were better for him to be ignorant of than to know and the best way to banish all Defamation in general yet when Accusations proceed not from Malice but a kind of Zeal to serve the Prince 't is by all means requisite to hear and well examine them looking on them as Informations absolutely necessary not only for good Government but his own Security also Hence the Emperor Constantine in a Law for that purpose assigns a Reward to those who would accuse his Ministers and Domesticks of any real Crime 21 Si quis est cujuscunque loci ardinis dignitatis qui se in quemcunque Iudicum Comitium Amicorum Palatinorum meorum aliquid veraciâ—er manifeste probare posse confidit quod non integre atque juste gessisse videatur intrepidus atque securus 〈◊〉 interpellet me ipse audiam omnia ipse cognoscam si fuerit comprobatum ipse me vindicabo L. 4. C. de Accus This is absolutely necessary that the Prince may know all that passes in his Palace at his Council-Board and in the Courts of Judicature where Fear stops the Mouth and the Favours of the Prince conferred by his Ministers make the Persons gratified dumb and not dare to discover their Faults as if forsooth this were to acknowledge the good Office and to shew their Gratitude which is rather to be esteemed Disloyalty and Treason For that Obligation they lie under to undeceive their Prince and if they observe his Ministers to be faulty to inform him is a natural Obligation of Fidelity and more binding than any other 'T is an infinite prejudice for a Prince to distribute his Favours by the Hands of his Favourites for these buy as it were others aâ— the price of them who are assisting to the neglect of their Duty at least approve and defend it and thus deluding the Prince are the reason he continues his Affection to them The Ancient Republicks very sensible how conducive Satyrs were to restrain Vice by the fear of Infamy allowed them upon Publick Theatres but these from a general Censure of Mens Morals insensibly degenerated into particular Reflections not without considerable Injury to the Honour of some hence proceeded Factions and from them popular Insurrections For as the Holy Spirit says a backbiting Tongue disturbs the Peace and is the Ruin of whole Families and Cities 22 Curse the whisperer and double tongued for such have destroyed many that were at Peace Eccles. 28. 13. So least the Correction of Manners should depend on the Malice of the Tongue or Pen there were instituted Censors who by Publick Authority took cognizance of every one's Behaviour and corrected their Vices That Office was in those times of great use and continued long in Vogue because its Jurisdiction was upheld by Modesty however in ours 't is impossible to be executed For Pride and Libertinism would presently make all the Opposition to it imaginable as they now resist the Magistracy however armed with the best Laws in the World and Publick Authority and consequently Censors would be ridiculous not without great danger to the State there being nothing more hurtful nothing that makes Vice more arrogant and insulting than for such Remedies to be applied to it as Delinquents turn into Contempt and Ridicule But as the Office of Censor was introduced for the Reformation of Manners so was it also to Register the Goods and Estates of every Citizen and to take the number of them and although that Custom prevailed a long time both among the Greeks and Latins with great Advantage to the Commonwealth yet at this day 't would be very odious and subject to vast Inconveniencies for to know so accurately the Number and Effects of Subjects is of no use but to burthen them with more Taxes and Impositions That numbring of the People of Israel under King David God punished as a most heinous Crime 23 2 Sam. 24. 10. For what is so hard and inhuman as by publishing and proclaiming every ones Estate at once to discover the advantages of Poverty and expose Riches to Envy Avarice and Rapine But if in those States the Office of Censor could heretofore be executed without these Inconveniencies 't was because its being newly instituted made it generally received and approved or else because People were then less proud and assuming less Rebels to Reason than in these our Times 24 Quid enim tam duâ—um tamque inhumanum est quam publicatione pompâque rerum famiâ—iarâ—um 〈◊〉 detegi utisitatem invidiae exponere aivitiaâ— L. 2. C. 〈◊〉 â— quiâ— quam pars EMBLEM XV. HOW I wish I could read on all Princes Breasts the Symbol of the present Emblem and that as Balls of Fire flying in the Air imitate the Splendor of the Stars and shine immediately from their being thrown out of the Hand till they turn to Ashes so in them also for the Holy Spirit compares them to â— bright Fire 1 Eccles. 50. 9. would continually burn the desire of Fame 2 Fax mentis honestae gloria nor should they much care for that Flames wanting Matter to feed on or that what burns most fiercely is withal soonest consumed For though length of Life be the common desire of Man and Beast yet have these no other end than meer living but Man of living uprightly 'T is no happiness to live but to know how to live nor does he live most who lives longest but who lives best for Life is not measured by time but the use that 's made on 't He whose Life like a Star in the midst of a Cloud or like the Full Moon shines upon others with Rays of Bounty and Munificence in its Season does undoubtedly live long 3 He was as the Morning Star in the midst of a Cloud and as the Moon at the Full. Eccles. 50. 6. As on the contrary he who lives only to himself though he lives to a great Age lives but little The Benefits and Improvements which flow from a Prince upon the State number the Days of his Life 4 Eccles. 41. 16. those who live without them Oblivion deducts from the Sum 5 The number of years is hidden to oppressors Iob 15. 20. Titus Vespasian the Emperor calling to mind once at Supper that he had done nothing for any one that Day pronounced that remarkable and justly admired Sentence Friend I have lost a Day And 't is reported of Peter King of Portugal that he was wont to say That he deserves not to be a King who does not each day bestow some Favour or Benefit upon the State No Man's Liâ—â—'s so short but it affords time enough to execute some glorious Exploit A brave Spirit in one Moment resolves and in few more executes its Resolutions What matter 's it if he falls in the attempt if the Memory he left behind raises him to Life Eternal It only can be called Life which is bounded by Fame not that which consists in Body and Vital Warmth which no sooner begins but begins to die too Death is
come out distorted and of short continuance as that was which he laid down as a Model of the rest The Design of these Emblems has been to set off that Purple whose Scarlet Dye soon turns to Ashes they began at the Cradle and end at the Tomb. They are the Parenthesis of Man's Life which the least clause of Time includes nor is it easie to determine which Hour is the most happy that wherein the Eyes are open to the Day of Life or that in which they are closed to the Night of Death 1 And the day of death than the day of birth Eccles. 7. 1. since the one is the beginning the other the end of our Labours and however great the difference may be betwixt being and not being yet the Material Part of Man only feels that not the Form which is Immortal and improved by Death The Dread we have of the Grave is natural but had Reason more influence on us than Desire of Living we should rejoyce at the fight of it as those do who looking for Treasures find urns being sure to meet with Riches there 2 And dig for it more than for rich treasure which rejoyce exceedingly and are glad when they can find the grave Iob 3. 21 22. for it is in the Grave that the Soul finds the real Treasure of Eternal Rest. This Simon Maccahaeus signified by that Hieroglyphick of Ships carved upon the Pillars he set about the Mausâ—laeum of his Father and Brothers 3 And set great pillars round about them and set arms upon the pillars for a perpetual memory and carved ships beâ—ides the arms 1 Maâ—cab 13. 29. intimating that the Ship of our Life floating upon the Billows of the World is never quiet till landed at the Shore of Death In effect what is Life but a perpetual Fear of Death without any thing to assure us of its continuance Many Signs portend the Approach of Death not one exactly marks out the Bounds of Life The most flourishing Age and strongest Constitution are not sufficient Sureties for one Hour of Health The Heart which performs the part of a Balance in this clock of the Body points indeed to the presentâ— Hours but never to the future Nor ought this â—ncertainty to be termed Disdain but rather a Favour of Nature for were the precise Time determined for Death as it is for Birth for the Dissolution as for the Formation of the Body Man would become Insolent to Reason and therefore she has not only given him one sure Minute to breath in but on the contrary hath in all things imaginable laid before him Evidences of the Shortness of Life The Earth represents it to him in the Youth of its Flowers and Gray-Hairs of its Harvests the Water in the Rapidness of its Current the Air in the Fires it kindles and extinguishes again in a moment and the Heavens in the Prince of Light which the same Day sees rise in the golden Cradle of the East and set in the dark Tomb of the West But if Death be the last of all Evils that it comes not too late is to be esteem'd a Happiness The shorter the Interval is between the Cradle and the Tomb the shorter is the Course of our Labours and therefore Iob wished he had been immediately carried from the Womb of his Mother to that of the Earth 4 Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb O that I had given up the Ghost and no eye had seen me I should have been as though I had not been I should have been carried from the womb to the grave Iob 10. 18 19. We are bound as soon as born and all our Life-time after involved in Careâ— 5 I was nourished in swadling cloaths and with careâ— Wisd. 7. 4. nor have Kings in this any Privilege above the rest of Mankind * For there is no king that hath any oâ—â—er â—eginning of birth Wisd. 7. 5. Did Humane Felicity consist in long Life Man would undoubtedly out-live the Stag for it were absurd that any Creature should be happier than him for whose Service they were all created 6 lâ—sas 〈…〉 factâ—s naâ—â—ra fuisse necesse est Arist. Pol. l. 1. c. 5. That Natural Desire we have of seeing Hours pass swiftly away is an Argument that it is not Time which makes our Happiness for then would the Mind find its Rest in that whatever it desires out of Time it always wants In Princes more than in others as they are exposed to greater Accidents Experience shews that in a long Life Fortune is endanger'd she being tired as much with being propitions as with being adverse Lewis XI had been a happy Prince had he ended his Days before the Calamities of his last Years Sovereignty is a kind of tempestuous Sea not to be kept calm by a long Course of Life he who lives longest suffers most Storms and Dangers But if we consider the End and Perfection of Nature a long Life is happy when according to the Testimony of Iob it comes into the Grave in its Maturity as Corn into the Barn 7 Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season Iob 5. 26. secund Septuagint before Decrepidness makes it wither for with the Shadow of Death the Vital Spirits congeal and the Body remains useless The Trembling Hand can no longer steer the Helm of the State the Eye perceive the Clouds of Heaven the Course of the Winds and the Rocks of the Sea nor the Ear hear the Barkings of Scylla and Carybdis Amidst so many Miseries of Nature Constancy fails the Prince and being reduced by the Moisture of the Senses to a second Infancy he believes every thing and suffers himself to be govern'd by Malice which is then most awake in those about him who at such a time offend with equal Profit and Impunity 8 Cum â—pud infirmum credulum minore metu majore praeâ—io peccaretur Tac. Hist. l. 1. Women get Possession of his Will as Livia did of Augustus's when she made him banish his Nephew Agrippa 9 Nam senem Augustum deviâ—xerat adeo uti Nepotem unicum Agrippam Posthumuâ— in insulam Planasiam projicâ—ret Tac. Annal. l. 1. bringing him to such a pass that he who before knew how to maintain the whole World in Peace became incapable of ruling his own Family 10 Nulla in praesens formidine dum Augustus aetate validus seque domum pacem sustentavit postquam profecta jam senectus agro corpore fatigabatur aderatque finis spei novae pauci bonâ— liberâ—atis incâ—ssum disserere Ibid. By this means Majesty is made the Derision of all Men of which Galba was an Instance 11 Ipsa aetas Galbâ—e irrisuâ— fastidâ—o erat Tac. Hist. l. 1. Other Nations despise him and are not afraid to rise up against him as Arbanus did against Tiberius
afterwards his great Soul to be broken by the contrary Success though he saw his States ruined and the King of Sweden and Frederick Count Palatine in his Palace of Monaca a Fabrick worthy so great a Prince and tho' he found the Duke of Frizeland as much his Enemy as the other two Let Envy and the fickleness of Times divide and dash into never so many pieces the Glass of tates yet in every of them however small Majesty will remain entire Whoever is born to a Scepter ought not to be chang'd at any Event or Accident whatever nor think any so grievous and insupportable as for it to abâ—â—don himself and dissemble the Person he bears King Peter even when he fell into the Hands of his Brother and deadly Enemy conceal'd not who he was may when it was question'd if it were he or not he cried out aloud It is I it is I. This very Constancy in preserving a Grandeur and Majesty in misfortunes 〈◊〉 sometimes the best and only Remedy against them as it was with Porus King of the Indies who being taken Prisoner by Alexander the Great and demanded how he would be treated Made answer Like a King And when Alexander ask'd him whether he desired nothing more He replied That Word comprehends all Which Heroick Answer so affected Alexander that he not only restored his Kingdom but gave him other Countries besides To yield to Adversity is as it were to side with it Valour in the Conquered pleases the Victor either because it renders his Triumph more glorious or because such is the intrinsick Energy of Virtue The Mind is not subject to Violence nor has Fortune any Power over it The Emperor Charles the Fifth used severe Threats to Iohn Frederick Duke of Saxony to oblige him to Surrender the Dutchy of Wirtemburg To which his Answer was His Imperial Majesty may indeed do what he pleases with my Body 〈◊〉 shall never be able to strike fear into this Breast Which he really shew'd on another occasion of much greater Danger for it happened as he was playing at Chess with Ernest Duke of Brunswick he heard Senâ—â—nce of Death was pass'd upon him which he receiv'd with no more Trouble than if the News had not concern'd him but chearfully bid the Duke play on which generous Carriage wiped off in some measure the Infamy of Rebellion and procured him Glory One great Action even upon a forced Death leaves a Luster and Repute to Life As has in our own time â—appned Rodrigo Calderon Marquiss de Sieviglâ—sias or â—â—ven Churches whose truly Christian Valour and Heâ—â—ick Constancy were the whole World's Admiration in so much as to turn Envy and Hatred things comâ—â—on to one of his Fortune into Pity and Commendaâ—â—â— None are delivered from violent Casualties by Timorousness nor does Confusion any way lessen Danger whereas Resolution either overcomes or at least renders it illustrious The People gather what Peril they are in from the Princes Countenance as Mariners do the danger of the Tempest from that of their Pilot. For that Reason ought he to appear equally serene in Prosperity and Adversity least Fear dash or Pride exalt him and others be able to judge of the State of Affairs This made Tiberius take so much care to hide every unsuccessful Accident 5 Haec audita quanquam abstrusum tristissima quoque maxiâ—â— occultantem Tiberium pertuleâ—unt Tac. 1. Ann. All is in Disorder and Confusion when in the Princes Face as that of Heaven the Tempests which threaten the Commons are discernible To change Colour at every Breath of Fortune betrays a light Judgment and mean Spirit Constancy and an even Look inspire Subjects with Courage strike Enemies with Admiration All Men fix their Eyes upon the Prince and if they see Fear there they fear Thus 't was with those who were at Otho's Table 6 Simul Othâ—â— vultum intnâ—eri atque eveâ—t inclinatis ad suspicionem mentibus cum tiâ—â— ret Otho timebatur Tac. 1. Hist. Besides there can be no Fidelity where Fear and Distrust find Entertainment 7 Fides metu infracta Tac. 3. 〈◊〉 Which however I would have understood of those Cases wherein it is convenient to dissemble Dangers and conceal Calamities for in others to join in publick Expressions of Sadness don't ill become the Prince as that which manifests his Love to his Subjects and engages their Hearts The Emperor Charles the Fifth put himself in Mourning and express'd his Sorrow for the Sacking of Rome David upon the news of the Death of Saul and Ionathan took hold of his Cloaths and rent them 8 2 Sam. 1. 11. The same did Ioshua for the loss received by the Men of Ai And he fell to the Earth before the Ark of the Lord 9 Jos. 7. 6. And indeed what can be more just than in a common Calamity thus to submit to God 't is a kind of Rebellion willingly to receive Good only at God's Hands and not Evil also 10 Job 2. 10. He that is humble under Correction moves to Pardon Here it may be disputed whether this Steddiness of Mind be commendable in an Inferior when he needs the Aid of the more Potent the Solution of which Doubt requires a peculiar Distinction He who is under Oppression and craves anothers Assistance should not do it with too much Cringing and Solicitude least he make his Fortune desperate there being no Prince who out of pure Compassion will reach his Hand to a Man fallen or undertake the Defence of one that has already abandon'd all hopes of himself and his Affairs Pompey's Cause lost not a little in the Opinion of Ptolomy when he saw so much Submission in his Ambassadors The King of the Cherusci shewed much more Courage when upon the loss of his Kingdom thinking it his Interest to procure the Favour of Tiberius He wrote to him not like a Fugitive or Beggar but as one who remembred his former Fortune 11 Non ut profugus aut supplex sed ex memoria prioris fortunae Tac. 2. Ann. Nor is the Example of Mithridates les Illustrious who being overthrown by Eunon is said with a Resolution truly Royal to have thus bespoke him Mithriâ—ates so many Years sought by the Romans by Sea and Land here voluntarily Surrenders himself do what you please with the Off-spring of the great Achemenes the only thing my Enemies cannot deprive me of 12 Mithridates terra marique per tot annos Romanis quaesitis sponte adsum utere ut voles prole magni Achemeis quod mihi solum hostes non abstulerunt Tac. 12. Ann. Which Words prevailed with Eunon to intercede with the Emperor Claudius in his behalf 13 Mâ—taâ—â—â—e rerum prece haud degenerare permotus Tac. 12. Ann. Let him who hath faithfully served his Prince speak boldly if he find himself injured as Herman Cortez did to Charles the Fifth and Segestes to Germanicus 14 Simul Segestes ipse ingens
with a pâ—esence of Mind truly generous It is not now a Time for Deliberation something must be allow'd to Chance 1 Nullum nunc in isâ—a occaaione deliberandi tempus est aliquid 〈◊〉 permittendum Mar. Hist. Hisp. l. 12. c. 19. If after the Success of great Enterprizes we should look back upon all the Dangers that attended them we should scarce venture on them again Iames King of Arragon was so adventurous as to sit down before Valencia with only a Thousand Foot and Three hundred and sixty Horse And though this Undertaking was look'd on by all Men as rash nay impossible yet the Town surrender'd Bold Counsels are commonly judged by the Event if they succeed they are commended for Prudent 2 Fortuna in sapientâ—â—â— cessit Tac de Mor. Germ. and those Persons blamed who gave safer Advice No Judgment can either in Precipitation or when it acts calmly sufficiently provide for it self in that Affairs depend upon Contingencies which are uncertain even to the most wary Foresight Sometimes Rashness comes before Occasion and Moderation follows it sometimes this slides swiftly between them nor has it any Hair behind to be held by All things depend on that Eternal Providence which efficaciously moves us to act when the Disposition of it and the Accomplishing of its Divine Decrees so require and then Fool-hardy Counsels are Prudence and Errors the highest Reason When Providence would pull down the Pride of a Monarchy lest like the Tower of Babel it should attempt to reach Heaven it confounds the Designs and Languages of its Ministers that they may disagree so that if one asks for Lime another either does not understand what he means or else offers him Sand. In the Untimely Death of those who are invested with Supreme Government its end is not to cut their Thread of Life but to throw down that Grandeur The Holy Spirit mentioning David's Victory over Goliah says not that his Body but that his Boasting was beat down with the Stone 3 When he lift up his hand with the stone in his sling and beat down the boasting Goliah Eccles. 47. 4. So if on the other side it has decreed to Exalt a Monarchy it creates in that Age brave Commanders and wise Councellors or causes them to be made choice of and gives them occasion of exerting their Valour and giving Proof of their Wisdom by which two more is done than by the Arm and Sword 4 Pleraque in summa â—â—â—una auspiciis consiliis potius quam telis ac manibus geruntur Tac. Annal. l. 3. Bees then swarm into Helmets and Weapons grow as that Hunting Spear of Romulus did upon Mount Palatine and erected at a Wild Boar. The very missing of the Blow of this Founder of the Roman Monarchy was fortunate being a kind of Prognostick of it Which shews that it is not always Courage or Prudence that raises and supports Monarchies though they are generally the Instruments but that Superior Impulse which moves all Causes together for their Encrease or Preservation and then even Chance directed by that Eternal Mind effects what Prudence could not so much as have imagined before When Germany Revolted and the Roman Affairs were extremely desperate the Fortune of this Nation as it had often upon other Occasions came to its Assistance out of the East 5 Affuit ut saepe alià s fortuna populi Romani 〈◊〉 Oriente Tac. Hist. l. 3. If the Valour and Conduct of any Hero be ordained to these ends no other Person though never so Brave and truly Great can deprive him of the Glory of obtaining them Could there be a finer Soldier than D'Aubigny Yet he was unsuccessful having to deal with the Great Captain who was Destined to Establish the Spanish Monarchy in Italy God so disposing as he did in favour of the 6 Struebat jam fortuna in diversa parte terrarum initia causasque imperio Tac. Hist. l. 2. Roman Empire its Beginnings and Causes by the means chiefly of Ferdinand the Catholick who by his Prudence and Skill in Government laid the Foundations of that Monarchy and by his Valour erected and enlarg'd it being so careful and vigilant to encrease it that he neglected no Occasion which offer'd it self nay of himself found all that Humane Judgment is capable of Lastly so strenuous in the prosecution of them that he was always the first in Danger and Fatigue and as Imitation is abundantly more easie to Mankind than Obedience he made it his business to Command more by his Actions than Orders But because so great a Fabrick required Workmen that Age fertile in Great Persons produced Columbus Herman Cortez the two Brothers Francis and Ferdinand Pizarro Antony de Liba Fabritius and Prosper Colonna Raimond de Cardona the Marquesses of Pescara and Basto and many other Hero 's so illustrious that a whole Age now scarce brings forth one such To that end God then prolonged their Lives whereas now not Mars's Fury but some lingring Fever carries them off before their time Within how few Years has untimely Death depriv'd us of Peter of Toledo Lewis Tajardo Frederick of Toledo the Marquess Spinola Gonsalez of Cordova the Duke de Feria the Marquess d'Aytona the Duke of Lerma John Fajardo the Marquess de Zelada the Count de la Fere and the Marquess de Fuentes all Persons no less considerable for the glorious Actions they did than those which all the World still expected from them How Profound and Inscrutable is the Providence of this Eternal Deity Who would not from hence inferr the Decay of the Spanish Monarchy as in the Emperor Claudius's time the Death of so many Magistrates as a Quaestor Aedile Tribune Praetor and a Consul in a few Month's time was look'd on as a Prodigy portending some Evil 7 Numerabatur inter osfenta diminutu omnium magistratuum numerus Quaestors Aedile Tribuâ—o ac Praetore Consule paucos intra menses defunctis Tac. Annal. l. 12 unless he consider'd that these Instruments are taken away to let all Men see it is by Divine Grace rather than Humane Strength is upheld that Power the Pillar and Support of Christian Commonwealths It is this First Mover of the Universe that disposes these interchangeable Alterations of Things these Revolutions of Empires One Age raises up great Men in a Country improves Arts and makes Arms flourish and the succeeding immediately overturns and confounds all without leaving so much as the Traces of the Vertue and Valour which were an Ornament to those of the past What great what secret Force on Things nay even on Minds is conceal'd in those Second Causes of the Heavenly Spheres It is not by meer Accident that those Superior Lights are so different one from another some having a Fix'd Place others Wandring and since this Disorder and Irregularity gives no additional Beauty it is a sign at least they contribute to Operations and Effects O vast Volume in the Leaves of which God
naturally equal to all but is distinguished by the Glory or Oblivion we leave to Posterity Who dying makes Renown a Substitute for Life lives still Strange force of Virtue which even against Nature makes that which is of its self fading and perishable Immortally glorious Tacitus did not think Agricola's Life short though he was snatch'd away in the prime of his Years for his Glory prolong'd his Life 6 Quanquam medio in spatiâ— integrae aetatis ereptus quantum ad gâ—riam longissimum â—evum peregit â—ac in Vir. Agriâ— Let no one despise or slight Posthumous Fame for in as much as the Mind covets it 't is an acknowledgement that one time or other 't is to be enjoyed but they are in the wrong who think it sufficient if they leave it behind them in Statues or in Posterity for in one 't is fading in t'other 't is none of theirs That only is their own which springs from Actions which if not extraordinary Merit no Praise for Fame is the Daughter of Admiration To be Born only to make One in the World is for the Vulgar Rout 't is for Princes to appear perspicuously eminent among others Others study what they think their own Interest but the utmost and only aim of Princes should be Glory 7 Caeteris mortalibus in eo stare consilia quid sibi conducere puteâ—â— Principum diversam esse sortem quibus praecipua rerum ad famam diâ—â—genda Tac. 4. Ann. Avarice and desire of Riches fill their Breasts but a Prince should be inflamed by an Ambition of Fame 8 Argentum quidem pecunia est commoâ—â— omnium possessio at honestum ex eo laus gloria Deorum est 〈◊〉 eorum qui à aiis proximi censentur Polybius A heavenly Heat inspires our Prince's Veins Virg. A generous Spirit knows no mean 't will be either Caesar or no body either a shining Star or a dark Cinder nor will this if honourably extinguished shine less gloriously on Obelisks than t'other Nor indeed is that Soul truly great which like the best Gunpowder fired does not immediately burst the Body that includes it The Breast is too narrow to contain a brisk and active Soul Garci Sancho King of Navarre going to ingage the Enemy trembled all over yet in the Fight behaved himself bravely and couragiously His Body dreaded that great Multitude of Enemies into which his Courage prepared to carry it Let it therefore be the whole Aim of a Prince to live gloriously that he may be a Light in this World 9 Let your Light so shine before Men that they may see your good Works Matth. 5. 12. All other things will come with ease but Fame not without Assiduity and Application 10 Caeteâ—a Principibus statim aâ—â—esse unum insatiabiliter parandum prosperam sui memoâ—â—am Tac. 4. Ann. But if in the beginning of his Reign he loses his Reputation he will very difficultly recover it for what the People once conceive of him they will never afterwards forget He who sets too great a value upon Life avoids Toils and Dangers without which two Honour can never be attained This Tacitus observed in King Marabodo who quitting his Kingdom lazily and shamefully spent his Days in Italy losing much of his Reputation through a too fond desire of Life 11 Consenuitque multum immatatâ 〈…〉 Tac. 2. Ann. Let a Prince so stere his Course be the Sea Calm or Tempestuous as still to keep his Eye upon that shining Beacon of Glory ever and anon calling to mind that he may admit or think of nothing unworthy himself that History will publish his Fame his Exploits and Glorious Atchievements to all Ages and to all Nations Princes have no other Superior than God and Fame they alone by the fear of Punishment and Infamy oblige them to Act honourably for which reason they often fear Historians more than their Enemies and are more aw'd by the Pen than the Sword King Balthasar though he saw only the Hand and Pen as yet not knowing what they would write was so disorder'd That he quaked all over and the Ioints of his Back were loosened 12 Dan. 5. 6. But if they neither regard God nor Glory nothing Glorious or Honourable can be expected For who e're slights Honour despises Virtue A generous desire of Glory avoids the blemish of Vice or Injustice Nor is there a more Savage Brute than that Prince who is neither moved by remorse of Conscience or desire of Glory Nor is there nevertheless no danger in Glory for its brightness often dazles Princes and leads them headlong into Rashness and Temerity That which seems Honourable and Glorious to them is Vanity or Folly sometimes Pride or Envy and oftentimes Ambition and mere Tyranny They propose great matters egg'd on by the Flatteries of their Ministers who set before them many things under the appearance of Glory concealing in the mean time the unjust and inconvenient Means by which they are to be attained by which being seduced they oftentimes find themselves deluded and ruined That Glory is safe which springs from a generous Spirit and keeps within the Bounds of Reason and Possibility Since therefore Honour and Infamy are the strongest Excitements to good Actions and that both are by History delivered down to Posterity 't would be convenient by Rewards proposed to excite Historians to write and to countenance Typography the true Treasury of Glory where the Rewards of greaâ— Actions are deposited to future Ages EMBLEM XVI 'T IS an old saying Purple is to be judged by Purple by which the Ancients signified that things were then best distinguished when one was compared with the other especially if they were such as could not easily be distinguish'd by themselves Thus Merchants do who compare Colour to Colour that they may shew each other and that a surer Judgment may be given of both In the Temple of Iupiter Capitolinus there was a Cloak a Present of some King from Persia of such an excellent Grain that the Robes of the Roman Ladies nay even of the Emperor Aurelian himself compared with it look'd as faint as Ashes If your Royal Highness when raised to the Crown would exmine and know the true worth of the Royal Purple expose it not to the false Light of Flatterers and fawning Knaves for that will never shew you its true Colour Nor rely too much upon self-love for that is like an Eye that sees all things but its self 'T will be therefore necessary that as Eyes are known by their own Species like Forms represented in a Glass so your Highness would compare the Lustre of your Diadem to that of your Glorious Predecessors seriously reflecting if any Virtues shine more bright in theirs than yours by viewing your self in them as in a Glass 1 Tanquam in speculo ornare comparare vitam tuam ad alienas virtutes