THE KING'S MIRROR 303 



may be found the seven liberal arts of study. Further- 

 more, my house is strewn with fragrant grasses and 

 lovely herbs; it is hung with beauty and elegance, and 

 splendor in every form. Among the humble I am a 

 pleasant companion, but toward the proud I am stern 

 and haughty. In every school I am the principal teacher 

 and I am the highest form of eloquence in every law 

 court. I am the wisest among lawyers and the chief 

 justice on every bench. Happy is he who is found to be 

 a sincere companion of mine; for I am constantly with 

 my companions guarding them from all perils. Happy 

 is he who suffers no disgrace from me, for my wrath 

 kindles a fire in its passion which burns even to the 

 lowest depths; some day it will consume the founda- 

 tions of the hills and swallow up the earth with its 

 teeming life. Where can he hide who seeks to escape 

 from me ? The spirit of God fills the entire home-circle 

 and searches out the meaning and the interpretation of 

 all knowledge." 



The speech that you have now heard is one which 

 Wisdom has spoken about herself; there are others like 

 it, but loftier, which are not repeated here. For King 

 Solomon and Jesus the son of Sirach have written with 

 much skill a great many sermons of the kind that Wis- 

 dom has spoken about herself in divers ways. But if 

 we were to mention all the speeches that can be found 

 in their writings, our conversation would suffer a great 

 delay; and it seems unnecessary at this time to bring 

 into our talk any lengthy discussion of those things 

 that Wisdom has said about herself. However, it is the 

 duty of every king to know thoroughly all the accounts 



