Quam rem ita graviter tulit
Alexander, ut fecundâ legatione denuo bellum deprecantibus ita demum remiserit, ut
Oratores, et duces, quorum fiduciâ toties rebellent, sibi dedantur; eo tamen demum res est deducta ut retentis
Oratoribus, duces in exilium agerentur.
WEre Brains now cheerd with such
Caelestial Fire,
As the renowned
Homer's did inspire.
England might
Iliads, and
Odysseas bear,
And
Roger should
Ʋlysses Ensigns wear.
Divine Achilles would, and but that one,
Stand here betwixt
L'Estrange and
Charles le bon.
Peers won't this grudge, their
Virtues in each
Scheme,
Are
adaequate, they differ but in name.
The
Greeks with
Honors did
Ʋlysses Crown,
(Brave grateful
Greeks) and what shall ours have none?
Athens should
Orators and
Captains yield,
(In confidence of whom they so oft rebell'd:)
To his will, Earths
Monarch said, so they compell'd,
Warriors, by no means
Orators expell'd.
They'd yield their
lives assoon, this speaks how dear,
With
Wise men wise, and
Loyal States men were:
And well they might, for in these
Watchmen dwell,
Lives Liberties, and all that's
Paralel.
Philipp would likewise from them raise his
Seige.
Curt. lib. 2. fol. 17.
Philippus, Macedo Pater
Alexandri magni.
[...]o they ten
Hostages would grant his
Liege.
Then said
Demosthenes; the
VVolves would
League,
VVith Shepherds; so their
Mastiffs they'd
reneague,
[...]he cause of all the strife: this brings to mind,
Viz.
10. Orators.
[...]treigues of late, of the same
wolfish kind:
In English,
Glory from a Multitude is better than much Wealth.
ISOCRATES.
Alter
Hippias nomine cum imper um paternum teneret interfectorem fratris comprehendi jubet qui cum
per tormenta conscios caedis nominare cogeretur. omnes ami. cos tyranni nom may it: quibus interfectis qua
[...]ii tyranno an adhuc reliqui conscij essent? nemo, ait, superest, quem amplius morigestiam, quam ipsum tyrannum. Justini, lib 2.
Strange, Strange, Demands Smell'd they of want of
sense
Most, or of the
Phanatique Impudence?
Or did the
wolves that do infest our Land,
Think they a
Dick, or
Hippias had in hand?
No, no, our Sovereign
Shepherd was too wise,
By
Nature, Art, and the late
Exercise;
To give those
honest men who would repay,
As they his Father did but t'other day
That is not yet forgot, nor will it be,
Till
Time be swallow'd in
Eternity.
His
Mastiffs give 'em, who would him devour,
(Nay God himself for
money they'd
deflour)
Not only take the
fruits but kill the
heirs,
That the
Vine-Yard might be for ever theirs.
This as the
Shepherds Mastiff stout doth keep,
Those
Wolves, the
Whigs from
worrying of the
Sheep
He merits from the
Crown; all honest men.
He'll bring Fanaticks to their
wits agen;
Vnless they are damn'd by
Crimes so insolent,
That they with the
Sphinx Titus can't repent.
Those
Saints that
Muffty for their
saviour cry'd,
Deflour,
viz. to rob God of his Honour.
And now the
saviour will be
Crucifi'd.
Never did Villain yet deserve it more,
Then may our Turks their
Mahomet adore.
Could mere man bear that
Badge without a sin,
This
Patriot for it, fairly hath put in.
For when the
saviour design'd nothing more,
Than a Sea of
Blood, his
Antidotes restore.
Good David with his lyre charm'd raving
Saul,
So this
Isocrates, this learned
Paul,
By
Whigs blown frantick with his lovely strain,
Converts this
Land to
sober sense again.
A
Land which doth with Milk
and Hony flow,
Here's
Dame and
Daughter; Peace, and
Plenty too.
A Canaan with all earthly Comforts Blest,
L'Estrange
Blest yet in that 'tis Blessed
Abraham's rest.
In English,
The Wise Man shall be called the Delight of the Citizens
PHOCYLIDES.
Ny Cred y mol nes gwelo y mennyth.
Proverb.
We have
good David, and
wise Solomon,
(Wonders of
Mercy they to
Whigs have
shown)
Restor'd, preserv'd by such mirac'lous hand,
As transfer'd
Israel to the
holy land.
Latina.
Here we have
Moses and the
Gospel read,
Ne suadela quidem persuaserit dum sero sit.
Yea, mighty
apparitions from the dead.
Yet
Corahs Gang rebells:
saducean seed,
Ingrateful, Bloody,
Antichristian breed.
A
Land which doth the
Phaenix now possess;
The
Athenians erected Statues in honour of
Socrates. Laertius.
Too happy, if it knew its happiness.
Let it as
Athens, for him
statues raise,
Adorn his
brow with everlasting
Bays.
And men on earth do
service at his
Tomb,
VVhen God this
Victor doth in heaven Crown:
Service to God at the Tombes of,
&c. Jewel.
Divines conclude all humane
Eloquence,
Beneath the God-like
Abrahams excellence.
No
Oratators compleatly could express,
The holy
Patriarchs heavenly-mindedness.
Nor can I this. 'tis true I have too will,
How to perform I find not in my skill.
To soar so high is not of my poor wing,
If it were dipt in the
Castalian Spring
Then would I volumes write, I tell thee
Trim,
Protest they should be all in praise of him.
The
Philosophers, had their Detractours.
Plutarch.
Come
Curtis, Care, and all the canting Crew,
You cannot face this
sun, such
Apes as you.
Grand
Sophies ever had some Currs to whine
At them: but Hereticks make
Hero's shine.
Shine lofty soul, thy
wit, worth, works aspire,
'Bove
hate, yea
praise: Theams for us to admire.
VVhich will, while time lasts, eternize thy
name,
Open the
Ears of Men, the
Gates of
Fame.
Hold then my
Muse, none can this
subject hit,
Vnless
L'Estrange himself, or
Angels writ.
Mota manus Procerum est, et quid Facundia posset,
Tum patuit: Fortisque viri tulit arma Disertus.
In English,
Not Jove himself can all men please,
Whether he doth Rain, or he doth cease.
Theognis.
Isocrates ad nicoclem oratio secunda pagina.
81.87.93.109.
The Translation.
APply your self to the most prudent of them who are about you; and send for what others you can, and think it not convenient to be a stranger to well-approved
Orators: give to the wise the Liberty of declaring their minds freely; and have the discreet, and such as can see further than others, in great esteem, and veneration; knowing this, that a good Counseller, is the most profitable and Kingly Possession. Judge those to be likliest to make your Kingdom who can best furnish your understanding: Honour your Friends with the Principal, and the most Benevolent with the truest of your Honors.
Deem the safest Guard of your person to be the Virtue of your Friends, and your own prudence, for these are the things by which Dominion is both gain'd, and maintained.
This is some of the advice of
Isocrates, a most excellent and learned
Orator, who was accounted the wisest Man on Earth; and indeed who rightly consider his writings (than which nothing can be more curious) will easily imagine it to be true. So that as
Alexander the Great, often pronounced the
Greek Heroes happy, for that they had
Homer to
immortalise their
Fame, by streining the
Quintessence, and
Heroicness of
Wisdom, and
Fortitude to so sublime a pitch; (which) besides that he was so Eminently learned himself, having been so long the scholar of
Aristotle, and so great a Proficient, that it became a question, whether
Alexander the Great ow'd more to his
Father Philipp, or to his
Schoolmaster Aristotle) I fancy a
Topick of that singular Veneration he had for all learned men, testified by munificent Bounty, and a warm sympathising tenderness, above (I think) any other Examples
History affords.) So may we esteem
Nicocles happy, who had
Isocrates (the wisest man in the World) to be
his Orator. And so may we Congratulate
the happiness of our most Gracious
Monarch, and
his Kingdoms in
that incomparable
Orator Roger L'Estrange; who for
Loyalty, Wisdom, and
Eloquence comes, but in time, behind
any of the Ancient
Philosophers; nay we may conclude all
Princes and
Potentates happy, who are accommodated with such faithful worthy
Oratours; and do give such
Honor; and
Deference unto them as
Alexander did, by which means indeed, he might well become great.