LXVIII.

That thou the first with us in Name, might'ft be The first in Course, to fashion us a-new ; Wherein the Times hath offer'd that to thee, Which feldom t'other Princes could accrue. Thou haft th' Advantage only to be free, T'employ thy Favours where they shall be due; And to difpofe thy Grace in general, And like to Jove, to be alike to all

LXIX.

Thy Fortune hath indebted thee to none,
But t'all thy People univerfally;

And not to them, but for their Love alone,
Which they account is placed worthily.

Nor wilt thou now frustrate their Hopes, whereon
They reft; nor they fail in their Loyalty:
Since no Prince comes deceived in his Trust,
But he that firft deceives, and proves unjust.

LXX.

Then fince we are in this so fair a way
Of Restoration, Greatnefs, and Command;
Curfed be he that causes the leaft Stay
In this fair Work, or interrupts thy Hand;
And curfed he that offers to betray

Thy Graces, or thy Goodnefs to withstand;
Let him be held abhorr'd, and all his Race
Inherit but the Portion of Difgrace. r

LXXI.

And he that shall by wicked Offices
Be th' Author of the leaft Disturbancy,
Or feek t'avert thy Godly Purposes,
Be ever held the Scorn of Infamy.
And let Men but confider their Succefs,
Who Princes Loves abus'd prefumptuously;
They fhall perceive their Ends do ftill relite,

That fure God loves them not, whom Men do hate.

LXXII.

And it is juft, that they who make a Prey
Of Princes Favours, in the end again
Be made a Prey to Princes; and repay
The Spoils of Mifery with greater Gain:
whofe Sacrifices ever do allay

The Wrath of Men conceiv'd in their Disdain:
For that their Hatred profecuteth ftill

More than ill Princes, thofe that make them ill,

LXXIII.

But both thy Judgment and Estate doth free
Thee from thefe Pow'rs of Fear and Flattery,
The Conquerors of Kings; by whom, we fee,
Are wrought the Acts of all Impiety.
Thou art fo fet, as thou 'ft no Cause to be
Jealous, or dreadful of Difloyalty:

*

The Pedestal whereon thy Greatnefs ftands,
Is built of all our Hearts, and all our Hands,

Sir THOMAS EGERTON,Kt.

LORD-KEEPER of the Great Seal of ENGLAND.

WE

'Ell hath the pow'rful Hand of Majefty,
Thy Worthiness, and England's Hap be-
[fide,

Set thee in th' aidfull'st Room of Dignity;
As th' Ifthmus thefe Two Oceans to divide,
Of Rigor and confus'd Uncertainty,

To keep out th' Intercourfe of Wrong and Pride,
That they ingulph not up unfuccour'd Right,
By th❜extreme Current of Licentious Might.

Now when we see the most combining Band,
The strongest Faft'ning of Society,

Law, whereon all this Frame of Men doth ftand,
Remain concuffed with Uncertainty ;

And seem to fofter, rather than withstand

Contention; and embrace Obfcurity,

Only

Only t' afflict, and not to fashion us,
Making her Cure far worse than the Disease

3

As if he had made Covenant with Wrong,
To part the Prey made on our Weaknesses
And fuffer'd Falfhood to be arm'd as ftrong
Unto the Combat, as is Righteoufnefs;
Or fuited her, as if the did belong

Unto our Paffions, and did ev'n professo
Contention, as her only Myftery, long me
Which the reftrains not, but doth multiply.

Was the the fame fhe's now, in Agès paft?
Or was the lefs, when she was used lefs;
And grows as Malice grows and fo comes caft
Juft to the Form of our Unquietness?

Or made more flow, the more that Strife runs faft
Staying t'undo us, e're the will redrefs?

That th' Ill the checks, feems fuffer'd to be ill,
When it yields greater Gain than Goodnefs will.

Muft there be still fome Difcord mix'd among
The Harmony of Men; whofe Mood accords
Beft with Contention, tun'd t'a Note of Wrong?
That when War fails, Peace muft make War with
And b'arm'd unto Deftruction ev'n as ftrong, [Words,
As were in Ages paft our Civil Swords:

Making as deep, altho' unbleeding Wounds 1 That when as Fury fails, Wifdom confounds.

If it be Wisdom, and not Cunning, this

A

Which fo embroils the State of Truth with Brawls
And wraps it up in ftrange Confufed nefs,
As if it liv'd immur'd within the Walls
Of hideous Terms, fram'd out of Barb'rousness. -¿
And foreign Cuftoms, the Memorials"
Of our Subjection; and could never be
Deliver'd but by wrangling Subtilty.-

whereas

Whereas it dwells free in the open Plain,
Uncurious, Gentle, Eafy of Accefs:
Certain unto it felf; of equal Vein;
One Face, one Colour, one Afsuredness.
It's Falfhood that is intricate and vain,
And needs these Labyrinths of Subtleness:
For where the cunning'ft Cov'rings most appear,
It argues ftill that all is not fincere.

Which thy Clear-ey'd Experience well defcries,
Great Keeper of the State of Equity!
Refuge of Mercy! Upon whom relies
The Succour of oppreffed Mifery :
Altar of Safeguard! Whereto Affliction flies,
From th' eager Pursuit of Severity.

Haven of Peace! That labour'ft to withdraw
Juftice from out the Tempests of the Law;

And fet her in a calm and even Way,
Plain, and directly leading to Redrefs ;
Barring these Counter-Courses of Delay,
These wasting, dilatory Proceffes.

Ranging into their right and proper Ray,
Errors, Demurrs, Effoigns, and Traverfes
The Heads of Hydra, fpringing out of Death,
That gives this Monster Malice still new Breath.

That what was made for the Utility

And Good of Man, might not be turn'd t'his Hurt,
To make him worfer by his Remedy,

And caft him down with what should him fupport.
Nor that the State of Law might lose thereby
The due Refpect and Rev'rence of her Port ;
And feem a Trap to catch our Ignorance,
And to intangle our Intemperance.

Since her Interpretations, and our Deeds,
Unto a like Infinity arife;

As b'ing a Science that by Nature breeds
Contention, Strife, and Ambiguities.
For Altercation Controverfy feeds,
And in her Agitation multiplies:

The