Upon her patient breast, making their way
With thofe of nobler bulk?
But let the ruffian Boreas once enrage
The gentle Thetis, and anon, behold,
The strong-1ibb'd bark thro' liquid mountains cut,
Bounding between the two moist elements,
Like Perfeus' horfe. Where's then the faucy boat,
Whofe weak untimber'd fides but even now
Co-rival'd greatnefs? or to harbour fled,
Or made a toast for Neptune. Even fo
Doth valour's fhew, and valour's worth divide
In ftorms of fortune; for in her ray and brightness,
The herd hath more annoyance by the brize
Than by the tyger; but when splitting winds
Make flexible the knees of knotted oaks,
And flies get under shade; why then the thing of courage,
As rouz'd with rage, with rage doth sympathize;
And, with an accent tun'd in felf-fame key,
Returns to chiding fortune.
ULYS. Agamemnon,
Thou great commander, nerve and bone of Greece,
Heart of our numbers, foul, and only spirit,
In whom the tempers and the minds of all
Should be shut up, hear, what Ulyffes fpeaks.
Befides th' applause and approbation
The which, moft mighty for thy place and fway,
And thou, most rev'rend for thy ftretcht-out life,
I give to both your fpeeches; which were such,
As Agamemnon and the hand of Greece
Should hold up high in brafs; and fuch again,
As venerable Neftor, hatch'd in filver,
Should with a bond of air, ftrong as the axle-tiee
On which heav'n rides, knit all the Grecians' ears
To his experienc'd tongue : yet let it please both
Thou great, and wife, to hear Ulyffes speak.
AGA. Speak, prince of Ithaca, we lefs expect
That matter needlefs, of importlefs burden,
Divide thy lips; than we are confident
When rank Therfites opes his mastiff jaws,
We shall hear mufic, wit and oracle.
ULYS. Troy, yet upon her basis, had been down, And the great Hector's fword had lack'd a master, But for thefe inftances.
The fpeciality of rule hath been neglected;
And, look, how many Grecian tents do stand
Hollow upon this plain, fo many hollow factions.
When that the general is not like the hive,
To whom the foragers fhall all repair,
What honey is expected? Degree being vizarded,
Th' unworthiest shews as fairly in the mask.
The heav'ns themselves, the planets, and this center,
Obferve degree, priority and place,
Infifture, course, proportion, season, form,
Office and custom, in all line of order:
And therefore is the glorious planet Sol
In noble eminence enthron'd and spher'd
Amidst the rest, whofe med'cinable eye
Corrects the ill afpects of planets evil,
And pofts like the commandment of a king,
Sans check, to good and bad. But when the planets
In evil mixture to diforder wander,
What plagues, and what portents, what mutiny?
I'd tongue ye. E
I wife, to hear prince of linac
dlefs, of importat ;than we are c erfites opes him. nufic, wit and orac , yet upon her b Hector's fword bac tances.
frule hath been w many Grecian: is plain, so many general is not like the
Dragers fhall all
expected? Degree
tthews as fairly in the c
emselves, the plane
́, priority and place,
e, proportion, season, i
om, in all line of order
is the glorious planet &
ence enthron'd and fpe
t, whose med'cinable
! aspects of planets ev
the commandment of
good and bad. But
⚫ to disorder wander,
and what portents, a
What raging of the fea? fhaking of the earth? Commotion in the winds? frights, changes, horrors, Divert and crack, rend and deracinate
The unity and married calm of states
Quite from their fixture? Oh, when degree is fhaken,
Which is the ladder to all high defigns,
The enterprize is fick. How could communities,
Degrees in schools, and brotherhoods in cities,
Peaceful commerce from dividable fhores,
The primogeniture, and due of birth,
Prerogative of age, crowns, fcepters, lawrels,
But by degree, ftand in authentick place?
Take but degree away, untune that string,
And hark what difcord follows; each thing meets
In meer oppugnancy. The bounded waters
Should lift their bofoms higher than the shores,
And make a fop of all this folid globe :
Strength fhould be lord of imbecillity,
And the rude fon fhould ftrike his father dead :
Force should be right; or rather, right and wrong,
Between whofe endless jar justice refides,
Should lofe their names, and fo fhou'd juftice too;.
Then every thing include itf.lf in power,
Power into will, will into appetite;
And appetite, an univerfal wolf,
So doubly feconded with will and power,
Must make perforce an univerfal prey,
And laft eat up itfelf. Great Agamemnon!
This Chaos, when degree is fuffocate,
Follows the choaking:
And this neglection of degree is it,
That by a pace goes backward, with a purpose
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