ORATIO Quâ auspicatissimum Serenissimi Principis CAROLI, Reditum ex Hispanijs celebrauit / THE ORATION In Which the most auspicious Return from Spain of The Most Serene Prince CHARLES is celebrated

ORATIO Quâ auspicatissimum Serenissimi Principis CAROLI, Reditum ex Hispanijs celebrauit

Georgivs Herbert

Academiae Cantabrigiensis

Orator.

Veneranda Capita,  Viri grauissimi,    Pubes Lectissima.

POLYCRATES cùm annulum sibi dilectum in mare dimisisset, eundémque retulisset captus piscis, foelicissimus mortalium habitus est. Quanto foeliciores nos omnes, Corona Musica, qui optimum Principem spe nuptiarum mari nuper tradentes, & ipsum accepimus salvum & annulum, annulum Coniugalem, nunc denuò nostrum, atque vbiuis terrarum pro iudicio prudentissimi Regis, & in rebus humanis diuinísque exercitatissimi de integro disponendum. Redijt!¹ redijt CAROLVS, & cum eo vita nostra atque calor, longo animi deliquio fugitivus ac desertor. Quid iactas mihi aromata Orientis? Quid Theriacas peregrinas? asserunt Medici vnamquamque regionem suam² sibi sufficere, neque externis indigere auxilijs atque antidotis: certè nostrate Principe nusquam praesentius Balsamum, nusquam benignius, solvens obstupefactos artus, atque exhilarans, tumentibus iam venis, arterijs micantibus, spiritibúsque tabellarijs laetum hunc nuncium vbique deferentibus, vt nullus sit angulus corporis, nulla venula, vbi non adsit CAROLVS. Quàm facilè sentiuntur boni Principes! Vt natura omnis suos habet anteambulones, vnde pluvia futura, an sudum, facilè conijcitur ex coelo, ex garritu auium, ex lapidum exhalatione:

THE ORATION in Which the most auspicious Return from Spain of The Most Serene Prince CHARLES is celebrated

by George Herbert

Cambridge University

Orator.

Venerable Personages,  Most Thoughtful Men,    Most Select Youth.¹

When POLYCRATES,² who had thrown his cherished ring into the sea, discovered that same ring returned to him in the haul of a fisherman, people thought he was the luckiest man alive. Every single one of us, O Blessed Crown of the Muses,³ is far luckier; having just surrendered a magnificent Prince to the sea in hopes of a marital match, we find that very prince and ring returned to us safely. The Wedding ring is ours again. It belongs to us now, and that King who is wisest and most experienced in profane and sacred affairs can freely bestow it anywhere in the world now, in whatever way he thinks best. He is back! CHARLES has come back. At his return, we feel the revival of our vitality and warmth. Those traits eluded us, leaving us bereft throughout our long dejection during his absence. Why would you offer me Eastern spices? Why would you sing the praises of exotic Antidotes.⁴ Physicians say that each specific place has everything necessary to take care of itself and has no need of foreign remedies. Surely our native Prince is a more effective and soothing Medicine than we could find anywhere else. He unbinds paralyzed limbs and makes us happy. Flowing veins, throbbing arteries, and ministering spirits now deliver this joyful news everywhere, until no nook or crany of the body, no capillary,⁵ lacks Charles. Good Princes among us offer such comfort! Just as the entire natural world hangs specific signs in the sky to foretell coming rain or clear weather, so also chattering birds or transpiring rocks are portents. Sic bonorum Principum facilis Astrologia: quorum aduentum ipsi lapides, ipsa durissima ingenia, meum praesertim, celare non possunt; quantò minus tacebunt lusciniae nostrae disertae, miniméque omnium coelestiores animi, quorum pietatis interest non silere.

Quae enim vspiam gens, quod vnquam seculum meliorem habuit Principem? percurrite Annales regnorum, excutite scrinia politiarum omnium; vos, vos, inquam, excutite, quorum aetas teritur in libris: non rusticis loquor aut barbaris, quos magnificentiâ promissi circumscribere in promptu erat, rudésque animos vi verborum percellere: vestra est optio, vestra disquisitio, qui tineae³ estis & helluones chartacei; date mihi CAROLVM alterum, quamlibet Magnum, modo detis eum in flore, in vaginâ, in herbescenti viriditate; nondum ad spicam, barbámque adultum. Non rhetoricor, Academici, non tinnio: ὑλομανίαν illam & inanem verborum strepitum iamdudum deposui: bullae & crepitacula puerorum sunt, aut eorum certè, qui cymbala sunt fanaticae iuventutis: ego verò sentio, & quis sum ipse (barbam, hui, tam grauem) & apud quos dico, viros limatae auris atque tersae, quorum grauitate ac purpurâ non abutar.

Quare vt parciùs agam vobiscum, simulque & laboribus meis, & vestrae fidei consulam, quemadmodum artifices non omnes licitantibus producunt merces...