Damned sustain in Hell, where (following the Poet's method) we shall observe this order; first, who were the infernal Judges; secondly, who the Executioners; thirdly, what persons and crimes were here punished; fourthly, what the infernal punishments were. There were therefore three Judges of Hell, 
The Judges of Hell.  viz. Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus; Of Minos we have already spoken §. 53: Rhadamanthus was a Cretan born, therefore entitled here Gnossius, from Gnossus, the capital City of Crete; he was a person of a very austere life, & very rigid in distributing justice; wherefore he was by Minos (who was also a very severe and just Prince) constituted supreme Judge of the Nation; and for this reason after their deaths they were both said to have been ordained Judges of Hell. This Rhadamanthus was Author of the Law which the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or lex talionis:  the Latins lex talionis, conceived (as Aristotle witnesseth Eth. l. 5. c. 5.) in these words; 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉:  
'Tis just that one should suffer as he has done.  Which therefore the Philosopher styles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; and haply from him it was translated into the Laws of the 12. Tables, as you may read in A. Gellius lib. 20. c. 1. where he introduceth Favorinus the Philosopher, and Sex▪ Caecilius the great Lawyer, discoursing concerning the reason and equity of this Law. Aeacus was the Son of Jupiter and Aegina, King of Oenopia, an Island of the Aegaean sea; which he afterward called from his Mother Aegina, Met. l. 7. f. 25. he also for his justice was feigned to be one of this infernal Triumvirate: Of these thus Sen●in Herc. furent.  
Non unus altâ sede Quaesitor sedens  
Judicia trepidis sera sortitur reis;  
Auditur illo Gnossius Minos foro;  
Rhadamanthus illo; 
* Aeacus, Father of Peleus, who married Thetis, and on her be got Achilles, who from his Grandsire Aeacus was called Aea●●des; so that by Thetidis socer Thetis her Father in law Aeacus is understood.  Thetidis hoc audit socer,  
Quod quisque fecit patitur; authorem scelus  
Repetit; suoque premitur exemplo noncens.  
Not one Judge from his lofty throne doth pass  
Upon the trembling Nocent death; alas!  
In that Court Gnossian Minos doth preside;  
Here Rhadamanthus; in a third th' are tried  
By Aeacus; all suffer, as th' have done  
Their pains bear with their crimes proportion.  
§ 60 When these Judges had examined and sentenced the guilty, than they delivered them to the Furies, 
The Futies.  the hellish Executioners, to be tormented; which, as the Judges were, so were they in number, three, Tisiphone, Allecto, and Megaera, three Sisters, the Daughters of Erebus and the Night, or of Pluto and Proserpina, the Devil and his Dam; known to the Latins by the names of Furiae, because of the terrors and distractions wherewith they afflicted the Guilty; and Dirae, quasi Dei irae, because such distractions arise from the just anger of God upon offenders, or because they are Executioners of God's wrath: To the Greeks by those of Erynnyes, quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: for the same reason the Latins call them Furiae; and Eumenides, per antiphrasin, or by the contrary, for Dysmenides, quasi minime mites, from their hostile and implacable severity: Servius and Eustath. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek signifies benevolent ●nd gentle, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the contrary. They were said to be lean, tall, to have hollow and blood-shotten eyes, tresses of Serpents instead of hair, and a girdle of the same encompassing their wastes; a torch in one hand, and a whip in the other, as you may read in the Poets, to pursue whose descriptions of this kind would be infinite: but the end and drift of them all, was to depaint and set forth horror and ugliness in its genuine colours in the person of the Furies, thereby to deter men from committing such crimes as should render them obnoxious to the evil treatment of such merciless and dreadful tormentors. But what indeed are these Furies, what their torches, snakes and whips, but the girds and prickings of an evil conscience, but the inward accusations of a guilty mind, and those throws and pangs which accompany evil commissions? 
— nec vulnera membris  
Vlla ferunt, mens est quae diros sentiat ictus.  
Now would upon their bodies could be found;  
It was the mind that felt the direful wound:  
Ovid. Met. l. 4. speaking of Athamas.  And why are they said to be three, but to signify those three predominant affections, viz. anger, lust, and covetousness, which precipitate men, and carry them on to such unlawful undertake as do certainly beget the persecutions and torments of a bad conscience? Tres furiae significant tres animi adfectus, qui homines in omnia facinora praecipites agunt; quarum ira ultionem, cupiditas opes, libido voluptates desiderat: Cicer. They are said to be Virgins, because no ways to be corrupted from taking due revenge upon the malefactor: an evil conscience can by no artifice be so quieted and allayed, but that it will still rise up against and check the evildoer; it will still confront him, accuse him, and condemn him. But to proceed; after these Furies had terrified with their snakes, and torn the bodies of the Damned with their whips, than they were (as you may gather out of our Author here) tumbled headlong into the abyss of Hell, called Tartarus, where they were for ever vexed with most exquisite torments. Thus Rhadamanthus (Claudian in Rufin. l. 2.) passeth this terrible sentence upon that monster of men, Rufinus; which though a Fiction, I cannot read without an inward dread and apprêhension.  
Tollite de mediis animarum dedecus umbris,  
Adspexisse sat est; oculis jam parcite nostris,  
Et Ditis purgate domos; agitate flagellis  
Trans Styga, trans Erebum; vacuo mandate Barathro:  
Infra Titanum tenebras, infraque recessus  
Tartarëos; nostrumque Chaos, quo Ditis opaci  
Fundamenta jacent; praeceps ubi mersus anhelet  
Dum rotat astra Polus, feriant dum litora venti.  
From 'midst the Ghost remove of souls that slain,  
One sight's enough, our eyes no more profane:  
Purge This his house, with whips drive him away,  
Beyond Styx, beyond Erebus; convey  
Him to the unfathomed Gulf, which lies beneath  
The Titans dungeon, and the dreadful depth  
Of Tart'rus and our Chaos, where are laid  
Black Hell's foundations; be he there conveyed  
Where headlong tumbled, he may panting lie  
Whilst winds strike shores, and stars adorn the sky.  
§ 61 According to our division we now come to the persons tormented in Hell, who they were, and for what offences; which the Poet first pursues in these following particulars, and then concludes in divers generals. 
The Titans.  The first of these were the Titans, the sons of Titan and the Earth, the common Parent of all monstrous and obscure productions, and therefore such are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, earthborn: these were said to have warred against Jupiter, pretending right from their Father Titan (elder Brother to Saturn, Jupiter's Father) to the celestial Kingdom; but failing in their rebellious attempt, they were cast into the bottomless pit of Hell, there to suffer never-ending torments.  
§ 62 The next were the Aloïdes, 
The Aloïdes.  Othus and Ephialte, twins, the putative sons of Aloëus and Iphimedia, but indeed of her and Neptune, who were said to grow every month nine inches; so that in nine years they became nine els long, and nine cubits broad: these relying on their vast proportions, casting the Mountain Ossa upon Olympus, and then Pelion upon them both, endeavoured to scale the heavens, and to force Jupiter out of his native Kingdom; but being slain by Apollo, they were precipitated into this place also. Both these are emblems of rebellion which (being hatched by wiser heads) is set on foot by the Titans, the sons of the earth, that is, the common rout, and which, like the Aloïdes, increasing to a great strength in a short time, if not suppressed, heaps Pelion upon Ossa, that is, subverts the fundamentals of government; which though moddeled, and put together with the greatest policy and prudence that may be, and as firmly rooted as a moutain, is oftentimes shaken, removed, and overthrown by the convulsions and earthquakes of popular sedition: But mark its reward, it seldom is successful, but carries its punishment with it, not only in this world, where it usually expires upon a gibbet, but as the blackest of transgressions is punished (as by these examples is clear) in the other, with the worst of punishments, viz. eternal damnation. These Fables were invented to keep Subjects in their due obedience.  
The third was Salmôneus, 
Salmôneus.  son of Aeolus (according to Servius) and King of Elis, who not content with regal Majesty and honour, impiously aspired to divine; and that he might imitate Jupiter, he caused a brazen bridge to be built, over which he drove his Chariot, to counterfeit thunder, and darted firebrands and torches in imitation of lightning, causing those to be killed at whom he flung his imaginary thunderbolt: but himself was at last slain by Jupiter (as you see) & thrust into Hell: as in the former examples rebellious Subjects are reproved, so in this ambitious, proud and tyrannical Princes are reprehended.  
The fourth was Tityus, 
Tityus.  the son of Jupiter by Elâta, Daughter of Orchomerus, or (as Virgil says) of the Omniparent Earth, so large that when extended, he was said to cover nine acres of ground: He for attempting Latona's chastity, Mother of Apollo, was by him for his insolence killed, and being thrust into Hell, suffered that cruel and endless torture which you see here expressed. Here you see how lust, and all inordinate desires are rewarded. The truth is, that by Tityus we are to understand filthy Concupiscence, which (according to the opinion of Physicians) resideth in the liver, as laughter in the spleen, anger in the gall; whence his liver is said to reincrease and grow as it is devoured, because beastly desires are no sooner satisfied, but that they return again; and for this reason also he was said to cover nine acres, because lust does latè patére, is very extensive, unbridled and ranging. But most worthily is Tityus punished in his liver, as the seat of lust. The divine justice is oftentimes so precise and notorious as to afflict the very partts which have offended. Thus the very hand which Jeroboam stretched out against the man of God, and no other part, shrunk up and withered.  
The fifth was Pirithous, 
Pirithous.  who was therefore damned because he attempted Proserpina, as we have already said: The sixth was Ixion, 
Ixîon.  Father of Pirithous, and King of the Lapithae, who for the attempt upon June was punished in the same manner. The story of Ixion in short is this: Ixion (King of the Lapithae, a barbarous people of Thessaly, and son of Phlegyas) having treacherously slain his Wife's Father Deioneus, and for that fact, and other misdemeanours dethroned, and expelled his Kingdom by his own Subjects, was by Jupiter (pitying his disconsolate and sad condition) received into heaven, and made a Privado to the King of the Gods. But (as Favourites often do) abusing his Prince's friendship, he endeavoured to slain Jupiter's bed, and to that end made great Court to Juno, who (as naturally honest, as she was a cursed Shrew and ugly) discovered it to her Husband: he (hardly crediting that a person so obliged could prove so ungrateful) would not at first entertain any prejudicial opinion against his friend, unless he had some more evincing evidence: wherefore transforming a cloud into the shape of Juno (now by compact consenting) he by this experiment found out the falsehood of the designing Adulterer, who for his desired Mistress embraced a cloud: and indeed that contentation and satisfaction which the unchaste promise themselves in their illicit and beastly enjoyments, proves but a cloud, a mere nothing; neither answering the pleasure expected, or countervailing the sin committed; turpis est & brevis in coitu voluptas. For this fact Ixion was cast out of heaven, who not ceasing to boast of the affront he had put upon Jupiter, was for this second piece of insolence thrust into Hell, where he was said to be tied to an everturning wheel; though Maro hath invented another kind of punishment. But the History which gave rise to this tale is this; Ixion (banished by his own Subjects) fled to a certain neighbouring King (for every King was anciently by his Parasites styled Jupiter) where he was courteously entertained by that Prince: but endeavouring to corrupt the Queen, was by her discovered to her Husband, who purposely put a trick upon him, by deceiving him with a servant called Nephele, which signifies a cloud; after which being expelled the Court, he was said to wander up and down as unquiet and restless in mind as one who is turned on a wheel is in body. This Fable is invented against the ungrateful and treacherous, who repay kindness and desert with injury and falsehood, with which no punishment but that of Hell can bear proportion. As for the Lapithae, 
The Lapith●.  they were a bloody, barbarous, and inhospitable people, as were their Conterraneans the Centaurs, and might therefore as well as they deserve to be confined to those infernal Mansions. But whereas the Poet mentions here the hanging stone, etc. it is to set before us the life of a Tyrant, which though in show glorious and splendid, yet in reality is very miserable and sad, being as obnoxious to inquietudes and disturbances of mind, as it is to personal hazards and dangers; as is manifested by the Story of Democles, 
Democles.  Dionysius his Parasite, who admiring and magnifying the happiness of that exquisite Tyrant, was by him clothed in royal robes, and set at a magnificent and richlyfurnished Table; but a naked sword hanging over his head by a slender thread took away his appetite, & made him desire to be disrobed, and divested of that honour and state which was accompanied with so much peril and anxiety: See Val. Maxim. and Tully l. 5. Tusc. quaest: and to this particular Story the Poet may haply allude.  
The Poet having alleged divers particulars, lest he should cloy the Reader with too many instances of the same kind, doth as it were sum up his discourse in these following generals, placing such as are found guilty of these or the like crimes in Hell; whereof the first are such as hate their own Brethren, whom by the Law of Nature they are tied to prosecute with all kindnesses and good offices; therefore if hatred be thus severely punished, and hereby forbidden, whatsoever is greater, as fratricide, is much more detestable. Secondly, those who have lifted up their hands against, or struck their Parents, whom by the same Law of Nature they are bound to reverence, honour and obey: The Law was, that whosoever struck his Father, should lose that hand which had been guilty of that intolerable offence: Si quis patrem pulsaverit, manus ei praecidatur: Senec. Controvers. l. 4. If this be forbidden, and so severely punished, much more is Parricide or Patricide; for which the Ancients (imagining that no man could be so prostitutely wicked as to be guilty of so enormous a crime) appointed no punishment: the aftertimes (less innocent) punished the Parricide in this manner; they sowed him up in a Sack with a Dog, a Cock, a Viper & an Ape, and so cast him into the sea. Pompey was Author of this law, which was therefore called lex Pompeia de parricidiis: Inst. tit de publicis Judiciis §. 5. one L. Ostius (as Mynsinger observes upon that place) was the first who was found guilty of, and suffered for this abominable crime. The third were such Patrons as had cheated, abused, or deserted their Clients. It was a Custom amongst the Romans for the poorer sort, which were called Plebei, to make choice of some one of the richer, which were termed Patricii, to be their protectors in their lives and fortunes, to defend and rescue them from the unjust oppressions and persecutions of their more powerful adversaries; and these were called Patroni; for which protection or patronage the others (called Clientes) were bound to return all observance and respect, to credit them with their attendance in public Assemblies, to disburse out of their own purses toward the bestowing of their Daughters, the paying of public Mulcts, the giving of Largesses in suing for Offices, etc. Neither was it lawful for either of them, to inform, depose, to give their voices, or to side with adversaries one against another without the guilt of treason, for which they were Diis inferis devoti, cursed to Hell, and the Law gave liberty for any man to kill them: so sacred and inviolable a thing was faith amongst the Ancients; nay, so great was the reciprocal bond and tie of the Patron towards the Client, that (as A. Gellius testifies l. 20. c. 1.) they preferred their Client to the nearest of their relations, and did defend them though it were against their own Brother. The fourth were the Covetous, who preferring their filthy, sordid, and illegal gain to all other respects whatsoever, were so far from making others sharers with them in their great wealth and riches, that they denied that support and assistance (which by all Laws both natural and civil they were obliged unto) to their nearest and dearest relations. The fifth were adulterous persons, such (says he) as have been slain in that filthy and unlawful act; for by the Law the Husband might kill the Adulterer and his Wife, if he took them together. Lastly, he puts all Rebels in this damned List, who take up arms against their natural Prince, their politic Father, and tear out the bowels of their native soil, their dearest Mother: such arms the Poet there full justly calls impia, and as justly damns them who take them up, to Tartarus, or the nethermost Hell. But whereas the Poet says of Theseus, sedet, aeternumque sedebit, that he sits, and shall for ever sit in Hell, hath given much trouble to Interpreters to reconcile; and is excepted against by Jul. Higinus, A. Gell. lib. 10. c. 16. for he is reckoned by our Author a little above amongst those who both descended to, and returned from Hell; and therefore how can it be said that he sat here for ever? The learned De la Cerda salves it thus: Virgil speaks here of Theseus, not when he descended alive into Hell to ravish Proserpina, but of Theseus, who after his death was said to sit for ever upon a hot burning stone: Cael. Rhodig. l. 4. c. 8. Although I see no reason why Theseus should be condemned to so cruel a torment, who for his heroic deeds deserved so well of mankind, that after his death he was thought worthy of divine honours, of altars and Sacrifices, as you may read in his life written by Plutarch; wherefore some read it Thereus, as Meyênus observes. But for Phlegyas, he was said to be the son of Mars, King of the Lapithae, Father of Ixîon, and the Nymph Corônis, who being ravished by Apollo, he in revenge fired that God's Temple at Delphi, for which impiety he was slain by Apollo, and thrust into Hell. He was certainly a very wicked Tyrant, and therefore worthily damned: his own guilt he openly professeth, whilst he bids others by his example beware of committing the like offences of injustice against men, and impiety against the Gods:  
Dicite justitiam moniti, & non temnere Divos.  
Learn justice, nor when warned the Gods despise.  
§ 63 Not unlike the Story of the rich Glutton in the Gospel, who desired that his Brethren should be forewarned by his example from coming into that place of torments.  
After these two particulars (see how artificially the Poet, to avoid nauseating his Reader, interweaves his discourse with variety) he subjoins a few generals, viz. of those who for gold had betrayed their Country's liberty to an usurping oppressor. Interpreters say, that either Lasthenes, who sold Olynthus to Philip of Macedon, or Curio, who sold Rome to Jul. Caesar, is here glanced at: of the latter thus Lucan. l. 4. 
Momentumque fuit mutatus Curio rerum,  
Gallorum captus spoliis, & Caesaris auro.  
Changed Curio to that side much weight did add,  
By Caesar's gold and spoils a Traitor made.  Secondly, of those who having the legislative power, have both made & abrogated Laws for money: in the Latin the Poet alludes to the Roman Custom, who when they had enacted a Law, used to engrave the same in brazen Tables, and then to affix them to a pillar in some public place, there to be exposed to the general view; and then when they did null the same to take them down from that Pillar; whence legem figere & refigere, is to make or null a Law. Thirdly and lastly, of those who had been guilty of incest, a filthiness which nature abhors. Donatus (whom Servius for this reprehends) says that the Poet obliquely toucheth Cicero; which unhandsome censure of his he grounds upon that defamatory declamation against Tully, which goes vulgarly under Salustius his name, whose words are these, Filia, matris pellex, tibi jucundior atque observantior quam parenti par est: Thine own Daughter (says that uncivil Declaimour) received into her Mother's bed, was more delightful to, and observant of thee, then became either her o● thee. And now the Poet having enlarged upon the description of Hell, of the Damned, and of the torments they sustain, shuts up his excellent discourse with this imitation of Homer, Il. 2. 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉,  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  We have here in the translation ta●● in Homer's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, not only as necessary to the filling up of the English Rythm, but as an addition and compliment to the sense. Thus you see Hell most naturally depainted by the excellent pencil of our great Artist, with all imaginable circumstances of Horror; invented on purpose, to the end that thosewhom humane Laws, and temporary punishments could not bridle and restrain from evil doing, might (for fear of those more severe and lasting torments of the other world) abstain from those enormous sins for which they are sure to be called to a very strict account hereafter.  
And now Sibylla, the person speaking, having satisfied Aeneas his curiosity concerning Hell, bids him proceed; for they made a halt during this discourse, parts ubi se via findit in ambas, as you may read a little above: and now leaving Tartarus, or Hell, on the left hand, they take to the right, which led to Pluto's Palace, and the Elysian fields: we have therefore translated this of Virgil, Corripiunt spatium medium, as you see, not as Virgil's late translator has done, they take the middle way; for Pluto's Palace stood not in the midst betwixt Hell and the Elysium, but on the right hand. Hence corripiunt spatium medium is (according to Turnebus l. 9 c. 27.) expounded carptim faciunt, citò peragunt spatium intermedium, vel positum inter illos & Plutonis regiam: 

Corripere  
Gradum,  
Viam,  
Spatium,  
are phrases frequently used by this Poet, and signify the same.    
§ 64 The Poet having described Hell, the irksome abode of the Damned, 
The Elysium.  now comes to the description of the Elysium, where the souls of good men were entertained with all pleasures imaginable, as green Meadows, shady Groves, delightful odours, clear and gentle streams, pleasant fruits, harmonious Music, dancing, feasting, mirth, peace and security; a rare Heaven for Epicures. But hereby the Ancients propounded rewards for virtue, which (although sensual, and such as bear no proportion with those more spiritual delights and contentations which the faithful expect hereafter) yet were such as they thought would best suit with vulgar capacities, and be most prevalent with them to excite them to well-doing. And here the Poet proceeding after the same method he used in his discourse concerning Hell; (for, contraria juxta se posita magis elucescunt) presents us with a list of some particular persons who were Inhabitants of these blessed Mansions, and those for the honour of Aeneas and his family he makes to be Trojans, as Teucer and Dardanus, the first founders of the Trojan Nation; whence the Trojans were called Teucri and Dardanidae: Dardanus begot Ericthonius, Ericthonius Tros, and Tros Ilus and Assaracus, in whom the royal family was branched into two Houses: From the eldest of these sprung Laomedon, Father of Priam, with whose life the Kingdom of Troy expired; nor although he begot many sons, did any of them survive the fate of their native soil: From the younger, viz. Assaracus, were lineally descended Capys, Anchises and Aeneas, from whence the Julian Family derive themselves: See Messala Corvinus de Augusti progeny. On the contrary, in Hell you find the Titans, Aloides, Salmôneus, Tityus, etc. here you see such as have hazarded their own lives for their Country's safety; the chaste, the Pious, Inventors of useful Arts and Sciences, and such as have deserved well of other men, in opposition to those who have betrayed their Country, the Adulterers, Despisers of the Gods, Disobedient to Parents, subtle Circumventers, and those who impart nothing of their affluence and abundance to others. Note the different reward of the Good and the Bad, and learn hence, that virtue is to be embraced, which leads to bliss, and vice to be eschewed, whose end is everlasting torments. And this in brief is the Moral, and design of the Poet in the two precedent discourses.  
§ 65 But to speak more particularly of the Elysium, it (according to Servius) hath its denomination 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, from the dissolution of the soul from the body: it was placed by some in the fortunate Islands, now called the Canaries, as you may read in Plutarch in the life of Sertorius, who (upon the description which certain Mariners returned from thence gave of their unparallelled pleasantness, fertility and security) designed to retire himself thither, there to spend the remainder of his life (which had been always turmoiled in war) in a more desirable and pleasing repose: but whereas Plutarch says that they were but two in number, he errs; for Pliny l. 6. c. 32. makes them six; the moderns add two or three more: See them at large described by Plutarch, ib. and more largely by Nat Comes l. 3. c. 19 and you will easily confess that the Ancients had reason to place the Elysium there. Others will have it in Hispania Baetica, which is now comprised in the Kingdom of Granado, and the fertile Province of Andalusia, the most happy and blessed tract of all Spain, if not of any part of the habitable world: others about the circle of the Moon: others for the honour of our climate place it in the Western part of our Britannia, betwixt that and Thule; the Ancients in the Centre of Hell; and those of the Middle age (pleased neither with its Western situation in the Fortunate Islands, its Northern in our Britannia, its exaltation in the Moon, or depression in Hell) confine it to the East-Indies. But the truth is, that as the precise site and position of Paradise from whence the Ancients borrowed their fancy of the Elysium) is variously disputed by the learned, so is the topography of this latter as differently set down and designed by the Ancients.  
Virgil gives the epithet of purpureum to Lumen, purple light; but in this signification purple can no way agree with light; for in purple there is a great mixture of opacity, than which nothing is more contrary to light; therefore purpureum is not to be rendered here according to the common acceptation of the word, but is (according to Interpreters) consignificant with the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which is beautiful, white, shining, in the same sense that Ovid says nix purpurea, and Horace, Olores purpurei: we have translated it Cheerful: Mr. Ogilby retains the common English of it in his translation.  
§ 66 The Ancients were so fond as to believe that there was a Sun and stars distinct from ours, nay more bright and glorious, in their fantastic Elysium, as you may read in Plato's Phaedon, out of which it is probable, that Virgil here, a close Sectator of Plato, and Claudian l. 2●. de rapt. Proserp. borrowed their assertion. Claudian, in the person of Pluto speaks thus:  
Amissum ne crede diem, sunt altera nobis  
Sydera; sunt orbes alii, lumenque videbis  
Purius.—  
Think not day lost; for we have other stars  
With other orbs, and purer light appears.  
§ 67 This place has not a little puzzled Interpreters; all are of opinion that, whilst the Poet makes mention of the septem discrimina vocum, he alludes to the Lyre, which was a seven-stringed Instrument, according to the number of the 7 Planets, invented by Mercury: some ascribe the invention of it to Amphion, others to Linus, and some to Orpheus: See Pliny l. 7. c. 56. but I should rather conclude, that Virgil (who was skilled in all the liberal Sciences) was exactly read in Music, and did here design the Gamut, the foundation of all Music, both vocal and instrumental; which consists of seven Cliffs, Claves, or Keys distinguished by Guid● Aretinus (the composer of the Gamut) by seven letters, as g. a. b. c. d. e. f. and these do rise and fall in Septenaries, even to the utmost extent of instrument or voice: to be short, Nature itself (so excellent and perfect is the number of seven: See A. Gellius l. 3. c. 10. and Cael. Rhodigin. l. 22. c. 12.) directed the first Inventors of Music to this number, which hath continued unalterable, and so will do so long as Music lasts. So that the sense of the Poet here is this; Orpheus (who was a Thracian born, son of Apollo and Calliope, a famed Musician, Poet and Divine) did sweetly warble forth all the seven notes of Music; so that it appears more probable that Virgil's Septem relates to Numeris, and they are these 7. Notes, wherein Music hath its foundation, whilst his Discrimina vocum may be taken for those various Descants and endless changes of Concord's, and agreeable sounds that arise from the repetition of the first Septenarie. But whereas Virgil says that he did nunc digitis, nunc pectine pulsare, is that which Musicians call intus & foris canere, with the left hand to observe the stops, and with the right to strike or touch the strings, as those do who play upon a Cittern, or the like Instrument. In fine, we are to understand, that Orpheus did both sing and play at the same time: See Turneb. upon this place l. 28. c. 46.  
§ 68 Mark the security of this place, where free from the fear of an invading enemy, their Chariots are unmanned, their arms lie scattered, and their spears as useless are stuck down in the ground: See Turneb. de hastis praepilatis l. 13. c. 16. withal note the fond opinion of the Ancients, who held that those desires and affections which were in the soul, when joined with the body, remained the same in it, when it was disjoined and separated from the same: See Cael. Rhodigin. l. 10. c. 9 and Macrob. in Somn. Scip. l. 1. c. 9 against both the nature of the soul, which (being in itself spiritual) is not (when disembodied) either capable of, or affected with corporeal or pains or pleasures; and against the nature of the other life, where the delights of the blessed are more refined, elevated, and transcendent than what this life in its greatest flatteries and indulgencies could ever afford, as where (when we have truly balanced our accounts) we shall conclude with Solomon, that there is nothing now under the Sun, but that all is vanity and vexation of spirit.  
§ 69 The ●ô (so called by the Moderns, Eridanus by the Greeks, and Padus by the Latins) is a famous River of Italy, and the largest of all Europe, excepting the Danubius: it riseth out of the Mountain Vesulus in the Province of the Ligurians or Genoëses, and receiving 30 large rivers (those on the left hand descending from the Alps, and those on the right from the Apennine) besides divers great Lakes into its channel, it bears them with its self into the Adriatic or Venetian Gulf, where at seven outlets or mouths, called the septem maria, it gives up its tributary waters to that general receiver of all streams, the Sea: See Plin. l. 3. c. 16. It is feigned by the Poet to be an Elysian River, because (as Dela Cerda and our Farnaby affirm out of Gerop. Origin l. 9) a great part of this River is swallowed up in the earth, and never breaks forth again; though herein that Author agrees not with Pliny, who says indeed that it does hide itself in a passage under ground, but riseth again in a place not far distant, viz. in agro Forovibienst: others make this an infernal River, in regard of the course it runs; for rising out of Vesulus, which is near the Ligustick Sea, called Mare inferum, it directs its course to the Adriatic, which was known by the name of Mare superum. Servius seems to be of opinion that Eridanus is put here pro quolibet fluvio, a proper name for an appellative, which is frequent amongst the Poets; as pocula Achelcia, pro fluvialia, and Adria for any sea. Though for my part I am apt to believe, that it is for no other reason mentioned here by Virgil, but for that he had a mind to celebrate a River not only in itself so famous, and hence by himself elsewhere styled Fluviorum rex Eridanus: but also because it was not far distant from his native Town of Mantua. But haply we obtund; we will therefore conclude our discourse concerning the pleasure of the Elysium, with those verses of the gentle and terse Tibullus l. 1. where he sweetly and briefly describes the same. 
Said me, quòd facilis tenero sum semper amori,  
Ipsa Venus campos ducet in Elysios:  
Hic choreae, cantusque vigent, passimque vagantes  
Dulce sonant tenui gutture carmen aves:  
Fert Casiam non culta seges, totosque per agros  
Floret odoratis terra benigna rosis;  
Ac juvenum series teneris immixta puellis  
Ludit, & assiduè praelia miscet Amor.  
But Venus me (because to sove inclined)  
Shall lead into Elysium, where refined  
Music, and Balls please, where the winged Choir  
Of chirping birds do entertain the ear.  
Where Casia springs unsown, 
C●asia is by Gerard taken to be the same with Laven●ula or Lavender, as it is by Dela Cerda: Ecclog. ●.  where the kind earth  
Doth to sweet roses give an unforced birth;  
Where Youths with Virgins sporting mingled are,  
And Love doth always wage an harmless war.   
§ 70 Musaeus (according to our most exact observer of time, Dr. Simpson) was the Son of Antiophémus, born at Eleusine a Town of Attica, and bred up at Athens, Disciple of Orpheus, as he was of Linus. 
Mus●●us.  He flourished in the age before the Trojan war, about the 22 of Gideon, in the year of the world, 2750. before our Saviour 1253. He was above 200 years elder than Homer, who flourished in Solomon's time, after the subversion of Troy 188 years: See Herodot. de vita Homeri, and A. Gellius l. 17. c. 21. He was a Prophet, and a most excellent Poet, as appears by that most polite and trim remain of his, touching the loves of Hero and Leander; though I am not ignorant that some deny that Poem to be Musaeus', as being too corrected a piece for the style of so remote and illiterate an age, ascribing it to some other of that name, who wrote in a more refined and learned Centurie. Yet since the great Scaliger Poet. l. 5. c. 2 gives it to Musaeus, we shall concur with him, and excuse Virgil from that aspersion of envy and partiality which some object to him for his pretermission of Homer, to whose writings he was so much beholding, affirming that what he did herein, was out of a well-weighing and rightly-distinguishing judgement; Musaeus being the far more acute and judicious Writer, and in that more worthy to be made Precedent of the Elysian Hierarchy: See Scaliger ibid.  
§ 71 The Poet taking his rise from Aeneas his inquiry concerning the River Lethe, and the great confluence of souls about the same, gives us matter for these following discourses; whereof the first shall be concerning the Transmigration of souls; the second of the Creation of things; the third of the nature of the soul; the fourth of Purgatory: all which are in order to the chief design of this present Poem, viz. the celebrating of Augustus and his Family, together with the names of some of the more noble and illustrious Romans: of these briefly in their order.  
§ 72 Virgil in the person of Anchises tells us, 
The transmigration of Souls.  that those souls which Aeneas saw flocking about the banks of the River Lethe, having drunk thereof, should then reascend into this world, and enter into other bodies; and this is that which the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Latins Transanimatio, or the passing of one soul out of one body into another; nay, out of one species into another. Pythagoras of Samos (a man deeply learned in the Egyptian and Chaldaean Philosophy) was the first Author of this opinion; he flourished about 535 years before our Saviour, and was Contemporary with, and Scholar of Thales Milesian. He was herein followed by Socrates and Plato, as you may read in his Phaed. and Philaebus; from whence our Platonic Poet hath borrowed the same. A fond and ridiculous opinion, and rejected not only by the following professors of Christianism, but exploded, as absurd, by the sounder sort of Ethnic Philosophers themselves; as you may read in Aristot. l. 1. de Anima, c. 3. who terms the transmigration of souls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Pythagorean Fable. Pythagoras' flying the tyranny of Polycrates, the invader of his Country's liberty, came to Crotôna in Italy, Tarqvinius Superbus lording it then at Rome: A. Gell. l. 17. c. 21. where setting open his School, he published, and by this device (as Meyênus takes it from Hermippus) got credit to his new doctrine. Pythagoras (says he) at his first arrival in Italy made himself an habitation under ground, where hiding himself he charged his Mother to record carefully all memorable passages during his absence: she (observant of her son's injunction) compiled a perfect diurnal of all things; in the mean time, he (having lived thus a whole year) at last came forth out of his subterranean mansion, lean, pale, squalid, and ghastly, as if he had risen from the dead; then assembling the multitude, he told them that he returned from Hell, and (that he might the better persuade what he intended to instill) he repeated to them all what had happened in that part of Italy during his absence so punctually, that the people (thinking that there was more than an ordinary spirit in the man) without further dispute or examination embraced his doctrine; which in Pythagoras his own person is thus delivered by Ovid. Met. l. 15. f. 3. 
O genus attonitum gelidae formidine mortis,  
Quid Styga, quid tenebras, & nomina vana timetis,  
Materiem Vatum, falsique pericula Mundi?  
Corpora, sive rogus flammâ, seu tabe vetustas  
Abstulerit, mala posse pati non ulla putetis;  
Morte carent animae, semperque priore relictâ  
Sede, novis domibus vivunt, habitantque receptae:  
Ipse ego (nam nemini) Trojani tempore belli  
Panthoides Euphorbus eram, cui pectore quondam  
Haesit in adverso gravis hasta minoris Atridae;  
Cognovi clypeum laevae gestamina nostrae  
Nuper Abantëis templo Junonis in Argis.  
Omnia mutantur, nihil interit; errat, & illinc  
Huc venit, hinc illuc, & quoslibet occupat artus  
Spiritus; eque feris humana in corpora transit,  
Inque feras noster, nec tempore deperit ullo;  
Vtque novis facilis signatur cera figuris,  
Nec manet ut fuerat, nec formam servat eandem,  
Sed tamen ipsa eadem est; animam sic semper eandem  
Esse, sed in varias doceo migrare figuras.  We will not so far injure the Poet, as to express him otherwise then what his ingenuous 
* Mr. Sandys.  Translator hath done, who renders him thus; 
O you whom horrors of cold death affright,  
Why fear you Styx, vain names, and endless night,  
The dreams of Poets, and feigned miseries  
Of forged hell? whether last flames surprise,  
Or age devour your bodies, they nor grieve  
Or suffer pains: Our souls for ever live,  
Yet evermore their ancient houses leave  
To live in new, which them, as Guests receive.  
In Trojan wars I (I remember well)  
Euphorbus was, Panthous son, and fell  
By Menalaüs' lance: my shield again  
At Argos late I saw in Juno's Fane.  
All alter, nothing finally decays:  
Hither and thither still the spirit strays,  
Guest to all bodies; out of beasts it flies  
To men, from men to beasts, and never dies:  
As pliant wax each new impression takes,  
Fixed to no form, but still the old forsakes,  
Yet it the same; so souls the same abide,  
Though various figures their reception hide.  This doctrine being easily imbibed by his Auditors, so far dispersed itself, that even the Gauls, a people far sequestered from those parts of Italy, were taught the same by their Druids, as you may read in Lucan: 
— 
* Druidibus.  vobis Authoribus umbrae  
Non tacitas Erebi sedes, noctisque profundae  
Pallida regna petunt; regit idem spiritus artus  
Orb alio; longae (canitis si cognita) vitae  
Mors media est. Certè, populi quos despicet Arctos  
Faelices errore suo, quos ille timorum  
Maximus, haud urget lethi metus; inde ruendi  
In ferrum mens prona viris; animaeque capaces  
Mortis, & ignavum est periturae parcere vitae.  
Dislodged souls (if you conceive aright)  
To hell descend not, and those realms of night;  
The body in another world is by  
The same spirit ruled; in your Philosophy,  
Death to another life the way doth show.  
In your mistake, O happiest of those, who  
Are to the North-star subject, whom the fear  
Of death (of fears the greatest) doth not scare.  
Hence on drawn steel you rush; your great souls hence  
Disdain to stick at your vile blood's expense.  Herod, it seems, was a Pythagorean in this also, whilst he said that the soul of St. John the Baptist (by him wickedly murdered) was entered into the body of our blessed Saviour. Josephus l. 2. c. 7. de bell. Judaic. affirms, that the Pharisees were tainted with the same erroneous belief, who held that the souls of good men did pass into other bodies, but that those of the wicked were for ever tormented in hell. But haply we wade too far in these speculations, we shall therefore proceed to the next head, which is concerning the creation of things.  
The Poet's sense and meaning here is briefly this, that there is a certain spirit or soul which doth inform, 
The Creation of things.  actuate, complete, cherish, and sustain all Being's, whether elementary, viz. the Fire, Air (comprehended in the word Coelum, or the heaven) Earth and Water (periphrastically expressed in the words Campos liquentes, the liquid or watery plains) or celestial, exemplified in the Sun and Moon, as the two most glorious, operative and powerful Planets in generation. Astra Titania, put here by an Enallage, for Astrum Titanium, signifies the Sun, from Titan, who was so skilful an Astrologue, that he was feigned to be Brother to the Sun; as Cael. Rhodig. observes out of Pausan. in Corinthiacis, lect. antiq. l. 24. c. 17. and Titan is often taken for the Sun itself: hence Astrum Titanium is only a circumlocution of Titan or the Sun. But to proceed; from the operation of this soul or spirit, not only simple bodies, as the Elements and Heavens, took their being, and are by the propitious influx thereof preserved therein; but mixed bodies also, as he instances in men, beasts, birds and fishes. The sum of all is this, viz. that there is a certain spirit or soul, to whose operations and powerful insinuations the world and all therein contained owes both its existence and subsistence. If we by the spirit or soul here mentioned understand God himself, or his omnipotent Spirit, and the powerful emanations thereof, nothing is more consonant, not only to reason, but also to the analogy of the holy Scriptures, than the assertion of our Poet: For God is truly that Spirit, which being present every where, is without extension of itself diffused through all things, and doth intus alere, cherish and sustain all things. This is that soul which actuates the vast Machine of this world, which upholds, preserves, and governs the great fabric of the Universe, which otherwise would fall into disorder, confusion, and into that primitive Chaos out of which it was at first educed, for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; In him we live, move, and have our being. If we give tbis interpretation to the Poet, these few verses seem to be an epitome, or brief comprehension of the first chapter of Genesis touching the Creation; for as Moses says there; In principio Deus creavit coelum & terram; so Virgil here, Principio coelum & terras, etc. Spiritus intus alit: and whereas Moses says, that Spiritus Dei movebat, vel incubabat supra faciem aquarum, that the Spirit of God did move or brood upon the face of the waters; so Virgil here tells us of a Spiritus, or men's, which magno se corpore miscet: as mention is made there of the Creation of those two great Luminaries, the Sun and the Moon; the like is here also. Lastly, as the Creation of Beasts, Birds, Fish, and then of Man, is there specified, so Virgil says here, 
Ind (i e. à Deo operante) hominum pecudumque genus, vitaeque volantum;  
Et quae marmoreo fert monstra sub aequore pontus.  But others (and with them I am apt to concur) are of opinion, that Virgil here speaks according to the mind and sense of his Master Plato (who followed Trismegistus and Pythagoras herein, the first founders and fautors of the Academic Philosophy) as he did in his opinion concerning the transmigration of souls. Plato in his Timaeus, and elsewhere (as Wendilinus citys him, Phys. contempl. sect. 2. c. 6.) endeavours to prove, that this World or Universe is informed by a soul distinct from the World itself, which doing the office which other souls do in the particular beings they inform, doth preserve, move and govern this All, and all its parts, making the world hereby an Animal, ruled and governed by its own peculiar soul: nor is God meant hereby, but some other entity, different from that ens entium, and by them styled Anima, vel Spiritus Mundi. But this is throughly winnowed and refuted by the learned Wendilinus in the place above mentioned, and the arguments of its assertors fully answered; to whom for more ample satisfaction herein, as also to the subtle Scaliger, Exerc. 6. sect. 2. we shall refer the Reader, and proceed.  
§ 73 Anchises pointing to those souls before him, which stood upon the brink of the river Lethe (for the Antecedent to illis, 
Of the nature of the soul.  which the Ancients used for illis, is Animae) says that they are of a fiery nature, and that their principles (which he here calls semina) are of heavenly extraction or composition; which is not to be understood only of those souls there, but of the humane soul in general; for (according to the Theology of some Gentiles) the soul was not judged, as it really is, a simple and spiritual essence, but an elementary compound of Fire and Air; the two more pure, desecated, and active elements; as the body was thought to be of Water and Earth, the two more gross, material, and inactive principles. We shall easily elucidate this dark place, if we reduce the Author's sense into this single Theorem, viz. the humane soul is a most excellent being, as consisting of the two more excellent principles, viz. Fire and Air: From the first there is in it igneus vigour; from the second it is coelestis originis; for coelum is taken here (as often it is) pro aëre, or the air. Hence it is plain what the Poet means by 
Igneus est ollis vigour, & coelestis origo  
Seminibus.—  Thus paraphrased, 
But those souls there of fiery vigour share;  
The principles of them celestial are.  That the soul consists of fire, was the opinion of Hipparchus; that of air, of Anaximenes; that of both, of Boethos, and our Virgil here. Epicurus added to these two a third ingredient, whilst he held that it was a speceys igne, aëre & spiritu mixta, as you may read in Macrob. l. 1. c. 14. in Somn. Scip. who there delivers the various opinions of the Ancients concerning the nature of the Soul: Hence, according to Homer's doctrine (who held with Hipparchus, that the soul was originated from fire,) the Heroes abhorred nothing more than drowning, as most contrary to the fiery nature of the Soul, which they thought would thereby be extinguished. See how apprehensive Virgil makes Aeneas of drowning, l. 1. Aen. 
Extempló Aeneae solvuntur frigore membra,  
Ingemit, & duplices tendens ad sidera palmas,  
Talia voce refert, etc.—  
A cold sweat doth Aeneas limbs surprise;  
He sighs, and his hands stretching to the skies,  
He thus begins, etc.—  Whereas otherwise he makes him a person of a most undaunted and unshaken constancy; 〈◊〉 l. 6. 
— Non ulla laborum,  
O virgo, nova mî facies inopináve surgit.  
— no dangers unto me  
Are strange, or, Virgin, shake my constancy.  Doubtless Virgil herein concurred with Homer in his opinion: And from hence the Stoics opined, that the soul as soon as freed from the body, presently took its flight to the Concave of the Moon, the place or region of the element of fire. But of these dreams more than enough: let us now return to our Author. Virgil from these premises infers, that the Soul is of an active, piercing, and subtle nature, as are the principles whereof it consists, that it is of itself free from all passions and perturbations, — quantum non noxia corpora tardant. Unless by the commixtion and conjunction with the body it abate of its natural vigour, and become, as that is, heavy and drossy. All souls are equally intelligent, and alike impassionate; But, according to the variety of complexions, the abundance of humours, the pureness of the spirits, the disposition of the organs, especially of the brain, they are more intense or remiss.  
§ 74 Hence the Poet says, that as to the intellectual part thereof it becomes heavy, dull and inapprehensive, so to the appetitive or will, it becomes subject to sundry irregularities and passions; which he specifies here in four, whereof two have for their object an Evil, and two a Good: The first is Fear, which is a passion of the soul touching a future evil, as Grief. The second is touching an evil present, and now upon us. The third is Desire, or Concupiscence, which is a passion of the soul about a good absent, as Joy. The fourth is about a good present, and in fruition, or the acquiescence of the Soul in the possession of its desired object. Three of these, viz. Desire, Joy and Grief, are placed in the Concupiscible Appetite, and one, viz. Fear, in the irascible. He infers further, that the soul is not only subject to error and passion, whilst united to the body, but that it doth absolutely for●● it's own nature, nor is at all sensible of its original, which is of fire and air; which he means here whilst he says— nec auras respiciunt; the body is therefore called by him animae carcer, the prison of the soul; reflecting haply upon that of Plato, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the body is the souls grave or sepulchre: For as those who are shut up in a dark prison have all objects intercepted from their eyes, so the soul incarcerated in the body is utterly blinded, nor can auras respicere, have the free prospect of the air whereof it is compounded.  
The Poet here occurs to a tacit objection: the soul (it is true) loseth of its original purity by conjunction with the body, but when freed from thence it may recover its pristine state of purity and perfection: 
O● Purgatory.  no, it retains still after its separation much of that pollution which it contracted whilst it was immersed in the body. And hence he lays the foundation of his imaginary Purgatory, which as necessarily previous to that Transmigration, we have already discoursed of, he makes of three sorts, either by ventilation, by air, purgation by fire, or rinsing by water; all according to the doctrine of Plato; purging, as Physicians do, by contraries; for fire, which is hot and dry; air, which is hot and moist; water, which is cold and moist, are the most proper purgatives for earthy contagions, i. e. for those stains the soul hath contracted from the commerce with the body, which is earthy; Earth being both the coldest of the 4. elements, and in that most contrary to Fire, which is the hottest and the driest, and in that most opposite to Water, which is the moistest; in both to Air, which is both hot and moist: this is St. Augustine's conceit, l. 21. de Civit. Dei. c. 13. we will not say that the Roman Cath●lick hath no better authority for his Purgatory then that of a Roman Poet. This we may safely affirm, that it was an opinion received amongst the Heathens many centuries before it was introduced into the Church of Rome, with this only difference; they held that after death the souls went into Purgatory, and from thence ascended not into eternal bliss, but into this world, where they were reinvested with new bodies; these, that after their purgatory they ascended into hea●●n: they both allow of a Purgatory, and a subsequent resurrection, and differ only in the terminus adquem, the place to which that resurrection tends.  
§ 75 There is no one passage in this book more obscure than this; in the literal construction you shall find more sound of words than soundness of sense; for what can you understand by leaving the etherial sense pure, and a fire of simple breath or air? for so it runs, if verbally translated: We have therefore paraphrased upon this place, as we have done elsewhere, where the sense required it; therefore by sensus aethereus we are to understand the Soul, a heavenly or aethereal Being; and therefore said by Virgil a little above to be coelestis originis, as here to be aethereus sensus, and to be ignis & aër simplex; for he says here auraï, i. e. aurae simplicis ignem, for auram simplicem & ignem, according to the opinion of those who held the soul to be compounded of air and fire; therefore the sense of 
Igneus est ollis vigour & coelestis orgio  
Seminibus.—  is here expressed in other words, whilst he says; 
— purumque reliquit  
Aetherum sensum, atque auraï simplicis ignem.  which I think according to the sense both of the Author and the Context, may not unaptly be paraphrased in these words: 
Leaving of spots that heavenly Being clear,  
Of Fire a compound, and unmixed Air.  But to sum up our precedent discourse, and to show the connexion thereof, you must know that there is a certain soul or spirit which actuateth and presideth over this Universe, and from whence all things derive their birth and original; amongst the rest, men, whose souls (we have, and do still speak according to the principles of Virgil, and the Gentiles) are compounded of fire and air, as their bodies are of water and earth; whence they (resembling their principles) are active and pure, these drossy and dull: they from the long commerce with the body contract stains from thence, which adhere to them even after their separation: Hence they are to be purged in the other world, after which, when purified, they are brought by Mercury to the River Lethe, the River of Forgetfulness, and having drunk thereof, they then return into this world, and are received into other bodies. We have insisted much upon the exposition of the Author in these precedent Paragraphs; Interpreters have laboured much herein, as upon a place knotty and obscure, though full of much learning and abstruse speculations: if we have either in our Translation or notes conferred any thing to the explication of the Author, and the Readers satisfaction, we shall think our pains in the one, and our collections in the other, not altogether misemployed.  
§ 76 We come now to the primary scope and design of the Poet, and which indeed, as the end is, was primus in intention, though ultimus in executione. Virgil composed this Poem on purpose to celebrate the Family of Augustus, and to consecrate the names of some of the most deserving and illustrious Houses of Rome to following Ages. And to this only tends Aeneas his descent into Hell, with all the precedent descriptions. We shall here exhibit a Summary of the Roman History, from the Alban Kings to Augustus his time, following the series and method of our Author, who presents them not according to the order of time wherein they were born or lived, but as he fancies them to stand before Anchises, the person here speaking.  
§ 77 The first therefore who appeared, 
A summary of the Roman History from Aeneas his death, and the Alban Kings, to Augustus his time, being about 1100 years.  and was to ascend, was Silvius, Aeneas his Son by Lavinia, Latinus his Daughter, and half-Brother to Ascanius, surnamed Iülus, Aeneas his Son by Creüsa; he is here called an Alban name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, by way of excellence, because from him all the Alban Kings were denominated Sylvii; Aeneas his posthume son, because born after his Father's death; and Silvius, because born in the Woods. The Story is briefly this; Lavinia being left with child by Aeneas, fled for fear of her son in law Ascanius, to Tyrrhus the Master of her Father Latinus his flocks; but was delivered by the way of a son in the woods, whom from thence she called Silvius, i. e. Du Bois, or Wood; and from him the succeeding Alban Kings were styled Sylvii: but being freed from her ill-grounded jealousy, she was at last brought back to Ascanius, who looking upon her as the dear Relict of his honoured Father, did not only receive her with all demonstrations of love, but leaving Lavinium (built by Aeneas, and so called from Lavinia, his beloved Consort) to her, he founded Alba, or the white City, so called from the white 
* Aenead. lib. 7.  Sow the Trojans found at their first landing; and Longa, from its figure, it being extended in length: See Aur. Victor. de orig. gent. Rom. And this became the royal residence of the Alban Kings, who reigned here, according to Virgil, 300 years; but according to a more exact computation, we may add one Centurie more; for from the foundation of Alba by Ascanius, to the foundation of Rome by Romulus (during which time Alba was the capital City of Latium) were full 400 years wanting one. The first, viz. Alba, being built An. Mund. 2852. and the latter, viz. Rome, 3251. as Dr. Simpson proves Chron. Cathol. part. 
The Alban ling.  2. & 3. The succession of the Alban Kings is thus delivered by Livy, 1. Ascanius, 2. Silvius Posthumus, elected by the people to the Kingdom (who preferred the son of Aeneas to the grandson) before Iülus, son to Ascanius; 3. Sylu. Aeneas, 4. Latinus, 5. Alba, 6. Atis, 7. Capys, 8. Capêtus, 9 Tiberinus, who passing the River Tiber, and in his passage drowned, gave it its name of Tiberis, whereas it was originally called Albula; 10. Agrippa, 11. Romulus or Aremulus, 12. Aventinus, from whom the Aventine Hill took its name; 13. Procas, 14. Numitor, deposed by his younger Brother Amulius, but restored to his hereditary rights by his Grandsons Romulus and Remus, born of Rhaea Sylvia his Daughter. The male line of the Sylvii expired in Numitor, and Rome, founded by Romulus, soon eclipsed the State of Alba, which from that time was governed by certain Magistrates styled Dictator's; and being finally subdued and razed by Tul. Hostilius, the third from Romulus, as an emulous and dangerous neighbour, was displanted, and incorporated into the City of Rome. But to return to our Author, who more like a Poet then an Historian, doth but cursorily run over the Alban Kings, reciting but some few of them, and those not in their due order of succession, but as they there appeared before Anchises; for Procas was not the next to Posthumus, but the twelfth from him, Capys the sixth, Numitor the thirteenth; but Syl. Aeneas was the second, who by the fraud of his Tutor was for a long time kept from the Crown; which at last recovering, he reigned 30 years. There is very little registered of the Alban Kings save only their names.  
The Roman Generals (as you may read in A. Gell. l. 5. c. 6. and in Salmuth upon Pancirol. 
Military Crowns.  rer. deperd. tit. 55.) for the encouragement & reward of the good service and valour of their Soldiers amongst other gifts bestowed upon them several sorts of Crowns, which were these, i. e. muralis corona, made of gold, and bestowed on them who first scaled the walls, and entered the City or Castle of the enemy. Secondly, Castrensis or Vallaris, of gold also, & given to him who made the first impression into the enemies Camp. Thirdly, Navalis, or Rostrata, which was his right who in a naval or sea-fight first boarded the enemy's ship. Fourthly and lastly, Civica, (for which word Virgil useth Civilis) which although not so valuable in regard of its materials, for it was only a Wreath made of an oaken bough, yet was esteemed more honourable than the rest; and was bestowed on him, who, rescuing a Roman Citizen from his prevailing enemy, had saved his life, and slain the invader. This was therefore made of oak, because anciently, before the use of corn, acorns, the fruit of that tree, was the sustenance and preserver of the life of man; or because the Oak was sacred to Jupiter, under whose peculiar protection Cities were said to be; and therefore it was proper that he who had saved a Citizen, should be crowned with a bough of that tree which was dedicated to the tutelar Deity of all Cities. And to this Custom the Poet alludes here, whilst he says that the Founders & Builders of Cities were crowned with an oakenbough: for those who build and fortify Cities, seem as it were to save the lives of the Citizens, whilst by that means they save them from the incursions and surprisals of a watchful enemy. The Cities here particularised, were most of them belonging to the Prisci Latini, as they styled themselves, and planted by the Alban Kings. Nomentum was an inland Town belonging to the Latins and not far distant from Rome; now called Lamentana. Gabii was a Town of the Volsci, a very opulent and wealthy City, about an hundred furlongs, which is some twelve miles, distant from Rome towards the East in the way to Praeneste; it was made tributary to the Romans by the fraud of Sext. Tarqvinius, son to Superbus; you may read the story at large in Livy l. 1. Fidenae was a Town of the Sabines, five miles from Rome; now called castle Jubeleo: Collatia, a Town of the Sabines also, at four miles' distance from the City in the Tiburtine way, famed for the rape and death of the chaste Lucretia: Pometii, called also Suessa Pometia, now Sessa, was a Town of the Volsci, beyond the River Liris; it was taken and plundered by Superbus, who made of the spoils (as Livy testifies) forty talents, which according to our modern computation amounts to twenty one thousand & sixty French crowns, an immense sum for those days. Castrum Inuï, the Castle or Town of Inuus, i. e. Pan; for whom the Gree●s called Pan the Latins termed Inuus, ab ineundo passim cum omnibus animalibus: Servius; which is the same with the Greek Ephialtes, and the Latin Incubus: this was a Town of the Volsci, and is now called Cornetto. Bola, a Town of the Aequi, bordering upon the Latins, long since demolished. Cora, a Town of the Volsci, yet in being, and retaining its original name. But concerning these Towns, if you desire more ample satisfaction, you may consult with Cluverius, a most diligent surveyor of ancient Italy, l. 3. c. 8.  
§ 78 Anchises having passed over the Alban Kings, comes now to Romulus, 
Romulus.  the Founder of the Roman both City and Empire, the son of Rhaea Sylvia, or Ilia, daughter to Numitor, & made (as it was given out) impregnate by Mars: and hence the Poet gives him the epithet of Mavortius, or Martius. He having reigned some time with his Grandsire Numitor in Alba Longa, thinking that Dominion too strait for them both, resigned the whole to him; and building Rome (the future Empress of the world) reigned there. The story of Romulus his actions military and civil, his death, apotheosis, or deifying, together with all the particulars here instanced in by the Poet to the magnifying of Rome, are so easily parable out of Livy, Dionyfius, Plutarch in vit. Rom. that we shall rather choose to refer the Reader to them, then to insist too long upon things so obvious; we shall only note the aptness of the comparison here used by the Poet, assimilating Rome, the Mother and Nurse of so many brave Heroes, to Cybele, or Cybelle (periphrased here by Mater Berecynthia) the Mother of the Gods. This similitude Mr. Denham speaking of Windsor Castle, hath borrowed of Virgil, and as handsomely applied: we shall for his credit, though known to us only by a well-deserved fame, subjoin the verses: 
A Crown of such Majestic towers doth grace  
The Gods great Mother, when her heavenly race  
Do homage to her; yet she cannot boast  
Amongst that numerous and celest'al host  
More Heroes than can Windsor; nor doth Fame's  
Immortal book record more noble names.  But to return, Cybele 
Cybele.  is so called from the hill Cybella in Phrygia, where (when an Infant) she was exposed, and (being there found by a Shepherd's wife) taken and bred up by her, as her own child, and called after the name of the place where she was first found; or, according to Servius, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, from shaking the head, a gesticulation peculiar to her Priests. She was (if we consult with fabulous story) said to be the Daughter of heaven and earth, and Wife of Saturn, known by these following names of Ops, Rhea, Vesta, Magna Mater, Dindymene; and lastly Berecynthia; as here, from Berecynthus, a Town of Phrygia, near the River Sangarius, where she was most religiously worshipped. Her Priests (called Corybantes) were enjoined to be gelt: should the Romish Church, as it forbids marriage, enjoin Castration to their Clergy, I doubt that the Cloisters and religious Houses would not be so well furnished, as now they are. She was said to be Turrîta, crowned with towers; and so indeed she is always painted, either because (according to Arnobius l. 5.) when the City of Midas was shut up, she undermined and razed the tower-bearing walls with her head, and so entered; or, as Ovid will have it, Quod primis turres urbibus illa dedit. She was the first who taught to fortify Towns with Towers and Castles: or lastly, because (as Servius is of opinion) by her is meant the earth, the proper basis and support of all edifices.  
§ 79 After Romulus, he comes per saltum to Augustus, both as the second founder of Rome, 
Augustus Caesar.  and the principal scope of the whole Poem; whom he magnifies here with most exquisite Eulogies; and he truly was (as Messala Corvinus styles him) sui seculi perenne & immortal decus, the lasting and immortal ornameut of his age; deserving no less than a Virgil to give him his just and suitable Character. We shall briefly examine the particulars: First he saith that he was Diuûm genus, sprung from the Gods, both in regard of Jul. Caesar his adoptive Father, who was (after his death) made a Divus, or sainted, as for that he was descended from Aeneas, the Son of Venus, the Daughter of Jupiter. Secondly, that he should again restore the golden age, as it was in Satur's time; For having overcome all his enemies both domestic and foreign, there was such peace and tranquillity during his reign, that it was deservedly called the golden age. The Temple of Janus Quirinus, (which from the foundation of Rome had been but twice shut, the first time in Numa's reign; the second Ann, V. C. 518. Tit. Manlius Torquatus, & C. Atilius Bulbus being Consuls, after the first Punic war) was in his time thrice locked up, which was never done but when the tumults and tempests of war, were laid asleep by the welcome security of a general peace: at other times they stood open. And to this purpose our Poet speaks of Augustus lib. 1. 
Aspera tum positis mitescent saecula bellis,  
Cana Fides, & Vesta, Remo cum fratre Quirinus  
Jura dabunt; dirae ferro & compagibus arctis  
Claudentur Belli portae: Furor impius intus  
Saeva sedens super arma, & centum vinctus ahenis  
Post tergum nodis, fremet horridus ore cruento.  
Ensuing times shall sacred peace install:  
Faith; Vesta, Romulus with Remus, shall  
Just laws enact: The doors of horrid War  
Huge links of brass, and iron bolts shall bar:  
Dire Fury, breathing blood, within shall sit  
On heaps of arms, his hands behind him knit.  Wherefore in his pacifique reign Christ our Saviour, the Prince of peace, vouchsafed to take our nature upon him, to show that nothing is more acceptable to him then peace, that bond of love and perfect character of his sincere disciples; which (although through the ambition and emulation of Princes it hath been for many years banished Christendom) is now like to return again by the happy & long-desired redintegration of amity betwixt those two great Luminaries of this our Western world, Spain & France: I cannot but add my prayers for the speedy consummation of so wished-for a Good. None can pray otherwise, but such as having agrandized themselves by war, fear to lose their unjust acquests by a to-them-unwelcome pacification, and to be made to regorge by law what they have swallowed down by rapine. I could not but add this, writing at this time.  
§ 80 Thirdly, that he should extend the limits of the Roman Empire beyond the Garamantes, a People in the heart of Africa, Southward; and the Indians, a Nation in the extremity of Asia, Eastward, The truth is, that these were never conquered by the Romans, for Euphrâtes was the bound to their Empire on the East; but the Garamantes, with other African Nations, were subdued by Cornelius Balbus: Meyênus. Further he says that he should subdue a Country which lies beyond the Stars, and the course of the Sun, that is, beyond the Zodiac, or the Stars, and constellations thereunto belonging. In brief, the Poet speaks hypothetically, that if there were any Country habitable beyond the Zodiac and the Tropic of Capricorn (of which the Ancients doubted) it should be added to the Dominions of Augustus. But how mount Atlas, which lies on this side the Aequator, should be said to be, ultra anni solisque vias; on the other side the Zodiac, and Tropic of Capricorn I cannot understand. We must pardon hyperboles in a Poet. Virgil thought he might lawfully extend Nature, and exceed the usual Boundaries of Geography, whilst he strove to extol the greatness of his munificent Patron Augustus.  
Fourthly, he saith that all the oracles of the world, viz. from the Caspian sea, or Asia, to the East; from the Lake of Maeôtis, or Europe, to the North; and from Nile, or Africa, to the South, should foretell the birth of the great Augustus. Sueton. in his life, c. 94. saith, that a few months before his birth it was prophesied that Nature should bring forth a King to the Roman People, whereupon it was decreed by the Senate, that no male born that year should be suffered to live; but those (whose Wives were with child) hoping that the Prophecy might be fulfilled in their Family, hindered the execution of the Senate's Decree. The like wicked policy was not only in deliberation, but effected by Herod upon the innocent Infants of Bethleem. At the same time all Oracles forecold that there should be a great Prince born, who should subdue the world; which was truly and really meant of the incarnation of our blessed Saviour, but erroneously and impudently by his Parasites applied to Augustus.  
Fifthly and lastly, he compares the expeditions and conquests of Augustus, to those of Alcides or Hercules, and Bacchus, two noted Land-lopers; for the first traveled all over the world seeking adventures; and the second made an impression into, and subdued the farre-remote parts of India: Nay, he prefers the victories of Augustus to those either of Hercules or Bacchus. The 12. labours of the first are so well known, that we need not insist long upon these which are here mentioned. The Hind, called Cerenítis; feigned to be brazen hoofed, was slain by him near to the Town of Parrhasia; he also took a terrible Boar, called the Boar of Erymanthus, a Mountain of Arcadia, alive, and brought it to Euristeus, who, by Juno's command, was his Tax-master, and imposed all those hazardous labours upon that invincible Hero. Of the Beast of Lerna, i. e. the Hydra, we have descoursed at large Paragraph 39  
From Augustus, after a desultorious manner, he returns to the successors of Romulus, in whom the royal line of Aeneas did determine. 
Numa Pompilius.  The first of these was aged and hoary-headed Numa, whom Anchises seems not to know, because a stranger, and none of his posterity, born at ●●ures, a small Dorp or Village of the Sabines, on the very day the foundation of Rome was laid. The character the Poet gives him, and the rest, is agreeable to the testimony of History: For Numa Pompilius, a person famed for his justice and religion, was by the general vote of the people (though a stranger) chosen King; who (when placed in the regal Throne) having made peace with all his neighbours, applied himself solely to the reforming of the Laws, Manners and Discipline both Civil and Religious, introducing all Rites and Ceremonies into their Church; whence he is here said to be, ramis insignis Olivae, and sacra ferens; the first denoting his studious love of peace, of which the Olive is an emblem; the second his great care of Religion, and the worship of the Gods; whereby, as Florus observes, populum ferocem eó redegit, ut quod vi, & injuriâ occupaverat imperium, religione, & justitiâ gubernâret: He taught them to govern by religion and justice that Empire which they had achieved by injury and force. Hence the very names of these two precedent Kings seem to speak their natures, and to have designed them (as it were) for this different manner of proceeding in the management of affairs; for Romulus comes from the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, i. e. strength, and hardiness; and Numa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, from his inventing and ordaining of laws; for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Law, is written 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Doors; from whence Numa comes: and hence his character is truly given us by Livy: Numa regno potitus, urbem novam, conditam vi & armis (a Romulo scilicet) jure eam; legibusque ac moribus de integro condere parat: Numa founded that City by wholesome laws, which Romulus had founded by force and arms. He reigned 43 years.  
§ 81 Tullus Hostilius, the third from Romulus, succeeded to Numa, 
Tullus Hostilius  Grandson to Hostus Hostilius, who died fight against the Sabines under the Tower of Rome. He was chosen for his great valour and known conduct: He subdued the Alban, razed their City, and transplanted the Inhabitants to Rome. In the direption, and sack of this forlorn Town, this is chiefly to be noted, that when they had equalled all the edifices, whether private or public, with the ground, the triumphing enemy (out of an awe and reverence to religion) spared the Temples of the Gods: Templis tamen Deûm (ita enim edictum ab rege fuit) temperatum est: Livy: a reproach to the impious and intemperate zeal of this worst of ages, wherein the Temples of the true God have born the greatest marks of the irreligious fury, not of foreign enemies (as here) but of the once-childrens of the same Mother, and professors of the same faith. This King was the restorer of their military discipline, as here characterised, and inlarger of the City, by taking in the Mount Caelius: He reigned, according to Livies Compute 32. years.  
§ 82 Ancus Martius, Grandson to Numa Pompilius by his Daughter, 
Ancus Martius.  the fourth from Romulus, was elected after Tullus: He is described here as haughty and popular, because born of royal blood. He was of a disposition and temper much like to that of his Grandsire Numa, as to his justice, regard of religion, and government in peace, though in time of war he equalled any of his Predecessors; whence Livy says of him, Medium erat in Anco ingenium, & Numae & Romuli memor. In Ancus there was a mixture of Numa and Romulus; the one appeared in his reviving the laws of Numa, concerning religious Rites and Ceremonies; in walling the City, in building a bridge over Tiber, in planting a Colony at Ostia, a Town situated upon the mouth of Tiber, which became a famous Mart in after ages: The other in his wars with the Latins, Fidenâtes, Vejentes, Sabines, and Volscians: He sat upon the Throne 24 years.  
§ 83 The fifth from Romulus was Lucius Tarqvinius, surnamed Priscus, 
Lucius Tarqvinius Priscus.  or the elder, in regard of L. Tarqvinius Superbus, his son, or (as Florus writes him) his Grandson. He though not only not a Roman, but also not so much as an Italian, was named King, propter industriam & elegantiam, for his industry and handsome deportment. He (as Livy tells the story) was the son of Damarâtus, a rich Merchant of Corinth, who forced out of his own Country, came with his family into Italy, and planted himself at Tarquinii, a Town of Etruria, or Tuscanie. He had two sons, Aruns and Lucumo: Lucumo after the death both of his Father and Brother came to Rome, where for his wealth & prudence he was elected into the Senatorian order by Ancus Martius, and instead of Lucumo called Lucius, and Tarqvinius, from Tarquinii, the Town of his birth: And after Ancus his death (notwithstanding the left two sons) was thought worthy to be his Successor. He conquering the rebelling Sabines; Latines, and the twelve Tuscan Nations, was the first who triumphed in Rome. From these last he borrowed, and introduced all the ornaments and ensigns of Sovereignty, with all the habits and fashions which were afterwards used by the Roman people. He reigned thirty eight years, and was treacherously murdered by two Villains, suborned by the two Sons of Ancus Martius. As you may read the story at large in Livy l. 1. he left two sons, Aruns and Lucius, called afterward Superbus. But neither of these succeeded immediately to their Father; 
Servius Tullius  but Servius Tullius, a Slave by birth, as born of Ocrisia, a Lady taken in the Corniculan war. Ocrisia, as being of the best quality of the Captiv●s, was presented to Tanaquil, Wife to Tarqvinius; and being left with child by her Husband, was delivered of a boy, which from the servile condition of his Mother was called Servius, and from his Father, Tullius. He from a hopeful and towardly child, became a deserving and gallant man, insomuch, that K. Tarquin thought him worthy of his Daughter, and the people of Rome of the Crown: For he married the one, and after the death of the murdered Tarquin was elected to the other, his predecessors issue being pretermitted. He held the reins of government 44. years, and was as deserving a Prince as any, although omitted here by our Author, who treats of things not Historically, but Poetically, and after a grosser manner.  
§ 83 The seventh and last of the Kings was Tarqvinius Superbus, 
Tarqvinius Superbus.  Son to Tarqvinius Priscus, and Son-in-law to Servius Tullius, who bestowed his Daughter Tullia on him: A woman of a violent, unquiet, and ambitious spirit; who incited her Husband, L. Tarqvinius, a man of the like temper with herself, to murder the King her own Father, and by force to invest himself in the regal power; which he as boldly as wickedly effected: but administering that government as impotently, as he had obtained it wickedly; as also for the rape of Lucretia by his Son Sextus; He, with his whole family was expelled Rome, which from that time, of a Monarchy, became a free State. Tarquin tyrannised 25. years: so that Rome from Romulus to him was governed by Kings 244. years, as Livy computes it. And this was the infancy of the Roman State under the regal power; and indeed, as an Infant, it (being no more than able to crawl) had made but a small advance in order to that greatness which it afterward achieved: For that people (which in process of time, when it arrived to its virile estate or manhood, did bound its Empire with the rising and setting Sun, and carried its victorious Eagles from the Northern to the Southern world) had not in 250. years gained above fifteen miles in circuit from their City's walls, nor after so many battles, conquests, and triumphs extended their Territories further than a nimble Footman could run in two hours. As if it were in States as it is in nature, wherein we see that those things which are designed for strength and duration, do soberly, and by degrees arrive to perfection; but that those which are soon in their wane and decadence, do suddenly, and as it were per saltum attain to their increment and consistence. How often have we seen the power of a State terminate in one man, and the glory of a Nation breath out its last, when he expired? so circumscribed a thing is greatness, and so transitory is that gaudy pomp which the world admires: but to return.  
§ 84 Lucius Junius, the son of Marcus Junius and Tarquinia, 
Brutus and Tarquin.  Sister to Superbus, was the first who brought the surname of Brutus into the Junian Family: For he (seeing by the sad examples of his own Father and Brother, lately murdered by the jealous Tyrant, that to deserve highly was the highest treason, and that virtue was the most compendious way to ruin and destruction) counterfeited himself a fool, wherein he acted his part so to the life, that he purchased to himself and his Descendants the contemptible, but secure, nickname of Brutus, or the Brute: And in all appearance he continued such, till a fair opportunity encouraged him to lay aside the fool coat, and to appear in the more becoming dress of a man of wisdom and courage: For he was the first, who having rescued the oppressed people from the impotent rule of the Tarquins, changed the form of government from a Monarchy to a State, from Regal to Consular; and was the first, who (together with his Colleague Collatinus) was invested in this new Magistracy; which was annual, and to be administered by two, on purpose to defeat and disappoint those advantages, which a single and continued power might take upon the people who entrusted them. They were called consuls, à consulendo Reipublicae, from the care they took of the common good; (as Cicero will have it) or (as Varro) quòd consulere populum, & Senatum deberent, because they ought to advise with the Senate and the People in all affairs and designs. This office (as annual, and in the person of two) differed only from the Kingly government: otherwise they had the same ensigns and marks of sovereignty which the Kings had; for they had their twelve Lictors carrying the Fasces, or bundle of rods before them, with the Secures, or Axes, as before the late Kings: wherefore Virgil calls them here, fasces receptos, viz. à regibus, the Fasces or sovereign power wrested out of the hands of the Kings. But to proceed; and I hope that the Reader will not think that I do impertinently seek matter of discourse, if I enlarge something upon this Story; he shall find many particulars coincident with passages of our own times, and agreeing with the sinister policies of our modern Innovators. Brutus, therefore (the principal vindicator of the people's liberty) knowing that there was as much virtue required in maintaining what he had got, as in the primary acquisition, endeavours by all means possible to confirm and knit the as-yet-feeble joints of his infant Republic: and to this end in the first place he causeth the people to engage themselves by oath against the government of a single person; jurejurando populum adegit, neminem Romae passuros regnare: Livy. Secondly, he was very industrious in ruining and dis●abling the royal party, which indeed (by reason of Tarquin's demerits) were but few, and those either green-headed Courtiers, or such of the Nobility, quorum in regno libido solutior fuerat, whose looseness under a Kingly government were less remarkable; all the friends (I say) of the ejected King were suddenly suppressed, amongst the rest Collatinus, the Husband of the ravished Lucretia, and Brutus his Coadjutor in the regifuge, and now Companion with him in office, was by his means (because of Tarquin's Family) both turned out of his place, and banished his Country: nay, to strike the greater terror into others, who should attempt the restitution of the Tarquins, he did not only pronounce sentence upon his own sons, Titus and Tiberius, with others of the Nobility nearly allied to him, who were convinced to have held correspondence with the Common enemy, but appeared an unmoved and irrelenting overseer and exactor of their punishment; & qui spectator erat amovendus, eum ipsum exactorem supplicii fortuna dedit: Livy. Thirdly, he caused all the estate, both real and personal of the ejected Family, to be dissipated and divided amongst the people; knowing full well, that those who had swallowed such fair morsels, would be very hardly persuaded to regorge them. Bona regia diripienda plebi sunt data, ut contactâ regiâ praedâ, spem in perpetuum cum his pacis amitteret. On the other side the Tarquins were not idle; but finding by the disappointment of the late plot, that it was in vain to hope to compass any thing by the assistance of disarmed, suppressed, and discouraged friends at home, they (as in their case any would do) implore foreign aid, and fly first to the Veientes and Tarquinienses, a people of Etruria, and implacable enemies to the Roman name. These arm in the quarrel of the exiled Princes; and in this battle fell their great Brutus; but most remarkably; Aruns the son of Tarquin, who commanded the enemy's horse, espying Brutus at the head of the Roman horse, which he also commanded, crying, Dii regum ultores adeste, ye Gods, avengers of Kings, be present and assist me, set spurs to his horse and ran furiously upon Brutus, who as gallantly received his charge; to be short, they pierced one the other with their sances, and fell down dead together. But after a long contest between the two Armies, and the loss of 13000. men on each side, the Romans remained superiors. Tarquin failing here, addresseth himself to Porsena K. of Clusium, a potent Prince in those days. Methinks Livy makes Tarquin recommend his case very pathetically, and to the purpose, to his brother King: it is a passage that I have often taken notice of, nor unworthy the transcribing. He hints to Porsena thus; Ne orientem morem pellendi reges inultum sineret; satis libertatem ipsam habere dulcedinis, nisi quantâ vi civitates eam expetant, tantâ regna reges defendant. Aequa●i summa infimis, nihil excelsum, nihil quod supra caetera emineat; in civitatibus fore. Adesse finem regnis, rei inter Deos hominesque; pulcherrimae. A discourse most pregnant and proper in this case, and which we may thus english. He adviseth Porsena as a King not to permit this new fashion of deposing and expelling Kings to go unpunished; for that liberty in itself was so sweet and inviting, that unless Kings did defend their crowns as vigorously as the people sought their freedom, all things being reduced to an equality, there would be no distinction of degrees remaining in Cities or Commonwealths: and that in conclusion there would be an end of Monarchy, a government the most approved both by Gods and men. These arguments, and the consideration of his own case, engaged Porsena in Tarquin's quarrel; but after a vigorous attempt, and almost a victory, there was a sudden pacification made between the Romans and Porsena, and Tarquin's interest quite left out in the agreement, who (as restless as he was unfortunate) makes new applications to other friends; and by the intervention of Mamilius Tusculanus (a person of chief note amongst the Latins; and to whom Tarquin in his prosperity had married his Daughter) stirs up all the people of Latinum against the Romans, whose greatness began to be suspected and dreaded by all their neighbours; but after a long, doubtful, and bloody fight, the victory remained still with the Romans; wherefore Tarqvinius (having lost both his sons in the wars, now grown old, and destitute of friends) gave over all further hopes of recovering his right, and retired himself to Cumae, to Aristodémus the then Tyrant of that City, where the fourteenth year after his expulsion he by death put a period, as well to the fears and jealousies of his late Subjects, as to his own miserable, harrased, and unpleasant life. All Historians do highly celebrate this action of Brutus; and it was once my fortune to be in company where I heard it very eagerly defended, and propounded as a commendable precedent, and fair copy for Subjects to draw by. I shall not make a formal dispute upon the case, but only propound these following Queries.  
§ 85 1 Whether Tarquin was so insupportable a Tyrant as Histories deliver him to be, or whether those who rebelled against him, rendered him not such in story the better to palliate their own unjustifiable proceedings.  
2. Whether, if he were such, Brutus were to be justified, and his example to be followed.  
3. Whether Brutus did what he did purely for the public good, and not rather to avenge the injuries done to his private family.  
4. Whether Brutus did what he did purely for the public good, and not rather to get into the seat of him whom he had dismounted.  
5. If it were not so, why did he not, after the work was done, continue a private man?  
6. Whether it be not probable, that he who could dissemble so well, that he deceived the crafty Tarquin himself, and passed for a fool, till he got an opportunity to oppress him and his Family, might not as well dissemble with the people, and pretend to be a great assertor of their liberties, till such time as he could securely fool them out of them.  
7. Whether the character Livy gives of him, viz. that he was, juvenis longè alius ingenio, quam cujus simulationem induerat, a man of a far different disposition and temper then what he seemed to be, do not render him as a great cheat and dissembler, and to be suspected as to this our last Quaere.  
8. Whether his deposing Collatinus, and his putting his sons to death, were not for the better colour of his designs, and to beget a greater belief of his integrity, that he might be trusted with the greater power.  
9 Whether Liberty be a just pretence.  
10. Whether all innovating Rebels must not of necessity, if they invade the regal power, destroy the liberty they pretended to assert.  
11. Whether experience doth not tell us, that this saying of Tacitus is an irrefragable truth; ut imperium evertant, libertatem praeferunt, quam si everterint, ipsam aggredientur ur libertatem: those who design a change of government, inveigle the people with a pretence of liberty, which if they effect, themselves, invade that liberty, they lately seemed to patronise.  
12. Whether this saying of Tacitus hath not been verified in the flagitious proceedings of the fanatics of our age, etc.  
Of the Family of the Decii there were three, viz. 
The 3. Dec●i.  the Father, Son, and Grandsonne, who for their lives lost in their Country's service were deservedly famous: the Father (who was Consul with T. Manlius Torquatus, an. urbis conditae 415.) did in the war against the Latins devove himself, i. e. with strange imprecations and invocations bequeath and vow himself to death. For when it was revealed in a dream to both the Consuls, that that side should be victorious whose General should die in the fight; and when it was agreed, that of the two Consuls, he whose wing did first give place, should devove himself. Decius seeing the wing which he commanded ready to fly, having pronounced after Valerius the high Priest the solemn words or form of the Devotion, mounted his horse, and with his sword drawn, made an impression into the thickest of the almost-victorious enemies; wheresoever he came a sudden fear invaded them: quacunque equo invectus est, ibi haud secus, quam pestifero sidere icti pavebant: Livy: at last he fell, and by his death procured victory to his neer-conquered party. See this story in Livy. l. 8. as also in Val. Max. l. 5. c. 6. and Florus l. 1. c. 18. Decius the Son was four times Consul; 
Decius the Son.  in all which so often repeated honours he discharged and acquitted himself much to his own praise, and his Country's advantage. In his fourth Consulate with Q. Fabius Maximus Rullianus, an. urb. 458, in that war against the confederated armies of the Gauls, Samnites, Vmbri and Tuscans, following his Father's example, he devoved himself also; and charging into the thickest of the now-prevailing enemy, restored the lost victory to his own party: See Livy l. 10. The form and manner of a military Devotion, as we may collect out of Livy was this: The General of the wavering and declining Army, plucking off his Paludamentum, or Soldier's Coat, put on his Praetexta, or purple-guarded Robe, such as he used to wear in the City; then covering his head, and holding his erected hands (which were hidden under his Robe) out at his chin, and standing upon his lance, he repeated these solemn words after the Pontifex or Highpriest: 
A military Devotion.  Janus, Jupiter, Father Mars, Quirinus, Bellona; ye Lar, Novensiles, and Indigetes; ye Gods who praeside over us and the enemy; ye Gods infernal, I pray ye, I worship ye, I ask and require ye to give success to the Roman forces and army, and to pursue the enemies of the Roman people with terror, fear, and death. As I have solemnly pronounced these words, so I devove, bequeath, and give myself with the legions and auxiliaries of the enemy to the infernal Gods and Mother Tellus, for the State, Army, Legions; and Auxiliares of the people of Rome. These words pronounced, he girded his Robe with a Cinctus Gabinus, such a girdle as the Gabii used, and mounting his horse with his sword drawn, rushed into the thickest of the enemy. By this means (by the Devil's imposture succeeding, and made effectual) they imagined that they bore away with them all the evil fortune which was like to betid their own party into the enemy's army, and translated that disanimation and fear which was ready to invade themselves unto the conquering side; and that they being by the repeating these solemn words, devoted or accursed (for devotus and execratus are the same) carried a curse along with them wheresoever they either went, or fell. But this was not often put in practice; these two only occur in the Roman History. In the Greek we read of Codrus King of Athens, who did the same. 
Decius the Grandson.  But to proceed; Decius the Grandson did not (as some affirm) devove himself, as his predecessors did, but being Consul with P. Sulpicius Savenius, ann. urb. 474. was slain fight for his Country in the war against King Pyrrhus: of these three thus, Cic. l. 1. quaest. Tusc. Si Mors timeretur, non cum Latinis pater Decius dècertans; cum Etruscis filius, cum Pyrrho Nepos, seize hostium telis objecissent: were death a thing to be feared, Decius' the Father fight with the Latins; the Son with the Tuscans, and the Grandson with Pyrrhus, had not run upon the enemy's weapons. But the glory of this illustrious Family lasted not long, but expired with these three; after whom we read not of any of the Decii, famous either in peace or war, or who bore any office of note in the Commonwealth: they were but a plebeian Family, and preferred to those honours and dignities for their virtue and valour. We will add those verses of Juvenal concerning these Decii, as an Epitaph to be inscribed on their Tomb, who in his eighth satire gives them this luculent Elegy:  
Plebeiae Deciorum animae, plebeia fuerunt  
Nomina; pro totis legionibus hi tamen, & pro  
Omnibus auxiliis, atque omni pube Latinâ  
Sufficiunt Diis infernis, Terraeque parenti:  
Pluris enim Decii quam qui servantur ab illis.  
To the infernal Gods and Mother Earth  
The Decii (though of a plebeian birth)  
For all our Legions, our Auxiliaries,  
And youth, were deemed a worthy sacrifice:  
For the Heroic Decii then whate'er  
By them was saved of greater value were.  
§. 86 Drusus was a cognomen of the Family of the Livii, 
The Drusi.  which (according to Ant. Augustinus de fam. Rom.) were distinguished into the Dentri, Salinatores, Libones, Aemiliani, Claudianis, and Drusi. The first of the Drusi was C. Livius Drusus, who (according to Suetonius in vit. Tiber.) took the surname of Drusus, from Drausus, a General of the enemy by him slain; transmitting the same to his posterity. His great Grandson, M. Livius Drusus, being Tribune of the people with C. Gracchus, discharged himself so wisely and faithfully in the Senates-behalf, that he got himself the honourable title of Patrónus Senatus: Sueton. in Tib. and Plutarch in Gracch. Tiberius Caesar was by the Mother's side engrafted into this Family; for Livia Drusilla was Daughter to Livius Drusus, who took part with Brutus and Cassius; and after their defeat (following them in their example, as well as in their Cause) slew himself. Him Patereulus calls virum fortissimum & nobilissimum, a right noble and valiant person. Lastly, of this branch of the Livii was that hopeful young Prince Drusus Nero, younger Brother to Tiberius, and Father to the excellent Germanicus, for whose sake (as being Son to Livia Drusilla Augusta, and so entirely beloved by his Father-in-law Augustus) it is credible that the Poet (who took all occasions to honour that Family) hath inserted the name of the Drusi in this illustrious Catalogue. I do much wonder that Servius, with the rest of Virgil's Interpreters, should imagine, that under the name of Drusus, the Poet understands here that Claudius Nero, who being Consul with M. Livius Salinator, an. urb. 546. defeated Asdrubal, the brother of Annibal: when the Nero's were not of the Livian Family (as were the Drusi) but of the Claudian; nor till Tib. Nero (Father to the Emperor Tiberius) did (by marrying Livia) match into that Family, did any of the Nero's assume the name of Drusus; whereof Drusus the Father of Germanicus was the first.  
§. 87 The Manlian Family, 
Tit. Manlius.  not only as a patrician, but as a source and seminary of deserving Patriots, was one of the most eminent of Rome, and which from the expulsion of the Kings flourished in high repute till Caesar and Pompey's time. These were branched into the Vulsones, Capitolini, the Imperiossi, and the Torquati: Ant. August. The first of the Torquati (than whom no one of that Family was more famous) was Titus Manlius, the Son of Lucius, surnamed Imperiossus; so called from his haughty and imperious nature; which appearing in all his proceedings, was yet more eminent in the unnatural usage of this Titus, his Son, whom for no other reason, then for that he appeared to him to be less vigorous than what became the Manlian name, he in a manner cast off, and bred up in the Country amongst his Hinds and Ploughmen: For which his unbeseeming deportment M. Pomponius, Tribune of the people, had prepared a public Indictment and Accusation before the people against him. The young Manlius understanding the intention of the Tribune, goes privily, armed only with a knife, to the City, finds out Pomponius, takes him aside, and there draws his knife, threatening immediately to dispatch him, unless he would swear to let fall his accusation against his Father; which for fear he swore to do. This undeserved piety of the Son procured an absolute remission of the intended prosecution to the Father, and immortal honour to himself; insomuch that at the next election of Officers for the supply of the Legions, he (though friendless, obscure, and unknown) was made a Legionary Colonel. This action of his speaking in him no common soul, was but a prologue to more worthy performances. For when the Romans had drawn out their Army against the Gauls, now within three miles of the City, and divided from them only by the River A●●en, a certain Gaul of a vast stature, terrible aspect, and Giantlike proportion, came forth upon the bridge, and in proud and scornful words challenged any one of the enemy to fight with him hand to hand; but when a general silence testified as general a fear, and every one seemed to prefer his own perfonal safety to the honour of the public, Titus Manlius coming forth, addressed himself (as Livy makes him speak) in this manner to the General: Sir, as a Soldier (says he) I think it my duty not to fight, were the advantage never so inviting, without my General's command: If you please to permit, I will make that insolent Barbarian know that I am descended from that 
* Viz. from Manlius Capitolinus.  Family which forced the invading Troops of the Gauls from the Capitol. The General embracing him, encouraged him to the Combat; wherefore his companions having put on his arms, he takes a Footman's shield, and a Spanish sword in his hand (in those days short ones were in use amongst those of that Nation) as a more proper weapon for that close fight which he intended. Thus armed, he advanceth towards the Gaul, foolishly insulting, and (out of scorn) often lolling out his tongue. They were very unequally matched, as to the outward appearance; the one had a personage remarkable for its bulk, glittering in richly-gilt arms, and dressed up in changeable-coloured silks; the other was of a middle, but Soldierlike stature, not at all regardable either in his habit or presence. He marched on ●oberly, without any noise, exultation, or flourishing his arms, but (scorning all such vain expressions of courage, reserved himself for the trial of the approaching fight. And now they draw near, when the Gaul like a huge Mountain of flesh over-topping the other, opposed his shield with his left arm to the sword of the invading enemy, and with his right, let fall a weighty blow with a great noise upon him. The Roman bearing the point of his sword upward, engaged the lower part of the Gauls shield with his own, and there insinuating and working himself in within the body and the arms of the other, sheltered his whole body from the danger of all blows; and lying like a small vessel under a high carved ship, wounded him with often repeated thrusts in the bottom of his belly, till at last he fell dead at his feet. Nor did he offer any violence to the prostrate body, but only taking off the gold chain, which he wore about his neck, put it (all bloody as it was) about his own: whence from Torques, by which the Latins understand a chain, He, and his posterity after him, were called Torquati. Thus Livy describes this signal Duel. Q. Claudius Quadrigarius (a far more ancient Author) differs in many particulars from this narrative, as you may read him cited by a A. Gellius l. 9 c. 13. The event of this fight was so considerable, that the Gaulick Army, utterly dismayed at the worsting of their Champion, dislodged the next night; and making a sudden and disorderly retreat, left their Camp, with much spoil and booty behind them. There is a third particular recorded in History touching this Manlius, and such an one as never in my reading occurred in any profane Story. Twenty two years after this exploit, viz. an urb. 415. Torquatus was chosen Consul with P. Decius Mus. Both the Consuls were in the field with a very powerful Army ready to engage the Latins, an enemy very considerable in regard of their numbers, force, arms, and discipline, in all which they equalled the Romans themselves; insomuch that it was thought requisite to revive the ancient discipline of war; to which end divers orders were issued forth; amongst the rest it was proclaimed, that no person whatsoever should, upon pain of death, fight the enemy without special command from the Generals. It happened that T. Manlius, Son to the Consul, being sent abroad with a small party to view in what posture the enemy lay, came near that quarter where the Tusculan horse lay encamped, under the command of Geminius Metius, a person of high repute for his valour and skill in horsemanship. He espying, and knowing the Consul's Son, called out to him, and in reproachful terms challenged him to the Combat: young Manlius as readily accepts the invitation; and both setting spurs to their horse, ran furiously at each other; but in the encounter the Roman slew the Latin, and gathering up the spoils of the slain, returned with his Troop in a triumphant manner to the Tent of his Father, the Consul, where entering, he salutes him in this manner; That all may know, Sir, that I am the Son of so worthy a Father, I present you with these spoils, which when challenged I took from the slain enemy. Which when the Father heard, he presently turned away from his Son (who expected a more cheerful reception) and commanded a Council of war by sound of trumpet forthwith to be assembled. The Council being met, he thus began; the words are Livies: Since thou, T. Manlius, regarding neither the Consuls Command, nor the respect due to thy Parent, haste (against our express order) engaged with the enemy, and as much as in thee lay overthrown that military discipline upon which the Roman State hath to this day stood and flourished, and hast reduced me to that sad necessity, that I must either forget the interest of the Commonwealth, or myself, and mine own relations; I will rather suffer in thy punishment, then that the Commonwealth should be in the least prejudiced by thy misdemeanour: we shall both of us be a sad, but a wholesome precedent to the ages to come. Truly both that ingenite affection which I have for thee as my child, together with this specimen of worth and gallantry which thou hast now given, move me not a little: But since the Consular authority is either to be established by thy death, or by thy impunity to be for ever abolished, I think that even thou thyself (if thou hast any of my blood running in thy veins) will't not refuse to restore by thy punition that military discipline which by thy default thou hast destroyed. Go Lictor, do thy office. The sentence was no sooner pronounced than it was put in execution, and a gallant, but unfortunate son, by a severe, but wise, Father's command, brought to an untimely end, being to the great terror and grief of the beholders publicly beheaded. This action might administer copious matter for a declamation: much might be said for, much against it; however it argued a greatness of soul in the Father not to be expressed: the effect of it was the establishing of the Roman discipline, not only for the present, but for the future. Manlius his example living fresh in the memory of all military men, so long as the Roman name survived. Thus you see the reason why Virgil says  
— saevumque securi  
Aspice Torquatum.—  
§. 88 The Furian Family, 
Furius Camillus  a Patrician, was divided into the Fusci, Medullini, Pacili, Purpureones, and the Camilli: of these there were many men of great note and trust in the Commonwealth; but so great was the merit of M. Furius Camillus, so many and signal his good services done for the State, so high and often-repeated his commands and dignities, that he did not only eclipse those (otherwise deserving men) of his own Family, but even all those of the whole age wherein he lived. He was a person (doubtless) endued with all moral and political virtue, the best Man, and the best Citizen Rome ever bred. We will make good this our character in some few of his most eminent achievements; when he was a private Soldier under the Dictator Postumius Tubertus, in the war against the Aequi and the Volsci, he was the first who advancing before the Army, gave the charge upon the enemy; wherein being hurt in the thigh with a lance, he did not withdraw out of the fight, but plucking out the truncheon, with the spear, which was broke in the wound, charged courageously on, and by his example so animated his own party, and disheartened the enemy, that the victory was chiefly due to his undaunted valour and forwardness. And this was the original of his advancement, and that first step by which he climbed that high scale of his following preferments. For he was five times chosen Dictator, six times Military Tribune: He triumphed four times; was made Censor once, and thrice Interrex. By the way we may observe these following mutations in the form of the Roman government under a State; first, from the Consular government to that of the Decemviri, an. urb, 302. But this lasted not above two years, the Consular rule being reestablished; which was again laid aside, and the administration of affairs put into the hands of a certain number of Military Tribunes, with the full power of the abrogated Coisuls, an urb. 328. they were called Tribuni militum Consulari potestate, to distinguish them from the Tribuni militum, which were only Colonels of the Army. And this form of policy was interrupted by the encroachment of the Tribunes of the people, who for five years held the reins of government without any Curule Magistrate. A Curule Magistrate was such who had the right of riding in a Curule Chair, as Consuls, Praetors, Censors, etc. as we shall show more largely anon. This power determining, the Military Tribunes were again restored, who continued five years in their Magistracy; and then the Consuls, after so many revolutions, were empowered again; so that the Consulate was laid aside for the space of 45. years, as Sextus Rufus computes it. And this is the reason why Camillus (who had been preferred to all dignities in the Commonwealth) never came to be Consul, because during his time the Consular power was quite exauctorated. In his first Dictatorship he won the City of Veii, which had held out most obstinately against the besieging Romans for the space of ten years; the most memorable siege, excepting that of Troy and Numantia, that profane Story presents us with; for which he triumphed.  
But his behaviour to the treacherous Schoolmaster is very remarkable, and speaks him to have been a person of high honour. Camillus being Military Tribune and General, entered the Country of the Falisci, and laid siege to their principal Town, Faleria. There was in the City a certain Schoolmaster, the general and only Educator of the Youth; he assembling all his Pupils, with divers of the children of the most wealthy and eminent Citizens, under pretence of taking the air, trains them all out of the City, and leads them into the enemy's Camp, where he offers to betray them all to Camillus; who so far disdained the disingenuous dealing of the false Pedant, that after his Lictors (by his command) had stripped him stark naked, and bound his hands behind him, he caused the Scholars, with whips and rods, to drive their treacherous Master before them to the City, adding, That it became not a person of honour to seek victory by base and indirect means, but to conquer by open valour, and discreet conduct. But mark the success: The Falerians (whom all the battering rams of the Romans could not make to submit) were subdued by the handsome deportment of the truly-honorable Camillus; to whom they forthwith sent Commissioners to treat, and conclude a peace, with the rendition of themselves and their City to the free dispose and mercy of that enemy whom they did but now detest and defy. Yet could not this deserving Patriot avoid the envy and malice of his ill-requiting Citizens, who for divers trivivial piques, and insignificant exceptions against him, never ceased, till they had forced him to forsake his native soil, and to withdraw himself, as an Exile, to the City of Ardea: yet could not this unworthy usage make Camillus to be less than himself; nor though his native soil had showed herself a Stepmother to him, would he prove an unkind Son to her; but in the greatest extremity that ever Rome was in, he appeared a seasonable deliverer, whilst he (being in his absence nominated Dictator by that poor remain of the Roman Commonwealth, which was then, and had been for seven months besieged in the Capitol) rescued the City from Brennus and his Gauls, now triumphing in those ugly ruins they had barbarously made; and by force expelling them, did soon turn their triumphs into a tragedy, and deprive them of all their late taken spoils and trophies; whence he is rightly said here, Signa refer, to recover (as he did) the lost ensigns of the conquered Romans. Rome was sacked and burnt by the Gauls, an. urb. 365. a sad and memorable Aera. Nor did Rome owe its being to the valour and arms of Camillus more than to his counsel and eloquence; for when the people were generally bend to quit the desolated and ruined City, and to transplant themselves to Veii, their late conquest, he dissuaded them from their intent, and advised them to rebuild their native City; wherein he at last prevailing, Rome (being in one year re-edified) Phaenix-like sprung up more beautiful out of its own ashes. And now Camillus having in his third Dictatorship overthrown the Latins and the Volsces combined together; in his fourth done his utmost endeavour to suppress the sedition of the Commons, who urged to have one of the Consuls to be a plebeian; in his fifth once more vanquished the Gauls, who came with a powerful army to revenge that total rout they had received some years past; having (I say) to his last been with constant good success employed in the service of his Country, he (to the great grief of all good men) died of the plague: Vir vere unicus in omni fortuna, princeps pace belloque etc. as Livy says of him; A man truly the same in all fortune, and who in peace and war had still the preeminence.  
§. 89 It was now about 700. years since Rome's foundation, 
Caesar & Pompey.  wherein partly under Kings, partly under Consuls, Dictator's, military Tribunes, and Praetors, it had made the best part of the habitable world stoop to its victorious Eagles; so that it was now above all fear or danger of a foreign force; nor could any thing hurt Rome but itself. To be short, the Roman Empire was now arrived to that fatal greatness, which is always antecedent either to a declension, or a change: 
— laetis hunc numina rebus  
Crescendi posuere modum.— Lucan.  
Thus to luxuriant fortune we do see  
That heaven hath set a fatal boundary.  Such (I say) was the face of things in the Roman State, when these two Grandees, viz. Caesar and Pompey (the souls now appearing before Anchises) pushed on by ambition and emulation, involved their native soil in most bloody wars. Caesar could brook no superior, Pompey no equal: Caesar pretended a righting himself against the Senate, and a party there who opposed his (as he thought) but reasonable request, in suing for the Consulship; Pompey pretended the Senates and Commonwealth's cause, which indeed carried more plausibleness with it, though it is more than probable that the Public was the least thing intended by either of the Captains; and that whosoever had been victorious, that had fared alike. Pompey having in design (had he succeeded) to have done what Caesar did: But whatsoever their secret aims were, the cause of both parties arming themselves was certainly this; Caesar (having done most eminent service for the State in France, Britanny, and Germany) required, that (though absent) he might at the next election of Consuls be chosen; a request (considering his merit) not in the least unreasonable: this was once assented to, Pompey himself appearing for it: but afterward (upon some suspicions and jealousies) revoked, and Caesar commanded to quit his Army, and as a private man to come in person, and to prefer his Suit; which if he refused to do, he was forthwith to be proclaimed an enemy to the State, and to be proceeded against as a Traitor. Their drift being only to divest him of his power, and then to call him to an account for many things they had to allege against him. But Caesar perceiving the design of his enemies (amongst which Pompey now openly declared himself) did not only not quit his Army, but advancing towards Rome, filled all places where he came with terror and consternation; insomuch that the Consuls with the Senators, and Pompey their General, leaving the City to Caesar's mercy, fled into the furthest part of Italy, where thinking themselves as insecure, they from Brundisium passed into Epirus: Caesar by this means remaining absolute Master of all Italy. Then returning to Rome, He, with P. Servilius Isauricus, was the second time made Consul, an. urb. 706. Having ordered things to his mind in the City, and enriched himself by the direption of the public treasury, he went into Spain, where having subdued Pompey's Lieutenants there, and secured that Province, he returned to Rome, from whence he marched with his Army to Brundisium, and thence about the Nones of January this very year 706. he transported his Legions to Oricum, the most convenient Port of Epirus; and about the twentieth of July following fought with, and utterly routed Pompey, near the City of Pharsalus, seated upon the River Enipeus, in Thessaly; whence the plains adjoining (where this fatal quarrel was disputed) were called the Pharsalian fields. The effect of this victory, with the following successes in Egypt, Africa and Spain, was the change of the government from a State to a Monarchy, begun in J. Caesar, confirmed & established in Augustus, under the name and title of Imperator; which word (although originally it signified a General of an Army only, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and that more strictly, such a General as having obtained some notable victory over the enemy, was by his Soldiers saluted by the name of Imperator) became afterward equivalent with Princeps, and was the title of the Roman Emperor, with this distinction (as Lipsius observes upon Tacitus Annal. l. 3. numero 173.) when by Imperator we understand a General, than it is subjoined, as an agnomen, or additional name and title, as P. Cornelius Scipio Imperator, or General: but when it signifies the sacred Majesty of the Roman Prince, than it is prefixed as a Praenomen preceding, as our Christian name doth to the Surname; as Imperator Caesar Augustus, the Emperor, etc. and thus you shall find it used in ancient Coins, Medals and Inscriptions; in which sense the Greeks render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. This is a note not to be omitted.  
§. 90 And now we come to L. Mummius Nepos, 
L. Mumm●us.  who being Consul with Cn. Cornelius Lentulus, an. urb. 608. subdued the Achaeans, took and razed Corinthus, the capital City of that Province, for which he triumphed, and purchased the agnomination of Achaicus. But to give you a brief survey of the Achaean war, with the character of L. Mummius, you must know that the Achaeans (than the most potent people of Peloponesus, and Lords of the better part of that Island) picking a quarrel with the Lacedæmonians, with design to subdue them, made incursions into their Country: whereupon the injured Spartans' make their applications to the Senate and people of Rome, under whose protection they were: a welcome message to the Romans, who desired but a fair pretence to make war upon the Achaeans, now the only powerful and unsubdued people of all Greece: wherefore they forthwith dispatch their Ambassadors, with commission to take cognizance of, and to decide the difference betwixt these two States. But the Achaeans did not only not give ear to any thing tending to a pacification, but offered new injuries to the Lacedæmonians, and (against the Law of Nations) many indignities to the Commissioners themselves, even to the throwing their ordure upon them as they passed the streets: For which affronts war is denounced against them, and an Army under the Command of L. Mummius appears at the very entrance of the Isthmus; where a battle was fought betwixt them and the Romans, who obtaining a signal victory, marched directly to Corinth (not far distant from the place of battle) which they easily took, razed, and burnt, and (having put all the men to the sword) sold the women and children for slaves. Corinth was razed by Mummius the same year that Carthage was by Scipio Aemilianus 952. years after its foundation by Alice, the son of Hyppotes (as Paterculus computes it.) Of the Achaean war see Florus l. 2. c. 16. Justin. l. 34. Liv. epit. l. 52. The Citizens of Corinth were very wealthy in Coin, Plate, Jewels, Statues of Gold, silver and Brass: from the confusion of all which Metals in the conflagration of the City, proceeded that precious compound which from thence was called Aes Corinthium, Corinthian Brass: Vessels made of this mixture were most highly prized by the Ancients. This is now reckoned by Pancirollus amongst those things which are lost: rer. deperd. tit. 34. The whole Peloponesus following the fate of Corinth, because subject to the Romans; amongst the rest the Cities of Argos, the Metropolis of the Province of Argolis, from whence the Greeks were called Argi, Argivi, and Argolici, and Mycaenae, the seat of Agamemnon, the Greeks General against the Trojans: Both these had furnished forth supplies in that war: see Homer Il. 2. And therefore the Poet in the person of Anchises doth very properly foretell their subversion; which Prophecy was fulfilled in the person of this L. Mummius, who herein did avenge his Grandsire's of Troy (for the Romans were of Trojan extraction) upon the Greeks, their enemies, for all the injuries by them done, and particularly for the violation of Minerva's Temple, by the taking the Palladium out of it, and by devirginating Cassandra in it: Aeneid. l. 2. Vltus avos Trojae, temerataque templa Minervae. But I cannot but admit of the just exception of Jul. Heginus against Virgil in this place: See A. Gell. l. 10. c. 16. for confounding the war against K. Pyrrhus (who derived himself from Achilles, whose known Patronymick was Aeacides, from his Grandfather Aeacus, from whom all his descendants took the name of Aeacides, as Virgil makes Pyrrhus here) with the Achaean; a gross parochronism doubtless, both in regard of the time of the war, as also of the persons who managed it: for the war against King Pyrrhus (which was also called the Tarentine war) was begun an. urb. 472. and lasted six years; and was managed by divers Generals, of whom the most famous were C. Fabricius, and Manius Curius: of the first we shall speak anon; the latter was he who ended this war, and drove Pyrrhus out of Italy. But the Achaean war was 136 years after this, viz. an. urb. 608. L. Mummius being General; so that this verse, Ipsumque Aeaciden, genus armipotentis Achillei is by some left out; as it is thought Virgil would have done upon a more serious review: See A. Gell. ibid. Nor can I in the least assent to the learned Jesuit De la Cerda upon this place, whom our Farnaby also follows: Both these interpret these three last verses, viz. Eruit ille Argos, Agamemnoniasque Mycaenas, etc. of Aemilius Paulus, to whom they say this (ille) refers; and Aeacides of Perseus, whom Aemilius conquering, with him broke and overthrew the Macedonian Monarchy, and made that with Greece a Province to the Roman Empire: the reasons of De la Cerda (who labours earnestly to make good his assertion in justification of Virgil against the calumny of Heginus, as he terms it) are but at the best but conjectures; there is nothing positively proved out of good Authors. But I desire him to show me where he finds, first that Aemilius had any thing to do with Peleponesus, or that after his victory over Perseus he made war upon the Peloponesians. Plutarch (who writes his life, and with whom all those who speak of those times agree) makes no mention of any such thing; which had been a particular not to be omitted, had it been so. But after the Macedonian victory, and the settlement of affairs there, brings him home through Epirus into Italy. Beside, the Macedonian war and the Achaean were different, both in respect of time (that being an. urb. 586. and this 608. twenty two years after) and of the Generals, Aemilius commanding in that, and Mummius in this. Secondly, to derive Perseus from Achilles, is an assertion as little supported by History as the former. It is probable, that had it been so either really, or had he had the vanity to have assumed it to himself, Historians would not have omitted it, especially the Roman, whose honour (they being victorious) would have been the greater, the more illustrious the person had been whom they subdued. By the Mother-side (which is the surer) I am certain that he was far enough from touching Achilles in blood: For (as Pl●● testifies in Aemil.) his Mother was but a Tailor's Wife of Argos, called Gnathaenia, on whom King Philip's Father begot him. As for his alliance by the Father's side, the first of this race was Antigonus, one of Alexander's Captains, in whose time there is little or nothing said of him; who had he been of that illustrious extraction, would doubtless therefore have been more notable, since he was a person otherwise very deserving, and a great Soldier, as in the following wars after Alexander's death he made appear. But, what is most evincing, is, that Plutarch (a most diligent writer) who wrote the life of Demetrius, this man's Son, makes no mention of his descent from Achilles, but only that he was the Son of Antigonus, and no more; so that it is true that Perseus was born of a royal stem, but the original of his Family was but a private person, viz. Antigonus, who with his Son Demetrius called himself King, after the defeat of Ptolemy in the naval fight at Salamina, some seventeen years after Alexander's death. Demetrius was the first of this line, who was King of Macedon: Second, Antigonus Gonâtas his Son: Third, Demetrius the second: The fourth, Antigonus Doson, who was indeed but Protector to Philip the Son of Demetrius the second, and his Father's Cousin: The fifth, Philip, Son of Demetrius the second: The sixth, Perseus, of whom we now speak: in which Pedigree we find not where Perseus can be termed Aeacides, as descended from Achilles: if we therefore descent herein from the learned Jesuit, and rather stick to our above-given interpretation of this place. I hope we shall not be thought to have done it without reason: nor let the Reader conclude that we insist too much upon these minutiae, little inconsiderable niceties, whilst we spend so much time and paper in this or the like speculations; they may haply appear to be such to a vulgar intellect, those that are of a more refined and critical complexion will not (I hope) look upon these or the like excursions, as altogether impertinent.  
§ 91 Before we conclude this §. we will add a line or two touching the family and person of L. Mummius, who was not indeed of ancient extraction, or to be reckoned amongst those names which have been in frequent and high employments, but of those whom the Romans called Novi Homines, New men, or Upstarts; under which notion is understood such an one as was the first of his name or family who came to be advanced to the Consular dignity, or any Curule Magistracy. By the way we may observe, that amongst other distinctions of degrees, the Romans were divided into Nobiles, or Nobles, who were such as had the Images of their Ancestors; into Novoes, or New-men, who had their own Images only; and Ignobiles, or Mechanics, who had neither Images of themselves, or of their Predecessors. Now none could have the right of Images (which is equivalent with that of bearing Arms with us) but those to whom the right of riding in a Curule Chair belonged, which was an Ivory Chair, and called Sella Curulis, or Currulis, from Currus, or the Chariot wherein it was carried for the Magistrate to sit upon: Honoris enim gratiâ Senatores, qui Magistratum majorem ceperant, curru in Curiam vehi solebant, in quo sella eburnea esset cui insiderent: Stadius in Flor. l. 1. c. 5. A. Gell. l. 3. c. 18. Thus Magistratus major and Curulis is all one, for none were privileged to ride in these Curule Chairs but such as had born Magistratum majorem, been one of the great Magistrates, as Consul, Praetor, Dictator, Interrex, Decemvir, Military Tribune, etc. Hence we more particularly may gather, that by Novus Homo is meant the first of a Family who had been dignified with any of the greater Magistracies, who only had the right of riding in a Curule Chair, and by consequence of Images. Hence Paterculus says of Mummius, that he was ex novis hominibus prior qui cognomen virtute partum vindicavit; the first of the New-men who from a conquest obtained had an agnomination or title (viz. Achaicus) given him: and as he was the first of his name, so was he the last who ever came to any eminence or preferment in the Commonwealth: we read nothing of himself, or of any of his Family, after the Achaean war, and his Censorship with Scipio Aemilianus: He was a plain downright honest man, but withal very ignorant and illiterate, unread in any art but in that of a Soldier; insomuch that when he sent to Rome some rare Pictures and Statues, the choicest of the Corinthian spoils, & such as could not be imitated but by the hand of the original Artist, he charged those who conveyed them to have a care that they were not lost or defaced, adding, that if they were, themselves should make them good again; as if they had been ordinary Merchandise, and to be had every where: with this, he did as little admire riches as he understood Pictures; for although he were the first who made Rome acquainted with that so highly-prized mixture, called Corinthian brass, yet there was not found any vessel of it in his house: Livy epit. l. 52. and Aur. Victor. de vir ●ll●st. nay, he died so poor, that having but one Daughter (in whom haply his name expired) he had not wherewithal to give her portion: Pliny l. 34. c. 7. Poverty did not in those days render a man contemptible, as in our more corrupt and vicious age, but was both commendable, and a mark of high virtue, which consists in nothing more than in contempt of those empty enjoyments which some so highly prize.  
The Porcian Family (from whence Cato sprung) was a plebeian; and himself not only of those whom they styled Novi Homines, 
M. Cato.  or New-men, the first of his name who ever bore any honourable office in the Commonwealth, but of those whom they called Municipes, i. e. such as were not Natives of Rome, but of some other City, which living according to their own Laws, and governed by their own Magistrates, had yet the title of Roman Citizens: Such were the Fundani, Formiani, Cumani, Tusculani, our Cato's Countrymen; and the Arpinâtes, Tully's, and Marius, their Compatriots. They were called Municipes, à munere capiendo, because they had the privilege of that which the Romans call Munus honorarium, i. e the honour to serve as Citizens in the Roman Legions, and not as the Socii or Allies in the Auxiliaries: See Stad. ad Flor. l. 3. c. 18. and A. Gel. l. 16. c. 13. and those Towns to which these privileges were indulged were called Municipia. In process of time the Romans enlarged the Charters of some of these Municipal Towns, and for some great service done, gave them the full privilege of Roman Citizens, making them capable of giving their voices in the election of Magistrates, and of being themselves chosen into office. But then (according to Stadius ibid.) they were totally devested of their own Laws, and became subject to the Roman Constitutions. In conclusion, all Italy (after the Marsick or Social War, which happened an. urb. 663. L. Martius Philippus, and Sex. J. Caesar being Consuls) became free alike; which freedom was extorted from the Romans by the general insurrection of all Italy. But to our purpose; M. Porcius Cato was a Native of Tusculum, a Municipal Town of Latium, some fifteen miles distant from Rome, once a place of note, but for nothing more than for Cicero's Manor there, from whence that piece of his, called his Tusculan Questions, took its name: it is now a small inconsiderable Village known by the name of Frescata. He was the Son of M. Porcius; and surnamed Cato, from his wisdom, sagacity and experience; from the Latin word Catus, which the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, i. e. sagax, callidus, wise and subtle; whereas his original agnomination was Priscus, M. Portius Priscus. He was brought first to Rome by Val. Flaccus, who discerning more than ordinary endowments in him, judged that he might in time become a fitting instrument to serve his Country. He made himself first known by his eloquence in pleading Causes; and doubtless he was the ablest Orator of his time. But thinking this kind of life too lazy and inactive, he cast off his Gown, and girt on his Sword, and leaving the City for the Camp, served first as a Tribune or Colonel; then when Scipio went upon his African expedition, he went along with him as Quaestor, or Treasurer to the Army: Afterward, being Praetor, he reduced Sardinia, and Consul, Celtiberia in Spain; for which he triumphed. After this, desiring to serve his Country in any condition, he accompanied M. Acilius Glabrio, as private Colonel in the War against Antiochus, where he did eminent service. He was at last chosen Censor with his friend Val. Flaccus, who had been also his Colleague in his Consulship; and (although much opposed by divers great ones, who stood in competition with him) yet he carried it in the election. He behaved himself so remarkably stout, and incorruptibly honest in his Office, that by way of eminence he got himself the name of the Censor. And these are the public employments which he run through: In general, he was a very severe man in his life and conversation, an enemy to excess and luxury; very just and upright; a great lover of the Public weal, to the advancement whereof he bent his whole studies and endeavours. He was noted indeed to be a person of too free and biting a tongue, of too sour & severe a complexion, some say litigious and quarrelsome; little suitable to the corrupt age wherein he lived: all which was yet thought to proceed from the consciousness of his own innocence, and from a mind altogether untainted with those imputations which he reprehended in others: as for his intellectuals, he was a man of very able parts, quick, witty, apprehensive, eloquent, fitted for any either public or private employment! See the ample character Livy gives of him l. 39 In hoc viro tanta vis animi, etc. He wrote much, and upon various subjects, especially in Oratory, though by the injury of time we are deprived of those his Monuments. He had two Wives, his first was of a noble Family, by whom he had M. Cato, who married Tertia, Paulus Aemilius his Daughter, a right Gallant, and deserving person: He died when he was chosen Praetor, before he was invested in his office: He begot M. Cato, who was Consul with Q. Martius Rex. an. urb. 637. and C. Cato, Consul with M. Acilius Balbus, an. urb. 640. Marcus, the elder of these, left another Marcus, who being Praetor died in France: & this is what we can gather concerning Cato's posterity by his first Wife: See A. Gell. l. 13. c. 18. He took for his second choice the Daughter of Salonius, his Client, a woman of mean birth, on whom he begot when he was 80. years of age Cato Salonianus; who left two Sons, M. and L. Cato: the first died whilst he sued to be Praetor, the second was Consul with Cn. Pompeius Strabo, Father to Pompey the Great. This 
* A. Gellius makes Marcus, the other Brother, to be Father to Cato uticen. l. 13. c. 18.  Lucius Cato was (according to Plutarch) Father to M. Cato, surnamed the Philosopher, from his wisdom and virtue; and Vticensis, because he slew himself at Utica in afric, rather than to receive his life from the hands of Caesar, his enemy. His life is written at large by Plutarch, and his character thus briefly delivered by Vell. Paterculus l. 2. Marcus Cato, genitus proavo, M. Catone, principe illo familiae Porciae, homo virtuti simillimus, & per omnia ingenio Diis quam hominibus propior, qui nunquam rectè fecit ut facere videretur, sed quia aliter facere non potuit, cuique id solum visum est rationem habere quod haberet justitiam; omnibus humanis vitiis immunis, semper fortunam in suâ potestate habuit. Marcus Cato, born of M. Cato, his Great-grand-father, the chief and first of the Poreian Family, was the very image of virtue; a person in all things more resembling the Gods than men; who never did any handsome thing that it might be said he did it, but because he could not do otherwise; as who thought that only reasonable which was just, and being free from all vice had fortune still in his power. He left a son of his own name, who (although noted for intemperate and loose) expiated that stain, by dying valiantly on Brutus his side against Augustus, as heir to his Father's cause as well as name. He had a daughter also called Porcia, the most loving Wife of M. Brutus, and true Inheritrix of her Father's soul; who hearing of the death of her beloved Consort, when she could no other way put an end to her loathed life, 
Haustus sanè calidus, sed gloriae plenus, & plusquam faemineus':  swallowed down hot-burning coals, and so expired; which the ingenious Marshal hath thus expressed: 
Conjugis audisset fatum cum Porcia Bruti, 
Val. Max.   
Et subtracta sibi quaereret arma dolour;  
Nondum scitis, ait, mortem non posse negari?  
Credideram satis hoc vos docuisse Patrem:  
Dixit, & ardentes avido bibit ore favillas,  
I nunc, & ferrum, turba molesta, nega.  
When Porcia heard of her dear Brutus fate,  
And sought wherewith her own t' accelerate;  
Know you not death can't be denied? I thought  
My Father this sufficiently had taught.  
This said, she greedily drank glowing coals,  
Now swords deny, unreasonable fools.  And this is what we could collect concerning Cato, and the Porcian Family: See Plut. in Cat. Major. & Minor. Liv. l. 39 & epit. l. 114. etc.  
§ 92 The Cossi were Patricians, of the illustrious and numerous Family of the Cornelii, 
Cornel●●● Cossus  which (according to Anton. Augustinus) were branched into the Cossi, which were subdivided into the Maluginenses and the Arvinae. Secondly, into the Scipiones, who were distinguished by the surnames of the Asinae, Calvi, Nasîcae, and Africani. Thirdly, into the Lentuli, who were differenced by the houses of the Gaudini, Lupi, Surae, Spintheri, and Marcellini. we may add to these the Syllae, Rufini, Dolabellae, Merulae, and the Cethegi. Of the Corn●lio-Cossian Family there were very many who bore the greatest offices in the Commonwealth, i. e. Pontificate, or high Priesthood; once the honour of winning the Spolia opima, or Royal Spoils, three Dictaetorships, two Censorships, three Triumphs, two Decemvirates, ten Consulates, twenty two Tribunates with Consular power, and four Mastership's of the horse rested in this Family, and were with great honour to themselves, and advantage to the State, administered by them▪ But the glory and honour of the name, and the person more particular to be understood here, is Aulus Cornelius Cossus; who (when the Fid●enates, a Colony of the Romans, assisted by the Falisci▪ and Vejentes, rebelled) won the Spolia opima, or Royal Spoils (of which more largely anon) by killing with his own hand Lar Tolumnius, King of the Vejentes: See the manner of it in Livy l. 4. by whom it is left very doubtful, both in what Command, whether Consul, Consular Tribune, or Master of the horse, Cossus performed this. His character Livy gives in short thus, viz. That he was a most goodly and beautiful personage, of extraordinary strength of body, and courage of mind, and very ambitious to increase the honour of his Family; which (being of itself very illustrious) he by this exploit rendered much more conspicuous. He was the second after Romulus who consecrated the Spolia opima to Jupiter Feretrius: and this is what we find recorded concerning Cossus; wherefore  
Quis te, Magne Cato, tacitum, aut● te Cosse relinquet?  
Who Cato would omit, or Cossus, thee?  
§ 93 I wonder very much that that learned and diligent Author, Antonius Augustinus, 
The Gracchis.  who wrote purposely of the most illustrious and noble Families of Rome, should omit that of the Sempronii, a Family not of the latest extraction, or meanest credit in its time. We (according to our slender and often-interrupted reading having traced the Roman Story) find four streams issuing from the same fountain of the Sempronii, viz. that of the Blaesi, that of the Tuditani, that of the Longi, and that of the Gracchis: to these Fulvius Vrsinus adds the Atratini, and the Petitiones; names he finds stamped upon some ancient coins. C. Sempronius Blaesus was twice Consul; first with C. Servilius Caepio, an. urb. 500 about the middle of the first Punic war: He was Consul nine years after with Aul. Manlius Torquatus Atticus: M. Semproniu● Tudit anus was Consul with C. Claudius Cento, an. urb. 517. Pub. Sempronius Tuditanus, his Son, was Consul with M. Cornelius Cethegus, an. urb. 549. the fifteenth year of the second Punic war, when he fought prosperously against Hannibal. M. Sempronius Tuditanus his Son was Consul with App. Claudius Pulcher, an. urb. 568. about the time that the Romans warred against Philip King of Macedon. Tib. Sempronius Longus was Consul with Pub. Cornelius Scipio, Father to Scipio the Great, a. urb. 535. at the first breaking out of the second Punic war: he lost, and was slain at, the fatal battle of Trebia. The two Sons of these, viz. Tib. Sempronius Longus, and Pub. Cornelius Scipio Africanus, were Colleagues together, a. urb. 559. As for the Gracchis (to which Family we must principally confine our discourse) the first we meet with of that name who was of Consular dignity, was Tib. Sempron. Gracchus, who was Consul with Publ. Valerius Falco, an. urb. 515. The next was Tib. Sempronius Gracchus, haply his Son who was twice Consul, first with Quint. Fabius Maximus Verrucossus, in the fourth year of the second Punic war: secondly with Quint▪ Fabius Maximus, the Son of V●rrucossus; two years after Tib. Sempronius Gracchus, this man's Son, was Consul with C. Claudius Pulcher, an. urb. 376. Sardinia fell by lot to be his Province, wherein he did great service: his Consulship expired, he remained there as Proconsul, in which command he quite reduced that Province to its due obedience: See Livy l. 41. He was the second time Consul with M. Juventius Thalva, an. urb. 590. He triumphed twice, and was honoured with the Censorship, together with C. Claudius Pulcher, his Colleague in his first Consulship. He was indeed (as Paterculus says of him) vir eminentissimus & clarissimus, a right eminent and famous person. But he did by nothing more ennoble the Sempronian name, then by engrafting it upon a fair stock of the Cornelian Family: for he married Cornelia, the Daughter of Pub. Scipio, that Scipio who subdued Annibal, a Lady of most transcendent worth, by whom he had a numerous progeny, viz. twelve children; but three of them only survived, Tiberius and Caius, his sons (who made their names as famous by their misdeeds as misfortunes, as their Predecessors had done by their noble achievements and successful undertake) and Sempronia their Sister, who married Scipio Aemilianus, the Grandson by adoption to Scipio Africanus, and by consequence her own Cousin german, the best accomplished Gentleman Rome ever bred; of whom more anon: Of this Family also was Madam Sempronia, who was so deeply concerned in Catiline's conspiracy: See her character in Sallust. Tiberius' the elder Brother was a man of great parts, of an undaunted courage, a fluent tongue, and a comely personage; qualifications of a dangerous consequence, if the person so qualified happen to deviate from what is right. He was first Quaestor or Treasurer to C. Mancinus in the Numantine War, and after his return to Rome was made Tribune of the people; in which office, whether out of an innate hatred to the Nobility, or out of a turbulent and seditious spirit of his own, I cannot say▪ he caused a dangerous sedition, and made such a schism or rent betwixt the Patricians and the Plebeians, as could not without a Civil Warte have been pieced and cemented again, had not a sudden and violent death intercepted him. And here we may observe with Florus l. 3. c. 13. how that the Tribunician power (which was at first intended for the Commons bulwark against the encroachments of the Nobility) did its self by degrees degenerate into the greatest exorbitancy and tyranny that could be, whilst under that specious and plausible pretence of asserting the people's liberty, those popular Magistrates did drive on their own sinister and ambitious designs; and filling all things with faction and sedition, disappoint the end for which they were at the first ordained, that is, did destroy the people's liberty, which they over-eagerly pretended to patronise, and slacken the very nerves and sinews of all civil polity, by their contentious bandings against the Senate. But to proceed: Tib. Gracchus (partly to despite the Nobility, but principally to shake the frame, and to subvert the fundamentals of the present power, that he might upon the ruins thereof raise the superstructure of his own greatness) made it his business to cajole and flatter the people, which (by virtue of his office) he did either by reviving old antiquated Laws, or enacting new; all which tended to the diminution and weakening of the Patricians, either in their private fortunes, or in their power and public employments; which pleased the Common people, who naturally hate their Betters, and fooled them into a belief that every one of them should come to share the estates and dignities of the ruin'd Nobility, little imagining that they were to be used but as brute instruments, & necessary tools, which were to be cast aside when the work was done: Wherefore resolved to prosecute the Nobility, and haply secretly intending, if things happened right, to change the form of government, he first preferred the Laws called Agrariae, by which he deprived them of their estates; and those called Judiciariae, by which he clipped the wings of their power. By the first it was formerly enacted, That all lands belonging to the Commonwealth (which were called the public lands, and were the accessions of some new Conquest) should at easy rates be rent out to the poorer sort: these, as Lives were lapsed, or as Leases determined, the Patricians got into their hands, the Commons being by degrees utterly devested of their ancient posse●●ions. This caused great discontents; and many offers were made in vain by some Tribunes to reform this abuse, and to reduce things to their original wont and manner; but none proceeded so far herein as Tib. Gracchus, who caused the Law to pass: and so it was enacted by the Commons, That the public Lands should be taken from the wealthier, and reinvested▪ as formerly, in the poor Plebeians. And this had the face and show of equity, but it was but a face and show; for Gracchus did it not so much to do right to the people, as to spite the Nobility, and to prepare the way for some further and more dangerous design. After this had passed, he preferred his Judiciary Laws, whereby he took the power of Judicature from the Senate, to whom it only belonged, and transferred it to the Equites or Gentlemen, the intermediate degree betwixt the Patricians and the Plebeians: therein s●ill flattering the people, who looked upon themselves as honoured, and much strengthened herein, the power of Judicature being (by falling a degree lower) come a step nearer to themselves. But whilst Graechus was triumphing in his successes in the Capitol (where he held his popular conventions) the Senators (who were reduced to that extremity, that they must suffer the seditious Tribune either to ruin them, and with them the Commonwealth, or make a vigorous attempt to rescue both from imiment danger) led by Scipio Nasîca (Grandson to that Nasîca who was called vir optimus, the best of men) and seconded by a good strong party of friends, repairing to the Capitol, set upon Gracchus, and dissipating his party, slew him; and by his death put a stop to those desperate innovations which he under colourable pretences had in design. But they did but put a stop to them; for his Brother Caius, who was chosen Tribune ten years after, did not only insist in his Brother's footsteps, reviving those Laws which he had preferred, but, as Paterculus affirms, longè majora & atrociora repetens, nihil immotum, nihil tranquillum, nihil quietum in eodem statu relinquebat; attempting greater and more horrible things, left nothing resting in the same state and condition it was, and aught to be. But as he did pursue the same pernicious projects, so did the same fate in the same place pursue him; for being forced out of the Capitol, where he had fortified himself, and hotly pursued by his enemies, he commanded his Servant (by some called Philocrates, by others Euporus) to kill him; which he did, and afterward slaying himself, fell down dead upon his Master's body; a notable example of the love and fidelity of a servant: Val. Max. l. 6. c. 8. Hunc Tib. Gracchi liberi, P. Scipionis Africani nepotes, viuâ adhuc matre Corneliâ, Africani filiâ, viri optimis ingeniis malè usi, vit●● habuere exitum, etc. Thus did the Sons of Tib. Gracchus, and Grandson of P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus, their Mother Cornelia, Scipio's Daughter, yet living, persons who made ill use of good parts, end their days; who, if they could have contained themselves within the bounds of moderation, might have quietly and plausibly attained those honours which indirectly and illegally they aspired to: As Patercules handsomely concludes. The bodies of the slain Brethren (so heinous had their demerits been in the esteem of their implacable enemies) were denied the last honour of sepulture, and thrown into the River Tiber. We must not here omit a particular instanced by all Authors, to show the unworthy return of a false friend, and the prevalent temptation of gold. L. Opimius the Consul made a Proclamation, That whosoever should bring the head of C. Gracchus, should have the weight of it in gold: Septimuleius, his intimate familiar, and much endeared friend, became the ready Executioner of the Consul's command, and brought Gracchus his head in a triumphing manner fixed upon a spear; which by the deceit of this covetous wretch (who had taken out his brains, and poured molten lead into his skull) weighed seventeen pounds and an half. Let the examples of these two unfortunate Brethren serve as a document to the mutinous and seditious, who strive by innovation, and all indirect means to aggrandise themselves: Let them know, that at the best, if they do succeed, they embroil their native Country, which they ought by all means to preserve and cherish; and if they miscarry, which generally is their fate, they with their wicked designs expire, as they deserve, upon a gibbet, leaving an infamous and hated memorial of themselves to all posterity;  
— Dabit Deus his quoque funem.  
§ 94 The Scipio's were (as we have said §. 92.) the fairest branch of the Cornelian stem. Scipio in Latin signifies a staff, 
The Sc●pio's.  and became a familiar name from one of that house; who serving his decrepit and ●lind Father as his guide, was from thence surnamed Scipio, or his Father's Staff: Macrob. Sat. l. 1. c. 6. Nor did that Scipio from his filial piety deserve more the title of the Staff of his aged Father, than some of his Descendants (from their worth and gallantry showed in the service of the public) that of their distressed Mother, the Commonwealth. The first of the Scipio's whom History takes notice of as a public Minister, was P. Cornelius Scipio, who was made Master of the horse to Furius Camillus, that year that the City of Veii was taken, which happened an. urb. 357. He was the next year chosen military Tribune, and two years after Interrex. To be short, there were eleven of the Scipio's, who were men of eminent note and merit, before the great Scipio, surnamed Africanus, high his heroic achievements adorned and illustrated the Cornelian name. There was one of this branch, viz. Cn. Cornelius Scipio (the seventh in descent from that first) who was Consul with C. Duillius, the fifth year of the first Punic War, which fell out an. V. C. 493 on whom (though a person of indubitable worth) this ridiculous nickname of Asina, or the she-Asse, was (upon this occasion) imposed, and from him transmitted to his posterity. Macrob. tells the Story, Saturn. l. 1. c. 6. This Scipio (says he) the head of the Cornelian Family, having contracted for some land, was (according to the custom of those times) commanded by the Judge to give responsible security for the future payment of his money; whereupon be bad his servant lead in the she-Asse, which stood tied, and laden at the door; and this being brought into the open Court he offered to the Judge for security: which done, he paused a while, to the great admiration of the Judge and the Assistants, who all looked upon this action as an high affront to the Court, and a bold contempt of authority; having stood silent a while, he commanded his Servant to unlade the Ass, and tell out the money, which, as it appeared, was put up in a sack and so brought upon the Ass; hereat the people smiled; but none que●ionless had more reason so to do, than he who received the money: from this time he was distinguished from the rest of his name by the agnomination of Asina. Pub. Asina, his Son, was Consul with Minutius Rufus, an. V. C. 532. he conquered and triumphed over the Istrians. But to come to the persons more particularly designed by the Poet, as to whom we must limit our discourse; you must know that these two Scipio's (which Virgil celebrates here under the titles of duo fulmina belli, and clades Libyae, the two thunderbolts of war, and the subverters of the Carthaginian State) were Scipio Africanus, whom for distinction sake they styled Major, the Grandfather, and Scipio Africanus Minor, the Grandson: In whose Story. If we enlarge ourselves more then ordinary, the copiousness of matter, which their glorious actions administered to the Writers of those times, must plead our excuse: you must therefore understand that L. Scipio▪ (younger Brother to the first Scipio Asina, and Consul the next year after him with C. Aquilius Florus, an. urb. C. 495. a gallant man, as who overthrew Hanno, the Carthaginian General, in the Island of Sardinia, in the first Punic war: Livy epit. 17. Val. Max. l. 5. c. 1.) had two Sons, Cnaeus and Publius; the eldest of these was Consul with Claudius Marcellus, a. V. C. 532. the younger, viz. Publius, with Tib. Sempronius Longus, the first year of the second Punic war, which happened an. V. C. 536. He fought and lost the battle of Ticînus against Hannibal, the earnest and pledge of the Carthaginians future good success in Italy. After this he and his Brother Cnaeus (having done great service in Spain against Asdrubal the Brother of Hannibal) died both in the bed of honour, and were slain in fight: they were both of them very valiant men, and experienced Soldiers. From Cnaeus the elder, those Scipio's who bear the name of Nasîca derive themselves: Of whom in the conclusion of this §. from Publius the younger came Pub. Scipio Africanus, and L. Scipio Asiaticus, with their Descendants. Of these two we shall note what was most remarkable in their lives: Publius served his tyrocinium, or was first entered in the wars under his Father at the battle of Ticînus: three years after he commanded a Regiment of Foot at the battle of Cannae: after this, at the age of 24. he was sent as Proconsul to manage the wars of Spain, which in few years he totally reduced. Some years after his return to Rome he was chosen Consul with P. Licinius Crassus, the fifteenth year of the second Punic war. When his Consulate was expired the African war was committed to him as Proconsul, which he ended the seventeenth year of that war, by giving an irrecuperable overthrow to Annibal at the fatal battle of Nadagara: For this victory he obtained a most glorious triumph▪ and the title of Africanus. He was a second time Consul with Tib. Smpronius Longus, an. V. C. 560. He was twice Censor, and three times Prince, or L. Precedent of the Senate. In fine, he (as he well deserved) arrived to the greatest honours, and that with the greatest applause that Rome could confer upon him▪ But to take the true prospect of the largeness of the soul of this most excellent person, let us consider him in some particular actions and passages of his life, which do more perfectly pourtraict him then generals can possibly do. At the battle of Ticînus, being but seventeen years old, he rescued his Father, dangerously wounded, from his prevailing enemy, giving him life by protection from whom by generation he had received the same, Liv. l. 21. Val. Max. c. 4. l. 5. After the overthrow received by the Romans at the fatal battle of Cannae, four thousand, who had escaped the fate of that day, made their retreat to Cannusium, under the conduct of young Scipio, by general consent chosen General; where, whilst they were consulting about what was to be done, word was brought to Scipio by P. Furiuns Philus▪ that all was lost; for that some young Noblemen (whereof L. Caecilius Metellus was chief resolved to provide for their own safety, by deserting Italy, and to that end were now ready to take shipping. Scipio forthwith (commanding the rest to follow him) left the Council, and with his drawn sword rushing in amongst the intended fugitives, made them swear that they would not forsake their Country. See this Story in Livy. l. 22. with the form of the oath: Thus (as Val. Max. l. 5. c. 5. handsomely concludes) Pietatem non solum ipse plenissimam patriae exhibuit, sed ex pectoribus aliorum abeuntem revocavit: He did not only himself give a most ample testimony of his love to his Country, but arrested it when it was flying out of the breasts of others. L. Scipio and C. Laelius being chosen Consuls, an. V. C. 564. there fell out a great contention betwixt them about the choice of their Provinces, both desiring Greece and Asia, with the management of the war against K. Antiochus; insomuch that the business was referred to the Senate; whom when Pub. Scipio perceived to be more propense to favour Laelius then his Brother, he stood up and declared, that he would go in person as his Brother's Lieutenant-General, provided that the Senate would declare in favour of him; which was forthwith done; and the war against Antiochus (for the respect the Fathers bore to Publius) committed to Lucius: The effect of it was the memorable field sought and won at Magnesia, the accession of new dominions to the Roman Empire, together with a new title to the Cornelian Name; for from the Conquest of all Asia Minor on this side the Mountain Taurus, L. Scipio was styled Asiaticus. In these three instances behold the piety of a Son, the loyalty of a Subject, and the tenderness of a Brother. We must not here omit two notable particulars of this great man, which this precedent story leads us to; omitting other Roman Writers, we shall adhere to the Authority of A. Gellius l. 4. c. 18. Scipio was accused by M. Naevius, one of the Tribunes, as having received a great sum of money from Antiochus, to conclude a peace upon favourable and easy terms; with other crimes very much beneath so worthy a person. Scipio coming to speak for himself, and having briefly touched upon some of his former glorious action without any regard to the impeachment of the Tribune, spoke thus; Memoriâ, Quirîtes, repeto diem esse hodiernum quo Annibalem Poenum imperio nostro inimicissimum magno praelio vici, in terrâ Africâ, pacemq, & victoriam vobis peperi insperabilem: Non igitur simus adversus Deos ingrati, & censeo relinquamus nebulonem hunc eamusque nunc protinus Jovi Opt. Max. gratulatum. I have transcribed the words, because they are the very same which (as our Author affirms) Scipio used: and indeed the plaineness of the style pleads Antiquity, and speaks an age or two above Tully: In English they run thus; I remember, Romans, that this is the very day wherein, in a signal battle, I overcame Annibal the Carthaginian, a sworn enemy to our Empire, in the land of Africa, and obtained for you an unhoped-for both peace and victory: Let us not therefore be ungrateful to the Gods, but rather leave this Knave here, and go and give thanks to the great and good Jupiter: Whereupon the whole Assembly leaving the Tribune with his Clerk, and a few Attendants, followed Scipio to the Capit●l, and from thence accompanied him with great joy and acclamations to his own house. In like manner, when by the instigation of Cato (his bitter enemy) he was required in open Senate by one Paetilius, a Tribune, to give an account of the treasure taken in the late war against Antiochus: Scipio standing up, and drawing the book of Accounts out of his pocket, tore it in pieces in the face of the full Senate, adding, that he who by his Conquests had both enlarged and enriched the Roman Empire, scorned to be compelled to give any farther account than what himself thought fit. These two examples are alleged by Authors, as testimonies of the greatness and exsuperancie of his spirit, which scorned to answer petty cavils otherwise then by slighting them. The same A. Gellius. l. 7. c. 1. as also Val. Max. l. 3. c. 7. tell another Story, which speaks the great confidence he had of himself, and assurance of success in his designs; both which proceeded out of a consciousness of his own worth, and the great experience he had above other men in military affairs. He had laid siege to a strong Town in Spain, called Badia, and so well furnished with all warlike provision, that there was but small hopes of reducing it; yet when he sat in judgement, as the custom was, and when, at the breaking up of the Court, the Crier asked him when and where he would hold another Court, he answered, three days hence I will keep Court in the Castle of Badia; which he (having taken the Town within the time, beyond all expectation) performed. The like confidence of himself he showed, when having taken some Spies or Scouts of Annibals, a little before the fatal battle of Nadagara, he did not truss them up (as they both deserved, and expected) but commanded an Officer to carry them through the whole Camp, and to show them whatsoever could be seen; which done, he sent them away with rewards, and bid them tell their General in what posture the Romans lay encamped. This his bravery and confidence did so abate the spirits of Annibal, that he endeavoured by a personal conference to procure peace; but in vain: See Liv. l. 30. Val. Max. l. 3. c. 7. This great Captain left two wholesome cautions to military men; the one was, that no General ought to say, Non putaram, I thought not of it, because in war (where an error once committed can no way be rectified) all things ought to be well weighed and considered of before hand: The second was, that the enemy ought not to be engaged, unless a visible advantage invite, or an invincible necessity compel us thereunto; for to let slip a fair opportunity is madness, and not to fight when there is no other way to escape, is a dangerous piece of cowardice: Val. Max. l. 7. c. 2. yet, notwithstanding the unquestionable merit of this worthy Patriot, his own Country (of which he had deserved so highly) proved ingrateful to him, the usual practice of sordid Commonwealths, and (through the uncessant vexations of the Tribunes) forced him to go into voluntary exile, and to retire to a Countryhouse of his near Linternum, a poor sea-Town in Campania, betwixt Baiae and Cumae, called now (according to Leander) Torre de la Patria; where free from all public employment he spent his time in harmless Country-sports and Husbandry, himself (according to the custom of the Ancients) often tilling the ground. The words he used when he left Rome are recorded by Seneca, epist. 86. Nihil (inquit) volo derogare legibus, nihil institutis; aequum inter omnes cives jus sit, etc. I will derogate nothing from the Laws and Customs of my Country. Let there be amongst fellow-Citizens equal privileges. Thou mayst, my native soil, make use without me of what I have done for thee. As I was cause of thy liberty, so I will be an argument. I retire, if I am grown greater than is consistent with thine interest. At Linternum he died the 54. of his age (according to Plutarch) where also a monument was raised for him, on which he by his last will had commanded this Inscription to be engraven; Ingrata patria ne ossa mea quidem habebis: Thou shalt not, my ungrateful Country, have so much as my bones. Near Cajêta there was found a marble Sepulchre, and in it a brass Urn; around which was written these verses, which are supposed by Plutarch to be Scipio's Epitaph, and this the place of his sepulture: 
Devicto Annibale, & captâ Carthagine, & aucto  
Imperio, hoc cineres marmore, lector, habes:  
Cui non Europa, non obstitit Africa quondam,  
Respiceres hominem quam brevis urna premit.  
By Annibals, and Carthage conquest, he  
Who Rome enlarged, under this stone doth lie;  
Whom Africa nor Europe could oppose,  
A little urn lo doth the man enclose!  He took to wife Aemilia, Daughter to L. Paulus Aemilius, who was Consul with C. Terentius Varro, and was slain valiantly fight at the battle of Cannae: She was Sister to that Aemilius who overthrew K. Perseus, and in him subverted the Macedonian Monarchy: He had two Daughters, the one married to Scipio Nasîca, his Brother's Son, the other to Tib. Gracchus: He had also two Sons, but one of them only survived him, viz. P. Scipio, heir to nothing of his Fathers but his estate and name, Val. Max. l. 3. c. 5. The only thing commendable he ever did, was (when he was childless himself) the adopting of a worthy person to his son, viz. L. Aemilius Paulus. his Mother's Nephew; who quitting the Name and Family of his Father, was after his adoption (according to the custom of those times, and the laws of adoption) called after the name of his adoptive Father, P. Cornelius Scipio, and Aemilianus, to show the Family of his natural Father from whence he came. And this is the other thunderbolt of war here celebrated by Virgil. He was the natural Son of L. Aemilius Paulus, a person of very great eminency in his time, and of an ancient Patrician Family. He gave first proof of his valour, when he served under his Father at the battle wherein K. Perseus was defeated; where he, with some other young Noblemen, followed the chase so long, that he returned not till midnight into the Camp to his sorrowing Father, who gave him for lost; but received with great joy, when he saw him honourably defiled with dust and blood. After this he served in Spain as a Colonel under Lucullus, the Grandfather of him who subdued Mithridates, where in a single combat he slew a Barbarian of a vast and Gigantic proportion, who defied the Roman Army. There is a mistake in Florus l. 2. c. 17. who says that Scipio won then the Spolia opima: but this could not be, because they, and no other, are called Spolia opima, which the General of one Army takes from the slain General of the other. At the siege of Intercatia he was the first who scaled the walls, for which he was rewarded with a mural Crown: To be short, he behaved himself upon all occasions so valiantly, that no person gained so much honour as himself in these wars; which being pretty well over, he passed into Africa, with M. Manilius, under whom he served as a Colonel, where his deportment was also so gallant, that Cato the Censor (a man by nature a detractor) said in open Senate, relics qui in Africâ militarent umbras militare, Scipionem vigêre; that the other Commanders who served in Africa went to work like shadows, but that Scipio was the only vigorous man amongst them; insomuch that when he sued to be made Aedile (the first step to public employment) he was created Consul, and that before he could legally be admitted to that charge, by reason of his minority; for he was then but 36 years old, whereas none by law could be chosen Consul before the age of 43. His Colleague was C. Livius Drusus. Africa was by the general consent of the people conferred upon Scipio, a fatal name to Carthage, which he took and razed (according to Cornelius Nepos) in six months; and from thence was surnamed Africanus Minor, or Inferior, to difference him from his Grandeur Africanus Major, or Superior. Dr. Simpson in his Chronologie lays the first foundation of Carthage, an. Mund. 2772. fifty years before the destruction of Troy; Zorus and Carchêd●n, two Tyrians, being the first builders and planters of this City: A second part was added to it, called in the Tyrian tongue Carthada, or the new City, an. Mund. 2966. The third and last part, and compliment of the whole, was raised by Queen Dido, an. Mund. 3132. after Solomon's Temple 144. years, Joas being in his thirteenth years reign over Israel, and Jehu in his nineteenth over Judah. Dido built that part of the City which in the Tyrian tongue they called Bosra, and the Greeks by corruption Byrsa, which signifies a strongly fortified place; and this stood in the middle of the City. From this year to the subversion of Carthage are counted 727 years; Paterculus reckons 667: From the first Punic war (which begun an. V. C. 490. Appius Claudius Caudex, and M. Fulvius Flaccus being Consuls, till the utter excision of Carthage, which happened an. V. C. 608. Cn. Cornelius Lentulus, and L. Mummius Nepos being Consuls) are reckoned by Patereulus 115 years, by more accurate accountants 118. This City was said to be 24. miles in circuit. Florus measures the vastness thereof by the duration of the flames which consumed it; for the conflagration thereof, notwithstanding all endeavours used to extinguish the same, lasted seventeen whole days and nights: hunc finem habuit Romani imperii Carthago aemula: Paterc. for this good service Scipio had granted him a most magnificent triumph: He was four years after chosen Censor with L. Mummius, a man of a dull & phlegmatic complexion, which made him in the open Senate to say, utinam mihi collegam dedissetis, vel non dedissetis; Would you had given me a Colleague, or not given me one, i e. one more active, or none at all: Val. Max. l. 6. c. 4. After this he was chosen Consul the second time with C. Fulvius Flaccus, an. V. C. 620. wherein the war against Numantia was committed to him. Numantia was a City of Spain, situated upon the River Durius: This had holden war with the Romans fourteen years, and (being furnished but with a Garrison of 4000) destroyed six Consuls with their Armies, when Scipio set down before it, neither could he; notwithstanding his great conduct and extraordinary valour, reduce it in less than 15. months; and then indeed he did rather starve them out, then by force subdue them. History mentions not a more memorable siege then this of Numantia; for (according to Florus) it having neither wall nor bulwark, and being but only situated upon a little rising hill by the River Durius, with no more than four thousand Geltiberians, it sustained fourteen years' siege against an Army of forty thousand; but being at last totally razed, it gave Scipio both the honour of a second triumph, and the addition of the surname of Numantînus to that of Africanus. Four years after all these glorious exploits, in the fifty sixth year of his age, this incomparable man was found dead in his bed; neither was it certainly known how he came to his end. He was a great opposer of the proceedings of the Gracchis: hence some suppose that his Wife Sempronia (who was their Sister) in favour of them gave him poison, Liv. epit. 56. but how he came to his end it is as uncertain, as it is certain that there was no revenge taken against his Murderers, or inquiry made into the fact: Val. Max. l. 3. c. 5. Plut. in Gracch. Paterc. l. 2. Thus died Scipio ingloriously, and unrevenged by his own people, who had lived so gloriously, and so often avenged his own people upon their enemies. He was doubtless the best accomplished Gentleman of his time: nor was he only a lover of Soldiers and the wars, but also of learned men and the Muses; for Polybius the Historian, and Panaetius the Philosopher were much honoured by him, and his constant Associates. Most luculent is that Elegy which Paterculus gives of him l. 2. which for its elegancy we will here subjoin: P. Scipio Africanus, vir avitis P. Africani, paternisque L. pauli virtutibus simillimus, etc. P. Scipio Africanus, a person equalling the virtues both of his Grandfather P. Africanus, and his Father L. paulus, was the most eminent of his time for all endowments Military or Civil, and for his parts, as well acquired as natural; one who in his whole life neither did, spoke, or thought any thing but what was commendable. This is that Scipio of whom Tully wrote his Somnium Scipionis, or Scipio's Dream, on which Macrobius (an Author by us often cited) hath written a learned Comment. In him ended the Line of P. Scipio, Father to Africanus. From Cnaeus the other Brother those Scipio's who were surnamed Nasîcae, deduce themselves; whereof the first was Scipio Nasîca who was styled by the Senate Vir optimus, Consul an. V. C. 563. the second Scipio Nasîca, vulgarly called Corculum, Consul an. V. C. 592. and 599. the third, Scipio Nasîca Serapion, Consul an. V. C. 616. This was he who (when a private man) led the people to oppose Tib. Gracchus: His son, Scipio Nasîca, was Consul the first year of the war against Jugurtha. The last of this race was this man's Son, who being adopted into the Family of the Metelli by Metellus Pius, was called Quintus Caecilius Metellus Scipio. Pompey married his Daughter. This was he who slew himself in afric when Pompey's Cause declined; and the last of the Scipio's mentioned in History. And thus much concerning the noble Family of the Scipio's.  
§ 95 Caius Fabricius, surnamed Luscinus, was the first and last of his name, 
Caius Fabricius Luscinus.  who made the Fabrician Family notable, or lent matter to history. He was Consul the first time with Q. Aemilius Papus, an. V. C. 472. and then triumphed over the Tuscans and Gauls. After this he was sent as chief of an Embassy from Rome to King Pyrrhus (who had lately won a great battle against the Romans) concerning the exchange of Prisoners: Pyrrhus understanding the great worth of Fabricius, and in what esteem he was with his own Countrymen, but withal how narrow and straitened in fortune (for he was a very poor man) offered him a great sum of money to become his friend; but Fabricius looking upon this offer as a bribe to pervert his loyalty to his Country, would not accept of it in the least: And to this Claudian alludes, l. 1. in Ruf. 
— contentus honesto  
Fabricius parvo spernebat munera Regum.  
With a small, but well-raised estate content,  
Fabricius slights what Kings to him present.  And hence our Poet says of him, that he was parvo potens: See Plut. in Pyrrh. Liv. epit. 13. nay Val. Max. l. 4. c. 4. de paupertate laudatâ, says that he had no silver vessel in his house, save a Chalice only, to offer in to the Gods, and one Salt-cellar. Whilst he was Ambassador with Pyrrhus (as Plutarch relates) the King thinking to make trial of his courage, as he had done of his abstinence, caused his men to bring one of his biggest and fiercest Elephants, and to place it behind a hanging, which (at a sign given) he was to draw, and unawares to show the Monster to Fabricius, as he and the King were in serious discourse; which being done accordingly, the Elephant (which was just at Fabricius his back) said his trunk over his shoulder, and roared terribly: but the undaunted Roman softly stepping aside, and smiling, told the King that his Elephant affrighted him as little that day as his Gold had temp●ed him the day before. A. Gellius l. 1. c. 14. related a very memorable Story concerning this worthy Roman, an argument of the greatness of his soul in despising riches and wealth, which in most men's breasts bears so absolute an Empire, and holds the reins of the affections even of the most sober. Certain Ambassadors (says he) came from the Samnites to Fabricius the Roman General, and (having thanked him for that good will and kindness he had expressed to their Nation, which after the late pacification he had taken into his protection) presented him with a great sum of money, desiring him to accept and make use of it; and that the rather, because they perceived him to be disfurnished of many things necessary for his house, and befitting the quality and place of so great a personage: Fabricius drawing his hands from his ears to his eyes, and from thence downward to his nose, his mouth, and his throat, and so to the very bottom of his belly, answered, that so long as he could govern and keep under those parts he had touched, viz. the organs of the five senses, i. e. so long as his reason could restrain and tame the exorbitance of his affections, nothing could ever be wanting to him; and that therefore he would not receive money (whereof he had no use) from them whom he knew to stand in need of the same. You may read this Story also in Val. Max. l. 4. c. 3. He was Consul the second time with the same Aemilius Papus, an. V. C. 476. in the very heat of the war against Pyrrhus where whilst their Camps lay near together, the Physician of Pyrrbus (by some writers called Timochares, by others Nicias) came privily over to Fabricius the Roman Consul, promising for a sum of money to poison the King. But Fabricius abominating the Traitor, sent him back fast bound, and by letter discovered to him the treachery of his Physician, whereat Pyrrhus, full of admiration, was said to ●●claim, Hic est ille Fabricius, qui di●●icilius ab honestate quam sol à cursu averti potest: This is that Fabricius, who more hardly can be withdrawn from his honesty then the Sun from his course. Thus Eutropius lib. 2. Others (as Val. Max. l. 6. c. 5. and A. Gell. l. 3. c. 8.) say, that he did not discover the person of the Traitor, but bad Pyrrhus beware of those who were nearest about him. I shall here subjoin the original letter (because an antique piece, and savouring of the true Roman spirit) which the Consuls wrote to Pyrrhus concerning this business; Gellius ibid. borrows it of Claudius Quadrigarius, an ancient writer.  
§ 96 consuls Romani salutem dicunt Pyrrho Regi. Nos pro tuis injuriis continuè animo strenuo commoti inimicitèr tecum bellare studemus; sed communis exempli, & fidei ergô, visum est uti te salvum velimus, ut esset quem armis vincere possimus. Ad nos venit Nicias familiaris tuus, qui sibi pretium à nobis peteret, si teclàm interfecisset. Id nos negavimus velle, neve ob eam rem quicquam commodi expectaret: simul visum est ut te certicrem faceremus, ne, quid ejusmodi si accidisset, nostro consilio Civitates putarent factum; & quod nobis non placet pretio, aut praemio, aut dolis pugnare. Tu, nisi caveas, jacebis.  
The Roman Consuls to K. Pyrrhus' Greeting. We being by thy continued injuries heartily provoked, resolve to prosecute thee with all hostility; but that we may be examples to others in testifying our own sincerity, as also for that there may be one in being whom we may overcome, we thought fit to provide for thy safety. Thy familiar friend Nicias came to us, who set a price upon thy head; but we utterly rejected the motion; and (that he might not advantage himself by such unworthy means, or the world upon any such unhandsome accident imagine us to be of his Counsel, who scorn to fight with thee by bribes, rewards, or deceit) we thought fit to acquaint thee with the whole procedure. Unless thou lookest to thyself thou art a dead man. Pyrrhus (a generous Prince) returned the Consul's thanks, and sent all the Roman prisoners (whom he had in custody) home without ransom; yet notwithstanding these mutual Compliments, the two Armies suddenly came to join battle, where the Epirot, by the assistance of his Elephants, got the victory. Fabricius bricius some years after the determination of his Consulship was chosen Censor: In his Censorship he turned P. Cornelius Rufinus (who had been twice Consul, and once Dictator) out of the Senate, because he found ten pound weight of silver plate in his house; which in those severe times was by moderate men thought a high piece of luxury and excess. This Rufinus was indeed an excellent Soldier, and a right valiant man, but very covetous and rapacious, and for this much hated by the more just and abstinent Fabricius: yet to show that all personal respects are to be laid aside when the Public is concerned, he caused him (because the Commonwealth stood in need at that time of a valiant and discreet General, Pyrrhus then prevailing in Italy) to be chosen Consul, which was the year following his own Consulship. For this unexpected kindness Rufinus complemented him highly, and gave him great thanks; but his return was in these biting words, Non est quod mihi gratias agas, si malui compilari quam vaenire; Thou hast no reason (says he) to thank me if I had rather be a little pillaged then sold quite out; meaning that it were better for the Public to suffer a little by the rapacity of Rufinus, then to be totally ruined by the insufficiency of some other General: A. Gel. l. 4. c. 8.  
We now come to Serranus, who was of the Family of the Atilii, 
Serranus.  which was divided (according to Anton. Augustinus) into the Longi, who were Patricians; and the Reguli, Serrani, Calatini, and Bulbi, who were Plebeians: but no one set such a lustre upon the Atilian name as did M. Atilius Regulus, and C. Atilius Serranns. The first is noted for his valour, constancy, his love to his Counrry, and strict observing of his word; of all which this one example is a sufficient evidence: For having done great service against the Carthaginians in afric, in the time of the first Punic war, his Army was at last defeated, and himself taken prisoner by the enemy; with whom having for some years remained a miserable captive, he was at last sent to Rome, either to procure a peace betwixt the two Nations, or the freedom of all the Carthaginian Prisoners; for all which he alone was offered in exchange; and in case that neither could be effected, he was bound by oath to render himself a prisoner again: as for the peace, it was utterly rejected; but when they came to the debate concerning the rendition of the Captives, and Atilius his opinion was the first asked in the Senate, he openly declared that it was unreasonable that so many stout young men should be exchanged for one poor old man, who by reason of his years was now no longer able to serve his Country; and accordingly it passed in the negative, that the prisoners should not be exchanged; and Regulus (notwithstanding the entreaties and prayers of his friends to the contrary) returned according to his promise to an enemy from whom he expected all barbarous treatment imaginable, as indeed he found: for some say that they put him naked into a barrel stuck thick with sharppointed nails, and so rolled him about till he died: Others, that he was cast into a dark dungeon, and (having been kept there for some time) brought forth, and forced to stare in the sun till he became blind; and that he might not wink with his eyes, they plucked his eyelids asunder, and with a needle and thread stitched them up: after this they kept him from sleep and food, till at last for want of both, he (having suffered with much constancy the utmost of his enemy's cruelty) ended his life and misery together. This Story you may read in Livy l. 18. Val. Max. l. 1. c. 1. A. Gell. l. 6. c. 4. Flor. l. 2. c. 2. Aur. de vir. illust. 
Serranus.  Eutrop. l. 2. This happened an. V. C. 503. As for Serranus, he is supposed by some to have been the son of the former. He was Consul with Cn. Cornelius Blasio, an. V. C. 497. He beat the Carthaginians at sea, subdued the Islands of Lipara, and Melita, or Malta; for all which he triumphed. This man was of that worth and esteem amongst the Romans, that they chose him Consul in his absence, and sending for him, found him tilling his own ground; hence (according to Pliny l. 18. c. 3.) from the Latin word serere, which signifies to sow, or till the ground, he was called Seranus; which I take to be the orthography, or true spelling of the word; not Serranus, as here used by the Poet, who, herein more careful of his Metre then orthography, interposed an r, for his verses sake. The Elegy of this Seranus you may read in Val. Max. l. 4. c. 4. de paupertate laudata; and in Claudia●● lib. de quarto Cons. Honorii, who sings thus;  
Sordida Serrânus flexit Dictator arâtra,  
Lustratae Lictore casae, facesque salignes  
Postibus affixi; collectae Consul messes,  
Et sulcata diu trabeato rura Colono.  
Serrânus to the plough did set his hand,  
Thatched roofs were by the Lictor entered, and  
The Fasces hung on Willow posts; the Corn  
Inned by a Consul; and he who had worn  
The Trabea, tilled the ground.—  
§ 97 The Fabian Family was one of the most numerous, most ancient, 
The Fabii.  and most honourable of all Rome: they were branched into six several Houses, whereof three were more noted, and occur more frequently in History, viz. the Vibulani, the Ambusti, and the Maximi; the other three, viz. the Dorsones, Pictores, and Buteones, were not of that fame and celebrity with the former. That may be said of this one Name and Family which I never read of any, that there were 307 of them living at the same time, and that not in a large tract, or spacious continent, but within the Walls and Precincts of one and the same City. I shall briefly give you the history and fate of these worthy Kinsmen. The people of Veii were incessant rather tezers than enemies of the people of Rome, making rather predatory incursions into their territories, then waging a just war against them. This one Family of the Fabii undertook (upon their own charge) this war: One of the Consuls, viz. Caeso Fabius, being of that Family, commanded this small, but gallant army: they were 306. all Patricians or noble men, all of a blood, and (according to Livy) quorum neminem ducem sporneret egregius quibuslibet temporibus Senâtus: Such as the wisest Council would not refuse the worst of them in never so dangerous times for a General. They fortified themselves upon the River Cremera, where issuing out of their Garrison, they often worsted the enemy; who (seeing they could not by open force prevail) had recourse to art, and drawing them into a place convenient for an ambuscade, environed them, and with numbers so overpowered them, that (after a sharp conflict, and extraordinary valour showed on the Roman side) they were all to one man slain. This Story you may read in Livy l. 2. Eutrop. l. 1. auct. de vir. illust. Flor. l. 1. c. 12. etc. This happened An. V. C. 275. in the Consulships of Caeso Fabius and T. Virginius. Thus had this noble Family been quite extinct, had not one (who by reason of his tender years was unfit for the wars) remained at home: and this man propagated the Fabian name down to this Fabius Maximus, who by his wise delays blunted the edge, and broke the very point of Annibals impetuous fury: and this is the man whom Virgil celebrates here. The first of the Fabii, who had the agnomination of Maximus given him, was Q. Fabius Rullianus, a person of very great repute and worth, as who had been five times Consul, twice Dictator, triumphed thrice, once Censor; and although he deserved the name of Maximus from his Martial achievements, as having been the ablest and most fortunate Chieftain of his time, yet this honourable surname was bestowed upon him, for that he in his Censorship united the City, which was divided into two factions, into that of the plebs, or meaner sort, and into that of the more able and sober of the Citizens. Hence arose a great confusion and disturbance in their Comitia or elections, the rabble carrying it by reason of their numbers against the better; and so, many times choosing men of inferior condition into offices and commands, contrary to the good liking of the other, and much to the diminution of the Majesty and Grandeur of the Roman State. This Fabius remedied, by reducing the Common-people (which till then were undistinguished) into four Tribes or Classes, which he called Tribus urbanae; as you may read in Livy l. 91. This is that Fabius whom (being Master of the horse to the Dictator Papyrius Curson) Papyrius would have put to death for fight the enemy in his absence, and against his express order, although he obtained a signal victory; but that the people interposing procured his pardon. Livy in his ninth book gives an ample relation of this Story. His son was Fabius Maximus Gurges, who having been thrice Consul, triumphed twice, Censor, and four times chosen L. Precedent of the Senate, seemed by his often-repeated honours not to come at all short of his Father's virtues: And this was (according to Livy) Father to our present Fabius Maximus; from his deliberate and wary way of proceeding, termed by his Detractors Cunctator, or the Delayer; and Verrucossus, from a wart (which the Latins call verrûca) growing upon his lip. He was also called Ovicula, the little Sheep, or Lamb, from the gentleness of his nature. He was twice Consul, triumphed twice, Dictâtor twice, as often Precedent of the Senate, Pontifex and Augur: and what is more than all, the Conservator of the Roman people in the second Punic war, which he chiefly effected by his wise delays, and constant patience; proceeding herein contrary to the manner of all former Generals, who by their precipitancy had often hazarded the safety of the Commonwealth, and lost both themselves and many great Armies; of whom Ennius thus, whence Virgil borrows the first verse: 
Vnus homo nobis Cunctando restituit rem,  
Non ponebat enim rumores ante salutem;  
Ergo postque magisque viri nunc gloria claret.  
This man preserved us by his wise delay;  
For rumours he before the safest way  
Did not prefer; wherefore his glorious name  
Shall be recorded in the book of fame.  But forasmuch as both Plutarch in his life, and Livy in his relation of the second Punic war, do particularly set down the behaviour of Fabius therein, I shall rather refer the Reader to those Authors, then enlarge upon a Story so well known; we shall only add some few particulars concerning this right worthy person not to be pretermitted, which speak the wisdom, prudence, valour, justice and goodness of this noble Roman: Being Dictator he chose L. Minutius to be Master of his horse, a rash and violent man, and of a temper quite different from that of Fabius. He being by a Decree of the people (a thing never before practised) made equal in authority to the Dictator (now in disgrace with the vulgar for his dilatory manner of proceeding) presently thought to do something by engaging Annibal as soon as he could; which the crafty enemy perceiving, he soon presented him with an opportunity, but withal drew him into an ambuscade, where he and his Army had perished had not Fabius assisted him, and rescued both from the present danger. This Minutius was Fabius his bitter enemy, and (by his suggestions and criminations against him, as a slow and timorous man on the one side, and by magnifying & extolling himself, & boasting what great feats he would do on the other) had wound himself into the opinion of the undiscerning people, and lessened the credit and reputation of a far better man than himself. Notwithstanding this Fabius would not take his private revenge of his adversary, when the public thereby would have been the greatest sufferer. But Fabius by this means did not only conquer Annibal, the common Foe, but subdue Minutius his secret enemy, who from thenceforth acknowledging his fault, saluted Fabius by the name of Father: Liv. l. 22. and Plut. in Fab. Fabius had a Soldier in his Camp, a Marsian born, a right valiant and gallant man; he (upon discontent, because not rewarded, as he thought, according to his merit) practised with some others to run over to Annibal, where they expected to be looked upon with greater respect. This being discovered to Fabius, he sent for the Marsian, who expected nothing but death, which according to the Laws of War he indeed deserved; but the Consul receiving him courteously, did not in the least take notice to him of what he had heard, but commending him for his former good services, told him, that if he were not rewarded according to his merit it was his own fault, who applying himself to inferior Captains, never had made his addresses to himself, his General; and with that gave him a good horse, and other rewards: This did so encourage the Marsian, that for the future he became very faithful and serviceable to the Romans. He had another Soldier who was accused for going often out of the Camp, and quitting his colours without leave; which he persisted to do, although often reprehended by his Officer. Fabius asked the Captain, who accused him, what manner of man he was, and whether he had any thing of worth in him; he told him that he was a very stout man, and had done very great service; wherefore Fabius making inquiry into the business, found that the Soldier had a Mistress, for whose sake he had so often transgressed: Her Fabius caused to be fetched, and privily hidden in his Tent; then sending for the Soldier, he told him what he had heard of him, how he had offended against the Laws of Arms, and against the Roman Military discipline, and for that deserved to be severely punished; but withal how he understood that he was a valiant man, and had done good service; and therefore, although he would not at present proceed against him according to the extremity and rigour of the Law, yet he would commit him to the custody of one who should be accountable for him. The Soldier hereupon being not a little abashed, Fabius called forth the Maid whom the Soldier loved, and gave him into her hands, telling him, that now he should know whether love, or some other ill design, caused him so often to go out of the Camp. The Soldier never offended more after this, but became very orderly and diligent. These two Stories you may read in Plutarch in his life. To show that he was a strict observer of his word, he agreed with Annibal about the redemption of Prisoners, and sent to the Senate for a certain sum of money to pay their ransom: the Senate looking upon the agreement as dishonourable and disadvantageous, as also for that they were altogether dissatisfied with his proceedings, refused to ratify the articles, or to furnish him with the sum required: wherefore Fabius (that he might make good his promise, and give a testimony of his tenderness and affection to his Countrymen, now miserable Captives) raised the sum by selling part of his own lands. His Son Quintus was chosen Consul with Tib. Sempronius Gracchus, the sixth year of the second Punic war. Fabius (who served under him as his Lieutenant) came to him to the Camp at Suessula, where his Son went with his Lictors before him to meet him: The Lictors out of respect to the Consul's Father, did not (according to the custom) command him to alight, but let him pass on on horseback, till he came to the very last of those officers, whom young Fabius commanding to do his duty, he forthwith commanded the old man to alight from his horse, which he very readily did, saying, experiri volui, fili, satin scires te consulem esse; I intended, my son, to try whether you knew that you were Consul: Liv. l. 24. Plut. in Fab. in which words he embraced him, telling him that those private relations of Father and Son must give place to that respect which is due to the person of a public Minister. And such was Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucossus: But this Quintus died before his Father, who adopted into the place of his deceased Son the eldest Son of Aemilius Paulus, and Brother to Scipio Aemilianus, who from thence was called Q. Fabius Maximus Aemilianus: He was Consul with L. Hostilius Mancinus, An. V. C. 608. His Son was Q. Fabius Maximus, Consul with L. Opimius Nepos, An. V. C. 632. he was surnamed Allobrogicus, from the conquest of the Allobroges, a people of France, supposed to have been the same with those whom the Moderns call the Savoyards. To be short, this Family of the Fabii continued in high repute from the foundation of Rome till Augustus his time, where we find Q. Fabius Paulus Consul with Q. Aelius Tubero, An. V. C. 742.  
§ 98 And now we come to the Family of the two Marcelli, in the brief recital of whose story we shall wind up our historical speculations, 
Th● Ma●celli.  and in them these our annotations upon the sixth book of Virgil's Aeneis; which if they seem to be drawn too much out in length, it must not be ascribed to any natural affectation of prolixity, or industrious inserting of such discourses as might have been better omitted then insisted upon, but to the great variety of learning of all sorts wherewith this Poem is richly adorned; which sufficiently testifies the vast reading and knowledge of the Author, and which hath necessarily led us to consult with divers good writers, and (whilst we have endeavoured to illustrate this excellent piece) discovered to us the whole body of humane literature, whereof these annotations may serve as a summary or general view; and will, I hope (according to the latitude and extent of this kind of learning) both prodesse and delectare, be both delightful and profitable to the Reader. But to proceed; the Claudian Family, descended originally from the Sabines, was of two sorts; the one was of the Patricians, the other of the Plebeians: The first were distinguished into the Regillenses, the Pulchri, the Centhones, and the Neronis. The Marcelli (so called from their Martial inclinations, Marcellus being a diminutive derived from Mars) were indeed Plebeians, but men of great worth and esteem in their time. There were nine of this name who arrived to the highest preferments Rome could advance any Citizen to. The first of this Family who was honoured with the Consular dignity, was M. Marcellus, who was Consul with C. Valerius Flaccus, An. V. C. 422. The third from him was this famous Marcellus, who was the first who overthrew Annibal after the battle of Cannae: he from his incessant desire of fight, and engaging the enemy, was called the sword of Rome, as Fabius Maximus (with whom he was Contemporary) from the defensive posture whereon he still used to lie, the Shield or Buckler: He was five times Consul; first before the second Punic war, with Cn. Scipio Calvus, An. V. C. 532. when the Galli Insubres, those Gauls (which inhabited about Milan in Lombardy, assisted by the Gessatae, which were gaul's also, but living about the River Rhodanus, on the other side the Alps) made war upon the Romans, and had then laid siege to Clastidium, a Garrison belonging to the Romans. Marcellus leaving his Colleague with the greatest part of the Army before Asserrae▪ a Town of the Gauls, marched with an inconsiderable party to raise the siege before Clastidium; which the Gauls having intelligence of, drew off with 1000 horse and foot to meet the Consul; and being certified of the paucity of his forces, in their thoughts anticipated an easy victory. Marcellus marched in the head of his men, and Bridomârus, or Virdomârus, the Gaulick General, in the head of his also; whom the Roman espying, and by his richly-gilt armour conceiving to be Commander in chief, setting spurs to his horse, furiously charged, and piercing with his spear, slew in the view of the two armies; and so disarming him, was the third after Romulus who won the Spolia opima, which we have rendered royal spoils: they were called opima, either ab. opibus, from the richness of them, as Varro conjectures; or ab opere, because it was a work or deed extraordinary to win them, according to Plutarch; or for that Opimum was all one with Amplum: Livy defines them to be spolia quae Dux Duci detraxit, Liv. l. 4. those spoils or arms which one General hath taken from another, whom he hath slain with his own hand. The Roman history makes mention but of three who ever won these spoils, viz. Romulus, who slew Acron King of the Caeninenses: Liv. l. 1. Plut. in Romul. Flor. l. 1. c. 1. and Aul. Cornelius Cossus (of whom §. 91.) who slew Lar Tolumnius; and lastly, this Marcellus, who also slew Britomârus King of the Gauls; for that is a manifest error in Florus l. 2. c. 17. as we have noted §. 93. where he makes Scipio Aemilianus to win the spolia opima, by killing a Spaniard who challenged him; for neither of these Duelists were Commanders in chief: Scipio was then but a Colonel of foot under Lucullus; and what the Barbarian was it is not concluded, either by Livy, Val. Max. or Aur. Victor. who all make mention of this duel; only Florus (who is singular herein) says that he was a King. Val. Maximus c. de Fortitudine, more consonantly to truth, reckons not Scipio amongst those three who won the spolia opima, but amongst those famous Romans, who being challenged slew the challenger; and these were T. Manlius Torquatus (of whom §. 86.) M. Valerius Corvinus, and this Scipio Aemilianus. The spoils thus won were carried in triumph by the Victor (the manner you may read in Livy l. 1. and in Plut. in the life of Marcellus) and dedicated to Jupiter Feretrius, so called from the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, i. e. to carry, or à feriendo host, from smiting of the enemy; or rather from feretrum, by which they signify the Bier or engine upon which they carried the spoils: these as a perpetual monument they hung up in Jupiter Feretrius his Temple, built by Romulus, repaired and beautified by Augustus: Liv. l. 4. Numa to this Law of Romulus (who ordained that the spolia opima should be consecrated to Jupiter) added, that in case any one won them thrice (which was never known) that then the first should be offered to Jupiter, the second to Mars, and the third to Romulus. Hence we may easily gather the sense of this verse, which hath so much puzzled Interpreters; Tertiáque arma patri suspendet capta Quirino. Mr. Ogylby renders it thus. Shall thrice to Romulus dedicate their arms: i e. the spolia opima, against both the Law of Romulus, who ordained that the spoils should be dedicated to Jupiter only; and against the testimony of history, for Marcellus himself did dedicate the spoils to Jupiter, and not to Romulus, as you may read in his life. Neither is this the only mistake in Mr. Ogylby; for he says that Marcellus shall not only dedicate these arms to Romulus, but that he shall dedicate them thrice, i. e. shall thrice win the Spolia opima: But where does he read that Marcellus won them thrice? they were never won during all the victories and triumphs of the long-lived Roman Empire, but thrice, and that by three several persons, after the long interposition of a long interval of time: therefore these words of the Poet are to be thus expounded; suspendet, he shall hang up, not dedicate, tertia arma capta, the third spoils taken from the enemy, patri Quirino, to Romulus, i. e. near the arms of Romulus, in the same Temple where Romulus hung up his. We have therefore here, as we have done elsewhere in case of the like obscurity, paraphrastically rendered this verse, choosing rather by multiplying of words to give the true sense of the Author, then by being to precise and thrifty therein, to lose a jot of his meaning, or to deviate from the Customs, Laws, or History of those times; with all which we agree, whilst we make Virgil speak thus: 
Father Quirinus, he also to thine  
The third spoils taken from the Foe shall join.  But to return to Marcellus, who having done great services for his Country against the Carthaginians, as well in Sicilia as in Italy, was in his fifth Consulship together with his Colleague Q. Crispinus unhappily slain by Annibal in an ambuscade. The last of this honourable Catalogue is one of the same name and Family also, viz. M. Marcellus the son of Caius (who was the son of M. Marcellus, the sixth of this name, and Consul with L. Cornelius Lentulus Crus, An. V. C. 704.) by his wife Octavia, Augustus his Sister, the fifth in descent from the great Marcellus above mentioned; and the ninth from the first of that name, who was Consul with Valerius Flaccus, An. V. C. 422. a Prince of high hopes and great virtues, and well deserving those honourable Eulogies given him here by our Author; with whom you may compare the character which Seneca in his book the Consolation ad Marciam, c. 2. and Vel. Paterc. l. 2. give of him, by all which he appears to have been a most accomplished person. Augustus' designing him for his Successor, married him to his Daughter Julia by his first Wife Scribonia; but alas! he was taken away by an untimely fate, dying about the 18. year of his age, not without the suspicion of poison administered to him by Livia, Augustus his Wife, to make way for her sons to the Empire: But his Mother Octavia conceived such insuperable grief for his death, that she never ceased to mourn for him so long as she lived. It is recorded by Donatus in the life of Virgil, that Octavia (who was present at the recitation of this book by the Author) fell into a trance when he came to these words, Tu Marcellus eris.— and that for every verse she gave him ten Sesterces, which (according to Budaeus his computation l. 3. de Ass, speaking there of the sum given to Virgil by Octavia) came to about 5000. French Crowns. The great Gassendus in his Treatise de Abaco Sestertiorum, pretends to a more exact reduction of the Roman  
§ 99 account to the French, reckoning 10 Sesterces for 21 verses, viz. from Quis pater ille virum, etc.— to Heu miserande puer, etc.— to amounr to 19541 Livres, 13 Solz, and 4. Deniers, which, allowing every Livre valuable at 00— 01s.— 08 d. of our money, cometh to about 1627. l.— 16. s.— 01d.— 0b.— q. sterling. Budaeus his compute falls somewhat short of this; for 5000 French Crowns, at 00— 06s.— 00 per Crown, amounts to just 1500.l sterling. The greatest of these was not too great a gratuity for such excellent verses. I covet not Virgil's reward, but his happiness in writing, that the English Reader might judge whether Octavia was more munificent, or the Poet deserving.  
Since these last sheets were sent to the Press, it hath pleased the al-governing Providence to make a sad Interlude amidst our pomps and triumphs, by taking away that as highly-meriting as highly-born Prince, the illustrious Duke of Gloucester. The precedent discourse leading us so naturally to it, we could not but subjoin these f●llowing verses, and cast in our Mice, not of sorrow, (for in that we share as deeply as any) but of expressing the same, wherein we shall easily give place even to the meanest. If we imitate not Virgil in the elegancy of his numbers, we will do it in the number of his verses.  
That now I could a Pythagorean be!  
Now were thy soul transfused into me,  
Thy great soul, Maro! all its faculti's  
Mine by a happy Metempsychosis!  
5 That in such numbers as thou didst of yore  
Thy dead Marcellus (best of Bards) deplore,  
I our brave Gloucester might bewail, and teach  
Our English Muse Virgilian pitch to reach.  
We have a Theme as high, an argument  
10 As full as thine, and can we not lament  
As learnedly as thou didst? can't our Muse  
As well-accented Threnodies infuse  
As thine? and in words as refined tell  
Both Rome and thee, that we can parallel.  
15 Your Prince and l●sse? that in our Gloucester we  
In all things dare with your Marcellus vie?  
No; we, nor yet thyself ('tis boldly said)  
Thy native wit, though all Parnassus aid,  
To such a height our words or sense can raise  
As can our loss express, or his due praise:  
21 Our gloucester's dead, which all our joys alleys. 
The two gates of Hell.   
Virgil borrows the conceit of the two gates or outlets of Dreams, out of Homer, Odyss. 19 There are two gates of sleep (says he) the one of Horn, from whence real dreams (such as are made good, and seconded in the event) do proceed; the other of Ivory, out of which issue such as are false, and never come to pass; and out of this gate Aeneas was let by Anchises; obscurely hinting hereby, that this whole discourse of Aeneas his descent into Hell, with this ample description thereof, are even as true as those dreams which proceed out of the ivory gate: See Macr●b. in Somn. Scip. l. 1. c. 3. The reason of which conceit is thus given by Interpreters: The Horn gate represents the eye, or organ of sight, in relation to that tunicle they call Cornea, and by a Synecdoche is taken for the whole eye; the Ivory the teeth, one of the nine instruments of speech, which in regard of their whiteness are like to Ivory, and are by the same figure taken for the speech in general; therefore, as what the sight really presents to us is always true, and as what we receive from hear-say and report is oftentimes false; so those dreams which issue out of the Horn gate prove true, and those which come out of the Ivory one deceitful; and by consequence this whole discourse is to be looked upon as a mere fiction, deception, and a fallacious dream.  
Finis Annotationum in sextum Aeneidos librum.  Jucundi acti labores.   

Certain Pieces Relating to the PUBLIC, Penned by the AUTHOR.  
Iliaci Cineres, & flamma extrema meorum  
Testor in occasu vestro me tela, nec ullas  
Vitavisse vices Danaum, & si fata fuissent  
Vt caderem, meruisse manu—  Virg. Aen. 2. 

I Do not, Reader, publish these following Pieces for their quaintness, or elegancy, but for that they relate to the Public, and are monuments of loyalty rather than wit: I was always Master of a better heart than head, and ever gloried more in sincere and honest thoughts, then in trim and adorned expressions. Farewell.   

The DECLARATION of the Nobility, Gentry, Ministry and Commonalty of the County of KENT; together with the City and County of Canterbury, the City of Rochester, and the Ports within the said County: Penned and presented by the Author to the Mayor at the Town-Hall of Canterbury, Jan. 24. 1659.  
HAving with sadness weighed the multiplied calamities wherein we are at present involved, how friendless we are Abroad, and how divided at Home; the importunate and loud cries of the poorer, and the disability of the better sort to relieve them; the total decay and subversion of Trade, together with the forfeiture and loss of the honour and reputation of the Nation, and (what is more dear to us then all these) the apparent hazard of the Gospel, through the prodigious growth of Blasphemies, Heresies and Schism; all which owe their birth to the instability of our Governors, and the unsettlement of Government: Lastly, how in all these an universal ruin threateneth us, and will (if not timely prevented) doubtless overwhelm us; We thought it our bounden duties, both to our Religion as Christians, to our Country as Englishmen, and to ourselves and relations as friends, to represent and publish to the world our just griefs for, and our lively resentments of, this our deplorable condition, and to seek all lawful and probable means to remedy and redress the same.  
Wherefore having the leading Examples of the renowned Cities of London and Exeter, together with the Counties of the West, before our eyes, and the clamours and out-cries of the People always in our ears, (whereof the one encourageth, and the other enforceth us to this our Declaration) we thought that we would not be silent at such a time, when our silence would speak us to be either Assenters to our own ruin, or Abettors of such proceedings as have neither Law nor Equity to support them.  
We therefore, the Nobility, Gentry, Ministry and Commonalty of the County of Kent, together with the City and County of Canterbury, the City of Rochester, and the Ports within the said County, do by these Presents unanimously Declare, That our desires are for a Full and Free PARLIAMENT, as the only probable means under God to lead us out of that Maze and Labyrinth of confusions wherein we are at present engaged; that is, that the old secluded Members, so many of them as are surviving, may be readmitted into the House, and that there may be a free Election of others to supply the places of those who are dead, without any Oath, or Engagement previous to their Entrance: 
* This clause, according to the then state of things was inserted, out of a strong presumption, that by their means a legal Parliament, the People's true Representative, would in convenient time be assembled.  These we shall own as the true Representatives of the People; these we shall with our Lives and Fortunes, to the uttermost of our power, assist, and with all cheerfulness submit to, and acquiesce in whatsoever they shall Enact or Ordain, as being clearly assured that salus populi will then indeed be suprema lex, the welfare of the Public will be the thing then chiefly designed; whereas now salus paucorum, the establishment of the power in the hands of some few, is the thing really contended for.  
Thus concluding, that all public-spirited men, and good Patriots, will with all readiness join and concur with us in a matter of so extensive a concern; and that we shall find Opposition from none but such as prefer their own private interests, and temporal respects, to their Religion, Country and Laws of the Land, we shall as boldly subscribe our Names, as we do heartily declare our Desires.   

The VINDICATION of the Kentish Declaration, or a NARRATIVE of the meeting of some Gentlemen, Ministers and Citizens at the Town-Hall in Canterbury, Jan. 24. Penned by the Author, when he was forced to retire himself, and by him caused to be printed.  
UNderstanding that the late procedure of some of the principal Gentlemen and Citizens, Inhabitants of the City of Canterbury hath been represented above as a malignant design tending to tumult and sedition, we thought fit to publish to the World a brief Narrative of the same, together with the Declaration itself; that both the one and the other being cleared from the malicious aspersions and calumnies of our Adversaries, the whole world may judge betwixt them and us, and so give sentence according to the merit of the Cause: wherefore some peaceable and well-minded Gentlemen, together with some discreet and sober Ministers, perceiving the people generally bend for a Free Parliament (as in the precedent Declaration is expressed) and hearing that the Cities of London and Exeter had lately declared for the same, thought it neither unmeet to follow so leading precedents, nor unseasonable to join their votes with the general desires of the whole Nation: to which end it was resolved to present this foregoing Draught to the common Burghmoot, and to desire their concurrence therein. Thus in an orderly manner, without tumult or noise, without arms in their hands or thoughts, and without threats or anger in their looks, divers Gentlemen, Ministers and Citizens went to the Town-Hall on Jan. 24. 1659. the Mayor, aldermans and Common-Councel then sitting, and presented the Declaration by the hands of Mr. John Boys at the door; desiring that after a serious perusal thereof, they would be pleased to join with them in a business which they judged agreeable not only to the sense of that Court, but also to that of the whole County and Nation. But when it was moved that it should be put to the vote whether the Paper should be read or not, some of the Bench protested against it, although they knew nothing of its contents: and in conclusion (having a long time rather wrangled then debated) the Dissenters (being but seven of twenty four) quitted the Court, not leaving enough to make a Burghmoot Quorum: whereupon the Gentlemen (who, though rudely treated, had quietly attended) withdrew Re infectâ, and returned home with as little tumult as at first they came. Thus was there nothing done to disturb or surprise the Court, nothing to raise a tumult, nothing to cause a second Kentish insurrection, as our Adversaries give it out: No, the design was not Arms, but Peace; not tumult, but settlement; not to surprise and disturb the Court, but to desire an amicable and friendly correspondence with the same, to the end that the intended Declaration might be made the more authentic by the formal intervention and assent in open Court, of the Magistracy of so considerable a Corporation; and that the Declarers themselves might not be thought to tread in any oblique paths, or to proceed after a clandestine manner. But being disappointed (as you see) herein, it was thought fit to strengthen and confirm our Declaration, and to make good the title it bears, by private subscriptions, as well through the whole County as this City; wherein we had in few days proceeded so far, that some thousands of hands were then collected, when divers Gentlemen (from the sly insinuations, and false representations of our Adversaries) were secured in several Prisons, 
The Author, though diligently searched for, made his escape.  to the discouragement of a wel-begun, and a wel-meant undertaking. Neither can the Gentlemen understand wherein they have offended, or how they should merit imprisonment, since there was no order or prohibition to the contrary. Although they conceive, that, had they proceeded therein notwithstanding, they had not transgressed any known Laws of the Land, it being the Subjects undoubted birthright modestly to represent their grievances by way of Petition; and, as the case now stands, not unlawful to do the same by way of Remonstrance or Declaration. Wherefore lest (through our silence, and the present suppression of our Declaration) the Aspersions of our Adversaries might be thought deservedly cast upon us, we thought fit to publish the same, together with this Narrative; deeming, that as we have done nothing herein worthy the present severity, so the impartial Reader will in his private judgement absolve us from all guilt or demerit. Neither shall we answer our Adversaries by way of recrimination; nor (although we can by undoubted testimonies sufficiently prove it) say, that the same men, who now appear so zealous Assertors of the Purliaments interest and proceedings, did as eagerly join with the Army, crying them up as much (as with whom they would live and die) as they decried this present Power, in its late interruption, as inconsistent with the interest and Genius of this Nation: No, though this might serve to invalidate their testimony, we shall enlarge no further, but refer to the Declaration itself.   

A Letter of Thanks to his EXCELLENCY the L. General MONK; penned by the Author, according to the order and advice of the Gentlemen of East-Kent, who were concerned in the Declaration, and presented by Sir John Boys and himself at White-Hall, some few days after the sitting of the Secluded Members.  
MY LORD,  
AMongst that numerous List of your Excellency's Debtors (which are no less than the People of three Nations, rescued from imminent ruin and desolation) we of the County of Kent, who have declared for a full and free Parliament, do here profess our particular acknowledgements, as in part enjoying the effects of what we declared for, by the restitution of the secluded Members; a great and glorious work, and which both themselves, ourselves, and the whole Nation must solely ascribe to your prudent Conduct. We cannot, My Lord, but as with wonder, so with delight contemplate and comment upon your Lordship's proceedings. We wonder when we see ourselves from the very Margin and brink of Despair restored to life and safety, and as poor weatherbeaten and ship-wracked people set on shore; and now, as we hope, upon the firm ground of a desired settlement, which nothing could effect but a miracle, neither could any one do that miracle but yourself. We are delighted when we take the prospect and survey of your wise management, and handsome contrivance of things, which have (to the greater heightening of this our delight) held us in suspense, till the very close of the last Act, wherein all things are wound up to the exquisite content and satisfaction of us your Spectators: And (to say truth) what hath hitherto been brought upon this our Theatre, hath (through your Lordship's prudence) proved a Scene purely Comical, and (as we hope) will (through the influence of the same wisdom) both continue and end such; that as our calamities were ushered in, and carried on with blood, wounds and desolation, so they may be composed, and have their Exit with love, caresses, and mutual embracements. May your Lordship therefore be so happy, that as you have raised the expectation of these Nations to this height, so you may complete and perfect the remaïnder of your work, and as a good Pilot guide us at last into that Port, which, through various storms and tempests of State, we have a long time laboured to attain; that all sober people may receive the benefit, yourself the praise, and the eternal God the glory of all your undertake. We shall here conclude, and in the name of our fellow-Declarers in general, but more particularly in that of our fellow-fufferers for our Declaration, subscribe ourselves,  
MY LORD, Your Excellencies most obedient Servants and faithful Friends, Canterbury, 

John Boys of Bonington.  
John Boys of Hode-Court.   Feb. 28. 1659.   

A SPEECH penned by the Author, and intended to have been pronounced by him to the Sacred Majesty of our gracious Sovereign King CHARLES the Second, on that auspicious day of his Landing at Dover, being the 25. of May 1660. a day worthy to be enrolled amongst our most solemn Festivals: but forasmuch as he was prevented therein by reason his Majesty made no stay at all in that Town, he doth here with all humility cast himself and these plain, but honest, lines at his royal feet.  
Most Gracious and Dread Sovereign.  
WHether we dream or wake we cannot easily define; we have lived so long in darkness, and in the shadow of Death, that at the first glimpse and dawning of the all-quickning rays of MAJESTY, we dare hardly give credit to the report of our sense, or over-hastily affirm that we see what indeed we behold.  
We arise, methinks, some of us, out of our wont Dungeons and obscurities, as the Cadmaean Brethren were said to do out of the earth; here one thrusts forth a head, there another an arm; here a third a half-body, and there a fourth a whole: But be it not to the same end, viz. to destroy one the other, as they did, that (to our smart) hath been acted, and overacted; but to destroy the King's foreign enemies; domestic now we hope he hath none: and to this let all the people say AMEN.  
Oh! how hath the miserable vessel of the Commonwealth been weatherbeaten and shipwrecked, during the long and irksome absence of your Sacred MAJESTY our proper and natural Pilot? and had not the divine Providence in time placed you at the helm, it had either been swallowed up in the bottomless quicksands of our own domestic confusions, or else dashed against, and split upon the dangerous rocks of foreign Machinations.  
Wherefore thrice welcome, most illustrious Prince; in peace take possession of your paternal Throne; in a good and happy hour invest those royal robes, put on that Imperial Crown, and take in hand that Princely Sceptre; all which regal Ornaments are yours, not more from your hereditary right, than they are from your hereditary virtues, as the undoubted heir as well to the transcendencies as regalities of your unparallelled Royal Father, of Princes, as of men the best; and (to say truth) the common Parent of us all, as in whose death three Nations became Orphans, as well as the Royal Family, and for whose untimely fate three mighty people put on inward sables, as well as those of his own domestic relations.  
But we shall not dwell upon these sad remembrances; our wound, though deep, is now perfectly healed; and our tears, although once overflowing, are now quite dried up at the grateful presence of your Gracious MAJESTY. We shall say no more, but conclude with our prayers to Almighty God, that your MAJESTY may live long, and reign over us in honour and glory; that from your Princely loins may issue an uninterrupted race of Kings, to sit upon the Throne of yourself and your royal Predecessors: and lastly, that when we can enjoy you here no longer, you may for this temporary and earthly Diadem receive an immarcescible Crown of glory in the world to come; where you shall (doubtess) sit down by, and reign with your Royal Father, that gracious Prince, that holy Martyr, and now eternally blessed Saint in never-ending Beatitudes.   

AD SERENISSIMAM MAJESTATEM CAROLI SECUNDI, JOANNIS DE BOSCO, VIRGILIANI INTERPRETIS EPIGRAMMA.  
Si dives, Rex magne, esset mihi vena Marônis,  
Si foelix vatum principis ingenium,  
Ipse fores meus Aeneas, titulisque superbis  
Te ornarem, Herôi quos dedit ille suo.  
Had I, Great Monarch, Maro's divine spirit,  
Or did the Prince of Poet's wit inherit,  
You should be my Aeneas, and what He  
His Hero gave, to you ascribed should be.  
MOST HIGH AND MIGHTY PRINCE, by Your most humble and obscure, but withal most faithful and obedient Vassal John Boys.  
ERIPE ME POPULIS, ET HABENTI NUBILA TERRAE  
SANCTE PATER.—  Val. Flacc. Argon. l. 1.  

To his worthily esteemed Friend, and learned Antiquary, Mr. William Somner, upon his Treasury of the Saxon tongue, entitled Dictionarium Saxonico-Latino-Anglicum.  
A satire.  

WHat meanest thou, Man? thinkst thou thy learned Page,  
And worthy pains will relish with this age?  
Think'st that thy Treasury of Saxon words  
Will be deemed such amidst unlettered swords?  
Boots it to know how our forefathers spoke  
ere Danish, Norman, or this present yoke  
Did gall our patient necks? or matters it  
What Hengist uttered, or how Horsa writ?  
Last, think'st that we (who have destroyed whate'er  
Our Grandsires did) will with their language bear?  
That we (who have all famous monuments  
Razed, and defeated thus all good intents  
Of former Piety) will honour give  
To antique characters? shall Paper live,  
And Ink; when Brass and Marble can't withstand  
This Iron Ages violating hand?  
Or that this title, Dictionarium  
Saxonico-Latino-Anglicum,  
Will sell thy book? think'st that the Readers itch  
Of knowing much the Author will enrich?  
Thy barbarous Saxon, with the Heathen Greek,  
And profane Latin, buyers may go seek;  
Together with the Hebrew, and the rest  
Which are the language of that Romish beast;  
Our Mother-tongue well-nosed, with a wry face,  
And eyes inverted, now hath chiefest grace.  
'Tis strange, but true; our modern Rhetoric  
Both heals a Brother, and makes other sick.  
So that thy trade is out of fashion, friend,  
Lo! 'gainst Antiquities we now contend:  
Our quarrel is against the former age;  
'Gainst our dead Fathers we dire wars do wage.  
Hadst thou some Bible-dictionary made,  
A Concordance, or dealt in such like trade;  
Hadst thou some Gospel-truths; some Common-place  
Presented to this fighting-preaching race;  
Or to our Sword-Divines assistance lent  
By paraphrase, expounding, or comment,  
The Brethren would have been thy Readers; now  
The Saints will not thy learned pains allow.  
Yet, be not thou discouraged, worthy friend,  
Thy oil and pains in vain thou dost not spend:  
All are not Fighters, nor all Preachers are;  
All are not Saints, nor for the Cause declare;  
All are not Godly, nor Reformers all;  
Nor build up Christ by letting Churches fall:  
There yet are left some pious, sober, wise,  
Learned, discreet, who will thy Labours prise:  
Some Martyrs yet of truth, some who adore  
The Ages past, and present do deplore;  
Some who dare honest be, who learning love;  
Fear not; such will thine industry approve.  
O happy thou! who dost thyself enjoy,  
Sequestered from the world, free from th' annoy  
Of blust'ring times; thou dost securely sit,  
Enriching both thine own and others wit:  
Th' ambition of the Great ones, nor their fears  
Disturb thine honest quiet; nothing scares  
Thee 'midst thy learned guard of books, where thou  
Happier than Prince's mayst thyself avow;  
Whose fates thou may'st with unconcerned thoughts read,  
And so compare the Living with the Dead,  
Proceed, brave Soul, nor (since the wicked rage  
Of profane hands, and a destroying age  
Threatens to ruin what Antiquity  
To us hath left) let thy pen idle be:  
'Tis true, we of thy learned diligence  
Have had a 
* The Antiquities of Canterbury, etc.  taste, which only waked our sense;  
We do a fuller meal expect from thee:  
Thou must not only whet, but satisfy  
Our craving Appetites. Do thyself right,  
Do us, the future times, more largely write,  
Nor to one Town confine thy straighter care;  
Thy hand more ample ruins must repair:  
Lo! the whole Kingdom calls thee; in time save  
Its falling monuments; them from the grave  
Rescue, that thy worth with the Ages crimes  
May be compared by the succeeding times.   

In eund. Distichon.  
Te Somno, Somnere, premi cui dicere fas est?  
Testatur doctus te vigilare liber.   
Canter. Sept. 30. 1656.  
FINIS.