124
GONDIBERT,
55.
Or as a Planter, though good Land he spies,
Seeks new, and when no more so good he finds,
Doubly esteems the first; so Truth men prise;
Truth, the discov'ry made by trav'ling Minds.
Or as a Planter, though good Land he spies,
Seeks new, and when no more so good he finds,
Doubly esteems the first; so Truth men prise;
Truth, the discov'ry made by trav'ling Minds.
56.
And this false Book, till truly understood
By Astragon, was openly display'd
As counterfeit, false Princes, rather shou'd
Be shewn abroad, than in closs Prison laid.
And this false Book, till truly understood
By Astragon, was openly display'd
As counterfeit, false Princes, rather shou'd
Be shewn abroad, than in closs Prison laid.
57.
Now to the old Philosophers they come;
Who follow'd Nature with such just despair,
As some do Kings far off; and when at home,
Like Courtiers boast, that they deep secret share.
Now to the old Philosophers they come;
Who follow'd Nature with such just despair,
As some do Kings far off; and when at home,
Like Courtiers boast, that they deep secret share.
58.
Near them are grave dull Moralists, who give
Counsel to such, as still in publick dwell;
At sea, at Courts, in Camps, and Cities live,
And scorn experience from th'unpractis'd Cell.
Near them are grave dull Moralists, who give
Counsel to such, as still in publick dwell;
At sea, at Courts, in Camps, and Cities live,
And scorn experience from th'unpractis'd Cell.
59.
Æsop with these stands high, and they below;
His pleasant wisdom mocks their gravitie;
Who Virtue like a tedious Matron show,
He dresses Nature to invite the Eye.
Æsop with these stands high, and they below;
His pleasant wisdom mocks their gravitie;
Who Virtue like a tedious Matron show,
He dresses Nature to invite the Eye.
60.
High skill their Ethicks seems whilst he stoops down
To make the People wise; their learned pride
Makes all obscure, that Men may prise the Gown,
With ease lie teaches, what with pain they hide.
High skill their Ethicks seems whilst he stoops down
To make the People wise; their learned pride
Makes all obscure, that Men may prise the Gown,
With ease lie teaches, what with pain they hide.
61.
And next (as if their bus'ness rul'd Mankind)
Historians stand, big as their living looks;
Who thought swift Time they could in fetters bind;
Till his Confessions they had ta'ne in books.
And next (as if their bus'ness rul'd Mankind)
Historians stand, big as their living looks;
Who thought swift Time they could in fetters bind;
Till his Confessions they had ta'ne in books.
