Moral essays. With an English translation by J.W. Basore

ON PROVIDENCE, v. 9-vi. 1uphill and dowTihill must he go, be tossed about,and guide his bark through stormy waters ; he mustkeep his course in spite of fortune. Much that ishard, much that is rough will befall him, but hehimself vnW soften the one, and make the othersiuooth. Fire tests gold, misfortune brave men. Seeto what a height virtue must cHmb ! you viiW find thatit has no safe road to tread :The way is steep at first, and the coursers strainTo climb it, fresh in the early morn. They gainThe crest of heaven at noon ; from here I gazeAdown on land and sea with dread amaze,And oft my heart will beat in panic fear.The roadwaj' ends in sharp descent—keep hereA sure control ; 'twill happen even soThat Tethys, stretching out her waves below.Will often, while she welcomes, be affrightTo see me speeding downward from the height."Ha%ing heard the words, that noble youth replied,I like the road, I shall mount ; even though I fall,it ^^^ll be worth while to travel through such sights."But the other did not cease from trying to strike hisbold heart with fear :And though you may not miss the beaten track,Nor, led to wander, leave the zodiac.Yet through the Bull's fierce horns, the Centaur's bowAnd raging Lion's jaws you still must go.*In reply to this he said, " Harness the chariot youoffered ; the very things that you think affright meurge me on. I long to stand aloft where even theSun-god quakes ^vith fear." The groveller and thecoward ^^•ill follow the safe path : ^^rtue seeks theheights." But why," you ask, " does God sometimes allowevil to befall good men ? " Assuredly he does not.41