I made great haste in going, and yet knew not whither to go; East, West, North, or South, all was indifferent to me, for it is impossible he can be out of his way to whom all ways are alike. _London_ though large and populous I judged no Coverture for me, I wanting those two great helps of concealment, mony and friends. The Country therefore I pitcht upon, invited thereto the more, it being then the merry month of _May_, the pleasantest time of all the year, the earth having then put on her richest apparel, the meddow cloathed in green, the fields beautified with flowers, and the woods adorned with Violets, Cowslips, and Primroses; the winged Choristers of the Forrest, warbled forth their ditties very harmoniously, the Lambs friskt and leapt, dancing lavalto’s on the flowry pastures, and the murmuring stream made a noyse like to a Chime of Bells, running through their winding _Meanders_. As I walked thus in the Countrey, encircled with pleasures, and every where having my eyes satiated with variety of pleasing objects, I thought my self to be in _Paradise_, and imagined no pleasure in the world comparable to that of a Country life; Happy, yea thrice happy (thought I) is he who not playing with his wings in the golden flames of the Court, nor setting his foot in the busie throngs of the City, nor running up and down in the intricate mazes of the Law, can be content in the winter to sit by a Country fire, and in the Summer to lay his head on the green pillows of the earth. The Country Cottage is neither batter’d down by the Canon in time of War, nor pester’d with clamorous Suits in time of peace. The fall of _Cedars_ that tumble from the tops of Kingdoms, the ruine of _great Houses_, that bury Families in their overthrow, and the ways of _shipwracks_, that beget even shreiks in the heart of Cities, never send their terrors thither: that place stands as safe from the shock of such violent storms, as the _Bay-tree_ does from lightening; their sleeps are secure from such dangers, and their wakings as pleasant as golden dreams. In the homely village art thou more safe, than in a fortified Castle; the stings of _Envy_, nor the bullets of _Treason_ are never shot through those thin walls: sound healths are drunk out of the wholesome wooden dish, when the Cup of Gold boyles over with Poyson. Hast thou a desire to rule? get up to the mountains, and thou shalt see the greatest trees stand trembling before thee, to do thee _Reverence_, those mayest thou call thy _Nobles_. Thou shalt have rancks of oak on each side of thee, which thou maist call thy Guard, thou shalt see _Willows_ bending at every blast; whom thou maist call thy flatterers: thou shalt see valleys humbled at thy feet; whom thou maist term thy slaves. Wouldest thou behold battels? step into the fields, there shalt thou see excellent combats between the standing Corn and the windes. Art thou a tyrant? and delightest in the fall of _great ones_? muster then