A Glance at the Glories Of SACRED FRIENDSHIP. By E. B. Esq

THE ADDRESS.

WHere 's Friendships Residence? To what unknown
New Planet-World is That rare Phoenix flown?
Great, and Good GOD! Who did'st so low descend,
As to become, ev'n to Thy Foes, a FRIEND,
My Genius so inspire, that what I sing,
Glory to THEE, Good-Will to Men may bring!
So may these Lines the Depths of Friendship sound,
As Love, being sunk, may rise more practis'd, more renown'd.
The World 's a Lott'ry, which does comprehend
A thousand Blanks for One choice Prize—A FRIEND.

THE PÖEME.

I.
FRIENDSHIP! thy sacred Feet ne're tread the Path
Of vap'ring Gallants, or the Sonnes of Wrath:
Nor sitt'st Thou thron'd in Beauties wanton Eyes;
Such short-liv'd Page'antry as Fondlings prize:
(Thy inner Glory, Vertues brighter Grace,
Shines in the Soules, not in the Bodies Face:)
Nor on Thy nobler Score may be allow'd
Til' Inconstant, Envious, Covetous, or Proud;
Nor the Suspicious: for, when such rude Swine
Root up Thy thriving Fence, who'l trust them with Loves Vine?
II.
SHould Friendship ask, or grant, or act what 's Ill,
It would (like Saturn in Conjunction) still
Sad Influence send: If Guile might plead Loves Rites,
It were The COVENANT then of Hypocrites.
No; but It's Way (like Innocence) should be
The Via Lactea of Sinceritie.
'T is so divine, as not to be exprest
With what the Braine produces, but the Breast:
'T is such an Eminence of Minde, as tends
To Inexpressibles, ev'n All that 's Good of Friends.
III.
IT is the Marriage of Affections, so
Of Fortunes, Interests, and Counsels too.
It is Loves golden Chain, and doth imply
Delight, Respect, Care, Prudence, Constancy.
It is Loves Unison, where Two agree
In well-tun'd Mindes, Angel-like Harmonie.
It is infus'd by Heav'n, by Vertue fed,
Preserv'd by Merit, by sweet Nature spred.
It is begun with Iudgement, does persever
With Grace, and shall conclude with Glory; so, with Never.
IV.
DOwn from on High It's Radiations beam.
'T is the Realitie of Iacobs Dream:
The Scale of Intellectuall Heav'n, which hath,
For two chief Luminaries, Truth and Faith:
Whose Orb is blest with each benigner Star:
Humility and Worth it's Gemini are.
As Spheares in Spheares, so harmonize, so move
Hearts on (those Poles of Friendship) Peace & Love.
To whose sweet Consort other Musick's flat.
Think such a Thought as none but Friends can think; 't is That.
V.
GReat Pow'r of Friendship! with what active Fire
Inflam'st Thou first, then crown'st each high Desire?
Were 't not for Thee, thick Darkness would be hurl'd,
As a black Veile, over the broad-fac'd World:
For, if eclipsed were Thy gracious Light,
Though thousand Suns did shine, it still were Night.
As fragrant Fumes from Coales of Incense rise;
So, by ascending, Thou perfum'st Allies;
That Thou may'st freely to thy Friends dispense
Thy Magazins of Wealth, Art, Nature, Excellence.
VI.
IN These Olympicks 't is the maine Contest,
Who shall ore-come by loving Most, and Best.
Thou, when Deaths Harbinger accosts thy Friend,
Thy Bodies and Soules Faculties dost lend.
Thus Turtles are, by Friendships Union,
Although in Bodies two, in Love but one.
Thus holy Fire, like That on Altars, should
Perpetually be cherisht, to uphold
The sacred Flames of Friendship; which regards
More to deserve, and give, than to receive Rewards.
VII.
REciprocall Beneficence yet makes
Loves Helix, and a cheerfull Giver takes
With GOD and Men: Obligements give Extent
To growing Zeal, and banish Complement.
When from the warmer, or the temperate Zone,
Bad Times may drive a Friend to th' frozen One;
Then, one reviving Smile of Friendships Shine
Makes that Yce Water, and that Water Wine.
Such spritely Flavour of a sparkling Minde
Can sooner cease to be, than it can be unkinde.
VIII.
HOw rarely Brethren to This Height ascend!
More, than in Brother, is imply'd in Friend:
Fraternitie but in Cognation lyes
Of Bodies; Friendship hath sublimer Tyes:
Which, by their innate Energie, bring forth
Seed, Buds, and Fruit of Soul-inriching Worth:
As free from all Antipodes of Love,
As is the Lamb from Guile, from Gall the Dove.
Thus can the Bosome of a Friend afford
A fruitfull Paradise, without a flaming Sword.
IX.
SEcurely plac'd, on High, to view below
How the cross Thunders of a Batail go;
Or, from a Promontory, to behold
Storm-lab'ring Ships, by Neptunes Trident rowl'd,
May please rough Mindes: Such bitter-sweets are toyes,
Ballanc'd with wel-fixt Amicitiall Joyes.
Brave Ionathan was Master in Loves Art,
(By Ovids wanton Muse profan'd) each Part
He Princely taught, who priz'd before his own
The Wel-fare of his Friend; That Friend before a Throne.
X.
PHoenix of Princes! Thou did'st Friendship keep
Inviolate, when the King his Wrath did steep
In gall against Thee, and the fatall Starres
Sign'd thy Friends Rise in Peace, thy Fall in Warres.
Thy Second-self Thee 'bove Himself did raise:
His Tears proclaim'd Thy Love, his Tongue Thy Praise.
Twin-Souls! Who, like two glorious Cones of Light,
Rose up, and pointed in One, high, and bright.
O blest Conjunction This, where Spirits blend,
And Each is breath'd into his Other-Self, his Friend!
XI.
BEst Paire! what Union, what Communion, still,
With Eminence of Worth, and Strength of Will,
Were in the Center of Endearments met,
To make your Faith more firm, your Fame more great?
Like Needles toucht by the Magnetick Stone,
Both joyntly mov'd at the Remove of One.
Such Love-Sweets, rais'd on Vertues Interest,
Were Ante-past to Heav'ns Eternall Feast.
An Height, like This, no State of Mortals knowes:
The Worlds Stage, than such Friends, more Kings, more Emperors showes.
XII.
PSalms, flow, when GRACE tunes Natures Harp, which hath
Intrinsick Quintessence, in-Heav'n'd by Faith.
Angels blesse GOD, because not only He
Crowns Them with Glory to Eternitie;
But, being the Source of Goodness, to Their KING
They Halleluiah, Halleluiahs sing!
His Greatness, Wisedome, Power, their Wonders be;
His GRATIOUSNESS wings Loves Activitie:
Their Wills to Each Above are cleer, and ev'n:
Love 's the Resplendency of Friendships Region, Heav'n.
XIII.
FRiendship, the Sun in our Horizon, flies
Still through the Zodiack of the Good, and Wise;
Who have espous'd their Eagle-Thoughts to high
Engagements, and above what's mortall fly:
Who, when Aurora rides curl'd, brightly drest,
Perfum'd from her Star-Chamber in the East,
Spreading her Beames, her Glories, round the Ayre;
Their Souls then, twining Flames, court Heav'n in Prayer.
O, may We thus unload each burthen'd Soule
Of every Grief, & break our Mindes to keep them whole!
XIV.
SArza the Liver opens, Steel the Spleen,
Sulphur the Lungs, Castoreum's Vertue's seen
So on the Braine; but no Receit we finde,
Like a true Friend, for an obstructed Minde.
Crush into One all Sweets, receiving Birth
From the exhaustless teeming Womb of Earth:
Which done, extract, and oft distill from thence
It 's most refined Spirit, and Quintessence;
Which turn to Nectar: —All 's but Wormwoods juice,
Compar'd with what Soul-feeding Friendships Fruits produce.
XV.
THen, could I, with That Belgick Floud, drink Towns;
Make the Earth tremble, rend Imperiall Crownes
From their just Owners Heads; proclaim bold Warres
With half the World, and tumble Emperors
Down to the State of Slaves; — Yet I, and This
Were more out-done by one rare SAINT, that is
Still faithfull to his Soul, his Friend, his Time,
(A highly humble State, low and sublime)
Who cheerfully can share a Cross with me,
And swell the Womb of each new-breeding jubile.
XVI.
IN Vertues glorious Chariot Friendship rides,
With all the shining Graces by her Sides:
Who, though exalted in This high-wing'd Race,
Gives to the lowest Consort highest Place.
Thus, her attractive Power by secret Cause,
Heav'n down to Earth, Earth up to Heaven drawes.
This proves It Sweets Elixir; loftiest Pitch
Nature can mount to; 't is the Shrine in which
Blessings are treasur'd; That which Angels strive
To amplify; Joyes Haven; Heav'n in Perspective!
XVII.
THen, were I Monarch of more Worlds than er'e
This World had Men; and to possess Them, were
Men in each World, for Number, more than all
The Sinnes committed since the first Mans Fall;
Yet, if in These I should not finde a Friend,
Surmounting all those Worlds, more in the End
Would be my Grief, than His, who triumph'd or'e
This World, and wept, because there were no more.
For, none is at the End of 's Actions blest,
But He, whose End speakes not the Greatest, but the Best.
XVIII.
OR, were I such an Alchymist, as could,
With one rare Stone, convert all Stones to Gold:
My first Essay might be on Egypts Spires,
Which now, though Piles of Stone, the World admires;
And, then, what Arguses, to view That Prize
Must plow the Seas with Cargazones of Eyes?
Next, all the Rocks around the spatious Shore
My Midas Soveraign Touch should turn to Ore.
Yet, ev'n the shadow of a reall Friend,
As Heav'n does Earth, would all their Gallantry transcend.
XIX.
MIght I dispose of All in Natures Hand,
And cause the whole Worlds atomes to disband;
And should those Atomes swell, and swell, till all
Were Tenariffs of Diamonds, and so tall
That their stupendious rising Browes might ev'n
The Regions pass, pierce [...]kyes, ascend to Heav'n:
Yet, Those amazing Splendors dimme would prove
To' a Friends unparallel'd Soul-beaming Love.
Under the Heav'ns there 's not a Name (but HIS
Whose Fiat was His Act) keeps up the Rate with This.
XX.
PRoud Pyramids may reel, huge Mountaines rowle
From their old Seates; Earths Center, yea the whole
Expansed Frame of Nature may forsake
It 's Form, and into it 's first Chaos shake:
(At the Worlds Household-stuff-removing Day
Rivers shall stand, and Mountaines sneak away.)
Nor Winter-Thunders, nor Sky-Prodigies
May scare Him who on Friendships Height relies:
For, fixt in Loves Coelestiall Orb, my FRIEND
A Constellation is of Vertues, to
THE END.

L'ENVOY.

WHere 's He that can express the Spheares swift Turn?
Or paint the Phoenix in her flaming Urn?
By That rare Masters Hand may be design'd
Your furnisht Head, free Heart, unpattern'd Minde;
Who, being so richly good, so wisely deare
Of pretious Time, make [...] May of all the Yeare.
Blest in The Glories of your Friendship, thus,
I have The BEST of FRIENDS, You have
BENEVOLUS.
Here, as in Globes, is All from Pole to Pole,
A Summe of Friendships Universe— YOUR SOULE.
READERS,

Exspect (be 't friendly, or unfriendly view'd) FRIENDSHIPS ANTIPODES, INGRATI­TUDE.

De SACRA AMICITIA.

AD AMICITIAE Culmen anhelaturo, ne­cesse est ut per Electionem, Probationem, Admissio­nem, & Rerum humanarum divinarumque cum summâ Benevolentiâ Consensionem ascendat. Mo­rum enim Studiorumque reciproca Similitudo arctissimo inter Bonos consolidat AMICITIAM Caemen­to. Ratio nimirum Affectui desponsata, Amorem ex Ratione illibatum generat; &, Affectionis Sale conditum, perpetuò conservat. Quatuor etiamad Hoc in AMICO (Fidelitas, Intentio, Discretio, Patientia) postulantur. Fidelitas, ut A­MICI Tutelae, fortissimo quasi Propugnaculo, seipsum & sua committat. Intentio, ut nihil ex AMICITIA, nisi Pietatis Proventus, & Errolumentum mutuum, deducatur. Discretio, quid AMICO sit dandum, quid ab Eo expe­tendum, novisse; ut nil quod indecens sit postuletur, quod dedeceat tribuatur: quando sympatheticè dolendum, gauden­dum, admonendum, erige [...]dum, nec Tempus nec Modum ne­scire. Patientia denique, ut placidè admonitus, Monenti non morosè repugnet. Ethoc Regimine praecedat in Fronte, tanquam Ductrix, AMICITIA; ponè sequatur, prout Pedissequa, Vtilitas. He [...]oica enim Mens sinceram, sine fae­culento recularum in infimitate parvitatis constitutarum Lucro, AMICITIAM profit [...]tur, & Seculi hujus Mores incre­pat, ubi Adulatio— in Quaestu pro Meretrice sedet. In Electione prudens, in Dilectione stab [...]lis, Sustinet, Abstinet: Necessitati­bus Amici occurrit, & incommune Bonum, seipsum, Lychni more, consumendo intabe [...]cit: Nihil in Voce fictum, in Vul­tu fucosum, in Vita factiosum praetendit. AMICITIA, hoc pacto ordinata, felicissimè coalescit; quia inter Bonos ori­tur, inter Meliores prog [...]editur, inter Perfectos perficitur; Quam Prudentia dirigit, Iustitia regit, Fortitudo custodit, Temperantia moderatur: intentionis quippe habet Puritatem, Rationis Magisterium, & Temperantiae Fraenum. Prae sancto hoc AFFECTU nihl sub Sole, mellitissimum licet, ap­petendum; nihil utilius quaerendum; difficilius inveniendum; charius conservandum. Omnium enim Charismatum est Cen­trum, omnium Encyclopaedia Gratiarum: Vitia Radiis ful­gentissimis confodit, delectat Domi, juvat foris, Adversa tem­perat, Prospera componit. In laetis itaque & tristibus, amaris & jucundis, aequum se praebet, pari aspiciens oculo Pauperem & Divitem, Fortem & Debilem; nam nihil in Amico quod extra ejus est Animum int [...]etur. Tali in AMICITIA Hu­militas & Suavitas, Sublimitas & Felicitas in Secula triumphant: Et quanta quidem Felicit [...]s est CONSORTEM habere, quocum, ac si cum Teipso, ratiocineris; & Cui Cordis arca­niora committes; & Cui confiteri non timeas, si quid deli­queris; & Cui revelare non erubescas, si quid profeceris; ad Quem, velut ad Asylum, confugias; & quem in dubiis, tan­quam Oraculum, consu [...]as! Obsecro vos, qui estis Amici, per DEUM IMMORTALEM, quicquamnè felicius, quàm ita unire Animum Alterius, ut ex Duobus Cor efficiatur unum; ut nec Simultas timeatur, nec Suspicio simuletur, nec Adulatio Veritati praeferatur?

Summarum summa est consummatissima summum

Semper amare BONUM-summa est AMICITIA, summa BEATITUDO. Hoc à CHRISTO inchoatur, per CHRISTUM conservatur, in CHRISTUM consum­matur; Hoc deorsum est Paucorum, sursum est Omnium, ubi OMNES SANCTI. A sacra igitur Amicitia, quâ Ami­cus complectitur Amicúm, ad supremum AMOREM, quo Anima beata amplectitur JESUM, conscendentes, Aeter­num BEATITUDINIS Praemium, CHRISTI Gratia, obtineamus! Qui possidet DEUM, possidetur ab EO. Simus ergo Nos facti DEI Possessio, & efficietur Nobis Possessio DEUS.

AMICO.

BEnevoli Conjunctio Animi arctissima est Cognatio. — Elegi Te, è Millibus Vnum, Pro Vitae Consorte meae—Cujus in Sermone Affabilitas, in Moribus Suavitas, in Vultu Sere­nitas, in Consiliis Communio, in Studiis Con­formatio, in Spiritualibus est Consensio. AMI­CITIA enim me Tibi (Disciplinis omni­bus instituto, imbuto, ornato, consummato) similem, etsi non invenerit, efficiat. Quàm capax in Te emicat Ingenium, quàm sagax Iudicium, quàm tenax Memoria, quàm ardens Veritatis Studium, quàm indefefla Sedulitas, quàm sin­gularis Modestia cum PIETATE exornata! Haec Omnia in Te & admiror, & piè aemulor. Praevenisti me, mi AMICE, Ornamentis; Praeveniam Te Officiis. Verùm non Magna lo­quamur, sed Vivamus; — Spectemur Agendo. Cunctatio absit, Assiduitas adsit; AMICI­TIA enim est Constantiae Virtus. Inter Nos dehinc idem sit velle, idem nolle; nihil velle quod dedeceat, nihil nolle quod expediat. De AMICI Felicitate potiùs quàm de propriâ laetemur, & aegrius CONSORTIS quàm propriam feramus Injuriam. Breviter; quicquid est Amoris, Honoris, Opis, vel Opum, AL­TERUTRI impertiamus.

Pectoris ob Meritum Ratio quem suadet amandum, Hunc nec Morositas inquietet, nec Instabilitas dividat, nec Garrulitas à debita Gravitate dis­solvat, nec Simultas sacram AMICITIAM confringat. ‘Eia age, mi ANGELE­CUSTOS, (Job 33.23.)’ extricemus Nos ab Involucris Mundi, & à Coelesti Satellitio cir­cumvallati, & Spiritualibus Deliciis adimple­ti, sereniorem Tranquillitatis Senectam placi­dissimo Secessu peragamus. Animae eteni [...] sa­pientiores fiunt quiescendo.

SIc praeliantes Aequore turbido
Ventos, reducto Montis in angulo,
Miratur, & gaudet Procellâ
Terribili procul esse PASTOR.
SIc Coelum penetret Fides ab Arâ
Nostri Pectoris. Huc ades, fer Aram,
Thus, Ignem, Fidei, Spei, Favoris.
SIc me semper ames, Sic Te patiaris amari;
Sic Charis una beet, Sic Domus una Duos!

Secessus, Animae Templum.

TV mihi Thema, Quies Animae, sanctus (que) Recessus;
Rores dum saturant me, DEUS alme, tui.
Vera Quies, Paucos nosti, notissima Paucis:
Dum fugio Plures, Te peto, vera Quies.
Carmina Secessum? Potiùs Devotio quaerit:
Sic quadrant Modulis Pectora sancta suis.
Turbat Apollineas clamosa Molestia Musas;
Christicolae Modulos sed magìs illa gravat.
Sit procul Vrbs, prope Vota mihi; mihi reddar; & in­tus
Plena Fide perstet Mens mea, plena DEO!
Hoc Nemus est Templum, patuli Laquearia Rami;
Fit sacrae Truncus quisque Columna Domûs:
Pervia Sylva patens est Porta, Cacumina Pinnae;
Baptismi Pignus Rivulus omnis habet:
Dat Mensam Collis sacram mihi Cespite tectus;
Pectoris Ara Fides, Zelus Amorque Focus.
Si quis Baptistes in Eremo praedicet, Ecce
Pulpita, in arboreâ Sede locata, patent.
Hìc licet elatâ dare Verba precantia Voce;
Et sine Teste, Deo nec nisi Teste, loqui.
Ipsa monent tremulas quatientia Flamina frondes,
Per nos fundendas Corde tremente Preces.
Antevolansque cavo Suspiria nostra Susurro,
Dum gemit Aura levis, Tu geme, Cultor, ait.
Voce DEUM celebro? Concordes sponte Choristae,
Sunt Praecentores, dum modulantur, Aves.
Amen subjicio? dat Amen, quasi Clericus, Echo.
Sylva placet, Luxus perfidiose, Vale.

CUlmen Potestatis est Tempestas Mentis: Splendorem habet Titulo, Cruciatum Ani­mo; desuntque Inopiae multa, Avaritiae omnia. Ne petas igitur, devota Anima, esse qualis in Anglia Dux Buckingamiae, in Aula Caesarea Princeps ab Eggenberg, in Hispania Comes D'Olivares, & in Imperio Ottomanico Musta­pha Bassa fuere; nec tibi magis arrideant cerus­satae Laudes, & calamistrata Encomia, quàm sincerae & sacrosanctae Amoris Anhelationes. Seculi delectatiunculas devita, & Coelorum Ju­bilo recreaberis. Delicatula nimis es, si velis gau­dere cum Mundo, & postea regnare cum CHRI­STO: Amarescat Mundus, ut dulcescat DEUS. Quamdiù est in te Aegypti Farina, Manna coeleste non gustabis. Gustat DEUM, cui Libido Se­culi Nauseam parit. Exinanitio nostra Plenitu­dinis Coeli capaces reddit. Si vis frui Sole, verte dorsum Umbrae. Nec amaris à Mundo, nisi à CHRISTO repulsa; nec à CHRISTO, nisi à Mundo spreta. Dejicit se de Culmine Ma­jestatis qui à DEO ad Consolatiunculas Crea­turulae confugit. O quàm contempta recula est homo, nisi supra humana se erexerit! Beatum nil facit Hominem, nisi Qui fecit Hominem; mi­nimum enim DEI omnis Orbis Magnitudine est magnificentius. Paucis; nec tibi ignominio­sum sit pati quod passus est CHRISTUS, nec gloriosum facere quod fecit Judas. Morere Mun­do, ut vivas DEO. Quicunque cum DEO habet Amicitiam, Felicitatis tenet Fastigium. Haec unica Laus, hic Apex Sapientiae est, ea vi­ventem appetere, quae morienti forent appeten­da. Mortis ergò Meditationi, & AETERNI­TATIS Contemplationi Lucernulae nostrae Oleum impendamus.

Sit DEO Gloria!

LONDON, Printed by R. D. for Humphrey Mosely, at the Princes Armes in St. Pauls Church-yard. Anno 1657.

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