Of Libra
Libra in 15 AD: born to weigh, measure and judge.
[p. 13] Libra, whose Scales, when Autumn turns the Signs,And ruddy Bacchus treads the juicy Vines;In equal Balance, poize the Night and Day,Teach how to measure, and instruct to weigh:And Rival ²¹Palamed, (who Numbers found,And into Letters fram'd unpolisht sound;To Him the Art of Words, and Speech we owe,Till then Men only Spoak, but knew not how.)
Besides, He'll know the Niceties of Law;What guard the Good, and what the Guilty awe,What Vengeance wait on Crimes, with Skill declareHis private Chamber, still shall be the Bar.What He determines, that for Right shall stand,As Justice weigh'd her Balance in his Hand.This Rul'd at ²²Servius's Birth, who first did giveOur Laws a Being, rather than Revive;The Tables seem'd Old, Reverend Senseless Lines,Meer waxen Things, and fit to serve Designs,As Fools mistook, or Crafty Knaves would draw;Till He infus'd a Soul, and made them Law.
The notes
²¹ Palamedes is said to be the first Man amongst the Greeks, who invented Cyphers, and taught Men to cast Account: I have enlarg'd his Character, and taken notice of his invention of Letters. (Creech’s note, 1697)
²² Servius Sulpitius, the Great Lawyer, and Acquaintance of Cicero. (Creech’s note, 1697)
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The text is Thomas Creech's 1697 verse translation, checked word by word between three scans of the same type (the 1697 printing, the 1700 printing and a third copy). The long s is printed as s; every other spelling is Creech's. Pages are cited as the 1697 printing numbers them. The portrait is William Marshall’s engraving of Lilly from the front of the 1659 printing (Wellcome Library, public domain).