Noctes atque dies niti praestante labore

Ad summas emergere oper rerumque potiri.[473]

Yet to be the master of armies and of navies, or to be clothed in gold and purple gives not that exemption from the real terrors and anxieties of life which the power of reason only can bestow—

Quod si ridicula haec ludibriaque esse videmus,

Re veraque metus hominum curaeque sequaces

Nec metuunt sonitus armorum nec fera tela,

Audacterque inter reges rerumque potentis

Versantur neque fulgorem reverentur ab auro

Nec clarum vestis splendorem purpureai,

Quid dubitas quin omni' sit haec rationi' potestas?