laft, when well examined, prove the meer* hand of God: 'twas not dumb chance, that, to difcover the fougade or powder-plot, contrived a mifcarrige in the letter. I like the victory of 1588. the better for that one occurrence which our enemies imputed to our difhonour, and the partiality of fortune, to wit, the tempefts and contrariety of winds. King Philip did not detract from the nation, when he faid, he fent his Armado to fight with men, and not to combat with the winds. Where there is a manifeft difproportion between the powers and forces of two feveral agents, upon a maxim of reafon we may promife the victory to the fuperior; but when unexpected accidents flip in, and unthought of occurrences interveen, thefe muft proceed from a power that owes no obedience to thofe axioms; where, as in the writing upon the wall, we behold

the

the hand, but fee not the fpring that moves it. The fuccefs of that petty province of Holland, (of which the Grand Seignior proudly faid, that if they fhould trouble him as they did the Spaniard, he would fend his men with fhovels and pick-axes, and throw it into. the fea) I cannot altogether afcribe to the ingenuity and induftry of the people, but to the mercy of God, that hath difpofed them to fuch a thriving genius, and to the will of his providence, that difpofeth her favour to each country in their pre-ordinate feafon. All cannot be happy at once; for, because the glory of one state depends upon the ruin of another, there is a revolution and viciffitude of their greatnefs, and they must obey the fwing of that wheel, not moved by intelligences, but by the hand of God, whereby all eftates arife to their zenith and vertical points, accord

ing to their predeftinated periods. For the lives not only of men, but of commonwealths, and the whole world, run not upon an helix that ftill enlargeth, but on a circle, where, arriving at their meridian, they decline in obscurity, and fall under the horizon again.

SECT. XVIII.

Thefe muft not therefore be named the effects of fortune, but in a relative way, and as we term the works of nature. It was the ignorance of man's reafon that begot this very name, and by a careless term mifcalled the providence of God: for there is no liberty for caufes to operate in a loose and ftraggling way; nor any effect whatfoever, but hath its warrant from fome univerfal or fuperior caufe. 'Tis not a ridiculous devotion, to fay a prayer before a game at tables; for even in fortilegies and matters

of

of greatest uncertainty, there is a fettled and pre-ordered course of effects: 'tis we that are blind, not fortune; because our eye is too dim to discover the mystery of her effects, we foolishly paint her blind, and hoodwink the providence of the Almighty. I cannot justify that contemptible proverb, That fools only are fortunate; or that infolent paradox, That a wife man is out of the reach of fortune; much lefs those opprobrious epithets of poets, whore, bawd and ftrumpet: tis, I confess, the common fate of men * of fingular gifts of mind to be deftitute of those of fortune; which doth not any way deject the fpirit of wifer judgments, who throughly understand the juftice of this proceeding, and, being enriched with higher donatives, caft a more carelefs eye on thefe vulgar parts of felicity. 'Tis a moft unjust ambition, to defire to engross the mercies

of

See Aiken & Barbauld's miscellanies

" as the Inconsistency or

48

RELIGIO MEDICI.

of the Almighty; not to be content with the goods of mind without a poffeffion of thofe of body or fortune and 'tis an error worse than herefy, to adore thefe complemental and circumstantial pieces of felicity, and undervalue those perfections, and effential points of happinefs, wherein we refemble our Maker. To wifer defires 'tis fatisfaction enough to deferve, tho' not to enjoy, the favours of fortune; let providence provide for fools: 'tis not partiality, but equity in God, who deals with us but as our natural parents; thofe that are able of body and mind, he leaves to their deferts; to those of weaker merits he imparts a larger portion, and compenfates the defect of the one by the excess of the other. Thus have we no just cause to quarrel with nature, for leaving us naked; or to envy* the horns, hoofs, fkins, and furs of other creatures, being provided