The Golden Themis

A decorative horizontal woodcut header featuring symmetrical scrollwork, floral elements, and foliage patterns.

THE AUTHOR'S EPIGRAM.

A tree is known not well by its leaves, but by its fruit,
    And a lion not by its skin, but by its claw.
Grapes are not gathered from a fig tree, nor figs from a vine,
    Lilies yield no roses, nor do they bear roses.
The seeds of Nature thrive according to their own character,
    And every thing usually reflects its native kind.
No differently, the ORDER appears from its own LAWS,
    Which willingly extends medicinal hands to the sick:
Such as the more noble birth indicates by its own art,
    And which has produced books conspicuous in fame.
The scent of profit is not sought by them, nor the ambition
    Of honor, for luxury is an ungrateful plague:
To serve God, and not least to serve mortals,
    One care rests upon all, to relieve suffering.
They join social bonds with a harmonious mind,
    And are equal in illustrious dogma and piety.
Through grateful turns they return mutual secrets to one another,
    Which were revealed in the lap of Nature.
There is no crop of envy, nor of iniquitous strife.
    Each one desires to teach the companions what he has learned.
Candor and honesty guard the doors, VIRTUE
    And TRUTH adorn the highest peaks of the house,
This school in the porticos is more learned than the art of the Lyceum
    Or your plane trees, Epicurus.
Let the great Academy of Plato yield to this in merits,
    And the school that was known by the famous name of Stoa.
Golden Wisdom remains in this one seat,
    And the Graces have given everything to such men.