exclaimed forthwith, "O ye gods what a
sight of things do not I want?" 'Tis thy want alone that keeps thee in
health of body and mind, and that which thou persecutest and abhorrest as a
feral plague is thy physician and [3753]chiefest friend, which makes thee a
good man, a healthful, a sound, a virtuous, an honest and happy man. For
when virtue came from heaven (as the poet feigns) rich men kicked her up,
wicked men abhorred her, courtiers scoffed at her, citizens hated her,
[3754]and that she was thrust out of doors in every place, she came at last
to her sister Poverty, where she had found good entertainment. Poverty and
Virtue dwell together.

[3755] ------"O vitae tuta facultas
Pauperis, angustique lares, o munera nondum
Intellecta deum."

How happy art thou if thou couldst be content. "Godliness is a great gain,
if a man can be content with that which he hath," 1 Tim. vi. 6. And all
true happiness is in a mean estate. I have a little wealth, as he said,
[3756]_sed quas animus magnas facit_, a kingdom in conceit;

[3757] ------"nil amplius opto
Maia nate, nisi ut propria haec mihi munera faxis;"

I have enough and desire no more.

[3758] "Dii bene fecerunt inopis me quodque pusilli
Fecerunt animi"------

'tis very well, and to my content. [3759]_Vestem et fortunam concinnam
potius quam laxam probo_, let my fortune and my garments be both alike fit
for me. And which [3760]Sebastian Foscarinus, sometime Duke of Venice,
caused to be engraven on his tomb in St. Mark's Church, "Hear, O ye
Venetians, and I will tell you which is the best thing in the world: to
contemn it." I will engrave it in my heart, it shall be my whole study to
contemn it. Let them take wealth, _Stercora stercus amet_ so that I may
have security: _bene qui latuit, bene vixit_; though I live obscure, [3761]
yet I live clean and honest; and when as the lofty oak is blown down, the
silky reed may stand. Let them take glory, for that's their misery; let
them take honour, so that I may have heart's ease. _Duc me O Jupiter et tu
fatum_, [3762]&c. Lead me, O God, whither thou wilt, I am ready to follow;
command, I will obey. I do not envy at their wealth, titles, offices;

[3763] "Stet quicunque volet potens
Aulae culmine lubrico,
Me dulcis saturet quies."

let me live quiet and at ease. [3764]_Erimus fortasse_ (as he comforted
himself) _quando illi non erunt_, when they are dead and gone, and all