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My most honoured FRIEND,

AM too well acquainted with the weakneffes of mine abilities (far unfit to undergo fuch. a task as I have in hand) to flatter myself with the hope I may either inform your understanding, or do myself honour by what I am to write. But I am fo defirous you should be poffeffed with the true knowledge of what a bent will I have upon all occafions, to do you fervice, that obedience to your command weigheth much more with me than the lawful ness of any excuse can, to preferve me from giving you in writing fuch a teftimony of my ignorance, and erring phantafies, as I fear this will prove. Therefore, without any more circumstance, I will, as I can, deliver to you in this paper what the other day I difcourfed to you upon the 22d Staff of the ninth Canto, in the fecond Book of that matchlefs poem, The Fairy Queen, written by our English Virgil,

whose words are these,

The frame thereof feem'd partly circular,
And part triangular: Oh work divine!
Thefe two the first and last proportions are
The one imperfect, mortal, feminine:
Th' other immortal, perfect, masculine :
And 'twixt them both a quadrate was the bafe,
Proportion'd equally, by feven and nine;
Nine was the circle fet in heaven's place
All which compacted made a goodly diapace.

In this Staff the author feems to me to proceed in a differing manner from what he doth elfewhere, generally through his whole book; for in other places, altho' the beginning of his allegory or myftical fenfe may be obfcure, yet in the process of it he doth himfelf declare his own conceptions in fuch fort, as they are obvious to any ordinary capacity: But in this he seems only to glance at the profoundeft notions that any fcience can deliver us; and then on a fudden, as it were recalling himself out of an enthufiafm, he returns to the gentle relation of the allegorical hiftory he had began, leaving his readers to wander up and down in much ob

fcurity, and to come within much danger of erring at his intention in thefe lines; which 1 conceive to be dictated by fuch a learned fpirit, and fo generally a knowing foul, that were there nothing elfe extant of Spencer's writing, yet these few words would make me efteem him no whit inferior to the most famous men that ever have been in any age; as giving an evident teftimony herein, that he was thoroughly verfed in the mathematical sciences, in philosophy, and in divinity; to which this might ferve for an ample theme to make large commentaries upon. In my praifes upon this fubject, I am confident, that the worth of the author will preserve me from this cenfure; that my ignorance only begets this admiration, fince he hath written nothing that is not admirable. But that it may appear I am guided fomewhat by my own judgment (though it be that I may in the best manner I can, comply a mean one) and not by implicit faith; and with what you expect from me, I will no longer hold you in fufpence, but begin immediately (though abruptly) with the declaration of what I conceive to be the true fenfe of this place, which I fhall not go about to adorn with any plaufible difcourfes, or with authorities and examples drawn from others writings; (fince my want both of conveniency and learning would make me fall very fhort herein) but it fhall be enough for me to intimate mine own conceptions, and offer them up to you in their own fimple and naked form, leaving to your better judgment the examination of the weight of them; and after perufal of them, befeeching you to reduce them and me, if you perceive us erring. It is evident, that the author's intention in this Canto, is to defcribe the body of a man informed with a rational foul; and in profecution of that defign, he fets down particularly the feveral parts of the one, and of the other. But in this Stanza he comprehends the general defcription of them both, as (being joined together to frame a compleat man) they make one perfect compound; which will the better

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appear by taking a furvey of every feveral clause thereof by itself.

The frame thereof feem'd partly circular,
And part triangular.

By thefe figures I conceive that he means the mind and body of man; the first being by him compared to a circle, and the latter to a triangle: For as a circle of all figures is the most perfect, and includeth the greateft fpace, and is every way full, and without angles, made by the continuance of one only line; fo man's foul is the nobleft and most beautiful creature that God hath created, and by it we are capable of the greatest gifts that God can bestow, which are grace, glory, and hypoftatical union of the human nature to the divine; and the enjoyeth perfect freedom and liberty in all her actions, and is made without compofition (which no figures are that have angles, for they are caufed by the coincidence of feveral lines) but of one pure fubftance, which was by God breathed into a bo y made of fuch compounded earth, as in the preceding Stanza the author defcribes: And this is the exact image of him that breathed it, reprefenting him as fully as it is poffible for any creature which is infinitely diftant from a creator: For as God hath neither beginning nor ending, fo neither of these can be found in a circle; although that being made of the fucceffive motion of a line, it must be fuppofed to have a beginning fomewhere. God is compared to a circle, whofe centre is every where, but his circumference no where; but man's foul is a circle, whofe circumference is limited by the true centre of it, which is only God for as a circumference doth in all parts alike refpect that indivifible point, and as all lines drawn from the inner fide of it do make right angles within it, when they meet therein, fo all the interior actions of man's foul ought to have no other refpective point to direct themfelves unto but God; and as long as they make right angles, which is, that they keep the exact middle of virtue, and decline not to either of the fides, where the contrary vices dwell, they cannot fail but meet in their centre.

By the triangular figure he very aptly defigns the body: For as the circle is of all other figures the most perfect and moft capacious; fo the triangle is moft imperfect, and includes leaft fpace: It is the firft and loweft of all figures; for fewer than three right lines cannot comprehend and inclose a fuperficies; having but three angles, they are all acute (if

it be equilateral) and but equal to two right, in which refpect all other regular figures, confifting of more than three lines, do exceed it.

May not thefe be refembled to the three great compounded elements in man's body, to wit, fait, fulphur and mercury? which mingled together make the natural heat and radical moisture, the two qualities whereby man liveth. For the more lines that go to comprehend a figure, the more and greater the angles are, and the nearer it comes to the perfection and capacity of a circle.

A triangle is compofed of several lines, and they of points, which yet do not make a quantity by being contiguous to one another, but rather the motion of them doth describe the lines: In like manner the body of man is compounded of the four elements, which are made of the four primary qualities, not compounded of them (for they are but accidents) but by their operation upon the first matter.

And as a triangle hath three lines, fo a folid body hath three dimenfions, to wit, longitude, latitude, and profundity: But of all bodies man is of the lowest rank (as the triangle is among figures) being compofed of the elements, which make it liable to alteration and corruption. In which confideration of the dignity of bodies, I divide them, by a general divifion, into fublunary, which are the elementated ones; and æthereal (which are fuppofed to be of their own nature incorruptible;) and peradventure there are fome other species of corporeal fübstances, which is not of this place to difpute.

O work divine!

there

there is no mean of operation (that we know of) between a fpiritual fubftance and a corporeal yet we fee that it doth. As hard it is to find the true proportion between a circle and a triangle; yet that there is a juft proportion, and that they may be equal, Archimedes has left us an ingenious demonftration; but in reducing it to a problem, it fails in this, That because the proportion between a crooked line and a ftreight one is not known, one must make 'ufe of a mechanick way of meafuring the periphery of the one, to convert it to the fide of the other.

These two the first and last proportions are.

What I have already faid concerning a circle and a triangle, doth fufficiently unfold what is meant in this verfe; yet it will not be amifs to fpeak one word more hereof in this place. Allthings that have existence may be divided into three claffes, which are either what is pure and fimple in itself,or what hath a nature compounded of what is fimple,or what hath a nature compounded of what is compounded. In continued quantity this may be exemplified by a point, a line, and a fuperficies, in bodies; and in numbers, by an unity, a denary, and a centenary. The firit, which is only pure and fingle, like an indivifible point, or an unity, bath relation only to the divine nature; that point then moving in a spherical manner (which ferves to exprefs the perfections of God's actions) defcribes the cicles of our fouls, and of angels, and of intellectual fubftances, which are of a pure and fimple nature; but receiveth that from what is fo in a perfecter manner, and that hath his from none elfe; like lines that are made by the flowing of points, or denaries, that are composed of unities, beyond both which there is nothing. In the laft place, bodies are to be ranked, which are compofed of the elements, and they likewife fuffer compofition, and may very well be compared to the loweft of the figures, which are compofed of lines, that owe their being to points (and fuch are triangles) or to centenaries, that are compofed of denaries, and they of unities. But if we will compare thefe together by proportion, God must be left out; fince there is as infinite diftance between the fimplicity and perfection of his nature, and the compofition and imperfection of all created fubftances, as there is between an indivifible point, and a continuate quantity; or between a fimple unity and a compound number; fo that only the other two kinds of substance do

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enter into this confideration; and of them I have already proved, that man's foul is one of the nobleft, being dignified by hypostatical union above all other intellectual fubftances, and his alementated body of the other, the moft low and corruptible; whereby it is evident, that these two are the first and last proportions, both in refpect of their own figure, and of what they exprefs.

The one imperfect, mortal, feminine,
Th' other immortal, perfect, mafculine.

Man's body hath all the properties of imperfect matter; it is but the patient, of itself alone it can do nothing: it is liable to corruption and diffolution, if it once be deprived of the form, which actuates it, and which is incorruptible and immortal.

And as the feminine fex is imperfect, and receives perfection from the mafculine; fo doth the body from the foul, which to it is in lieu of a male: And as in corporeal generations the female affords but grofs and paffive matter, to which the male gives active heat, and prolifical virtue; fo in fpiritual generations (which are the operations of the mind) the body adminifters only the organs, which, if they were not employed by the foul, would of themselves ferve to nothing. And as there is a mutual appetence between the male and the female, between matter and form; fo there is between the body and foul of man: But what ligament they have, our author defineth not (and it may be reafon is not able to attain to it) yet he tells us what is the foundation that this machine refts upon, and what keeps the parts together, in these words:

And'twixt them both a quadrate was the base.

By which quadrate I conceive that he meaneth the four principal humors in man's body, to wit, choler, blood, phlegm, and melancholy : which, if they be diftempered and unfitly mingled, the diffolution of the whole doth immediately enfue: like to a building which falls to ruin, if the foundation or bafe of it be unfound or difordered. And in fome of these the vital fpirits are contained and preferved, which the other keep in convenient temper; and as long as they do fo, the foul and the body dwell together like good friends: So that these four are the base of the conjunction of the other two, both which, he faith, are

Proportion'd equally by feven and nine.

In which words I understand, that he meaneth the influences of the fuperior fubftances, which govern the inferior, into the two differing parts of man, to wit, of the stars (the most powerful of which are the feven planets) into his body, and of the angels (divided into nine hierarchies or orders) into his foul, which, in his Aftrophel, he faith is

By foveraign choice from th' heavenly quires felett,
And lineally deriv'd from angels race.

And as much as the one govern the body, fo much the other do the mind; wherein is to be confidered, that fome are of opinion, how at the inftant of a child's conception, or rather, more effectually, at the inftant of his birth, the conceived fperm, or tender body, doth receive fuch influence of the heavens, as then reign over that place where the conception or birth is made; and all the stars, and virtual places of the celeftial orbs, participating of the qualities of the feven planets; according to the which they are diftributed into fo many claffes, or the compounds of them, it comes to pafs, that according to the variety of the feveral aspects of the one and the other, there are various inclinations and qualities in men's bodies, but all reduced to feven general heads, and the compounds of them; which being to be varied innumerable ways, caufe as many different effects, yet the influence of fome one planet continually predominating: But when the matter in the woman's womb is capable of a foul to inform it, then God sendeth one from heaven into it.

In paradife whilome did plant this flower, Whence he it fetch'd out of her native place, And did in flock of earthly flesh enráce. And this opinion the author expreffeth himfelf more plainly to be of, in another work, where he faith,

There he beholds with high afpiring thought,
The cradle of her own creation,

Emongst the feats of angels, heavenly wrought. Which whether it hath been created ever fince the beginning of the world, and referved in fome fit place till due time, or be created on the emergent occafion,no man can tell: But certain it is, that it is immortal, according to what I faid before, when I fpake of the circle, which hath no ending, and an uncertain beginning.

The meffengers to convey which foul into the body are the intelligences which move the orbs of heaven, who, according to their feve

ral natures, communicate to it feveral proprieties, and they moft, who are governors of thofe ftars at that inftant, who have the fuperiority in the planetary afpects; whereby it comes to pafs, that in all inclinations there is much affinity between the foul and the body, being that the like is between the intelligences and the ftars, both which communicate their virtues to each of them. And these angels being, as I faid before, of nine feveral hierarchies, there are fo many principal differences in human fouls, which participate most of their properties, with whom, in their defcent, they made the longest stay, and that had molt active power to work on them, and accompanied them with a peculiar genius; which is, according to their feveral governments, like the fame kind of water that running through various conduits, wherein feveral aromatic and odoriferous things are laid, do require feveral kinds of tafte and fmells; for it is fuppofed, that in their first creation all fouls are alike, and that their differing proprieties arrive to them afterwards, when they pafs through the fpheres of the governing intelligences; fo that by fuch their influence it may truly be faid,

Nine was the circle fet in heaven's place.

Which verfe, by affigning this office to the nine, and the proper place to the circle, giver much light to what is faid before. And for further confirmation that this is the author's opinion, read attentively the fixth Canto of the Third Book, where most learnedly, and at large, he delivers the tenets of this philofophy; and for that I commend to you to take particular notice of the fecond, and thirtyfecond Stanzas, as alfo the last of his Epithalamium; and furveying his works, you shall find him a conftant difciple of Plato's school.

All which compacted made a goodly diapafe.

In nature there is not to be found a more compleat and more exact concordance of all parts, than that which is between the compaction and conjunction of the body and foul of man; both which, although they confift of many and moft different faculties and parts, yet when they keep due time with one another, they altogether make the moft perfect harmony that can be imagined. And as the nature of founds (that confift of friendly confonants and accords) is to mingle themfelves with one another, and to flide into

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the ear with much sweetness, where by their unity they last a long time, and delight it; whereas, contrarily, difcords continually jar and fight together, and will not mingle with one another; but all of them ftriving to have the victory, their reluctation and diforder gives a fpeedy end to their founds, which ftrike the ear in a harsh and offenfive manner, and there die in the very beginning of their conflict. In like manner, when a man's actions are regular, directed towards God, they become like the lines of a circle, which all meet in the centre; then his mufic is most excellent and compleat, and all together are the authors of that bleffed harmony which maketh him happy in the glorious vifion of God's perfections, wherein the mind is filled with high knowledges, and moft pleafing contemplations; and the fenfes are, as it were, drowned with eternal delight; and nothing can interrupt this joy, this happiness, which is an everlasting diapafe: Whereas, on the contrary, if a man's actions be diforderly, and confifting of difcords, which is, when the sensitive part rebels, and wrestles with the rational, and ftriving to opprefs it, then this music is fpoiled; and instead of eternal life, pleasure and joy, it caufeth perpetual death, horror, pain and mifery; which unfortunate eftate the poet defcribes elsewhere, as in the conclufion of this Staff he intimates. The other happy one, which is the never-failing reward of fuch an obedient body, and æthereal and virtuous mind, as he makes to be the feat of the bright virgin Alma, man's worthieft inhabitant, reafon. Her I feel to fpeak within me, and chide me for my bold attempt, warning me to ftray no further. For what I have faid (confidering how weakly it is faid) your command is all the excufe that I can pretend; but fince my defire to obey may be feen as well in a few lines, as in a large discourse, it were indifcretion in me to trouble you with more, and to difcover to you more of my ignorance: I will only beg pardon of you for this blotted and interlined paper, whose contents are fo mean, that it cannot deferve the pains of a tranfcription; which if you make difficulty to grant to it for my fake, let it obtain it for having been yours; and now I return to you alfo the book that contains my text, which yefterday you fent me, to fit this part of it with comment, which, peradventure, I might have performed better, if either I had afforded myfelf more time, or had had the convenience of fome other books, apt to quicken my invention, to whom I might have been beholden

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for enlarging my understanding in fome things that are treated here, although the application fhould ftill have been my own: With these helps, perhaps, I might have dived farther into the author's intention, the depth of which cannot be founded by any that is lefs learned than he was. But I perfuade myself very ftrongly. that in what I have faid there is nothing contradictory to it; and that an intelligent and well-learned man, proceeding on my grounds, might compofe a worthy and true commentary on this theme; upon which I wonder how I ftumbled, confidering how many learned men have failed in the interpretation of it, and have all at the first hearing approved my opinion. But it was fortune that made me fall upon it, when first this Stanza was read unto me for an indiffoluble riddle: and the fame discourse I made upon it, the first half quarter of an hour that I faw it, I fend you here, without having reduced it to any better form, or added any thing at all unto it, which I beseech you receive benignly, as coming from

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