264
��PARADISE REGAINED
��Only the impor'tune Tempter still re- mained,
And with these words his temptation pur- sued:
" By hunger, that each other creature tames,
Thou art not to be harmed, therefore not moved ;
Thy temperance, invincible besides,
For no allurement yields to appetite;
And all thy heart is set on high designs, 410
High actions. But wherewith to be achieved ?
Great acts require great means of enter- prise ;
Thou art unknown, unfriended, low of birth,
A carpenter thy father known, thyself
Bred up in poverty and straits at home,
Lost in a desert here and hunger-bit.
Which way, or from what hope, dost thou aspire
To greatness ? whence authority deriv'st ?
What followers, what retin'ue canst thou gain,
Or at thy heels the dizzy multitude, 420
Longer than thou canst feed them on thy cost?
Money brings honour, friends, conquest, and realms.
What raised Antipater the Edomite,
And his son Herod placed on Juda's throne,
Thy throne, but gold, that got him puissant friends ?
Therefore, if at great things thou wouldst arrive,
Get riches first, get wealth, and treasure heap
Not difficult, if thou hearken to me.
Riches are mine, fortune is in my hand;
They whom I favour thrive in wealth amain, 430
While virtue, valour, wisdom, sit in want." To whom thus Jesus patiently replied:
" Yet wealth without these three is impo- tent
To gain dominion, or to keep it gained
Witness those ancient empires of the earth,
In highth of all their flowing wealth dis- solved;
But men endued with these have oft at- tained,
In lowest poverty, to highest deeds
Gideon, and Jephtha, and the shepherd lad
��Whose offspring on the throne of Juda sate 440
So many ages, and shall yet regain That seat, and reign in Israel without
end. Among the Heathen (for throughout the
world
To me is not unknown what hath been done Worthy of memorial) canst thou not re- member
Quintius, Fabricius, Curius, Regulus ? For I esteem those names of men so poor, Who could do mighty things, and could
contemn Riches, though offered from the hand of
kings.
And what in me seems wanting but that I May also in this poverty as soon 451
Accomplish what they did, perhaps and
more ?
Extol not riches, then, the toil of fools, The wise man's cumbrance, if not snare;
more apt
To slacken virtue and abate her edge Than prompt her to do aught may merit
praise.
What if with like aversion I reject Riches and realms ! Yet not for that a
crown,
Golden in shew, is but a wreath of thorns, Brings dangers, troubles, cares, and sleep- less nights, 460 To him who wears the regal diadem, When on his shoulders each man's burden
lies;
For therein stands the office of a king, His honour, virtue, merit, and chief praise, That for the public all this weight he bears. Yet he who reigns within himself, and rules Passions, desires, and fears, is more a
king
Which every wise and virtuous man at- tains ;
And who attains not, ill aspires to rule Cities of men, or headstrong multitudes, Subject himself to anarchy within, 471
Or lawless passions in him, which he serves. But to guide nations in the way of truth By saving doctrine, and from error lead To know, and, knowing, worship God aright, Is yet more kingly. This attracts the soul, Governs the inner man, the nobler part; That other o'er the body only reigns, And oft by force which to a generous mind
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