“This Embleme lo, I did present, vnto this woorthie Knight. Who, did the same refuse, as not his proper due: And at the first, his sentence was, it did belonge to you. Wherefore, lo, fame with trompe, that mountes vnto the skye: And, farre aboue the highest spire, from pole, to pole dothe flye, Heere houereth at your will, with pen adorn’d with baies: Which for you bothe, shee hath prepar’d, vnto your endlesse praise. The laurell leafe for you, for him, the goulden pen; The honours that the Muses giue, vnto the rarest men. Wherefore, proceede I praye, vnto your lasting fame; For writinges last when wee bee gonne, and doe preserue our name. And whilst wee tarrye heere, no treasure can procure, The palme that waites vpon the pen, which euer doth indure. Two thousand yeares, and more, HOMERVS wrat his books; And yet, the same doth still remayne, and keepes his former looke. Wheare Ægypte spires bee gonne, and ROME doth ruine feele, Yet, both begonne since he was borne, thus time doth turne the wheele. Yea, thoughe some Monarche greate some worke should take in hand, Of marble, or of Adamant, that manie worldes shoulde stande, Yet, should one only man, with labour of the braine, Bequeathe the world a monument, that longer shoulde remaine, And when that marble waules, with force of time should waste; It should indure from age, to age, and yet no age should taste.” “EX MALO BONUM,”—_Good out of evil_,— contains a sentiment which Shakespeare not unfrequently expresses. An instance occurs in the _Midsummer Nights Dream_ (act i. sc. 1, l. 232, vol. ii. p. 206),— “Things base and vile, holding no quantity, Love can transpose to form and dignity.” Also more plainly in _Henry V._ (act iv. sc. 1, l. 3, vol. iv. p. 555),— “God Almighty! There is some soul of goodness in things evil, Would men observingly distil it out. For our bad neighbour makes us early stirrers, Which is both healthful and good husbandry: Besides they are our outward consciences, And preachers to us all, admonishing That we should dress us fairly for our end. Thus we may gather honey from the weed, And make a moral of the devil himself!” So in Georgette Montenay’s _Christian Emblems_ we find the stanzas,— “_On tire bien des epines poignantes Rose tres bonn[e/] & pleine de beauté. Des reprouuer & leurs œuures meschantes Dieu tir[e/] aussi du bien par sa bonté, Faisant seruir leur fausse volonté A sa grand’ gloir[e/] & salut des esleuz, Et par iustic[e/], ainsi qu’ a decreté, Dieu fait tout bien; que nul n’en doute plus._”