XXIII. 46.] THE SECOND BOOK. 247 



without well-being is a curse, and the greater being the 

 greater curse; and that all virtue is most rewarded, and 

 all wickedness most punished in itself: according as the 

 poet saith excellently: 



Qnac vobis, quae digna, viri, pro laudibus istis 

 Praemia posse rear solvi ? pulcherrima primum 

 Dii moresque dabunt vcstri. 



And so of the contrary. And secondly they ought to 

 look up to the eternal providence and divine judgement, 

 which often subverteth the wisdom of evil plots and 

 imaginations, according to that scripture, He hath con&quot; 

 ceived mischief, and shall bring forth a vain thing. And 

 although men should refrain themselves from injury and 

 evil arts, yet this incessant and Sabbathless pursuit of 

 a man s fortune leaveth not tribute which we owe to 

 God of our time; who (we see) demandeth a tenth of 

 our substance, and a seventh, which is more strict, of 

 our time : and it is to small purpose to have an erected 

 face towards heaven, and a perpetual groveling spirit 

 upon earth, eating dust as doth the serpent, Atque affigit 

 humo divines, particulam aura. And if any man flatter 

 himself that he will employ his fortune well, though he 

 should obtain it ill, as was said concerning Augustus 

 Csesar, and after of Septimius Severus, That either they 

 should never have been born, or else they should never have 

 died, they did so much mischief in the pursuit and ascent 

 of their greatness, and so much good when they were 

 established; yet these compensations and satisfactions 

 are good to be used, but never good to be purposed. 

 And lastly, it is not amiss for men in their race toward 

 their fortune, to cool themselves a little with that conceit 

 which is elegantly expressed by the Emperor Charles the 

 Fifth, in his instructions to the king his son, That fortune 



